FOG was the order for the day in week 3. Luckily it wasn't too bad once I reached the course and we could tee off on our time slot. Before talking about the round I just want to mention where the "Putting confidence" in the title came from.
Last week was the Children's Miracle Network Classic in Florida in which DJ Trahan was taking part. On the PPGS blog that week, Don managed to get some time with DJ in front of the camera to discuss how his tournament was going. At the time DJ was 6 under and was playing some really good golf which he said was in a big part down to his putting. Now anyone who follows the PPGS and DJ on tour will know that putting has been a bit of an issue this season and he was spending most of his time trying to build confidence with the flat stick. In this particular video he mentions that, when playing alongside Steve Stricker, he was watching his putting stroke, (albeit unorthodox by the industry standard) he noticed that Steve, once in position, pressed forward with his grip till his putter heel was off the ground. This, DJ said gave you more of a feeling that your putting stroke was a pendulum motion across the shoulders rather than too handsy.
Well with my putting being anything but consistent I decided to give this new approach a go in the living room before the comp. Without using a ball, straight away I could feel what DJ said about the pendulum in the shoulders and this made the stroke very controlled, therefore my body was really still throughout. After rolling a few balls into my little putting machine I felt really confident with my new stroke and what I did find was that I didn't need to lift the heel off the ground very much at all to get that feeling which is a good thing. Now I couldn't wait to get out on the course and see if there was any improvement on the greens.
Back to the comp. Despite a bogey on the first due to a lost ball in the hazard my whole attitude seems to have changed. I don't know whether it was from my new putting stroke or just a love of the game but I really have this optimistic, confident feel about my PPGS. So Par, Bogey, Par and on to the first par 3. I just missed the green to the left and a pitch and not much run left me with a 6 footer for par. My putts had been great up till now but they were all within 4 feet this was the first real tester. Middle of the cup and that great sound of ball meeting plastic made me smile. A bogey later due to a poor approach (not enough club in the conditions) then on to back to back birdies one of which was a 20 foot putt for 2, I was over the moon. A lost ball on 9 resulted in a double and a bunker on 10 producing the same I still felt really pleased with my round. I finished on 11 with a par and strolled off the course with a glow safe in the knowledge that Don and DJ's tutoring, with plenty of good practice, was finally bearing fruit........... Bring on week for and hope for no snow.
Results:Week 3
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