The Darkest Hour

It is said, (according to the English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller) that the darkest hour is just before the dawn. He could well have been describing my golf. My last post was a sombre one (http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/a-sombre-post.html) for many different reasons but one of those was failing to be three figures for a medal round.

Since then, and I can't believe I've left you floundering without an update for nearly a month, my stop, start season continues to be exactly that. I've not managed to string regular games together and my weekends have been punctuated by life, the universe and everything getting in the way. I've put some hard work in on my short game, particularly the pitching and bunkers which I've been happy with. However getting out on the course and putting that into action has been tricky.

I had struggled to find any semblance of a golf swing in the days after my medal meltdown and it was inevitable that I sought professional advice and booked a lesson with Andrew Piper at Lavender Park, He's been great when my swing has gone AWOL and while the handicap may not reflect the progress our lessons are making, bit by bit, the swing is becoming more compact and with less moving parts. As I've said here and before, everything that has gone before in 2016 has made it a difficult golfing year, and one where I've reluctantly been forced to put Homer's Odyssey and the pursuit of single figures in dry dock for the year.

The prognosis from Andrew was reassuring. As so many of my issues have been, it was primarily set up based and again stemmed from a poor posture. I've been working hard on standing tall. However in doing so, my weight had moved forward to the toes and this made the plane very upright. That would explain the weak fades and perceived loss of distance. In turn, my base was very flimsy and my left knee was regularly collapsing inwards (Elvis legs as he called it). We simply firmed the base up, with more knee bend and the weight far more on the balls of the feet and not the toes.

Allied to this, my tempo (and we've spoken about this before dear reader) was quick and the take-away in particular was a quick jerky movement. Slowing it down and making sure everything, especially in the first two feet were connected, paid dividends. It was compact, no moving parts and long and straight.

I did have a chance to put it into practice in a club match against Oxford City Golf Club. As the format is four ball better ball I had a wing man, well a poor soul to carry me. My game wasn't great, but I had a great partner, Keith Feesey off 10, who did a lot of the work. I did loiter with intent and came in from time to time and we ran out easy winners. However it didn't mask the fact that my own game was still a long way off the mark.

I've been working hard though dear reader. All my long game focus has been on a firm base, good posture and not letting the left knee collapse. In practice, when it has been good, it's everything I'd want my game to be but I can't do it all the time. Last weekend was a rare moment when I was able to play both days. Saturday was the usual roll up and Sunday would be the monthly stableford. I'd been neglecting the short game, and was prepared for the putter to blow cold, and my chipping and pitching to be patchy. In my mind, this was about testing the long game where it counts.

There was a large number in the roll up so we started on the tenth, a 371 yard par four that dog legs right to left. There are some trees to the left of the hole you can take on and it makes the hole shorter but normally the line is on the dead tree in the distance. I hit a peach, a soft draw, in the middle of the fairway. From 138 yards I pulled a seven iron, twenty yards left onto the eleventh tee, It would set a pattern

The view from the tenth tee

I hit another great drive on the 12th, the hardest hole on the course, and crunched a five iron to the heart of the green for a par. And then the wheels fell off, followed by the exhaust and the axle. I was struggling and felt very trapped on the down swing and was losing a lot of shots short and right. I did make a rare birdie at the tough third hole but my back nine (the front on the course) crumbled away.

Regular readers will know I try and find a positive spin but while there was some good shots and the good ones were definitely better, I was definitely heading towards that darkest hour, especially with the stableford to come.

I started well. I hit a good shot just short of the firsts, chipped to two feet and holed out for par. A green in regulation at the next for a par, a net par, and a par at the fourth and through the tough opening stretch two under handicap. Another par at the fifth and that was three under handicap. It should have been better as my pitch from 84 yards to three feet was exquisite. My putt was tentative. Calm, collected, in a great tempo and right on it.

And then we reached the sixth........that bloody sixth hole. How many times has this hole killed promising rounds? How can a 178 yard par three be so difficult? How can a hole get so far into my head? Here I was, flying and all that hard work beginning to pay off. and having taken a four iron and now getting a shot (SI 14) I figured I could be short, chip on and two putt. It went straight left, with a bit of left. A huge pull, lost ball and pressure. My third shot off the tee was awful too. No points.

I bounced back. Fairway off the tee, a cracking shot too and a hybrid, not quite such a thing of beauty, onto the green. Despite the trauma of the sixth hole, I was out in nineteen points. It was going terribly well. The tenth was kind to me off the tee and although my iron came up short, I made another up and down. I hit the green on the par three eleventh and another par safely snaffled away. Back to three under my handicap.

And then dear reader. And then. How dark is that final hour before the dawn. Pitch black in my case. I pulled my tee shot left. I hit great, just left. Penalty drop, mind scrambled and another hole without troubling the scorer. On the next, another par three, I pulled my tee shot again. This was worse than the one on the sixth. It sailed towards the twelfth hole but was never seen again. From three under handicap, I was now one over. Our fourteenth is another dog leg, a shot hole and a chance to steady the ship. Instead it was left off the tee gain into deep cabbage. It was found but the only option was another penalty and I went back in line with the flag onto the fifteenth. A good recovery, a good pitch and a point scored. I was shipping water.

