Another Forward Step

Whilst golfing activities remain somewhat curtailed compared to what I'd like, and certainly I feel my season has yet to start in full glory, what little golf I have been playing has had a lot of good stuff attached to it. If only I was able to do more. That will come

The great British weather has continued to be wet, unusually cold and very windy and while the intent to work on the game remains strong, the actual amount of practice was limited. Indeed with the Jubilee Cup looming yesterday on the bank holiday, and with a weekend away with the wife already booked, I was acutely aware that my playing partner would be severely let down by my lack of playing or practice. As a result I adjourned to the range last Friday. The results weren't pretty but I was getting club on ball. I even managed to cash some brownie points in with the wife and dashed straight from the weekend away to the club to work on my swing, my short game and my putting. She's a wonderful lady!

The Jubilee Cup is a better ball, stableford event. I am actually a previous winner, way back in 2010 but these days I'm a gun for hire without a regular playing partner these days. I managed to get a game with Geoff Jones, a stalwart of the Saturday roll up and off his handicap a very handy man to have on his day. CONGU have changed the way the handicap is worked out and under the old format of three quarter handicap I was due to play off 10 but the new format is 90% and so I got 11 shots. Happy days.

I have still been playing around with short game techniques, particularly in the pitching department. I want to nail my colours firmly to the linear method (I've spoken about it before and plenty on here to digest if you search for "linear" on here, but this is a taste of where I am - http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/2016-looking-forward-to-it.html). I have to be honest for bunker play it is by far the best method I've used. Getting it to work on the chipping and pitching has been a bigger and ongoing issue but I had a positive session on Sunday with linear pitching and chipping, and took it out into my warm up before the Jubilee Cup. It was now about trying to trust it on the course. That however is something I could say about all aspects of my game

My warm up was all about tempo. It had been the key to my last good round in the weekend roll up. I started with pitching, and the linear method was working nicely. I moved onto the full swing, and clicked into a good posture and even better tempo. All was rosy and I was keen to get out and get it on. I ventured to the practice bunker. The linear method of escaping the sand was on point. I had a few balls left. I should have left them where they were but had to go and try and hit a few more seven irons. Suddenly the swing was quicker, I was swaying on the takeaway and all the good work in the previous half an hour unravelled.

I was still determined to do my best to support my partner and so the snap hook off the first wasn't what I envisaged. It actually found a good lie, fortunate not to find the pond and definitely lying better than it deserved. I hit a good recovery but came up short, and into sand. I made a nasty double bogey but Geoff came to the rescue. I hit a sweet approach to three feet to set up a birdie opportunity at the next which I duly converted. We were off and running. Well, until the next hole at least. I went into a hazard off the tee, courtesy of a swing way too fast in tempo and which had too many moving parts. I made a decent double bogey and this time Geoff could do no more than match my score.

We were combining well as a pair. So well in fact that we managed to amass a very credible 21 points going out. Ahead of the card and chugging along nicely. The partnership faced its first crisis at the tenth. I went way left again, and was fortunate a second time, to a) find it at all and b) find it in such a playable lie. I scrambled a net par as my partner had issues of his own. I then produced arguably my shot of the round, drawing a hybrid into the 178 yard par three, playing into the teeth of a strengthening breeze to set up the easiest of pars (net birdie). I then took a back seat for a few holes as my partner came to the fore but was on hand again at the fifteenth to sink a crucial four foot putt for par.

We needed a steady finish. No heroics and no silly mistakes and we were on course to post a decent score. Probably not a winning score but one that may have picked up the minor placings. We both had problems on the sixteenth and for the first time, had conspired to have a bad hole simultaneously. Geoff could only make a double bogey six and I had a three foot putt to improve on that with a bogey (net par). I had worked hard the day before on my short putts and holing out in that crucial area from two to four feet. I had been holing out well all round. I took my Aimpoint read, picked my spot, made sure I was still over the putt and let the putter head flow back and through. The ball travelled towards the hole, actually started to descend and then somehow decided to do a full lap of honour and pop back up and finished, almost mocking me, behind the hole. We had dropped a point at a vital time.

As my handicap has just rolled over to thirteen, I'd normally get a shot at the 218 yard par three penultimate hole. Not today off the 90% mark. My tee shot was right and came up short. It left me a knee knocking pitch off a downhill lie, over a bunker to a tight pin with the green running away. I could see the shot I wanted to play, pitching it on the up slope on the back of the bunker, and letting it take a hop forward and down towards the flag. Irrespective of which short game technique I was embracing, this wasn't an easy shot. Trust the work you'd put in. Trust your feel. Trust your club selection. Trust and execute. If there was ever a moment to see how my linear method was working this was it. It was a pivotal moment coming off the back of the last hole farce. I swung the club. It popped up, cleared the bunker, pitched in my landing zone and meandered towards the hole. In the end it ended up four feet past but it was as good as I could have done. The job wasn't done and I needed the putt. This was a harder putt than the one on the last hole but this time there was no mistake. I made it and saved a crucial par.

