My Golf Life

Golf Life, My golfing adventures, golf gear reviews and my quest to play better golf

[golflife2016]

2017 Season Wrap up

2017 was a season of personal bests 3 (89’s) got my Cobra F-6’s dialed in and had more opportunities on the course to score well and took advantage of more than previous seasons. My Dad passed away in early June losing his battle with cancer. Which really affected my game mentally and emotionally as I finished the year with a lot of inconsistency from round to round I was either on fire in one round and a train wreck the next. I miss our rounds together and miss him every day. I know he’s smiling down watching now. I miss him on the course and in my life every day.

I know 2018 is the year to get it back on track to the way I was playing in June consistently and make him proud. The aspects of my game I improved the most was finding the fairways with the driver and my putter still continues to save my butt when I need it to. Stay tuned 2018 is going to be a fun season of rediscovery for me. Lastly I want to thank all my family and friends who were so comforting and supportive as I’ve gone through this difficult time in my life.

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Round review April 19 Roseville Ca Diamond Oaks Golf course. Shot another 89 last week. My game was pretty much on fire with the exception of a triple bogey on 16 & yes I had a shot at a new pr but choked and 3 putted on 18. Still in the dry lush fairways of California got better roll out than you get in summer here in Washington. The 2-3 Hybrid I recently added to my bag was finally getting some work during this round and was a game changer. Unless I’m in the deep rough the 4 iron is staying in the bag.

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Sunday 3-26-17 Round review Meadowpark Golf course. First time out in over a month since finding out my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Anyone who knows me knows Golf has been Dad & I's way to spend time together every chance we got after my grandfather passed. My head was barely in the game on the front 9. I started off hole one with a nice par but quickly fell apart back to double bogey land of last season. I finally got the driver going on hole 8 and squeaked out a respectable 51 for me on the front. Holes 10 & 11 were ugly. I found trees and bounced around in them like the Lorax. Finally got it together and got playing more like I have since January on hole 12 driving it to within 61 yards from center green. Then proceeded to piss it away with poor chipping and walk away with bogey. At the 15th tee I crushed my new King Cobra F6 Driver and ended up 41 yards from the pin once again I flew my wedge into the the green just over the back. This time I decided to putt it on with the putter my Dad gave me and got it to 2feet and tapped in for par. Ended up par on 15,16,17 walked off the 18th green with 48 and a 99 last year I would've been super excited but this year with all the improvements I made and shooting 89 last month. I know I left a lot of opportunities out there. Still rain and all it was nice just to be out playing. And in the grand scheme of things it's just a game I'm getting better at it and I'll be out there doing it again soon.

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Shot a all time best 89 today on my second 18 holes of the day at Meadowpark Golf Course in Lakewood Wa. Conditions 50 degrees with light rain no wind. Shot 43 on the front 9. I can't even describe how I felt walking off the 18th green realizing what I had just done. 3 keys to my score. Longer average driving distance and accuracy with my new Driver and most of all keeping it in play around the fairways and avoiding the big score. With the wet conditions it was like throwing darts into the greens. Tried to hit high shots into them. Played the Wilson Elite 50 compression ball for the first time today it performed very well for me today. It's been my goal for quite some time to shoot under 90 so I'm very elated to accomplish it. The best part is I know with more work I can go even lower. Lastly I want to thank all my golf buddies in real life and social media for all the tips, advice and support. Bunch of golf junkies are a great group of friends to have around.

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Added two new weapons to my bag last Friday for 2017 got fitted for King F6 Driver stiff flex 10.5 draw. And Wilson Staff Infinite Michigan ave counterbalanced putter. I was getting typicality 20 to even 50 more yards with the F-6 Driver than my Taylormade R540XD regular flex 10.5 I was using that I got at a garage sale last summer for 5$ . Excited to get them out on the course and get back to grinding.

