The second swing is Dr Zack Wood. He is a fine persimmon player and has been an ABS student for a couple of years now.
He was shooting 77’s when we met and is now shooting in the 60’s regularly.
Zack is a natural slotter, so it was easy for him to learn the Mod 3 release stuff.
Those are good swing thoughts to visualize.
73 Green Valley CC Jan 7
I thought I had put in an entry for this round but appear not to have. Pretty average day, nothing too great or too bad… but don’t remember a lot about it here a few months later.
68 Blue Rock Springs March 24
After not playing for over two months, I was surprised how well I hit the ball and putted also. I finally got around to replacing my problematic 2 wood shaft with an ABS Pole shaft so now it is properly fitted to the rest of my set. What a difference!
With my former MacGregor M403 I set it up so that I could still draw the ball off the tee, so I left the stock shaft in, just tipped about 2 inches… but this is a long way from what I needed. I found I could still hook the ball with it at times. The new 2 wood is a great MacGregor Velocitized head, flattened by Mike and it just sets up great. Now with the Pole in it, I can still turn the ball right to left because of the loft of the club, but it won’t hook, which is great. So between my driver which now I can always play left to right, and the 2 wood I can play right to left off the tee as needed. I didn’t miss a fairway this day, and that makes golf a lot easier. The course did not play tough as the weather was perfect and virtually no wind. No bogeys and the birdies came from nice pitch shots on two of the par 5’s and added another one with a kick in on #16 after a wedge shot to a foot.
After a bit of problems toward the end of last year, I have spent some time ironing out my loss of wrist cock hold post impact that came from an increase in slotting the club. These two moves must work in tandem and you can’t increase one without the other. I figured out a way to keep working on the SS stuff, while then engaging the increased wrist cock hold into one fluid motion. It’s a very tough workout, but seems to be paying off. This was the first time in a while I felt as comfortable drawing my irons into greens as I do fading them. Doing it is one thing, feeling equally comfortable is the higher ideal.
I have also been involved in getting a new golf ball made that has a balata like cover over a modern ball core. The first prototype test subjects came in and they felt pretty good, but still need some improvements. Should have the second batch back in another month. It would just be wonderful to be able to play a proper golf ball again. It would make the game a lot more enjoyable and open up all the shaping and nuance that has been missing from the game since the era of the Pro V plastic rock balls.
Fortunately I had my camera in my bag and took a couple DTL vids to see if the months of drilling have changed anything visually. Yes and no.
I’ll post a vid here of a 5 iron shot the par 3 15th. I actually hit the pin on this shot which makes it kind of special I suppose to capture such an event. However, I missed the putt from 10 feet!
3/4 baby fade …five iron shot that hit the pin.
Awesome Mod 3 there! I’ll be watching this prior to my daily drilling…
Are you going to be altering the SS module or adding a supplimentary video that illustrates this new workout? Just curious, as I am not even close to being at that point yet.
Also, very interested in this new ball. Can you hint at who the manufacturer/distributor may be?
Thanks again.
John,
To my eyes that is a great swing, perhaps your best. It certainly gives me something to chew on. 
Bodega Bay 68
Most know Bodega Bay for the Hitchcock master film “The Birds”
This morning while stretching on the deck, I witnessed a serious crow fight in the tree that towers above our house. A smaller crow was making large circles then dive bombing at a larger crow sitting on top the highest limb. This went on for several minutes with each assault getting more and more aggressive. Finally the big crow flew away. On the drive out to the course, I drove by the old school house and church featured in the classic film. It was shocking to see a large swarm of crows circling around the steeple of the church. I almost couldn’t believe it. I figured this was some kind of omen about my round of golf today. Either no birdies or lots of them.
It was a perfect afternoon for golf. Warm with a slight cooling breeze coming off the beach. Newman, Nicelikejohny and I had a 2:30 all persimmon and blade ABS tee time. After a brief talk with the pro, he followed us up to the first tee to watch the action and was admiring our persimmons. He knew exactly what I had in my driver. The Gamma Fire insert.
After three putting the first hole, and making bogey on the 4th, I found the feel for the day and pretty much had the ball at the flag most the rest. My new 2 wood took home the medal of honor firing onto the par 5 greens from 260 and 240 out
and I was robbed of an eagle when my putt from the fringe hit softly against a pin that was not properly set into the hole from the group ahead. Nice iron shots dead at the pin including a 3 iron that looked like it could have gone in on the seventh.
5 birdies, two of them two putts and the others kick ins. It wasn’t a day of stellar putting as I struggled with pace. I felt a bit timid as the greens were rolling much faster than they usually do there.
The highlight of the day was the tee shot on the par 4 16th. It’s a classic risk vs reward hole that temps you to go for the green across the ocean marsh… or play safe and out to the right. Feeling good I again pulled my new 2 wood and decided to take it at the green. I choose it over my driver because I could flight it higher and it was slightly downwind. It was 285 yards to the green and after striking it I knew it was going to make it as it just rocketed off the face with a towering trajectory right at the stick. It looked like the ball was going to hit the pin, and Newman asked where it went, and I said it landed 2 feet from the pin. As it turned out it was a bit less then that. That’s probably the best 2 wood shot I have ever struck in my life. I could probably stand there all day and not hit that shot again.
I made a key up and down from a fried egg in the bunker short of 17 sinking a nice 18 footer, the only real putt that fell all day. A nicely played 18th locked in a second straight round in the 60’s. I was pretty happy to play that well having this only being the third round of the year so far. A few more putts going in and it could have gone really low.