The last was playing right back into the wind and as it's a par five uphill with water guarding the green, eating into the front and the right, it proved impossible for my partner and I to manipulate our second shots into a position that made attacking the green a viable option. It would come down to a pitch and putt to make a par (net birdie). In the end, while we both played good shots, we couldn't coax the ball in. We had to make do with a level par eighteen points coming in. Nothing too shabby in that and with twenty one going out, it was thirty nine points in total. In the end, we came sixth. There were three sides on forty points and four on thirty nine. If that putt at the sixteenth had dropped we would have been in the mix. You can say that about any round though can't you. It's all ifs and maybes and had you done this, that or the the other, it could have been so different.

2016 Jubilee Cup statistics

Now the dust has settled, I'm pleased with how Geoff and I combined. It was a partnership that showed some potential, and it's regretful that he already has a regular partner. I will continue to hire myself out (normally to the lowest, nay, only bidder) and hope sooner or later I can find someone willing to join forces with me on an ongoing basis. With my health beginning to improve to a degree, my season is finally ready to blossom and I can get fully into my golf.

A Forward Step - Progress Definitely Being Made

I am still looking at all things short game. That's really where I see my potential to save shots and anything approaching a functional chipping, pitching and bunker game, combined with a solid putting stroke can make a real difference to my scores. In fact, it's my putting that has been a weak link and I'm averaging 34.30 putts per round this season compared to an impressive 31.71 last year. It's things like par scrambles I need to work on, down at just 14% in 2016. That's why most of my practice is focused on the short game. I'm sticking to the linear method. No I mean it this time. I really mean it. This is what I feel more comfortable using, this is what I have used before and what I know can produce results. I've still got my lesson with Gary Smith, the founder of this technique, a Christmas present from my wife, to utilise. I'm hoping this will refine what I am doing and iron out the inevitable flaws I have at the moment.

All in all, there is a rather satisfying air of optimism and last weekend has definitely been another forward step. Now my recent health issues appear to have been sorted (touch wood) and having found a swing and tempo that for the moment is working, I can really get my teeth into my game. I really enjoy working on my game. I've said many times that golf has never come easily and any successes I've achieved have come about by determination, hard work, some sheer bloody mindedness and every now and again a bit of decent playing. I have mentioned that while I remain unbowed in my belief that I can and will get to single figures, 2016 is a season of taking stock, making sure I am back to 100% health and not worry where the handicap goes.

There is still a lot of room to improve in all areas. Getting it right on and around the green is my focus. I want to be the best short game player in the club. Arguably an unrealistic goal, certainly a lofty one, but if you don't set the bar high what have you got to aim for. I play with a large number of members in the monthly competitions, of varying handicaps. What I see on a frequent basis is that many, while not long off the tee and so unable to attack many holes, including some of the longer par threes, many have honed a solid short game. The only area I would say many struggle in, is bunker play. This is something I feel the linear method gives me an advantage in as it really utilises the bounce of the club.

Onwards and upwards dear reader. Short game practice and then a full weekend of playing, including the monthly medal on Sunday. I am back in a good place with a renewed mojo from such a good golfing performance. It is definitely starting to come. I am happy, positive and engaged. I've not been able to write that for a while. Forward steps dear reader. Very big and positive forward steps.

It's Been A While

It's been a while in all senses of the word. My golfing exploits have been seriously curtailed in recent weeks with the ongoing health issues. Practice has been sporadic and so with little to report, there has been a lull in proceedings on here.

I had managed an appearance in the monthly medal at the start of the month. With a lack of golf, especially on the course, I was pleased to avoid any major embarrassment and carded a net 76 (+6) and finished thirteenth in division one. I'm now playing off 13 (12.5 to be exact). The good news however is with the warmer weather, I've started to work on the game a little more and have been playing more golf. Granted last weekend wasn't fantastic and form was shocking and I hit the ball terribly and although I've tried to graft through it at the range, form was patchy at best. My pitching issues returned, partly through a lack of application on my part and partly through dabbling again with various techniques and eventually getting caught between a rock and a hard place.

Before I was taken ill, I put my name on the list for the inter-club matches and was surprised to see my name down in the home game on Saturday against local rivals Maidenhead Golf Club. These matches are hard fought, but are generally friendly games. Some have a small trophy up for grabs (sadly not this one). They aren't as cut throat as some of the knockout matches, usually county or national events, where the better players are representing the club in an attempt for glory.

I was partnered with an old golfing partner Derek Williams. In all honesty, the match was done and dusted by the fifth as we surged into a five up lead. In fairness to the opposition, they never really got started and made a number of poor shots early on. I did rub salt in the wound with an outrageous birdie at the fourth with a viciously curving putt from fifteen feet. They rallied a degree but we were still four up at the turn.

Maidenhead Golf Club

We lost the eleventh to give them a just a hint of a comeback. We won the tricky twelfth courtesy of receiving a shot, and I then hit my shot of the day at the 186 yard thirteenth, sticking a five wood to ten feet for a winning par. We won the fourteenth in relative comfort to tie up the match 5&4. The damage was done early on and had the opposition played the front nine as they had the back, it could have been a tighter game. Overall the match was tied 3-3. Despite the win, I didn't actually play that well. Patchy would describe it well. Some good and some rank rubbish in there as well.

