Have you ever noticed that when you finally figure out the one thing that's been going wrong in your game that something else will fall apart? The golf gods appear to need you to maintain some sort of balance between good and not so good (evil?).
When I first got the new driver I struggled with it for a few rounds but was still chipping well enough to save myself some strokes. Well, I finally got the driver figured out and am hitting it pretty well (for the most part, never perfect obviously) and now I can't putt. Now, don't get me wrong, I've never been a stellar putter but I was getting better at it (got fitted for a new putter last fall).
Yesterday was a perfect example of how, even if you think you're putting the ball pretty well, it doesn't count unless it actually goes in the hole. I constantly burned the lip, just missed by millimeters, had good speed but misread the line or had the line and misread the speed. It's amazing how many little things have to go right to get that little white ball into the cup.
I actually played the entire round without a single 1-putt. I don't recall ever doing that before, at least over 18 holes. And to make matters worse, I 3-putted 5 times, including 3 in a row on 9-11. 2 of those were understandable. I was 70 feet away (wrong part of the green) on 9 and 11 is just a bitch of a green if you have to putt side hill. Ended up with 41 putts. Almost half my strokes were putts. That, is only good if I'm planning on shooting a 60. I'd been averaging about 34 putts. Just being average would have given me an 83 instead of a 90.
Just goes to show you, drive for show, putt for dough. Looks like I'll be spending some additional time on the putting green this week practicing.
My goal of breaking 80 this year can only be done by reducing my putts. If I don't get any better best I can expect is 83/84.
Of course, if I was to someone magically become better at putting, you know damn well something else would completely fall apart. Such is the yin and yang of this frustrating game.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
That's why I've pretty much given up the game of golf because of the yin and yang. I'll do it socially but haven't played in any type of tourney in 5 year. I still shoot around the 100 stroke range and my putting saves my score. Yes saves it to be around 100. I still rarely 3 putt whether I play once a year or once a week. But on occasion I will start putting my drives and fairway shots together only to have my chipping totally suck. If I'm not on the green from 150 out, add 3 strokes until I'm able to grab my putter. Last time I played my putter was saving me as usual, then I had a good drive, approach shot and buried a 15 footer for birdie. I thought great, I've fixed my slice! Next hole, good drive great fairway wood, and a chip to 6 feet way, amazing, I was thinking 2 birdies in a row, then my putting went to crap and 3 putted from 6 ft away and then 3 putted 4 of the last 6 holes and one was a par 3! So, you score .....102 Fucking Yin and Yang!
An excellent proof of the existence of the yin and yang, KK. It never fails. I figure, of the 4 main parts of golf (driving, irons, chipping, putting), once in a great while I can have 3 of them going at once for a short time. Mostly it's 2 of the 4.
And does this happen to you as much as me? You hit the drive of your life, just bombed it down the middle and you're set up for 115 yards from the middle of the fairway with a perfect lie. What do you do? Do you stick it next to the pin and tap in for birdie or do you jerk it into the pond next to the green or chunk one about 15 feet and then dump it in the sand and make a 7? Yeah, me too.
Post a Comment