This weekend I’m in Arizona for a little spring training baseball and golf, and I haven’t touched my clubs since returning from CA. I never even took them out of my travel bag.

So it was no particular surprise to me that I played poorly today, however what was a surprise was how well I played early in the round.

It seems that the more I loosen up, the worse I swing. I think my swing gets longer and longer as the round goes on - I manage to keep my good range habits with me for a time, then fade.

Today’s issue was letting my arms get behind my body - my tempo was off. In the round in CA, I was able to keep hitting fairways all day, even thought I stopped being able to score on the back nine. Today I was just spraying the ball into the desert and racking up big numbers.

I find the way that my rust has manifested itself in these last two rounds very interesting. So many things to think about and work on - golf is such a great game.

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The staff was hit and miss, the marshall on the course was very polite considering we were legitimately 5 minutes slow for each 9 and the starter was very nice, but the pro shop and the rest of the staff didn’t impress me much. There was an aloofness - sort of a “you are lucky to play here” air about them that I remember from the Wailea staff on Maui.

The starter told me that playing the blue tees would put the fairway bunkers in play for me, and was he ever right. The sand was really soft, and though I was in about 10-12 bunkers I didn’t hit a decent bunker shot until hole 17. Definitely would have helped to hit a couple of bunker shots before heading out on the course.

The greens were a lot slower than I expected, and there was some standing water and mud in low spots. Overall though, the course was in pretty good shape.

Holes 14-18 of the back nine are just spectacular - even though I was hacking it up pretty badly, I still enjoyed the view and the beauty of these holes immensely.

I’d like to take another shot at this course - a couple of good drives would have made a world of difference.

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I was hitting the ball well off the tee on the front nine (shot 37 and left a few shots on the course), so I can’t speak too much to the trouble on the front nine. There was water in places, but it didn’t come into play too much. The par 3s on the front were both fun, with one being a significantly elevated tee shot and the other into the teeth of a 2 club wind. Putts had to be struck very firmly to get them to the hole, and some of the greens were a little inconsistent in their speed - they were playable though, good putts would go in.

I ran into a bit more trouble on the back, but recovery shots were definitely possible. You could generally get the ball near the green from a bad tee shot, and an up and down was a good possibility. I was around most of the par 5s in two, and some of the par 4s played just as long or longer than the par 5s due to the prevailing wind (number 9 is a good example - a good drive and a really good 4 iron to get on the green).

This ended up being a very fun course to play and the course staff was very friendly and helpful. I’d play this again, and try to go low.

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We arrived about 15 minutes before our 6:30am tee time, and the fellow in the pro shop chose to take 10 minutes to lecture us about showing up earlier and complain that he would be hard pressed to get us out by our tee time instead of going ahead and checking us in.

The fairways were tree lined and came into play if you strayed off the fairway very far, but recovery shots were generally possible. The greens were a little shaggy, but the speed was acceptable.

When we got to the front nine (we started on the back), we ran into a traffic jam. I guess they didn’t really account for the people who were making the turn from the back nine when they were sending people out on the front. Or perhaps we finished faster than expected - I’m not sure how courses manage that but this was the worst mess of this sort I’ve run across.

The course itself is mature and has some fun and challenging holes, but was lacking in upkeep and character. The staff was surly in the shop and the marshals did little to speed up the pace of play, which bogged down badly with 4 groups on a single hole at one point.

We had fun (because we were determined to), but won’t be making a special effort to play Pearl Country Club again.

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In the last two weeks, things fell apart a little bit. I starting cutting my shoulder turn too short, standing too close to the ball and stopped releasing my hands aggressively and ended up playing a weak fade that ended up a good club or two short. My round on Saturday was dreadful, shooting 100 (admittedly on an unforgiving course) for the first time in a long while.

Today I moved the ball a little further away (though I kept the ball position forward) and made sure to release my hands through the swing. It wasn’t all perfect - adjusting back produced a few foul balls as well. However I turned in a solid 81 with a couple of strokes wasted on balls I hit OB².

Trying to improve my swing is a good thing, but it’s important not to go too far in either direction. I’m never going to be a tour player - as much as I’m playing right now (1.5 times a week with no range time), sticking with what works is probably the best recipe for success. I’ll be much more confident for my next round - maybe I’ll get a round in the 70s this season after all.

1. Mainly due to ball position too far back and a tendency to hang back on my right side when trying to protect against overswinging. [back]
2. A frustrating one trying to get home in 2 on the 17th hole when I overdid it and hooked my 3-wood just OB left. I ended up with a 7 instead of an easy 5 on the hole. [back]

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• Now that I’m more upright, I need to make my swing plane more vertical - it’s still down where it was when I was leaned over too far.
• I’m getting too much wrist cock/early set - really need to work on that.
• I’m bringing the club inside too much.
• Need to work on not dipping into the ball - stay tall through the swing.

Gotta love golf, never run out of things that need improvement.

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I thought this would be a fairly simple thing - go to the store, buy a case, done. It ended up being a lot more shopping than I’d expected - maybe my exploration will be useful to others.

Hybrid Cases

This is what I originally wanted, having seen my buddy’s SKB case, however I didn’t know exactly what he had and couldn’t find one locally.