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A few Gamegolf captures of good holes and 1 that I collapsed on after a great drive over the trees pissed it all away these are from various January rounds 2017

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Played 4 rounds last week 3 with my Dad 1 with my Daughter. First let's start with the Friday round at Auburn Golf Course Auburn Wa weather 39 degrees frozen greens and tee boxes for the first 7 holes I played the front 9 like garbage couldn't hit a fairway to save my life. The back 9 which is more difficult I shot 51 and ended up setting a personal best on that course by 3 strokes despite a less than stellar front 9 I had two balls bounce back in play Off frozen hazards. The next round for some short game work was on Monday at Highlands Par 3 good weather. Getting my short irons and wedges dialed in from my new set. I played pretty average nothing special. But a good tune up. Tuesday Dad and I played Meadowpark my usual home course. I started off pretty hot for me over the first 6 Number 7 par 5 my second shot went in the trees instead of chipping out I tried to be a hero it bounced off another tree and backward. And aside from a nice par on number 14 par it was a combination of bad breaks and poor decision making led to a terrible remainder of the round I was frustrated and it didn't help. So I put those rounds behind me and took my 10yo to the Executive 9 to play yesterday I shot my best score ever on it just working on taking a longer backswing with my irons as I was losing distance with my Dad when he noticed I was swinging back only 1/2 way or 3/4 like a wedge shot in the previous rounds. Confidence regained hit some great shots. Had fun playing golf with my kid who made a 9 foot putt herself. Can't wait to get back out after it again and back to playing well and continuing my journey to go lower.

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January 8 2017 first round of the year in the books. Course-Meadowpark Lakewood Wa. Conditions 38 degrees rain Tee boxes and greens rock solid. Tried out my new Gamegolf device today. Very good product some of my stats are misleading due to balls bouncing high and off frozen greens. 4 pars overall shot 104 (3) of them in the first 7 holes. A mini collapse with the driver on the par 5’s and couple bad bounces on 2 of the par 3’s cost me in the end. Still despite freezing temperatures and being the first complete round with new irons and the distances I was getting I’m still satisfied

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New to my golf game for 2017 I have received a wonderful training and statistical analysis tool. Gamegolf Live. A Bluetooth enabled device that tracks your round , scores, distances, dispersion and so much more. I have wanted this for quite some time and paired with my new iron set for Christmas I feel like I'm going into 2017 with a recipe for success and definitely running out of excuses lol. Total game changer.

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Dec 31 2016 Temperatures 38 degrees snow flurries Location- Auburn Golf Course Washington state. Golf balls spotted on top of a frozen pond.

Last round of 2016 and first round with my new Cobra F6 Irons. We made it through 16 holes before darkness set in. I had a free round gift certificate from my job that was about to expire.

The front 9 I sprayed my Driver all over the place and despite the rest of my game being solid. It’s difficult to score well when your second shot is from the trees. I was very satisfied with putting and my Wedge and bunker play dropped a couple of nice long putts and hit some pin seekers with the wedges. On the back 9 we made it through 6 holes before darkness. I slowed my backswing and my driver hitting fairways came back to life thus did my game I finished with back to back pars. I hit my new irons very well and I’m looking forward to 2017 with them and especially my first round with them at my home course in the next week or so. Hopefully it will get above freezing by next Sunday.

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12-26-16 Took my new King Cobra F-6 Irons to the range for the first time and played the Executive 9 (Williams 9) at Meadowpark temperature 39 degrees green conditions frosty and hard as concrete. The Ball really launches off the clubface. Really love them so far. Going to take awhile to get the distances dialed in but very optimistic that my accuracy and distance will increase some leading to lower rounds in 2017. The top left photo was on the final par 4 putt that I drained for birdie. Driver, 60 degree wedge & 1 putt.

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Happy Holidays Santa brought me new Fitted Irons. So as we wrap up 2016 and move into 2017. I will begin the new year with a new set of weapons to get used to King Cobra F-6 Game Improvement Irons 4-GW. They were gold medal game improvement on the Golf Digest 2016 Hot List also completes the revamp of all the clubs in my bag. Can't blame the clubs anymore no more excuses time to grind and shoot low.

