I didn’t think it was possible to improve on 2010’s low mark of 12.0 but today my handicap index is down to 10.7.  I’m delighted with the improvement but it is due in part, I think, to having played Mt. St golf course so often (over 500 times) and having mastered most every problem it can present.  My average score there since April is 84.4; at all other courses it’s 87.5.  Of course, the average slope rating for those “other” courses is 121 significantly more difficult than Mt. SI’s 117.

Since I’ve been playing well this summer I decided to try my hand at the Mt. Si Club Championship, a two-day, 36-hole event.  On day one, Saturday, I struggled mightily eventually salvaging an 87.  I figured that I would need at least an 80 to even have a chance of finishing in the money for the tournament.  Things didn’t look too promising when I three-putted the second hole for a bogey. But I managed par on six straight holes finishing the front nine with another bogey to make the turn at 38.

The tenth hole has been a particular nemesis for me lately including a triple-bogey 7 on Saturday.  A solid four iron left me in perfect position but I yanked a nine iron into a dreaded grass bunker left of the green.  My chip out left a 16-foot side-hill putt that I sank for par.  Following bogey on #12 and birdie on #13 and par on #14 I saved par on #15 with a 18 foot putt from off the green.

I stood on the par-five sixteenth tee just two over par thinking all I needed to do was keep the ball in play for really low score.  Of course, I pulled my tee shot well left but miraculously the ball caromed off the trees and landed back in the fairway.  A second three-wood left me still 177 yards from the green. I stuck a five iron fifteen feet from the hole and two-putted to save another par. A bogey on #17 and par on #18 brought me to the clubhouse with a personal best three over par 75.

My two-day total of 162 left me tied with another competitor and I lost in the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to finish second.  What a fun weekend!

I played OK golf for July with two 80’s and a 77 at Mt. Si.  I was especially happy with the 91, 84 day at Gold Mountain on the 24th.  The combined 175 was seven strokes better than my previous best double back in 2009.

I have never felt that I benefited much from golf lessons; heaven knows I’ve taken scores of them from half a dozen different instructors.  But my game seems kind of stuck especially off the tee where I just don’t hit enough fairways.  So I decided to try Matt Campbell, the head golf pro at Mt. Si GC.  I felt like I got more out of this session than any other I’ve ever had.  The key points were very basic: more athletic stance at setup, swing from the feet up, relax arms and upper body, and stand closer to the ball at address.  I certainly zinged a bunch of solid shots during the lesson. We’ll see if it carries over to the course over the next few weeks.

Another golf mystery.  Greeted by the first rain-free morning since Tuesday I decided to try a quick round at Mt. Si.  There was a spot open just as I arrived at the pro shop so I teed off right out of the car; no warm up, no practice putts.  After bogeys on the first two holes I pared six of the next seven to finish the front nine in 39.  Things continued to go well with bogey-par-par-bogey on holes ten through thirteen.  As I approached the 14th tee I was thinking I had a good chance to break 80.  Amazingly I went par, par, par, birdie, bogey to card 38 on the back nine.

The 77 is my second lowest score ever and the first time I’ve been in the 30s on both nines in the same round.

June 3, 2102 scorecard