Another nice round John. Seems you are flag hunting a lot lately. I think I am going to have to send a persimmon out for the flagpole treatment. 
Now John that’s not the kind of talk we want to hear coming from the teacher 
. You own that hole now!
Great round and thanks for sharing. Love the hat!!!
M3S
Newman took this panoramic pic. I’m way on the left, and struck the 2 wood from there onto the fringe of the green… then was robbed of the eagle due to the pin not being put in correctly 
I’m planning to be up in Napa this fall. I will have to schedule a round at this course. Looks like a great test of golf.
Inspirational post about your round John thanks for sharing!
Awesome golf.
70 Rancho Solano
Mike our club guy and Ron Chalmers who ran Precision Golf Shaft company got out for a round of golf. It was a nice weather day, just a slight breeze.
I hit 8 of the 9 greens on the front side carding back to back birdies on #2 and #3… but gave one back three putting on the 4rth. I drove the ball nicely and it was again wonderful to put my new 2 wood into play for the second round. I picked up another birdie to turn two under par.
One birdie and a bogey on the back nice left me two under for the round. In some ways I feel I played a bit better than I scored mainly because of the fact that I played the four par 5’s one over. I had nice birdie runs on the first three all from around 10 to 15 feet. I like to think I would usually play the par 5’s two under at least, so had I done so it would have been a 67. Certainly less of a pipe dream that hoping I would have played all the par 3’s in two under.
The worst part of the day came when I realized I had lost my car keys somewhere on the golf course. We never did find them and I had to find a complete new ignition switch and matching key on the web as the locksmith was not able to cut one from my ignition.
I’ve been working on a new technique for solidifying my transition along with holding more wristcock through the strike. The work I have been doing has oddly had a very positive effect on my wedge play, or I should say more than I would have expected. I have been hitting more and more wedges in close than I can remember without working on it directly.
Get extra car keys made if you don’t have a backup. While it was fun to ride in the tow truck home, I would have preferred to drive home the cat.
74
Green Valley CC
It had been a couple weeks since playing Solano, but it was another really beautiful afternoon in the Green Valley.
Zack and I teed off with our persimmon drivers and as usual, the comments and stares from the putting green. I hit the first 7 greens and was cruising along nicely at 1 under par. Had many good looks and hit some nice putts that all could have had a better end result… like falling into the cup… but I was happy with my striking.
On the 8th I hit a perfect 2 wood off the tee with a slight draw into perfect position… but my ball was sitting up a bit unusually which is not so desirable with a short iron. I played a 9 iron from about 130, but I really should have hit an 8 to keep the ball down. With the pin tucked up front behind a bunker, I played the 9 at the left edge of the green and tried to cut it into the center of the green and hope it might then take the slope down toward the hole. Instead, I caught it dead flush and it ended up going straight and past the pin on the left fringe of the green beyond the tier. Very tough shot coming down the slope and I never like missing long and left. I putted the ball instead of chipping it which would have been the better option in hindsight. It rolled out about 8 feet past and I missed coming back.
A par on the 9th after another flush drive and I turned even hitting 8 greens and many looks at birdies.
Two of Zack’s club friends joined us on the back nine. So now we had a golf cart, and a guy carrying a 6 pack of beer down the fairway along with the sound of frying pans being launched in all directions. I pounded a drive on #10 that left me only 20 yards behind the clubs longest hitter using the modern driver. But just the fact I am even mentioning this I think effected my feel or vibe of the round. The thought of cranking a drive extra hard to see if I can get one past a modern driver is not even a passing thought I should be entertaining if I am going to play a nice round of golf. I hit a 1 iron 12 feet from the hole on #10 putting for eagle but just missed that putt. After making a nice par saver on #11 after a poor drive, I then had to make another 10 foot par saver on #12 after another poor drive. I miss hit my 6 iron on the par 3 #13 and made bogey this time. The wind was picking up pretty good and that back turn toward the clubhouse on #16 had me having to make another 15 footer to save par after another poor drive. On 17, the tees were all the way back and I hit a 1 iron as good as I could right at the pin but it came up just a hair short and into the front bunker. One of the guys hitting a modern driver used that to just get over the back of the green. No one got to the green with an iron. I didn’t covert and dropped back to two over for the day. On 18 I hit another really nice drive with the 2 wood, 20 yards by anyone in the group which I think raised an eyebrow again, but after an nicely played wedge to about 10 feet, I just missed the putt after it took a huge break right at the last few inches.
The thing I had to think about really is that I prefer a persimmon game where I enjoy the sound of the other players striking the wood and I enjoy watching the ball flight of others as well. I suppose I could simply not look at the ball struck by the frying pans of other players, but I think it would be a bit rude not to. I take my golf seriously, but these are casual games by the standards of most.
I am very much a feel player on the course, and the flow and vibe of a round of golf is important to me to get the most enjoyment out of the experience as a serious player as well as posting a quality score. While I enjoy playing and meeting new people on the course, I do find the experience more rewarding if we are all playing the traditional game within the group. Had these not been friends of Zack’s I am sure we would have just let them play through and we would have continued our round in persimmon and blade bliss.
I only mention this because I feel it did affect my play, and I am not really sure how I would get around it. I enjoyed the company of the other guys… very friendly and fun… but it didn’t help the feel and flow of the original group of just Zack and I out on the course.
John,
I enjoy reading this thread. I don’t think the question has been asked before but have you had a chance to review your posts for educational purposes? Have you noticed anything about your game? Any repeating patterns that you might be close to breaking through? Any areas that are glaring obvious that stick out?
Appreciate it