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I'm on a bit of a winter golf hiatus as of right now. I've had a terrible chest cold for almost a week now and weather has been less than conducive conditions. The rain is no big deal but the gusty winds are not good. Beginning of the season getting off the tee with Driver or 3 wood was my biggest weakness in my game. 35 rounds later I've improved on it greatly hitting more fairways. What's next for 2017? I plan on adding Gamegolf Live to better track my trends and stats. And replace my beginner Tour Edge Comp 950 Iron set I've had for 10 years now with something more modern. Game wise I intend to work on my approaches and the short game & play as much as time and weather allows this winter

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My Latest round was at Meadow Park in Lakewood Washington. Conditions were rainy. Ball Callaway Chromesoft, I took a Taylormade R-5 12.5 degree driver with a Harmon regular flex Driver I recently got for 20$ from a co worker out for a full round test drive (draw bias). Hit 6/7 fairways on the front 9 10/14 overall. I shot a 46 on the front 52 on the back for a solid 98. Hit the driver well all day, putting was average. Chipping was on stuck one close from 35yds to receive a standing ovation from the 4 some on the next tee box. If I clean up a couple things I know I can go even lower losing one in a water hazard on a par 5 took away a shot at birdie, trying to finesse one out of a lipped bunker and having it roll back to my feet then popping it to 3 feet on the second try cost me. The only other Ball I lost as it hit the right rough and skipped into a leafy area and could not be located so that cost me as well. But all in all I feel that my game has turned a corner from when the season started for the better I’m making better contact, decisions and improving. I plan on replacing my iron set I had fitted 10 years ago when I had a baseball swing this off season. So stay tuned things are looking up for my game. My goals of consistently shooting in the 90’s and eventually breaking below 90 are in focus and attainable.

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Short Game Showdown last Monday with my Dad who is visiting from CA at the Executive 9 2 par 4’s 7 par 3’s two rounds of 9 move back one tee box on the second. Wagers for Least putts and closest to the pin. I took round 1 by a stroke and we both had exactly the same amount of putts. Round 2 Dad took by 2 strokes and had 3 less putts. My putter was hot his was on fire with 4 one putts. Nice warm up for the full size 18 we are playing on Sunday (top left photo Dads chip from 25 yards top right my approach on the par 4 from 65 )

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Short game practice at the par 3 Highlands this morning. Chipped really well. Love the Callaway Chromesoft Truvis balls they give a lot of visual feedback in the short game. For the most part had my distances and club selection dialed in was either on or next to most greens. Putted well on slightly bumpy recently punched greens that rolled very close to true. Chipping was on point rolling them close from just off the greens and had a nice out from the bunker. My best score at this par 3 is a 32 so I'm happy with a 34 today. All in a great practice session. Weather was nice. A little dew on the greens winds calm except 7,8,9, were into the wind. Fun times.

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Garage sale bargain picked up this 10.5 Degree Taylormade R5 driver at a garage sale for 5$ couple weeks ago. Earlier in the season I parted ways with my TM AeroBurner 10.5 as I had trouble launching it. So I lofted up to a 14 degree TM SLDR-S 460 while that helped get the ball up I was craving for more distance and the sweet spot was narrow. This proved to be a very affordable experiment that has paid off. On Labor Day I took this beauty out for its first round at address the club face is naturally, slightly closed (draw bias or offset) as some call it. I was blasting laser beams straighter consistently with more distance than I've ever had off a driver at 400cc I found it to less clunky for me during set up than those 460cc beasts. A great addition to my bag and I can't wait to get out and hit it again. I remember 12 years ago when I took up the game not even carrying a driver because I couldn't get any ball flight out of such a low lofted club now I'm excited to go hit driver when the situation allows. #GameChanger