The Pom was a bit rusty but his putting was good thanks to his new glasses. Had some nice ones. Drives on the 3rd and 9th very pretty and his draw on the 3 wood on 6 very nioce.

Thanks Node. I think it’s all starting to come together but there’s still alot of rough patches. Builds the confidence knowing your playing to hcp par although having errors.

Was meant to be playing comp with JL today but wife fell sick and am now on kiddy duty. Was optimistic that the weather report of possible rain and thunderstorms would be accurate to make me feel better. So far…...perfect conditions. :(
Hope JL still got out.

Social round today
Score 101
Fairways 71% (86% front 57% back)
Putts 37 (5×3 putts)
Penalty 3
Sand 1

Putting was off today. Not sure if it lacked focus due to me concentrating on other facets of the game but the 3 putts should speak volumes. Driver was incredibly good but I wasn’t capitalizing on it.
Got my shots from 100 in to drop n stop by compressing them more which was something I was working on. I think however I went for this more often than needed or required. Lesson was however learnt.
6 shots easy to wipe by stopping those penalties and plenty more unnecessary stokes. A 90 round looks closer than I thought.
Also found the rule of twelve is working a treat at new course.
I think alot of gaining the better score is taking the best option, not the prettiest or longest.
Ive learnt so much and feel like a beginner although I know I’m 80% better than I was. Love this game :)

I have become quite a good putter and it shows on my score…

The 4 things I have learnt are:

1) Don’t watch the ball to the hole…. keep your head down and listen for it to fall in.
2) Learn to trust your instincts, your sub concious knows what to do better than your concious mind.
3) Putt using your shoulder blades, feel them moving and your strike will be sound…. Back and through this one thing made a huge difference to me.
4) Most short putts are missed on the back swing, keep it short and push the ball into the hole.

I however slip back to my old ways every now and then but can now get back on track after a few hole once I realise what I’m doing.

Cheers Node. I was playing with the line up of the putt using the line. Not my usual method. Not sure if it was that as I felt some I was just complacent on.
It was excellent education that we shouldn’t presume any shots a gimmie and put 100% into it. I had two foot chips I was stuffing due to complacency.
It was a strange round to walk away from as there was so much good in the crap.
A par 5 for instance. Excellent drive up fairway, second a 3 wood clears hazard at 80m out to be left of green. Chip on to position I was aiming for(just not roll expected) then 3 putt. Why? Par putt was easy and I treated it that way….idiot lol.
The bonus of the hole though was it made it apparent that a good tee shot was able to be capitalised on. Probably why I walked off feeling like there was a lot of positives.

Finally! I got out to the backyard for my old pitching practice. Something I’ve discovered has gone weak. Lil miss wants dads club and ball as soon as she sees it so the kids playing and dad practicing has been non existent.
It took a while for me to get back to the ol’ groove and I found myself picking through technical thoughts and questioning a swing I know works…..really well.
Made me wonder if for low hcp and pros if sometimes their extensive practice is more to eradicate indecision and second guessing their swing?
I’m working with the wife to arrange a game day and practice afternoon per week. The course has good facilities for this and it’s distance to home should make it easily achieved.
It also looks as if the most suitable afternoon is before game day so that should make it fresh.
Will see.

Working through technical thoughts – very enlightening phrase! For me I do have to get through them, otherwise I just stand there wondering how ugly this will get. But hopefully I am getting more focussed on good rhythm and tempo, especially in the short game area.

It’s obviously even more important when your playing than practicing hey! :-)

For me, while thinking about it, there was a slight tension. A little doubt or hesitation. Once it felt right again it just flowed.
I think it’s a stage I’m currently going through with the driver. If I miss hit it on one hole the next hole I’ll have 99 different swing thoughts.
May not be the same for everyone but if I ‘just do it’ and don’t think it the results are better.

Today’s comp
Before I start we’ll review some goals of mine. To score better than 97 off the stick in comp and to get more than my PB of 36 points.
Today 87 off the stick (45/42) stableford points 46!
Wooot! :)
May have to take up the ‘can break 80’ attitude instead.
My 39 was including a drop. Had a 3 putt par on the par 5! And I still left heaps out there.
At the time I was leading the comp with my nearest threat 8 points behind. The club has installed a projector that displays a leaderboard which changes as players enter their cards, pretty cool.
Needless to say I’m very happy and confident the 26 hcp is going down.

