A good week at the office...

My game over the last few weeks has been solid, due in large part to increased practise sessions in all areas of the game, and improved strength & fitness (Bodytorq sessions were very quickly abandoned, but running and home weights have been undertaken). The consistency in my overall game is noteworthy, the results of which paid off in my golf last week when I was fortunate enough to collect prizes in successive competitions.

On Wednesday 18th February, our weekly Manchester & District Golf Alliance fixture brought us to my home course at Bolton Old Links, for a 4-Man Team event. Conditions on the day were excellent, and the course was in great condition. Along with my playing partners, Eddie Jordan, Dean Hibbert and Ste Williams, we shot an excellent 85 points. At the time of knocking in our final putt of the round, we felt the score might just come up a little short for a prize, however, it transpired that it was good for second prize, on a card playoff against our fellow Old Linkers, Ashton, Bolton, Gaskell and Burke.

My next competition, the first singles competition of the year, was a Singles Stableford. The game was once again in good shape. Three dropped shots on the outward nine holes contributed to a level par 18 points. Only two shots were dropped on the back nine however, resulting in a total of 38 points for the round. I was pleasantly surprised the following morning when logging into Masterscoreboard.co.uk, to see my name at the top of the results sheet. Better still, I noticed I had beaten my good golfing friend, Steve Jackson by a single place!

Time to get serious...

Well, it's been a while! In a bid to make real inroads into reducing my handicap, I felt that a return to the blog was appropriate in order to give myself (and anyone else that may find a hint of interest) a written progressional log.

Since the last posts over two years ago, I have reduced my handicap to 7 (currently 7.3). I very nearly achieved my season goal of attaining a handicap of 6 in 2013 by reaching 6.5, but that was as low as I got and it remains so to this day. I have however, been fortunate enough to win a total of five 'board' competitions in my four years playing at Bolton Old Links Golf Club, and represented the club in a foursomes team competition, playing with Paul Hodgkiss in a 5&3 victory against two Turton players. The 2014 season highlight was winning the Blackburn Trophy for the second time in four years.

New clubs have recently been purchased, and it's now time to make a serious push toward my goals. Last evening I attended my first gym session with Bodytorq, a gruelling hour of push-ups, squats, crunches, planks and related weight exercises to increase core strength. If I can remain motivated, this could possibly be the missing link in my efforts to achieve improved results on the golf course. Like the saying goes: "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got"!

A perfect start...

There were no tears as my final putt at the eighteenth dropped into the hole, but as I entered my score of 77 (net 68) into the competition computer, it was clear I had a chance of winning the first medal competition of the new season. It was now just a matter of waiting for the results to be published on the Master Scoreboard website.

A winning start to the 2012 season

During a round of competitive golf in which opportunities arise to make a charge, there is generally a defining moment that wins - or loses- you the tournament. When I won the Blackburn Trophy last year, two specific incidents come to mind, one being my first ever eagle at the par 5 thirteenth during the first round, and the second was the way in which I recovered after almost throwing the tournament away at the sixteenth hole of the second round.

My overall play of the Monthly Medal 1st Round was solid, but the defining moment on this occasion came at the par 3 fourteenth. Having just saved par at generally easy par 5 thirteenth, I struck a thin 6 iron into the front bunker. To say that my confidence at present, from bunkers is low would be an understatement, and anyone offering a bogey four at this moment would have been in danger of losing their hand! I did manage to get the ball out of the hazard in one attempt, leaving myself a considerable putt however of some 30 or so feet. The ball never left the hole, and I never looked back, finishing the challenging final four holes with a solitary bogey.

A brief history of my golfing handicap

A few doubts had begun to creep in over the last couple of weeks, as to whether or not I could succeed in my 2012 goal of getting my handicap down to 6 by the end of the season, but this win has given me a real confidence boost.

Up and running...

The Adidas winter Climawarm boots have served me well over the last 5 months or so, but it's time to pack away the cold weather gear and unpack the short sleeve shirts.

The winter boots served me well

The season officially opened yesterday with a Greensomes competition, a slightly difficult format, given that it's the first day back on a full course and playing from the fairways. My partner was Mick Wallace Jr (10), playing against Adam Freeman (5) and Dave Ahern (9). Following a pretty sub-par front nine of 42, we managed to play the back nine in 36 giving us a net score of 68.5, good enough to take the money from our opponents, but not quite enough to get into the prizes.

Next week the qualifiers begin, and that's where every shot really counts. I've been really happy with the recent additions to my golf bag, a new 56 degree Titleist Vokey wedge, and a Titleist 910 D2 driver complete with stiff shaft and adjustable head.

Weapons of choice

The driver has only been used in the neutral position so far, but in an attempt to minimise the amount of natural fade that I generate, I'll be testing out the club today in the B2 position, which should hopefully straighten me up off the tee.

The present is grey...

Whilst the future may be orange, it was most definitely not a bright day out on the golf course today. The early morning conditions were almost ideal for this time of year... unfortunately the thrash draw takes place at 11:30 and the weather had turned to drizzle and heavy mist. The golf was enjoyable for the first few holes, but the rain persisted and the enjoyment factor quickly deteriorated.

The 9th green is around here somewhere

We all called it a day after 9 holes, retiring to the warmth of the clubhouse to watch Man U beat the blue half of Manchester 2-3 in the FA Cup. On reflection, what, at the time seemed like some pretty poor golf on my behalf, was in fact not all that awful, with 4 pars and a birdie in pretty grim conditions. Whilst the present golfing conditions are most certainly grey, my golfing future remains bright.

The future is bright... the future is orange (with a hint of pink)

The future is bright, now that I have my Bushnell Tour V2 range finder. Distance control has always been somewhat hit and miss over my golfing life. I have found the iPhone app Golfshot GPS to be very helpful over the last 6 months (and prior to that Golf Card Pro), but it has only taken me so far. That is all about to change following the purchase of my Bushnell Tour V2 range finder.

My new game changer

I have been researching them for a number of weeks now and it was a toss up between the Nikon and the Bushnell. Following some online research I decided on the Bushnell, so it was now a hunt for the best price. The standard colour (grey / black) came in at about £240, but further research found a limited edition 'pink' version for only £175. Even my pride could not refuse a saving of £65, so the pink Bushnell V2 was ordered. Fortunately, I was also able to track down silicon covers for the range finder, and the orange option goes perfectly with my 'goldfish' driver head cover.

The range finder's strength is its simplicity. Only a single button is required for use (once it has been set to 'pinseeker' mode), and it is small enough to fit into my pencil carry bag. I'm anticipating plummeting scores over the coming months in the build up to the 2012 season.