Just Did Enough

Friday saw a return to some work on my long game and the session was one of those irritating ones where the ball striking wasn't great but you know it is only a fraction out and can't quite find the missing piece. Nonetheless it was going straight most of the time and so plenty to be confident about to take into my match for the club against Oxford City on Saturday. These are friendly affairs, and while everyone is doing their best to secure a win, the emphasis is still on having a good time. We do actually play Oxford City for an annual shield and 2012 saw the tie being played at home.

It's a better ball format of three quarter handicaps and I was paired with Gary McEwan a Scot off 6 handicap. I've played with him a few times and he's usually very steady which is ideal as my game is still a bit hit and miss. We were up against another 6 handicapper and the Oxford City 2010 club captain off 11.

Oxford City is always a fixture to look forward to - really friendly game and great banter whatever the scores and result

I'd topped my tee shot off the first last Sunday in the medal and for some reason felt compelled to repeat the trick. I made the green with the recovery but both Gary and I could only make a bogey four to be one down immediately. I settled into my game and made a par at the next as did my partner which was enough to get a half. Gary won the third with a solid par after I hit the green in regulation and then three putted from thirty feet. We were gifted the fourth when both the Oxford players made bogey. A par was enough for a half at the par five fifth.

I hit the green on the sixth as did Gary. However my putter wasn't required as he drained an outrageous twenty five footer for birdie from the front of the green. Despite being much closer neither of the opposition could find a reply. Two up.

I had a shot at the seventh, stroke index 2. My tee shot was well hit with a touch of draw. Too much in reality and I was blocked out by the large tree on the left side of the hole. Regular readers will know the tree and I have history. I clattered into it last weekend in the medal and no-one saw where the ball finished. The lost ball cost me a double bogey. I was very clear in my mind what I wanted to do. I wanted to take the five iron from 194 yards, aim at the tee box on the eighth and try and hit a big draw/hook. My feeling was that a straight shot would leave a pitch from the tee box, a slight draw would find the bunker and so wouldn't be in bad shape and if I executed then the pressure was really on the opposition. If I hit another ten shots from the same spot I wouldn't execute any that were as good as this. It missed the tree, had a lovely low flight and started on the tee as planned. It turned, and the turned some more pitching about forty yards short and ran into the heart of the green. Two putts and a par. Fair play though, Alan, the previous captain played the hole in far more conventional fashion, hitting the right part of the fairway and then the green and matched me with his shot.

The short par three eighth was halved in par although thanks to my partner as I found sand off the tee. However, I wasn't done yet. I found the fairway on the 400 yard par four ninth. My hybrid approach wasn't a great shot and it was fortunate to miss the left hand trap but landed on the banking beyond. As you MUST know by now chipping is a real issue at the moment. I'd gone back to the linear method at the 11th hour (about an hour before we teed off) and so confidence over the first crucial recovery was sketchy especially with the ball sitting up slightly in a patch of clover. The execution was good but just short of pace. With the opposition both missing the green and only managing a bogey I was left with a left to right putt from twelve feet. It never looked anywhere but in the middle. Par and three up at the turn. I was only three over gross. Rarified air!

Three became four when Gary knocked a birdie putt in at the next. The next two were halved and so standing on the thirteenth we were in a healthy position. I'd parred ten and eleven and made a bogey five gross (net par four) at the twelfth and so was still +4 gross. I missed the green left. The swing was shocking and a hint of what was to come. Again I faced with a tough ask of my new chipping method. Heavy rough and no green to play with. I elected to take the 58 degree wedge. Not a club I use often for chipping but with both Oxford players close in one there was nothing to lose. It flew out perfectly to about six feet but the putter was the culprit and I missed the putt for a half.

And then, the swing went missing. I found the fairway at the fourteenth and was getting a shot. Blocked out by the trees to the right of the fairway I only had to hit a low one down there and chip on. Somehow I found timber and hit it straight into the tree in front. My five iron third missed right and I made a horrid six (net five) although once again my man was there to get a half.

My swing suddenly got really quick. Tempo had gone and the elements of the one plane swing were lost and the club was flailing down the line after impact and the hips were sliding. I've no idea where this came from as I'd been hitting it solidly for the first thirteen holes. I was out of contention on the fifteenth thanks to a misplaced recovery into deep rough never to be seen again but Gary did his bit and made a battling par.

From nowhere the swing vanished. Tempo went, hips slid and it was all a bit of a mess

I was needed to stand up and be counted at the long par four sixteenth though when his drive looked to have gone left out of bounds. My bad shot when I get quick and start sliding instead of turning is a horrid snap hook. With out of bounds some ten yards left of the tee and extending down the length of the drive this wasn't a potent mix. I aimed well right thinking a block or a slice would still be playable. In the end it was a bit of a hook but it found the fairway although a long way out. I went with a five wood to try and get the green. The Oxford boys both went right and were forced to lay up. As we were three up, lying dormie, if I could make a net par then the game was up. I hit the five wood heavy as the swing got even quicker and the hips slid even more.

No damage and it nestled in the light rough about eighty yards short. My pitch found the front edge and I trundled a putt to within four feet. Not a given. I needed to make it for a half and the win and converted although not with any real confidence. It dribbled in rather than dropping with any speed or purpose. Still a 3&2 win is always good. My partner carried me for the large part of the back nine, certainly in the closing stages and so a big debt of thanks to Gary for being so reliable.

Even with the pressure off my last two holes weren't great. I played to or just above my handicap with the lost ball on fifteen which was disappointing but the scores didn't matter in the matchplay format. I was more upset that the swing vanished in the puff of smoke. I've no idea how or why and it isn't the first time recently that tempo has been an issue and that when it goes, the hip slide issues return. I've not got a fix for it on the course and the more I try to slow it down and focus on turning the worse it seems to be.

With the weather set fair for the next few days I'm planning to play a few holes every night and see if doing it for real rather than in practise is the way forward. It'll give me a chance to test the short game and putting too. I still plan to spend at least one night on the short game and another working on the swing. It is in there and getting better but definitely is still to shallow. It is the shallowness that causes the slide. I know that from my lessons but try as I might I can't steepen the path from a nice turn into impact. That'll be one for the next lesson no doubt.

On a positive note that's three club matches I've played this season and so far so good as I'm unbeaten with two wins and a draw. It is coming. The medal last week and the first three quarters of the round yesterday prove that and it isn't always about how the swing looks or feels but how the club travels and controls the ball. The short game is in a better place - FOR NOW - and the putter is warming up again after a frosty fortnight. Plenty to be upbeat about but also plenty to work on. Let's see what happens next.