Medal win, nice cut and the feeling there's more to come

[Curls]

I was on here last few weeks bemoaning my terrible form on the greens, had been posting rounds of between 15 and 19 over with 40+ putts and feeling like I couldn't shake my h/c number. A lot of good advice was given, a few things struck a chord with me, not that my putting was great but 36 putts is a move in the right direction at least! I finished 9 over off my h/c of 17 so 64 nett and a medal win, delighted! Got 2.1 chopped off that so 14.9 now, the most exciting thing is the feeling I can go much lower, I missed 5 putts inside 3 feet but I'm not worried about it, just need to get on a practice green and knock a ball around. Hit 12 greens in regulation with some lovely approach play but the score was made by what I did on the holes I didn't play well on, instead of trying to get it all back with a hero shot I actively played for a bogey and managed it every time, no double or worse on my card, happy days.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement when I was venting frustration at not being able to break through, I knew it was coming, you kinda get sick of waiting though!

 

[GreiginFife]

Congrats on the win and the cut Curls. It's a great feeling when you get going in the right direction, keep it going :thup:

 

[moogie]

Well Done Curls.........:thup: Nice Cut to start the season

 

[dave]

nice to hear your playing well, keep working on the putting. then you might find your not playing for a bogey but fighting to save your par

 

[Curls]

Thanks chaps, and you're dead right Dave I know full well how many I left out there! I rushed the tiddlers at the start of the round, had a fair few birdie putts narrowly miss but I'm just after picking up Bob Rotellas Putting out of your mind (on the recommendation of Slicer30, top man) and even the 50 pages I got through before the round Saturday helped immensely, I'm sure with a bit of work and his advice I'll be rolling them in and shooting low. Something that struck me was his advice to not try to look like anyone else. I picked up the game when I was 14 and learned from Nicklaus golf, so had quite a crouched putting stance (as well as a Nicklausy swing I was clearly not strong enough to pull off effectively). When I came back to the game a year and a bit ago I got some lessons and the pro set to work on beating that swing out of me, which was needed (I was all weight on the left, played everything off the left heel, faded/sliced everything and, unlike Jack, casting like a fly fisherman). I'm pretty happy now with the swing I have most of the time, some of it thanks to the pro but over winter I worked on Herman Williams' Youtube lessons on introducing lag and releasing the club, I now draw the ball, take divots and have much more control over my irons.

However this pro I was taking lessons with also put me in a more traditional putting stance and it's never felt right, so I've always felt rigid and awkward standing over putts particularly short ones. As Bob Rotella says, why try to look like someone else? Just do what comes naturally, so I stood how I felt comfortable, focussed on the target more than my stroke, and hit much better putts as a result. Ironically I now look like Jack does over a putt, so so much for not looking like anyone else! But I guess that's what's natural as it was learned at a young age when I was a much better putter. I hadn't enough time to digest the bit of the book I did read, and at the beginning of the round was more careless than care-free, but I just need to sink lots and lots of putts and get that positive reinforcement I can take onto the course.
As you can tell I'm pretty excited about golf at the moment, a week ago I was in the depths of despair. What a game

 

[Slicer30]

Well done Curls.

Glad to hear the book is going well. ITs done wonders for me.

 

[garyinderry]

yeah accepting a bogey sometimes is the smart move. i really need to start trying to get my round going from the start though. too often im happy with a bogey at the first and im one over after one.

 

[Curls]

Cheers Slicer good call, will have time to read it this weekend unfortunately no golf as I'm away.

Garyinderry I know what you mean, and if you set your sights on saving bogey you have to pull it off or you've shot yourself in the foot. I wouldn't normally try giving away shots, I bogeyed the first (an easy hole) by 3-putting (missing from about 2 feet) but the second is one of the hardest holes and I drove poorly, rather than flush a 5 wood at a well protected green which is what I'd usually do I laid a 5 iron up about 90 short, hit a lovely approach wedge to 7 feet and missed the par save, but that bogey felt a lot better than the first one! That put me in a good frame of mind for the rest of the round, next time I got in trouble (and that was a few times!) I played safe, will hopefully take that attitude out in future as it kept the horror scores off the card, so rather than feeling like I was settling for a bogey it felt like I was achieving what I set out to do and that put me in a positive mood to make par on the next hole