The tempo was getting quicker and quicker. Too many thoughts were entering my head and it was becoming harder and harder to find that ideal posture that had seemed so available on the first eleven holes. It did briefly reappear on the penultimate hole where a good three wood found the back of the green at the 218 yard hole but left a fiendish putt across a huge slope. I made two excellent putts for par. My last drive of the day was good. I nudged it forward with a five wood on the par five. and had 149 yards. I took a five iron into a stiffening breeze. You don't have to be mind reader to know which direction this took. Left. Huge left. So left in fact it was forty yards left of the green nestling in the fairway bunker on the ninth. A miserable double bogey to close the round.

I came back in a measly thirteen points to go with my nineteen points going out and thirty two in total. Another missed buffer zone, another 0.1 back on the handicap (now 13.7) and eleventh place in division two. When the results were published, 36 was all that was needed to win and I was in the box seat to do that. Where did it all go wrong?

I feel a little lost in truth. I was making a fine score without necessarily hitting every shot perfectly. It's what I'd sought for so many rounds, the ability to make a score. Some of my shots especially on the first five holes were what I'd worked so hard since my lesson with Andrew Piper. Leaving aside the nightmare that has become the sixth hole, everything was going well. It is in there and that's the most annoying thing. There was no hint of the left shots to come and to be honest I'm not sure what caused it. Was it tempo? Did I get ahead of myself? Did my technique let me down?

I hit 50% of fairways (6/12) and 33% of greens in regulation (6/18) and 33 putts and so there was a lot to be pleased about. There's annoyance that it was so close and that I was still only four points away from contesting. I spoke earlier about trying to find the positive side of things. The swing is in there and it's working in fits and starts. That's my golf year in a nutshell. There are still some gremlins in the works and to be honest, my mind is already on thinking towards working with Andrew Piper over the winter. Having played relatively badly the day before it was good to see that it didn't affect me. The short game worked well. That's pleasing. The putter is still hot and cold but I've neglected the necessary work to ensure I'm holing out regularly,

So where does that leave me? I'm pleased to say the darkest hour has passed and there golfing dawn is ahead, hopefully bright and sunny. I've a long way to go, further than when I started the 2016 season, towards single figures or even returning to my starting point of 12. On the downside, this weekend is another one bereft of playing so I'm still struggling to get any consistent playing. That I feel is my biggest issue. I'm simply not getting the game time on the course to work through the stuff I'm doing in practice. The swing is in there. The stableford shows that. I just need to produce it for a full round. That's not the first time I've written those words.

All in all, a far better post than the last offering I presented. It's coming, too little too late for 2016 but it's coming. I want a strong winter of consolidation with Andrew Piper, making the swing as simple and more importantly, consistent as possible. I will try and play as much as I can over the winter, weather and health permitting and will endeavour to make some forward progress before the year is out. I've a final hurrah at the end of October with the Golf Monthly Forum Help 4 Heroes day at Camberley Heath. You will recall in my last post that one of the forum stalwarts and the driving force behind these days since they started, was cruelly taken, suffering a massive heart attack. Everyone playing is determined to do Rick Garg proud and make it a wonderful and fitting tribute and I want my game to be spot on and to play well. It's not what the day is about in truth but I want to be able to play well in my last big golfing day of the year. That gives me a month to get everything firing on all cylinders. Plenty of time surely? What can possibly go wrong?

A Sombre Post

This post is not a happy one on a number of levels. From a golfing perspective, it was Longhurst Cup weekend at Royal Ascot Golf Club. It's a stroke competition played over the three days of the bank holiday and competitors can choose which two of the three days they wish to play on. The course is looking as good as it has done since it opened, and the new equipment our green staff now have at their disposal, is already paying dividends. As an ex winner of this event, it has fond memories for me and I was hoping this was going to finally kick start my season.

Sadly, my two rounds were far from what I'd hoped for. There was some good stuff in there, especially in the first round. It ended up as a net 75 (+5) but it could have been so much better, especially with two triple bogey's on the fourteenth and fifteenth holes. I had managed a good run from the second to the fourth, playing those in one under gross and played the eleventh to the thirteenth in one over gross. However I still struggled to find any level of consistency for the whole round, a problem that has been with me now for far too long and one I seem incapable of solving.

On the face of it my opening effort wasn't an out and out disaster. However, if round one was a story of some good blighted by some bad golf, my second round was a tale of if it could go wrong it would. I opened up double bogey, double bogey and then racked up a snowman (8) on the par four fourth, pulling my approach left, catching the down slope of the green and running out of bounds. The putter was stone cold, three putting three of the first six greens. My outward score had used my handicap allowance and then some.

The back nine was a struggle, hard to keep any enthusiasm and interest. It was as poor as the front nine. The funny thing was, I still felt as though the game was close. Yes I know that sounds like optimism, perhaps self-delusion, on a grand scale but it's how it felt. Despite this though, sombre point number one was the fact that for the first time in a long time I failed to break three figures (gross 101, net 88). It's strange but I hit more greens in regulation than of late and still managed 33% of sand saves.