What I did find were a bunch of cases that had flimsy (at best) connections between the top section that covered the clubheads and the main body of the case. A couple of nylon straps connected via staples and holding the top on with velcro isn’t my idea of a secure closure.

After checking 5 local stores, I temporarily abandoned my search for a hybrid case and moved on to looking at…

Sectional Cases

I’d read the review of the Telebag and thought that would be a good option, however it didn’t have a way of locking in the fully open position¹ and the straps holding the bottom to the body of the case seemed a little flimsy. In reading reviews, folks were indeed complaining of the straps failing.

Bag Boy makes a 3 piece sectional case that I looked at next. However even the smaller of the two versions² was larger than the coffin-style hard cases when it was put together. That got me looking at standard…

Hard Cases

I looked at a number of standard coffin-style hard cases and eventually bought the Datrek Blue Whale because it was the only one I found that had a TSA approved locking mechanism. After I purchased it, I looked on the Datrek web site and saw the smaller Tomato version. I called around and finally found one locally at a new Golf Galaxy store.

The Tomato was a really great coffin-style case. It fit my Nike stand bag quite nicely and snugly, and had the same TSA approved locking mechanism that the Blue Whale did.

However, the Golf Galaxy also had a nice hybrid case as well. Which brings us to our…

Conclusion

Though it was a good $70 more than the Tomato, I finally bought the Callaway Hybrid Golf Bag. It’s much smaller than a coffin-style hard case and it has a strong plastic body.

The top is connected with 2 metal clasp mechanisms that are very cleverly designed. Even if they get “released” in transit, the top won’t come off. It’s very well done.

The only issue I had was trying to fit all my clubs inside the head of the case. It was a pretty tight fit, and took a long time. I had to take off headcovers, etc. and I could just barely get it all in. However, this hassle was due to my own impatience. When I looked further into one of the pockets, I discovered that Callaway included a nice big sock that was just what the doctor ordered. You hold all the clubs together, slide the sock over them, and it’s a piece of cake to get the lid on. The sock holds them all in place under the hood. I was even able to keep all my headcovers on.

The only gripe I have about the case is there isn’t a good loop to attach your towel or accessory bag to. Next time I will attach a carabiner to the top dividers and hook my towel, etc. to that.

I’ve only taken one trip with the Callaway bag so far, but it performed admirably. Highly recommended.

1. I considered solving this with a 46″ dowel to keep it fully extended. [back]
2. They have both a cart bag and a stand bag version. [back]

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There are 3 main differences I’m seeing between the new HiBore XL and the original HiBore:

1. The face is less shut at address, and it’s a lot easier to open it up a little.
2. The added depth of the club does make the ball fly straighter. Bad shots (hooks) aren’t quite as bad.
3. I can tee it higher to launch it higher and still get plenty of distance. I was able to get one up in the wind on a downwind par 4 today - end result about 390 in the fairway (remember, it’s at CO altitude too).

If you use the HiBore and any of the above sound like improvements you want, consider getting the XL.

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• Breakfast - tasty buffet or a cook to order omelette (or both)
• Range balls
• Unlimited golf - we’ve played 2 rounds each time
• Lunch
• Some drink and food coupons for on the course

The course was in great condition on both occasions and the staff was courteous and helpful.

The range is fine with good targets and the putting green near the first tee is a good match to the speed of the actual greens.

On the course, it can get quite windy. The course naturally plays a lot tougher in the wind. One day this was a real challenge (putts breaking uphill due to the wind), the other it was manageable.

The course has some pretty generous landing areas on some holes, but if you go offline you’re in the desert and a punch-out or drop is fairly likely. Bring a rock-club , I wish I had. If you’re hitting the ball well, the course is challenging but fair - with some nicely tricky holes.

The only negative I can think of is the course is a little ways out, so you have to get up early.

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Next time, a separate bag will be used for clothes and shoes (and probably a hard case for the clubs).

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These videos are from a trip to Arizona at the beginning of the month. I wasn’t hitting the ball well at all, and was rusty from 2 months of snow:

This video is from yesterday, when I swung out of my shoes on the 18th hole enroute to an easy 85.

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It was a bummer to bogey a bunch of the par 5’s and find the water on 16 and 18, but it felt good to get the ball in play properly off the tee and make a few putts. I feel like I’m making some progress with the swing changes (less lunge/sway, shorter backswing). I’ll bring the camera out next time to check on my progress.

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• 4 pars
• 4 bogeys
• 1 double bogey - I should have taken relief from casual water and didn’t, it cost me a penalty stroke when I splashed into a hazard.

My chipping was solid on pitch and runs, but not good on flops. Putting was pretty decent. I hit the fairway with my first tee shot and only missed 2 fairways. The wind was kicking pretty strong - about 2 clubs worth. I hit a straight tee shot into a left to right cross-wind and it moved about 60 yards from left to right. Good thing I played for it; aiming OB left and letting the wind bring it back (though I didn’t expect quite that much).

The main thing I was encouraged about though was the progress I’m making keeping my swing under control. The long lay-off doesn’t seem to have hurt me much in terms of the swing changes I made last summer (that finally kicked in at the end of the year). I was ending up in a nice balanced position - something that I fought hard to attain in the past.

I’m encouraged for the rest of 2007.

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