Day and night

I played 18 holes on Tuesday and 9 holes on Wednesday, the contrast in my ball striking could not have been greater.

On Tuesday I was 24 over par by the end and I could not hit a solid shot for anything. Driving was very poor with huge hooks followed by huge blocks and my iron play was abysmal too I only managed one par on the 15th hole and I hit just one GIR all round on the 18th where I proceeded to three jack for Bogey, never felt in control of my swing.

1/18 GIR, zero birdies - one par and 37 putts.

However on Wednesday I hit my irons totally solid and stood on the 6th tee at level par, I did wobble a bit on the last few holes but that was due to dodgy tee shots followed by silly course management not poor iron play. In fact I don't think I ever hit my irons better, highlight was a 6 iron to the 5th hole from the left rough to the uphill raised green, 174 to the middle (according to the GPS) and it carried onto the green to leave me a 12 foot birdie attempt. But it was not the distance that pleased me, it was the completely solid hit with a nice 5 yard draw. The fact that I tried a 6i at all was testament to the fact that I was finding the middle of the club face! The end result was a 6 over par 42 for the front nine, which is my best ever score on the front nine holes.

6/9 GIR's, one birdie - three pars and 19 putts.

It's a strange fact that although my putting stroke is vastly improved and I have a lot more confidence in it, my putting stats don't yet bear this out. My lag putting and my chipping/short pitching is improving but I'm not one putting enough times from 3-10 feet and so I still don't get up and down as often as I should and I still make too many three putts from long distance.

Next Monday I'm away for a two week family vacation without golf, when I come back I'm going to restart taking lessons again.