It wasn't anything near what I wanted although I felt my first round was close. Very close. I couldn't put my finger on what happened yesterday. Of course I wasn't happy with my score. It's embarrassing but what can you do? You just have to keep working on the right things, keep trusting yourself and try and find a way to eradicate the car crash holes.

Of course that brings me to sombre point number two. With both rounds over handicap and both resulting in 0.1 increases, my handicap has teetered over to 13.5 or 14 in old money. That's the highest handicap mark for many, many years and is a million miles away from my ultimate goal of single figures. I've banged on about my health issues in 2016. It's definitely contributed and I am still a way away from being fully fit although the longer term prognosis for the rest of the year and beyond is far more promising and so I'm helping to be back to myself in 2017 and really can't use that as the real reason. It certainly put the pursuit of single figures on hold but I am simply failing to put consistent scores together on a regular basis. It's as simple as that. I've not pursued lesson after lesson, certainly on the full swing, and feel the short game stuff is beginning to make a difference. So where does that leave me?

I look at other members, and see some making scores around the handicap buffer zone week in, week out, and look at what they do compared to me and it's purely down to keeping it in play all the time. None have stellar short games, hit it miles or drain putt after putt. They simply don't have the car crash holes I seem to produce every round. How does that happen and what am I doing wrong?

At the end of the day though does it really matter? As much as I love this game, as much as it infuriates, and as much as I hate the way I don't seem to make any progress for the effort I put in, it has all been put into sharp perspective recently. Many of you will be aware I'm a fervent member of the Golf Monthly Forum (Golf Monthly Forum). As part of this, there is an annual charity event in aid of Help for Heroes, which has been run since its conception by one of the nicest guys you could ever choose to meet. With much sadness, the forum found out recently that he had suffered a massive heart attack playing his home course, Centurion, and despite the best efforts of the medical services passed away. Many have put into words far more eloquently than I ever could, some moving tributes (Rick Garg tributes).

However it brings home in very sharp terms how fleeting this all is. Above all he was a husband and father. Other than that for many he was the nicest person you could ever share a drink or game of golf with, with a wicked sense of fun and a permanent smile and he simply brightened up a room when he entered, although that may have something to do with his own unique (and colourful) golfing dress sense. Whether you shoot a personal best or like me, have a three figure round and a handicap spiralling upwards, it really doesn't matter. The next time your ball heads out of bounds or you win a few quid off your mates at the weekend just smile and enjoy playing this great game. He'll be sadly missed but never forgotten. RIP Rick Garg.

Gary Smith Linear Method - An Update

It has been about six weeks since I had a lesson with Gary Smith, a Golf Monthly top 25 coach and the inventor of the "Linear Method" for the short game. It's a rather unique (certainly in terms of set up) method, which is intended to utilise the bounce of the club in pitching, chipping and bunker shots and therefore give the player a bigger margin of error (Gary Smith - Linear Method lesson)

I have to say it's been a bumpy journey in the preceding few weeks and must confess that with pitching in particular I have dabbled with a more orthodox approach, despite nailing my colours firmly to the "Linear" mast. There has also been a problem with taking what I've worked on, both linear and conventional, onto the course, although that will undoubtedly be as a result of filling my head with too may thoughts and techniques, falling between two stools and not committing to the shot.

I've been playing some good golf recently although the handicap continues to steadily rise. This year has been far from a classic. I've struggled with a number of health issues, fortunately which are now getting better, and I'm still having issues with the killer holes and racking up big numbers. However, the one area I have enjoyed and feel I've made forward steps is in the short game. Despite, falling between two stools at times as per the previous paragraph, it has started to feel more natural using the linear method. The time has come to put aside other methods and embrace the linear method. Yes, I know I've said this before but sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward again. I have gotten back to working hard on the technique and have been filming my progress.

Forty yard pitch - down the line  (left hand flag)

Forty yard pitch - face on


I have a feeling the head position is a little low but other than that the strike was as I'd want it. Of course this was pitching to a flag on a hard practice ground and not a green and so the ball didn't always react or behave on landing but this was more a session to get the method working properly again, especially the feeling of the right hand feeding under and adding the loft.

I then moved back a further fifteen yards and so this pitch (still to the left hand flag) was from approximately fifty five yards and therefore requires a bigger body rotation although otherwise everything remains constant.

Fifty five yard pitch - face on

Fifty five yard pitch - down the line (left hand flag)

As mentioned, I've been using the linear method from bunkers and this has been a considerable success. My sand saves (getting up and down from a green side bunker) is 33% in the last month. I find it is far easier to feed the club under the ball and pop it out. By using the bounce I have a bigger margin of error and have been able to hit as far as 4-5 inches behind the ball and still get it out and on the green although ideally I'd be looking for an area more 2-3 inches from the ball and have worked hard on putting a line in the sand and simple trying to hit that every time.

