Paper Hogan

The Melee at Staley this weekend!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:26:00 +0000

My friend Dan's father runs a golf course in Kansas City named Staley Farms. He and I are flying up there Friday to play a 36 hole Ryder Cup type of deal against him and the #1 local women's college player. Supposedly they have taken on all comers and are undefeated. We've played a lot of matches against the old man in years gone by, so this will be a good time again. We haven't played for years. She's playing the whites, his dad is playing the blue's and Dan and I are playing the blacks. 7,018 yards from the tips, so a pretty appealing yardage compared with where we've been practicing for this event. We've been playing a course named Southern Dunes here in AZ that is 7,600 yards from the tips, with a rating of 76.1. It's the toughest golf course I've ever played.

Been playing pretty well as of late, shot 77 at Southern Dunes last week, which is great considering the rating and the fact that I was on my 3rd string putter. The Spider is back from getting re-shafted and I've shot even and 1 under in the last 2 other rounds I've played. Hoping the putter turns it up a notch!

Dan's brother Jack will be out there hanging out for Father's Day so they setup a Twitter page and he will be providing updates all through the event. Check in this weekend 7/20 and 7/21 to follow along or just catch up if you get a chance. We'll be playing the competitive events at around 2PM CST Saturday and Sunday, practice rounds in the morning.

http://twitter.com/meleeatstaley - Sign up to follow the feed, we're trying to get to 50 people following the event, tell all your friends!!!

Too far gone to catch up

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:21:00 +0000

Still so far behind, I think I'm giving up recapping the final round from the Phoenix City and the San Tan tournament. I shot 76 the last round of the Phoenix City after making the turn at 2 under, not sure if I ran out of gas or what, shot 6 over on the back, just got on a bogey train and couldn't get off. Then the next weekend at the San Tan I went 74 - 79. I played fairly well the first day, nearly made eagle on #1, but then just fell into a rut, and then bogeyed my last hole to rub salt in the wound. The next day was pouring rain, cold and miserable. To make matters worse, they did a reverse horseshoe for tee times, so my lucky middle of the pack ass at 74 went off promptly at 7AM in 48 degrees and rain. No rain pants, by the time we turned to the back my pants were soaked, my shirt was soaked from the sleeves and back being exposed, and I had slipped twice on tee shots. I turned in 4 over, and shot the same number on the back. As an insult, Mother Nature brought out the sun as I tapped in for par on 18. Bitch.

Phoenix City - Round 3

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:51:00 +0000

Ok, so Round 3 and 4 was the following weekend. Round 3 is at Cave Creek in North Phoenix, about an hour from my house. I really like this golf course, played well here last year and got nothing out of it. Trust me, there's more of that coming.

I saw on the pairings sheet that I was playing with my man Joe who I'd played some Golf Channel Amateur events with, so I was excited to see him again. I haven't played any Golf Channel events since before the shoulder surgery, so it's been nearly 10 months since I'd seen him. We go off of #1, a 363 yard straightaway par 4, we all hit driver, the best angle is from the right as the stick is just over the bunker in front, so I hit a nice draw. Just a small flip wedge left, put it about 8 feet past the hole, and left the putt 4 feet short straight downhill, wow, great start. Center cut the par putt and left shaking my head. 2 is a reachable 510 yard par 5, that I block into the trees. So I punch a 5 iron out to about 90 yards and hit a nearly perfect half wedge that catches the ridge and spins back down, straightforward 2 putt from there. 3 is a 195 yard par 3, pin is up front, hit a solid 5 iron that didn't draw, just past middle right about 25 feet away, JUST missed that putt, thought for sure it was in. Hit what I thought was a bomb off of 4, 387 yard par 4, left me with 95 yards, and Joe and another guy were a full 20 yards ahead of me, ouch. Somehow I actually hooked the SW left of the green, shortsided to a pin on a green that slopes away, best I could muster was 20 Goddamn feet, leaving me a downhill right to left par putt that broke 4 feet. Oh, and I left it 3 inches short, dead in the jaws. 1 over.

The tee shot on the fifth doesn't setup good for me, I cold blocked it last year, and followed through consistently this year. I think I nearly landed in my divot from last year. Left me 155 to the hole, back into a freshening breeze now. I decide on 7 and immediately begged for it to get down, luckily I don't know what the hell I'm talking about as it lands dead in the heart of the green, 15 feet below the hole. Hit another great putt that somehow stayed out, straightforward par. 6 is a 532 yard par 5, HUGE fairway, very easy looking hole. Hit it pretty good off the tee, but pulled it and landed it in the left rough. Ball was nearly a foot below my feet, I hit hybrid from 235 and just smother hooked it. Overcompensation says what? So now I've got about 40 yards to a green sitting 10 feet below me, sloping away, over a bunker to a back left (short side) pin. Hit a great pitch but it just kept running, ended up 30 feet away. I felt really good about this putt, even though it breaks nearly 6 feet and I actually lipped it out, tap in par. What a great putt. 7 is a 197 yard par 3, nutted a 5 iron dead over the flag, about 12 feet above the hole. Hit a good putt but it never really had a chance of falling, easy 3 and we're off to the next hole.

Eight is a 437 yard par 4 that has a huge grass covered wash about 290 yards off the tee, OB left, big desert wasteland right. Absolutely bombed 3 wood down the left side after the guy who went before me rope hooked it OB. Pretty happy with the aggressive swing after that. I get to my ball and I'm dead on 150 yards to the hole, but with the ball in the rough and quite a bit above my feet. Well I didn't deserve that. Fat that piece of shit short left, but hit a great pitch to about 8 inches and made 4. Off to the 422 yard par 4 ninth, hit a good tee shot down the right side, still 160 yards out though, bummer. I can feel the breeze, I know it killed my tee shot, but I still pull 7 iron and hit a great shot for a front right pin. Problem is we're back left today, about 40 feet away, hit the first putt the perfect pace, but misread it bad and left it 3 feet right. Made the putt to make the turn at 1 over. I ate the most wonderful flavor of Clif bar ever, Chocolate Brownie, oh my.

Hit driver on the 341 yard 10th leaving me a flip wedge which I pulled a bit, left me pin high about 12 feet left. The putt was low all the way and never had a chance. Ah well. 11 is a 521 yard par 5, water reachable from the tee. I hit a so so 3 wood fully intending this to be a 3 shot hole. The other guys hit bombs and had nothing into the green, kicking myself now. I decide on a 6 iron to lay up to the top of the hill with and fucking blocked it into the trees. Wow, great strategy, now I'm really kicking myself. Luckily I had went back to 6 instead of 5 as I had just enough room to hit a knockdown 9 iron from 135, pulled it just a bit but was pin high in the fringe, about 12 feet away. Very nearly made the putt but walked away with an easy 5. 12 is a 370 yard dogleg right par 4, Hit a beautiful driver down the right side and have nothing left, except for the big huge tree overhanging the entire right side. Looks like the shot here is a big rope hook off the tee, dammit. I figure I'll hit a knockdown wedge to the center of the green, over the big ass bunker, just take my medicine. Typically knockdown shots are supposed to fly low, I however invented the high flying rattle the overhanging tree limbs knockdown that lands 30 yards short of the green. Disappointed and super excited, I hit the pitch to a tidy 30 feet. Yay concentration. I haven't made a putt all day, so I say to myself "well, it's time" and damned if I didn't make it. In my excitement about it, I ran to the left side of the green and gave my best Phil Mickelson winning the Masters leap of 4". Joe and his caddy can't help themselves and promptly tell me "dude, that was gay". True.

13, 171 yard par 3, pin back right, wind is strong now. I nutted a cut 6 iron, looked soooo good from the tee. We get up there and it was actually 25 feet short, I just made a bomb, let's make another. Gave it a run, went about 5 feet past the hole and missed the comebacker. 2 over. 14 is 392 yards, water left and right about 270 off the tee, I hit hybrid right down the center, left me 140 yards and a solid 9 iron to about 8 feet. Once again, the putt never had a chance and we walk off with a ho hum par. I blocked driver dead right on 15, 383 yard par 4, SMACK right into a tree. Now I have no idea where the ball is. We start walking and wouldn't you know it, I'm dead in the center of the fairway. Clean living boys. Still had 150 in, good 8 iron about 15 feet left, putt never had a chance, par. The last par 5, reachable at 518 yards, big tree on the left about 250 out. Last year I blocked it right into a flat waste area and then fatted it into the pond short, this year I blocked it farther right. The good news is I was on a 30 degree slope behind a palm tree, so no chance I'm able to go for it this year. Bad news is I have no idea how far right, left or deep I can hit it to lay up without hitting it into the pond beyond the fairway. I get as good of a yardage as I can and hit a solid 9 iron, dead into the heart of the fairway. I can't remember what I had left from there, but it was a horrible angle, pin cut right behind the bunker. I of course leave it short, but hit an amazing chip shot down the tier to about 4 feet and made the putt for par.

