Tag: golf

I'd Take Their Bad Shots

Nick Momrik1 Comment

I’ve been watching the final round of the Target World Challenge since it came on the air at 3pm. If I look out the window I see 10 inches of fresh snow from last night and this morning. I think I know where I’d rather be…on the golf course.

While Tiger Woods isn’t exactly running away with the tournament today, but there really hasn’t been a question who is going to win. After not playing any competitive golf since September 30th and not even picking up a golf club until early December, many people wondered what Tiger’s game would look like. He answered those questions by setting the course record on Friday and following it up with the 2nd best score posted on Saturday to take a 6 stroke lead into today’s final round. Jim Furyk closed the gap in the middle of the round, but Woods is back in control.

It’s funny to listen to some of the commentary during the professional tournaments. For the pros it’s a bad break when they hit the pin and if they hit the wrong level of a green they missed their mark. Any time I can hit the flag stick I’ll take it. Most of the time when I hit a green anywhere, I have a better chance of getting in the hole with 2 more shots instead of having to chip before I take out the putter.

It’ll be the end of March or early April before the sticks get any use on a Michigan golf course, but I’m already getting the itch to play after watching some golf on TV.

Reviewing 2007 Golf Goals

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As 2007 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to review golf goals from 2007. They were:

  • Keep my 9 hole scores starting with a 3 or 4. I don’t want to reach the half-century mark again this year.
  • Break 80.
  • Get a hole in one. (When isn’t this a goal for a golfer?)
  • Break 40 more consistently.
  • Keep a slower controlled swing.
  • Talk Dad into making a trip to Ireland.

How did I do?

  • After March 31st, when I posted those goals, I shot 10 nine hole scores in the 50s.
  • I still have never broke 18. I’m sure I could have done it a few times after shooting a good 9 hole score, but didn’t play a second 9 a lot of those days.
  • Still no ace on the scorecard.
  • I broke 40 more than in 2006, but not more on a percentage basis.
  • I was in control of my swing more than I ever have been.
  • Dad is up for the Ireland golf trip. It will most likely be a few years down the road though

Not too bad, not too good. Chipping and putting was the key for me in 2007 and I sucked at it. It’s time to start working on goals for 2008.

My 2007 Golf Season

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In 2007 I golfed more than any other year. In fact, I played nearly twice as many holes as I ever have in a single year. I logged 140 nine hole scores compared to 88 in 2006. Out of 140 scores, 12 were in the 30s and 11 in the 50s. Both are improvements from 2006 where I scored 10 times in the 30s and 12 times in the 50s. Those are numbers I could live with except for the fact my average score for 9 holes was up to 44.51 from 44.4 a year ago.

I played a lot more golf, so I should have improved. Well, I did improve in nearly every aspect of the game. I finally found a driver I can hit with confidence off the tee box and my irons and wedges were more consistent than they’ve ever been. My golf game really struggled in the short game and we all know that’s where you score. I had one of my worst years with the putter and just couldn’t get into a groove all summer long.

My biggest goal for the 2008 golf season is to make a dramatic improvement in my putting. I’ve been thinking about taking some putter lessons and even getting properly fit for a putter. Has anyone ever been fitted for a putter? If so, any recommendations you can make when I’m looking for a place to do it?

Another thing that really helped my golf game this past year was a trip to Phoenix, AZ during the second week of February to take some training for work. This year I plan to go to North Carolina in February to visit some friends, so I think the golf clubs will be making the trip. I’m already looking forward to it now that I mentioned it!

Custom Header Images

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Tonight I decided to look through my golf pictures and see what I could use to personalize the header images. The background image (the sand trap) was taken during a practice round of the 35th Ryder Cup held at Oakland Hills Country Club in 2005. I snapped the picture before Chad Campbell got to his ball.

The insert picture was taken at the 2007 Hackers Whackers – McDuff Open. We are standing behind the 18th green on The Heather golf course at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, MI.

New Primary Rough Design

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If you are reading this at primaryrough.com you’re looking at a new design. I thought I’d freshen up the place with a new theme. The base design is a free WordPress theme from Templatextreme. I fixed a few things up and made a few modifications otherwise it looks the same as the theme you can download from their site. Hopefully in the future I will use my own personal custom photos.

What do you think of the new look?

Attend a PGA Tour Event

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“These guys are good.”

If you ever have the chance to go see professional golfers in a tournament, do it. Watching some of the shots these guys can pull of on TV is great, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.

You can watch the pros warm up on the driving range and putting green. You can stand behind the tee box, watching them hit driver. You can camp out near a landing area and watch the pros make approach shots. You can sit around a green and watch them chip, hit out of the sand, and make putts.

There is only so much you can get out of watching golfers on TV. Seeing a professional hit a wedge out of the deep rough, spin it on the green, and stop it a few feet from the cup is only something you can really appreciate stand 5 feet away. It’s simply amazing.

I went to the Buick Open at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, MI on Saturday and it reminded me how good the pros really are. I’ve been to the Buick Open probably a handful of times in the last ten years, but it’s always amazing to go back. It never gets old seeing these golfers hit bomb after bomb on the driving range, where we’d be lucky to hit a couple balls out of a bucket as good as they hit every single one.

Attending a golf tournament is unlike any other sporting event you can attend because you can walk around the entire course and watch whatever you want. You can get to within a couple feet of the players and offer them a high-five as they walk off the green.

Just trust me and go watch a golf tournament if you have the chance. It’ll be worth every penny.

Tiger Woods Skipping 2007 Buick Open

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I’m heading to the Buick Open this upcoming weekend, but I won’t be seeing Tiger Woods. There will likely be some cardboard cutout and poster sitings, but none of the real deal. It’s disappointing to know he won’t be playing, but I can’t say I blame him for skipping out on a tournament a week and a half after the birth of his first child, a daughter, Sam Alexis Woods.

Slow Down

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After having some problems off the tee recently, things have turned around in the last week or so. I didn’t realize what I had changed until one of my league partners told me I looked more fluid and controlled in my swing. It turns out I was swinging nice and easy instead of trying to crush the ball. Guess what…I am hitting it just as far as if I was swinging out of my shoes and I’m a lot more consistent.

Over the weekend I hit some great tee shots when I stayed in control. As soon as I sprayed one off to the left or right I could feel my swing get quicker and I was snapping the wrists over the top or leaving the club face wide open. If I take a nice and easy swing with the driver I can still bomb it out there 280-300 yards or more. In fact, I put the ball on the green on a 272 yard par 4…with my 3 wood!

If you’re having problems with your swing and can’t seem to figure out the problem. Slow down. You’ll be amazed at the results most of the time.

To The Left

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Somewhere in the past week or two I’ve started to hit everything off the tee to the left when I use a driver or fairway woods. Pulls, hooks, and duck hooks. It ain’t pretty. Ugly!

When I can’t hit decent drives, golf just isn’t fun and it gets awful frustrating having to make up for a shitty drive off the tee. It shouldn’t really be hard either; you get to place everything as you want, find your stance, and get the perfect lie on the tee box.

Yesterday in league on the front 9 at Twin Oaks I took a 10 on one hole after duck-hooking into a pond, then pulling a 3 wood into the heather and taking 3 shots to get out of that shit.

I’m going to have a long session at the driving range tonight with the driver, 3 wood, and 5 wood.

What really throws me off is I’m hitting my irons great. Last night I came the closest I’ve ever been to a hole-in-one, leaving it 6 inches to the back left of the pin. So close, but yet so far away. I also hit a 5 iron from 205 that rolled off the side of the green pin high.