Lets get this putter working!

After my putting woes of the last few rounds I decided to get together with my mate/coach Chris and see if he could get me back on the right track with the putter.

I took some practice putts and then we got the stroke on film and it highlighted a few little issues that if sorted, would get the putter back in my good backs.

First issue was ball position. I had moved the ball forward in my stance gradually over the last few months, but I have always had it quite a way forward and almost level the insole of my left shoe. We have now moved this to a more central position. Second issue was the club path, going right at the end of the stroke meaning a slight pushed line to the right.

We got this all in line and at first it felt to me like the putts where being pulled to the left but they where actually going straight, a strange feeling. So plenty of practice this week and I know feel happy with the putting stroke and confident I can go forward from here with the refined style and onwards to hole more important putts.

After some practice with the stroke on Monday night I went out and played nine holes, as I did on Tuesday and again the long game was functioning well, putting was misfiring a little but it was mainly a distance judgement thing rather than a direction of the ball and missing left or right. I will also be putting a lot of practice in this evening(Thursday) if the weather holds and then I have a golf psychology session tomorrow evening with Andy Morrison to discuss the wall I seem to have hit this season and hopefully how I can get past that.

I then have a couple of competitions on the weekend, Presidents Prize at my home club on Saturday and then the Royton Sword at Crompton and Royton on Sunday which is a 36 hole scratch medal.

Looking forward to watching some of the Open Championship over the end of the week and over the weekend and see that the scores today are in the low numbers and a lot of players are under par already including a dangerous Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Midweek comp – 7th July