So we're 2 over, we have 2 holes left, let's get something going. 208 yard par 3 17th, I hit the worst 3 iron I've hit in years. Short right, pin is back right, my ball ends up on hardpan on a downslope with zero green to work with. How does that happen? The proper miss is long, and that's where we go, into the fringe, about 15 feet above the hole. Awesome, straight downhill and I leave it 2 feet short. Now it's straight downhill and it breaks outside the hole, and I fucking miss it, double. I hit my driver really hard on 18, right through the fairway into the trees. hit an unbelievable punch 5 iron that was one hop away from being stony, instead it stops on a downslope just short of the green in the rough. I really, really tried to make the chip and ran it 5 feet by. Let's cap off that double with a missed par putt and make bogey on the last hole shall we? Yes. Awesome.

2 over through 16 after some unlucky breaks and go 3 over on the last 2 holes for 77. God I love golf. Yes, that was sarcasm. Shoot me.

Phoenix City - Round 2

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:42:00 +0000

Man I'm getting behind. So round 1 at Encanto was a disaster, lots of rust. Round 2 is the following day, I go off just before 10, play with the same guys as the day before. I had to drop my wife off at the airport at 7:30, so it's to the Waffle House for breakfast. Just as a joke, I call my friend Sean Murphy and wake him up to try to get him out for breakfast. He's hung over, played poker until 4 AM, needless to say he's not overjoyed that I called. To add insult to injury, I then suggest that he gets his hungover ass out of bed to come caddy for me. That didn't go over well either, but to his credit, he didn't hang up on me. We talked for a bit then I went in and had the old standby, the All Star. Oh what a meal, the perfect breakfast for any growing golfer. So by then it's time to head out to Maryvale.

I'm on the range warming up and I can "feel" some guy just staring at me, so I turn around to ask just exactly what the fuck he might need from me, and what do you know, it's my man Sean Murphy. Are you kidding me? My man got out of bed and drug his hungover sleepy ass to come out to carry my bag, words can't describe the love I feel for that guy. I have a lot of friends, and he's literally the only one you could get to help out in a situation like that. Amazing. But he's not done yet...

Ok, so here we go. Par 5 first hole, hit a decent tee shot, left me 3 iron in, took a big high cut at the left side of the green, clears the front bunker and settles just in the fringe in the back left, pin is back right, 2 putt from 20 feet for an opening birdie. #2 is 212 yards, and I comment to Murphy that the entire group ahead of us was short. It's playing a bit downwind though, so we pull 4 iron, of course, short left. Pitch was a bit aggressive, about 4 feet past but we center cut it for par. Three is a dogleg right par 4, hit a decent cut driver but back into the wind. We're now just under 200 yards into a crossing breeze, pin is middle right. As I'm pulling my 4 iron I notice that my putter cover is gone. Murphy sees it in the fairway and he literally RUNS down the fairway and back to retrieve it. Hung over and running, haha, what a sight to behold. I was so impressed that I informed him I would carry my bag for the rest of the hole. Haha, what a friend I am. Anyway, hold a 4 iron into the wind, stops about 15 feet short, got it up the hill double breaking, it hit the back of the hole at about 50 mph for another birdie. 2 under after 3, that's a little better. Fourth is a 160 yard par 3 over water, hit a good high hook 7 iron to about 10 feet but leave it low and walk out with a routine par.

Fifth hole is a short par 4, blind tee shot, I always hit 3 wood here, and always nut it, and always hit the fairway. And what do you know, I actually did it again. Left me 92 yards and I hit it 104. God I'm deadly with a SW, what a pathetic attempt. 35 feet away and nearly holed it for birdie, ah well. Sixth hole is a dogleg right par 4, 270 to the water straight out. I hit 3 wood at the corner and hit it so good that I yelled for it to get down. It was fine, dead in the middle. Had 120 yards to the middle right flag, thinned a PW perfectly pin high, about 8 feet away. Missed it and was damned aggressive, hit it 5 feet by, but made it coming back. Seven is just over 400 yards, a bit of a dogleg left, hit a solid tee shot and left me 120 yards again. Ok, don't hit the wedge thin again, mission accomplished. Left myself about 40 feet short, nice execution jackass. 2 putt from there, getting pretty disappointed with these 30+ footers here. Eight is a straightaway par 4, 425 yards, good tee shot up the right side, never comes back. 9 iron from 135 and caught it just a bit heavy, left it in the front fringe, pin is front left, so about 20 feet right and short, very nearly holed that putt as well, thought for sure it was in.

Ok, chop lickin time. Nine and 10 are both reachable par 5's, let's go do some damage. Good tee shot on 9, I had 219 in and hit my hybrid but blocked it into the bunker pin high. Pathetically safe bunker shot to about 10 feet, but uphill and right to left for birdie, never had a chance, left it a full foot short. I swear I wanted to make it, really. So no real damage done, 2 birdies and 7 pars, and there's still some good holes to make some stuff happen. I actually pulled my tee shot on 10 into the left rough, but bombed it so I only had 220 in. Pin is in back on the top shelf and nothing in front of the green. We decide on a little chaser 3 iron to get it up on top of the hill, but I fatted it, about 5 yards short of the green and steam coming out of my ears. Pitch it to about 6 feet after a terrible first bounce that kicked it dead right and missed the putt. We should be at least 3, legitimately possibly 4 under here and nothing to show for it. So now I get aggressive. Oops. 11 is a 175 yard par 3, pin is front left, oh I'm going for it. Hit 6 iron way way way high in the face and leave it in the front bunker. So now I'm short sided AND sitting on the downslope of the bunker. I get cute with it because we HAVE to get up and down, hits the lip and kicks back in. Great. Hit it out from there to about 5 feet and miss the fucking putt, back to even. I hit the tee shot on the par 5 12th hole hard as we had a case of red ass going on now. 590 yard par 5 and I've actually got a chance this time, I've never hit this green, but I have 270 in with nothing in front, we can chase a 3 wood in here and get something back. Hell no, I cold block the 3 wood and hit a 40 foot tall tree, ball kicks straight down onto the hard pan. Brilliant. We get to the ball, I've got a shot. About 80 yards in, pin is middle left, wind coming at us from the left. I'm about to pull the trigger on a SW and Murphy stops me. "Uhhh, where are we going here?" He hasn't said a word to me strategy wise since #2, but I just made double, and now my man rightfully steps in to get my head out of my ass. I tell him I'm trying to hole the fucking thing, seems logical to me. He then points out the overhanging branches on that line and suggests we take the middle of the green and try to make a putt, good call. Hit it dead in the heart about 20 feet away pin high, and very very nearly holed it, just misread it. #13 is a shortish par 4, the green is ALWAYS farther away than it looks, surely I won't be short this time. Bombed driver down the right side, had 90 yards in from the rough, thought I stoned it, we get up there and it had zipped off the green into the fringe. From the rough. I'm totally happy with that. Fuck. Hit a pathetic chip shot that stops 4 feet short on the top of the tier, leaving me a nasty downhill left to right putt for par, center cut it, awesome. #14 is a dogleg left around the only lake on the course, par 4, 280 to the end of the fairway at the corner, I always hit 3 wood. Killed it and went through the fairway, holy shit did I need that shot on 12. 126 yards left, let's hit PW again. Oh yeah, that's right, DON'T thin it! 15 feet past the hole though, no damage, almost holed that putt, was not to be.

#15 is pretty straight, goes back around the lake the opposite way. I pulled my tee shot and hear it hit a tree, but no splash. Well, it has to be dry, but if not, we see where it might have gone. We get up to the tree and can't find my ball until one of the other guys goes farther up on a whim. My ball was 40 yards ahead of where we thought, it had to hit a tree and kick forward hard, over the lake, only left me 75 yards. Amazing, don't know how it happened, I'll take it. At the last instant I had a vision of the thick grass killing the momentum so I gave it a little more flick, 40 feet past. One of the guys in our group left it short so Murphy and I walk around the green on the right and get to my putt from the side, look it over and go. Ran it 6 feet by the hole. Oh shit. As I'm walking to my ball, I notice just how far downhill this putt was, completely missed that, what a stupid I am. I'm so busy kicking myself that I miss the par putt. Murphy grabs my putter before I throw it and calms me down on the way to the next tee by telling me "you better fucking birdie 2 of the next 3 holes". That was the only thing that could have gotten through to me at that time, perfectly said.

Hit a good tee shot on 16, long par 4, dogleg left. I still have 180 yards up the hill, hit a 5 iron at the right side and we'll take a hook if we can get it as there's a nasty bunker between us and the middle left hole. No hook, 30 feet for birdie, how the hell that putt stayed out as well I won't know. Best putt I hit all day, tap in 4. 17 is playing 210 yards, back into the breeze, I hit hybrid perfect and one hopped it on about 8 feet short of the hole, great shot. One of the guys in our group was outside of me on the same line, hitting his putt for bogey (big block into the lake off the tee, big block, huge) and he ran it 10 feet by. Guess where mine ended up? 3 inches short dead in the heart. Murphy about choked me.

