My game and score appear to have no connection anymore. I did not play well today, but I was net even-par. My wedge game and putting overcompensated for a still uneasy driver and middling iron play. The funny thing is if I hit a few putts just a touch harder and two putts don’t lip out I am gross even-par while being mediocre getting to the green.

I went to the driving range yesterday to work on my new driver configuration and try to cut out the hooks. I felt like I developed a little go-to baby cut.

https://streamable.com/svhndx

However, one range session isn’t really enough to engrain something into your muscle memory. I am just not comfortable on the tee right now, and it showed early. I am way too “handsy” right now. I’m flipping my hands around contact which is causing the club to shut too much and the ball to hook hard. To equate it to baseball, I feel a bit like I am reaching out and pulling a hooking line drive down the left-field line instead of hitting it back up the middle or into the right-center field gap.

I hooked the first two drives of the day. However, I played my baby cut well on a few holes. I had back-to-back drives of 325 and 310 yards with the baby cut without even trying to step on it on 13 and 14.

The 13th and 14th were also a good microcosm of why I didn’t feel like I played well today. I had just an 8-iron in on the par 5 13th on my second shot but didn’t make good contact and left it short. A decent chip left me with a makeable 10 ft birdie putt. I rolled it just past the left edge because it didn’t break and had to settle for par. On 14, I hit another great drive to the 100-yard stake. It left me between clubs and I tried to hit a knockdown pitching wedge. It flew the green and left me with a tricky chip back down the hill. I hit a good one, but I left the par putt short right in the heart. I did this way too many times today.

I can blame swirling wind that might have caused some wrong club selection or how hard to hit balls for some of the missed greens today, but I also was just a little off with ball striking and my swing. It might have been some carryover from working on the driver swing on Sunday. I guess we’ll find out in time if it was just a tough day or something else falling apart while I try to fix something.

I wasn’t close to three-putting anything today, but I only really made two one-putts that could be classified as outside of tap-in range. I rolled it well today, and I am not going to get mad that the chipping disguised my putting a little today. But if I was a little better about making sure I got the ball to the hole, I might have made a couple more bogeys with longer second putts, but I would have definitely made at least a couple birdies.

Hopefully, I can build off the good wedge play and the baby cut tomorrow. I am playing Stonewolf Golf Club in Fairview Heights, Illinois tomorrow. I haven’t played it in years, but it is a Jack Nicklaus course like the one I grew up on, so hopefully it feels familiar and I have a day.