Maturing

The last couple of days have been really good. I have let myself sleep in a little in celebration of the first cool mornings of the year, but have still been up and at 'em in time to get in some good workouts and then full afternoons of practice. While my practice hasn't been the sharpest I've had all year, I can definitely tell that I am maturing because I am able to overcome some frustrating moments and have very productive practices. While I haven't had my best stuff, I've never doubted that I'm still on the right track, and I have left the course feeling good each of the last two days.

Today was a particularly good example of that. I had a nice short session on the driving range and spent some quality time on the practice green before heading out with three balls in my pocket to walk nine holes. On the first two holes, I hit some embarassingly bad golf shots. In the past, I might have called the day a waste and walked back to the range to mindlessly beat some balls before going home frustrated. Instead, I made a conscious effort to trust my routine on every shot and chose to believe that I could execute better. I started to hit some good shots on my third hole of the day and ended up feeling awesome about the way I played. It was exciting to be able to see so clearly the benefits of my constantly improving attitude.

In other news about my game, I made a somewhat radical decision yesterday. I have long stood by a philosophy of chipping exclusively with one club. For me, that one club was the 60 degree wedge. I practiced with it and trusted it to hit each and every variety of chip or pitch shot I could face... until yesterday. I'm experimenting with some less lofted clubs around the green and trying to work some different types of shots into my short game arsenal. I believe that with some practice, I will develop a feel for some bump-and-run type of shots and with them be able to execute much more consistantly from all sorts of lies around the greens. I'm very excited by some of the early results of this practice, and I believe that some new techniques could be fully incorporated into my game when Q-school begins in three weeks. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I'm excited about the way things are going. I've got a few more days here at home to continue to hone my game and get that lovin' feeling all the way back, and then I'll be heading down to Callaway Gardens for a Tarheel Tour Fall Series event. Keep it here for more practice reports as I prepare to put another tally in the win column next week!