After a frustrating hour on the range last Monday I’d had enough. My last shot up there was a gap wedge that cleared the net to the right and headed towards traffic on the adjacent road. Fortunately it landed in the median, but I was finished. I packed up my bag and headed to the pro shop. I talked to my pro and just said “I need help”. We set up a lesson for Wednesday. He said he’d straighten me out, but I had my doubts.

On Wednesday I warmed up on the range and was hitting ok, but still with the hook. When my pro arrived I immediately began shanking the ball. He watched a little and had me stop (I think because he was afraid I might rub off on him or kill someone on the range). He told me what I’d been doing wrong and how to fix it. What he said to do felt foreign and awkward but I hit the ball straight as could be. After awhile it even started feeling easier to hit the ball. I was amazed and relieved. I couldn’t wait to get out on the course to try it.

I got that chance on Friday. Now, my pro had said I should make the same correction throughout my bag but I hadn’t had a chance to practice it with my woods. There was a little doubt as to how I would do. My first few holes were ok. I hit some fairways and I missed some as I made my corrections. When I missed I had trouble from the rough (4″ deep and thick). My approach shots were way better though. The greens that day were super fast thanks to the upcoming three day tournament, so putting was interesting. My score was where I’d usually be upset, but I felt like I was making great progress and the round wasn’t a struggle. I’ve shot better before the change but I had to work for every stroke. This time, although my score was higher, I could see where practice will improve me. I feel like there’s room to improve and I’m excited about it. A few more session on the range and I think I can be back where I should be.

I can’t thank my pro enough. I needed a second set of eyes to see what I couldn’t feel. It made all the difference in the world. I only wish I’d done this a month ago. The handicap is trending up but I know now that I can get it back down. More importantly I can enjoy playing again. I truly missed that.

Since the last post on August 7th, I’ve played several rounds and a few tournaments. My scores have ranged from 85-93, which is higher than I like. I’ve hit a rough patch where I don’t trust my swing. For awhile I couldn’t hit a driver into the fairway for anything. I fixed that but then I lost my irons. Lately I still have a bad case of the shanks. I know it’s mental and I’m trying to work through it. I did play very well in a scramble last Friday. We used my drives, irons and putts several times. I felt great and I thought I’d gotten past the trouble, but on Monday I was as bad as ever. Today I got in nine in the rain and I think I worked through some of it. Only time will tell.

My eyes have been doing great. I received my new lenses for the Oakleys that I bought. I swapped them and used them back in August for the first time. It was cloudy that day at first but it started to brighten during the round. I put them on at the beginning of the fifth hole but propped them on my hat since the clouds were alternating between thick and thin. On the sixth hole I was driving to the green when I took off my hat to cool off a little but I forgot that the sunglasses were on it. I dropped them onto the cart path and put a nice scratch in the center of the right lens. Perfect. I got 1.5 holes with them before damaging them. I was pissed at myself but by the back nine I’d already planned to purchase another set. Unfortunately that afternoon when trying to do just that I saw that the lenses were no longer in stock. A quick search of Amazon found me another pair of frames with those lenses for only $30 more than the lenses alone direct from Oakley. So now I have my original dark lenses in the original frames and the new frames with the new lenses. Those I keep in my bag and I’m very careful with them now. Live and learn.

I started with a lucky bounce. I pulled my drive left but the tree it hit sent it back to the middle. It was short of the fairway but playable. After laying up on my second, I put my third about 15 feet from the hole and made the putt for a par. Great start. Unfortunately that was as good as it was going to get for awhile. I then proceeded to bogey the 11th and it got worse from there. I had five double-bogeys on the back nine alone. Worse than that I acquired the shanks. I know you’re not supposed to say the word but it couldn’t get any worse.

After making the turn with a score of 48 I began to relax a little. I knew I was playing as bad as I could so it could only get better from there. While I had two more double on the front, I also had five pars. My score for the front was a more typical 43. That gave me 91 for the round but it felt like 101.

I really enjoyed playing with the guys and hanging around for a couple of drinks afterwards. If they keep me on the email list I’ll play with them again. At the very least I was good for the donation to their wallets. That alone could bring me back. Hopefully next time my real game will return.

I spent the first few holes wearing the Oakleys but I switched to the Ray Bans when I realized that the Oakleys were just too dark at this point. The Ray Bans have an amber lens so they were better. I didn’t play too bad and had some really great shots. But I was very inconsistent and my score showed it. I ended with an 87 with three double bogeys and two three putts. I also had a 300 yard drive and several pars. It had been a week and a half since I played and this was the first with new vision so I’m not too unhappy. As I get used to it I hope to improve.

