Golf game is coming around. . .FINALLY and thank you!

It’s not often we once-a-week chops are able to string a series of positives together, but I had such the experience from last weekend to this, and it finally feels like my game is coming around .  It has been a brutal spring punctuated by bad weather and terrible ball striking.  The bad swings compounded into stress, worrying, and some serious mental game foibles.   But after this weekend, things are finally looking up and many in the on-line golf community have played a positive part and deserve my thanks.

First, thank you to The Grateful Golfer for pointing out that focus is extremely important in golf.  After our dialog, I realized that I needed a serious re-commitment to my pre-shot routine and to work on changing focus to targets instead of mechanics.  It’s great to bounce ideas off Jim; he’s such a wealth of knowledge and has great perspective.

Next, thank you to The Birdie Hunt for reinforcing the notion that continuous play is more important than practice, especially for the weekend hack.  I try to do both, but clearly the part time player benefits more from play.  Playing once a week is hard because it feels like you have to re-learn too many shots instead of call on them.  I finally played two days in a row for the first time this season, albeit only 27 holes, but the added reps were great.

Third, thank you to my friend Jim Rush who spotted a serious flaw in my swing during my pre-round warm up last weekend.  Nothing will start your round off worse than hitting huge smother hooks while you get loose.  I leveraged his advice as well as the on-line lesson from FixYourGame.com I took a couple years ago.  The takeaway; when things go bad with your swing, you are usually reverting to bad habits, as I was.  I will probably be fighting spine angle issues the rest of my days, but at least when I spray the ball, I understand why and can work it.  Yesterday and today I worked it and finally felt in control off the tee.

Lastly, thank you to Gary Marlowe for the chipping lesson back in 1983.  Gary was a fellow student at the University of Maryland and on the golf team.  Later he went on to play the PGA Tour for one season but had his career cut short by injury.  Gary and I were on the putting green one afternoon and he had me choke down to the metal with my trailing hand for better control, and play the ball back with a pronounced forward press.  I have been very dissatisfied with my distance control and contact this season, and recommitted to this tip yesterday during my nine-hole practice round and it felt good.  Today, I missed the green on #1 at Northwest and imagine how great it felt when I chipped in for birdie.  Change validated!

I’m not totally out of the woods, but it was nice to feel like myself again over consecutive rounds.  Hoping the momentum continues to build through next week’s trip to South Carolina.

How’s your swing coming along this spring?

University of Maryland – Course Review

University of Maryland, par-3 #2, Black Nine

Summary

We played the University of Maryland golf course on Sunday, November 13, 2011.  I used to play the course frequently while in school but had not been back in many years.  The course is a lovely layout and definitely requires significant local knowledge to score.  I found my recall excellent but was reminded that Maryland is difficult to play in the fall as the par-71 track routes extensively through tall deciduous trees, and while the fall colors make for a beautiful site, the accompanying carpet of leaves makes ball identification difficult.

The course had top dressed the greens with a light layer of sand which didn’t affect playability too much, however conditions were a bit scratchy and the greens appeared stressed with significant areas unplayable as ground under repair.  After the course underwent an award-winning $3.5 million renovation in 2008, the Nationwide Tour annually scheduled The Melwood Open at Maryland and we were left to wonder how they get the greens in tour condition, only to let them falter in the fall during good growing season.  We noticed that our ball marks were very easy to repair which may have indicated shallow root growth.  There were also many bare lies in the rough which made clean contact an adventure and often balls sat down in the gnarly second cut.  Fairways and tee boxes were in good shape as were the numerous green-side and fairway bunkers.  The course is adequately marked for yardage but no golf cart GPS  service is available.

University of Maryland, par-5 #9, Gold Nine

Playing tips from the gold tees:  The course is configured with two nines (Gold and Black) with golfers playing the Gold as the front.  Right out of the box you are hit with two meaty par fours, each over 400 yards with water in play on both so there’s no time to ease into your game.  The second shot on #2 plays 1-1/2 clubs longer than the yardage.  Most of the holes are straight forward but we found that even in the fairways, you often had lies slightly above and below your feet which made clean strikes and getting the ball close a challenge.  On the Black Nine par-5 fourth, everything bounces right on the drive and second shot.  You need to honor this and going for the well bunkered green in two is not advised.  The Black’s par-3 fifth is a long shot (211 yards from the gold tees) and you must play for the left side of the green as everything bounces right and down the hill.  The greenside bunker on the right is a very tough up-and-down and should be avoided.  Finally, the tee shot on the par-5 seventh on the Black is all about placement.  Get the ball in play on the top of the hill to position for a long downhill second shot.  It is rumored that Jack Nicklaus once eagled this hole hitting driver-seven iron but unless you can bomb a cut 300 yards, hit a 3 wood for position.

University of Maryland, par-4 #9, Black Nine

Value (3.0 out of 5.0)

We played on the winter weekend rate of $50 to ride.  You can walk for $35.  In season weekend rates are $69 to ride which seems like a good value if conditions are better than what we played on.  Range balls are $4 for a small and $7 for a medium bucket and are not included in the greens fees.  However, if you book your tee time through the web, your group is given one free small bucket of balls.  Memberships are offered as are discounts for students but we played on the regular guest rate.

Facilities (3.5 out of 5.0)

The clubhouse boasts a modest sized pro shop with the basic essentials.  A locker room and grill-pub are available but we did not sample the food.  The practice facilities are nice with a full size driving range with both grass and matted teeing areas.  The grass was closed and I sensed it was primarily utilized for the Melwood Open as well as college tournaments.  Separate modest sized chipping and pitching greens with a practice bunker are available and a large putting green is adjacent to the main clubhouse.  I practiced here for a couple of hours a week before we played and was very satisfied with the offerings.

Customer Experience (3.5 out of 5.0)

I booked a tee time on the web with no difficulty with guests permitted to reserve five days in advance.  The starter and pro-shop staff were pleasant enough and everything seemed to run on-time with a moderately crowded golf course.  There was no beverage cart service which I found a bit odd considering the numbers of players and the agreeable weather.  Carts were not permitted in the parking lot so hauling a heavy bag to your car could be considered a minor inconvenience.  I’d like to try Maryland again in season, perhaps right after they play the Nationwide event, just to see how good this course can play.

For the record, I played the gold tees at 6,369 yards and carded a six-over 77.

Overall Rating (3.5 out of 5.0)