Another November Round of Golf

I managed to squeeze in yet November round of golf today after work at Green Oaks in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It as breezy, and temperatures were in the low 40s, but the sun was out so it didn’t feel quite so bad.

The last several weeks, I have been suffering from a case of the pitching and chipping shanks. The shanks are never good, but these were the worst. I’m not particularly long off the tee, so my second shot is often a longer iron or hybrid. Longer clubs in turn mean more missed greens. With my usual short game, a missed green was never a big issue because I could usually get up and down. I regularly hole out from just off the green.

But then the shanks. On nearly every pitch or chip, the ball squirted off to the right. Scores soared. On my recent trip to South Carolina, I gave up on pitching and chipping and instead bumped the ball to the greens with a hybrid, a la Todd Hamilton. That worked, to a point.

On this day, before heading out, I mentioned my problem to the club’s Director of Golf, Justin Blair. He offered a couple of quick suggestions, and as the round progressed, I was delighted to see major and immediate improvement. My short game isn’t back to where it was two months ago, but it is headed in the right direction.

Unfortunately, snow is predicted for the weekend, so I won’t have a chance to follow up.