18 + 9 = 27

Today was the first day since my last lesson playing on a golf course. I played with fellow Zapponians Charles and Rob at the Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. This is my favorite golf club in Las Vegas - it's challenging and the scenary is awesome!

On Friday, I went to a practice session at GolfTEC to work on my swing while utilizing the video to make sure that I was keeping my shoulders level in my backswing. But, since my last lesson, I haven't seen my ball flight. Needless to say, it was a rough start this morning. I showed up a little more than an hour before tee time to warm-up and work on my shoulder turn at the range and I wasn't hitting very well. I was really concerned that I was going to have a miserable golf day. However, once we got on the course, things slowly started turning around for the better.

Once again I chose to look at today as practice and focused on working on the new changes in my swing. I'll tell you, I had some bad shots and I had some GREAT shots. When I set-up properly, kept my hands and arms loose, and kept my shoulders level in my backswing, I made great contact and really hit the ball long and accurately. When I didn't, well.... "not so much"

We played 18 holes, came in, and went right back out for another 18 holes. Unfortunately, the course started to get backed up and we decided to call it quits after 9. Not bad, 27 holes in 115 degree temperature.

I love my instructor, Tim Sam, at GolfTEC. Through his instruction, I can really feel my swing come together and when I do things right, I really launch the ball. My average yardage on my 6-iron was about 165 yards before. Today, i was hitting it about 175 yards! The best part, i wasn't even swinging that hard. This newly found power is definitely from the changes Tim made in my hip turn. The good contact and accuracy comes from a level shoulder turn. I'm excited to see how my game is going to further improve. After all, we haven't even worked on my downswing and follow through yet.