Driver Love

I love my new driver and 3-wood so much I sometimes have the urge to kiss them. Of all my clubs, they are the only ones I still keep the head covers on when I'm out on the course. I let all the other clubs go bare to lighten my walking cart load. But my new Ping G-20 driver and 3-wood -- well, I still keep their socks on. I've had them for a couple of weeks now and we are all getting along quite well. I've been playing Diamond Ridge, one of the longer public courses in the county, and recently I was able to break 100, shooting 97 and 98 the last two times out. This is something I've never done before at that course. I know I could do even better, but I get so excited when I hit driver and 3-wood super-long that I just lose focus on the shorter shots. This may change when I get around to buying new irons. I am lusting for the Ping G20 irons, but I am waiting to see if black Friday will bring a major price drop.

Today I hit two notable drives of 220 and 225 yards. These were on relatively flat fairways with no helping wind. My new driver does seem to propel the ball with more forward roll, and these distances were longer than I've ever hit before. It felt a bit like breaking the sound barrier.

There was one par 4 hole that is 230 yards from the red tees, but it is a sharp dogleg right that beckons the reasonable mind to aim at the bend in the fairway, rather than tee off over a large bunker and directly at the hole. Today I felt so confident with my driver that I decided to go for it. Of course, I landed in the bunker, but I was close. So close. Just a few more yards and I would have cleared the bunker easily. Can't wait to try again.