I've filmed a simple ten yard bunker shot. As you can see, the ball flies out nicely and the divots I am taking are long and shallow. Ideal for this type of shot

Ten yard bunker shot - down the line (yellow flag)

Ten yard bunker shot - face on

I am planning to work hard on the chipping again with this method and will add some footage when I have it.

The linear method definitely works and it sits properly in my head and it's something I can buy into totally. I need to stop flipping and keep working on it. The issue I have is taking it on the course and there have been trust issues, especially on those short fiddly ones, either over an obstacle or when there's only a few yards to go. It will come.

I hope this gives you a flavour for what the linear method is all about and how it's starting to come together and finally beginning to bleed into my game. I will be following up with Gary Smith at some point, probably over the winter as part of an ongoing programme on my short game. It's still my weakest area in general, although if I can get my chipping working as well as my bunker play I'll be in short game heaven. It's a work in progress still and once I get this tough nut cracked, it's going to have a huge impact on my scoring, especially as I am still missing too many greens in regulation (another area of concern) and on days that I'm not striking it as nicely as I'd liked.

It does look unconventional. I have had all the comments you can think of regarding the posture in particular, but when it works, and it's doing so more often, I simply smile politely and point to the ball nestling close to the hole.

It isn't a method for everyone but Gary Smith is convinced it can help many golfers (he claims up to 98% of students have improved). Here is a link for him to show you how to do it properly (Gary Smith pitching). If you are struggling, it may be worth a look. The bounce can definitely be your friend

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my progress to date and I'll keep you posted with how I'm getting on, especially with how it's developing on the course and into my game. If, in the meantime you'd like to make a comment on what you've seen, or even ask a question about the linear method, please feel free to post a comment. It is working. It will get better. I can pitch, chip and play bunker shots. I will be a short game guru.

Club Championship Weekend - Round Two - Yang

What a difference a day makes. Five words that accurately sum up the second round of club championship weekend at Royal Ascot. The opening round had seen your narrator in a cool, calm place, in warm up and especially on the course. There were still some poor holes (isn't there always) but I'd let these sweep over me. Mistakes were forgotten and by and large I was extremely happy with how I'd played on one of the warmest days of the year.

However, sitting out in the heat of the afternoon sun enjoying a few cold ones and then adjourning to the in-laws and spending several hours entertaining my niece and nephews who are over from San Diego for the summer wasn't clever. I got home and knew I'd been out in the sun and was already feeling the effects.

Having had a good first round and sitting comfortably in sixth place, I was out towards the end of the field in net score order and just in front of the final twelve in the filed in contention for the gross prize. I work up feeling tired and listless and definitely paying the price for my exposure to the sun. I usually get to the club about ninety minutes before my tee tine, prepare slowly before going out to warm up and hit a few chips and putts. On the practice ground I couldn't find a spark. I was bored, dis-interested, lacked timing and cohesion and to be honest the warm up wasn't going as planned and I was getting edgy.

Walking onto the first tee, I wasn't feeling it. Where my opening drive twenty four or so hours before had found the green, this was a weak push straight right towards the line of trees that protrude some forty yards right as you can see below

The view from the first tee - an intimidating 229 yard opener

While I wasn't happy with the opening shot, we all assumed it hard at least got through or over the trees and shouldn't too bad. How wrong we were. Clearly it had scurried through, just where the trees rise in the middle of the picture, and had stopped and then rolled back down the bank the trees are perched on and was nestled firmly against the trunk of one of the trees. I had no shot, no option. I couldn't even get into it to make an attempt and so already at this early juncture in the piece I was taking a penalty drop. I salvaged a five (double bogey) but it had done nothing to help and my mind was definitely not on the task at hand.

I found the safety of the fairway at the next and then pushed a five wood perilously towards the out of bounds that runs the length of the hole. On the plus side it was in play. On the down side I had an overhanging branch ten yards in front, a bunker short, some forty yards from the green that took out the low running shot and a lush lie play from. I elected to hit nine iron from 112 yards and it came out well but missed the green left. I chipped and two putted for net par but I was making this hard.

The pattern had been established. Fairway at the next, missed green, this time into sand and although the recovery was good it was a net par when better was there for the taking. I went left off the next, and left on my approach but a fine chip and run to six feet and a putt made a par. Was this the catalyst? I was only a shot back off my handicap and so despite everything I wasn't too far off where I needed to be.

If you've read part one (Club Championship Round One) you will be aware that the fifth had caused issues when I found the bunker right of the green and then thinned the bunker shot miles too far and into deep ferns and a lost ball. What a difference a day makes. I was safely on the green in regulation this time. Granted I was forty feet away and had two tiers to negotiate but what could happen. Walking off some five minutes later having taken four, yes four putts it was another double bogey.

