patrick emerson

Golf Year in Review 2009

At the end of the season last year I was feeling pretty good about my game. My index had fallen to 19. I beat my goals I set for the year. I knew I still had a lot of work to do. My goals going into 2009 were to learn to hit my driver, break 100 regularly, and get my index down to a 16.

One goal affected the rest of my goals. Previously I used a 3 hybrid off the tee. I was fairly consistent with it but the problem was it left me with a long approach shot on the longer par 4s. Learning to hit my driver would shorten those longer holes. I worked on my driver and my weight shift with my instructor since April. Early on it really hurt my game and for the first few months I had trouble breaking 100. I stuck with my driver for the most part as I was dedicate to fixing this. If I kept my driver in the bag, I’d never get better. My higher scores made my index go up, rising to a 24 at its peak. A couple of months ago my instruction finally clicked with me and my driver started working well. I wasn’t getting as much distance as I’d like, but I was hitting it straight. My scores have been coming down considerably over the past 2-3 months. In my last 12 rounds I had three scores in the 80s and only one over 100. This includes some good scores on tough courses. Recently I had a 94 on Sycamore Ridge and a 91 on Prairie Highlands, both of which were the first times I broke 100 on those courses. My index is about 21 now and if I had a couple more months, I’d get it below 20. So while I didn’t meet my goals, I made significant progress.

Positives
1. I’m very happy with my improvement with my driver. I’m not getting the full distance yet, but I will be working on that over the winter. With carry I usually get 220-240 and if I make good contact I get 270 yards. My goal is to consistently get at least 240.

2. Consistency: I feel like my game is much more consistent this year thanks to my swing improving. This allows me to play with more confidence.

Negatives
1. Putting: I am pretty good at lag putting and in general I can get the ball close to the hole. I seem have to issues getting it in the hole (twss). I miss too many putts I should make. In the past few weeks I’ve been working on a firmer stroke on the short putts to take out the break. This is helping so far.

Courses

I didn’t take any golf trips this year so all my play was in Kansas City courses. I tried to get out and play some courses that are new to me and found some I really likes. Winterstone, Swope Memorial, Dub’s Dread and Adams Pointe are now among my favorites.

Memorable rounds/shots

My best shot of the year came in a scramble at Sycamore Ridge. On no. 17, a 175 yard par 3, they had a closest to the hole competition. The group ahead of us had already put a ball about 6-7′ from the pin. I hit my 5 hybrid in a high draw and ended up 3′ from the pin. I’ve been closer on par 3s before, but never one that long. The shot was enough to win the competition which was extra cool.

I had two very memorable rounds. The first was in my 9 hole league at St. Andrews. My partner was very good and could break 40 for 9 often. We were playing a team that ended up winning the league. Normally this would have been intimidating as I’d be the worst golfer of the 4. This time I managed to not make mistakes. I don’t keep my total score through a round, but I realized I was making a lot of pars. Later when I totaled my score I found I was +2 through 6 and ended up with a 42 due to a pair of doubles. This was my best league score by 4 shots at the time (later in the season I put up a 44 and 45). It was one off my best 9 hole score of 41.

My other memorable round was in October. My friend Steve and I played Prairie Highlands. This is an excellent course and forces you play smart. We started on the back and my round was pretty average, carding a 49 for the back. The front has always given me trouble, so I didn’t hold out a lot of hope on breaking 100 for the first time there. My driver was better than ever and I missed only one fairway. I made the mistake of adding my score before the final hole and found I was sitting on a 35. The 9th is a par 5 with some trouble. I thought if I parred this, I’d break my 9 hole score records with a 40. My third shot was 120 yards from the pin with a pond on the front right of the green. I am pretty confident with that distance as it is a full PW for me. I hit it a little fat and landed just short of the green and rolled into the pond. I ended up with a 7 for that hole, a 42 for the front and 91 for the round.

Goals for 2010

Continue to improve my driver and overall consistency.
Sink the putts I should make.
Get my index down to a 16.
Break 80.

I think they are all attainable goals, except maybe the putting. I’ll measure it by lowering my putt total per round. Right now I average about 37 putts per round.

Next year I am planning on joining the Golf Channel Amateur Tour in KC. I doubt I will win anything but it should be a lot of fun. And I am hoping to take one golf trip.

Posted in: Golf

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Golf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.