Sunday saw me returning to the scene of the crime. A fortnight ago in the Sunday roll up I posted my lowest ever points score. There is a tradition in the roll up that the lowest score is dubbed "bitch of the day" and as a result has to order the drinks at the bar and serve them to the tables for the other competitors, paid for from the winnings of the roll up top scorer. It was my first time I'd suffered this mis-fortune and the banter was savage and incessant. I wasn't going to repeat the experience in a hurry.

The day dawned cold, but sunny and I stood on the first tee with no expectations, especially given the dodgy form in the match the day before. I had warmed up well and had a good tempo and was striking it reasonably well. My opening tee shot was well hit but left into a bunker. I've struggled with this facet, mainly as the practice bunker has been waterlogged for long periods. It came out well and softly and finished eight feet away. The putt was sweet and dropped for a sandy par.

At the second, I had 176 yards in. I nailed a four iron and assumed it would be on the green. However came up short. Annoying but I was pleased with the shot. The trick was repeated at the third when I hit an equally good five iron which was reluctant to find the green and came up short. I chipped to six feet but missed the putt. Up and down pars at the next two holes and I was on a roll. I gave one back at the sixth, something of a bogey hole for me. However again, I hit the hybrid as well as I could and just missed the green left. It was on a horrid, wet muddy lie and so I did well to get it to six feet but couldn't make par. That was redeemed at the next where I hit a quality five wood from 221 yards and which this time found the green for a safe par.

If you are a regular reader, you will know that in 2015 and in the rare games of 2016, many of my rounds, good, bad or indifferent were regularly blighted by car crash holes. Despite being in the midst of my best round this year, I had one of those moments again. Having found a bunker right of the green at the 139 yard eighth, I thinned the bunker shot, sculled the pitch back into sand and thinned another bunker shot. I pitched on, even though I couldn't add to the stableford tally and walked off with a quadruple bogey. I simply cannot stop chucking these stupid mistakes in.

I made a net par at the ninth and walked off with eighteen points for the front nine. With that calamity on the eighth, in there, I could still have gone out well under handicap for the opening half. As you'll see this was going to have ramifications.

I was in a calm place. For the first time in months, I had an air of serenity, was making some excellent club selections and swinging the club wonderfully well with a superb tempo. My drive on the tenth wasn't the best but found the fairway. I nailed another long iron, a four iron, which this time found the green. I drained a twelve foot downhill for a birdie. I made a small mess on the next, with a double bogey courtesy of a duffed pitch into sand but bounced back again with a par at the hardest hole, stroke index 1. A great drive with a hint of fade around the dog leg, a five wood that again was well struck and again came up short, I chipped past the hole and made another fifteen footer.

I was steady until the sixteenth where I made a double. A net par at the penultimate was followed by a par at the last. I hit a six iron from 146 yards at the last to ensure I cleared the pond lurking to the right of the green. I pushed it and was worried it would find a watery grave. It bounced and I found it on the green. I nestled it down to the hole side for a par. Back in nineteen points, under handicap and a total of thirty seven points. It was leading in the clubhouse and so the "bitch" ghost had been laid to rest. With a big turnout, there was a decent kitty up for grabs and it was heading my way until a player in the last group came in with a 38 point tally. How I was left to rue that mockery I made of the eighth. However it was my best round of the year by a long way.

17th April roll up statistics

I was pleased with the way I played and for a vast amount of the round I hit the ball wonderfully. It's that one car crash hole again that leaves a bitter taste and takes the gloss off what was a good golfing day. It's been a while, especially in terms of playing that well and given everything going on off the course health wise, it's hard to be too picky. However as my health improves as I hope it will and I play more and more, if I want to be competitive, start getting some handicap cuts and generally posting good numbers, then I still need to find a way to stop these. It's still on the agenda to have a session with Andy Piper, the teaching pro I use at Lavender Park Golf Centre in Ascot, to talk about the mental side, NLP thinking and finding a way to stop these silly mistakes.

If I could save the way I felt warming up, my tempo, inner peace and sheer enjoyment of the day, I would love to be able to recall it on those days it isn't clicking. Sadly I can't but hoping it's a sign of better things to come. I am trying to work mainly on the short game aspects and limiting myself to one practice session on the full swing a week. That should make sure I don't over do it from a health perspective and will stop me ingraining swing faults or becoming stale. The short game from a hundred yards in still remains the focus of my attention.

It is so refreshing to give you a glimmer of positivity regarding the golf. Of course I'm acutely aware that my form seems to come and go in a heartbeat at times but with social golf the order of the day this coming weekend I can go out and relax with good company and simply try and repeat the feeling of calm and exquisite tempo I had on Sunday. I am planning to work more on the short game as the pitching in particular is still a concern and I need to make more up and downs with my chipping.

Apologies to one and all for the delay in bringing any form of communique to you and glad that when it came it had a win in a match (and Derek Williams and I stretch our unbeaten run) and that my individual form has, for now turned a corner. I'm hoping to be on here more often as there's a lot of golf, a few ideas for something a little different to bring you, and the odd bit of kit to review. It's been a while. I won't leave it so long next time.

Journey's End - Who Knows?