On Thursday I went back to Dr. Whitten at TLC in Rockville, Maryland. He’s the guy who did Tiger’s LASIK as well as close to 60 players from the PGA, LPGA and senior tours. He’s also done a ton of other athletes and entertainers. My first procedure was back in February. At the time my vision was 20/900 or worse. I was legally blind without glasses. I had the procedure and walked out with my vision about 20/40 to 20/50. It was way better than I was but not as good as I was with glasses. I could drive without them but only if I didn’t need to read things. I ended up with glasses for driving and golfing. With regard to the golfing I could see the ball starting out but I never saw it land. Fast forward five months and my vision had stabilized so we could talk about the enhancement. I was told that I might not noticed much improvement at first, and it might get worse for a couple of days. After the amazingly quick session I could tell from the start that things were better.

I had my one day follow-up appointment today and left there for the driving range. On the range I could wear sunglasses for the first time and still see the ball land. I’m pretty happy at this point. I’m looking forward to my first full round with sunglasses. Hopefully that happens this weekend.

On Tuesday we headed up to Toronto for the second half of the trip. The primary attraction for me was the Hockey Hall of Fame. It does not disappoint and I recommend it for anyone with an interest in the game. There’s even a golf club in one of the displays. On Thursday I played the Legends course at Lionhead in Brampton, Ontario. The price was a little steep but this too was a nice place. This course is a true test but it’s also very fair. There were many elevated greens and it required some thinking and adjustments. I shot 85 but I felt I could have played better. I’d play this one again as well.

We came home on Friday and spent yesterday catching up. But since I’m still technically on vacation I played Piedmont today. I was supposed to play with a twosome but they disappeared so I went off alone. I was behind a foursome who were, shall I say, deliberate. I went off the back nine and made the turn in 2.5 hours. On the front I joined up with two brand new members with the hope that it would slow me down and I wouldn’t have to wait on every shot like i had been. It helped a little but we still took another 2.5 hours on the front. It’s easily the longest round I’ve played at Piedmont. I ended with an 84, so it was pretty average.

On the drive back home I decided I needed to hit the range to figure out what I was doing wrong. When I got to Piedmont Club I noticed that the course was fairly open so I decided to play nine more. They sent me off the back and I my misses all went right, just the opposite of the morning. Go figure. I did play better and I shot a 42 for that nine.

On Wednesday a friend asked if I wanted to play over at Stonewall Golf Club. I like this course so I agreed. The drive from my office shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes however VDOT decided to shut down some lanes and the commute took longer than expected. I arrived when I was supposed to be teeing off. I dropped the clubs at the cart and ran in to pay. Then it was straight to the first tee without even a swing. I went on the shoot my best score ever, a 76. We played the white tees but you still have to hit the shots. I had two birdies and one eagle.

On Friday afternoon I hit Piedmont again for nine. This time it was the front and I felt as good as I did over at Stonewall. I shot 38 for those nine. Combined with the earlier back nine score the total was 80 for the eighteen.

Finally, yesterday I made it out to Piedmont again. I was early so I hit some on the range and then went over to the practice area for some chips. I did something bad to my lower back while chipping and I was in some pain as we started the round. At first it didn’t bother me during my swing so I played. As the round progressed however walking became much more difficult. Eventually swing was a problem as well. Somehow I shot 83 but I have to say it seemed like the longest round of golf ever.

I think it might be time to take a break until my back feels better. Hopefully that’s before my trip to Canada next week. I plan to play while I’m there so I better rest my back.

After four holes I was still even par. I caught up to the group ahead but I also noticed that there was a single riding behind me so I waited for him to catch up so we could play as a twosome. It turns out that there was another single behind him so we all played together as a threesome. Our first hole together is a tough par 3. I hit a little over the green which left a delicate chip. Wouldn’t you know that I holed it for birdie.

The rest of the round was more of the same. I’d hit bad shots and somehow save par. The one exception was the 14th hole where I actually hit the fairway off the tee (a rarity today). I hit my approach to less than a foot. Tap in birdie. Another example of the way the round went was the par 5 18th. I pulled my drive way left and then hit my second shot and kept it to the left. Then I hit my third to about 15 feet and made the putt.

As I said, golf is a funny game.