Last chance, 420'ish yard par 4 18th, back into breeze still. I unintentionally hit a wind cheating tee shot dead into the heart of the fairway. So this is it, we're concentrating extra hard here, we're looking at the trees, flags, leaves, everything. Murphy thinks it's going to blow it left, I'm thinking he's crazy and it's dead into us. I pick a line at a particular palm tree, he tells me 8 feet right of that. I think he's nuts, he's sure he's right. What a moron, I'm taking my line, he hardly even plays. I pure 6 iron from 160 and immediately start begging for it to stop hooking. He calmly says "I told you". Shut the fuck up. Sticks in the left fringe 15 feet short of hole high. The fringe looks real smooth here, I decide to putt it and leave it 3 inches short dead in the heart. Sound familiar? Murphy about choked me. Again.

So 1 over 73 after being 2 under through 3. The back to back par 5's really deflated me, but there's definite potential here. I didn't really put it into to much trouble except for the 6 iron on 11 and the 3 wood on 12 (I think a direct result of the double on 11). Good stuff to build on. More to come as soon as I get off my behind and finish this up!

Phoenix City Amateur 2009 - Round 1

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Round 1 of the even is played at Encanto, arguably the worst course in the rotation. Par 70 and one of those city courses that is showing it's age. Didn't like it last year, definitely don't like it this year. Here we go!

My man Rob Brauer looped it for me this day, very much appreciated. My first tournament back, so it's nice to have someone along with me to keep me from getting too frustrated. First hole is a dogleg left reachable par 5, hit a horrendous weak heeled cut into the left rough, in an open spot between some palm trees. I was going to hit hybrid but Rob talked me into a 5 iron which I pured to 73 yards. Hit a nifty little one hop, zip pitch to about 6 inches for an opening birdie. I pulled 3 wood on the 322 yard 2nd, left me 80 yards over the greenside bunker, thinned it like a bitch and put it deep over the green under a tree. Fantastic pitch to about 5 feet but missed the putt and made bogey. 195 yard 3rd, a hair downwind and hit a terrible 5 iron into the bunker, poor bunker shot to about 15 feet and missed that putt for 2 bogeys in a row. Driver down the right side on 4, still left me 160 yards, pin cut over the bunker. I hit a good 7 iron dead into the heart of the green, should have been fine, instead it hits the back edge and hops nearly up onto the 5th tee, yikes. About 15 yards farther in the air than we were counting on, bad hop on the pitch left me about 6 feet for par, which I pulled, 3 bogeys in a row. Yay.

Fatted a 4 iron to nearly pin high on the 195 yard fifth hole, chipped it to about 2 feet and made the putt for my first par of the day. Perfect driver on 6, left me 117 yards, GW is at home so I hit a soft PW, chunked and pulled pin high left, aggressive chip shot past the hole, miss the putt, bogey. 9 iron on the 132 yard 7th, but it got hung up in the wind, left me about 30 feet, great putt that nearly went in but made par. Hit a good tee shot on 8, 569 yard par 5, solid 3 wood about 60 yards short of the green, time for a nice tight little pitch. Yeah, ahem. 35 feet past the hole, like a surgeon! Cozied the birdie putt to a foot and made par. Hit a good tee shot up the right side of 9, OB left, OB right. I said "the hell with it" and just swung hard. Ended up in the right rough in some casual water, got an iffy lie from the drop and fatted 7 iron to the fringe, pin in front. Rob and I surveyed it and he confirmed it will bounce right on the first hop, had him remove the stick and promptly dunked it, just made the putting surface. Wow. Solid 2 putt bogey from there for a front nine 39, 4 over.

10 is a 304 yard par 4, pin just over the bunker so I hit it down the left side, nearly pin high, about 30 yards left of the green. Hit another wonderful pitch to the center of the green, a mere 25 feet away. Rob says "ok, good shot, center of the green, let's go make the putt". "Fuck you Rob" I replied, there wasn't an ounce of sincerity in that comment. Smartass. Oh yeah, 2 putt par. Time to make something happen, 161 yard par 3 eleventh, pin is back left, we pull a full 7. Ummm, I nearly got "el hosel" dead right, clanked off the fence that lines OB and settled it in between 2 palm trees. Couldn't have asked for a better lie. Pitch to about 15 feet and missed the putt, bogey. 541 yard par five 12th hole, hit a good tee shot up the right side, Rob calls for the 3 wood at the left side of the green, if it fades then awesome. Oh it faded, and hopped and skipped and rode the cart path around nearly pin high. Took a drop into a shitty lie, came out soft and short, too aggressive with the chip shot about 6 feet by and missed it and made another bogey.

Hit a beautiful cut driver off of 13, playing for a hook of course. Actually had an open shot, 9 iron out of the rough and stabbed it, ended up short of pin high left, chipped that to about an inch and finally made another par. 14 is a great hole, 219 yard par 3, playing a bit back into the wind, and I hit a gorgeous cut hybrid, Rob yells "I love it!" as it's in the air. Ballooned a bit and landed short of the green, oh man did that look good for a minute. Pitched to about 4 feet with the lob wedge, Rob and I decided on a read and it never broke. Bogey. Hit what I thought was a very solid tee shot on 15, of course on of the guys in my group hit it FIFTY yards past me. 4 iron to the front left corner about 20 feet away and made an uneventful up and down par. Another good tee shot on 16, solid 6 iron to about 20 feet below the hole. Knew I had this read right, and I was rewarded with a 3 foot par putt remaining. Nice read jackass. Solid tee shot on 17, left me a bit more than a comfortable 8 iron, but when in doubt, hit it hard. Dunked it into the left bunker, short sided, out to 8 feet and missed the putt. 18 is a dogleg left par 4 with OB right, hit a smoked driver over the trees and around the corner to 88 yards. Then put my SW over the back left corner of the green. Up and down for par, which kept me from shooting everyone in sight. Another 39 for a 78 on a par 70 city course, who's the man now? Not me. God I hate this golf course...

Phoenix City Amateur event

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:26:00 +0000

I played in the Phoenix City Amateur over the past 2 weekends, just now getting around to posting the details of the rounds. They probably won't all be posted at once, but they are coming...

Posted a new video

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:14:00 +0000

I have a new video here on the page and on the YouTube/paperhogan page. Jeff and I were working on 3/4 shots focused on swing path at the ball to fight the pull. Wow is that on plane! Very happy with how that's turned out.

Another overdue update

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Been a long time again, main reason I haven't posted is I've been fighting it really bad. I haven't played very well for a while, really poor contact, and I've been struggling mightily to score well. I've also been fighting an over the top pull move, been really hard to shake it. I've been having weekly lessons with Jeff and I am finally starting to see some improvement. Here's an update from just today. Here we go!

Played Las Colinas again, ended up playing the front twice so we could get it all in. Started on #1, 555 from the way back tee, but they were up about 20 yards today. Great tee shot down the middle, left me with 205 in, pin was way up front and I hit a dead straight 4 iron, no cut, just short of pin high left, pitch shot died in the fringe and I missed the 8 footer but made an easy par. Bombed it on #2, 373 yard par 4, probably playing 350 or so today. Had about 30 yards in (tee shot landed on a downslope, so not all me unfortunately). Pin is in between 2 swales, ended up about 8 feet behind the hole, chickened out and left it short, easy 4. 403 yard par 4 third, hit a bit of a hook and got a good hard bounce, in the left rough but only about 80 yards to the back left pin, I actually hit a 6 yard cut with a 3/4 SW (that's pretty tough to do, and no, it wasn't intentional), hit and spun right, about 15 feet away. Missed that putt for another easy 4. 444 yard par four 4th (that's a lot of fours). Blocked the tee shot a bit, had 155 left to the front right pin, into a breeze so I hit 6 iron, pulled it and hit the backside of a hump on the left side of the green, bounced over the path, ended up about 15 yards left and long. Hit a GREAT pitch to about 4 feet and missed it. I guess there really were too many fours on that hole.

Number 5 is a 532 yard par 5, hit what felt like a whimpy tee shot, but ended up 212 yards to the center. Hit my new 19 degree hybrid a bit heavy, landed middle left of the green and bounced into the fringe. Chipped that to about 2 feet and made birdie to get back to even. Sixth is a 186 yard par 3, playing only 167 to the hole, hit a hard 7 and pulled it, pin high left in the fringe. Hit the first putt up the hill and left it about five feet short, and missed the par putt. Gave it right back. Number 7 is a 339 yard driveable par 4 that I have never driven. Why I hit driver here I'll never understand, but I hit driver, about 15 yards short of the green, pin is right in front, slopes severely away from you, of course I end up 20 feet past. Missed the putt low but made par. Eighth is playing 181 yards, hit a pulled 5 iron pin high left, great pitch shot to 3 feet and made it for par. Number 9 is a 380 yard par 4, huge fairway, just licking my chops, and hit it dead in the heel. Stopped just short of the left fairway bunker, 120 yards left to the back left pin, took about 14 pounds of dirt with the fattest wedge ever, somehow made it into the middle of the green, two putt par.

