If you have read my recent posts with my scores, you know that I am having problems with my putting. It makes a huge difference in my scoring and as I mentioned, I need to practice putting more. Tomorrow I will be heading out to play one of the Foxfire courses here in Pinehurst. Here’s a link to a putting tip from Greg Norman for the high handicap golfer that I have been trying. Happy Golfing!
http://www.golfchannel.com/media?guid=42c4e7e1-5167-454f-b2ac-6b95c6c4673f
Today’s challenge for this average golfer was the Hyland Golf Club in Southern Pines. The weather was also a bit of a challenge as the temperature reached 50° and we had light rain. The gold tee rating here is 67.0 with a slope of 124, so the difficulty is above average. Yardage is 5894. Rating, slope and yardage from the white tee is 69.5/133/6337 and blue tees are 72.1/141/6823. It can be a challenging course regardless of your skill level. This average golfer from the gold tees had a 50/51 for 101….but it’s the short game that is causing all the score, as I had three three putts on the front and the same on the back! Shave those three putts to just two and I knock six strokes off my score! Also, I only hit five fairways. There is a lesson in those results….spend more time on the putting green! Happy golfing!
Par 5, No. 5 from a large fairway bunker at Hyland
The No. 6 handicap at Hyland
Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year! May 2014 find all your drives long and straight ( finding lot of F’s on your card); your irons hot; your sand wedge in your bag; your fairways woods in the fairway ( where they are meant to be) and one putts on the green! I’ll be blogging from Pinehurst starting the 29th. Stay safe, stay healthy and here’s a cheer to the game we can all play well into our 90’s!
In a previous post, I mentioned that my winter golf in Pinehurst will start at the end of December. Until then all I can do is look out at the snow here in the northeast and think about golf. The average golfer shoots 100 and I’m in that average. My goal is to be in the low 90’s for a good round. My last round in Pinehurst back in November I shot a 94 at Whispering Pines East course with 36 putts! That really shows how important the short game is, especially once you are on the green. Mentally I know that I have to improve on the green…physically I have to make it happen. Looking back at that last round, removing five putts would have me in the 80’s for that round. I learn a lot from my Pinehurst golfing buddies, so I refer to them often. The buddies say that 30 putts a round is good. Guess I better do what everyone says to do…spend more time on the practice green and your score will stay out of the 100’s!!!! It could even get into the 80’s.
We know that when we hit a driver or iron we are supposed to keep our head down, but the same is true of the putter. The experts will tell you that you should strike the ball and then look up just prior to the ball reaching the cup or, even better, wait to hear the ball drop in the cup before looking. One of my Pinehurst golf buddies noticed that I was looking too soon and asked me if I saw the black dot. My response was “what black dot”? He said, ” the one you will see if you keep your head down”. Sure enough, once I kept my head down, after striking the ball and leaving my head down, you see a black dot the size of the golf ball after the ball leaves. It’s an obvious optical illusion, but it is there and it is a sure fire way to tell if you are keeping your head down. Try it and see for yourself.
golf and more golf 