Turning A Corner Or Flattering To Deceive - Hillside Awaits

As you will recall, your narrator was waiting on the final placing for his dismal net 82 in the last medal. It was only good for 23rd place in Division one and it was a very poor performance. Undaunted I was able to enjoy some social golf last weekend with no handicap pressure or card in pencil in hand. 

Both rounds on Saturday and Sunday were a curate's egg of good, bad and a few "oh my god's" that defied description. It has been an ongoing problem for a while and it's killing my scores. I didn't disgrace myself too much and finished mid-table in both roll ups. I'm still working hard on improving posture and slowing the tempo down to give myself more time to actually complete the swing going back and finish it off after I strike the ball. In practice it's been steady progress but hasn't transferred to the course...yet.

On Thursday I'm off to Hillside, which is situated next to Open venue, Royal Birkdale and is an final qualifying course in its own right and rated number 30 in the Golf Monthly top 100 courses. I'm not that conversant with the nuances of links golf, rarely getting an opportunity to play this type of golf. It is the Golf Monthly Forum "Race To Hillside" national final and I am there as one of eight regional qualifiers having got through at Blackmoor Golf Club (http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/lightening-strikes-twice.html)

Regular readers will notice your narrator struggling of late and the handicap has gone out from a starting point of 11.7 in 2015 to 12.3 and dangerously close to the 13 mark. Not what I wanted and not ideal in a pursuit to single figures but I never said the journey would be quick or easy!

I hit the range last night and there was some good stuff there. Some not so good but enough to persuade me the 225 mile journey may not be quite the waste of time my current form might indicate. It promises to be a tough test and the forecast is for 15-20mph winds to keep it interesting. They haven't announced which tees we'll be off but it will not doubt be a tough examination

The view to the 1930's style clubhouse

I managed to get today off and was up at Royal Ascot by 7.00am to get a final practice round in before setting off. I have to be honest I wasn't sure what to expect but what transpired may just be a sign I'm turning a corner. I started par, par, birdie, par, par, standing at -1 gross on the sixth tee, It's been a bit of a tricky hole and doesn't suit my eye. It was blowing into a stiff breeze (ideal preparation for my links golf examination) and I hit a four iron to the front edge. Sadly I was to tamely three putt. I dropped a shot at the next after a poor tee shot but it's stroke index 2 (so a net par). A par at the eighth and a I got a good drive away at the ninth. I hit a poor approach, way too fast in my tempo but pitched on and two putted. Out in +2 gross

It was going well until the 12 where I hit a terrible drive, pulled low and left and destined never to be seen again in shin high grass. It led to an ugly triple. It's these killer holes that blight the card too often. I then hit one of those "oh my god shots" off the thirteenth tee off the toe and nearly missing it completely. It led to another double. The fourteenth is a dog leg left to right. I hit a good tee shot but pulled it left of my target line and again it cost me a lost ball and a triple. I'd gone from +3 to +11 in four holes. I can't stop the bleeding. 

I made par at the fifteenth, a battling bogey (net par) at the sixteenth and found the green at the long 218 yard penultimate hole hitting it with an excellent hybrid. I didn't hit a great drive at the last and it found a juicy lie in the rough. I didn't make good conduct but my third was a great fairway wood. I pitched well to twelve feet but couldn't make an unlikely par. All in all it ended up as an 82 gross (+12) and level handicap.

It had the potential to be so much better. Playing on my own (but holing out everything) there was not pressure but on the front nine I was picking my targets and playing the wind magnificently. Definitely some of the best golf I've played for ages. 

Have I turned a corner of am I still flattering to deceive. There's not doubt Hillside will provide a proper examination especially in the predicted winds. If I do what I know I should be doing and swinging that much smoother and slowing it down to Mach 1 or below then who knows?

One thing is for certain, the first will be a tough opener. It measures anything between 386 and 396 yards depending on the tees we'll use. According to the website:

"The railway dominates the left hand side of the hole and the fairway bunkering means that a well positioned drive is crucial. If you manage to stay on the fairway the approach to the green should be relatively straight forward.

The first hole. Not exactly a gentle opener

I'm not convinced and that bunker by the green looks daunting but we'll see how it goes. I'm energised by my performance this morning and I'm too long in the tooth to get overly excited. I've had too many false dawns but it does reiterate the fact that the work I did from Andy Piper at Lavender Park Golf Centre on posture and tempo is starting to pay dividends. There is a good golfer in there and single figures is achievable and still firmly on my agenda. I have a stubborn steadfast belief in what I'm doing and that I'll get there. 

I'll be sure to give you all the details, the good and the ugly and hopefully your narrator will have tales of daring deeds, exciting golf and a good performance. Ideally a win would be good and I always play to win (but lose graciously as my dear old dad use to say) and I am invigorated and ready to go. The bag is packed, the outfit chosen and I'm ready to hit the road. A front nine of +2 gross would be nice. Hopefully the corner has been turned and that Hillside isn't another episode of flattering to deceive.

And So It Goes On - But With Tinges Of Promise

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday and a chance to enjoy copious amounts of golf. Saturday was a monthly stableford and on the Monday I played in the Jubilee Cup, a pairs competition, better ball stableford off three quarter handicaps with my regular playing partner Adam O'Neil at Royal Ascot Golf Club.

As you are no doubt aware by now my golf is going through what is commonly known as a slump. Well on the course it's a slump. In practice I'm actually hitting it reasonably well. There was a couple of comments on my last post. Both are coming from the same direction, that my practice is perhaps not realistic enough and that I have too many lessons and too many technical thoughts in my head when I'm playing.

I replied to the post regarding the unrealistic practice (thanks for taking the time to put both comments on there - http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/golf-sucks.html) and if anyone else has anything to say on anything I write about, feel free to put your own thoughts. With regards the latter comment, there was a period a few seasons ago where that was undoubtedly true and my head was full of chocolate frogs and my game was paralysed by technical thoughts. However I've worked hard in the last few years to play with an empty head and New Golf Thinking has done a lot to help me just take a practice swing, pick a target, get over the shot and fire. In terms of the lessons, then I try and have a few over the winter to get ready for the next Spring. I try and have a couple during the season, usually if something goes astray. I want to work specifically on the short game but aside from that I've nothing planned for the moment. The last lesson worked on posture and tempo and these are things I just need to work on in practice now and take onto the course.

Let's start with simple facts. I scored 29 points in the stableford and another 0.1 handicap rise. That means I'm up to 12.2 (starting 2015 on 11.7). However there was some good stuff in the round. I actually hit the ball better than I had done in competitive rounds of late. I missed too many fairways and greens but by fine margins (into semi-rough and the fringe of greens or bunkers). The quality of the ball striking was better.