We teed off on 10 back into the first fairway, had about exactly the same yardage in as before, so I hit 4 iron again. Not real solid, ended up just short in the fringe. Very bold with the chip shot and ran it past the hole into the fringe about 6 feet away, but made the putt for birdie to get back to even. Back on #2 again, wanted to hit this one extra hard, pull hooked it, got a really good bounce and ended up 80 yards away. If I'd have been 3" left of where I ended up I wouldn't have had a backswing due to the tree there, but as luck would have it, I was fine. I hit it 81 yards in the air, and got zero spin, ball kept running to the back part of the green. Hit the first putt and it immediately started hopping, you could hear it hitting the rocks and dirt on the green that I didn't see previously, about 5 feet short. To say my par putt was a pathetic attempt would be too kind, 3 putt bogey, gave it right back again.

Hit the middle of the fairway on #3 this time, and ended up in a 2" deep divot (you know, they give you sand to fill in your divots right?). 121 yards to the back left pin, pulled a 9 iron knowing I'd have to just punch it, but got a little too steep with it and ended up short. Hit a great pitch to about 2 feet and made it for par. Here's #4 again 444 yards, I decide I'm going to cut the corner, and I did, left myself 105 yards to the middle. Now, when I say "cut the corner" I didn't picture hitting a smothered hook that somehow missed all the trees and left me in the middle of the fairway, but I'll take it. A bit uphill and a little breeze, so I chose GW, and hit it like shit. But all is not lost folks, somehow that horrible feeling GW ended up 6 feet left of the hole, will wonders never cease. Downhill left to right, hit it just outside the left edge and it never moved. Amazing. No matter, par 5 coming up...

Hit another of basically the same tee shots on the par 5 fifth again, didn't feel all that good, but my ball ended up within 2 feet of where it was the first time around. This time I hit my hybrid perfectly on line, even though there was a good chance it would go over. As it turns out, the ball landed 8" right of the cup, on a downslope, and I end up in this barren, dirt patch over the green. Somehow I got that heavy and left it about 12 feet short. I really wanted this putt and had a muscle spasm (not good timing) and blew it 8 feet by the hole. I was too busy laughing at that poor attempt and never even really tried to make this ridiculous downhill right to left par putt. I of course immediately started to care after I made bogey to go 2 over now. Yay me. Ass. Hit 7 iron again on six, big sweeping hook this time instead of a pull, ended up in nearly the identical spot. Only came up 3 feet short this time (ass), but made the putt for par. Ok, back to #7, remember when I said I can't remember why I hit driver here? Well fool me once...you know the drill. I'm no dummy. So I hit driver again...no, I can't explain why, and put it about 10 yards short this time. Guess where my pitch shot ended up? Yep, 20 feet past the hole, missed it low, tap in par. This is getting repetitive.

I should have mentioned that by now the two of us had caught up to a single (yep, that's right) on #7. He took his sweet time filling in his divot, putting, putting the flagstick away. Ok, he's not used to seeing other people out here this late, he'll get it in gear. So we get to the 8th tee (17 for the day) and Mr. PGA (who had just gone off the tips mind you) was about 60 yards short of the green (par 3, 181 yards). He's plumb bobbing from 60 yards short, behind a tree. Surely this can't be real. After what seems like an eternity, he puts it 20 yards right of the green. From 60 yards. After plumb bobbing it. Ahem. Ok, well we're waiting now, so he'll kick it in gear. Yeah, not so much. Same drill, plumb bob, practice swing, step back to make sure he's lined up, plumb bob it again, then he goes back to the cart to get a different club. There is a twosome behind you, and you are switching clubs after a 90 second pre-shot routine and you are lying 3 on a par 3. Move it dude. So, new club, pre-shot routine again, he misses the green. From 20 yards. After missing it from 60. So he pulls the cart to his ball (about 15 yards from where he was) and goes through the whole damn routine again. Chip shot from 5 yards off the back of the green, survey says...short. So let's see, missed the green from 181, 60, 20 and 5. You have a twosome waiting for no bullshit, 5 minutes for you to play this hole, and it's getting dark. Time to pick up? No. Ben Crenshaw himself has never gathered as much information on a putt that this man is gathering. I'll spare you the details of this pre-shot routine, and the two additional ones that accompanied his 3 putt, and just tell you that he made, let me count...7 on the par 3, with no water, no bunkers, no penalty shots, just raw talent, from the tips, with a group waiting behind him the entire time. Bitter, party of 1, your table is ready...

Ok, so after waiting for at least 8 minutes on a single, I hit a fat 5 iron (yay me again!) that somehow, inexplicably ends up 8 feet left of the hole. Mmmmkay. Left it dead in the heart short, totally my fault. You see, just before I was going to pull the putter back, I thought I should step back and plumb bob it just to piss off my friend, but I kept it inside and laughed and smiled and forgot to hit it. 8 footer for birdie short? Yeah, a little pathetic. Get to #9, last hole, I'm going to bomb it. Nope, hit it in the heel again, this time into the right rough. 125 yards to the back right hole, over a bunker, no problem, I'll hit it fatter than I did from the left side and leave it just short of the bunker. Words cannot describe...so the pin is back right, I've got 8 feet of green to work with and a bunker between me and the hole. As I walk up I notice a small hump to the right of the hole, and figure that's a good spot to land it into to stop it. Hit a nifty little pitch right into that hump, one hop and stop, then just trickles out to the hole, ends up 8" away for a tidy closing par.

2 over 74 on the day, nothing exciting but no big numbers either. Finally hitting the ball out of my own shadow, which felt really good. I've got some impact position and swing path issues to work on in order to get the ball started on line properly and finally get rid of this pull. I'm going to practice for 4 hours or so tomorrow, no playing tomorrow at all. I'll see if I can get out Sunday. Not pleased with the score overall as I just give every damn birdie right back, but it's a hell of a lot better than I've been playing. One other note, the last couple of days I've actually gotten the slightest bit of soreness in my right shoulder, which for anyone who missed it, I just had surgery on back in September. We'll see how that goes, especially after a good practice session tomorrow. I have an appointment with my surgeon in April for a follow up, so I'll be able to get an x-ray and some face time with him to discuss. Until next time!

Breakthrough day with Jeff Ritter

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:41:00 +0000

I've been fighting a very pronounced upright swing tendency that I developed over the years after never having seen an instructor. For a glimpse of how bad it was, check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pwp3a0Z4hg. Jeff and I had gotten it fairly manageable, but I was always fighting it. I'd come back after a few weeks away and the first thing he'd say is "a little flatter, more laid off". God I'm sick of hearing that. But I work my ass off to keep it under control, it needs to happen to get us down the path.

Well today I come in for a lesson, after just butchering what progress I'd made over the past few weeks in a single practice session yesterday. The wind was blowing from the left, I was on the right side of the range, and I grooved an outside of the ball path like nobody's business. Figures, I can't groove anything Jeff teaches me but give me an hour unsupervised and I can chisel bad technique in stone. After warming up and hitting a few, Jeff immediately takes me inside, which was odd because we usually don't go capture video all the time, and certainly not right at the beginning of the session. I know better than to question him so I went along for the ride.

First thing out of his mouth was a change to my takeaway. Now if you saw in the first video, I used to take it WAY outside, a self taught method of what I thought would be a way to keep the club from coming across the line at the top. For those who didn't watch the video, let's just say it didn't help. Well it turns out I might have been on the right track. Jeff changed my takeaway from pushing back with the hands and arms (one piece takeaway ring a bell?) to "almost" kind of cocking my wrists in order to get the club more on plane as the club goes back. I was starting to get a bit inside, causing the next move to be up, which causes the across the line move. So by taking it outside (it's not really outside, it looks like it a hair, but camera angles can fool you a bit) just a shade the next move is a flattening motion. I go through a few takeaways to get down what he's saying and hit a ball. Jeff says "hmmm, that's interesting", which typically doesn't mean anything good.

Turns out, I was laid off at the top, a lot. Holy shit, I laid it off and got it on video? No way! So we take a few more, I must have hit I don't know, 20-30 balls, every single one of them was spot on at the top of the swing. Flat, behind me, not across the line, and not laid off, just, I mean absolutely where we've been wanting it. Here's the kicker, before I was always concentrating on laying it off, now I'm not even thinking about it. I went outside after we were done and hit a ball, threw my club in the air and walked back inside. I said "Jeff, I don't normally do this, but I just wanted to tell you that I fucking nutted it, I mean perfect."

I hit 15 -20 more outside before heading out, and they weren't all perfect from a ball flight perspective, but a change like this doesn't exactly take in 30 minutes. I can say that the swing plane has nearly "stuck" with me. I shot some video in my basement this evening just to see if I was still on track, and 6 out of 6 swings were again, perfect at the top of the swing. I'm beside myself right now. I've been working at this for well over a year, and now it's almost automatic, I'm not even thinking about it. A very small change made a dramatic difference today.

Here's the video from today's session. No audio, just a repeat of the swing about 10,000 times so I can just sit here and stare at it. Today is a good day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r87162WKO8M

Played 9 holes, where did this come from?

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:48:00 +0000

So as I said last time, I'm done waiting. Hell, I'm only 8 days away from my follow up visit to the surgeon again (should be the last one). He stated that by this visit I should be back 100%. I've been practicing pretty hard and have had several lessons with Jeff in the past few weeks. Met up with a friend of mine and his son this past Sunday and played the back nine in the cold ass rain, here we go! (Been waiting a looooong time to say that again!)

