practice round before Sunday's outing

Today was an awesome day. That's about the only thing that went well today. I had a pretty respectable practice round. Played from the gold tees to change it up. Not a big difference in club selections besides the Par 3s.

Starting to hit my 3-Wood more consistent and my wedges were really good today. Stuck several approaches within 10ft. Felt really good about my ball striking and my approach shots. Hit a lot of greens today more often than the previous outings. One main concern today was putting.

Not the putting strokes or the speed of the putts more concern about reading the breaks. 8 Putts that were missed above the hole. Have never had so many putts missed above the hole. Leaving myself about a foot or so for a tap in majority of the time. 4 putts for birdie missed that way. It was a frustrating day on the greens. Off the tees I was above my normal game.

Hit a lot of good tee shots compared to the last couple of days. I was able to shape most of my 3W tee shot and I improved on my long irons. Tee off with my 3Iron on 2 holes straight down the middle. Felt really good. Figured out why I was having a hard time hitting my long irons. I was standing too close making me either slice the shot or hit it fat. I stepped back for about 8 inches away from the ball from where I was addressed and it fixed the issue. This also worked when hitting shots from the fairways and rough. Tough part is keeping my head down through the shots until my follow thru.

I hit my short irons and wedges on target today. On target meaning within 10-15 feet of where I was aiming. Closest approach was inside 4 feet, too bad I missed the birdie putt. That was at about 80 yards, using my SW. Almost put that wedge away to get a 60* but now I'm rethinking it. I use it for the majority of my chips and pitch shots near the green. Chipping was satisfactory.

Chipping has been a concern. I usually stay back about half an hour to work on my chipping and my putting. Today was no exception. I'm putting the ball where I want it to land but not getting the right release or the right check up. I feel like its very inconsistent.  But again the results were average. Most chips are within 10ft. My standards are low so that's acceptable. Would prefer the chips to go within 5ft or less though. That's something I will work on after every round at home.

For a practice round, I was pleased with the results. There was no bet on the line and no trash talking so I kind of rushed. By rush I mean it took our threesome 3 and half hours to play 18 holes. Even another threesome let us through, that's how fast we were playing. Anyways, hopefully today's practice round bear fruit for Sunday's outing. Hopefully it will result in a first place instead of  a tie for second again. A tie doesn't get you a free lunch and a beer, or a sleeve of ProV1s.