A Soggy Bloomington Downs

“If you want to get better, you have to take lessons.” I hear this all the time from golfers of all skill levels. When I hear it from a typical weekend hacker, I usually nod my head in accordance, while thinking, “Yeah, whatever you say, buddy.” When I hear it from those who play substantially better than I do, it makes me wonder if there might be some truth to it.

Since I’ve been playing a lot more frequently the last couple of years, I decided it might be worth the time and expense to take some individual lessons. With great anticipation, I signed up for a package of five lessons with the head pro at a local club. The first lesson turned out to be quite an eye-opener, simply because I saw my swing on video for the first time.

Even without the instructor’s input, I could see the fatal flaw of my swing. Whether I was using a pitching wedge or a driver, my backswing began on a nice plane until the shaft of the club got level with the ground. At that point, the plane of the backswing became very steep – so much so, that at the top of the backswing, the head of the club was actually in front of my head.

I was given some drills to help keep the club on a flatter plane, which I worked on for the rest of the lesson. The next day, I put my new swing to the test on the familiar fairways of Bloomington Downs Golf Course. My thought for the day was simply “control.” I tried to concentrate on shortening the backswing to help keep it on plane.

For the most part, this strategy seemed to work. Through the first eight holes, I amassed four double-bogeys, three bogeys and a par. That’s not spectacular, but that type of play over eighteen holes translates into a sub-100 round. Unfortunately, I caught the yips on the ninth green, holing out only after four strokes on the short grass.

On the back nine, it was much of the same. I had a disastrous experience on the eleventh hole, a short par-4 that cost me nine strokes. Other than that, I played decently, collecting four double-bogeys, two bogeys and two pars. The final result was a score of 102 – my best score of the young season, but a disappointment on this fairly easy course.

Since I last played there, Bloomington Downs had some heavy-duty stone markers installed near each of their tee boxes. Frankly, they would have been better off addressing some of the course’s drainage problems. There was a lot of standing water on the course and I don’t even recall much or any rain falling in the days before my visit.

Score: 102
Par: 72
Putts: 37
Fairways: 6
Greens: 1