I went out on Sunday Morning in the drizzle and 45 degree chill to see how my first round of 2010 would go. Equipped with my new-to-me Titleist DCIs and a bag full of new Top Flights, I got a 9:20 tee at Collins Hill. My father-in-law and a friend of his (both of whom play in the low 80s) went out with me. I haven't even been to the range this year so breaking the seal with a cold and soggy round made me a little nervous to start, especially playing with guys who can get into the 70s. I began the day with a drive in the fairway on No. 1 (my first 4 drives were in the fairway) and nearly escaped triple bogeys all day. The greens were swamps and every putt I attempted on the front side came up a foot short. But over all, I made good contact all day with. I ended up shooting a 49 on the front and came into the turn with high hopes of playing a better back side and finishing under 100 for the round. A nice round for me, especially since it was the first round of the year and in less than optimal conditions. Alas, it was not meant to be. My wife had her first tennis match of the year at 1:45 and had to get home by 12:45 to watch the kids. I played holes 10-14 at +6. After looking at the clock, and the 6-some playing in front of us, we decided that we needed to skip a couple of holes in the hopes of moving faster and finishing. We skipped 15 and 16, and played 17, which I bogeyed, to finish the round.
Throughout the round I continued to hit long, slow slices.I would line them up so they would begin on the left of center of the fairways and they would end up on the right side of the fairway and often in the rough. Scotty Powell, the friend of my Father-in-Law, Ron Finley, showed me that I was pulling my head off the ball a split-second too quickly causing me to open up too soon and therefore open up my club face at contact. He told me to stay down just a split-second longer. I tried it and it worked. the ball stayed straighter. I still need to work on keeping my front foot down, though. They also recommended I get a leg weight and practice with it to keep my foot still. But overall, I felt good about the round and would have liked to seen how it would have ended which the greens drying up on the backside and scores for all 18 holes.