Felt quietly confident before playing in the midweek comp last night as I had done plenty of short game practice and was confident with my long game following the second round of the Wyreside at Knott End on Saturday.
I finished work early and had 45 minutes at the range on the way to the course to warm up and then spent an hour on the practice putting green chipping and putting before I teed off, so realistically a really good warm up and to be honest it showed in my play.
I hit a long drive down the first into a heavy right to left into breeze and then hit a low checking wedge to a back pin that landed around 10 foot away and left me with a makeable birdie putt, which I missed to the right and tapped in for a par, a good start. The second was playing directly into the teeth of the wind and I hit driver but pulled it and ended up with a tough chip shot, but managed to pull it off and got the ball to around 12 foot from the flag, again 2 putts saw me make a 4, but this time for a bogey.
I hit another good drive down the 3rd (the driver has become a real strength of my game over the last couple of rounds which is a refreshing change as I have driven the ball poorly most of the year), but the wind took it into the adjoining fairway and left me with 135 yards to the pin directly into the wind. I hit 6 iron and came up just short, but a chip and putt later and I had another 4 on the card for a par.
A good drive down the 4th saw me with a pitch to the pin and I attacked the flag, the wind taking the ball slightly left but leaving me with a makeable birdie putt, which I missed, but a tap in saw me make another par. I hit a good drive down the left of the 5th fairway and had 160 yards to the flag, with the wind blowing slightly into but mainly right to left. I aimed to the right of the green and struck it well, but the wind took the ball and I ended up with it taking a heavy right to left flight into the deep rough and trees behind the 6th tee. I found the ball but took an unplayable drop and ended up with a double bogey 6, which was probably best case scenario when the ball went on its trip to the trees!
A slightly pulled drive down the six saw me in the rough, but when I got to the ball it was sat up nicely and I felt I had a chance of getting close to the green with 5 wood. I made a great swing and the ball came off the club face perfectly, straight towards the green. When I got down the fairway I could see the ball sat ten yards short of the green on the fairway, meaning a good chip would leave me with a great birdie chance. I played a nice chip shot which left me with a five foot putt for birdie, which I missed to the left and tapped in for a par 5. A pushed drive up the next saw me just short of the pond and needing a wood to put me in position for my third shot, I hit 5 wood but not too well and it left me with 200 yards to the green so I hit a 5 wood again and landed short left. My chip checked up too much and it took two putts to get the ball to drop from 20 feet for a bogey 6.
A good 8 iron into the 8th saw me on the left side of the green but I took 3 attempts to get the ball in the hole after my first putt hit a small stone on the green and kicked hard right. A lesson learned from that is to check the line for stones and other objects to ensure a smooth roll to the hole.
A fade with the driver down the 9th saw me in the left rough with 105 yards to the green. I hit a little 9 iron, usually spot on for that distance and it flew the green and straight into the hazard behind. I walked off the green with a double bogey 6 feeling I hadn’t really done much wrong.
I hit a big drive down the 10th and left my second shot on the front part of the green, and again took 3 putts to make a bogey. A good shot to the left of the 10th green saw me make par and a par was obtained on the 12th with a good drive and equally good second shot into the green, realistically it was a birdie chance but I couldn’t get the putt to drop.
I good drive up the 13th saw me with 105 yards to the flag and I hit a full gap wedge, the ball landing and stopping on the front left of the green and leaving me with a 25 foot putt for birdie, which I rolled to 2 inches and tapped in for par. A good par in the windy condition given the direction and strength of the gusts.
I stepped on to the 14th tee with the honour and hit 4 iron, badly!. I pulled it left and it went on the breeze, leaving me bizarrely pin high but with 94 yards to the flag right into the wind. I hit a little 9 iron and got the ball onto the green, graciously taking the 2 putts it took to make bogey and leaving the damage to one shot.
I decided to hit 5 iron down the 15th and the ball faded beautifully into the flag, leaving me thinking it would be close when we got down there, but it had taken a hard bounce and i now faced a chip from the back of the green, which I almost played to perfection as the ball landed and rolled up to the flag only to lip out and stop just behind the hole. A good par on a tough hole.
I stepped on to the 16th tee with the thought of hitting the ball straight at the last tree on the right and letting it fade into the fairway. I got a good swing on it and couldn’t believe it when I walked up the fairway to find myself with 100 yards into the flag on a 400+ yard hole playing with the wind slightly but mainly straight across it left to right. I hit a little pitching wedge and landed it to perfection on the left of the green allowing the ball to roll towards the hole. I missed the first putt for birdie to the left and tapped in again for a par 4.
The 17th hole was playing downwind and gave a great chance to get a shot back, but a poor tee shot and equally poor second shot saw me walk off with a bogey 5 where I should have been looking to get the tee shot close to the green and getting up and down.
The 18th hole was playing tough with the wind straight across but I managed to hit a good drive that left me with 185 yards to the green. I went with a 5 iron and tried to cut it into the front of the green, which it did but it landed just short. I was left with a chip and a putt to try to break 80 for only the second time in a tough year in competitions for me and I didn’t manage it, the putt just missing to leave me with a tap in for bogey and an 11 over par 80.
Overall though I felt really good about my round and looking back on it now I can see 10 shots at least where I can make an improvement fairly easily through either course management or technique improvements.
I’m driving the ball longer than ever and my iron shots are good too, short game feels much better and if I can get the putter to work I will start converting the birdie chances that I keep creating for myself.
I’m off to Loch Lomond tomorrow to watch the Barclays Scottish Open and will be spending plenty of time around the practice areas watching the top pro’s perfect their games, and will also be following a couple of groups to see if I can pick up any tips on course management.
Another comp on Saturday and I feel fairly confident I can put a score together after last night and hopefully a bit of European Tour magic may rub off on me tomorrow too!

Wyreside Trophy – Knott End – 3rd July

I had put some work in over the week in preparation for the Wyreside Trophy at my home club as I needed to get my game in a position where I could trust my swing and hopefully have enough in the locker to put a decent score in on a course that would definitely be playing at its longest with fast greens and tough pin positions. The wind made it even more difficult and I found the day rewarding in places but very frustrating in others.

I had worked on all aspects of my game at Mottram Hall earlier in the week and then spent some time on the practice ground on Friday evening working on long game, pitching and chipping, and came away feeling good about my game and hopeful for a performance in the marquee event at Knott End in the season.

I got to the course 30 minutes before we teed off and did some practice putting and some warm up stretching to be ready for the first round tee off at 824am. We where going out in a two ball due to one of the lads pulling out with an injury so it was going to be tough for us as a two in a tournament full of three balls as we would be waiting to play shots a lot, especially we found that to be the case in the first round as play was slow.

