A Break in the Action

After playing four consecutive Sundays, my body told me that last weekend was a good time to take a weekend off and get some rest. It didn't hurt that the PGA Championship was on TV most of the weekend. While I missed physically being on the course, I still got my golf fix watching the best players in the world in the last major of the season.

One of the things my body was telling me was my left elbow was starting to hurt. Not so much when I was playing, because I always take an Aleve or Advil before my round, but after playing. I particularly noticed it when I would attempt to lift something with my left arm or would just pull out a club and waggle it. I already had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so I mentioned it to him during my office visit. After explaining what I was feeling and an examination of my elbow, the doctor diagnosed the problem as mild tendinitis. He prescribed wearing a elbow brace when I play and icing the elbow after a round or whenever it is bothering me. He also suggested taking an anti-inflammatory if needed. I already have an elbow brace, so I will be wearing during all future rounds until the end of the season or the pain goes away.

This weekend off also provided my with an opportunity to compare this season to last. Ironically, at this point in both seasons I had played the same number of rounds: 12. During the those 12 rounds I took three strokes more this year than last, 1124-1127. My scoring round is also .3 strokes higher this year, 93.9 compared to 93.6 last season. Out of the 216 holes I have played, however, I have had two more holes at par or better than last season, 52-50. And I have made six birdies through 12 rounds this season, one more than I had through 12 rounds in 2011. My goal is to play at least 10 more rounds before the end of 2012, lower my scoring average, while making more birdies and pars.

A Weekend Washout

Hoping to play a round on Sunday, severe thunderstorms swept through the Delaware Valley just before noon, ending any hope of making it to the course. The washout gives me a chance to rest my elbow for a week. I had three days off last week and only managed to play three holes of golf!

A Sunday Afternoon 9 at Juniata

Juniata Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2805/2185 - 4990
Par: 34/31 - 65
Rating: 63.2, Slope: 106
Score: 48/Front Nine
Date: July 26, 2009

Late this afternoon I headed off to Juniata Golf Club for a quick nine holes, hoping to build on some of the success I had during Friday's round. I played the front nine and got off to a blazing start, with a two-putt par at the 1st Hole and a one-putt par at the 2nd. I made a sloppy 6 at the 3rd Hole after pushing my tee shot right behind one of the few trees between the 3rd and 4th fairways. I lipped out par putts at the 4th and 5th Holes, so I was playing with relative consistency. But at the next two holes, my game came apart rather quickly. I hooked my tee shot badly at the 6th and managed to hit a 7-iron over the trees to right side of the slope leading up to the green. But my ball had come to rest against a small stick, and removing it would have caused the ball to move, thus giving me a penalty stroke. I tried to chip it with a sand wedge, but the ball came up just short of the green. After chipping on past the hole, I had my first three-putt of the day and a 7. At the 8th, I hooked my tee shot wildly into growth along the left side of the fairway. I dropped, then pulled a wedge to the left of the second bunker on the left of the green. I skulled an attempt flop shot way over the green and into the creek, so I re-dropped, pitched over the bunker and two-putted for an 8. At the 8th, my tee shot went left of the green into a marginal lie, which I had to play like a bunker shot. The ball came out much better than I expected and rolled all the way to the back right of the green. From there I three-putted for a 5. My tee shot at the 9th went through the big tree on the left and finished in the left rough about a 130-yards from the green. Playing uphill, I hit a 7-iron to 20-feet behind the hole, which was in the very front left. I three-putted for a 5 and a nine-hole score of 48, three more than I had on the front on Friday. My putting was just a hair off today, but I felt I was still making a better stroke than I had been. Also, my elbow didn't hurt as much as it had been, so the ice treatments are hopefully helping. I iced my elbow twice tonight for about 30 minutes each. One other thing became clear to me during today's round. Although the Gap Wedge that is part of my Wilson Staff Di7 set has a stronger loft, it consistently comes up short from 100 yards, a distance I have been able to routinely hit the Gap Wedges from my previous iron sets. So this evening, I replaced the Wilson Di7 Gap Wedge with a TaylorMade LCG Gap Wedge. This will hopefully help me hit it closer to the pin from around 100 yards.

Putting Practice Pays Off at Juniata

Juniata Golf Club
Philadelphia, Pa
Yards: 2805/2185 - 4990
Par: 34/31 - 65
Rating: 63.2, Slope: 106
Score: 88
Date: July 24, 2009

Having worked to strength my putting, which has been the weakest of my game recently, I decided I test myself on the greens of Juniata Golf Club. It has been over a month since I last teed it up on my home course and I was looking forward to playing some familiar holes. I also wanted to test my sore elbow, which I have been icing every evening. I met up on the first tee with Bill and Shane and we formed a threesome, which became a foursome on the 5th Hole when Jack, who had been playing solo behind us, joined our playing group. For this round, I had my Odyssey White Hot XG #9 putter--which I have re-gripped with a new Winn Jumbo putter grip--back in the bag.

Juniata Golf Club Scorecard

My round started off a bit shaky, with a fat tee shot on the 1st Hole, then two blocked tee shots--4-iron off the 2nd tee and a Driver off the 3rd. I was leaking a little oil, but playing OK. I found myself not staying down and through on shots, and worked to correct it over the next several holes. I was also hitting a bunch of my shots off the toe, so I need to pay better attention to my stance and ball position. My putting, however, was showing vast improvement. After two-putting the 1st, a had one-putts on the next three greens. My best putt of the front nine came at the 8th Hole, where I put my tee shot on the back part of the green and faced about a 35-foot putt to a hole that was in the very front of the green. The putt was slightly downhill about the last third and I left it just a half-roll short of a birdie. I managed to keep the number of three-putts to two and had five one-putt holes. Overall, I took 33 putts, which averages less than two putts per hole.

The double green of the 9th and 18th Hole

As for my elbow, it was a bit sore while playing, but not as bad as it had been recently. I iced it when I got home from playing and again later in the evening. I'll continue to ice it each evening and see if that continues to decrease the soreness.

The downhill 12th Hole, a 185-yard Par 3

Scoring wise, this round was the best round I have played at Juniata this season. Hopefully it is a sign that my game is finally rounding into shape for the latter part of the season, especially with my annual golf trip to the Delaware shore only a little over a month away.

Not Just Puttering Around

Last night I went to Juniata Golf Club and spent nearly an hour working on my putting, which has definitely been the weakest part of game recently. I hit about 100 putts, working mainly on my distance control with longer putts and my line on shorter putts. I have been working with my Odyssey White Hot XG #9, which I re-gripped with a Winn Jumbo grip. It seems to be helping me from breaking down my wrists and keeping the ball better online. I'll track my putts when I play this weekend to see if the practice is having an impact. I have also been applying an ice pack to my elbow the past two nights to try and relieve some of the soreness I have been feeling. So far, the elbow has been feeling a bit better, so hopefully the treatment is working.

The Only Golf This Weekend Was On TV

Because I needed to get some things done around the house and to give my elbow--which has been sore most of the season--a little rest, I took the weekend off from the links. I did, however, watch the second, third and final rounds of The Open Championship; both online and on TV. I love to watch links-style golf and I was rooting hard for 59-year-old Tom Watson to win his sixth Claret Jug. This would have been one of the all-time greatest stories in the history of sports. But unfortunately, Watson bogeyed the 72nd hole at Turnberry, then lost in a four-hole playoff to Stewart Cink. What made it even cooler was on that Saturday, I had read some of Cink's "Tweets" on his Twitter page about preparing for The Open in Ireland last week. This week, I hope to go back to the practice green and work a bit more on putting as I prepare to return to the golf course next weekend.