Started out on #10, 426 yard dogleg right par 4 and SNAP HOOK, hit the downslope and made it into the lake at the corner. Crapola, welcome back. Took a drop and hit fat 4 iron about 10 yards short. Pitched it into the bank and instead of a one hop and stop it took 3, left me about 6 feet left to right down the hill for bogey, which I made. Nice bogey dude, wow. #11 is a 188 yard par 3, pin all the way back, hit 4 iron to the middle left of the green, hit the first putt down the hill, down down down down, about 8 feet by. Nice read, canned that for par. Interesting.

#12 is a 541 yard par 5, tee was up a bit though, hit a great tee shot down the right side into what is normally a chute that runs down the hill but with the wet conditions, it went nowhere. I'm right at 245 to the middle stick and promptly fatted a 3 wood about 25 yards short, on fire. There's a big backstop behind the stick as it's on the bottom of the 2 tiers, so I think "I should skid this in there and run it back down the slope" and I'll be damned if I didn't pull it off. Made the 3 footer for birdie, back to even after 3 holes. Thirteen is a 396 yard par 4 that never plays that far, and I just got a 19 degree Titleist hybrid for Christmas, pured that thing to the left side of the fairway, leaving myself 117 yards to the front pin. Since I just got the hybrid, I had to pull a club out, which of course was my gap wedge, which would have been perfect here. I decide on a little punch wedge but pulled it up on top of the slope left of the green. Now I've got a ridiculous downhiller through 4 feet of fringe to a pin cut what looks like 6 inches on, on a slope that is tilted about 20 degrees, crazy pin. Hit that 8 feet by, couldn't really expect any better for short siding myself, canned that one for par too.

14 is playing 151 yards to the stick, just over the bunker. I nearly whiffed a fatted 8 iron (in the cold too, that HURT), ended up pin high left, about 12 feet below the surface of the green, about 5 feet of green to work with. Hit a nifty pitch that landed in the fringe and ran out to 2 inches short, dead in the heart. I thought for sure that was in. Wow. 15 is a 535 yard par 5, again the tee is up a bit, good tee shot down the left side, but ended up in the left rough on a downslope. I have 210 in with a nasty lie, hey that's what they make hybrids for right? Didn't hit it all that well, but you really can't hit a bad shot with a hybrid, it hooked back into the fairway and when I got to the green I see I made it on the front, about 30 feet short. Missed the eagle putt (on the high side mind you) by no more than 3 inches, birdie to get to 1 under.

Blocked my tee shot on the 390 yard 16th into some trees and rough, but plenty of room to get out. I'm left with 110 yards (hey, great shot for a GW no? dammit...), it's a bit downwind so I pull SW, but no, leave it about 30 feet short. How this putt missed I have no idea, just turned right at the last possible second, tap in par. 17 is playing 151 yards (just like 14) so I decide to hit a better 8 iron. Well, it wasn't fat. Way out on the toe, comes up about 8 yards short left, hit what I thought was a too soft pitch but it bounced hard out of the fringe somehow and ended up about 8 feet past the hole. I surveyed the putt over and over and played it left edge, ended up 18 inches right of the hole, great read jackass, back to even.

18 is a 420 yard par 4, HUGE tree in the middle of the fairway, pin is left so I take the right alley and busted it good. Left me with 114 yards to the pin (anyone seen my GW? Oh yeah, it's in the trunk of my car...) so I decide on another little cutesie wedge, which I fatted to about 5 yards short of the green. Well, I've been chipping and pitching good during my practice sessions, so let's make good use of it. Pretty straightforward shot and hit it clean, viola, chipped it in for birdie, back to 1 under. Will wonders never cease?

We turn to go back down the front but there's quite a few players out and it's backed up so we call it a day. It's sort of official from a USGA standpoint as the 9 hole score counts, but most of all it was me back out on a golf course again. Pretty damn happy about getting the first tee shot wet and still keeping it all together. Just a friendly round but I was surprisingly calm throughout the day, never worried about making a put, hitting it offline, not scared of trouble / OB, just "played" and it felt great. It's great to be back!

Sick of waiting, done waiting...

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:32:00 +0000

I practiced for about an hour today, absolutely no pain. I have lessons scheduled the 6th, 13th, 20th and 29th. I think I have pretty much abandoned Dr’s orders and I’m 100% back into it. Here’s my reasoning, he says I can hit wedge through 7 iron off a tee starting 12/19. Ok, well doc you do realize that wedge through 7 iron are the clubs most likely to dig down into the dirt, transferring that impact energy back up into my shoulder right? And as far as off a tee doc, since you don’t play golf I’ll explain this one to you, you see after striking the ball perched on said tee, the club head continues down into the ground, taking said divot, regardless of where the ball happened to be when the swing started. So off a tee really doesn’t minimize any impact stress at all. Besides, when in Physical Therapy and I’m curling 25lb dumbbells, going through full upward rowing motions with 50lbs on the cable and doing ball walks and pushups supporting my full weight, I think I’m throwing more stress on the shoulder than in a frickin wedge shot. So doc, I’ll see you on the range.

Range of motion is great, basically 100%. Pretty much all of the tightness is gone except for in the most extreme of stretching positions. My last day at the PT was today! I go to their other facility 2 times a week for 2 weeks starting Monday to work with a guy who specializes in golf programs, but supervised PT for the shoulder is complete. I won't be able to practice at all until my lesson Saturday, but the way I hit the ball today, that's a blessing. It's amazing how much I can forget in 13 weeks, it's like I've never held a club before. Nothing crazy, just no ooomph. No compression of the ball at contact, and everything is really high. Now that I know what the golf swing is supposed to feel like, just swatting it out there like I did today is not acceptable. The comeback is on...

Another progress update...

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:57:00 +0000

Well I'm still going to physical therapy twice a week, last night when I was there one of the PT's who hadn't seen me in 2 weeks was amazed at the additional range of motion that I had obtained in such a short period of time. Overall he feels I'm missing about 20%, but that is focused on 3 key areas, let's see if I can explain this...Laying down on your back, right arm 90 degrees from your body, then bent at the elbow straight up to the ceiling. Moving the arm as far forward as possible from the elbow and as far back as possible, I'm still tight on both of those movements. Then standing up, take your left hand and scratch up behind your back as high as you can go, I can get almost to my neck. Then with the right hand, I can only get it to the middle of my back, a LOT of tightness in the shoulder there. Problem is, that's the part that tucks in neatly into your ribs on your backswing, so I still have a bit of a chicken wing going on there.

Ahem, you know...if I was to actually swing a golf club, which I don't because my doctor hasn't approved that yet. (cough, bullshit, cough). Anyway, the first 10 or so wedges I've hit have been blocks, not a surprise since that's about 2 months early and I'm kind of tentative. But this weekend when I was out putting (oh, and chipping and hitting 40 yard pitch shots, haha) I took 4 more swings with a SW and stone cold nutted them, dead straight, no block, nice divots, ah that felt great!

So I met with the Dr. Monday for my 10 week follow up (was actually 9 1/2 weeks). So here's the prescription:

* 12 weeks - chipping and pitching ok up to 30 yards (11/28/2008)
* 15 weeks - 7 iron through wedges off a tee (12/19/2008)

I see the Dr. again on 1/14/2009, which will be right at 18 1/2, almost 19 weeks. He stated we should be VERY close to full release at that point. So starting at week 15, he told me the plan is to hit up to 7 irons off a tee and start working up from there through the 2 iron off a tee. I'm supposed to gauge my own progress there and the precaution is to watch soreness, if I get sore I have to stop for a day, two, three, whatever until the soreness goes away, then start up again. Once I get through to a session where I can go through the irons off a tee and have no soreness the next day, we can start hitting off the turf and gauge the ability to hit 3 wood and driver.

Truth be told, I don't think he's too keen on me hitting driver, but realistically, wouldn't it be more damaging to be hitting bunker shots than free wheeling a driver off a tee? Makes sense to me anyway. He contradicted himself when I asked him about being able to hit a golf course up North over Thanksgiving that is closed, planning on driving around and hitting pitch shots into greens and trying to get up and down 18 times, since nobody will be around, it would be a great time to do so and the golf course is ok with it too, win / win! He said that's ok, which is actually a full day ahead of schedule! Anyway, the point is he didn't yell at me for hitting some wedges already, reminded me to be careful, which I will. It's not a science, just take it as it comes, you can do this much starting here, but if it hurts you have to stop. Ok, well shit doc I can keep track of that, what am I paying you for?

Hit a wedge today

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:33:00 +0000

Nothing crazy, just a 3/4 wedge I borrowed from a guy on the range that I practice at. He was a little tentative at letting me use it at first, but I talked him into it. I teed it up as well so as to minimize any risk of impact stress on my shoulder. To be fair, it was a bit offline, a slight block about 5-8 yards right of target, but compressed and in the center of the clubface. Man did that feel good! No pain whatsoever either, very exciting! I only hit one, didn't want to tempt fate. If my doctor was there he'd have probably kicked me in the nuts as we're currently about 2 1/2 weeks from "possibly" being allowed to hit chip shots. Oh well, I just couldn't help myself. I thought for sure the first ball I hit coming back would be a timid, cold top, but I got after it and made a nice aggressive swing, pretty amazed actually. Just think, only 2-3 months and I can do that for real (sarcasm).

