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Unfortunately, this is a sad necessity for most people. Without being independently wealthy, it’s not easy to follow dreams without a ton of hard work. Jobs and bills don’t disappear because we’re setting out to follow our hearts down a path of eventual happiness and success. I’m not here to whine about how hard it is. I’m here to tell you: let’s suck it up and follow our dreams.

I’m reminded of the famous Langston Hughes poem, “Harlem: A Dream Deferred”. You may have read it:

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Right now, my golf game stinks like rotten meat. But that doesn’t matter to me. I’m pursuing my dream. And to do that, I’m going to need a better plan.

One thing I have going for me is that I’m single and have no kids. Not that being single is super appealing, but I don’t have any obligations to keep me from putting time in on my goals. Just a job and some bills. My to-do list covers most of the things I need to accomplish but right now some things are more critical than others.

Most important is my health. That means weight loss and exercise to fend off this herniated disk in my back. After that, I need to practice and play. Sounds easy, but that’s a lot of stuff to do. My target is to work out at the gym at least 3 days per week. I should also be doing my back-specific physical therapy exercises 3-5 times per week. I’d like to shoot for four practice sessions per week. Two full-swing sessions, one putting session, and one short-game session. The practice sessions can probably be combined into two actual sessions with two parts. On top of all that, I’d like to play three times per week. I’m shooting for two 9-hole rounds and one 18-hole round. And that’s all at a minimum. Balancing all that with 40 hours of work per week (and a 45-minute commute each way) is going to be a challenge.

Here’s what I have going for me: my work schedule is very flexible. The down side is that I’m not a morning person and I’m accustomed to showing up for work around 9:30 am or so and getting out around 6:00 pm. During the summer, when the days are long, it wouldn’t be so bad, but by the time I get home playing is mostly out during the week.

If I want to meet my short-term goals, I need to come up with a better plan for managing my time. Right now, it seems like the best option is to suck it up and get to work earlier so I’m getting out with much more daylight. Maybe get in at 8:00 and out around 4:30. That puts me on the course or driving range around 5:30. Plenty of time for 9 holes and even 18 when the days get longer. I think I’m willing to substitute a gym workout for a walking round of golf because that’s pretty good exercise, but I still need to fit some workouts and my back exercises in there.

I’m going to give this some more thought and follow this up with a formal time schedule that will be realistic. Stay tuned for that. My dreams may never come true, but they will not be deferred.

One thing I intend to do this year is get a professional club fitting. I guess I should add that to my to-do list. Aaaaaaand done. Anyway, years ago when I first started playing, the pro at the club I worked at took some general measurements for me that I still go with today (and I mean really general). I play my irons +1/2″ in length and with grips that are slightly fatter than standard. Over the years, I discovered new things. Mainly that I also get benefit from having my irons bent a degree or so upright. I’ve also found that I like to play an off the shelf driver with a stiff shaft.

These little nuggets of information have been cobbled together over time, mostly from observation and not from scientific analysis. Over the years, I keep reading about all the new-fangled technology that gets employed like launch analysis and high-speed cameras and the like and I’ve been intrigued but have never taken the plunge. Meanwhile virtually everything I read tells me that a professional club fitting can really add benefit to my game. Especially if all my non-scientific specs are a little off.

As I was going in the pro-shop at my new club, I saw a poster saying that a club fitter from Titleist is coming in May (at least I thought that’s what it said…I was more interested in signing up for a membership). That sounds like the perfect opportunity. Maybe I’ll discover that my specs are just fine, but maybe I’ll find out that I’m spending hour upon hour swimming against the current. Well, I’m going and maybe you should think about it too. I’ll post the findings next month.

Since part of the reason for this website is to track my progress, I guess I should post some progress updates. It’s hard for me to toot my own horn, especially when it sounds more like a Bronx cheer right about now. But nonetheless, I’m going to try to post weekly status every Sunday. At the very least, it’ll make me look honestly at the situation and help me stay committed. Anyway…

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m coming off a major back injury. I have a herniated disk in my lower back that has kept me from being able to play, aside from few token attempts, for the better part of two years. Last winter, I paid a visit to my friendly, neighborhood spine specialists at Coastal Spine and they fixed me up with a great physical therapy regimen. It has worked wonders for me. I’m not at 100% and may never be, but that combined with weight loss and regular gym workouts should leave me at “good enough” status.