May Stableford Stats

In the end it was good enough for 17th place in Division One. Aside from another annoying handicap increase I was frustrated but pleased. I felt like I didn't get any breaks and that the work I've put in isn't being repaid. Patience is key and as long as I feel I am doing the right things on the course I am realistic to think that this dip in form has to end soon.

I played in a Sunday roll up the following day. I started poorly. Very poorly and was struggling by the turn but I played the back nine in a much better manner and eventually wandered home in 31 points. Not enough to win any cash by a long chalk but a long way from the bottom of the pile. The last nine holes actually gave me some encouragement that I wouldn't be a hindrance to my partner and that perhaps we had a chance in the Jubilee Cup especially as he's been playing well lately.

I am a former winner of the Jubilee Cup (with a different partner) and have had a few near misses. My partner Adam O'Neil and I were very close in the annual pairs competition a few months ago, missing out by a couple of points which were frittered away and left a bitter taste for a while after.

The format is better ball stableford off three quarter handicap. We started off well and were going along nicely as a pair. I was far more steady playing the front nine better than I had done for a while. I holed out on every hole and was out in forty shots (+5 gross) and that was the sort of form I knew I was capable of. It is in there I just like to keep it well hidden.

My partner struggled a little as we rounded the turn and in truth was getting a touch frustrated with his own game. We had gone out as a pair in twenty one points and were in great position to kick on and another nine holes in similar fashion would post a score that may have been in contention.

I managed to play the first six holes of the back nine steadily. We were going along well but not making the gross pars we were on the front side and it was becoming a bit of a scruffy performance. Again, the ball striking was solid enough but too many missed greens when a fairway was found.

Jubilee Cup Statistics

Although we were chugging along, our chances of a winning score were drifting away. They ground to an earth shuddering halt at the sixteenth hole. It plays 425 yards (stroke index 3) and has out of bounds tight left. I had been hitting the ball with a left to right all day and on this tight driving hole I suddenly hit a horrible hook out of bounds. Not a problem. I was sure my partner would get me out of jail. Apparently not as he hit an even bigger hook even further out of bounds. A cardinal error in a pairs event which meant we didn't score on the hole.

The 16th at Royal Ascot. The trees left are out of bounds. Not he place to go, so guess what....

We could only make a single point on the penultimate hole, a monster par three of 218 yards. I came up short and despite a good chip my putt was scared of the dark. I made a mockery of the last although my partner came good and made a fighting par. We finished 14th overall, nicely placed in mid-table. I finished eight, four, eight (quadruple, bogey, triple) which was annoying but take those three holes out of the equation, bearing in mind this was a pairs event, and I had a respectable twenty seven points for the first fifteen holes off three quarter handicap.

All in all then, the problems continue and the golf is way too erratic. There has been some good stuff, especially in the Jubilee Cup. I guess having a wing man makes it easier and takes the pressure off a little. I can do it. Some holes are really solid but why do I still have to chuck in the one or two car crashes. It happened last season (it's all in here folks, just go back and read the back posts!) and I thought this year was going to be the breakthrough one.

I'm not entirely sure where I go from here. Well I do, to a degree at least. I'm taking the advice posted on the "Golf Sucks" thread (and please put your own thoughts here or on any blog as I'd love to hear your views) and the advantage of the warm weather due to arrive for the early part of the week and getting out and playing. Clearly I can do it in practice and not replicate that on the course so I'm playing as much as I can for a while. Let's see what difference this makes.

I need to do something and fast. I'm writing this on the back of another medal meltdown this morning and although the scores have yet to be checked and ratified, I signed for a net 82 (+12 over handicap). It will be another 0.1 back unless there weren't many good scores under handicap and it's reduction only competition for handicapping (I live in hope). Things were as bad today as they were good for most parts in the Jubilee Cup. Triple bogey on three and four set the tone, the latter courtesy of a pulled nine iron out of bounds from 114 yards. That's agony.

To be honest my game was all over the shop and I didn't feel the club or the swing all day. I lost interest after another treble bogey at the twelfth and the final few holes were an exercise in going through the motions. I did try on every shot but focus and intent had left me.

It seems medal play has a hex over me at the moment and I am racking up some horror scores in this format. Of course it's the purest form of the game and the biggest test as every single shot counts and has a consequence but I seem to melt and capitulate. I don't know why. It's certainly not nerves and I'm definitely not trying too hard or thinking too much. As far as I am aware I am trying to do the same things I would do in a roll up game or a stableford.

And so it goes on. The handicap will be out to 12.3 (almost back to 13) if the competition isn't reduction only and golf continues to bite me hard. I am trying to stay positive as there's enough in snippets in the roll up last Sunday and the Jubilee Cup to know there's a golfer in there and a score trying to break out. I'm changing tack and playing more and we're see where that takes me. Get out and play my way out of this dip.

Keep the faith dear reader. I promised you the road to single figures would be rocky. Granted I wasn't expecting this many bumps in the road but heck, at the end of the day the determination is still there in droves and I will get there. The tinges of promise keep reminding me that I can do it. I need to look at things like course management. I'm sure playing my home course regularly makes be blase about the holes and I don't always plot my way round. When I play an away course, especially a new one I've not played before, I seem to swing smoother and plot my way around better. There's got to be a lesson there. I need to ensure tempo work continues and I slow the swing down and maintain a good posture. It's in there. I need to let the good times return. I'm sure they aren't far away, even with my medal score today. I do hope so!

Golf Sucks

Golf sucks. There I've said it. Certainly the way I'm playing it does. Another monthly medal on the hallowed turf of Royal Ascot Golf Club and another dose of ignominy with a net 82 and a massive twelve shots over my handicap. Oh golf swing where art thou?

The thing is, I worked really hard on my game last week and in practice I was really happy with the ball striking, flight and dispersion. I was in a smooth tempo and in a very confident, almost bullish mood. Even in the warm up prior to the round there wasn't a hint of the carnage to come. This has been the case recently. If you are a regular reader of the trials and tribulations of a fanatical golfer and his obsessive desire to reach a single figure handicap (and if not I want a written explanation as to why) then you’ll know from recent posts that my current form is nothing like good enough to make this happen any time soon and yet within these are reports of progression being made in practice.

Simply put I cannot replicate what I am doing in practice on the course. I've been back through New Golf Thinking and worked on things like RAF (Rehearse, Aim, Flow) and know I am doing the same thing regarding pre-shot routine. I've been checking posture (a big issue in recent months) and standing over the ball with a clear mind, free from technical swing thoughts. I've spoken before about tempo and how at times I need to slow it to a blur and again it’s something I focused on a lot last week and my swing had a lovely speed and feel to it.

The round itself started off in strange fashion. My tee shot at the 229 yard opener was sweetly struck but a push right. It found a horrible lie in heavy rough, on a down slope and with a bunker to go over. No prizes for guessing where my next was played from. I splashed out well to about ten feet and made the putt for a bogey (and a sand save for the statistics).