"Get Aggressive"

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:41:00 +0000

Had my 6 week checkup with the surgeon today to chart the progress of the shoulder surgery and recovery. I have some really good motion and can almost raise my arm straight up and down, side to side is well past parallel. He put me on the table and move my arm up and my forearm down and YOW, that's some pain! I point blank asked him if I'm ahead or behind from a recovery standpoint and he gave me the middle of the road "you're right where I want you to be at 6 weeks." Great, thanks for that doc.

I brought a putter and wedge with me to show him the motions of each and he instantly signed off on me putting, so we start tomorrow! I hadn't even turned around to grab my wedge and he said "but no chipping". Jerk. Even after I showed him the motion and told him how it was built by Stan Utley (through books anyway), he wasn't biting. He then told me that we're going to shoot for full range of motion at 10 weeks, and then I can start chipping. From what I'm seeing that's 2 weeks ahead on range of motion and 4 weeks ahead on hitting balls of any kind. He then updated the chart that goes back to the physical therapist and wrote in big letters "GET AGGRESSIVE" and circled it. He moved my next visit from 6 weeks to 4 weeks and said he expects full range of motion out of me by then.

It's been pure hell not touching a golf club for the past 6 weeks, but like I said I would do, I stayed true to my word and listened to the treatment plan. Hopefully we'll continue to progress ahead of schedule. Tomorrow's going to be a great day!

Wow am I bored

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:16:00 +0000

I'm 12 days away from being able to putt with the official ok from the doctor and physical therapist. Just got the ok to run on the elliptical and have been doing some core exercise during the therapy sessions. I can't even watch golf on tv any more. I've still got Round 6 of Q School from last year on the DVR, just can't stomach watching it right now. I'm so bored I started going through video that I've got archived of various practice sessions and have started uploading them to the YouTube site (What? You haven't seen my YouTube site? For shame...www.youtube.com/paperhogan). Now I've got the serious urge to chip and putt after seeing myself before I had shoulder problems.

On the plus side, I've been punishing the squeezeball the doctor gave me like a rented mule, my forearms are starting to bulge out. I feel like Popeye. You know, if Popeye was a laid up aspiring professional golfer cast into Purgatory awaiting 4-5 months of slow, check that, extremely slow recovery.

My instructor Jeff Ritter in Golf Digest!

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:13:00 +0000

Just got an email tonight from Jeff that he has a spread in the November 2008 issue of Golf Digest. It's the Breaking 100/90/80 series and starts on page 153. It's a 4 page spread full of tips with football analogies to help you through all kinds of situations. He definitely has some explaining to do as to why he didn't ask me to be in the shots. Haha!

Great job Jeff, maybe next time you get published to millions of readers you'll button your shirt and wear a belt that people won't laugh at. Just sayin...

Want to see a video of my shoulder surgery?

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:53:00 +0000

Well, not MINE, but the same surgery that I had done. I was doing some research and came across this tonight. I'm not one for being queasy, but when the doctor starts hammering the anchor into the tissue / bone / whatever, I pretty much got dizzy. Surely my doctor was more careful than this guy right? Yeah, probably not.

Find more videos like this on VuMedi

Final pre-surgery round recap

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:57:00 +0000

I guess I never got around to documenting this out. I played with some good friends of mine on 8/31 for the last round of golf that I got to play before the shoulder surgery. Since it was special we splurged and went to Troon North, an extremely nice track up in North Scottsdale. We played the Pinnacle Course from the back, a rating of 73.0 and a slope of 147! Pretty good stats from back there. Here we go!

As a condition of playing, one of my friends insisted that I not speak at all about how badly my shoulder hurt cause he didn't want to listen to me bitch. So I hand him my ball and tee on the first box and ask him to tee it up for me as my shoulder hurts, ZING, right off the bat. Going to be a long day. #1 is 392 yard, driver up the left leaving me 126 to the back left hole, PW to the dead center of the green and left the first putt about 5 feet short, missed it but I was still talking shit to the boys, yeah maybe we should try concentrating now. #2 is 405 yards, driver up the left side, I backed it up about 18" in the fairway, hmmm, you know some roll might be nice next time. 8 iron about 20 feet short up the hill, KILLED the putt about 8 feet by, I guess we didn't feel like leaving any more short, but I center cut it for par, that felt good.

#3 is a 468 yard par 4, into the breeze and I hit it decent, but it upshot into the wind, and I backed it up about 12" this time in the fairway. 206 in, fanned a 3 iron into the bunker and failed to get it up and down. #4 is a 416 yard par 4 (getting sick of par 4's already), decent tee shot into the middle of the fairway, got about 3" of roll, thought I hit a perfect 8 iron all over the stick, but it kept climbing. Somehow it cleared the bunker and ended up about 9' away, but alas we didn't capitalize and made 4. The 5th hole is named Dos Caminos, or as I explained, Two Caminos (yeah, I'm bilingual), 541 yard par 4, not a great tee shot up the left, 260 or so in and hit a smooth fat 3 wood to about 70 yards, joy. Hit a great held off SW exactly 70 yards, and 15 yards right, 2 putt par. 206 yard par 3 6th, downhill and double crossed a 5 iron into the front left bunker, out to about 10 feet and missed the putt. Nice bunker shot jackass, 10 feet, wow Seve would be impressed, no?

7th is a 456 yard par 4, decent tee shot that again backed up about 18", 210 yards in with a huge bunker in front, hit a cut 3 iron that started at the stick, oops. Apparently I had plenty of club as when we arrived the pin was in the back left and somehow I was pin high about 12' right of the hole, but we missed it and made a solid 4. 8th is a 190 yard par 3, back into the breeze and a bit uphill, I settled on 5 and upshot it, short right but hit a great chip to about 2 feet and made par. 9 is a 404 yard par 4 by the card, I don't remember the hole other than I hit the fairway and made 4. 10th is a very appealing hole, 288 to the row of fairway bunkers and the fairway is HUGE. I'm pretty sure I want to bust one and reach the traps as I've been hitting it all on the fly all day with no roll, so we teed it up high and nearly fagged the driver, must have gone 200' up in the air, leaving me 205 yards in on this 407 yard hole, awesome. Uphill, hit a perfect 3 iron that one hopped stopped in the fringe, 15 feet below the hole, putt just died short.

11 is a 539 yard par 5, dogleg right, downhill, just screaming "come take me". We learned our lesson on the last hole and made solid contact, smashed the tee shot, never cut but it was bombed. Get to the ball and the fucker backed up 18" again. This is really getting old. So now I've got 270 in with a wash 20 yards short of the green, we elect to lay up to 125 and hit PW to 10 feet, not bad but not stony either. Miss the putt and settle for par, a bit of a letdown after how I felt after hitting the tee shot. 12 is a 416 yard par 4, great tee shot, dead stop in the fairway (ok, maybe 2" of roll), a fatted 9 iron that I tried to stand on to get it there, pathetic pitch and missed the putt for 5. 13 is a 177 yard par 3, back into the breeze and uphill, learned my lesson last time and hit 5, pulled it right through the wind, I'm on by about a foot back left, pin dead center, just missed it and made 3 the proper way.

14, wow, 609 yard par 5, good tee shot, nearly plugged in the fairway (who me, want some roll on a 609 yard hole? Nah), perfect 3 wood (that DID plug in the fairway) and a pathetic attempt at a 9 iron that ended up short, uneventful up and down for 5, but another 5. I can't remember 15, hit the fairway, that much I know, I made a par, that's all I can remember. 16 is a 140 yard par 3 over water, which is not in play. [Rant]Let me take a moment to digress, we live in the desert, stop making big ass lakes that aren't in play just so you can say you have X number of holes with water. If it's part of a water treatment solution like say, Ocotillo golf course, then fine, but just because you need a signature hole, doesn't mean you need to use water. [/Rant] OK, so perfect 9 iron to 4 feet and FINALLY made birdie, only took 16 holes. Walking up to the 17th tee, it dawns on me that I haven't missed a fairway all day, hit every one so far. "Ok, stop thinking about that" I say to myself, then I change my mind "No man, you've hit every fairway and you're going to hit the last 2. No fear, no tentative swings, you've done it 12 times in a row, 2 more is easy". Free wheeled it and split the fairway, 441 yard par 4 17th. Unfortunately it AGAIN stopped dead in the fairway, 185 yards left, pin is middle right, over cut it just a tad and hit it a bit too hard, about 30 feet behind the hole, great putt that somehow stayed out, great putt.