If you have been reading my recent posts, you'll be aware that I've recently had some medical issues and I write this with a heavy heart. It seems that there are going to be some ongoing issues, in terms of balance and eyesight, at least in the short term. Given this I'm not going to be able to play as much golf as I'd like or practice as hard as I'd want. I'm only going to be able to golf when my health dictates and will be on a very much as and when basis. This means that while I remain totally convinced that there is a single figure golfer in there, trying to break out, I am calling time, short term at least, on Homer's Odyssey and my pursuit to single figures and just trying to get out and play when I can and enjoy the chance to do so without worrying about the effect it has on my handicap. I am assuming this will start to see a steady rise northwards until I get myself fit and healthy again.

However the good news (or bad if you aren't a fan) is this isn't journey's end and I will still be posting on my trials and tribulations, equipment I've tried, and review gadgets and events I've used or attended.

That brings me nicely to the monthly medal last Sunday, which was also a qualifier for the Royal Ascot Cup a matchplay event where the top eight men, qualify to play the top eight women in the knockout event. To be honest, (and always good to get excuses in early) I felt really unwell in my warm up, going dizzy and feeling very light headed. If it wasn't for the fact that the third member of our group didn't show and I felt compelled to go out and mark the card for my playing partner, I'd have withdrawn.

I actually started reasonably well with a net par on the opening two holes before the round began to unravel with a quadruple bogey at the third and a triple at the next, including and ugly four putt. I was struggling with concentration, balance, tempo and co-ordination and felt totally out of sorts. I managed a couple pars before another ugly double bogey at the shortest hole on the course put the skids on any thought of a comeback with the failure to escape from a bunker being the culprit. I then managed to par the tricky 400 yard ninth. It was a case of one step forward and two backwards.

March 2016 Medal Statistics

I actually started the back nine with a degree of form and three net pars, although I didn't find a fairway or green in regulation and I was working flat out to get anything. My ball striking was solid but I seemed to lack any power and my distance was a long way down on normal. Bad shots were weak slices to the right. I didn't know why and couldn't find a remedy. Sadly, by the fourteenth, I was a spent force and back to feeling very dizzy over the ball and struggling. I was resigned to getting my 0.1 back on the handicap taking me to 12.5 and now playing off 13 and to be honest I was just wanted to get round and get home. A run of double, single, double bogey, killed off any waning enthusiasm and even though I hit the green at the 218 yard penultimate hole, a rare feat in recent times even at full fitness, for a par, I topped my tee shot into the hazard in front of the tee at the last, and struggled to a closing triple bogey. The score was an irrelevance really but it was two nines of 47 for a gross 94, nett 82 (+12) and a 17th place finish in division one.

I'm not sure where my golfing future is going to take me. I simply cannot keep playing feeling as bad as I did last weekend and so I will be picking and choosing when I can play depending on how I feel on any particular day. It has put the skids under my chances to chase down single figures in 2016. I've been told the prognosis going forward is positive, but still have a barrage of tests to get through. However, what it has done in a bizarre sort of way is change the game plan totally.

While I've always enjoyed my golf, good bad or indifferent, and certainly enjoyed the hard work and time I've invested trying to improve all aspects, by parking the pursuit of single figures, at least for now, it has opened up the opportunity to simply go out and play, and swing with perhaps more freedom. The handicap is going up. That I'm afraid is an inevitability, although if I have a good day, then with more shots, I could be very, very dangerous. I still plan to practice when I can, but this is going to be restricted to all things short game. No bad thing in itself.

This isn't some woe is me tale, Crap happens to everyone at some point or another and it's how you deal with it that defines how bad you let things get. I'm back playing over the Easter weekend in our annual bogey even at Royal Ascot Golf Club. This is matchplay against the course in essence, and players must play two round over the four day Easter period, but can choose which days they want to play. I've already played my first round on Good Friday. I am still blighted with a lack of distance, especially off the tee and I played very poorly, but managed to cobble a reasonable score of three down to the course. If I can play that badly and still score reasonably, in relative terms. then there has to be hope going forward once I sort the swing issues out. I'm due to play tomorrow (Easter Sunday) but with gale force winds and very heavy rain showers due throughout, it's going to be a round of attrition.

I have no expectations tomorrow or for the 2016 season going onwards. Is it journey's end? Who knows but I don't think so in the longer term. It simply means I need to work even harder to get the shots off and that after this hiatus I am just starting from a higher point. The intent and the belief remains the same, to get down to single figures. In the meantime, I intend to simply play until I get the clean bill of health and then it's pedal to the metal and flat out to make up for lost time. Who knows, this may even be a weight lifted off my shoulders. There have been many, both at my club and on social media, that have said that my goal has become a burden and in fact has held my golf and progress back. They say I try too hard, work on too many things, have to many swing thoughts and generally get in my own way. Well these unforeseen circumstances and the break in trying to get to single figures will see if they were right.

This is far from journey's end but a short term change of focus and direction. I've become acutely aware that health and family come a long way before trying to get better at golf and while I won't let recent events define me, I have to listen to the medical advice and my body. Getting out for any sort of golf or practice is a bonus at the moment so I plan to seize these with renewed vigour and swing freely, enjoy the surroundings and the company and not worry at all about the score. There's a long way to go with Homer's Odyssey and it isn't over by a long way. Have a great Easter and enjoy your golf.

Aimpoint Express

Turn on the TV coverage of any golf tournament across any of the tours and you'll see a bunch of players on the green waving their fingers in the air. Are they checking the wind or sending some weird semaphore signals? No. What they are doing is reading the break in the green using Aimpoint Express.