And then the rot set in. I lost my tee shot on the second out of bounds right. It was a horrid swing. Way too quick and there was barely a pause between setting up over the ball and pulling the trigger. I was actually aiming for the left side of the fairway and so this slice was forty yards off line. It got what it deserved and an ugly triple bogey put me behind the eight ball.

I steadied the ship over the next few holes and came to the fifth, a 503 par five that starts by curving from right to left off the tee and then snakes back the other way towards the green. This has a wide fairway and room towards the rough right and is definitely one to open the shoulders normally. However, I was aware that the swing wasn't dialled in and so deliberately looked to stand and make a smooth and controlled swing and find some of that elusive tempo it had been lacking. Whether I was too careful or just sub-consciously speeded up is irrelevant. I hit a horrid duck hook left and out of bounds. It would lead to another triple bogey.

The sixth hole is a par three of 178 yards and in the past I've had issues here. However in recent months I have had more success and it holds no fear. It’s nothing more than a smooth long iron or hybrid and plenty of room right once you get past the tree line and the out of bounds lurking. The one place not to miss is left where out of bounds awaits very close by and there is precious little room that side of the green should the ball stay in play. I tried so hard to wipe the memory of the previous hole. My round starts from here and we can still salvage respectability. Not after another supersonic swing close to Mach 1 and another duck hook out of bounds. Another triple bogey. You cannot win a medal with three of those in your opening six holes.

There was nothing that resembled anything I’d worked on all week. By the time I’d limped through the opening nine holes I was a massive +14 gross and had used all of my handicap allowance and would need to play the back nine in +1 gross to have any sniff of the buffer zone and a chance to prevent a handicap increase.

I lost that shot on the tenth with an annoying three putts having found a green in regulation for once. I made double at the next, taking three to escape from a green side bunker at this par three. I eventually made up and down (another sand save) but the damage was done. Our twelfth hole is a sharp dog leg of 409 yards and is stroke index one. I got a good drive away (for once) although it found a juicy lie in the rough. I took a five iron knowing it would come out low and fast and it did exactly that and landed short and rolled up and onto the green to within twelve feet. For once the putter worked and I made a birdie. Too little too late to make a difference but pleasing all the same.

The remaining holes were a combination of bad shots, unforced errors and the occasional glimpse of a proper golfer. It was messy and added up to a disgusting 94 (+24 gross less my handicap to give the net 82). It was only good for a miserable 28th place in division one and almost at the very bottom. Close but not quite thanks to another golfer having an even more torrid time than me.

Golf sucks and the weekend medal was a nightmare of huge proportions

So what happened? Again it’s hard to say. Clearly going out of bounds three times would be the root cause and I didn't drive the ball well all day hitting only 42% of fairways. Naturally this is always going to put pressure on the rest of the game and 22% of greens in regulation illustrates that I never gave myself a chance. I can live with thirty three putts. Not great but not a disaster despite several three putts.

I really don’t know the way forward and my game seems entrenched in a rut. The handicap has gone up yet again and is now 12.1. That’s a million miles away from the 9.4 I need to reach the odyssey of single figures.

I played on Sunday in the normal roll up. Again the opening few holes laid the template. Hook off the tee into a hazard on the first. No points. I carved my second on the second towards out of bounds from the fairway and was lucky it stayed on the golf course. The provisional ball didn't. I missed greens when I found a fairway and the front nine wasn't great. I made a double at the twelfth and then seemed to play well for the final few holes. In the end it was a respectable thirty one points. I still made mistakes and the swing still felt out of sync but I found a way to make a score and get it around.

The game isn't right but I don’t know why and suspect it’s only a tiny problem. I have hit some good shots, enough to convince me I still know what to do some of the time at least. The driver would seem to be the biggest culprit and yet in my practice last week it was behaving obediently. It has to boil down largely to tempo. I'm not making any swing changes and not changing my address position or posture (and I'm being quite circumspect and ensuring it’s good over the ball).

I can’t carry on this way. Golf sucks when you chop it round live a novice and I am so much better than this garbage I keep serving up. I still have a rock firm belief in my talent, ability and sheer stubbornness to get to single figures and the golf professional I have tuition with shares those views. However I need to find a solution to my woes and fast. There are a lot of big events coming up, including the Jubilee Cup at Royal Ascot on Bank Holiday Monday. This is a pair’s event, better ball stableford off three quarter handicaps and I'm a former winner. It’s one of the Royal Ascot honour board events and so quite prestigious. I've also got the Golf Monthly Forum “Race To Hillside” national final (at Hillside naturally) at the end of May and that’s a links course that will take no prisoners, especially if the wind blows and my game is in no shape to deal with the questions that will pose.

The thing is, despite chopping it around like a muppet in the medal I tried on every shot. The head didn't wander or drop as it had in the March medal where I’d carded a gross 91, net 79 and wrote on here how that was as bad as it gets. How very wrong I was as Saturday proved. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger or so they say. I think it’s still a very fine line between this rut I'm in and the form I displayed not so long ago at Blackmoor Golf Club. Nothing has fundamentally changed and aside from a quick tweak with the pro at the range about posture I've not had any further tuition and the work I did over the winter was holding firm.

I'm always keen to hear from others, particularly better players and pros who have gone through similar or worked with club players like me to improve. Where am I going wrong? What can I do differently? If you’d care to comment at the bottom of this I’d be interested to hear your views, especially in light of my recent doldrums. Is it too much practice and too little actual golf played? To me it keeps coming back to tempo and a failure to simply give myself time on the shot to complete the back swing and get back through the ball properly. The transition in particular is rushed and I end up trapped or making compensations on the way back. Let me know what you think.

I hit the range on Monday night and the nightmare continued. I hit the panic button and hastily arranged a lesson for yesterday with a guy called Andrew Piper at Lavender Golf Centre. I've seen him a couple of times before and he never seems to make any major changes but just tweaks what I have. Last night was no different. The posture had regressed again with the shoulders too far over the feet, so back to standing more upright and the weight back on the balls of the feet. And then the big change and a major mind melt.

As suspected and despite my best efforts the tempo was still supersonic. What he asked me to do was swing as slowly as possible and stop once I made a ninety degree shoulder turn. From there just hit it. Wow. So much time through the ball and time on the way back to make a good coil. Of course it wouldn't be me if there wasn't a but coming. I could do the turn as slowly as Andrew wanted, and it really did feel like it was taking ages, but my hands kept on going once I reached a ninety degree turn. With them working independently it was hard then to get back to the ball consistently. When I turned and stopped it was fine. Let the hands carry on and it was carnage, especially when it came to the driver.

