The back 9

Had the golf league last night and shot a 59 over the back 9.

Biggest difference I noticed this week was that I consistently made solid contact, especially with the driver. For the first time, I was using these new brush tees and I think it did make a difference because the ball was teed up at the same height every time. I've been trying to develop a method for consistently teeing up the ball with a wooden tee so it was one less thing I'd be thinking of at address, but nothing was really working. So far, these brush tees seem to be working out.

The other thing I'm really trying to work on is not topping the ball with my irons and damn if I didn't do that always at the worst possible times yesterday. On at least two holes I ended up having to take one to two drops because I topped the ball and shanked the shot.

And why do I top the ball? BECAUSE I KEEP PICKING MY HEAD UP! As I told my golf partner, Kell, yesterday, if there's one thing that really super duper aggravates me in golf is topping the ball. Talk about a line of explicatives ... ye gods. The worst part is that I know what I'm doing and still do it. Yeah, I get a little annoyed.

But, over the first three holes, I had a par, bogey, par and the pars felt really good. Nice drives, solid irons and the putting was there, so at least I had that going for me. I only bogeyed the second hole because I mis-read the green and missed it by *that* much.

What I learned this week: To slow down in my back swing on the tee. That's really helped me in making a better drive. Also, I try not to stand at address too long. Like another league member said, "Get up to the tee, address the ball and pull the trigger. Don't stand there thinking." Good advice.