UPDATE: Duffs to Darts, My Month 4 Improvement Update

Now that spring is finally here (kind of) its time to start seeing if all the work I’ve been putting in for the last 4 months is starting to pay off. The Duffs to Darts project is starting to motivate more people to work on their own game. I was even given the opportunity to share the goals of this project with former Golficity guest Ricky Potts earlier this month. Here is a refresher on the goals for month 4 and how they played out.

• Two outside range sessions. One focused on short game and putting.
• One focused on just driver as this is a major issue for me.
• Play 9 Holes with my Shot Scope V2.
• Once a week parking lot practice at work (I’m thinking Fridays).
• Stretch goal would be to play 18 holes.

With all the practice I was doing I was confident that my one and only round of golf would go well. Here is the sad truth. It was a disaster. Of the 18 tee shots I had maybe three decent ones. I didn’t hit one solid driver. This is a problem for me, so the logical solution is to club down right? 3 wood and hybrid suffered the same fate. This put me in a position to fail on almost every single hole of the round. Hole after hole the frustration mounted to the point that I was topping every tee shot so bad, I would have been better off throwing the ball.

That’s the negative take away from the round however I am a glass half full kind of guy. I can choose to dwell on the negatives or use them to focus on what needs to get better. I am also choosing to think about the strength of the round. 4 months of indoor short game practice has paid off. Every shot inside 100 yards (for the most part) I approached with zero anxiety. I was able to chip the ball to where I wanted it to land on the green. I nearly chipped a few in and my putting was lights out. every lag putt was inside a 3-foot circle and I only 3 putted twice. I had a few one putts as well. This gives me confidence that WHEN I fix my issue off the tee, I will be scoring lower immediately.

The main takeaway from month four is to just keep the ball in play and all the worries will go away.  Because I have a limited amount of time to lower the handicap I have to play more rounds of golf. Time is hard to come by for me. What I can make time for is 9-hole rounds. They will count towards my handicap and I can get out and back to the house before 9 am on most weekends. That will free up family time and allow me the best opportunity to reach my goal. Here are the goals for this month.

Month 5  – Goals

• Log at least two 9-hole rounds.
• Play one 18-hole round.
• Work on tee shots before every round of golf.
• Average putts per hole at 2.0 or below.

I was only able to play one round of golf and I didn’t do one parking lot practice. The reason for this is simple, the weather here in the northern suburbs of Chicago has been horrible. It seems like it has rained or snowed almost every single day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ed DiTusa (Duffs to Darts) (@ed_ditusa) on Apr 14, 2019 at 6:21pm PDT

If it’s not snowing or raining, it’s so windy I can probably fly a refrigerator. When it would end up being a decent day to play I was either at work or was over committed on the weekend to do anything. It’s so bad with the wind that my two outdoor range sessions provided some added difficulties. I took my son with me on both dedicated practice sessions. He’s starting to ask to play so I am giving him every opportunity to get exposed to the game.

The first practice session was three hours of short game. This included pitch shots from various distances. Bump and runs. Short side chips and I finished with some putting drills. It was windy as I mentioned but not so bad that I couldn’t document it for this project (Duffs to Darts- Short game range session). The second range session was focused mainly on tee shots with the Driver, 3 Wood and 3 hybrid. I have made no secret that the weakest part of my game is off the tee. I got the biggest basket of balls available and went to work. The big issue with this was that I had to deal with even more wind than the last session. I battled the wind and I was seeming to get my draw back in order.

• Log at least two 9-hole rounds.
• Play one 18-hole round.
• Work on tee shots before every round of golf.
• Average putts per hole at 2.0 or below.

One of my local courses is about 10 minuets away. This place has three separate 9-hole tracks and a driving range. I can work on tee shots before each round and play 3 different courses at one location. I have already contacted shot scope to get all three courses mapped so I’m set there. The only thing left to do is find a discounted tee time on supreme golf. After my recent play this season I am a bit worried regarding my goals for Duffs to Darts. My short game is where it needs to be. Once I correct the issue off the tee I should be in an excellent position. As long as the weather can start to stay positive I know I can make some serious improvements in a short amount of time.

Until next time… keep grinding!

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duffstodarts 4 month check in was a bit of a slap in the face. We have a long way to go but we have seen some validation in our shortgame. What goals did I hit? What goals are set for month 5? watch and find out!!