6 Pars
8 bogeys
4 double bogeys

Winner!!
Hcp has gone from 26.2 to 24.5 to official 25 :)

Woooohoooooo, good on you AB.

Well done on the 87. Stuff I’m dreaming of at present. Keep up the good work

AB

Excellent… well done. I know you have been working so hard towards this. Now the flood gates may open, you can do it again and again.!!

Thanks guys. Very happy with the round and yes Chinaalan I’m happy the efforts are finally showing some reward. Makes the effort worth it. Plenty more to do.
I have to beat 87 now :)

Winner!!
Hcp has gone from 26.2 to 24.5 to official 25 :)

www.challenge.org.au
’Get a Luke the Duck Merchandise to remind
yourself that you are golfing while Jarrod Lyle can’t’
VTTP #534
The “unofficial” millionth POST poster

Well done AB man it’s nice to see all the hard work paying off for you!!!!

Oh and BTW your 87 beats my last 2 rounds by 4 strokes each round!

Thanks Node. Have to build the skills for my trip :) can’t have you wiping the floor with me.
By the way the ‘rule of twelve’ and that driver tip you sent are helping alot at the moment.
I’ve put the scorecard JL brought back inside my locker at work to remind me of the future destination.

Hey AB, maybe we could make it a road trip for a couple of mates? Not sure what I’ll be doing then, but you never know. Besides, you have to have someone to introduce you to Node

Now there’s a idea :)
I’ll email you the dates and ideas I have at the moment.
Node is Bargara GC worth a detour?

For me, while thinking about it, there was a slight tension. A little doubt or hesitation. Once it felt right again it just flowed.
I think it’s a stage I’m currently going through with the driver. If I miss hit it on one hole the next hole I’ll have 99 different swing thoughts.
May not be the same for everyone but if I ‘just do it’ and don’t think it the results are better.

www.challenge.org.au
’Get a Luke the Duck Merchandise to remind
yourself that you are golfing while Jarrod Lyle can’t’
VTTP #534
The “unofficial” millionth POST poster

Firstly, congrats on the recent 87 …. bloody good effort, and the fact that you know you left a few out there …... shows that there is more room for improvement to come, so just keep trying to play to your strengths…. and the rest will look after itself.

In regard to the above now, and there has to be a point in your preshot routine I think, where you turn off the mind, in readiness to just swing the club.

So you need at some point ….... to have all those swing thoughts in order, and decide on what you’re about to do …....... before you then step up to the ball.

By the sound of it, after a bad one, you need to try and quieten the mind ….....

A pre-shot routine that works for you, and not against you ….... is something that we all need to practice I reckon, just as much as any shot on course.

Don’t ever step up to the ball I reckon ….. until you know exactly what you want to do, and are confident in being able to do it.

Of course it won’t happen all the time as planned, but you won’t be hesitant in your swing …. or get sidetracked by a multitude of thoughts ….... and that is a good thing.

Winner!

Now there’s a idea :)
I’ll email you the dates and ideas I have at the moment.
Node is Bargara GC worth a detour?

www.challenge.org.au
’Get a Luke the Duck Merchandise to remind
yourself that you are golfing while Jarrod Lyle can’t’
VTTP #534
The “unofficial” millionth POST poster

AB I have never played Bargara but I’d love to. I have passed it many times and it looks like a nice course but would be quite windy.

Of course just up the road another 1/2 hour drive is Coral Cove, I played there years ago and I think from memory it has the only Par 6 in the Southern hemisphere…. /Clears throat and I Pared it :) Mind you it took a 10m downhill Putt to do it.

Maryborough is looking bad atm with no meaningful rain in about 4 months. The fairways are so sparse that we have preferred lie so we can set the ball on a patch of grass. Trouble is that the ACR goes out by 2 strokes so you have to get 38 points to play to handicap.

http://www.coralcoveresort....

If this is where you mean I’m definitely interested in adding it to the itinerary. Looks good.

Yep that’s it mind you the course is not quite as nice as the photo’s make it. It is a Resort style course with plenty of water to keep the Pro shop happy!

Afternoon chook run with JL at the old home course. New the greens would be testing as they’re alot quicker than new home.(rule of 12 becomes rule of 14 as there is a extra two club run easily)
Played my three hole round theory and had two wipes in the middle thanks to a OB and failure to play a provisional. Idiot(note to self:always play a provisional in case)
Ended the day on 19 points and got my third birdie so not disappointed and just a good day to be out there. Good company on a good course.