I had a head full of chocolate frogs coming to the sixth. It's a hole that historically I've struggle with. I try not to carry any baggage with me but this 178 yard par three just gets inside me. It doesn't suit my eye in any way and I will always take a bogey four and move on. A par always feel like a half shot gained for me. In truth, having pulled a hybrid, I simply put an atrocious swing on it and sent it sharp right out of bounds. Reloading I hit it better but sliced it and it failed to clear the trees right and suddenly I'm out of bounds again and five off the tee. Switching to a four iron. I simply stood there and swung. Ugly, quick and so many moving parts and feeling my face flushed with embarrassment I hit it forward short left. I chipped it up an two putted for a snowman (8) and a five over par score. That was my day done. My head was a mess. I had no swing, no timing and my head was anywhere but on the course. I threw another double in at the next, a bogey at the eighth and did finally manage a par at the ninth having found fairway and green in regulation. All in all my front nine was 49 shots (+14) and all my handicap allowance had been swallowed. It was a back nine simply for pride.

I had to swallow a large chunk of that at the tenth. Right off the tee and left in my approach into sand, I then repeated the error from day one and thinned a sand shot miles over the green. Given the length of grass, lack of options even if by some miracle I'd found it and the fact I was mentally shot, I took a penalty drop played a far better shot and walked off with a seven (+3).

The golfing gods have a macabre way of mocking the struggling golfer and so it was no surprise my tee shot at the par three eleventh would find sand. It's one of the deeper bunkers on the course but I played an exquisite recovery to three feet and saved par. My driving was the only thing holding together and I found the short grass again. I made bogey, net par but at least I had hit the ball better momentarily. In fact I started to look like a golfer. Par on the 186 yard par three, having found the green off the tee and the fairway at the next which should have led to par but for a poor second, and the card looked a little smarter. It was too little too late of course.

On the fifteenth I found the fairway and my second was in prime position about eighty yards short. Nothing to worry about. And then the idiot golfer returned. I chunked my approach and came up short, chipped on and walked off with another bogey from nowhere. I managed a par at the seventeenth thanks to an up and down and managed to hit the last in regulation. Given the ragged nature of my round it was no surprise when I then three putted. I was back in 43 shots. All in all it was 92 (net 79 +9). Another 0.1 back on the handicap and I went tumbling down the leader board to finally finish 27th place in the net event.

Club Championship Statistics - Round 2

Definitely not my finest moment on a golf course. In my defence, I wasn't feeling it and was definitely off colour. It started poorly and never got any better. The funny thing is as you can see from the statistics is that off the tee I was great. It hit 83% (8/10) in regulation and even my greens in regulation was better than normal at 22% and equates to my handicap. Sand saves was 33% (1/3). Despite that nightmare four putt on the fifth and the obligatory three putt at the last I only had thirty six putts in total which wasn't a disaster. Not as good as I'm use to but still two putts per round. What it does show, was that when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in grand fashion and is still something I need to eradicate from my game.

It wasn't my year but I'd done well in round one and need to simply park the second day and move on. There was enough out there to keep me interested and happy. I am still working hard on my short game and feel that sooner or later the improvements I'm seeing in practice will translate to saved shots on the course. My driving was as good as it could be. I need to continue to find a level of consistency in that area. From there I need to find more greens. Of course I'm disappointed and the effects of the sun the day before didn't help.

I'm not a million miles away from where I want to be. There are still health issues that are simmering below the surface which aren't helping and yes, the mockers will point to the ever increasing handicap, but while the pursuit of single figures remains parked until I get the clear health bill, I am actually encouraged, nay enthused still. In practice I am hitting it well. I just can't take it to the course and that's an area I need to look at and something Andy Piper and I will work on as part of a winter programme to strip away the imperfections layer by layer.

Definitely a ying/yang weekend and a competition of two halves. Keep the good stuff and find a way to make a score, eradicating the rubbish. Get the head right, even if I'm not feeling it. Learn to make a score. All stuff to keep working on. As you'd have gathered I love the journey and I'm not going to stop. I'm still going to get to where I want to go.

Club Championship Weekend - Round One - Ying

Last weekend was the club championship at Royal Ascot. Played in blistering hot conditions, on a course set up to absolute perfection, there were two prizes on offer. There was the gross prize, the club champion, and one for the best net score. Clearly, there is only a handful that are really in contention for the big prize but there's always a fierce battle for the net prize and it does give everyone something to aim for and makes it an inclusive event. As always, it was played over two days with a halfway cut for the top sixty and ties with the scores out in reverse net order apart from the top dozen contenders in the gross prize which are sent out last to duel it out for the spoils.

As always, the aim is always to not play yourself out of contention in round one and remember you can't win it on day one but you can give yourself the Sunday off. I haven't played too much since my lesson with Andy Piper and so there was an element of doubt about what version of my golfing incarnation would turn up. Sometimes I can be excellent in warm up and play like a drain on the course or I can struggle for timing and tempo on the range and then string an acceptable score. Of course sometimes I can turn up and look like I've never picked up a club before.

However, last Saturday I arrived with an absolute air of tranquillity and calm. I started working on my putting, hit a few chips and then took a large bucket of balls to the practice ground. A few stretches and pitch shots to warm up and then into my routine. I was hitting it like a dream. No really! It was calm, in sync and going great. As it was so warm I left a lot of the balls, having hit a few bunker shots and retired to the cool clubhouse to prepare and get my card.

