I spent the last four weeks tracking my game with Arccos Golf for the second month in a row. If you missed the first update you can read that here. For the start of this year, and for my first batch of tracked rounds, I’ve really struggled with the driver. That struggle found its way into other parts of the bag, and I felt pretty lost with my game. I knew that every other club in my bag was dialed, but the driver woes brought down everything. Plus I was missing greens from like 25 yards. Not great. Let’s dive into the latest batch of data. Spoiler alert: all smiles over here.
I played 10 rounds of golf in the month of May, and I have to say I was on a little bit of a heater as far as locations go. I started off the month playing at Arcadia Bluffs, followed by former Korn Ferry stop Sycamore Hills, and finished this batch of rounds with my first ever trip to Pebble Beach. I shot my lowest ever 9 holes at Sycamore Hills by making birdie on the first three holes and chipping in for birdie on the 8th, and by the time Pebble came around my off-the-tee performance was more than dialed; now with some additional tools at the top end of the bag. Here’s a look at my overall performance for the month. Oh, and I’m putting like a MONSTER right now thanks to Stephen Sweeney’s help.
The biggest changes you’ll see are that I’m no longer losing strokes off the tee, and I’m gaining crazy strokes on the greens. My putting right now is truly unreal. I’ve never in my life felt this comfortable on the putting surface. I’ve got my custom TaylorMade Spider locked and loaded and it’s going to be very very tricky to get it out of my bag. Combined with an amazing day spent with our new team member Stephen Sweeney, it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about. It makes planning up and downs less stressful, and if I am on the green in regulation (which is an issue you can see in the strokes gained) there’s a good chance I’m giving the hole a scare on the birdie putt.
Now let’s talk about the approach and short game strokes gained losses. I have to be honest, it took some diving into the data to really figure out what I thought was going wrong here, and with the approach the conclusion that I have drawn is that I continually second guess my club numbers. I’m trying to be way too specific about what number I’m hitting instead of playing for a +- 3-yard target which is something that’s been suggested to me by many coaches.
For example. A 171-yard pin is a weird distance for me. An 8-iron isn’t quite going to get there but a 7-iron is definitely going to get there. Too many times I’ll try and slam an 8-iron to the hole, or fail to choke up on a 7-iron, rather than just hitting a slightly off-speed 7-iron and being okay going a little long.
I also need to do a better job managing where the hole is on the green, which is something the Arccos Smart Laser has helped with a TON. Knowing where the pin is on the green is huge, and it’s made the last couple of rounds a bit better. In that same 171-yard scenario I’d hit an 8-iron if it’s a back pin, or a 7-iron if it’s a front pin. With the way I’m putting, I’ve got plenty of confidence to get the ball close, but not being on the green in regulation takes that super power out of my hands, and I need to make sure I utilize it as much as possible.
You can see here in this shot, the stats are unfortunately no better at shorter distances either. Big improvements to be made as far as strategy goes in those areas. The ball striking and the equipment are not the problem; awareness is. It’s even apparent in this screenshot that I just need to get the ball on the green. My GIR proximity is so much better than when I second guess myself. Shocker.
Going back to a more positive note to end our monthly blog here, I’m going to show off the driving and putting stats. Getting off the tee confidently and knowing that I’m eliminating 3-putts has been an incredible confidence booster.
All in all I’m happy with the month. I feel like I’m in a much better position to succeed, and thanks to the data and some heavy thinking I understand what I need to do to score even better and make sure that we can get the handicap into a nice spot and continue to play better and better golf. I’m aiming to shoot a couple of rounds below par this year, and that goal feels more in reach than it ever has before. I’m looking forward to June. Lots of golf lined up!
Arccos Golf Smart Laser Rangefinder
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