I hit the practice ground tonight to hit off grass rather than a range mat and it was very hard. I wasn't helped by a keen wind blowing. I struggled again to stop the hands working too far after my turn. Good ones were nice. Bad ones would have been off the golf course. It's only a first session and not in ideal conditions and so I'm not too upset. Back to the range tomorrow and try again.

Trust me this can’t and won’t continue. I’ll find a way. I hate it when golf sucks. I hate playing badly. I hate not seeing the fruits of my labour in terms of time invested not paying off and I hate not playing anywhere near the ability I know I have and swinging anywhere near the way I’ve done over the Winter. The swing isn’t broken so I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel and I prefer to look at it as being AWOL over the last few rounds. I’ve sent out search teams and once I find it, hopefully in the medal this weekend, you’ll be one of the first to know. Keep the faith dear reader. This ain’t done yet

Still Not At The Races - Struggling

The golf season is gaining momentum but after by recent good performance at Blackmoor Golf Club, my form has been patchy to say the least. I played very poorly in the last monthly medal and really struggled from start to finish. To be truthful the head and drive left me early on in the round, something I've been working hard with New Golf Thinking to avoid. The consequence was inevitable and one bad shot led to another and there were too many careless mistakes and errors.

The Easter weekend saw the Haig Cup take place at Royal Ascot Golf Club. Competitors play two rounds over any four days of the elongated break (their choice as to which days they play). It’s a bogey format, essentially a matchplay game against the course. Net par is a halved hole, net birdie or better a win and a net bogey or worse is a loss. It’s one of the honour board events at the club and this year there was a new trophy up for grabs for the best individual round which the club recently recovered via e-bay (http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/back-in-safe-hands_1.html)

I’m afraid my efforts left rather a lot to be desired. My opening round was -2 (two holes down to the course) which wasn’t a disaster in what is a rather unyielding and difficult format. However behind that is a story of having to really work hard to make that score and a round that spluttered and faltered, punctuated by some good holes and far too many poor shots. Can anyone see a pattern here?

Any thoughts about making a second round charge and challenging for the title or even the cup for the best round faltered in spectacular fashion. In simple terms I was atrocious. In fact I probably wasn’t even that good. My swing completely deserted me, I had no idea where the ball was going and frankly wanted to be anywhere else but struggling on over the back nine. No amount of New Golf Thinking and positivity were going to save this. I finished the round -12 on the day and an overall score of -14. I wasn’t going to win anything with that.

So what went so wrong? The simple answer is I didn’t play well. However, I don't know why that happened. I have been struggling for some form for a few weeks and a lot of it has been tempo related. However that was the one swing thought I’d kept in my mind for the second round of the Haig Cup and was making a conscious effort to make a smooth swing. Clearly that didn't work.

The short game wasn’t great and the putter was stone cold. Now regular readers will know all about my short game woes and it’s a recurring theme.  I am working hard to rectify this area and have some tuition planned to make it robust and trustworthy. The putter just had an off day. Maybe my new Ping hadn’t read my glowing review I posted on here about it. Maybe the usurped Odyssey putter was practising some black magic from the spare golf bag

I had a week off work last week and so after licking my wounds and sucking in another 0.1 handicap rise that sees my new figure up to a disappointing 12.0 (a 0.3 increase in 2015) it was back to hitting balls and playing some practice rounds and trying to find a spark to relight my game. I did a lot of work on the basics and in particular posture. It’s an issue that has been highlighted to me by a number of teaching pros and I do tend to make the common mistake of getting to hunched over. I'm working hard on standing much taller, and a little further away and giving myself as much room as I can to make a full turn and swing through the ball. When I get it right the results are much better.

A big issue is when I practice either on the range or the practice ground is I can get bogged down chasing technique and not trusting what I have. This leads to too many swing thoughts and it was something I was guilty of again. I should have put the bad Haig Cup down to a bad performance (everyone has them) but I thought too much about the how and not letting the ball flight dictate what was actually going on. In the end I got to a stage where I was hitting better but it took a lot of effort to clear the mental rubbish and stand there and hit it. Another thing to be worked on this year.

Last weekend saw the first club match of the new season, away to Caversham Heath. These are friendly matches, although some do have trophies up for grabs, including our one with Caversham Heath and while everyone wants to play well the camaraderie rather than necessity to win is what these games are really about.

I was picked to play with the Royal Ascot club captain for 2015 Roger Wing, a more than capable nine handicapper and we were matched against the Caversham Heath captain and vice captain. I say these matches are friendly games but no-one told our hosts as their vice and then their captain made a birdie to win the first two holes. I pulled one back at the third to halve the deficit and Roger worked hard to make it all square by the seventh. We lost the only par three of the front nine, the eighth hole and finished the front nine one down.

I should have won the tenth after a massive drive and good pitch but three putted horribly from fifteen feet. I did win the next to square the game. Roger was working hard on the back nine, especially the closing holes as my driving became a little erratic and I struggled on the greens. It was nip and tuck and we were two down with four to go but we managed to win the sixteenth and were gifted the seventeenth, a lovely par three over water. The match went down the last and the Caversham Heath captain had a putt on the last green to win. He missed and it was perhaps fitting that such a good game, played in great spirit should finish all square. However, the rest of the Royal Ascot team were in pulsating form and all won their matches to give the club a 5 ½ - ½ lead with the return fixture to come at Royal Ascot later in the year.

I was a little more pleased with my game, especially the driving on the opening fourteen holes or so but I did miss far too many greens from good positions on the fairway. The greens at Caversham Heath are notoriously difficult and heavily contoured (elephant graveyards as someone described them) and are always a very quick speed. However it was a much better ball striking performance and with Roger being able to carry me home we did well to get a half from a tricky situation.

I’ve been afflicted by the curse of the working classes and have been back to the grind this week. Practice has continued after work and I’m slowly improving the swing and ball striking again. There is short game and putting work to be done and I’ve been selected to play another club match away to Maidenhead Golf Club on Saturday. There greens are smaller and while not as heavily contoured are arguably some of the quickest in the area and in the warm conditions we’ve been enjoying in Berkshire they should be very fast and challenging.

There is a downside. I’ve managed to lose the weight port out of my Ping I25 six iron and it’s currently on the way back to Ping to be replaced. Not a problem and I have been hitting with my old Taylor Made Tour Preferred irons in case it doesn’t return in time for my next round  and so I have a full set of irons and know the yardages. The problem has been compounded by the seven iron weight port falling out as well and so this will have to go back and so I’m going to be short of another iron. I’m not happy although the six and seven irons are the work horses of my practice sessions and so I can see how they may have worked loose. 

