The Club Championship

Well where do I start. The biggest event on the Priors Hall calendar took place on Saturday and I was fortunate enough to be taking part (taking part used very loosely). All players were grouped in 4's and were teeing off in handicap order lowest to highest. I was in the 0-13 handicap group which meant I was playing 36 holes in one day stopping only for lunch. This was a new experience for me and I was hoping my trolley battery had enough juice to get me round.
On the first tee and I was feeling surprisingly relaxed and a tad confident considering how I played in practice during the week. Took the driver as the white tees were as far back as I'd ever saw them and watched the ball draw to the left and flirt with OB, provisional needed, not a great start. I managed to find my first which was in the OB so just as well my provisional was dead center of the fairway, pitched on about 15 feet away, scrambled a bogey. I would like to go on and say all about great shots and monstrous putts but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The first 18 holes were really all about posting a reasonable score to keep me in the hunt in the afternoon but Golf being Golf I really struggled with my putting (loads of 3 putts) and only managed a hard fought 89 which I knew in my heart of hearts was not good enough.
After a good plate of ham, egg and chips it was time to play my second 18. With my morning rounds putting still playing on my mind I decided to use this next 18 as an improvement round and any score below 89 was what I was aiming for. On the first green and another 3 putt cost me a much needed par and for the majority of the front 9, 3 putts were on the menu. Fortunately only 1 double but 6 bogeys and only 2 pars on the front 9 kind of summed up my day (22 putts going out). The back 9 was a slight improvement carded 4 pars, 4 bogeys and 1 double but all in all not a great championship. In summary I knew that my putting, although it was killing me all day wasn't my only problem. I found myself, in the pursuit of the championship trophy, trying to hit the ball to the target. Now I know that hitting the ball is the name of the game but there really is a big difference between hitting a ball and swinging through with a nice tempo. When hitting a ball (referring to PPGS) I seem to forget all about the fundamentals of the PPGS and try to squeeze as much out of the shot as I can. This results in bad posture, bad balance and all sorts of varied bad outcomes.
I know where the majority of my bad shots (including putts) came from and to carry on improving I must religiously practice the PPGS fundamentals and have more faith in my 3/4 swing. I shall not be defeated.

Practice makes perfect

With the Club Championship nearing I thought I'd better put in a couple of shifts at the practice range. After trawling through the archives on the PPGS blog trying to find a solution to my hook/blocked left shots, I came across a couple of posts that really hit home. The Peak Performance Golf swing is all about the 3/4 limited turn, this means only turning to the toe line then lifting the club vertically up. What I found I was doing was overturning (crossing into the sacred burial ground, PPGSers know what I mean), this was causing my over the top swing and the results were a mixture of blocks, draws to power draws (I don't like to say hook ha ha). Getting back to basics and only turning to the toe line felt much better, I just didn't realise that I was trying to get more from my shots by more turn which goes against all the PPGS is about. Another habit I noticed I had was to grip the club in far to strong a grip, this means my left/forward hand was turned too much to the right which when my club was coming into impact was forcing me to overturn/over release and as a result the big power draw. I have been practicing the swing and grip at home in the garden and it all feels good.
I'll be down to the range tonight to get to grips (pun intended) with the basics of the PPGS and stop being sloppy. Hopefully I should have some video footage of my swing and report on how the session went.

La Marquesa par 5

Scorecard from the Monthly Medal with a rundown of the round stats courtesy of Golfshot GPS, (will try to improve size on the next card).

Priors Hall Golf Club

Priors Hall Golf Club: "Priors Hall Golf Club
Monthly Medal
Printed: 31 May 2010
Result of the Competition played on 29 May 2010 at Priors Hall


Result (Nett Scores):


Stb AdjstNett DiffHcap ChgNew HcapOverall Position Score PlacingCountBack
Division 1
0-6-1.210.91James Thomson 78 - 12 = 66 Division 1 Winner32.22.11.4.33
0-5-1.011.12Lee M Martin 79 - 12 = 67 Division 1 Runner-Up32.24.13.4.33
-1-5-1.07.53Les Beattie 77 - 09 = 68 34.524.14.54.5
0-4-0.911.64Michael Craddock 81 - 13 = 68 35.522.6711.834.28

This clip was filmed on location in Alicante Spain at the La Marquesa Golf Course http://www.sandygolfers.com/golf_courses/la_marquesa_golf_course.htm. No camera trickery involved (although a steady hand would've helped Ben).