the ball could have been on a tee and i would have whiffed. i'm telling you, my brain short circuits in situations like that.

I've been there. The worse it gets, the more you try to control the club as you swing it, the more tension, the worse it gets, etc.

Range session would probably help, I often use the feet together drill and just make chips/half swings until I am making flush contact. Then gradually lengthen the swing and move feet apart. Eventually it rewires the brain and you re-learn the feels of tension free swing and solid contact.

Tension often manifests even more in short game and if you are whiffing on punch outs that is likely excess tension. I've had stretches where I shanked every chip shot directly to the right, almost always because my arms were so tense and I was trying to direct the club head into the ball.

hey nate,
without knowing anything else about your situation, i have two words of advice:

you couldn't possibly have said this any better

yeah, thanks Cindy (Miller). ugh, i've tried Red. but i know you're right. last round my buddy said "god damn you're fast."

i simply don't know how to slow down.

just try to sneak up on the ball without it noticing.

speed doesn't happen at the top, it happens at the bottom

fyi, i'm not telling you this, i'm telling me this...it's my #1 challenge as well.

Nate what do you focus on when you swing? Like do you just look at the ball? Or do you focus on a single dimple? Or maybe the spot on the ball that the clubface is intended to strike?

38-41-79 on a par 71 today. One birdie, one double.

Really didn't have anything drop on the greens so was a good day all things considered.

The key: nothing OB, zero penalty strokes. Game just feels a little easier on days like that.

45-45-90 (Par 68)

The only thing good about my game right now is my Putting averaging around 32 putts per round. 3 putted once in my past 4 rounds.

I'm alright off the tee, but Holy Jesus my iron play is in a bad state. I cannot stop coming in with the heel first. Need a few good range sessions to get my irons going again. I almost feel like I'm trying to slide the club under the ball which is stupid, Probably why I'm alright with flop shots and general pitching around the green.

I had 6 doubles and 1 Quad.....

I have no idea. I usually just think awful thoughts, like "don't screw this up", "don't look like a jerk", stuff like that.

the above goes for wedges and in. on full shots i have no negative thoughts. my bad full shots i'm convinced are because i'm too damn fast. but i can usually live with those misses. i have no aspirations of being a 5 handicap.

my real, true issue, is the following scenario......i hit decent tee shot. i tug or fade approach and am now 20-30 yards away, and just to top it off i'm in the thick stuff and it's an elevated green.

i am absolutely screwed. it's taking me 5 shots minimum from there.

40-38-78. 2 birdies, no double bogeys or worse.

A much, much better day in all respects. First day it was warm enough to play in short sleeves. Familiar course. More relaxed pairing. Ball striking was mostly on point, even the short game was decent.

A pair of 82s on the weekend.

37-45-82 - Swing was great, didn't score. I threw away numerous shots away around the green then....

42-40-82 - Swing was absolute ****, and I mean TERRIBLE. I somehow held it together to put up a respectable score all things considered.

One thing that almost seems impossible is I had zero chips on the day. ZERO.

1 - GIR
2 - Nearly OB on 2 straight then hit the green from 75y out (par 4)
3 - GIR
4 - GIR
5 - Fringe, putted.
6 - GIR
7 - Fringe, putted.
8 - Could kinda call this a chip I guess but I had to pitch it out of the trees and on the green from 40y out.
9 - Fringe, putted.
10 - GIR
11 - GIR
12 - Bunker, no sand, putted it out.
13 - GIR
14 - GIR
15 - Water off the tee, then hit green on 3rd (par 4)
16 - GIR
17 - Fringe, putted.
18 - GIR

Can you see how shitty I putted considering I shot 82? If you count fringe, I hit 14 greens. WTF!!!!

The long putting yips nave returned. Ugh.

47-39 86 (par 71 - 70.6/125; 13.9 diff)

State match play qualifier - made 2 triples early (4 &6) but two nice birdies on the back nine. Bad off the tee and lag putting - but only my 3rd round this year so excited to play and practice a lot this next few weeks - 2-day event end of the month at my home course.

Cliffs: I am way too out of shape for 72 holes of golf in two days.

I haven't played in a while due to other weekend (when I usually play) obligations, but was looking forward to this past weekend. A guy I know in Portland put together a golf and poker extravaganza with eight guys total. We had an overall prize pool and a bunch of side games, and it was a lot of fun. The golf, however....

