It has been a bit quiet around here recently. In February I managed to book a relatively last minute weeks holiday in Spain at Roda golf course. I was fed up with the cold, snow and rain here so decided to do something about it. My dad was keen to come and my girlfriend who is a teacher had a week half term holiday so we decided to go. I'll post a review of the course and facilities tomorrow.
I had been playing in the weeks before going away and after but haven't got around to writing anything on here due to being busy at work. As I'm starting to play more regularly, the swing is getting better and the season is approaching so I'm in the mood to write again.
This weekend the weather has been nicer - no rain and a bit warmer. I managed to get out at Sandford Springs on Saturday and Theale on Sunday. As soon as I got back from Spain I decided it was time to read the classic Ben Hogan's Five Lessons. I've owned the book for a while but just haven't got around to reading it yet. I wish I read it ages ago! Saying that it only covers the grip, posture, back swing and down swing does it an injustice as it does so at such a level that is easy to understand with great pictures. The first chapter on grip alone has really helped me. I've read many golf books and magazines that cover the grip, but nothing seems to be as clear as how Ben Hogan explains it and shows it with the illustrations. Watch out for a longer review of this book later in the week.
Saturday was Sandford’s monthly stableford competition, I managed to squeeze in on a late entry and I'm glad I did. Here are the stats from the round:
Fairways : 66%
Greens in reg : 27%
Putts : 32
Stableford score : 32
Although my stableford score is 4 below my handicap, I felt as though I generally played really well. My driving was good which the stats show, my score was just affected by 2 blobs on 2 par fives and three 3 putts. I was striking the ball really well in quite windy conditions which really pleased me. Unfortunately this score will probably mean my handicap will go up 0.1 to 9.8.
Sunday was a friendly game at Theale where everyone turns up for 8 am and puts £5 in the pot.
Fairways : 54%
Greens in reg : 50%
Putts : 34
Stableford score : 34
Only one 3 putt this round although the greens are much smaller at Theale. This makes it much harder to hit a green in regulation but when you do your first putt is never going to be too far away. Again my stats are better than my score is! I only managed 14 points on the front nine which is a reflection of the lack of warm up before teeing off, but I'm very happy with 20 on the back nine which included a blob. I thought I struck the ball very well again today in windy conditions. I thought I’d try something a little different with any putt over 8 feet today. The chance of holing an 8 foot put is less than 50% so in my mind the pace of the putt is more important than direction to ensure you get the ball close. I tried opening my stance a little today on any of these longer putts and it definitely seemed to help with the pace of the putt, and it didn’t have a negative effect on the direction. I even got a nice birdie from a 15 foot putt. I’m going to experiment with this a bit more over the next few weeks and will report back.
I've a feeling a good score is just around the corner!