If you have followed my ramblings over the years, you'll be aware that the first at Royal Ascot asks some tough questions from the outset. Playing 229 yards off the whites, there is out of bounds right, a pond short and left, a line of trees right that jut out from the out of bounds towards the green and will catch anything pushed. Add in two bunkers left, another right and a lateral hazard left from the pond and behind the left hand bunkers and it's perhaps harder, at least mentally than the SI 10 on the card. In my calm state, I took a five wood, pegged it up and put it on the green some twenty feet from the flag to set up an early par.

I was only one over gross after the tricky opening quartet, and spurred by a great up and down for par at the fourth from behind the green to save par it was onto the fifth a 503 yard par five that offered a chance to make more progress. I was green side in three in the bunker. And then the air of calmness vanished as I bladed the sand shot through the green into deep foliage and a lost ball. In the end I did well to keep the damage to a double bogey. However it was the start of a scrappy run (bogey, double, bogey) from the sixth to the eighth. I was on the ninth in two after a good drive and majestic four iron from 188 yards. I walked off after three putting. Out in forty three and one over handicap. Not a disaster especially given the two doubles and that pesky three putt.

I blew a chance at the tenth missing the green on ten but made a solid par at the eleventh hitting the heart of the 178 yard par three. Another fine drive followed at the twelfth, SI 1 which was testament to Andy Piper's tuition in the lesson. I hit what I thought was a fine four iron high and straight expecting it to bounce onto the green from the baked approach. It dug in, caught some fringe grass and came up short. A good chip but a missed par. If I had made a few unforced errors to date, I was truly unfortunate at the 13th, another 178 yard par three. I hit a hybrid which just ran through the green. When I got there it was in a massive divot. It had looked like someone had tried a Phil Mickleson flop shot and taken a huge chunk of turf which they didn't replace. I couldn't get any iron behind it, nor a hybrid or fairway wood. In the end I tried to blade a seven iron, half heartedly and it came up short for a rather undeserved bogey.

I was nice and steady until the sixteenth, usually a hole I struggle with off the tee. With out of bounds tight left, no more than fifteen yards left, two large oaks on the right of the fairway at around the 220 yard mark and a number of young trees and lush rough on the right for those determined not to go left it is arguably the hardest driving hole on the course. I hit another fairway, missed the green from 198 yards but produced another up and down for par

Club Championship Round 1 Statistics

The last two holes were net pars. I hit the poorest drive of the round at the last into the right hand rough. I moved it forward but left myself around 165 yards. With a pond cutting into the green from the right, today wasn't the day to take this shot on. Saturday morning roll up and I'd have pulled a five iron and gone for it with gusto. The calm persona had returned and I just wanted to lay it up towards the fifty yard mark to leave a simple pitch in. I pulled it horribly and it was lucky not only to miss the bunkers short and left but to not kick on into the heavy rough separating the last from the ninth. Perhaps it was reward after my bad break at the thirteenth. I pitched on safely, two putts and time to shake hands.

When it was all added up, I'd come back in 41 which gave me a gross 84, net 71 (+1) and a decent sixteenth place after the opening round. It had been a good round, arguably the best I've played in the 2016 season. It was certainly the best I've felt about myself on the course, and made some very good decisions and executed with precision. I don't know what was different and as we'll find out later, it's something I wish I had bottled for future use.

My driving was much improved and the changes from the lesson have clearly paid off hitting 58% of the fairways. I even managed 28% of greens in regulation which is significantly improved on anything I've had all season. The only down side was the 35 putts and I really couldn't make a putt all day with many grazing the hole but refusing to drop, and the scrambling statistics with only 15% of up and downs. My bunker play was poor all day, prompted by that nightmare on the fifth after which I was tentative and nervy.

I was very, very happy. It was a good round that could have been a few shots better but I doubt even in my wildest dreams if it would have got close to the net 65 (-5) posted by the first round leader. On the plus side I was safely ensconced into the second round with a relatively late tee time. I left the club in the same calm state I'd had on the course and returned home thinking of daring deeds to come in round two and hoping a low score could have me right in the mix for the net prize. What a difference a day would make.

Back To School Again

Despite my last lesson with Andy Piper, my game hasn't really kicked on as I hoped. I've been struggling to get much golf in which hasn't helped but what golf I had managed wasn't good. I had already had a catch up with Andy booked in. The driver had still been misbehaving and I wanted a different look at bunker technique. This is the one area of the linear short game that hasn't gelled since my lesson in any fashion and I just wanted to see if a simpler approach would help.

The curious thing is despite having played poorly, the swing didn't feel miles off. It was just that the bad shots were catastrophic. There was some good stuff chucked in there and the linear chipping has come on but I couldn't buy a putt.

I have bought a DST compressor eight iron (DST Compressor) to improve my strike and get the hands forward as Andy Piper had been asking at it's been starting to work and improve my striking and getting me in a good position (review will follow in due course). When I started hitting balls in my lesson, Andy was happier with my set up and more importantly my impact position. However there were still issues. In particular I still set up with the heel of the club totally flat on the ground which seems to set the hands rather high at address. Andy wasn't happy and explained it could lead to the toe coming in first given my swing and path. He got a small coin and wanted me to lift the toe enough to slide that under and hit shots without touching the coin.