As a regular reader reader of this humble offering (what do you mean you aren't?) you will know that several years ago I attended an Aimpoint clinic to learn the original chart based method of reading greens (Aimpoint Clinic) which has transformed the way I read greens and being universal has allowed me to get accurate reads even on courses I've never seen before.

However times have changed and so has Aimpoint. What you see on the TV is the latest incarnation of green reading which has taken the time taken to get an accurate read down to a matter of 15-20 seconds and has done away with the necessity to carry the chart with you. Like the graph based system it's accurate and universal to any green and any stimp speed.

My course was at Downshire Golf Centre and the class consisted of Jamie Donaldson, Aimpoint's Senior European Instructor (http://jamiedonaldson.co.uk/) who works with a number of tournament professionals to use and understand the process, Rhys ap Iolo, teaching professional at Downshire, and one other pupil which meant we got a lot of expert one on one tuition. In essence the Express system allows a player to use his feet to gauge the percentage of slope and then relate that to the number of fingers to use in the read. Of course it isn't quite as simple as that and there are differing techniques based on this principal for reads from 1-6 feet, 7-20 feet and over 20 feet. We also learnt how to deal with those annoying double breaking reads too.

Adam Scott looking at another Aimpoint read

Now I know what all the naysayers and doubters will be saying. It's mumbo jumbo and sticking fingers in the air can't possible work. I can't give you the mechanics and science behind it, and if you have any questions I suggest you either a) book a lesson and try it for yourself, b) contact Jamie directly (or a US based teacher at http://www.aimpointgolf.com/findInstructor) or c) google it. The bottom line is simple. The chart worked and Express works equally as well and is much quicker. If it was a fad or rubbish, why would Scott, ladies number one Lydia Ko and a host of others put their chances of winning in jeopardy with something that doesn't work?

The session started with learning to feel how slope changes on a green and getting a personal reference point for gradient ranging from 1-5% and once we practiced making a decision on the percentage on a number of putts on Downshire's undulating practice green, it was time to start with those pesky 1-6 foot putts. We learnt how to make the read and then wandered around the green, making various reads and then more importantly trying to sink the putt. Even moving out to the 5-6 foot range, usually a problem, I was making a good number of these and those that missed were good reads and usually a result of not starting the putt where I aimed. That of course isn't unique to Aimpoint and it doesn't matter how you read a putt, if you can't start the ball on line regularly then you won't make many putts.

There is a different way of taking the read for those mid distance putts which again we learnt and then put into practice trying to make putts. I knew from using the chart that sometimes the amount of break you are being told by the Aimpoint read seems huge and there could be no possible way it was that big a slope. However time and again, we all set the ball out where the read told us and time and again the ball took the break and all scared the hole and left a tap in of a few inches, or dropped. It's wonderful for the confidence to see the ball disappear and you only need a couple of these per round to really make a difference to scores and handicaps.

The longer putts follows the same methodology of using the feet to gauge the percentage of slope but again the way the break is actually read is different and spread over the length of the putt. The expectation of holing anything over 20 feet is low, even for tour professionals and so at my humble mid-handicap level, it's about not three putting and making the second putt as stress free as possible. As slope percentage increased, so does the amount of break and having finally found a vicious side hill putt I gauged at 5% slope I needed Jamie to explain how to read it. I'm not planning on leaving too many of these and in truth, my putt wasn't great but that was down to pace and not the read. Second time around I put the ball next to the hole so the read wasn't the culprit.

Once we had a final round up and a question and answer session to clear any remaining problems it was a case of staying out there and working on green reading and making the putts. Now as I've alluded, while Aimpoint is proven to give repeatable and accurate reads, it still requires the player to make a solid stroke on the putt which relies on solid technique. That comes down to me getting out there and working on my stroke, something that will happen more now Spring is in the air and I am over my recent illness. A good read and a good stroke are a recipe for success. Last season I got my putting average down to 31.71 per round. If I can make this closer to 30 in 2016, I can save valuable shots and hopefully get those crucial handicap cuts.

Aimpoint isn't a fad and will only continue to grown in both the amateur and professional game and the proof of the pudding really is in trying it. Yes, the course could be seen as expensive at £90 but for two hours of tuition and something that you can use on any green it is money well spent, especially when you consider how much of the game is played on the greens. I'm confident the new method will see me in equally good stead as the chart did. I simply haven't played enough golf yet, something that is going to change, but this will really help going forward. Time will tell.

Stuttering False Start

I'm back. I was hoping to get on the course recently and start playing more, putting into practice all the work I'd done, especially on my short game. However, I wasn't expecting a trip to the A&E department, a short stay in hospital and some necessary R&R. Fortunately I'm on the mend but my golf has taken a real knock and there's been precious practice or playing opportunities.

I did manage to get out at Royal Ascot a couple of weeks ago. I was a little nervous about playing, partly as I was desperately rusty and out of touch but also because I still wasn't feeling A1 and totally tickety boo having only just started to recover. On the plus side, I had the usual Saturday morning roll up to get all the rubbish shots out of the system with a monthly stableford lurking on the horizon the day after.