I got announced on to the first tee and hit a little fade into the right rough that left me around 135 yards to the flag, which was cut on the right edge of the green, therefore the play was to aim at the flag or just to the left of it and let the wind bring it across to the middle of the green. I aimed at the flag, being the fool that I am, and hit it dead straight. The ball landed just past the flag and took a hard bounce into the rough at the back of the green on a downslope which made it impossible for me to get the ball close with my chip. I ended up making a double bogey 6 from nowhere, when better course management would have seen me start with a par no doubt.

Again on the second the pin was cut on the right edge of the green and I aimed to the left  side to give me a chance even if I missed the putting surface, I didnt get anywhere near the putting surface as I topped my 3 wood short and ended up knocking an iron onto the green and then putting off the green!. Eventually I got the ball down for 5 for another double bogey, a horrendous start. It didnt get better on the 3rd hole as I topped my tee shot into the fairway and hit a 5 wood to the left of the green, chipping on and two putting for a bogey 5.

I then hit a decent drive into the 4th hole and knocked a little wedge on to the green, foolishly taking on the flag, but this time it paid off and I lipped out for birdie to tap in for a par 4. I then hit a decent drive down the middle of the next fairway and hit a hybrid to the right side of the green playing away from the flag as from the fairway it looked like it was in the bunker. I made my two putts and walked away with a par as I did on the par 5 6th. So feeling now like I had steadied the ship a little bit I proceeded to make it rock again!

A poor third shot cost me a bogey on the stroke index 1 par 5 7th hole but I was frustrated with what happened on the 8th. I completely misjudged the wind and hit a good 6 iron into the bushes at the back of the green, hacking out in the end and eventually walking off with a triple bogey 6. The shot I hit was a good one but it was totally the wrong club.

I then hit a good drive down the 9th hole but left my second shot on the front edge of the green and three putted to be 10 over through the front 9 and looking for some inspiration.

I hit a good drive and iron into the 10th green and walked off with par as I did on the 11th. I hit a drive to the left of the neighbouring fairway on the 12th and had a tough shot to the green so decided to aim at the widest part of the green I could see and ignore the flag, unfortunately I pulled the iron shot and got a wicked bounce leaving me with a pitch to the green from the rough behind it. I eventually made a double bogey 6 due to my bad second shot in the main.

I then made two good pars on the 13th and 14th before making bogey on 15 and 16. A par on 17 and a bogey on 18 saw me 5 over on the back 9 and I had got a good swing thought in my head where I make sure my follow through and pose at the end of the swing was a certain way and felt that I could do something in the afternoon, how wrong I was!

I had a break and some liquid refreshment before hitting some practice putts and making my way to the tee for the second round.

With the new swing though firmly in my mind I felt very confident that I could put something together and I hit a great drive down the right hand side of the fairway with my opening tee shot. I had a gap wedge in my hands and plan was to hit a pitch shot at the middle of the green, but I hit it fat and it didnt make the green. This left me with a chip which I left short and two putts to open up with a bogey 5. The 2nd hole was now playing into the teeth of the wind and I hit driver just short of the green, but couldnt get up and down and walked away with a bogey 4, the putter costing me a par.

I hit a good drive down the 3rd but my second shot wasnt up to much and I went through the back of the green and failed to get up and down, missing the four foot putt for par. I then, again, hit a good drive up the 4th hole but foolishly took on the flag over the bunker and this time ended up in it. It took me two attempts to get out and a further two putts to get the ball to drop, leaving me with a double bogey 6.

Another good drive(the real strength of my play back 9 of the first round and second round) down the 5th and I had a 9 iron to the flag. The wind was blowing hard from the right so I decided to aim for the middle of the green and let the wind bring the ball into the flag, which it did, and I holed the putt for my first birdie of the day, and my last as it would turn out!. The two par 5’s (6th and 7th) didnt go to plan, with my play from 150 yards in not very good. I made double bogey 7 on both holes and went to the par 3 8th looking to get something going again, I hit 8 iron and found the green, making my two putts for par. A good drive down the 9th saw me in good position in the fairway but I didnt take advantage, leaving my second shot short and not getting up and down from the front fringe of the green.

