Sausage Roll Pitstops

So this week, 54 to Scratch was “announced” to the “masses”. What I mean by that (of course) is that I decided to announce to followers of my personal accounts on Instagram and Facebook that I was doing this project.

The response from close friends has been largely positive (as discussed last week), but was still nervous to see what people would think outside of my close circle. The response has been positive and the amount of followers on Instagram has already gone way over the 150 mark.

I never really expected when starting this that anyone would want to read this blog or watch my videos. This really is all about me being able to do something cathartic to aid in the process of becoming a better golfer and if I can write about things that others can relate to - even better.

Working out Instagram is also a strange thing. Posting reels seems to work at exposure, but with no consistency. For some reason, me posting a video of my practice sessions looking like a skinny lumberjack with Royal Blood as the background music seemed to work well… Lol.

Which leads me onto that practice session. Tom has me currently working on my follow through, pushing through my leading leg more to generate power and consistency with the ball strike itself.

My current driving range session therefore looks something like this:

1. 25 Slow swings without club or ball, crossing arms over the chest.

2. 25 Slow, stage by stage swings with a club but no ball

3. 25 Slow, stage by stage swings with a club and ball, but with the final part at full speed

4. 25 Standard swings, building up through clubs 5 balls at a time

5. 10-15 Wedges to green

This week, I got to stage four but then added in focusing on my Driver as I’d been seeing a fair amount of Fade coming back into this when I’d been playing recently. Focus was on my grip more than anything and managed to correct.

So did this work on the course?

Overall - yes. Every drive I did at the weekend seemed to go straight, with alignment being the main problem.

With the weather being as it is at the moment, it doesn’t feel worthwhile investing in playing another course, as conditions have been very wet - you don’t want to spend £50 for a round only to find temporary greens and boggy fairways.

So we played Kingsnorth again. Thankfully, the greenskeepers have been able to get onto the greens to mow them, which increased their speed massively, which through me for the first few holes I must say.

On hole 1, my tee shot went low, but straight onto the fairway and plugged. After resetting the ball, I then caught it fat, taking a shovel full of dirt into the air and seeing the ball travel about 10 yards. My next shot was the right length but to the right of the green, leaving me with a nice chip out the rough to within about 6 feet of the hole. I didn’t anticipate the speed of the green, despite knowing they had been mowed and proceeded to 3 putt.

I then had another meltdown moment. We were following a 5(!) ball, with one of them a kid, so had to wait to play our second shots on the first, before then having to wait for quite some time to play our tee shots. I proceeded to top my tee shot into the rough a few yards in front of me. This left me having to try and dig it out, which I did, but then still needed to hit another shot to get to the corner. I made a stupid decision here.

I felt I had enough room to get over the trees and cut the corner (this hole is a right angle dog leg left. You need a 190 yard tee shot to reach the corner, then a further 150 to the green). This would leave me with probably about 100 to the green on my next shot, which would be ideal for me.

I obviously didn’t anticipate just how the lie might affect my connection and proceeded to hit my ball straight in the trees into the farmers field beyond. So I’m now playing off 5 and I haven’t even made the corner yet.

I chipped to the corner, then managed to get the ball around the green, but a duffed chip and another 3 putt led me to get a 10. Not the best start to a round ever! 17 shots and 6 over handicap…

Thankfully, we were let through at that point and I hit my standard tee shot into the rough on the next par 3, leaving me with a pitch on and 2 putts to get a 4.

The fourth hole has become a very tricky one thanks to the weather, with a fairway that slopes down to a slightly elevated green, which results in a VERY boggy approach.

My tee shot wasn’t too bad, but short. My next shot was also good, but right, which actually missed the bogginess as intended. My 8 iron chip was a little too hard and another 3 putt left me on 6.

So - that’s 3 3 putts in 4 holes. Possibly for the first time ever! Thankfully, I got my head back in the game a little and with the exception of one triple, played to handicap the rest of the round.

This started with another Bogey on the 5th, which was another standard par 3 for me (tee into rough, chip on and 2 putt). A bit of luck on the 6th with a tree meant I managed to scramble to a 6 (par 4), before 2 bogies on the 7th and 8th.

A 7 on the Par 5 9th followed, which I actually played quite well, just left what should have been my approach onto the green short, meaning a tricky chip uphill. This left me on 53 (+6 to hdcp) for the front 9.

After a sausage roll pitstop, we took on the back 9, which starts currently with a shortened version of the 1st, playing off the red tee. This makes this a 195 yard par 4, which is very tempting to try and “drive” the green. But there is a massive pond on the right and a wood on the left, so anything other than a straight shot is punished.

I decided to go safe and use my hybrid, which I knew would likely be short, but had a chance if hit well, but also tends to be my most reliable club. I hit it fat, but it landed about 45 yards away from the green.

A duffed chip meant I was on in 3 and 2 putts left me with a bogey. So a positive start for me.

The next hole went better too, although not amazing, as two decent hybrid hits (one to the corner, but in the rough, followed by another decent hit but to the right into the long rough) left me with a tough safety shot which meant me being on the green in 4. 2 putts left me with a 6.

Another bogey followed, but this wasn’t a terrible result given I topped my tee shot into a bush, but was playable. Managed to chip it out and then onto the green to single putt out.

My tee shot on the 13th over water was nigh on perfect - dead centre of the fairway and will easily reach the green in the summer. But as mentioned earlier, this fariway is VERY boggy at the moment.

Anything even slightly fat or high lofted clubs will slice through it like butter, making any bounce nigh on useless. So from that “perfect” tee shot, it took me another 3 shots to get on from about 50 yards out.

Another 54 to Scratch par 3 bogey came, before my only other triple on the 15th. This was largely because of a topped 5 iron into the rough, a lucky hybrid into a tree, before a couple more bog induced fatties…

I got my only par on the next hole, chipping to within a foot of the hole after going short of the green. A double bogey followed before I played the 18th par 5 quite well - driving straight to the middle of the fairway, getting to the corner with my next shot and then just short with my 3rd before a 2 putt once on to round out the round with 100.

Given my start, I was actually quite happy. I checked my scores from when I first started back in February and was pleasantly surprised to see the progress - I’ll be talking about this in the next few weeks as I reflect on a year back playing golf.

So to this week - I have the opportunity to play a bonus round, which I’m hoping to film to start a new new instagram series called GIR Showcase - I’ll be highlighting each course I get to play, showing a hole a day from start to finish with photos and video.

I’ll play at the weekend too, but I also am determined to step up my practice now that the weather is starting to turn a little better. I’ve setup the net in the garden, so I can practice striking most days, and I will obviously share the progress as always.

So - onto another week of grinding for results that I may not see for a couple of months, but I need to ensure I stick to the plan, trust the process and then results will inevitably follow!

Thanks as always for taking the time to read. If you haven’t already, please follow the instagram and be on the lookout for YouTube content coming soon…