Playing Lesson - Putting It Into Action

As you will know, the winter has been a period of swing changes. I've worked hard on implementing these and had relished the chance to put it into action on the course. Naturally, the weather intervened and I've only played a handful of rounds this year. However in practice on the range and in my lessons with Rhys ap Iolo at the Downshire Golf Centre I am hitting it great but put me on the course and old habits die hard. Rhys wanted to take me out for a playing lesson. Not only would it let him see how I perform on the course but he could give me some pointers, particularly on the short game while in a real life scenario.

It has been a very long time since I've had a playing lesson. I've always found these enlightening and in truth should perhaps have done it more often. To be honest though today had the feel of an appraisal and it was if Rhys was marking me on my work over the winter. It added a certain piquancy to the proceedings.

To be fair to the Downshire, it had dried out fantastically given the hammering it has taken, along with most courses locally, over recent weeks, with snow and above average rainfall. It was still bitterly cold on the first tee as I watched Rhys crack a driver straight down the middle. I'd gone for a three wood off the tee and hit it solidly but pulled it left. I was forced to lay up but it gave me a chance to play a simple chip and run and show Rhys the progress I'd made since our short game lesson. Naturally, I did what I've been doing regularly and hit it heavy. We discussed my thought process, how I saw the shot, where I wanted to land it and how I executed. Add in an ugly three putt from twenty five feet and it was a lovely double bogey to open.

I hit a cracking drive off the second tee. My second was a wee bit heavy but I only had 129yards left. It should have been a smooth eight iron but again I caught it heavy and it came up short. I was left with a tricky shot over the back bank of a bunker to a tight pin. I took my most lofted wedge intent on carrying all the way. Again I didn't execute well although much better than it use to be. Rhys then showed me another way of playing it, putting the ball way back in the stance and trying to almost hook it in. The way he played it and pinched it off the turf, it flew lower and landed and grabbed. I tried it but couldn't get my head around how far back it felt and how inside I felt I had to swing. Still, this was the whole point of the lesson, to try new things and work on my technique.

The third at Downshire is a short par three. The white tee box is tucked away to the left and makes it a tighter shot. It was an eight iron for me and I found the green to make my first par. The tee shot at the fourth is a long, long way back from the tee of the day. I hit my tee shot well but it started a little left and caught a tree and landed just in front of the ladies tee. I hit another and nailed it just to prove I could. I was forced to lay up short of the ditch that crosses the fairway some fifty yards short of the green. My third found the green. I didn't make a good read and three putted.

The fourth is a shortish par four around three hundred and fifty yards. It is a sharp dog leg to the right with a ditch across it at around two hundred and twenty yards. It has been a hole that has never set up well to my eye and as my predominant shot was always a right to left it was always a tough tee shot. I took the three wood and hit it well but down the right. My six iron was just through the green. I had a step to go up to a pin ten feet on the green off a downhill lie. I wanted to hit a wedge but Rhys pointed out the lie took loft off the club and upped it to the 58 degree wedge. To be honest in a competitive game it was a putter all day long but he wanted to test me. He asked me to play it way off the back foot in the same way as we had done at the second. It took a few attempts but finally I got the feeling and knocked it close. Not a shot I would have considered playing but I can see where this will have its merits and is another I need to practice more often.

I hit another superb drive down the next and was faced with 167 yards in. There is a ditch short for anything heavy and a deep bunker front left. The green slopes back to front and the wind was off the right. I aimed a good fifteen yards right. I caught it a little thin but it landed nicely on the putting surface fifteen feet away. Two putts later and I made a solid par. The next is a par three over water. Off the back tee it measured 157 yards. Right in between a five and six iron. I took the longer club. I caught it a little thin as well but it found the green. I coxed the putt to a foot for another par.

The eighth is a straight away par four. I usually take my three wood but today I hit driver. Another great drive and I was left with 82 yards. It would be a 52 yard wedge but with the wind against I opted for a three quarter pitching wedge. I hit it as planned. The work I had done on distance control recently paid off. The birdie putt just shaved the edge.

The last hole on the front nine is a par five.  They are doing a lot of work to remodel the hole with a new bunker right. With one on the left it makes the drive a lot tighter. My drive just about cleared the new trap on the right in the light rough. I hit a good fairway wood and was left with a simple wedge in. I nailed it and hit it too well. I was forty five feet away. The aim was simply to get it close but before I tried Rhys took the opportunity to go through some green reading. I use the Aimpoint method http://aimpointgolf.com/ but given the length of the putt and the fact that from the halfway point it started to go downhill we broke it down into two stages. We took the first twenty five feet and read the break and then repeated the process for the second part of the putt and then added the two reads together. I hit it a little firm and ran it three feet past but given the distance I was reasonably happy. I made the return for another par.

Rhys was actually quite happy with everything. I have a few things to tweak and the short game still needs attention but it was a worthwhile process. I didn't make a complete fool of myself as I had feared and my game was actually in a better place than I thought. Rhys didn't over fill my mind with thoughts as we played but waited until I had played the shot before going over what had happened. What he did get me to do was go through my routine on every shot, something I don't always do. It does make a difference.

All in all, it was an afternoon well spent. If you have never had a playing lesson, find yourself a pro and play a few holes. It will open your eyes to how they see the shot compared to you. They will have much more defined targets, will have an area they will miss on and one they won't risk. How many of us, myself included just see the green and the flag and fire without giving it too much thought. It has definitely opened my eyes.

It is Haig Cup weekend at Royal Ascot. This is a bogey competition over the four days of the Easter weekend and you can choose which two days you play. I came second last year with a score that would have won six out of the last seven years but I was usurped by a guy who had a career round in the second round. His second round total was better than my combined score and added to his good first round meant he won it at a canter. I had been nervous going into it as I simply haven't played enough but today has given me a renewed confidence. I am working towards a short game with more shots and adventure and not one dimensional as I have been. That will take time but with the clocks changing this week I can now go out after work and attack it. All in all today has been a good day. The glass is half full and the arc of the curve is upwards.