18, last hole for 4-5 months. I've been dreading this all day. I want to keep playing, I want to call in sick to work all week and play every day. It's been a ton of fun all day, my friends and I just killing each other with put downs all day, literally one of the best times I've ever had on a golf course. The only thing that I would wish for is a closing birdie. Something to sit back on and that just in case something went horribly wrong and I could never play again, I'd always be able to say "I birdied the last hole of golf I ever played". And what do the Gods give me? A 447 yard par4 into the wind with desert / ob left, thanks boys, love you too. One more fairway, freewheeled it, never a doubt, split it again, 14 of 14 fairways. Oh, and I backed that one up too, I'm left with 195 yards into a slight breeze, I pull 4 iron and nutted it, big high draw that one hopped and stopped, leaving me an uphill left to right 12 footer for the closing birdie I've been dreaming of. Struck the putt perfectly and missed it by 1/4", but I hit it perfectly, enough speed, enough break, just didn't go in. Ah well. Finished with 2 perfect swings and a perfect stroke, sometimes that's all you can do.

3 over on the front, even on the back for a 74, 1 over the course rating. Hitting every fairway was special, not by a little, there was never a doubt on any of the tee shots. Our group lost a few balls, pretty much when you miss a fairway here, it's gone, 5-10' drop offs into the desert and some really gnarly brush, it's visually intimidating for sure. The highest slope rating I've heard of is 154 (there might be higher on ridiculously tricked up tracks) and let me tell you, 147 is no cakewalk. That's a really good course, but fuck me do I wish I had made birdie on the last hole.

Surgery recap and physical therapy update

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:50:00 +0000

Ok, so I'm typing with both hands now, what a relief. The first week was brutal as I felt pretty helpless doing everything with just my left hand. Went in for the surgery 2 weeks ago tomorrow, they actually gave me a nerve block so my right arm was basically limp for 24 hours. This really helped with the pain they said, the downside was that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't move my fingers until Saturday which was uncomfortable to say the least, and I got two pretty good 1 inch long blood blisters between my thumb and index finger from the strap in the sling as it was way too tight. I didn't notice obviously until it was too late, so I haven't used that strap since.

The day after the surgery I got the hiccups, BAD. 2 1/2 hours straight, really started to get annoying. The nurse called to check on me and said it was a side effect of the nerve block. She also said if they continued through to Sunday that they could give me a prescription for them, never heard of medicine for hiccups, but ok. So I had 2 more 2+ hour hiccup sessions Saturday, then they seemed to go away, until Tuesday when they came back and brought their older brother Francis, who everyone calls "Psycho" (Stripes reference in case you missed it). Man, 4 2+ hour sessions of the deepest most uncomfortable hiccups you've ever felt, I was miserable. But as of today they are completely gone, knock wood.

I've been to 5 physical therapy sessions so far, the first one was basically electrical stimulus and squeezing the right arm against a rolled up towel then ice. Day 2 they put me on a pulley, basically a rope and 2 handles, I pulled my right arm up with my left, just freeing up range of motion. The first pull netted me a whopping 3 inches of ROM, wow that's scary. After about 10 minutes I actually got my hand above my head. As of my last session on Wednesday I can do it pretty easily up to 90 degrees, which is the extent of the ROM that I'm allowed at this point. I can go much farther but they won't let you push at all in the first 2 weeks. This last session I also got to use basically what amounts to a bicycle for your arms. Same deal, right arm was just along for the ride and I moved very slowly, but it felt very good to extend and contract my arm like that. I ran that thing for 15 minutes and I could definitely feel the soreness this morning.

Now apart from the soreness, I really haven't experienced any pain at all. I was given Hydrocodone and told to take 1-2 pills every 4-6 hours. I started with 1 pill every 4 hours and weaned myself off after that. The last pill I took was Sunday morning at 1AM which was after back to back 12 hour differentials, and I'm completely good pain wise, so pretty excited there. I find myself reaching for doorknobs, helping when putting my shirt on, etc. when I don't have on the sling / brace contraption that keeps my right arm immobilized. Good and bad I suppose.

The PT and I set a schedule of 8 weeks from date of surgery to resume putting. Now I'd be lying if I said I hadn't tried the motion a few time sans putter, and there's really no shoulder movement during the stroke obviously, just rocking back and forth, however the act of the pre-shot routine, picking balls out of the hole (you know, cause they ALWAYS go in the hole baby) could certainly cause me pain. Again, I'm sticking to whatever we feel is acceptable schedule wise, so if it's 8 weeks, then it's 8. I'm going to push him for 6, 4, whatever but he has to agree or I won't do it. I know you'll be shocked to hear that my line of thinking is if I can accelerate the putting, then I might be able to accelerate to chipping and fuller shots that much sooner as well. Hey, you try sitting on your couch every weekend and tell me you'd stick to 8 weeks yourself. Liar.

That's it for now, going to hook up the electrodes on the bicep to keep blood flowing there as well, not moving your arm at all can wreak havoc on your muscle structure, I can literally see the difference in my right and left arm already. No clearance to start on the eliptical, running, etc. just yet, but the minute we get that it's go time again. The PT works with a bunch of professional rodeo guys, BMX kids, etc. so he understands the plan isn't to get me back to playing bingo, it's a little more aggressive than that, but being on this side it's never fast enough. If you don't have plans already, go play golf this weekend you lucky bastard. I'll be the guy sitting on my couch watching it on tv scratching off one more day on the calendar.

He's alive!

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:09:00 +0000

One handed typing is hard. I'm out, no complications and I see the physical therapist tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to prop up my arm and type normally after that. More to come as I can type!

Shoulder surgery tomorrow - 9/5/2008

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:52:00 +0000

I hit my last golf ball for the next 4-5 months today, a high towering draw 7 iron, just pured it, man that felt good. Pretty depressed when I got back to the office though. Just cleaned up my clubs and shoes and put them in the basement on the rack with my other golf stuff. Surgery is tomorrow, can't eat or drink anything after midnight and I'm expected to be at the hospital for a total of 6 hours before being able to go home. A long weekend of rest and recovery and I'll be back at work on Tuesday.

I'm not sure what the physical therapy regimen will end up being, but I'm going to stick to it like glue. Rather than risking full recovery to come back early, I'm going to push the recovery process so I can come back at 110% at the specified date. I'm going to use this as a means to implement a pretty serious exercise regimen and hopefully come back better than ever.

Wish me luck, I'll see you (one handed) after the surgery!

Shoulder tear - ain't this a bitch...

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:47:00 +0000

So guess what, I have what looks to be a torn labrum in my right shoulder. Just went for my 2nd MRI yesterday. This all started with the dog, we had to put him down just over a month ago, he was at the emergency vet for 4 days, then we took him home. His legs didn't work and every 30 minutes he would basically freak out and try to get up, bark at the walls, etc. The only way to calm him down was to pick him up, carry him outside and lay him down in the grass for 5 minutes or so, then back inside for another 30 minutes. I did this for 2 days straight. At about 3AM the 2nd morning my right arm felt like it was going to fall out of it's socket, really sharp shooting pain from my elbow, up the outside of my shoulder and over my shoulder blade.

I tried hitting balls a few days after we put the dog down and I got through about 25 shots before I felt like passing out. Tried to play the following day and quit after 5 holes. Saw a physical therapist a couple of times and he did some electro therapy, shot a laser in the shoulder to reduce the swelling, etc. I thought I was good and went to San Francisco with some friends, played in Napa and got through about 14 holes before it flared up again. We played Harding Park (site of the 2009 President's Cup) and quit in the middle of the fairway on 14 as the pain was too unbearable. On the advice of my instructor Jeff, I went to see the guys at All Star Health and they worked on my shoulder with a thing called Active Release Technique, basically really really really deep tissue work. It freed up the nerve and I could play pretty much pain free.

Just before that trip I had an MRI done and scheduled an appt. with an orthopedic surgeon, so we stuck with that. Went and saw that Dr. and he says he's 95% sure I have a torn labrum in my right shoulder. To prove his point, he pushed and pulled on my right arm and then BINGO, my right arm bone moved what felt like 3/4". Wow, what a freaking weird feeling that is! I said "What the hell was that?!" He stated that movement is the result of the tear. He scheduled me for a 2nd MRI utilizing some dye injected into the shoulder, which is called an Arthrogram. Basically a really long needle stuck really really really deep into your shoulder socket where they inject dye so they can see the cartilage better. We're doing this so we are 100% sure that it's torn before we fix this.

So here's the problem, fixing it is surgery. It's arthroscopic, so I won't have a big scar, but I'll be in a sling for 6 weeks and then PT. And the kicker...no hitting golf balls for 4-5 months. Are you fucking kidding me? I was scheduled to play Talking Rock in Prescott this past Sunday, so I asked him if I could play, to which he suggested that I not hit driver, not swing too hard, etc. I told him that wasn't happening, so maybe he could just level with me and tell me if I can play or not. So he caved and said "Sure, why not, it's not like you're going to tear it!". Good advice. So I played Sunday, a fair amount of pain crept in on the back 9, but nothing like when the nerve was firing. After starting out 5 over through 4 I shot one under the remaining 14 holes to shoot 76. I guess not bad on a course I'd never seen with a torn shoulder.

I have a follow up appointment on the 25th to get the results of the MRI and to figure out what to do regarding surgery and the like. As can be expected, I'm pretty depressed and feel like someone kicked me in the gut. But, I personally know people who have gone through worse both themselves and with family, and the bottom line is that after some therapy, I'll be back 100%. It sucks pretty bad, and I'm not happy about it, but I've spent some long nights thinking this over and I'm coming to grips with it. I'm hoping I can start chipping and putting after 1-2 months, which I'll ask the Dr. specifically about. It was suggested to me that I could carve out the worlds greatest short game with that time, to which I replied "well, maybe I can get to average anyway". Who says I don't have a sense of humor dammit.

