One Birdie, Lie Angles, and a Shank Fixer

Also written on 7-7-12

     When I played with Bruce earlier this week, I did earn a new birdie that I need to get in here.  Here’s how I got it.

Hidden Valley-Hole #7-Birdie #13 of 2012  

   
     I pulled my drive all the way over to the right side of hole #14, the adjacent hole to this one.  It landed on some fluffy yellowish green grass over there.  I used my 8-iron to right the ship and get back on the proper fairway.  I don’t like playing the par fives this way, but hey, it’s safe.  At least I am not over the fence when I do this.  The approach was the best shot, but the putt was pretty good, too.  I used my sand wedge to put my ball in the middle of the green, where it then rolled to the back where the hole was.  I had about ten feet left.  I read the break as left to right, but it was only five or six inches, and it was downhill slightly.  My ball curled in.  Love to get a birdie on this difficult hole.  I’ll take a birdie here as often as I can.

    The only other news in golf is that Don helped me with all of my lie angles, part of the deal when I bought the new Wishon irons from him.  They all needed to be corrected about two degrees.  I learned why I was shanking some shots.  Many of my good contacts were closer to the heel than the middle or the toe, so Don showed me an article to help me get my swing more upright.  I was hitting some with the hosel lately, but now I know why.  A good drill to help me, according to the article, is to place two tees down on the ground, one just outside the toe, and one just behind the heel.  It’s simple.  I line up my club at the tee farthest away, and then I swing through the tee that is closest.  I made solid contact when I did this, and I used it when I played nine holes alone yesterday and when I played today.  I would line up my club with the ball at the heel and swing through the ball on my downswing.  It worked well enough for me to shoot a 39 yesterday, and it helped me play well enough to win today.  Thank you, Don.  I am really enjoying the new irons, and I can’t go back to my old ones since I sold the entire set at our garage sale for only $75.00.