I have stumbled across a set of Ping S55 irons at a silly price online and on a whim have acquired them. They are intended as a better player club, certainly not a category my recent form would put me in. With a smaller head and less forgiveness, you may wonder what the interest is. I’m working on a principal gathering momentum amongst a number on the Golf Monthly Forum and that using “harder to hit” clubs in practice and having to work hard to get decent results should make life easier when going back to the bigger and more forgiving clubs, in my case my I25’s. Even if the plan doesn’t work out, at the price I paid I can shift them on again for a similar amount of money and so it seems a low risk opportunity. Who knows, should I find a rich vein of form they may even find themselves being used on the course at some point too. I'm using them as a motivational tool to get them in the bag as a single figure golfer. 

The S55 irons - a better player club I've bought on a whim - aspirational as a reward for single figures and part of a plan to use regularly in practice to improve tempo and ball striking

It’s an interesting concept. Some on the forum have acquired bladed clubs, arguably as hard to hit as you’ll find and have been using those at the range. The initial feedback via the forum is positive and many have found that the ball striking with their normal make and model has greatly improved. To be honest my old TM Tour Preferred irons aren’t as forgiving as the I25 and I managed to hit them well this week so perhaps there is a degree of method amongst this madness and the S55's is just another step forward in this process.

I've had one session with the new purchase. They have Dynamic Gold S300 shafts so stiffer than the R flex I had in my old Taylormade Tour Preferred irons and they feel heavier than the stock CFS shaft in the I25. This means to get optimum distance and find the middle I'm having to swing with a slower and controlled tempo (part of the plan to drill this into my overall game) but when you do hit them properly they are as sweet as any club I've used. Miss the middle though and distance is certainly compromised. That of course is the jeopardy for me at the moment as I'm not good enough to use them consistently enough and will struggle on a course with them. Fine to miss a few on a range when there's always another chance but no good in the pursuit of a handicap cut. However, hitting the S55 well will drip back into my I25's and with their greater forgiveness I should stand over the ball oozing confidence and able to strike them so much better.

Below is my statistics for the season to date and so you can begin to see where the mistakes are being made. I'm hoping the work on the ball striking will be a key component and improve not only greens in regulation but into my tee shots and therefore fairways in regulation too. Better shots will hopefully get the ball closer and so I can convert more birdie chances and tidy up the putts per green number. You can see the method in my cunning plan

2015 Statistics

All in all, it hasn’t been my finest few golfing weeks and not the fast start to the season I was hoping for. Despite my hard work over the winter and initial good play at Blackmoor Golf Club, I feel I’m not quite at the races. It’s not far off in the most part, save for the horror show in the second round of the Haig Cup and more of the same inconsistent play that’s blighted my game for a while. The handicap however continues to rise taking me ever further away from single figures and that’s perhaps the most soul destroying part of the process to date. I’m working hard, playing well in patches and not able to find a key to get the job done and get some handicap cuts. It will happen. It has to happen. 

Ping Cadence Putter Review

For the last few seasons I've been using an Odyssey Protype Tour #9 putter and by and large we have had a happy and successful relationship. It’s a milled face, beautiful on the eye and a piece of precision machining. The face has a lovely buttery feel without being too soft and feels so much nicer than the traditional Odyssey inserts. So far so good but I've a dark secret. The Odyssey isn't my true love.

When I first realised that the golf bug had bitten and that the golfing mistress had me with her siren song, I bought a Ping Anser 2. I still have it at home with the solid metal face. In my opinion, there really hasn't been a putter design before or since that compares to the iconic simple shape of the Anser blade and there is no wonder every putter manufacturer has their own version of this model in their range or why it is still the design most popular with both professional and club golfers alike.

I love my Odyssey and it’s been a faithful companion and helped me to most of my golfing achievements (few and far between as they've been) and I've developed a putting style that suits. In recent months I've added an Odyssey jumbo grip to keep the hands quieter in the stroke, especially on the shorter putts and everything has been fine and dandy. It isn't you dear Odyssey. It’s me. You've done nothing wrong but I've spurned your love for another who has turned my eye. 

I've had the hankering to go back to an Anser style putter for ages. It’s a nagging, recurring desire. Every summer when the greens are at their peak, I've put the old Anser in the bag for a while and loved it. However it’s too light these days and the face doesn't seem so friendly, especially away from the tiny sweet spot and inevitably I’ll go back to the Odyssey. However for those brief few weeks when I have it in my hands it’s like all my golfing yesterdays and I feel as young and invincible on the greens as I had as a golf mad youngster.

That has now changed. Ping has introduced the Cadence range of putters and I've taken the plunge with an Anser 2. There I've said it. The Cadence range comes in two styles. There is a traditional range, symbolised with a blue TR (true roll insert) which Ping say is aimed for those with a mid-quick putting tempo. There is also a heavier range, with a black TR insert for those with a slower stroke which Ping say will also help on the shorter putts for those that struggle. 

The True Roll inserts vary in width and depth to provide unmatched ball-speed consistency and accuracy on putts of any length. Anything not struck out the middle will, according to Ping, still roll out fully and have a chance of making the full trip to the hole and dropping.

The Anser 2 Heavy (left) and Anser 2 Traditional (right)

This is what Ping say on their website:

Engineered to fit a golfer's stroke tempo and feel preference, Cadence TR models advance putter fitting by varying head weights utilising different-weight face inserts. Traditional-weight heads feature an aluminium insert (blue face and grip) to fit mid-to-faster tempos, and offer help with lag putting. Heavy versions (black face and grip) have a stainless steel insert, adding approximately 25 grams for slower tempos and can improve results on shorter putts. (Traditional and heavy grips weigh the same.)

Both face inserts feature the next generation of True Roll Technology grooves that provide forgiveness by normalising ball speeds across the face. They vary in depth and width from the centre of the face to significantly improve ball-speed consistency on putts of any length.

Both the traditional and heavy models come with a PP58 Midsize pistol grip designed to keep the wrists firm and ensure a stable stroke for improved accuracy and consistency. The traditional model has a striking blue grip to compliment the blue face insert and the heavy range has a darker grip that matches the face in that range.

The Traditional putter grip. It sits beautifully in the hand and is firm without compromising feel 

Enough of the marketing blurb. I've had the Anser 2 model in the bag for about a month now. How has it performed? Let me start with the aesthetics. It simply looks fantastic behind the ball and the grey finish and clear white alignment line along with the classic simple lines make it look fantastic behind the ball. The pistol grip sits nicely in the hand and is firm but still retains a sense of feel. Performance wise I love this heel/toe design and the Anser 2 is designed for a slightly arced stroke which is something I've always felt comfortable with. On the shorter putts, I've always been more back and through type of guy and this putter will still let you do this without trying to manipulate you into making a stroke more in to square to in again.

The Odyssey #9 always seemed to have a stronger arc. No bad thing but as I've said I always felt I’d had to change my stroke to match the putter. I found that my arms were closer than normal to my body while using this putter. My back swing with the putter definitely followed an arc inside much more than normal. It didn't feel unnatural, just different. The weighting of the head and the position of the hands made it relatively easy to reproduce.

