Back 9 Blues

One of the biggest problems I've encountered this season, besides hitting the ball awful off the tee, has been my poor play on the back nine during most of rounds. In the last seven of the nine rounds I've played so far this year, I have shot worse on the second nine that I have on first nine. While I've only posted one round in which I've hit triple digits (a 103 on June 16 at FDR Golf Club), the fact that I have been unable to shoot lower on the inward nine has kept me from breaking 90 so far.

In my first two rounds of this season, I opened with 51 and 50 on my front nines, but shot a combined 17 strokes lower on the two second nines, an average of 8.5 strokes lower. Since then, however, I have averaged 4.2 strokes higher on the second nine in the seven rounds I've played. This includes four rounds in which I failed to break 50 on the back nine.

I don't know whether it's a lack of concentration, fitness, poor course management or just getting ahead of myself by thinking about my final score instead of playing one-hole-at-a-time on the back nine. Often, it seems like I blow up on a couple of holes or fail to take advantage of the easy holes on the back nine. Either way, it is preventing me from posting lower scores.

Walking the Walk

Well, it is almost April and I haven't made it onto the golf course yet. I did hit a bucket of balls about two weeks ago. But more importantly, I have been walking about twice a week for the past four weeks. Tonight, even though it was cool and windy, I walked around Abraham Lincoln High School, which is 2.5 miles. When the weather hasn't permitted walking outdoors, I have been walking one-and-a-half laps around Franklin Mills Mall. This is helping me build up some leg strength, which is important for the golf swing, as well as preparing me for walking the course in the very near future. And believe it or not, I am actually considering trying to do some light yoga a couple of times a week as well! This should supplement my fitness, as well as provide me some flexibility, which is also important in the golf swing.