Golf Club of Dallas with Phong

Phong & I played Golf Club of Dallas last week.  The round was a MESS.  But, it was a really fun day regardless and got to hang out with a good friend.
I was fighting a pull (straight right shot for me) all day.  I blew up on the front nine because of it and ended up having to play a cut to compensate for it on the back nine.  Back nine ended up being really good at four over par.  I was hoping that the video footage would provide some clues about the origin of the pull. 
I think my hips are turning a bit quick but most importantly, my footwork is. a. mess.  Pull means I'm coming in over the top, and that's probably because I'm just going after it too much with my upper body.  I never realized how much my front foot spins out.

Enjoy the vid :)

Riverside Golf Club, Grand Prairie, TX

Awesome day at Riverside Golf Club in Grand Prairie, TX.  Played with my dad, Salman, Thomas, and my step-mom Ela.  Super good times!  Probably most fun I've had all year.  Round had its ups and downs, but what matters is that we had a ton of laughs and were blessed with a cool breeze throughout most of the round.  Doesn't get any better than that. 

Ninja Golf Swing

Having a little fun at TopGolf, Dallas. Trying to copy This Guy. Kinda. I'm missing the sunglasses and the fantastic hair.

THE EAGLE ALMOST LANDED!!!

Played Country View GC in Lancaster, TX today.  It was a scorcher.  Felt like the temp was easily 105*F.  Thomas and I thought that maybe if we started our round early the heat wouldn't be too bad until the end of the round.  Nope.  Texas summer is here in full effect.  I'm dealing with a bit of a cold right now, so the heat and sunshine was actually pretty nice to be in.  Got a good sweat going and felt a lot better after a few holes.

The round was pretty decent.  Thomas was just practicing today so he didn't keep score but he played very well on the back nine.  I actually don't know how to feel about my round because despite almost breaking 80 again I felt like I played pretty poorly.  For the most part it was all bogies and double bogies.  I think I carded three double bogies and several bogies with only a few pars.  What really saved my round were back-to-back birds on both the front and the back nine.  If I didn't get those four -1s the round could've really gotten out of hand.  I had a few errant drives but honestly my ball striking just wasn't very good today.

Still had a blast tho!  Score doesn't/shouldn't dictate how much fun you have, but it would've been nice to shoot another sub-80 round, especially with 4 birds.  That's the most I've had in a single round to date so that alone was a big victory for me.  Ended the day with an 81 and my first almost-eagle putt.  There was a super narrow 393 yard par 5(I know right? Short. But I'll take it!) and I knew if I crushed it straight down the line off the tee that I could give myself a good look at eagle.  Ended up drilling it down the pipe about 290 something yards and had an easy wedge into the green.  Ball stopped about twelve feet from the cup and I missed my eagle putt by half an inch!  Here's the footage; Thomas is sporting the navy blue Puma gear:




I don't know what's going on with my camera today. I think it's time for a new one. All our footage looked like it was from the 1970s. I think the lens is busted too because there were some squiggly lines cutting across the entire picture.  At first I thought it was just the display in the back, but obviously not. Might've been the crazy heat...?

Gaming the G15 and Breaking 80

I did it!  Just shy of the 2-year mark!  I shot a 78 at Old Brickyard in Ferris, TX (From the men's tees no less!).  Granted, par at OB is 70, but I'll take it!  Out of all my accomplishments, breaking 80 is definitely one of the ones I am most proud of.  It took a lot of hard work and practice, but it really feels great to have that round under my belt. 

I've been working on quite a few things with my game, but probably the biggest change is that I started playing with my G15 again about a month ago.  Lately I've been feeling like the shaft on the Burner 2.0 is super wobbly during my downswing.  It's a stiff shaft but from my experiences trying out Taylormade clubs, their shafts are just a bit more flexy than other brands.  I originally switched away from the G15 because I was going through some major changes in my swing and lost some club-head speed in the process (not to mention the driver was super cheap!) but I'm finally comfortable with the new swing and despite this started getting a ton of sidespin with the Burner.  So I'm gaming the G15 again and it's feeling great so far.  I lost about 20 yards to my drives but I'm much more confident about where the ball is going regardless of how much juice I put into it.  I reshafted the G15 with an Arthur Engineering Xcalibur Shaft with tour stiff flex a while back and I feel much more comfortable with it now than I did when I originally purchased it. 

I've been averaging in the mid 80s for a few months now and I felt like with just a few tweaks to my short game and a good bit of luck that I could at least break 80 once before the year's end.  What a gift to have done it by July!  I've been fortunate to receive some really great advice from friends that helped my game tremendously.  Here are some tips that I make sure to keep in mind before I tee off on the first tee:

• It's all about getting up-and-down.  The key to breaking 80 was reducing my total number of putts and that meant I had to make par despite missing a few greens with my approaches
• Course management is crucial.  Closer to the green isn't always better.  Hitting a full shot at 120 yards is sometimes easier than an awkward 60 yard pitch.
• Don't take unnecessary risks.  This kinda goes hand in hand with course management.  It's important to keep my ego in check.  I spent a good amount of time working on my weaknesses on the range and I make sure to be realistic about my expectations on the course.  E.g. I've been struggling with my 5 iron recently.  Instead of forcing a shot that I know I'm not 100% with yet on the range, I set my ego aside and either club up or lay up.  
• Keep it playful.  This is absolutely the most important piece of advice.  If you take yourself and your round too seriously, it's very easy for it to quickly get away from you.  I know that sometimes double or triple bogeys WILL happen.  I'm not good enough to avoid them completely.  What I also know is that if I waste time beating myself up over bad holes all the way to the next tee box, then I'll probably continue playing poorly for the rest of the day.  Shooting a high score on one hole hurts, but if you want to keep that score low you gotta learn to laugh it off and play your game. 

It's good to emulate your favorite professional golfer, but remember that a bad hole for them should be A LOT more painful than a bad hole for you.  Don't feel obligated to hurt as much as they do when a drive slices into the trees or a putt refuses to break.  Pros are playing for potentially thousands of dollars per stroke.  Keep it playful, and keep everything in perspective.  You're in the beautiful outdoors, enjoying some fresh air in the company of your friends.