Putting Lesson 1

Had a lesson with TW this morning and we started to address putting.
Before we even considered the putting stroke, Tim was able to see that my putter is the incorrect length for me.  I had it cut down to 33 inches a couple of years back.  As a result, I am crouched over way too much and my eyes are not directly over the ball.  In fact my eyes are a couple of inches outside the ball.
TW tells me that my eyes must be either directly over the ball OR a tad to the inside.  Outside is an absolute no-no.  
Since it's not physically possible for me to get my eyes in this position with my putter as is, I am going to switch temporarily to my old Scotty Cameron with a 35 inch shaft.    I will get the shaft on the other lengthened to 35 also and see which one I am most comfortable with.

We also took a look at why I struggle so much with my 3 wood and yet am so comfortable with my 5 wood (both TaylorMade V Steels).  TW is convinced it is because the shaft on the 3W is wrong for me (frequency is very different from the 5W).  I am going to see a clubmaker on Monday who will replicate my 5W shaft specs in the 3W.   Let's see if that makes the difference.

Flat stick woes

Had my first half decent 18 hole round of the year on Saturday at Druid Hills in the 2nd round of the Green Tour.   Shot 77 but left so much out there.  Tee to green I had two bad strokes all day.  One I got away with, however a pulled drive cost me a triple on number 12.  I blame that on a failure to stick to  my game plan.  That's a tight fairway - only 352 yards and I had planned to hit hybrid to about 140.    Instead I got off plan and hit driver.   That aside, my main issue was putting.  I had probably 8 makeable birdie putts and didn't threaten the hole on a single one of them.   In addition I had two 3 putts.   I will be seeing TW next week and intend to start working on putting.   I need to develop a repeatable routine.
On a positive note, the driver investment is really starting to pay off.  Still not totally comfortable with it but when I catch it, I'm getting at least another 30 yards.

Finally, putting it all into perspective is Ken Green.  Less than 1 year after an accident that claimed the lives of his girlfriend, brother and dog AND resulted in the amputation of his right leg AND a mere 4 months after the accidental death of his young son, he finished far from last in a Champions Tour event in Alabama.  What an inspiration.  I salute you!!

TaylorMade Driver Fitting (Awesome)

Finally the time came for my driver fitting session at the TaylorMade fitting center (aka The Kingdom) at Reynolds Plantation.
It was an amazing experience and one I highly recommend.  Here is the low down.

USGA Handicap Revision

USGA Handicap hits 5.0 in today's revision.