Closing the deal

Regardless of how you drive it, hit your irons, pitch and chip, if you don't putt well you are not going to score well!!  Apologies for stating the obvious.  As my game tee to green becomes more solid, I am realizing that me getting to scratch is going to come down to the putter.  A +2 handicap at the club told me yesterday that he averages twenty eight putts.  I'm a 2.8 handicap and I figure I average thirty four putts.  I can't afford to give up six shots a round to a scratch golfer and so I believe this needs to be my primary focus for the next while.
  To give me some focus, I am going to focus on how I putt from six feet and from ten feet.  The average PGA Tour pro last year averaged 70% from six feet and 40% from ten feet.  I did some testing on the practice green yesterday.  (I hit twenty random six footers and twenty random ten footers to get a sample - admittedly not a large sample)   I was 40% from six feet and 20% from ten feet. 
  I intend to take a putting lesson this week and practice rigourously from these two distances for the next month.  I will report back on the lesson and my progress.   If I can get to 60% from six feet and 35% from ten, I will consider it a success.  Try it!  Let me know what your figures are from these distances and report back in a month on your progress. Do it!!

The Dan Plan

There are many schools of thought on what it takes to become excellent in any field.  Is excellence something you are born with or can it be developed?  Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers (an excellent read by the way) has some very interesting observations on the subject.  By all accounts there are countless other explorations of this subject but Outliers is the best I have come across. Up to now most of what I have read on the subject is anecdotal  based on those who have already achieved excellence in a given field.  We've never before had a real time documentation of someones pursuit of excellence from beginning to end.  Before now that is - enter The Dan Plan. 
  In December, I happened upon the tale of Dan McLaughlin.  Dan is going to be putting Gladwell's theory on achieving excellence to the test.  I hope I don't do the plan a disservice by summarizing it as a plan to become a professional golfer by completing 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.  Deliberate, well thought out practice mind you and not just mindless blasting of range balls like many of us are accustomed to.
 Dan is a brave man.  In pursuit of his dream, he has put it all on the line quitting his previous job and using all of his savings to do what it takes to become a professional golfer.  Did I mention that he had never played a round of golf before starting this project?
 I had the pleasure of meeting and playing 18 holes with Dan while he was in Atlanta over the winter.  I am very impressed with how he is going about the journey.  I think there is an element of living vicarously through his voyage.  I'm guessing I'm not the only one who has endless dreams of quitting the day job to pursue my dreams. 
 I think it's a fascinating story and am very curious to see how it progresses.
 You can follow Dan's progress or offer him support at his website.

Forward Steps

Its been a good week!
Friday, I managed to win the 2 man best ball at the club with a buddy.  We shot net 64 (gross 68).  I shot 73 on my own ball.
Then yesterday, I had my first qualifier of the year - the Georgia State Mid-Am at Orchard Hills.  I guess it is a measure of my progress that I walked off the course unhappy with how I had played, yet shot 76 and qualified comfortably.  78 was the number.  A windy day,  the course was rock hard and yet the greens were slow and bumpy.  Given that our greens at the club are running about 12/13 on the stimp (that's lightning fast for the non golf literate), putting was a real challenge.  I felt the need to 'hit' everything and I don't think that's ever a good idea in this game.  I had only a single three putt but I had a number of looks at birdie but couldn't hole out.
What really saved me was that I didn't hit it into trouble all day and when I missed greens I got up and down really well.   I had zero birdies, 14 pars and 4 bogeys.  
The actual championship will take place at Berkeley Hills on May 18-20.  There will be a 36 hole cut before the Sunday round.   This gives me a really good focal point for the next month.  I don't plan on going out there just to make up the numbers :)

Ruminations on a first visit to Augusta National

Thanks to a very generous friend, I had the pleasure of visiting Augusta National yesterday for the first time for a Masters practice round. I'd dreamed of seeing/playing this place ever since I was a 14 year old watching Nick Faldo win his first Masters back in 89. Given that I am unlikely to ever play there, just walking the hallowed turf was treat enough. Here are some ruminations on a first visit.

• The place is much more intimate than TV can illustrate. The proximity of the 1st and 10th tees, the practice green and the 9th and 18th greens is really surprising. All 5 seem to be within a 70/80 yard radius.
• The TV does not illustrate the undulation of the fairways and greens. The false front on the 9th green is mind blowing. The climb from the fairway bunker on 18 to the green is extremely steep. The 8th must play much longer than 570 yards given the increase in elevation from tee to green.
• Many of the greens are much smaller than they appear on TV. 18 for example is about 60% the size I thought it would be and the drop offs all round very steep
• Although getting a ticket is hard there is absolutely no 'nickel and diming' at ANGC. The Pimento Cheese sandwich is still only $1.50 and a beer is either $3.50 or $3.00. They could probably make millions and millions more if they wanted with only modest price increases at the concession stands but choose not to do so. These guys get it!!
• Same with the merchandising tents. Everything is reasonable. Again, they could jack up the prices just a tad and further line the purses but that would just be out of keeping with their modus operandi.
• Parking is free in the official car parks and no need for a shuttle bus given the proximity. Supposedly they spend boatloads in the past few years acquiring the adjacent properties in order to be able to offer this perk.
• Rory must have hit the worst shot of his life to end up where he did on 10 last year. He progressed less than 100 yards down the fairway and was maybe 30 yards off his intended line when he hit the trees that kicked him another 40/50 yards off line. A total freak occurrence and I doubt if he ever has or ever will hit a shot that bad again.
• Watching players skip shots across the pond on 16 in the practice rounds is pretty special.  I didn't witness it but apparently Martin Kaymer made a hole in one this way!

Final thought, how am I ever going to get to play this place??