Duffs to Darts – 9 Month Check-In

To say month 9 was a success, I would be lying to you. I put in work on lunch breaks with BirdieBall’s. I would go hit pitch shots in the field near the office and work on putting at night. That’s nothing new but as much as I enjoy practicing, I want to play an actual round. Before I get into the full recap of the month, here were the goals for September of Duffs to Darts.

1. Log two 9-hole rounds (One away from my home course)
2. Log one 18-hole round (I have a pass to a course, so this is FREE!)
3. Continue 30 minutes of putting practice 5 days a week.
4. PLAY SMART!

Duffs to Darts- 9 Month Check In

duffstodarts Week 37 is also my 9 month check in. I had a bad month leading into the final 4 weeks of this project. Lets recap! Full month recap and month ten goals. https://golficity.com/duffs-to-darts-9-month-check-in-2/

The goals for September had to do with one main thing…. Playing golf and logging scores. The day I recorded the 8 months check in video and released my goals for the month I went out and played 9 holes at a course I don’t usually play. I’d played there before but I don’t like to go there much. I brought my son out with me and I had high hopes for another positive 9-hole round.

By the second hole my natural fade that I have been playing all year had disappeared into a smooth draw. Not a big deal if you expect it. Sucks when you have OB left and you start your ball down the left side expecting it to come back to the right. That tee shot went OB. I hit another one down the left side of the fairway and that ball was eaten by the golf gods. Couldn’t find it at all.

This continued thought the round. Tee shots and 2^nd shots from the fairway would get gobbled up by the earth or disappear into the freshly fallen leaves. I probably shouldn’t have taken penalty shots every time I would drop a new ball in the area, I saw it land. I most likely should have used winter rules for myself but I didn’t. The frustration compounded and by the time I was done I didn’t want to look at another golf ball. I was ready to put that round behind me and focus on an upcoming round with a couple of local golf media guys.

Tee time was set, day was picked out. All we had to do was go and play. WRONG! Storms started rolling into the area almost daily and what was supposed to be an enjoyable round of golf turned into a canceled outing.

Sadly heavy rains last week and flooding has put an official end to my Saturday round. Well at least the round I intended to play. I guess I’ll log a quick 9 at my home track and get some extra family time. pic.twitter.com/6t98AsjE3Q

— ed_ditusa (@edward_ditusa) September 20, 2019

The course was flooded and ruled unplayable. Not to mention it had stormed every weekend in September (at least it felt like it did) in my area. I ended up playing just 9-holes all month. If it wasn’t for the BirdieBall’s I wouldn’t have hit anything beyond a SW or a Putter in September.

The Final month

As frustrating as the September turn of events was, I’m going to look at it as a possible good thing. Because I haven’t played any golf in a month, I’m well rested and anxious to get out and play. Not like golf is a chore but making a solid effort to practice and play golf every single day since January I’m finding myself looking forward to the winter in some ways. I’m going to be so excited to play golf this month, the joy of playing will be at an all time high. It’s the last month of the project so it’s time to test myself by playing full rounds of 18 and not short 9 holes rounds at my local track. I have spent the last few months planning my first ever golf trip with my Father in law. It starts on October 4^th and we have three courses lined up to test ourselves and most of all, my progress. We will be playing TPC Deere Run in Silvis Illinois on October 4^th, The Tournament Club of Iowa on October 5^th and Otter Creek in Des Moines on October 6^th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by ed_ditusa (Duffs to Darts) (@ed_ditusa) on Sep 29, 2019 at 9:53am PDT

I have my raingear packed and ready to go. If we don’t have a tornado or lightning, we will be out there. As a lesson I learned from the fiasco of losing balls in the fairway due to leaves and my yearlong experiment of trying different balls I have decided to play just one ball for the remainder of the year. For me the ball I have had the most success with has been the Callaway Chrome Soft Truvis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by ed_ditusa (Duffs to Darts) (@ed_ditusa) on Sep 13, 2019 at 11:57am PDT

This ball has been the most consistent for me off the tee. I hit the ProV further, but the name of the game is consistency. Not to mention I can see the ball with the falling leaves. Playing just one type of ball can only help me. I’ve practiced all my putting at home with this ball as well so visually there will be no change from the PuttOut to the putting green.

To round out the final month of this project and most likely my golfing season I have a round planned with the owners of Sub 70 Golf. They have been a big part of my progress and my game. Because this is the first ever year, I dedicated myself this aggressively to my game, it makes sense to play the final* round of the year with the guys who made this project possible. That round will be played at their Country Club where my clubs had been tested before the company launched.

I’m not going to set a goal for this month other than shooting as low as possible. I don’t want to put a number on it. The more relaxed I am, the better I’ll do. I heard an expression once that goes “if you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.” I’m banking on all the practice and prep I’ve deposited in my game this year. It’s time to cash in on lower scores. Until next months total project recap… Keep Grinding!