Round date: 13th September 2007.
I have started to keep my own "Stat Tracker" on my PC at home. I have a spreadsheet of 47 rounds that should take me right up to the start of next season (around April/May). It details driving accuracy, GIR's, putts per round, up 'n' downs, sand saves and score for my home course. If I play at a course that has the same number of par 3's, 4's and 5's, I can use it there too.
I had my first round yesterday since starting it, and the figures do not look good.
It was a perfect day. Warm, sunny, a light breeze and a fast running course. Great weather for scoring. Surely. My home course is 6600 yards from the back tees and a par 72.
When I got home I input the figures into my spreadsheet (or was that spreadsh!t ?!). They read as follows:
Fairways hit: 5/14
Greens hit: 5/18
Sand saves: 100%
Putts: 27
Up 'n' downs: 47%
Score: 78 (+1 to handicap).
The bizarre thing is I didn't feel like I was having that bad a day. I think I made the best score out of it that I could, in the end.
The first two holes at my club are par 5's. I hit both fairways and both greens and two-putted my way to start with 2 pars. "Great!" I thought. Solid start and no dropped shots. The ball was going where I wanted it to.
From then on, I couldn't hit a fairway if you'd paid me and my ball-striking deserted me so calling a yardage and hitting a green became a lottery. My timing was well off and I was pushing or hooking (no advice please. I'm just stating it as a fact!!).
I did, however, make no worse than bogey on any hole and managed to keep a 6 off my card. I made one solitary birdie on 16 and should have had one on 18 (lipped out). 7 bogeys is too many though.
The stat of 100% sand saves looks impressive, but really it was an "up 'n' up"! I ended up in one bunker all day. Somehow, despite the lack of rain, the sand was very wet (must have been watered whilst the groundmen were doing the green). As is the case with compacted wet sand, the resulting ball flight can be a lottery. I must admit I didn't accelerate through the shot as I would have liked. I got it out, but left it short of the fringe in the light rough, 30 feet from the hole. Then I chipped it in! Result.
I guess, upon reflection, some of the "missed fairways" were only by one or two yards and a couple were courtesy of a bad bounce or two off the rock-solid fairways. It was the missed greens that bugged me.
When I think back, some of the missed greens were because of the lack of drop 'n' stop due to the dry conditions, but a fair few of them were not hitting the green on the fly, hence taking any spin I had managed to create from the ball. I either had the right club but pushed or hooked it wide, or left it short with a dodgy strike. The yardages were just not there consistently. I felt like I was hitting the ball solid in general. I may have become a bit stabby with my swing and too quick on the way down. Next round I'll play one more club and a smoother downswing with a shorter backswing. Just gotta tighten it up and not try to crunch the ball every time.
On thinking about it some more, I liked the fact that I was focused on hitting fairways and greens. It helped pick my shot for me. OK, I didn't hit that many, but lord knows where my focus would have gone had I not been concentrating on fairways and greens.
That's another thing. I never stopped thinking about hitting fairways and greens all the way round. It kept me from getting worried about my swing or how I was doing. I guess it's because I know that scoring well starts with fairways and greens, so why change that approach? It also helped to compartmentalise (is that a word?!) each hole and helped me stay in the present. On the tee I had one job. Hit the fairway. On the fairway I had one job. Hit the green. This may well have meant that I had a better day than usual with an "off" swing. If I can spray it and only come in +1 to handicap, I'm looking forward to a good ball-striking day.