I aimed to the left of the fairway on the 10th with my drive but pushed it a little and it stayed on the tree line. When I got down into the trees I found the ball but it took me two attempts to get it out of trouble. I ended up making a 7, with my short game again the problem.

I made a good par on the 11th and hit a great drive down the 12th, right down the middle of the fairway. I had a short shot in and decided to hit a little gap wedge, finding the green and then taking the now standard two putts for par. A good drive followed on the 13th hole but I left my second shot short of the green in the bunker, and couldnt get up and down, again making bogey. A poor tee shot on the 14th left me with a short pitch to the green, but I hit it fat and didnt get on to the putting surface. A chip and a putt saw me walk away with a bogey, but again, my short game had cost me.

Another bogey down the 15th afterhitting a wide tee shot, saw me walking to the 16th tee with no chance of a good score, but strangely I felt good about a lot of aspects of my game, and optimistic about fixing the bad parts.

I hit a good drive and then an 8 iron to the green, but failed to make par after missing a tap in for par.

I hit a 3 wood down the 17th and ended up with a par and then made a triple bogey down the last after finding the deep rough with my drive, a good drive but pushed a little and it went on the breeze into the deep stuff.

Overall, disappointed with my score, but quite happy with the areas of my game where I have struggled recently. No penalty shots, which is a bonus after the last few weeks, but short game is in need of some real work over the next few days before I play in the midweek medal.

On a different track, it was great to see Miguel Angel Jimenez win in Paris, showing age is no restriction to real talent out on tour. Even better was seeing Justin Rose win for the second time in 3 tournaments in America, a real inspiration for good golf.

Well done GMac

Inspiration to be as good a golfer as possible came from watching Graeme McDowell last night winning the US Open, superb.

Rory McIlroy thinks it is possible!

Hi Chris, I think if you want to get to a plus handicap you’ll really have to start playing other courses and also in county events and stuff like that. If you work hard and really dedicate yourself then I don’t see why you couldn’t do this. Just spend as much time as you can on the range, especially on pitching and chipping and see how it goes. I wish you the best of luck, Rory

Griffin Salver – 5th June – 36 holes

On Friday night I couldn’t decide if I wanted to play in the 36 hole Griffin Salver competition at my home club and when my playing partner pulled out I cancelled my tee time. After a couple of hours I text my mate who had pulled out of a tournament he should have been playing in and we decided to put our names down again for the 36 holes teeing off our first round at 740am.

I started my first round playing some really solid stuff and was level par thru 6 holes, unfortunately I made a complete mess of the 7th and recorded a quadruple bogey!, but then recorded pars on the 8th and 9th to steady the ship. Unfortunately I then went triple bogey-double bogey to go 9 over gross thru 11 and wreck a lot of the good play I had put in. Steady play from then on though so me card a 13 over par 82 first round total. But I was already out of the tournament as some really low numbers where being carded so I went out for the second round just trying to get under par and shave some shots off my handicap.

Again I started off fairly steady and was 2 over thru 9 thanks to a birdie on the 9th, bogeys on 10 and 11 though saw me 4 over gross, but again I kept it steady until the 16th where I went quadruple bogey,bogey,bogey to finish 10 over gross and level par nett!

I played some good stuff at times but have no confidence in my swing and trying to avoid the push I ended up hitting  a cut with the driver. With my irons and wedges I was quite consistent but any flag on the left of the green was a no hope and I had to just aim at the flag and push it to the middle or right side of the green. Putting is becoming a bit of an issue and I need to spend some time on this area of my game as I am just not making the birdie putts. I hit 10 greens in regulation in both rounds and only made 1 birdie so to progress I really need to start making more birdies again.

Plus on the holes where I am not hitting the green it is a mix of bad tee shots meaning that I cant get there in regulation or I’m just missing the green and am not getting up and down. First round I got up and down only twice and Second round only once, so again short game work needed plus hopefully the work on putting should help too.

