I can't get home on 400+-yard par-4s.
I have very mixed enthusiasm about playing golf as a 70-year old, because I'm losing distance every year. It was only 5-years ago I could reach a 225-yard green with a 5-wood, even a 3-iron if I had a tail wind. Now I tee it up with the driver and reach that green only if I really catch it on the sweet spot.
I'm working out at the gym and I'll bet I'm stronger than when I was 65.
Anyway, my enthusiasm to play is low because I have real trouble reaching par-4s over 400-yards. Then I see the tour on TV playing 500+-yard par-4s. That kinda make one fell like a pip-squeak, doesn't it?
Back when I was still playing hockey (until 1992), I realized I had trouble finishing a shift without worrying I'd collapse on the ice (shifts were between 30-seconds and one minute). Having moved to Florida, I was able to give up hockey gracefully (at age 52). I can't escape golf that easily with golf courses all around me, and many courses I can always play for free (as their consultant).
So, as a 70-year old, at least I get to move up to the white tees, but the courses are still 6500-yards with two or three par-4s I can only reach with a really great drive and a 3-wood. However, my problem is intensified, because I was never really a par golfer. I was once down to a 2 handicap and stayed around 5 for several years, but now I have real trouble breaking 80. In fact 83 is looking like a good score for me today.
But I would like to score in the 70's once in a while, and not just because I sunk a bunch of 30-footers. It's tough when to par the 400-yard holes I can only do it with an OPP (one putt par).
Now I'm trying to improve my flexibility, because I know (and used to teach) senior golfers that they lose distance and flight height because their back-swings generally get flatter and shorter with age - due to lack of flexibility. In fact, I went to this great You Tube site ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaDXNjFjjnU ) showing the six best stretch exercises. I'm working on those stretches with the hope of increasing my distance by adding to my flexibility. My goal is to reach that 225-yard green with a 3-wood.
It's November 22, 2010. I'll note here the day I reach the 225-yard green after doing all these stretches. If I score in the seventies on at least 26 putts, I'll bragg about that too.
Keep in mind in may never happen.
Mike
Hello from Mike Kahn: I'm all about the golf business and the game. As my distance off the tee shrinks, apparently participation in golf is also shrinking. I've seen it all and done it all in the golf business, yet I've been a recreational player 99% of the time. The 1% was when I was a Canadian PGA member in the early 60's. As I blog along, probably mostly talking to myself, my comments might be picked up by a blind squirrel - and maybe even post a reply.
No comments:
Post a Comment