Saturday @ Gearhart Golf Links
41-45 = 86
40-45 = 85

Gearhart is a really fun course, and I'm glad I got to play it again. Here's a short clip about the course from No Laying Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnwh...nel=NoLayingUp

Despite being 10 minutes away from my home course, it's quite a bit different in layout. It's way more links style, really small greens, and a few more features bordering on gimmicky. Clearly I had a harder time on the back nine, but I attribute the back nine on the second round to my back being very, very sore. My back was already fighting against some changes to my swing, and it really didn't like 36 holes in a day. By hole 12 on the second round I was barely able to put any power into a swing, and had a really hard time getting around on it. Too bad, because I was hitting the ball really well; good accuracy all around. Unfortunately I couldn't putt; really hard time figuring out the speed of the greens, and the greens aren't forgiving. I started with 3 three putts on the first four holes, and still shot 41 on the front.

Side note: Columbia Sportswear owner and billionaire Tim Boyle owns Gearhart. A few years ago I was playing in what was advertised as a scramble to celebrate a bunch of work done on the property. Well, Boyle wanted to play his own ball, so right before the tournament started they changed the format to four-man best ball. I've met Tim on several occasions and one of my law partners was his neighbor and vodka drinking buddy; he's a really nice guy and very relatable for a billionaire, but I guess even the nice ones pull strings when they really want to.

After the round my back was BAD, like, couldn't stand up straight bad. I wasn't looking forward to Sunday.

Sunday @ AGCC:
First Round Two-Man Shamble: 80. Pretty bad for a shamble, especially at my home course. The back was much better than I thought it would be, but not even close to baseline. We had the unfortunate luck of putting together both good holes and bad holes at the same time.

Second Round Four-Man Scramble: 70. During our lunch break people were complaining about the pairings for the last round (host just paired it randomly), so we decided on a scramble. Fine with me, I like scrambles. Unfortunately it was shitty. At that point in the day it was cold and really, really windy. We had one guy who could bomb it but little idea where it was going to go, me who could barely swing a club, one guy who is probably an 18, and one guy who barely plays. Had a bunch of fun, and actually beat the other time, so it's all good.

Overall I lost $200 playing poker (over the two nights), lost $50 on the overall golf game ($100 buy in for the four rounds, won $50), and won $135 in side bets. And had a good time doing it. Now I just need my body to recover.

great read Porter and i feel ya about 72 holes in two days
our annual spring trip is coming up in a few weeks and i've played a sum total of three rounds since january. i have not clue what to expect from my game (well, i do...just don't want to acknowledge it), but what i do know is i was gassed at the end of my last round a couple of weeks ago and i was pushing a cart.

Pretty shoddy 87 at Mens Night last night. Final 4 holes were played in hurricane-esque winds.

No birdies, just pretty much bland bogey golf with few memorable shots.

36 hole day

81 in the am, 86 in the pm.

Totally forgot that I was supposed to play Copperhead this afternoon til someone texted me I'm in your driveway. Oops. Played like **** in the afternoon but managed back-to back birdies in 11 and 12. Had 15 feet for birdie on 16 going 3 wood, 4 hybrid. Missed.

39 (par 36). No birdies, 1 double bogey.

Really solid ball striking. The wind got me once, ballooning an approach over into some jungle-thick rough costing me the double. Had to get up and down once or twice (and barely failed once) but hit the rest of the greens and had stressless pars.

47.......huge improvement. i told myself to slow the F down and made a point of hitting more club than needed, so i'd have to ease up.

2 triples, one double, 3 pars.

no tops. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

nice booker & nate!

Started with double bogey 6 and quadruple bogey 9. Then i made bogey on 3 through 8. Then birdie on par 5 ninth hole. The back featured two doubles. Two pars and five bogeys.

47 44 91 par 71. Two lost balls (one was next to the subsequent tee box). Few fairways few greens. Given the +6 start I'm kinda happy with 91.

Also had a date and lifted weights. Good ****in day.

39-41-80

Hitting the ball way too good lately to be scoring this bad. A new putter has been purchased so now I will probably carry 17 clubs with me to Vegas.

41-38 79 today - 6/13 fairways, 8 greens 33 putts

Somewhat interesting situation for handicap posting and just overall “feel”. Irrigation work is going on the 10th hole and they had the tee moved up to the front tee (250 instead of 370). I drove it to 10 feet and made the putt for a two - not sure how to feel about it. Is there a usga rule for score posting when one hole isn’t playing to the normal tee/yardage?

40-37-77. 1 birdie, no double bogeys.

Rest of the group played the senior tees, ~ 5500 yards, so I did too. It was fun having more short irons than usual into the par 4s.