Because of that, I’m finally getting back to playing and practicing for real. A couple of weeks back, I nervously hit the driving range for the first time. I’m happy with how fast things are coming back to me. I’ve played a few 9-hole rounds and one 18-hole round (yesterday), and had a few driving range sessions. So far, even when I have a little back soreness I recover fairly quickly. I feel like my range time is productive, but my scores on the course have been much worse than I want. But given the situation, I can’t really complain.

Here’s a closer look at the good and the bad.

The Good

• On the range, I’m really coming back with my ball striking. The back issue was causing some nasty swing compensations that seem to be gone now.
• I’m starting to be able to reliably turn the ball on command again at the range and a little on the course.
• My driver is coming back quickly, and my distance has mostly returned
• One thing that’s coming back that I missed dearly is my 2-iron. I’m starting to hit it crisply again.
• Strangely, chipping, which has been a weakness of mine is very good right now. Maybe because there’s so much else that’s going bad. Hmmmm….

The Bad

• My conditioning is flat-out awful right now. I went to the driving range in the morning yesterday and then played 18 in the afternoon (for the first time in a looooooong while) and it absolutely wiped me out. My swing was starting to suffer by the back nine and today I’m actually still sore and tired. I started my round yesterday pretty well. I shot par on three out of the first four holes then had a couple of blow-up holes then the fatigue set in and the round really got bad.
• My putting is slow to come around, though it was a little better yesterday. I need to find more time to get some putting sessions in to get me back to where I was.
• I’m having several blow-up holes per round. This is coming from a lack of mental focus and putting skills that have dulled over time.
• Overall, my game is still very sloppy. I’m not hitting many greens at all, and am missing a lot of fairways.

So, that’s where I stand. It’s going to take some work just to get back to where I was, let alone getting to my ultimate goal. It’s pouring outside now, and I’m sore, but I’m headed to the gym. If I’m not back in an hour, come looking for me…

Knock one item off the to-do list. I finally joined my local golf course. This is my first membership ever and it certainly feels weird, probably because I worked at a course for several years in college and it’s hard getting used to being on the member side of things. It’s a great course in Woodstown, NJ and it’s called Town & Country Golf Links.

I’ve played it several times over the years since it opened in 1999 (or thereabouts). I love the layout and the design style. It’s wide open, and I’m really drawn to that. The greens are fairly large, well-maintained, and have tons of undulation and character. That’s going to make me have to play more precise shots into the greens or risk tougher, longer putts than I’m used to.

Onward!

One thing that struck me as I watched the 2007 Masters was how professionals of that caliber can spray the ball all over the place off the tee and still manage to score. It seems obvious, but how many of us work on recovery in our practice sessions? More often than not, we’re hitting full shots or some kind of short game shot.

One of the ways I spruce up my practice time and give myself a little recovery practice is to work on a 100 yard 5-iron. I normally hit my 5-iron close to 200 yards. To cut the distance in half it takes some finesse and a little setup adjustment. Typically, I’ll play most full shots off my front foot (more on that in a future post), so for this shot I’ll put the ball back near the center of my stance or even a little behind center. I’ll take a short back swing, and keep my hands low during the follow through. Keeping a nice even tempo is important, and making sure not to decelerate is key. The result is a nice low shot that flies and runs out to around 100 yards. As always make sure you’re hitting to a specific target (at least a directional target, if not to a specific distance). At some point, we all end up in the trees and we need a shot like this to stay under branches and get back into play or even to get up around (or on) the green.

Sometimes a tree stands between you and the green. Another nice practice twist is to imagine tree trunks in your way and try and play a draw or fade on that low shot. Using the same setup, close or open the club face slightly at address depending on whether you want to draw or fade the ball. Pick something in the distance and imagine that’s the tree in your way (use a little imagination and pretend it’s right in front of you). Start the ball to the left or right of that “tree” and try and fade or draw the ball around it. See how close you can come to your target.

During your practice sessions, experiment with ball position and swing length to see how the shot is affected. Keep your lie in mind too. This shot is much more difficult from deep rough. Remember, we’re not looking for a miracle recovery from the jungle here. In that case, just getting out to the fairway may be the best play. Being able to keep the ball low and turn it left or right when the lie is decent will really open up the possibilities for recovery.

Practice this, and before long you’ll have a good recovery shot in your arsenal and will be in a much better position to score after an occasional bad drive.