Look at the pretty birdie!

Had the golf league last night and shot a 59 on the front nine. For the points race, we split with the other team 18/18, so we're 2-2-1 for the season thus far.

I started off poorly on the par 5 first hole with a 10, but I regrouped and hit OK to fairly well at times after that. As usual, though, drops were killing me and I lost four balls last night ... not good.

But, the real highlight last night was that I birdied my first hole. Very, very cool feeling. It was on the 6th hole, par 3, 147 yards. Used my 7 iron to tee off and dropped the rock right on the green, eight feet from the hole. I know it was eight feet because we actually measured it as the 6th was the money hole for the night (whichever player gets closest to the hole for the night wins some money ... I think it's $10).

Anyway, it was such a great feeling. I knew I was set up for a birdie when I was lining up for the putt and I was trying to ignore that and just sink the shot. Frankly, I would've been happy with a par for the hole, but the birdie was mighty sweet.

As any golfer will say, it's a hole like that that keeps you coming back to play.

Of course, this hole was followed by the 7th, which is a dog-leg right with a huge water hazard at the bend. It's a par 5 and I picked up my ball on the green after hitting 10 and still not dropping in the cup. And just like that, you're humbled once again.

But like the past few weeks, I was absolutely crushing my drives ... I mean, not for nothing but, damn I can really tie into these things. I have no idea where this stroke came from, but that ball will sail if I hit it right, to which ... we were on the third hole, par 5, and it's a long, straight fairway with a hill in the middle that just cuts off your view of the green. Anyway, I teed off and the rock took off nice and straight for about 330 yards. Had a little trouble on the green so I parred the hole.

Also, as I've said before, I'm consistently making solid contact with my driver and irons, which is a good thing. Now that I'm getting that part of my game down, I need to work on consistent accuracy.

The only really disappointing thing from last night is that I went to the 9th hole with a 52 and could've shaved three strokes off my average if I had parred the hole. Alas, once again taking a drop killed me and I ended up with a triple bogey.

So what did I learn this week? Actually, three things:

1. I figured out why I tend to slice or fade my drives. As I was warming up with my driver, I swung through completely a couple of practice swings and for some reason on the third practice swing decided to stop as the club head was at the ball. Sure enough, the club face was open, hence the tendency for the ball to slice or fade. OK, so what's going on? Took a few more swings and realized I was rolling my wrists at the top of my backswing which changed my left wrist (I'm a right-handed player) and opened the club face. Once I started concentrating on not rolling my wrists, my drives straightened out.
   
2. Other golfers have told me that a "secret" to pitching is to swing the club with the same force as though you were standing with the ball in your hand and tossing it underhanded onto the green. Doing this, my pitches got a bit better.
   
3. Definitely need to practice hitting out of sand traps. I know what you're "supposed" to do, but knowing and executing are two different things. Problem is, I don't hit the beaches very often so it becomes a "use it or lose" kind of thing for me. Still, the driving range I go to has a practice sand trap and I should be practicing there as well.

Finally, I got some great advice from my league partner ... last night I found a dozen balls while looking for mine on several occasions and I said I didn't know what I was going to do with the every-increasing stash of these "range balls" I have at the house. Kell said she uses them for holes with water hazards, that way if you lose them in the woods or water, at least you're not loosing the balls you always play with and actually pay for. Good idea!