Big golf week this week. Thursday, taking day off to play an early morning round with some friends down in San Jose. Then we're going to head over to CordeValle to catch Tiger play at the Frys.com Open. Thursday round shouldn't be too crowded so we're hoping to see a lot.
Sunday, have my monthly TPC Harding Park Men's Club tournament. I like these tournaments because they serve as a good test of how many game is progressing. During a casual round, either as a single walk-on or with friends, it's so easy to lose focus, give up, go for the miracle shot, etc. I wouldn't want to grind out 5+ hour rounds every weekend, but once a month is good for keeping yourself honest. Those little 3 foot gimmes suddenly look a lot longer.
Things weren't looking good for the Thursday and Sunday rounds. Yesterday I played at Sharp Park and lost 7 balls, probably more than my last 20 rounds combined! Then this morning I played with a couple of friends at Harding Park and shot about 9 strokes worst than my index on the front nine alone. Back nine didn't get off to a good start either, a triple (ESC double) after losing another ball.
At that point I was at a complete lost. Decided to go back to my old Nike 20XI-X balls. If you recall, I've been trying out the Callaway HX Diablo and HX Diablo Tour balls; felt I was giving up too much distance with the Nikes. The HX Diablo (both versions) are definitely longer than the Nikes (maybe 15-20 yards on a solid drive) but from day one I felt like I couldn't control them as well.
Let me rephrase that. I'm not good enough to "control" my ball. With the Nikes a bad shot would still be fairly straight, fairly on target. With the Callways I'm all over the place. Big pushes, big pulls, crazy slices, crazy hooks. Maybe it's all mental, but whatever it is, as soon as I went back to the 20XIs on the 11th I got my first par of the day. Then after a stretch of bogeys and one blow-up hole (more on that latter), I went par, par, birdie to finish. Yes, I finally birdied the 18th hole at Harding. For those unfamiliar with the 18th, it's Harding Park's signature hole, and a 2-handicap at that.
The blow-up hole occurred because it took me 2 strokes to get out of the bunker (and it was a poor out at that). I'm actually pretty confident of my bunker play but today I was definitely having problems. Then it occurred to me why. Normally, most muni courses have basically dirt bunkers. You have to play it like a fat shot. A good, aggressive fat shot. But because Harding Park is prepping for the PGA Charles Schwab Cup next month they've actually put sand in the bunker. Now you have to play it like a "real" bunker shot, letting that leading edge slide in. Well, that's my explanation/excuse, that it for what it's worth.
In any event, the strong finish gives me much needed confidence for Thursday and Sunday. Time to go buy some more Nike 20XIs. Like I said, maybe it's all mental, but I've definitely played my best golf with the 20XIs. Aidios Callaway HX Diablos!
Comments