I’ve got a session with my coach tomorrow night for the first time in a while and we are going to work on the swing to get rid of this push and hopefully build confidence again so I know where the ball is going. I will try to play one night this week and then I need to spend time on short game and putting to really get myself ready for next Saturdays open at Windermere.

I put the Bridgestone B330 RX back into play yesterday after a long time out of the bag and will probably get some more for next weekend as I like the ball and how it reacts to iron shots plus the length off the driver. Still not sure on a permanent ball of choice as I like the Penta TP and Callaway Tour is too but for the moment its the Bridgestone offering that is in play.

Just finished watching the European Tour event from Celtic Manor on Sky Sports HD. Course looks superb and for two players to battle it out like Davies and McDowell did in the final round was excellent. Good to see Gmac get the victory and propel himself into the Ryder Cup reckoning. Going to sit down now and watch the PGA Tour coverage from Muirfield Village to see if Rickie Fowler can close it out.

Weekends golf in poor weather

Played 18 holes at home club yesterday in the rain and 18 holes today in an Open competition at Morecambe in howling wind, the wind being so bad that standard scratch for the competition was 5 over par and handicap adjustments where for deductions only.

I had a no return yesterday after I lost my drive on the 18th and as I was 11 over at that point I felt there was no point going back to take another tee shot as best case scenario would have been a double bogey 6 for 13 over and 4 over css to be out of buffer, so I took the 0.1 and moved on to Morecambe.

On Saturday I had a lesson before I went out to play and found myself thinking too much about my swing over the round and on Sunday I just hoped to go with the flow and deal with whatever happened but my swing change had regressed and my takeaway starting causing me problems as I started to pull the ball from the tee, so I changed my pre shot routine to include a practice take away and it worked well mostly, so from now on I will keep this in my pre shot routine to see how it helps.

I started out at Morecambe with a tough tee shot, wind strongly off the left and slightly into and bunkers to carry at 215 yards, so I hit 5 wood to land up short of them but over cut it into the next fairway and had to hit a low 7 iron up to the green under the trees, I rolled through to the back of the green and had a good lie to chip from but left it short on a downslope!, then managed to 3 putt for a terrible double bogey start.

I made bogey down the 2nd and got up and down for a good par after underclubbing at the par 3 3rd hole but although I was hitting some good shots at times I couldn’t seem to score well. I hit the bunkers on the corner of the fairway on the 4th hole and ended up with a bogey, but on the next hole hit a nice 5 iron into the green and made my par.

It was on the 6th hole that I made a poor swing on the tee and pulled a 3 wood out-of-bounds and ended with a triple bogey 7, as I did on the next hole when I pulled a driver into the trees and lost the ball.

Another pulled drive, but safe, on the 8th left me fighting for a bogey and I knew I had to try to work it out before my tee shot on the 9th. I did some drills on the tee and it worked as I launched a good drive exactly to my aim point, but I was left with a 200 yard shot to the flag into the wind, probably a good 4 club wind aswell!. The flag was on the back of this two level McKenzie green and I hit a 3 wood ‘stinger’ off the deck perfectly and it rolled up to around 10 feet from the flag. I missed the first putt and tapped in for a good par. Apparently one of only 2 pars made on the 9th all day!

I hit it short on the 10th and ended with a bogey on the long par 3. But I steadied it up off the tee on the back 9 but my short game wasnt up to scratch especially my chipping which needs more work this week.

I will definitely enter the open at Morecambe next year as it’s a course I think I could do well on.

I’ve now got this week to get some hard practice in as I’ve got a 36 hole comp on Saturday and I feel I’ve got a good score on its way if I can get the putts to drop.

Watched the European Tour, PGA Tour and Seniors Major last night and there was some really good golf on display. Luke Donalds swing is poetry in motion and he looks so solid through the ball and keeps everything in balance. Was hoping to see Brian Davis get a Win last night but unfortunately it didn’t happen and Zack Johnson proved to be a worthy winner and was Tom Lehman in the PGA Seniors Championship.

