Balls Magazine Year 2, Volume 1 (22 overall)

I just realized the last time I wrote about golf was back in September. A lot has happened since then.

On that occasion, I wrote about the Senior Championship at my golf club which is open to anyone over 50. I ended up doing fairly well and scored some points and won some money. This continued through the Club Championship, which was a two day event in November.

I finished the year ranked #23 out of over 100 players, so that’s not too bad for my first year in the club.

My Handicap Index is currently sitting at 32.7 which, considering that my very first Handicap Index a year ago was 37.6, is going in the right direction. The lowest my Handicap Index has been is 32.4, which happened about a month ago.

The other new development is that I have invested in new irons. I bought a set of Takomo 101 irons (clubs 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & PW) for a little less than $500. These are straight-to-consumer clubs that I bought off the Internet after doing a fair bit of research.

Let’s face it, I was not about to spend close to $1000 on a set of brand name golf clubs. The Takomo 101s are considered beginner or game-improvement clubs, so I figured that would work for me. They arrived in the mail three days before the second tourney of the year. The first time I swung them was on the day of the tournament.

Here is the story of that day.

The first shot was straight down the middle of the fairway and long. It was a perfect start. It would have been nice to write that it was one of my new clubs, but it was actually my 1 iron. Everyone is amazed I can hit that club, but it’s become one of my most consistent clubs. I love it.

The second shot was my first opportunity with the new clubs. Typically, this is when I ruin the brilliant first shot with a slice to the right and I struggle to get to the green. With the new 4 iron, I hit it perfectly straight and stopped short of the apron. A chip shot and a two putt and I had a bogey 5. Awesome start.

The pattern repeated itself in the second hole. I hit the 1 iron straight and the 4 iron short. Unfortunately, the next shot was hit with an old wedge and I fucked that up, played a little ping pong, and ended up with an Abominable Snowman. The Third was a Par 3 where I missed the green, fucked up the chip and two putted for the double bogey 5.

The thing I discovered in this round is that my new clubs are wonderful, my 1 iron is consistently straight, and my putter gives me great control over pace. The bad news is every other club sucks balls.

The Fourth was a wide Par 4 so I figured I would hit a Wood. I did hit a Wood but the ball went in The Woods. Another Snowman. I know this was February, but it’s only supposed to snow in the mountains in SoCal. Btw, you could see the snow in the mountains in the background of several shots. It was gorgeous!

I did a little better on the Par 3 Fifth getting another 5. A 7 on the Par 5 Sixth was not too bad. It was followed by a 5 on the Par 4 Seventh and a Bogey 4 on the Par 3 Eight.

Things looked to be getting better.

The Ninth is a Par 5 and it’s fairly wide. I hit driver and it went astray. I think I will call my driver Buffalo Bill because it always goes Wide Right.

I got yet another Snowman to finish the Front Nine with a 55. Not great, Bob!

As you know by now, however, I always do better in The Back. Today was no exception.

My scores on the first three holes were 6, 6, and 6. My playing partners recognized and made appropriate jokes about it.

I really should mention that I had great guys playing with me. One of the guys is notorious around the club as a hot head and a difficult guy to play with but I had a blast with him! He actually gave me his card after the round so we could arrange to play some rounds together.

The other guy was very nice but didn’t talk much. He was also in another cart by himself so we didn’t really have a chance to interact with him too much. All in all, though, it was a fun group to play with.

The Snowman reared his ugly head one more time on the 13th but fortunately it was for the last time.

I closed the round with three straight bogeys to get a 53 on the back and a total of 108 for the day.

That would not be enough to get me in the winnings but I felt fairly good about the round because my new clubs performed spectacularly. I think out of all the shots I hit that day with them, only one went off line.

I need to work on my wedges and the woods.

PROS

I hit my new clubs really well, specially considering it was my first time.

I closed well and played better as the round went on.

CONS

I saw more Abominable Snowmen than the last time I rode the Matterhorn in Disneyland.

I need to be able to hit my wedges with precision and my woods straight.

OVERALL RATING:

I have mentioned before that my goal this year is to lower my Handicap Index to something in the 20s. I also want to shoot consistently in the 90s. I’m hoping my new clubs help me to get there.

I will keep you updated on my adventures and reveal, as always, the ugly reality of the struggle to get better. Should be fun.

See you next time.