Setting up properly with the toe off the ground

By lowering the hands a fraction and at the same time softening the right elbow into the body a fraction I could feel the arms and shoulder begin the swing and that the club was turning much better. From the top, it was about my old friend tempo, and making the swing and turn smooth and not a rushed move, lunging forward but trying to stay on top of it. Suddenly with a couple of subtle changes I was chasing range balls towards a target at 150 yards with a seven iron. That's long for me.

Softer right elbow - I need to be aware of not turning it open and keeping it more on top.- this one is a fraction over cooked

Having got the seven iron singing, we move onto the driver. This is a real troublesome club at the moment and either finds the middle of a fairway or is so far right it's in the knee high stuff never to be seen again. No middle ground and I've no idea hole to hole what's coming next.

As expected I hit the first one relatively straight, short but you'd find it on the course. The next couple were carved right, with a bit of right and some additional right on it. Now bearing in mind I'm six feet tall and Andy Piper is several inches shorter. He measured where I was standing at address with the driver and he got in and set up and I was actually closer that he was. I needed to step back, give myself more room  and use my longer arms as levers to generate the power and the ability to hit through freely.

As with the irons and as I've said many times before, Andy Piper doesn't make huge changes unless absolutely necessary and it tends to be simple nips and tucks to get a golfer's swing back. The driver started to fly much higher and longer. I still had a miss right but it was now more of a block and Andy quickly spotted that I was simply holding onto the shot and not releasing properly. I've a couple of drills now to work on that but when I let it all flow, I was ripping it. There is more to come but now I've got the tools to start getting the job done.

That was two easy fixes and so onto the bunker. If you've been following my exploits. you'll know I've been using the linear method of short game and had a lesson with Gary Smith the guru of this style of playing short shots. We looked at bunker play and during the lesson it had worked perfectly but in the weeks since then, issues have crept in and my bunker play hasn't been as good as I'd like. The pitching and chipping are fine but I'm not happy with how the technique translates to the sand. I asked Andy to look at a conventional methods, having shown him my linear. method. He understands it but thinks I can make life simpler. He went through the set up and simply wanted me to turn the body as I have a tendency to just use the arms and not turn through. I was popping them out sweetly, very sweetly to within several feet. Of course this now throws an interesting conundrum about sticking with linear or doing what Andy wants and keeping it simpler.

Another superb hour of tuition was over in a flash but I walked away on a cloud and so much more in tune with my game. The down side is health issues have robbed any opportunity of putting this into practice on the course. In practice, this has still been working fine but I need to find game time. It's club championship weekend next weekend and so I need to find time after work to go out and work hard and get some on course work in. It's a two round event with a cut after round one and the top sixty (and ties) get into Sunday going out in score order so the highest from round one get the early start times. I've made good progress in recent years having not missed a cut and don't intend to break that now.

That's the tuition done for a while. I just need to get the health back to full golfing fitness. It's coming and so with a week to get my game in shape before the club championship I hope to finally get the season off and running. Sadly it has felt so stop/start all year. The handicap has quietly risen from 12.2 to 13.0 and the form has been patchy. It hasn't been all plain sailing and I feel to a degree I've let myself down a little in 2016. However with the big events now here, starting with the club championships at the weekend I still have a chance to get the handicap moving in the right direction. Working with Andy has really helped and I just need to find a way of translating this onto the course. In fact I just need to get out on the course. It seems to be the odd roll up and competition for a few weekends and then something getting in the way to prevent me playing for a while. I work hard on the game, not always successfully and then go out, under prepared and not fulfilling my potential and generally making mistakes and playing poorly.

I've enjoyed my golf to date and really enjoyed my tuition. I've often been accused of getting too many lessons, paralysis by analysis and over complicating things. That's possibly very true. I do like to practice hard and very much like Padraig Harrington (a favourite of mine) enjoy the tinkering process. I stand on the first tee and I never feel overly concerned and worried. I see the first shot, rehearse and commit. It's been known to be a good day. Too many bad days for my liking this year but I still have a committed belief in my ability and once I'm back to full fitness (not long now) I'll be back. I need to take just get my range game onto the course but that's been the story for far too long. Let's see what this week brings, how my game develops and whether I can survive the cut and play both rounds of the club championship. That's my first target. Play well and as I've said before handicap cuts will come along of their own accord.

Gary Smith - Linear Method

As regular followers will know, I've been dabbling with a very different method of playing all things related to the short game, the pitching, chipping and bunker shots. It's called the linear method as advocated by Gary Smith, a Golf Monthly top 25 coach and coach to the England Golf Squad. If you search linear method on here there are numerous blog pieces going back a number of years.

You may even recall that I was given an hours tuition with Gary as a Christmas present from my wife and so with Royal Ascot Golf Club difficult to get to amidst the mayhem of the Royal Ascot race meeting I opted to take it on Friday 17th June. It was booked for Gary's teaching base at Sutton Green Golf Club near Guildford in Surrey and all was set.

