Each week this summer, Citizen editor Neil Godbout will share his experience learning to golf at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club. Want to get in a free round with Neil? Just drop him a line at ngodbout@pgcitizen.ca
Week 12
As a rookie golfer playing the game seriously for the first time in my fifties, proper technique consistently applied is my only way forward, as I learned last week.
My lesson with Prince George Golf and Curling Club pro Blair Scott went great and I could tell he was quite satisfied with my recent progress. Of course, success during a lesson and driving range practice doesn’t guarantee similar quality out on the course. During lessons and practice, you identify what you did wrong with the last shot, make the corrections and pull up another ball to swing again.
During a round on the course, however, you have to live with your poor shot and then stew about it as you wait for others to play and make your way to your ball to hit again. What happens to me a lot is if I make a mistake once, I’ll repeat the mistake over the next couple of shots because I can only work it out mentally and lack the experience to easily make the necessary physical changes.
My tee shots with driver are an ongoing battle. I either tee the ball too low and hit low line drives or I tee too high and hit a ball that goes nearly as high in the air as it does forward down the fairway. Many golfers use their fingers or their knuckles as the tool when pushing the tee into the ground. Others gauge it by how much of the ball is higher than the top of the driver face.
Positioning my feet with driver is also a problem. My recent playing partners pointed out that my front foot should be closer in line with the ball. As soon as I made that fix, I was hitting it much cleaner and not hitting the ground behind the ball before contact. I did that for a few holes then promptly forgot it and fell back to the bad habits. Again, proper technique consistently applied.
During last week’s round, I shot a 132, which is my best of the season but a frustrating result since Blair and others say they can see my improvement and I feel I’m hitting better. The takeaway was I shot a 61 on the front nine, including a bogey on the seventh and a double bogey on the eighth. I shoot bogey and double bogey golf over 18 holes and I’ll improve my score by 30 strokes. That’s the golf respectability I’m looking for.
But of course the score will take care of itself if I can consistently include the technical improvements into game play. I know I’m at the tipping point of becoming a much better golfer. The better technique is there but not consistently. The bad habits and poor outcomes are still too consistent but are less frequent than before.
With only about seven weeks or so left in the season, it’s time to push through.