With the Ping, I feel my arms hang more freely and as a result I seem to find it easier to stand with my eyes more over the ball as some sessions with a putting mirror has confirmed. The stroke seems more fluid although perhaps that’s more “new putter syndrome” and I'm just relaxed with the new toy and putting with a better and technically correct stroke.

Performance wise, the Anser 2 has given me everything I was looking for and reaffirmed why I was right to nurture this long lasting desire for this type of putter. Again, whether this is a placebo effect of the new shape behind the ball but I seem to be making a lot more mid to long range putts. I will be honest and say from the crucial 3-6 foot range I seem to have missed a few but I'm not sure how much that has been down to a lack of practice, bobbly winter greens, or simple pilot error.

I have plans to do a lot of work with a putting mirror and raised string line and get the stroke grooved ready for the season and those short range putts will be the first thing to be addressed. With an improving short game I am aware the putting statistics will get skewed as I make more up and down saves but ultimately it's a game of scoring and those putts still have to be made.

If you are in the market for a new putter then the new Ping range is definitely worth keeping an eye on. Whether it’s just me or not, but I've only seen the traditional (blue) range in set shaft lengths (usually 33-36 inches) where the heavy (black) range seem to come with the adjustable shafts that Ping have had in their releases for a while. Here is the link to the options as per the Ping website (http://www.ping.com/clubs/puttersdetail.aspx?id=18298). I'm not sure why this is but I’d like the option in the traditional range to adjust the length, especially if the stroke isn't working. Sometimes standing differently can make a difference and spark the stroke back to life. It’s always nice to tinker too.

That small gripe aside I am more than happy to have finally gone back to my one true love. Yes I feel guilty the Odyssey #9 is lying in the spare bag spurned and unwanted. However I’m not convinced my putting is built for monogamy and I’m sure there will come a time in the future where I'm whispering sweet nothings to it and wooing it again. I do think though that this is a long way down the line (but never say never). 

I'm really happy with the Anser 2. It ticks all the boxes in terms of looks and so far performance has exceeded expectation. It has all the things my original Anser 2 had all those years ago but with a modern twist. I do think the TR insert has made a difference although I had a dampener inserted into my milled Odyssey face which stopped vibrations and so I could get away with mis-hit putts just as well. I don’t think you can necessarily compare a milled face (without the additional help of a dampener) and the TR version and so if you are undecided then it’s definitely something you’d need to consider and hit a good number of putts to decide how the off centre ones work for you. The putter has a nice balance and the matt finish works well in sunlight and isn't too harsh behind the ball.

It's nice to have this putter in the bag and I hope we'll have a long and happy relationship. It's a great addition to the Ping range and as with everything they produced, a well constructed piece of equipment. I'm acutely aware how personal putting and putters are but this has suited my own game and stroke. I feel confident on the green and with the way the Anser sits behind the ball you really do feel able to make every putt. As I put more work into the putting as the season progresses I hope this facet will only get better and I can shoot some low scores.

Inconsistency - Same Old Story

Fresh from my success at Blackmoor Golf Club in the Golf Monthly Forum Race To Hillside (Southern Area qualifier) it was back to Royal Ascot Golf Club and the golfing season is starting to truly get under way. Last weekend was the Jack Jarrett Trophy, a pairs stableford event played off 3/4 handicaps with both scores counting.

My regular partner was away sunning himself in the Gulf so I was forced to seek a new partner in Mark Goodall normally off a very handy 17 handicap but down to 13 for this event. I'd only had the pleasure of his company once before but we seemed to hit it off.

It was a testing day with a gusty wind and cold temperatures. I started erratically with two double bogey's but then began to find some consistency. It was one of those frustrating days. I seemed to miss greens from prime position and putts refused to drop. My partner was suffering the same woes and although we kept grinding away, we never really got sufficient momentum to really challenge.

I managed to produce the odd moment of magic including a long bunker shot on the par five fifteenth from 67 yards to three inches for a simple birdie. It was one or two rotations from dropping for an eagle after I'd tried to hit the green in two.

I was struggling with the swing all the way round and the game just lacked a spark. There were too many loose shots, not only compared to the round at Blackmoor but also compared to recent rounds at Royal Ascot. There were just too many missed greens, too many missed fairways and I couldn't scramble well enough or make enough putts. It wasn't a disaster by a long way. I know Mark felt the same way about his game. He played nicely in patches, threw in the odd bad hole, and like me couldn't make the scrambles when required.

Jack Jarrett Trophy statistics

In the end, we finished eighth out of twenty nine teams and so it was a decent enough return with fifty eight points (neatly we both scored 29 points). We were only two points off a top three and six off the winning score so they weren't big margins. It was a pleasure to play with Mark and it's something we both want to do more of in the future.

I felt that I was struggling to get the club in front of me and feel cramped for room at times. It's an issue I've spoken about before and was working hard during the round to feel as if the club was coming from a steeper place and I was striking down on the ball. When I got it right it was good. The bad ones not so good.

I had a lesson last Wednesday night. I gave my teaching professional Rhys ap Iolo some feedback from the two rounds and in particular the issues I had in the Jack Jarrett event. He had a look and tweaked the set up a little and I found that instantly I had more room to turn and particularly clear properly. Everything was back on track.

Cometh the weekend and Saturday was a roll up game with the normal cronies. I brought a guest from the Golf Monthly Forum who is considering joining as his own course (Blue Mountain in Bracknell) is closing down and being developed by Bracknell Council for housing. A very sad and contentious case (http://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/bracknell/articles/2014/11/01/105017-blue-mountain-golf-club-to-close-in-six-months/) and (http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/binfields-blue-mountain-golf-course-7258096)

I played very consistently. There was a much better feel to the swing following the lesson and a much better tempo and groove to the swing. I putted nicely, despite suffering five putts that did a full 360 degree lap of the hole and refusing to drop. I scored thirty six points, bang on handicap. It was encouraging and good enough to pick up a few quid for second place. Onto the first monthly medal of 2015 in a positive frame.

It was very similar to the Jack Jarrett. A round that held some potential undone by a catalogue of poor shots. I started off reasonably but missed the green at the second. I got away with murder as I sculled the chip to ten feet and made a putt for par. The golfing gods equalled the score on the next. I hit a great drive but it rolled towards a fairway bunker and I was left with a tricky stance. I came up short but managed to salvage a net par. A three putt at the next started to set the scene of what was to come. I did the same thing on the next having found the green in regulation.

The remainder of the front nine was a mixture of good and bad but I'd managed to scramble out in a respectable one over handicap 42 gross (+7). The 10th and 11th are a short par four and a par three and represented a chance to get the lost shot back and kick on to try and make a buffer zone or better still a handicap cut.

