I’ve been scoring pretty well over the past several weeks with seven rounds in the 82-83 range but haven’t been able to put together eighteen holes steady enough to break 80.  Yesterday, I started out with a two-over par 38 on the front nine but then went eight over for the next six holes and settled for an 83. I went out this morning just because it looked like with the weather and our schedule I might not be able to play again this week.

The round began with a poor drive left into the trees and a two-putt from six feet for a bogie. But surprise, surprise, I shot even par golf for the next nine holes and played the back nine at four over par for a 77, one of my best scores ever.  It was a very unspectacular round for such a solid score.  I had just one drive over 220 yards and my longest made putt was just 7 feet; no chips ins from off the green.  My success today was due to unusually good short iron and wedge play that yielded 10 greens in regulation and several birdie opportunities, two of which I was able to convert.  The most exciting shot was a 7 iron that stopped just 14 inches from the cup on the 156 yard par-three, 17th hole.  I don’t know if I’ve ever had a tap-in birdie before.

This was just my seventh round under 80 but the 5th in the past eleven months.  In six rounds so far in July, my average score is 83.  I hope I can keep it up the rest of the summer.

In spite of the miserable spring weather and some very shaky scores (including a 100 and a 99 at Mt. Si) the first half of 2011 ended up as my best early golf season yet. I was averaging about 93 for the first three months of the year before I read J.F. Tamayo’s Finally: The Golf Swing’s Simple Secret. It’s a funky sounding title but the advice has helped me immensely in making better, more consistent contact.  In the second quarter of the year my scoring average improved to 89.3 even though I played a handful of more difficult courses.

I’ve played two rounds in a day a few times but in every case one of the two rounds wasn’t a very good score. So I decided to try it again today at my local course, Mt. Si.  I played very steady golf for the first 27 holes. The the morning round produced a credible 83 (40+43).  I opened the second round a 42 on the front but couldn’t get another par on the back nine and ended up with an 88.

After months of playing in cold, rainy conditions, I finally found some good weather and interesting golf courses during our trip back to Michigan and Ohio.  And, thankfully, I played respectable golf most of the time.

Fatigue finally got me on the back nine yesterday and I had to struggle to get that 89 at Mt. Si (sinking a 20 foot putt on #18).

I’ve played about six rounds of golf so far this year but given the poor weather and dicey course conditions, I’ve treated them as practice. For the first time since about October of last year I seemed to find a steady swing and had a good day of ball-striking.  I managed four pars over the first six holes, just missing birdies on three of them.  My failure to keep up putting practice over the winter has been apparent as I two-putted from inside 10 feet four times and settled for an 88.

Well, I’ve lost the touch I’ve had most of the summer.  For six rounds in the first half of the month I’m averaging 87.5, an increase of more than two strokes over August and September scores.  If I take out the single round of 78 it’s even worse: 89.4 average. Very disappointing was the round of Oct. 14 when after two birdies led to a 40 on the front nine at Mt. Si, I collapsed to a 46 on the back to finish with 86.

Since shooting a 76 on Sept. 15 I haven’t pushed close to 80 again, until today. After a very shaky 93 on Wednesday I needed to get back out and today was a lovely morning with almost no one else on the M. Si course. Starting off with two, one-putt pars felt great but then I messed a four-footer for par on #3. Then it was par-bogey-par-par-par-par for holes 4 through 9 to finish the front with a 38. Then bogey, par on #10 and #11.  So my head was filled with visions of an easy sub 80 round.  However, double bogeys on # 12 and #13 meant I needed to par out the rest of the way to shoot 79.  After an easy par on #14 I cooked a nine iron well past the green on #15 and was looking at an ugly lob wedge to a green that slopes dramatically to the front.  Predictably the wedge shot trickled slowly to the front edge nearly 60 below the hole.  Miracle of miracles I made the longest putt of my life to save par. Following a tap-in par on #16 I made a 13 foot putt for par on #17. The round ended with a birdie chip in from some 15 feet off the green on #18 for an impressive 78.

The second half of September was another stretch of solid golf. I averaged 84.0 over ten rounds, just a fraction over the 83.5 average for the first three weeks of August.