Also, any readers of this blog can get 10% off purchases at UKKO Clothing (www.ukko.com) by entering the codes UKAMBCB10 at checkout. They have some really smart clothing and I wear the UKKO stuff in most competitions now whilst also sporting a flexfit cap with the company logo on the front.

Anyway, heres to a good weeks practice and a good result next weekend…

How many, 11?

Competition today at our club and I teed off at 3pm in lovely sunshine but in some brutal wind. It was a strange wind too, the opposite of what we have usually, which is a helping right to left wind down the first and into on the second. Today is was helping on the second which makes the first 5 holes play quite tricky as the wind is blowing the ball towards the out of bounds!

After a shocking first tee shot I managed to get a 3 iron up near the green but couldn’t get up and down and had to make do with a bogey to start, the trend continued on the 2nd and 3rd and it looked like it would be one of those days, but a par on 4 steadied the ship a bit, but it was followed by a bogey on the 5th.

I ripped a drive down the 6th and then hit 5 wood near the green, a pitch and a putt saw me make a birdie to turn the corner a bit and get my score going. Pars down 7, 8 and 9 saw me turn in 3 over gross and playing some quality golf in the wind.

The 10th hole was playing tough with the wind blowing towards the trouble on the right, a draw down the left into the wind would be the ideal shot, unfortunately I couldn’t find one, the first or second attempt!

I hit two balls into trouble and then fired a third one down the left, then I knocked that one into the greenside bunker and it took me 3 to get out! Two putts later and my decent card had dissolved and now had an 11 on it!!

I then made par down the next three holes, launching massive drives down the 12th and 13th, on 13 I was 50 yards past my two playing partners. A bogey on the tough par 3 14th was the only blemish on the card until the 18th where I had a daft three putt to record a double bogey for an 82.

It turns out that with the CSS at level par, if I had one putted the  last I would now be off single figures, but I now know it’s not far away and I’m extremely capable of getting there on the majority of todays display.

So based on stableford scoring, for handicap purposes I get a cut of 0.2 to 9.7 and at last it’s going in the right direction!!

I was really happy about how I played though in tough conditions with the wind blowing and the greens very hard and difficult to land the ball on if you wanted it to stop quickly. My play with driver was good and I was launching the ball consistently apart from the ones mentioned above!, and iron play was good too. The putter was ok and I’m still working on my technique on the greens.

No competition next week so it gives me a chance to get some practice in and be ready for the week after.

Now for the pro tours, hopefully Lee Westwood can finish off what he has started at The Players and get his reward for some great play over the last year or so.

Short game in the sunshine

Spent 3 hours this afternoon on the practice ground chipping and pitching to the green we have on there.

It’s an area of my game that needs work and I feel today was exactly what it needed. I worked on chipping from various distances, pitching over a bunker and pitching from 20/30 yards. Plus the green is fairly sloped so I could also work on chipping to a flag down hill and up hill too.

Also worked on 90 yard shots into the green too, which I hit a pitching wedge with a half swing to control it nicely.

We’ve got a medal tomorrow and then Scratch Team on Sunday for a foursomes comp so I’m hoping my game should be in shape for those.

Watched the European Tour from Korea this morning and was surprised to see they have limited the tournament to 54 holes due to the weather issues they are having. John Paramor and Jitti Tampraset (Tournament directors) said: “Following the delays to the first round on Thursday, and after reviewing the amount of golf completed yesterday, it has become clear that the completion of 72 holes within the required time frame is not feasible.  Therefore the 2010 Ballantine’s Championship will be decided over three rounds (54 holes).”

It’s a shame when this happens because of the weather but it’s already looking a fairly good tournament with some big names in good position following their first round scores.

Havent had chance to watch any of the PGA Tour event yet this week but may do tonight at some point hopefully.

So its down to the golf club mid afternoon for me tomorrow for some putting practice before I tee off in the comp, then hopefully back on here to blog my good result!

Alex Noren Website

Great video on Alex Norens website today with him talking about how he feels he hits different shots

I will update on my progress tomorrow!