I started well enough with a solid tee shot down the first but then carved one out of bounds at the next. I made par with the second ball but a pattern had been set. A double from nowhere at the third was compounded at the next and then the putter decided to remind me that I've been neglecting my practice and I three putted two consecutive greens. I rallied with a rare par at the par three sixth and then it was back on the double bogey train. I finished the front nine with a massive twelve points.

The back nine started with a continuing mix of double bogeys (and the odd treble) and to be honest by the fourteenth not only was I feeling the effects of my recent medical problems but I'd started to lose the will. I actually thought the ball striking in places wasn't too bad but there were so many unforced errors, so many three putts and every thing short game I'd worked so hard on had disappeared in the space of one round. I was disappointed of course but part of the bigger picture is to not dwell or worry about the bad ones, and stride effortlessly forward to the next opportunity.

The Sunday dawned cloudy with a blustery wind, that at times touched gale force. Competition time and it was going to be a tough one, not only with my stuttering form but with the inclement conditions. I wasn't full of warm fuzzy feelings. I started better, with a good opening tee shot that was unfortunate to find a greenside bunker. Still a net par (with my shot) was solid enough. I should have parred the next two but the pesky putter still wasn't behaving and I three putted both having hit fairway and green in regulation.

If you have read these ramblings on a frequent basis (and I thank you) then you'll know 2015 and beyond were blighted with good rounds turning bad and the ability to throw car crash holes into otherwise solid performances. It seems it's a hard habit to break and on the fourth I hooked two out of bounds left. There must be a good thirty yards left of a wide fairway and so these were massively offline. I managed to par the next which helped. I missed the green at the next, and found a bare muddy lie with the edge of a bunker to flirt with to a short sided flag. I saw another option. I could play a chip and run along the edge of the trap, down the slope on the green to nestle next to the hole like an old dog in front of an open fire. I saw it so clearly, and for a fraction of a second as the ball made the journey, it looked to great. It ran out of steam and lamely dropped into the bunker almost apologetically. No score.

No score was repeated at the next when I took on a risky second shot from the semi-rough which Seve in his prime would have shirked at. Schoolboy error and a definite note to self in the course management journal. With a bogey at the shortest hole on the course, the eighth, as I tried to play a links type punch off the tee to keep it under the wind, a shot that didn't come off and a net par on the ninth, I was out in a miserly dozen points. Aside from maybe four or five actual poor shots, I was hitting the ball well but getting punished heavily when I made mistakes.

I threw away a golden opportunity to get a point back with a three putt bogey (net par) at the start of the back nine. The eleventh was playing into a huge right to left wind. I set it out right of the green and it came back sublimely to finish ten feet away. Suddenly the putter came to life and I drained a birdie putt. I was back in the game. I hit another good drive at the twelfth letting the wind move it around the dog leg. I nailed a five iron into the heart of the green and two putts later made a par (net birdie). Suddenly the buffer zone seemed within touching distance. I gave a point back at the thirteenth, playing much longer than the 186 yards on the card but then made yet another par (net birdie) at the fourteenth.

By the time I reached the fifteenth tee, I was feeling rather faint and light headed and while I got a reasonable drive away, I was struggling physically and a reminder that I am not fully recovered yet. I hit the second on the par five into thick rough, came up short and walked away with a messy bogey. From there, it was a bit of a battle to get round, both my ball and myself. It was perhaps a bit much too soon after my hospital visit. I made some poor shots on the final few holes, failing to trouble the scorer on the sixteenth and seventeenth. I was forced to lay up short on the last and was left with a tricky shot of 105 yards into the wind coming hard from the right, forcing me to set the ball out over the lake guarding the green. It came back and finished eight feet away and a pleasing single putt for a par gave the round a touch of gloss. Seventeen points back, which could have been even better. It was enough for twenty nine points. With conditions so harsh, it was also good enough for twelfth place although of course there was another 0.1 back on the handicap. This puts me in dangerous territory at 12.4 and on the cusp of an increase back to 13.

February 2016 Monthly Stableford Statistics

There were a number of positives to take away in terms of fairways and greens in regulation but the putter took a hefty toll on my scoring again. I'm struggling in terms of distance control from long range and I'm failing to hole out well enough from 1-3 feet. I couldn't make a sand save, although my bunker shots were actually quite solid.

There were far too many holes I didn't score on (five in total) but the ones I did make a score on were excellent. Ball striking was much improved but yet again too many unforced errors and a round where every poor shot seemed to be punished severely. Given what had proceeded the golfing weekend I was happy.

Practice has still been sporadic and intermittent and what I have done hasn't been of the highest standard. I haven't played last weekend or this as I still haven't felt too good but the forthcoming weeks see the competitions beginning to come thick and fast. Realistically I'm not in the best place at the moment and so another 0.1 and a 13 handicap won't be too hard to swallow. Good things usually happen when I get to this level and I'm convinced there's a great season ahead. Despite my pitching having regressed before I went into hospital, I think there was enough good stuff done over the winter to see me starting to score well from seventy yards and in once I get some chipping and putting work under my belt I'll be ready for the Easter weekend. This heralds the first big competition of the year and in my mind is always the start of the season proper.