I have dabbled with this method on and off and feel I've ended up being caught between two stools, trying to persevere with the linear version, self taught via a Gary Smith DVD and utilising something far more conventional for which there are ready made coaching solutions should it go wrong. However mentally, the linear method sits better in my head and I feel it gives me more margin for error.

As always with a lesson I arrived early to get my bearings and warm up. I was shown to the their dedicated short game area. I started hitting pitches to a target approximately 30 yards away using the technique I've adopted. It was all going rather well. I ventured to the bunker, where things weren't quite so good. Finally I finished off with some chips around the green which were a little hit and miss but why panic when you are in the capable hands of an Advanced Fellow of the PGA. Bang on time Gary wandered across and with the introductions over, it was time to show him what I had. I don't normally get nervous in lessons but meeting someone with Gary's reputation and resume, and knowing that potentially I had bastardised his fantastic technique with my own take on things, this time was different. Fortunately the first couple flew off sweetly as he stood on and watched. I threw in the inevitable thin and fat to show him the full gamut of my short game repertoire.

Fortunately, he seemed suitably impressed with my overall interpretation and that all in all the fundamentals were sound. He made a few changes to the set up, standing a fraction taller, but more importantly getting my hips far more to the left to help promote a better turn. We tweaked the head at address and then he got me to hit some more, concentrating on simply letting the body turn and the right hand control the shot.

Gary Smith - pitch technique

It was then off to the bunker. As per my warm up this was a real mixture of the good, bad and indifferent. Again, my major issues related to set-up and posture and I need to stand taller and as per the pitching, adjust my hips and head. This felt far more alien than it had on the sanctuary of a mat but once I "felt" it and got use to turning and releasing with the right hand, the ball popped up softly and I produced bunker shots I'd only dreamt off. It just seemed so easy. Even moving onto the dreaded long bunker shot of some twenty five yards I put three balls down, on target, no more than a sand wedge apart. Simples

Linear method - bunker shots

Gary wasn't changing much at all. It was simply tweaking and improving what I had already and I felt pleased that I hadn't been off point too far. The ball position at address was perhaps the strangest looking thing as the hands were definitely placed a lot further behind the ball. It looks weird, weight forward, hands back and it's one thing I've been self conscious of taking it out on the course. I understood even better, how the correct set up now promoted greater use of the bounce and how in both sand and off grass, it really could work. It cemented in my head the thought that this technique was what worked best for me. I had been asked on the Golf Monthly Forum (http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/) about how this shallow of angle of attack would work off compact wet sand. The bunker was suitable wet and Gary quickly knocked up a compact scenario and we gave it a go. As the right hand keeps the loft on the club, even on hard, wet lies, it was still possible to take a shallow divot and allow the ball to pop up. I hoped it would be that easy and like the standard shot I was still able to escape with a slightly lower trajectory but which landed softly and stopped.

Our final stop was the putting green to sort my chipping out. Situated near the first tee at Sutton Green my air of self consciousness was heightened with a society mingling around ready to tee off. However, Gary and I got to work. The chipping method is marginally different, as there isn't the need for so much momentum to propel the ball forward.

Linear method - chipping technique

I'm not sure if it was the fact that others were watching on intently or I wanted this to work so well, being the weakest part of my short game but I struggled early on and the swing was too quick and dis-jointed. I kept at it and with a few tweaks, particularly softening the hands, it started to come. As the lesson ended and Gary and I shook hands and discussed what we had covered I decided to stay put and plug away. As Gary disappeared behind the club house, I holed one and then three balls later another. Dream land.

Unfortunately my playing opportunities have been somewhat curtailed in recent weeks and will be again this weekend. However I have managed a few practice sessions after work. It hasn't been as good as I'd hoped especially the bunkers but in my defence, the practice bunker has normally been partially flooded due to the huge rainfall we've had in June. The pitching has been there in fits and starts and is still a work in progress. I did play in the monthly stableford last weekend (the less said the better about my general game) but I chipped stone dead at the first for par, got up and down at the next and ended up making two out four (50%) sand saves. Although my up and down statistics weren't great overall, I chipped with more confidence than I have lately. I needed to putt better but that will come and is usually a bedrock. Sadly my long game is in sharp decline and hasn't picked up or kicked on since my lesson with Andy Piper. I don't know what the problem is and we're having a catch up next week.

I'll try and work on it this weekend, although health issues are making my playing and practice time sporadic. If I do, I'll try and get some video footage up. As I've mentioned, I'm not there technically yet. It will come. It sits right mentally, and Gary has given me more confidence to go out and work on it until I am happy and it stands up under pressure on the course.

It was a real pleasure to meet Gary Smith. He has developed a radical method but it works. He is a very good teacher, having seen it all before. He seemed pleased I had taken the first steps to learn the linear method and was happy to add meat to the bones. As one of the best coaches in the UK it could have been rather off putting but he was concise, friendly, open and able to pitch his teaching method perfectly to my learning style. All in all, it was an eye opening experience, one I enjoyed hugely and one I plan to repeat in a few months time to get Gary to monitor my progress. His rates are at the higher end of the scale but you do get what you pay for. Top quality coaching. All in all another very satisfied customer.