Bouncing Back?

Fairways Golf Club
Warrington, Pa.
Yards: 2200/2248 - 4448
Par: 32/33 - 65
Rating: 62.1, Slope: 104
Score: 49/42 = 91
Date: June 29, 2018

Hoping to bounce back from the mental meltdown I experienced the previous week at the Fairways Golf Club, I teed it up at the course again this past week. In hoping to change my score, I made several changes to my bag for this round: I replaced my Wilson Staff Driver and Golfsmith 5-Wood for a Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Driver and X Hot 7-Wood, respectively, as well as subbing a 56-degree Solus sand wedge for the Wilson Staff 58-degree wedge I had been carrying. I also went back to a Titleist NXT ball from the Pro V1 I had struggled with the prior round.

Fairways Golf Club Scorecard

These changes seemed to have little impact on the front nine, as I made an 8, 3 7s and a 6 in shooting a 49--one stroke worse than the front nine the week before. I did, however, manage to make par at two of the four Par 3s on the front nine. I also discovered that my swing was getting more around my body instead to more up-and-down.

Standing on the Tenth tee, I kept one swing thought: swing more up-and-down. I also was determined to have a better mental focus than I had the previous. It resulted in a back nine 42, which is certainly better than the previous round, but still not good enough. I did make two pars and had par putts on five of the other seven holes. If my putting had been a little better, I could have easily shot in the 80s, instead of the 91 I posted.

Overall, I played better than the previous round, but I am still searching for the consistency I had earlier. I think the discovery about my swing plane could help, as will the change in equipment. But I need to get back the short game and putting that helped me open the season so well.

Moving forward, the Callaway clubs will stay in the bag and I will also replace the Golfsmith XPC Plus 3-Wood with a Callaway X Hot2 4-Wood. The Solus sand wedge will be replaced by a new Wilson Staff 56-degree FG Tour PMP 56-degree wedge. And my Odyssey #9 will be removed in favor of another Odyssey putter, an original Rossie II. These changes will be tested this coming Sunday when I tee it up at a new course in Delaware: Mulligan's Pointe in Georgetown.