I'll post results of the follow up appointment and lay out a recovery plan here. This blog looks like it's now going to turn into a documentary of the road to recovery. I don't know if that's as exciting, but at least it might motivate me and maybe some of you. Maybe we can create a short game plan together.

Let's PaperHogan this bitch!

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:25:00 +0000

Posted a new video on my YouTube site from my 6/14 session with Jeff Ritter. We got a good swing down on video and he wanted to burn a DVD of it, exclaiming "Let's PaperHogan this bitch!". So in all it's glory, here is the "bitch", fully PaperHogan'd.

Whirlwind Championship - Round 2

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:01:00 +0000

A day of early near misses that ballooned into "holy crap maybe we should take up tennis". I had 40 putts, five 3 putts, started with a double and finished triple, double, bogey, for a stellar 87. I'm in absolutely no mood to post the details of this crap today, hell we may even pretend it never happened. But for right now, I can tell you that after the double on 1 I had birdie putts of 6 feet, 12 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet and 15 feet on holes 2 through six and shot 2 over for that stretch. Do the math, that's some pretty solid ball striking and some horrendous putting. Now I know what you are thinking, perhaps just fix the putting and all will be well. I tried a different route, I instead opted to start hitting it all over the golf course, which just happens to be tighter and less forgiving that the course we played yesterday. I did however continue to putt bad, you know, you don't want to change too many things at once.

Here's the kicker, if I could have managed to shoot even par today I would have won by a shot as the leader shot 6 over and finished at +3, one shot outside of where I stood after round one. Great, somehow that doesn't make me feel any better. 13 shots worse 24 hours later, how does that even happen?

Whirlwind Championship - Round 1

noreply@blogger.com (PaperHogan) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:27:00 +0000

First round of the Golf Channel Amateur Tour's Regional Championship at Whirlwind today, second round tomorrow on the other golf course "Cat Tail". Shot a 2 over 74 today, played the last 8 holes 3 under so we finished strong. Had a stretch of 5 holes that just got me down and the card showed it. Here we go!

Great tee shot on the 424 yard 1st, left me 136 yards, pull PW into the left bunker, out to 8 feet and canned it for par. Hit a little 3 wood on the 399 yard second, 7 iron to about 8 feet and just missed it on the high side, that there my friends is half the strokes I played this hole in the last time I was here, small victories. A not so great tee shot on the 593 yard 3rd, decent 3 wood leaving me 111 into the breeze, and hit the ugliest little thinned GW you've ever seen, to 4 feet, and missed the putt. Dammit. Blocked it right of the green on the 4th, but a good pitch to about 3 feet and made the putt for the 3. Really solid tee shot on the 410 yard fifth but left me an agle that gave what looked like 3 feet between the stick and the bunker on the right, so I hit 9 iron pin high all the way left. A fantastic putt that just missed on the high side. Here comes the stretch, can you feel it? Are you getting sick to your stomach yet? You will...

Decent tee shot on the 564 yard 5th, then nearly topped my 3 wood to 136 yards, yay. A bit uphill this time so I pull 9 iron and hit the most pathetic weak cut about 30 feet short. First putt to about 2 1/2 feet and I talked myself into thinking the lines from the water injection aeration they did would pull the putt right, so I missed it left, dumbass. Seven is a 163 yard par 3 over water, a bit into the breeze, but a solid 7 iron as far left as I could and still be on the green. I've got 30 feet up and over the tier, pin sitting right on top, didn't give it enough break and the slope pulled my ball back down the hill about 12 feet away, and we missed it, another bogey. Number 8 is 317 yards, but a bunch of trouble left, so I thinned a 3 iron to 101 yards, uphill, into the wind and I pull SW, which isn't enough in those conditions, leaving me just short and right in the fringe. The first putt rides a ridge I didn't see past the hole about 5 feet left, and we missed that one too, 3 in a row, awesome. I went from talking and laughing it up with the guys I was playing with to not saying a word, kicking myself, feeling sorry for myself, etc.

9 is a split fairway 441 yard par 4, hit a decent tee shot down the left fairway, had 165 yards to the back left pin. Again a bit into the breeze and uphill so we decide a pathetic weak 6 iron to 35 feet is the smart play here. I somehow scraped in the 3 footer for par to stop the bleeding, or so I thought. 10 is 407 yards, with 254 to clear the fairway bunker on the right. I hit a not bad tee shot, that cut, and caught the top of the trap and rolled back in, right next to the front lip. 254 yards? Are you fucking kidding me? So I've got 152 in and I don't think I can clear the lip with 8, so let's take our medicine and hit 9 just short and get it up and down, nope, caught the lip. 91 yards away and I decide to lay 4 lbs. of sod over my ball. 42 yards away and I hit a 54 yard pitch to about 35 feet, 2 putt double. I literally felt my face turn red, 5 over now and I'm swinging progressively worse. I told you it was a sick feeling.

Number 11 is a 444 yard uphill par 4 and with steam coming out of my ears I finally swung like a man and left myself 140 in. I'm too busy congratulating myself on finally catching one that I forget we're uphill and my 9 iron stops in the fringe. I somehow left the uphill right to left putt short and made 4. Hey, it's better than that 6 we just posted. 12 is a 235 yard par 3 over water, pin back left and I hit one of the best 3 irons of my life to about 12 feet. One of the other guys was on a similar line about 20 feet away, his ball broke about 8 inches, so I figure to play mine about 4 inches as mine was little flatter, but it actually only breaks about 1 inch. We both looked at each other as if to say "wtf just happened there?". 13 is a short par 4, 361 yards but I'm hitting driver. Over the left trap just short of the last fairway bunker, leaving me 81 yards out of the rough. Hit a great held off SW to about 2 feet which we canned for our first birdie of the day. Yay, we're going in the right direction finally.

14th is a 172 yard par 3 playing shorter as the pin is up front, hit 7 iron but not real solid, just crept it on the front of the green, putt missed high but a good par. 15 is a 507 yard par 5, we're licking our chops now. Fairway bunker on the right, 278 to clear it, just hammered the tee shot, nice little draw at the bunker headed back to center, then the wind started pushing it, and I actually ended up catching the lip and rolling back in, damn that was going to be a good tee shot. So now we're under this huge lip again (who makes these damn fairway bunkers with 6 foot lips anyway?), I again pull 9 iron and in an attempt to not thin it into the face, I fat it and just cross the cart path, leaving me 178 yards in. They give you these pin sheets that show you how many paces short or long from center and left or right the hole is, but those are for pansies. I opt to just shoot it with the laser, 178, looks like it's JUST over the greenside bunker, let's hit 5 and give ourselves a putt, no sense in chancing dunking it in another bunker. Well I yanked it, screaming for it to get down as there is a lot of junk left. Ended up pin high left in grass, although there was actually about 20 yards of room over the front bunker as the pin was all the way in the back, good decision making there. (note to self, use the damn pin sheet from here on out) So we hit a lame ass pitch to 20 feet and actually jarred it for par, what an awesome putt.

16 is a 425 yard par 4, hit it to the left side of the fairway this time (not taking another chance at the right fairway bunker), just didn't really go. I had 160 yards left, a bit of a breeze crossing from the left, hit what I thought was a great 7 iron, but it landed dead in the center of the green, about 20 feet short, bottom tier, pin is on the top tier. I gave it a good rap and it just didn't stop rolling and finally found the bottom. Back to even for the back side. 17 is a 551 yard par 5 into the wind, big canyon about 80 yards short of the green. Rather than chance it with the 2nd shot, I'm laying up, already decided before I hit the tee shot. So a decent tee shot, not hard, still left me 290 yards in, hit a 7 iron short of the junk, left me 152 to the center, about 145 to the hole. Big huge swale right and behind the hole, hit a perfect 8 iron just past and right of the hole, took the swale down to about 6 feet. As God as my witness that's exactly the shot I pictured, sure maybe I was lucky to execute it that way, but it sure felt good. Canned it for birdie as well. 18, 442 yards into a pretty good wind now, hit a real good ball up the left side, but still had 190 yards to the stick, yikes. Pin is back center, my line is right over the greenside bunker short of the green, so I unconsciously started it right but drew it back in a bit, pin high about 15 feet right. Uphill right to left putt for 3 in a row to finish and I left it short. You fucking chop.

Out in 39, back in 35 with a double on 10. Really happy obviously with how we finished the last 8 holes, but we can't afford to get down on ourselves in the middle of the round like that. I think the reason I finished so well is I just had a talk with myself after 10 and basically decided that it was unacceptable to play like this, putting half swings on shots, so I decided to swing hard the rest of the round. 11 fairways, 13 greens, 31 putts. We go off later tomorrow, nearly 11AM, in the heat of the day. Forecast is 104 degrees, I'm drinking a ton of water this evening, my toilet is getting a workout. Until tomorrow!