Well, if you’ve seen the YouTube video on my putting woes, you’ve probably concluded that my problem is in my head and not in my putter and I’d probably have to agree with you. I bought that putter in 2007 and my putting has gone downhill every since. But, in my defense, I think the putter is good if I hit it exactly on the sweet spot every time. Quitting golf for almost ten years then playing once a week, now about twice a week, and I’m not going to be hitting the sweet spot every time.
By now you probably know where I’m going with this. After reading an article by MyGolfSpy (a website you should at least visit) about their testing and rating of 75 different putters, they concluded that zero torque putters were for real and that the Odyssey AI-Dual Square 2 Square #7 putter was rated by the testers as the best at virtually every distance. So my thought was that if I get this new fancy putter that is just about as perfect as a putter can be then whatever problems I still have must be all mine.
So I went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods and found the putter on sale for $50 off. Of course I bought it and hit practice putts in my basement in preparation for the putter’s introduction to real putting greens on a real golf course.
And today was the day. Overall, the weather was beautiful and relatively cool, and Phil and John witnessed her maiden round. (She doesn’t have a name yet but that’s coming.) I shot a 79 which was pretty darn good for me. The putting was somewhat of a mixed bag, primarily because I didn’t know how hard to hit the putts. I had five three-putts, which isn’t a record for me. Again, primarily because I would hit the putt too soft or too hard – not because of the direction. Three-putts on the first two holes had me a little nervous about my new love.
By the end of 18 holes, I was back feeling confident that it was going to be a long-term relationship, finishing with seven one-putts and two birdies, and 34 total putts when I average 37 a round. I only hit two fairways and seven greens but did well otherwise.
Videos, you might ask? I started to video the round but after three-putting the first hole I thought better of the idea and turned it off. I didn’t need anything other than my putting to think about. But the video showing off the putter will come soon enough.
What else am I doing about my horrible putting? Well, I’ve downloaded a copy of Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible and started to read it. I’ve made it to the fourth chapter so far and the short version of what I’ve read so far is that a pure pendulum straight-back straight-through putting motion is best and there are a lot of bad ways to putt and they still might go in and alot of ways a really good putt might not go in. I’m working on the pendulum motion. Will keep you informed of my progress.
In the meantime, here’s my scorecard from today. Clayt
The red notations were added after the round.
One more thing. Bowie has printed their new scorecards pending the reopening of the shortened golf holes. Hole #18, around the new driving range, is now playing as a relatively short par 5. Holes #1 and #9 are still shortened. The “soon to be” yardages have been added and the course rating and slope numbers have been revised.