A week after my 2016 debut, the second round of the season took place at Glen Eagle Golf Club. Short pants and sleeves were in order, as warm temperatures and sunny skies took over the GTA. I took a power cart this time, so fatigue wouldn't be a factor.
Beginning with the Blue nine, I struggled early. Blue #1 is a tough par-4, requiring a tee shot from an elevated teeing ground that doesn't suit my eye. Trees left and a small pond right are the main obstacles. I smothered one off the heel of the club and found myself with trouble on the left side. It took two shots to get close to the fairway, with a final tree still impeding my swing. Five shots to get on the green and a terrible 3-putt resulted in a quadruple bogey, my worst result of the day.
I bogeyed hole #2, despite a hard pull off the tee that smacked the nearest tree just ahead of the teeing ground. With barely a swing available, I hit a perfect 5-iron to advance the ball down the fairway. Still 240 yards from the green, I tried a 3-wood. I hit it well, but my ball stopped half way up a steep incline just in front of the green. The result was double bogey on hole #3, a long par-3. I pulled my tee shot behind some trees with the 5-iron, but I was encouraged that contact was crisp. Unfortunately, I followed up with a triple bogey on hole #4, mostly due to a weak chip shot and another 3-putt. Through four holes, this round was already looking grim.
The next thing you know, I rattled off five bogeys in a row. The stretch began with a laser of a drive on hole #5 that pierced the fairway. I wasted my second shot by topping it, then hit a towering 3-iron just short of the green. On hole #6, a medium length par-3, it was a towering 7-iron shot that set things up. After a wayward drive on hole #7, a couple of crisp irons got me back on track. I was certainly hitting the irons high and straight. The best one was a 3-iron off the tee on hole #8, a long par-3. The hole was playing 192 yards, but I chose my 200-yard club to take a pair of ponds fronting either side of the green right out of play. What a beauty it was. The ball sailed right to the back fringe, with no danger of getting wet.
The main adjustment I made with the irons was to focus on straightening my left arm. When the left elbow bends, even slightly, I have difficulty controlling where the club will bottom out. The result is a mix of duffs and topped balls. It's particularly bad when the ball is above or below the feet. Straightening the left arm also seems to improve my swing path, from backswing to follow through. So that's what I focused on this time. I did not focus on the turning of the forearms, as I did during my last round. That has helped me in the past, but only seemed to cause trouble recently.
Moving to the Yellow nine, I took a few steps backwards again. The first four holes were a repeat of the front nine, as I went triple, bogey, double, and triple to start things off. I flared a couple of drives well out to the right, which didn't help. On Yellow #1, I also hit a weird one off the heel of the gap wedge from 120 yards out. The ball finished in a bunker, 50 yards from the green, which can be awkward. During this stretch, I also collected a pair of penalty strokes – the only ones on the day. Despite the bad scores, there were a couple of nice shots mixed in, so I was still feeling good.
The next thing you know, I rattled off a pair of bogeys, followed by three pars to finish the round. The three pars were brilliant – three fairways hit and three greens in regulation – golf the way it was meant to be played! On hole #7, I bombed a drive down the centre, leaving just 100 yards to the green. On hole #8, another bomb left me with 120 to the flag. On #9, I used every bit of fairway available, actually trickling through the end by a foot or so. I was just 80 yards from the flag. In all cases, I was able to hit sky high wedges the appropriate distance, leaving legitimate birdie chances.
The adjustment on my drives was subtle, demonstrating how a slight change can make a huge difference. I tend to swing with my arms, more than my body. The problem is that when I try to adjust this, the results can be horrific. After duffing or topping a few balls, I invariably go back to swinging with the arms, which I can at least get airborne. What I did differently this time was to ensure that extra rotation around the spine in my backswing was ever so slight. I could feel the point where I would normally stop my rotation. From there, I just went a couple degrees further. I could control that movement and it helped my club come from the inside-out -- exactly what you want.
Score: 98
Putts: 39
Fairways: 5
Greens: 4
Penalties: 2
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