I have managed a range session today, despite the bitterly cold conditions and was very pleased with the quality of the ball striking. All things being equal I'm off to work hard on the short game tomorrow and with a chance to get a few holes or some practice in midweek with an afternoon off booked. Despite the recent trials and tribulations on and off the course, I have a chance to get myself together again and put this stuttering start to the season firmly behind me. This rocky road towards single figures was always going to have some obstacles to overcome and while I was prepared for the golfing ones, the last few weeks have perhaps just changed my perception on how important this really is in the bigger scheme. However as they say "what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger" so onwards, ever onwards

Not Pitch Perfect

As regular readers will be acutely aware I've been working hard on my short game over the winter particularly the pitching. To be honest conditions have been atrocious for golf at weekends and the course has been suffering and so I don't feel I've missed out by not playing. I've been struggling between two methods, the linear and a more traditional method, the latter recently feeling as though it's more consistent and results beginning to back this up. Yes, there is still a degree of inconsistency in the strike at times and yes, there are still the odd socket rockets in the equation, but all in all I've been happy that my pitching is moving forward.

About eighteen months back, I'd booked a series of short game lessons at Pachesham Golf Centre, near Leatherhead in Surrey. I'd forgotten about them and never finished the block of lessons but recently had an email from the head professional Stuart Martin to inform me that the pro I was using had left but they were going to honour the 2 x one hour lessons left. It was a superb gesture especially as the expiry date had long since passed.

The pitching area, with targets ranging from 20-70 yards

The centre has fantastic short game facilities including a seventy yard pitching area, decent practice bunker, and a dedicated chipping area to a maintained green. Add in a putting green (currently being refurbished) and a large range with good quality balls and mats and it's one of the best practice facilities I know. It's just a shame it's a forty five minute drive to get there.

The Pachesham Golf Centre putting green with the chipping area behind

Having not hit any balls at all for a week, I decided to start off proceedings by working through the bag on the range. I was pleased with how well I was striking it. I adjourned to the pitching area. In parts, it was as good as it had been over the last few months but again lacked consistency. I adjourned for lunch before the lesson. I'd not me Stuart before (Stuart Martin profile) and we wandered out to hit some balls off the grass. The first was fine, the second a little heavy, then I chucked a couple of shanks in, a fat, then a thin and then several decent ones as he filmed from behind and the side. I did say I was inconsistent and at least he saw the whole range of my short game shots. As he finished getting data together the heavens opened and we sought sanctuary in a teaching bay to look at the laptop and see the faults.

In essence the problems were simple and probably caused by a feel v real issue. My hands at address were now too far forward and while the initial takeaway wasn't too bad from the ball to halfway back, it then became very steep and very narrow. In short I had no room to swing back down without creating some and moving around.

The fix was to make the swing much shallower. I found it difficult to implement the first par of the change which was to get club on a better plane. I'd been struggling in earlier short game lessons in 2015 with taking it too far inside. This move felt as though I was going back down that road. However Stuart filmed some and showed me side by side with where it had been. He wanted the right elbow to be tucked in more as it had a tendency to fly. By making the turn better, with less wrist action, and compact, it was in a better place to simply make a turn and pull the club through keeping the wrist angle through impact and into the finish. Shallower, right elbow in, turn, and keep don't cup the wrists through impact and into the finish. That was the simple version I had in my head.

It was difficult to do, but after a while the strike improved and I could feel when I'd regressed back into something steeper or the wrists had become over active. It was good to see some final footage of the club going back on a great plane back and through. Once the lesson ended I went back to the range and a bay with a mirror behind. That let me monitor the swing in slow motion from behind and turning to face it front on, to make sure my address position was now correct with the shaft only just ahead of the ball. It was so much better. To finish I went back to the short game area to work hit to lots of different yardages and get a feel for distance. So much more consistency than anything I'd managed over the winter working alone for the most part.

I have my other lesson next weekend and plan to get there early and work hard on my pitching and really drill this in. I have a much clearer picture in my mind over the ball about where the club is going, and can feel that much better, especially with the elbow tucking in. The next lesson is all about the chipping area. While I'm proficient with the linear method in this department, I'm keen to keep it simple and not have a multitude of techniques and so embrace something more orthodox.

I felt I'd made progress once I decided on one pitching method. Clearly I wasn't as pitch perfect as I thought but I am now in a strong position to move my short game forward once again. Add in a refined and improved chipping technique after my next lesson and my winter work to improve my up and down statistics is going to hold me in great stead once the season starts in earnest. I need to then look at my GIR (greens in regulation) number as I only hit a paltry 19% last season. No-one with single figure aspirations can get there with that number, no matter how good the short game now is. However, it's one step at a time and for now there's more short game practice to be done.

Finally Off And Running

At long last, my 2016 competitive season has got under way with the monthly stableford at Royal Ascot Golf Club. Since Christmas the course has suffered from the heavy rain that has fallen, and in the last week or so been reduced to temporary greens due to persistent frost. Id' not played at the club since the start of December.

I hadn't practiced heavily either. I'd had a few range sessions and a refresher lesson with Andy Piper the last weekend. The good news was that the work I had done last year on posture, alignment and more especially tempo all passed the critical gaze of Andy. We tweaked the swing path, primarily how it exits after impact but aside from that there wasn't much to change. The correction was to get the path exiting better and to keep me hitting down on the ball. The change to the flight and the direction was rapid and pleasing. I've had a couple range sessions since and I was hitting it well. The monthly stableford had come at the right time. Or so I thought.

