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September 8, 2010, 5:00 pm - (1 year ago)
I had not played golf for 7 days, which for me is pretty long lay off. I have been out in the middle of no where (desert) with a survey crew. In the evenings some of us would return to our RVs parked at a local state park camp ground. Now I had a plan to play some golf but the nearest course it turned out was some 60+/- miles a way. So there I was in the middle of the desert with my bag of sticks, and no place to play. However, I did have a few sandy areas, that were some what clear of sage brush. The sand was so soft, the ball would plug in it up on impact with out any roll. So with different clubs I practiced my chipping, and pitching using the same back, and through strokes. I used a door mat to hit off of, which simulated a decent, thin lie quite well. What I accomplished was getting my carry yardage dialed in with various swings, with various clubs. I'd hit 10 balls with a swing/club, walk out to them and then lazer the distance back to my make shift hitting station. With no roll to speak of, getting accurate carry yardage was an easy chore. Even got one of the surveyors to give me one of his blank field books to use. I was able use a range of clubs from my LW to my 4 iron. Any club longer put me past my sand landing area and into the sage brush. In this part of the desert there were quite a few critters crawling around, so staying in clearer areas was a pretty good idea. (We saw at least 1/2 dozen snakes last week) My point is I was able to practice a part of my game, and gain information that I was sure would come in handy at a later date. As for the roll part of various chip, and pitch shots, I can factor those in later when actually playing on grass.
Now yesterday I was back home, and went to my home course to play 18. Well they are in process of reseeding, so they only had 9 holes open. Not a bad thing, as I could play that 9 twice from different tee boxes. No big deal as I would still be playing golf. Problem is when you put all the players that would normally be stretched out through 18 holes, and cram them into 9 holes, you tend to have more time standing around. My long game was a little off. Actually it was more than a little off with quite a few missed fairways, and a very low GIR %. What I did excel at was my short game. Since I had my carry yardage pretty well dialed in, from the prior week's practice, I was able to stick the ball close to the pin. I had quite a few putts from inside 4'. I only played 9 holes but I did manage to shoot a 4 over par 39.
I am going back out tonight to my camp site. I will be out there for another 5 days, and plan to take a few clubs with me. Maybe even a better mat to hit balls off of. :D
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