A Trip To The Desert
As you readers will know, Wes has been on a three-month quest to be more fit and healthy as well as get his golf game in better shape, too. He’s done… “okay”. He’s lost 12 pounds, and that helps, stretching more, and he’s really working hard with his golf coach (and our contributor), Chris Stoudt.
He headed out west for his annual winter break at the end of December to the warmth of Palm Springs. Let’s hear, now, how he made out.
To begin, I just love Palm Springs in the winter. Golf everywhere. Nearly always guaranteed fine weather. This trip was no exception. I managed to squeeze seven rounds in over a two week session. I had to hustle back to New York to prepare for our trip to the PGA Show in Orlando that Tommy had so perfectly organized for us. An article is coming from him recapping the trip. Spoiler alert!!: It was GREAT! Back to Palm Springs…
I’ve been working with Chris Stoudt really diligently and took seven lessons from early November to departure on December 24. You’ll recall that the grip change was major. Turn more. Shallow the swing. Stop “casting”. Ugh…necessary, and frankly, hard! I committed to it and have stayed with it. Stayed is a loose word. More on that in a few. I’ll not give you a recap on all my rounds, but here’s a few that’ll give you some insight into my game, as well as how I think we should approach these hard, target golf tournament layouts.
First round in the desert was Desert Willow and the exquisite Firecliff course.
Nervous to take the new “stuff” to the course, I confess to letting my old issues creep into the swing, and my thinking. My first nine holes was a disaster. Simply atrocious. Two double bogeys and three bogeys. Two one putt pars. Nothing easy. Work.
At the turn, I texted Chris. I was answered with “Wes, one thing at a time. Grip.” He’s not a long conversation kinda guy! So, here’s a GreyDogGolf lesson: work on one simple thing at a time. We’re not 35 years old and can’t multi-process mental/physical easily. It was so odd (and nice!) to walk to the tenth tee and say to myself “start with the grip”. (In my bag, I had a glove that I use for my lessons. Chris had marked a black dot on the palm where he wanted the club butt to rest. I grabbed it and put it on!) Once I had the grip “stronger” all the other work came flooding back. And it took hold. Four straight pars. A bogey. A birdie. Two sloppy bogeys and a par to finish. 79. We trademarked a term, “ego memory” and it is on point!
Second round was at PGA West, Stadium.
Why do I do this? Let’s start with this. I play this Pete Dye torture-ground frequently. I hate/mostly hate/occasionally love. It’s hard for a Grey Dog. Why? Length? Sure, a bit. Greens? Nope, they’re fair and fairly easy. (Pace over line!) Then why, you ask, is it so hard to post a good score? Answer: we’re coming into the greens (approach shots) with clubs not designed for the green complexes. What, you’ll ask, is Wes talking about??? Here it is: Third hole…hit a great drive…have 180-200 left into a green that has no margin left or right. And…it’s hard to “run” in a shot that needs to do a thirty-degree left turn on the ground. The tour lads are knocking 6 or 7 irons (or less) into the green. Us, frequently, for me it’s a 4h or if wind is cranking, a five wood. See? It’s hard. The golf course is attackable by the tour fellows because of their length off the tee. Anecdotally, I was awful on the par five holes. My second shots, usually with a 3 or 5 wood, invariably ran off the fairways into some sort of evilness. So, I played miserably. 85. *maybe😊
Playing smart on these target courses is actually very hard for me. The car-ride-home thought was, “what if I laid back to 60-70 yards on every approach of more than 190 yards?” As Tommy says “Grey Dog Golf is about a par putt on every hole.” Hmm…he may be 100% right on these target courses. TPC Sawgrass as well. Scottsdale. Anything with Pete Dye’s name!!
The Quarry at La Quinta … the “best course in the desert.”
It starts calmly. And there’s openings into the green! Perfect conditioning. Fast and true greens…large. It’s just a wonderful (and a privileged) experience. A longtime pal is the member, and a terrific player. We had a little team-match with two other chaps. Ball down. Putt ‘em out! Best ball. Partner golf, match play. This is what we wrote about before, and why the Ryder Cup excites us…it’s the game we play! Readers, you’ll be pleased to hear I played well, my best round in the desert with a closing of 11 straight pars. A “no birdie” 76. Learnings to share? Yes. I had a conversation with my caddie before the round, on the range. I was “open” with what I was working on, and what I needed help with. My vulnerabilities. I said, “tell me before every swing this word: ‘grip’”. I also asked him to give me two numbers, not three, on my approaches. First, the carry number he wanted me to land it, and then, the “safety number”, even if it was short of the green! GreyDogGolf, style, folks! Here’s a great reflection. On a long par four on the back, my safety number was OVER the green! He said “Wes, wind in our face a full club…you’ve got 168 to the spot. Or I want a 200 swing, boss, right over the ‘effin flag!” Did I mention the barranca in front of the green??
I had a fine trip. We’ll look at a GreyDogGolf trip to the desert and have 16-20 of y’all out for a few days. I have strong opinions about the target-golf course design. I’m a traditionalist. I play my best golf on either links or old design courses. I like the ground and love the wind. But I get it. It’s exciting to be on 17 at Sawgrass or PGA West. Island greens! But, for me, show me a better set of par threes than Pebble. Maidstone? Newport CC?
We’ll do more of these trip reports. I took my lessons to the course. I saw the penalty for being stubborn and recalcitrant. I focused on a few simple and easy to remember words. Grip. Carry distance. Safety distance. Putt with speed first, line second. We believe it’s working!