Our Bishop's Classic Team and Saguto Divots

Written on 8-14-21.

        I am sitting on my “Freestyle Rocker” chair outside our Alto, and B is sitting in hers right across the table from me.  The awning is up, and Kody is lying down on the small rocks at our campsite here at North Canyon Campground next to Vallecito Lake.  We are at spot #8.  It’s 10:51 AM, and it is a gorgeous summer morning.  B goes back to work more officially next week, and I should start in September.  In the meantime, I will play as much golf as I can.  A and E are coming for lunch, and they should get here around noon.

We sent some incredible pictures of the lake and the mountains out to our families yesterday, and they replied with the spirit of two thumbs-up.  Kody got two walks this morning, a longer walk with B where he got to run free, and then a shorter walk with me through the campground and down the road a bit towards the lake.  B just brushed him, and he looks more handsome.  He looked a little haggard and muddy, especially after his longer hike with B.

On to golf…

Eric is going to ask Dan to see if he can play in the Bishop’s Classic with us.  Debbie will be the alternate if Grant can’t play due to work.  I hope Dan can play, because he can bomb it, and we might...

have a chance at placing if he comes.  Eric might know by the time he gets here.  It would also be comforting to know our team is all set.

In other golf news, I have decided not to play in the Pinon Hills Classic coming up next weekend.  I was debating playing, but I just don’t think my golf game is ready for tournament play yet with this swing change.  We plan on going to Albuquerque to visit James on Saturday for his birthday anyway.  It’s our turn to go visit him, and his birthday is the perfect reason.  Once again, when it come to family or golf, I choose family most of the time.  It fits in with the saying from my recent brain surgery anniversary.  On the day he died, he…chose to go spend a day with his son the weekend after his 28th birthday.  Sounds better than…he chose to go play in a golf tournament.

It’s later in the afternoon now, and A and E just left.  We took another walk after lunch, so that makes three walks for Kody.  It’s expected to rain this evening, so if he doesn’t get another walk, he’ll be just fine.

Eric told me that Dan cannot play in the Bishop’s Classic, because he is playing in something else, so I asked Shawn.  He asked us to give him a week to decide, because he is pouring his floor for his workshop.  We shall see how it all plays out.  I really want to play, and support this cause, and that’s why I hope Shawn can play, too.

Written on 8-27-21.

I had some true success today at the range, and I wanted to write down what I was doing, so I don’t forget it.  Here’s what I did…  I tucked my 3-wood cover under my trail arm on some swings, and I let each club “fall” onto the back of each ball, and I was having “crispy KFC contact,” as Tom Saguto always says.  The range balls were flying straight today, my friend.  

I also tried the three-quarter swing without the head cover in my armpit to see if I could take consistent divots with a “skadoosh” sound, and I did really well on one series.  I got nine out of ten consistent divots in a row.  I was trying to point my club at a ball I placed in front of my swing in order to get more shaft lean like Tom did, but that didn’t work so well. 

Part of all of this stemmed from Tom Saguto’s YouTube videos, and part came from my home putting green.  I had so much success the other day (and another hole-in-one, too!) at home, and it was because I set up Don Greenwoods’ training apparatus to be able to rest a lime green foam noodle gently against my head.  I pitched 17 out of 18 balls onto the green by keeping my head still and throwing the club underneath each golf ball.  I also did not open my club face as much as before, and that gave me the distance I needed without the club sliding under each golf ball too much (a variable I can’t control).  I take my club back until I feel my right elbow touch my side, and that also provides pretty consistent distances.

So, I took the consistency of my head holding very still from home, and I used the gravity of my club heads to take divots at the range, and it worked really well.  It was like I was directing the face as it was falling, and the momentum from the gravity made these perfect divots.  This whole divot/Tom Saguto thing has really gotten me thinking and experimenting, and I love it.  I pray that it transfers to scoring.  We shall see.

Phew!  Glad I got it all in here.  Maybe I will go to the range again this weekend to keep practicing.

I watched the videos of my swing today, and I can confidently say I am still a single-planer, too.

Until next time…