What followed was a back nine collapse. I missed the green from the fairway and found a bunker. There was little sand in it but I played a bad shot and thinned it over the green to sow the seed of a double bogey. I missed the green at the par three, came up short with the pitch and chipped to seven feet and missed for another double. That isn't where handicap cuts are born.

I scrambled a net par at the twelfth, stroke index one. Again I found the fairway with a great drive, fading gently around the dog left into position A. I was left with 176 yards and took a four iron but carved it way right. It was a poor swing. I hit a reasonable pitch but it came up short and I had a big swinging putt from the fringe. I got it to within two feet and holed the next.

I was still only a few over handicap and a couple of good holes coming home could still rescue a buffer zone finish. I made a par at the fourteenth to keep me going but I lost the plot and finally the will with a debacle on the par five fifteenth. I found a green in regulation, but was twenty five feet away. My first putt was good  but came up short and I missed the par putt. Realising I didn't get a stroke and I was now even further from the buffer I was annoyed and tried to tap the ball in from the other side of the hole and barely moved it and so registered another double.

It was very unlike me. New Golf Thinking had strengthened my resolve and I was much more prepared for the battle. Realising now that the game was up, both for a cut (that had long gone) and the buffer zone, I melted a bit. The mind wandered and it became nothing more than a ball hitting exercise. Two more double bogey's at the sixteenth and seventeenth followed and although I got a net par at the last it was too little too late.

In the I came home in a miserable 49 shots (+14) for a grand total of 91, net 79 (+9) and a lowly fourteenth place in division two and another 0.1 on the handicap. I have to be honest and say the swing disintegrated. There was no feeling, no trust and no consistency but that wasn't the whole story. I'd worked in my last lesson on a more conventional chipping action. In fact we'd been working on it for a few lessons but I hadn't always trusted it and had reverted to the linear method. In the medal I tried to stick with the new action and frankly it wasn't fit for purpose. My arms were stiff and each chip felt like an accident waiting to happen. There were so many sculled chip and only a few that were acceptable. I am determined to find something robust and resilient and ideally more textbook with fewer moving parts than a linear chip. Perhaps it was too much too soon or just a sign of a bad golfing day.

I am trying to find a positive spin. There were some good shots but far too many bad ones and it is becoming a recurring theme. Inconsistency. I appreciate I will have bad days and yesterday was just that but when you play well the day before you surely have the right to expect the game to stand up ore firmly, especially on the coat tails of the Blackmoor game.

Monthly Medal Statistics

The statistics tell their own story but you can discount the final few holes as I'd gone into serious meltdown. Had their been a lake I can't guarantee I wouldn't have done a "McIlroy" and chucked a club into the watery grave. I doubt Mr Trump would have paid a diver to rescue it and present it to me either.

So what do we get from this tale. Well, there is still much to be positive about. Despite not swinging well in the Jack Jarrett Trophy I managed to grind out a score and on another day we could have sneaked a top three finish. When I find the groove as I did on Saturday and at Blackmoor, I am good and getting better. I still need to use New Golf Thinking to stop myself getting ahead of everything on the back nine. I seem to just let it happen going out and then by the twelfth or thirteenth start to think about scores, holes ahead and targets. All big NO NO's. It's something I still need to work on but at least I'm in contention. Yesterday was a round from the dark days especially the short game. I've consigned that to the scrap heap and this has been my cathartic, cleaning of the golfing soul.

At the moment the potential is still there and the golfing season has barely started. I start again competitively over the Easter weekend and so can just go out and play next week with no pressure. I can always work on my game, especially the chipping, should the need arise. There is definitely no need to hit the panic button and one bad round doesn't mean the swing is broken and the work I've done is a failure. Not quite the positive vibe I had from the last post but still a lot going right. Definitely more right than wrong and I'm convinced I'm still on the right path. Onwards, ever onwards towards single figures

2015 Starting handicap - 11.7 
Current handicap 11.9
0.2 increase year to date

Lightening Strikes Twice

The regular followers will know that I am actively involved on the Golf Monthly Forum and over the past couple of seasons they have run a national competition for the forum members with regional qualifiers before a grand final. This year the final is being staged, as it was last year, at Hillside Golf Club in Southport.

I was fortunate enough to win the Southern Area qualifier on count back last year. It was staged at Camberley Heath Golf Club and I put together one of my best rounds of the season to shoot net 68 (-3 on my handicap) http://threeoffthetee.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/king-of-kings.html?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=32

This year, the Southern Area qualifier was held at Blackmoor Golf Club in Hampshire. Established in 1913 it was originally laid out by Harry Colt. The course consists of two loops of nine holes created from heathland surrounded by heather, pine, birch and oak trees. Colt's design has stood the test of time as golf is still played over sixteen of the holes he created. Blackmoor has hosted regional qualifying for the Open Championship from 1998 to 2003 and regularly features in most top 100 guides to UK courses. It promised to be a stiff examination

The day was bright and sunny and Spring was definitely in the air as forty three golfers nervously congregated to play.

My four ball standing on the first before battle commenced

The first hole is a gentle par four playing uphill. However there's a ditch that crosses the fairway that needs to be treated with respect. I took a hybrid off the tee to lay up short and found the fairway. From there it was a simple nine iron into the green. So far so good. However the Blackmoor greens have a fearsome reputation and I three putted, downhill, from twenty feet for an opening bogey.

I started a little nervously. I was hitting the ball nicely but not quite converting early chances. The fourth hole is stroke index one. It usually plays into a prevailing left to right wind and with heather guarding both sides, an accurate drive is needed to leave a mid or long iron into a green protected on the right by water and left by a deep bunker. There is also out of bounds left to really get your attention. I hit a reasonable drive right into the semi-rough but with a good lie. With 189 yards left I hit a lovely four iron, fading nicely into the heart of the green before running up to within five feet. I managed to coax the putt in for a gross birdie and my round was really off and running.

The view from the 4th tee on the 415 yard par 4. It's a tough driving hole

My driving has never been a strong facet of my game but I was driving the ball rather well on the front nine and it was ensuring I was able to make strong progress. The seventh hole, stroke index three is another long par four measuring nearly four hundred yards. There is a bunker to the left of the fairway which needs to be avoided to leave a longish second shot into a two tiered green. I found another fairway and hit an exquisite hybrid into the green finishing no more than eight feet away. I managed to gander another gross birdie. It was beyond my wildest dreams.

I three putted the next, a par five, from thirty feet after a mediocre approach but found the heart of the green at the ninth. It's only a short hole, playing uphill as many of the par three's Colt designed do. I was faced with a slippery downhill putt that screamed caution and I got it down to two feet but only just made the par putt. However it dropped and it concluded an opening nine holes of 38 shots (+3 gross) and twenty one points.

