Given all that will be going on this Fall, I declared my lesson this week to be the last of the season and this post will recap the progress I’ve made with my golf game.
This season I’ve taken about six 1-hour lessons with Shane Rice, the pro at Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park here in Pittsburgh. He may seem gruff behind his desk sometimes but when he teaches he is always enthusiastic and engaged. I left every lesson encouraged and excited with a plan to work on my swing.
At the beginning of every lesson Shane quizzed me about how I was playing and then formulated a plan for that day. Towards the beginning of the season my lessons focused on grip, posture and alignment. By the end of the season we focused on swing mechanics like increasing wrist hinge (still working on that) and quieting my upper body (that too!). Overall I’ve been very happy with my progress so far! As you can see from this side-by-side view my posture is looking much better:
Not only is my swing prettier, but my scores have dropped significantly as well. This year I have played 39 rounds at Schenley so far with a season high score of 113 and a best score of 81. I also established a handicap through the WPGA and my current handicap index is 22.5.
Outside my lessons, I spent a lot of time this season at the RMU Golf Dome working on my short game. Dave Peltz’ short game bible really helped me systematize my wedges. Not only am I hitting more greens in regulation, I’m getting more shorts inside 8 feet and seeing a birdie or two!
I hope I get another chance to play this much golf in one year again, but I doubt it. I had a really great time shooting with Brent, Adam, Matthew, Jason and Ryan. Hopefully Amy will make it out before too long also!