Season starts well

In Denmark, golf-season is appx from April to the start of October.

That, of course, means that from October to April, I sit on my couch WATCHING golf, getting fat and lazy, instead of playing.
It also means, that the season opening rounds in the beginning of april usually stink.

This season I expected it to be no different, although I have been to the range a couple of times in february and march, trying to get to grips with the swing changes I worked on during the entire last season (changing an outside-in tendency to more of a inside-square-inside path).
It pretty much ruined my season last year, and I was only able to improve my handicap from 24.8 to 22.0.

One thing I have done as well over the winter, is swinging clubs indoors. No balls, no mat (no hitting the ground) - just trying to groove the swing path into muscle memory and get a more relaxed and natural swing tempo.

Last wednesday I was out for the first round of the season. I shot net Par and was hitting the ball really well. Good solid contact on most shots. More important - no slicing the ball at all, not even with the driver.

So far so good.

Yesterday, I took to the course with a lot more confidence than last week. I knew that I was hitting the ball well, and despite the course being in the most difficult combination of loops (we have 3 9-hole loops that rotate to be the 18-hole course every week), I felt good about my game.

I shot a 93. That was net 5 under par, dropping my handicap to 20.0 in one fell swoop. Last year I dropped 7 notches. So far I've dropped 5 this season in 2 rounds of golf.

What a great start to the season!

Also - my new handicap means, that I will have to break 90 to further reduce my handicap. What great motivation.

I love this game!

__________________
//Mox
2008 bag:
Mizuno MX-500 460cc 10.5* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff. (about to be replaced by MP-600 10,5* UST Proforce V2 stiff)
Mizuno F-50 3w 15* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff.
Wilson Deep Red 5w 18* Graphalloy Fatshaft stiff
Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid 22* graphite regular
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Heavy Putter B3-M
Titleist NXT Extreme

nice start mox
now you have to keepup the good work

Great start Mox, keep it up my friend.

Nice work Mox. I'm pretty sure this is the year my cap goes sub-20, too. Here's to shooting in the 80's!

Great stuff Mox, I suspect that sub 90 won't be long coming the way you are going.

Congrats on the efforts this season Mox, good going...

If my own experience is anything to go by, now that you've broken the 90 barrier, it won't be too long before you're knocking on the door of your first sub 80....

Cheers

Well done Mox, keep up the good work and it'll come down in no time.

I think there's a of lot merit in practicing the swing indoors without balls etc. It has ceratinly helped improve my swing over the winter.

The only downside is that there are now a few dents in the ceiling and wardrobe when I was getting a bit bit carried away. I only managed to break 2 light bulbs though !

One advantage is obvious: Swinging indoors means that you're not trying to HIT a ball, but just to SWING a club. I think that does a lot for tempo and muscle memory.

Luckily, the ceiling is high in my flat, so no dents to that yet, but I'm not swinging driver I must admit.

Shot net 73 yesterday, so net scores so far is 72, 67, 73 on a par 72 course. I still feel that I'm hitting the ball well, like the fundamentals aresolid.There are plenty of room for improvement, mainly in the short game and putting.
So more time will be spent on the practice greens the next couple of weeks.

I love this game! :-)

__________________
//Mox
2008 bag:
Mizuno MX-500 460cc 10.5* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff. (about to be replaced by MP-600 10,5* UST Proforce V2 stiff)
Mizuno F-50 3w 15* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff.
Wilson Deep Red 5w 18* Graphalloy Fatshaft stiff
Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid 22* graphite regular
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Heavy Putter B3-M
Titleist NXT Extreme