However I was acutely aware that I'd only done half the job. New Golf Thinking has helped me stay very much in the moment. There was still work to be done and the tenth is the second hardest hole on the course. It's another long par four that dog legs left to right. Again it has heather running down both sides and with out of bounds right, it needs a good drive, ideally with a fade to leave a chance to hit the green in two. With cross bunkers forty yards short of the green and bunkers left and right the approach to an elevated green has to be well hit. Sadly I caught my six iron fat. It was the first bad swing I'd made all day but I made a net par. No damage done

The 10th hole from the tee. Another not for the faint hearted and ideally it needs a fade off the tee

I made a fine par at the next and then came to the shortest hole on the course. Played over banks of heather there are bunkers left and right to catch an errant shot. I caught my tee shot way too clean and it rocketed through the green and down a steep bank. With the putting surface running front to back I couldn't get too aggressive so opted to get the ball on the green, take the resultant bogey and move on. Not ideal but not a disaster and a pragmatic approach.

I made a bit of a mess of the following two holes. I played the par five poorly, missing the green left into sand for a nasty bogey. Fortunately it was a shot hole and a net par but with only a short iron in I had a great chance to make my par and really keep the momentum going.

The fourteenth is an innocuous par four. Miss the pond to the right at the 230 yard mark and it is a chance to make a par and maybe a birdie. I did the first bit and hit a lovely drive to leave an eight iron in. I hit it fat and again it was a poor shot. It yielded a bogey from nowhere and this time there was no shot on the hole to save the day.

Part of the New Golf Thinking mantra is not spiralling down and letting a bad shot or bad hole lead to another and one poor hole suddenly becoming a run of two or three. The fifteenth, according to the Blackmoor website, is one of the hardest par three's in Hampshire. I'm not entirely convinced I'd agree. It was playing around 185 yards to a green shaped like an upturned saucer with plenty of bunkers guarding the putting surface.

The 15th. Not sure I'd agree with Blackmoor's claim it's one of the hardest par three holes in Hampshire

I found the green with a five wood. It ran to the back of the green and I left myself with a nervy three footer for my par. It dropped. A fine time to get a par, net birdie. The sixteenth is another par four that is protected by heather left and right off the tee. The green turns a little to the right and having missed the fairway right, I was faced with a choice. I had a tree in my way. Could I go aerial and make the green or would I have to go low. I decided I was too close to miss the tree and tried to play a very long pitch and run with a four iron from around 120 yards. I wanted to play it to the left to give myself the widest landing area but I made a bit of a hash of the shot and missed the green on the short side and right. My chip and run wasn't convincing but I fluked it to six feet and made another par putt. It was a streaky par but as the old adage goes, there are no pictures on a scorecard.

The penultimate hole is another uphill par three. Again it isn't long, playing around 150 yards to a green protected by deep bunkers all around. I didn't execute and missed short and right leaving a touch pitch over a bunker from a tight heathland lie. It wasn't a time to get cute and fancy and I played a conservative shot to twelve feet. I never really threatened the par putt and it was another single point hole.

The last is Blackmoor's signature hole. Another par four just shy of four hundred yards, and a good drive still leaves an uphill shot. With out of bounds left in front of the clubhouse and a deep pit to the right of the green, the approach has to be deadly accurate. I hit my worse tee shot of the day, a quick swing leading to a low hook into the heather. I was lucky to get a good lie and I advanced it to within seventy five yards of the green on the fairway. The green has a fearsome reputation and is long and heavily contoured. With the flag at the back, the correct shot should have been a low running shot. Instead I hit a high pitch. It landed on the front third and the contours took the ball back to the front edge. It was no surprise my round ended as it has begun with a three putt.

I'd come back in 41 shots (+7 gross) and seventeen points for a grand total of 38. I had broken 80 (79 or +10 gross). To be honest I thought with so many players that would be at least a point shy. Indeed it was and there was a score of thirty eight in. However as the player concerned wasn't entered into the Race to Hillside, he was ineligible to qualify. That meant my score was good enough for second place overall and the Southern Area qualifier for a second year running. Lightening had struck twice. Granted I wasn't the winner on the day and perhaps fortunate to have qualified but in my own mind at least, I had played really well and so perhaps deserved my touch of good fortune. Either way, I'm off to the grand final at Hillside in May.

Golf Monthly Forum Race To Hillside statistics

Without doubt I was very happy with my performance. Over 60% fairways in regulation and a healthy 39% greens in regulation were the building blocks to the good score. A respectable 35 putts, despite several three putt greens on large and undulating putting surfaces was pleasing. However, and you knew there would be a however, I was very unhappy with my iron play on the back nine. I hit a number of heavy approaches, missing the green with not much club in hand. I hit a poor tee shot at the seventeenth and was way short and right. In general the iron play on the second nine lacked any sparkle.

If I was being honest, I think I became acutely aware of how my round was progressing and the fact I was likely to be in contention. I think I got ahead of myself thinking what hitting the green on particular holes would do to the scorecard. On the front nine I was playing with more freedom and just swinging and executing. On the back nine, I almost became to conservative and tried to be too careful. Off the tee I was still swinging without shackles to try and hit the fairway to set up the chances.

Despite that, it was a fantastic performance and I am more than happy, not only to be the Southern Area qualifier for the second year running, but to see how the work I have put in over the winter is beginning to play off. In recent rounds, I have started to play nicely. There have still been a few poor shots and disaster holes to take the gloss off a good round but it is still very early in the season and so there is much to be encouraged about.

I'd like to thank Blackmoor Golf Club for their impressive hospitality and for getting the course looking so good so early in the season. Without doubt in a few weeks time, when the greens are running quicker and the heather grows a little more it will be a brute of a course. Beautiful but dangerous. I'd like to thank all of the Golf Monthly Forum members who played for making it a great day and it was good to catch up with old faces and meet some for the first time. Finally a big thanks to Richard Hart, Blackmoor member, for his hard work organising the day.

I knew I'd been playing well and that the game is beginning to come but I really had no ambitions about qualifying. I wanted to play as well as I could and see what happened but the outcome surprised me. My game is coming and in reasonable shape. Bad shots aren't necessarily round busters and the good ones are now very good. There is still much work to be done on the short game (I've spoken about this before) and it's an area I'll be working on once the clocks change.

For now, I'm planning my trip to Hillside and I guess I better learn some links skills like the long bump and run, low drives and the Tiger Woods stinger. In the meantime, if you fancy seeing what's going on on the Golf Monthly Forum have a look here http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/index.php and feel free to join in the fun and games. Who knows, maybe next time I could be playing with you. If that doesn't put you off, there are always games being arranged around the UK and Ireland and Golf Monthly provide a lot of money can't buy opportunities specifically for forum members.

I'm hopeful this form will continue and I'll carry on working hard on my game. I've a feeling I am going to give my ambition of single figures in 2015 a really good run for my money and we'll see how close I can really get.