A Couple of Short Items

We must start with Rich II, a well known character in the blog.

He had just finished the 10th hole with triple bogey, not his usual, then walked up to the 11th tee, a 140 yard par 3.  He launched his usual left to right shot.  It hit short of the green and left.  It took a wicked bounce to the right and towards the back pin.  Wayne Arrow and myself were keeping a keen eye on it as Rich II was replacing his club back into his bag.

"Looking good," said Wayne.  I had to concur.  And by the gods of golf the ball rolled up and disappeared!  I waved violently for the drink cart to come and serve us, but it zoomed up the hill not to be seen again.

We informed Rich II of his feat.  He joined us at the green and asked again if we were kidding.  "I don't want to walk up to the hole and feel like a jerk," he said.  But we had been honest and his ball was resting after a job well done.

It was not R-2's first hole in one.  But the other was a long time ago on a much shorter course. 

Well, done R2!

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Topic Two:

One of the things that I wish I was ( I would use the subjunctive here, but I do have hopes...) more compulsive about is taking notes, reading the notes and then rereading them before I play.  I've had times when I took notes, but taking the notebook out of the golf bag and then reading them and, this would be the difficult part, getting the notebook back into the golf bag, just doesn't happen.  I have concluded that this is due to my playing at golf and not working at it.  I'm not sure this is a bad thing, but on occasion, I wish that I'd have done it.

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Topic Three:

I've made a couple of golf tools.  I fashioned a device to hold my clubs above the ground when it is wet out.  Typically used when using a cart and I'm taking a couple of clubs towards my approach shot.  This was fashioned out of deer antler with a pin incorporated to stick in the ground.  It's a nice size and fits in the pocket with no unsightly bulges.  If I were to make it again, I would make the pin longer to compensate for rough length grass.

I also made a divot repair tool out of brass.  I bought a foot long sheet of brass, about 1/8 inch thick.  I cut out the shape, then used a jeweler's saw and files to refine it.  I had purchased a nice set of files a couple of months ago and I enjoyed using them to modify the metal.  I don't have a lot of metal working tools, so it was mostly hand work.  I found this to be very satisfying as an activity.   

I also tried my hand as doing some engraving on the tool.  I have some gravers that I bought on a whim and I think there is a book around about the "Art of Engraving," but I could't find it with cursory search.  I was happy with my ability to cut into the metal, but my skill is pretty poor.  Curves are hard to do. 

I ran across a bunch of youtube videos by a guy named Ford Hallam.  He is an ex-pat living in Japan and exploring ancient Japanese arts.  He is goldsmith, metal worker, and using primarily hammer and chisels to carve metal.  Quite interesting videos and he is hired to work on some old stuff.  He provides a nice glimpse into the material, tools, and arts.  He is not the first ex-pat on a Japanese adventure.  One other is a guy who took up wood block printing.  He also has some interesting videos.  His name is David Bull.

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Topic the Fourth

I was at the range Saturday and working on things.  I'm trying to get my left leg to thrust away from the  target.  I found that the way I could do this was to try to move my right hip in front of my left hip.  That provided the "way" to get me to rotate the hips properly.  I was was happy with my strikes.   Will it last?  Do the professionals do it that way?  Will it not hurt the back?  All interesting topics that will be examined over the coming rounds.  I should write this all in my log book...

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That's abut it from golf central...  Pardon the long delay, but there were reasons of little interest that got in the way. 

Short Putts with Break

I managed to get a couple of sessions at the range this weekend.  Barb was off doing craft things and the rains were not punishing.

With the new putter (thanks mom!), I've been spending more time practicing with it.   I've never found putting of much interest, though I've always enjoyed practicing pitches and chips.  Another mystery wrapped in an opaque wrapper, I guess.

One of the putt shapes that I've struggled with, is the short right to left putt.  I seem to turn the face of the putter into the break and the ball dives left.  I was playing around with them today.  What I thought of doing was to think of this putt and other breaking putts as similar to a bowling shot.

Now bowling is done on an oil slicked surface and the ball spends a lot of time sliding before it connects to the alley and begins to roll.  So with the putts, I thought of trying to strike them hard enough to have a bit of skid and then take the break which will cause the ball to arc nicely to the hole. 

One of the things of a proper putter is a few degrees of loft.  This is to make sure the ball gets to the top of the grass before it starts to roll.  You want a bit of hop.  Even if the greens are firm and the ball sits on top, you can have an issue if you are hitting the ball to an uphill hole.  You want a touch of loft.  I think that breaking putts are in this category of ball action - reaction.

Ok, I must close as I'm off to try to make some Coq au Vin in the pressure cooker.  Golf tomorrow, it will be soggy, but I've got new swing thoughts that I'll get to writing down later.