Well the tournament season started for this Rotary swinger on Tuesday the 21st and unfortunately it didn’t go as well as planned. Not too bad but not the results me and my partner were hoping for, we carded an 81 in the VA state 4 ball qualifier, I am an 8 handicap and my partner is about a 2. I shot 82 (39 and 43) on a 7000 yard track with woods and water all over and my partner was just off his game but we did have fun because we love the game.
Overall I was not terribly disappointed. My swing is coming along and on this day it was ok…not great but ok. What killed me was short game and I realized what sets me apart from most scratch amateurs is the short game. From 100 yards and in I am absolutely horrific. I can bang the ball down with the best of them but I don’t come close to the pin with my scoring clubs and am not consistent with getting it up and down. So… lesson learned and this is where I my journey takes a little turn…a little redirection if you will.
I read recently in a book, and I believe it, that if you spend 90% of your time on your swing you will never become a scratch golfer and also that you NEED to find a pro and stick with him no matter what YOU think. So CQ…like it or not is the pro that is stuck with me but I have also searched and found a local pro here in VA who works a lot with and has a relationship with Hank Haney (This is important b/c CQ is the pro I believe in and I believe in CQ’s swing so the pro had to as well!) For me I need to have someone around since I can’t jet set to Florida or Colorado 
Anyway we have mapped out a program that I AM going to stick to and man you should have seen this guys eyes light up when the first thing I said to him was that I wanted to focus on the short game! I can’t wait to learn the short game…to flag my wedges, use my imagination, learn new shots…and to know that I can get up and down from anywhere!
Well I have my weekly tournaments with my golf club association and a trip to Myrtle Beach (as long as it doesn’t burn down) next week so lots of golf coming up! Good luck this season Rotary Swingers and keep us posted!
Mike, I’d be very careful of someone that has worked with Haney, he would lead you down a severely different path than what we do. If that’s what you want to do, that’s fine, but Haney is 100% arms, hands and shaft plane and doesn’t care what the body does whatsoever. This is why Barkley is doomed. Haney hasn’t retrained his brain how to move, he’s hoping that retraining his hands and arms will do the trick – it won’t.
Short game is where its at! good luck, how much have you progressed since this post in April?
I hear ya Chuck but I have discussed with him and he knows that your swing model is what I want and he is listening to me as I present to him what I can off of your instruction and my previous lessons. I just need a set of eyes that know what they are looking at.
Kevin- you are correct! unfortunately as you will see from my new post I thought I progressed but had a minor setback. I am good though…great learning experience.