I was partnered with two members I'd not had the pleasure of playing with before. Warm up went well and I was ready. My opening tee shot of the 2016 season was a three wood to the 229 yard par three first hole and I caught it well. Maybe a tad too much right to left if I was being critical but it should have been good enough to find the green. However, it landed, plugged and stopped obligingly next to the pitch mark some fifteen feet short. I hit a reasonable chip to seven feet and had a reasonable chance to make par. My putt finished just past the hole, less than a foot away but I missed it, being far too careless. A double bogey. And so a theme was set. Careless would be the order of the day.

I missed a green at the second, and while I holed a ten footer for par at the third, I managed to miss the green at the fourth from the middle of the fairway and only 114 yards away. Another three putt green meant I didn't score. I went out of bounds at the sixth, a trifle unfortunately, having hit it low and watching it hit a bridge and ricocheting out of bounds. I didn't score at the eighth either and limped out in a miserable fourteen points. I had high hopes but they had been dashed. In my defence, I had actually driven the ball reasonably but the putting in particular had been rusty.

The drive at the tenth was my best of the day. I missed green again, hit a good chip but couldn't save par. And then the wheels came off. I hit a horror tee shot at the par three eleventh, topped a tee shot at the next, something I rarely do and followed that with another horror off the thirteenth. I managed a sublime pitch to six feet and saved a par. At the fourteenth I hit another good drive, and yet again it plugged on landing. No reward for a good shot. With the card already shot, I reached for the three wood from 224 yards and nailed the shot. I was frustrated when it kicked sharp left on landing and found a bunker. Definitely no justice and a three putt again was an inevitable conclusion. I did manage to finish with a par five without finding any short grass until the green and a single putt from twelve feet.

In the end, I managed to amass a measly twenty eight points which was good enough only for nineteenth place in division one and a 0.1 handicap increase taking it to 12.3. The annoying thing was that for the first ten holes, there were some good shots. There was a lot of rustiness in there especially on the greens. I was more annoyed that the swing went AWOL for large parts of the back nine. That's a trait I suffered last season and one I wanted to have put to bed. More work technically and mentally I think. However on the positive side, while conditions weren't easy and my lack of on course play was shown up, I hit some nice shots too. It wasn't a total disaster.

On Sunday I was faced with the option of playing or working on my short game. As we'd had heavy overnight rain I really didn't see the point in playing on already sodden course now made even wetter. I've spoken about my pitching issues for the last few months of last year. I've been torn between the linear method and a more traditional pitching method. I've wanted to utilise the linear approach as that's how I've been chipping but I can't nail it for pitching. Fortunately I have a lesson with Gary Smith, the innovator of the linear method to nail it down. In the meantime I've been working on a more traditional method. As regular readers will know, at times I've struggled with this and the dreaded shanks have manifested.

It's been a real issue. With the course wet, closed or on temp greens I've been investing my time in all things short game. I have been making forward progress with the traditional method, slowly but definitely making progress. However my mind, and therefore no doubt sub-consciously, my technique, is confused between the desire for the linear method and the more conventional method. While the latter is getting results, in practice but not on the course as yet, I'm not wholly comfortable with it. That said I spent two hours working on it yesterday and it was much, much better. Distance control is beginning to develop, the contact, is crisper with the divots much shallower. There were issues at the 50 and 60 yard marks where it was at the top end of my 58 degree sand wedge. It may be because this came at the end of the session and fatigue had crept in, but when I switched to my 52 degree wedge, the dreaded hosels came back and I lost control of the technique. Good but more work to be done. It definitely hadn't transferred to the course, bar my pitch from deep rough at the thirteenth.

From the pitching area I wandered to the practice green. I hadn't worked on my chipping at all in the last month or so. I started with the linear method, something that I am familiar with and which still works for me. Things went well and it was working well. However dear reader I gave myself a conundrum. I reverted to a traditional chipping set up, uplifted by the pitching success and it was good. Eerily good. I chipped as well as I can remember using a normal set up. Now where do I go? In the monthly stableford I was swapping between techniques. I had actually tried to go traditional at the start of the round. A mistake in hindsight having not really worked on it. The results told their own story. As I swapped to the linear method the chipping improved.

My issues remain the same. I need to nail my colours to one particular short game mast, traditional or linear and commit. However with both having plus and minus points at the moment (linear pitching worse than traditional, linear and traditional chipping both working, although traditional the better) I'm confused. Where do I go? Yes I know I'm over thinking it by at least 1000%. That's who I am and contrary to popular belief and these ramblings, I am trying to simplify it on the course.

At the end of the day my season is off and running. It wasn't the start I wanted and the lack of on course golf shone through and showed my inefficiencies. I still think I've a big season ahead of me and that this really could be the season I get close to or reach single figures. Get the short game sorted (one way or another) and hopefully the course will dry out to encourage me to get out and play a lot more. Some say winter golf is good for your game. I simply disagree. Plugged balls, even in the fairway, especially in the rough, compacted bunkers and bare, muddy lies really aren't appealing. I see this period as an opportunity to get the short game ready, my putting improved and use the range to hone the swing. I'm in a happy, if slightly dazed and confused place and happier now my season is finally off and running