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I played yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks with a neighbor and the monsignor from the nearby church.

I had my best ball striking day every by a great margin. My swing has been improving quite a bit in practice the last few months, but this is the first time I've been able to bring it to the course. Every other time I've played this year, I've tensed up on the course, swinging too hard, gripping too hard, not releasing, and pulling off in the follow through.

But yesterday was the breakthrough I was waiting for. Instead of having 80-90% poor swings, I had 80-90% good swings. The difference was I managed to relax, swing easy, and follow through well on almost every shot. Most of my drives were straight and high, carrying about 210-220 instead of lower and slicing and carrying 170-190. On the par 3 7th, I hit probably the purest shot of my life, a 7 wood that carried 155 yds (a great hit with it before was 135-140 off tee) and bounced off the back of the green. I had this problem all day ... about half the time, I would strike the ball so well that it would go 10-15 yds further than I expected.

We only played 16 because the monsignor had somewhere to be, but I had an 86 through 16, and probably would have finished with a 96 or 97. Not great for me, about my typical score the last 6 months, but I putted horribly, and was never close to the pin on an approach because my yardages were so far off. It didn't help that the course was very soggy (we've had about 12" of rain the last week). The greens weren't cut as low as usual, and early in the round were the slowest I'd played on. Being so tall, the grain had a big effect, plus some of the greens the grass was laying down and were a lot faster. Also, it was a sunny hot day, and they firmed up quickly after the first few holes. All of us had a tough time on the greens, and I probably lost at least 8 strokes over my normal putting.

The best I've ever scored is a 94 a few times, but if I can keep hitting the ball like I did yesterday, once my short game gets the rust off from the winter, I think I will be breaking 90 more often than not. I can't wait til July when I'll have a lot more time to play.

Nice work: I will take great ball-striking over great scoring any day (even though I shouldn't!). I think you will easily break 90 in July, when you have time to get used to your new yardages, and sharpen your overall game.

Yeah, I was getting really frustrated that I could hit the ball so well on the range and in the back yard, but couldn't do it on the course. Once I get back to playing 6 or 7 times a month instead of once every 3 weeks, I'm sure I'll be seeing scores of 85 before long.

And I agree about the good ball striking. I've had days I hit the ball horribly and got a 95. I feel much better about a great ball striking day with a 100. I know my short game will come around once I get the time to practice and play more often. For me, consistent ball striking from the fairway and the tee is what I need to score low.