Driver Depression and Rebirth

As someone who is just above six feet tall and hovering around 165lbs, I may never routinely drive the ball 300 yards but things got really dark for me on February 16th.

I texted my friend this:

I just convinced myself I bought the wrong driver.

I preceded to send him a picture of my driver and the rental driver results from Five Iron.

My driver produced 164.1 yards of carry and topped out at 231.1 yards.

The rental driver flew 252.4 for 287.2 yards.

At the time, I really didn’t understand the data beyond distance.

My friend replied…

Remarkably, the smash factors were 1.48 for mine and 1.49 for the rental.

My cousin, a far more seasoned golfer, chimed in.

The driver had been purchased in November. Used once outside and then for two weeks months later.

The previous day, I had whiffed on three straight attempts then popped the next two straight into the air.

I muttered, “I am going to wake up in a hospital. I must be having an out of body experience.”

To make matters worse, my driver produced the normal result, something between an unintentional pull and a rope hook.

The rental driver, which sent the ball 50 yards further, produced a push.

Horrified and spellbound in equal measure, I ended up back at Five Iron later that evening for a lesson.

The lesson story isn’t as dramatic and we’ll table that for now. Although I was telling my cousin I do a baby Judge Smails now and it helps. One of our future podcast guests also noticed how tense I was back on the tee in a July video. You’ll get that interview later this spring.

Flash forward to May 2023…

I have been reading Jon Sherman’s The Four Foundations of Golf.

Confession, I have begun listening to in on Audible. About two hours in, Jon has settled my nerves.

Golf is really hard.

Manage your expectations.

Being closer to the pin makes everything easier.

With that I wondered, what kind of improvements have been made over the course of 80+ sim rounds in just over three months?

Please dear God, let there be some improvement.

February 1st Taiheiyo Club Gotemba Course

According to Trackman scorecard, at least 40 mulligans were taken my first ever sim round. It is very unlikely that more than 50% of these recorded distances were from my first tee shot.

Hole 1 Par 4 - 307 yards

Hole 2 Par 4 - 231 yards

Hole 3 Par 5 - 243 yards

Hole 5 Par 4 - 239 yards

Hole 6 Par 5 - 284 yards

Hole 8 Par 4 - 262 yards

Hole 9 Par 4 - 260 yards

Hole 10 Par 4 - 216 yards

Hole 11 Par 5 - 201 yards

Hole 12 Par 4 - 245 yards

Hole 14 Par 4 - 277 yards

Hole 15 Par 4 - 234 yards

Hole 16 Par 4 - 261 yards

Hole 18 Par 5 - 225 yards

March 27 Trackman Driving Range

One of the few times I finished early, I decided to stay in the bay afterwards. These six drives were taken after playing two sim rounds which is to say I was good and loose.

Perhaps, tired and frustrated as well?

Shot 1

Ball Speed 158.7

Club Head Speed 107.7

Smash Factor 1.47

Carry 265.4

Total 285.6

Side 67’ Left

Shot 2

Ball Speed 152.2

Club Head Speed 107.9

Smash Factor 1.41

Carry 250.7

Total 269.5

Side 59’ Right

Shot 3

Ball Speed 156.9

Club Head Speed 107.2

Smash Factor 1.47

Carry 253.2

Total 290.4

Side 147’ Left

Shot 4

Ball Speed 154.6

Club Head Speed 108.8

Smash Factor 1.43

Carry 247.7

Total 262.1

Side 143’ Right

Shot 5

Ball Speed 149.4

Club Head Speed 108.4

Smash Factor 1.38

Carry 240.0

Total 260.2

Side 114’ Right

Shot 6

Ball Speed 158.4

Club Head Speed 108.1

Smash Factor 1.47

Carry 271.2

Total 294.2

Side 89’ Right

April 8 St. Andrews

My best round by far, shooting a 76 with one mulligan on the 16th. After bogeying the first and third, I birdied the Par 5 fifth. After back to back bogeys on nine and ten, I recorded five pars in a row before deploying a mulligan on 16 which was the result of an errant tee shot. What did my tee shot length look like on my best round?

Hole 1 Par 4 - 262 yards

Hole 2 Par 4 - 264 yards

Hole 3 Par 4 - 255 yards

Hole 4 Par 4 - 298 yards

Hole 5 Par 5 - 293 yards

Hole 6 Par 4 - 299 yards

Hole 7 Par 4 - 275 yards

Hole 9 Par 4 - 222 yards

Hole 10 Par 4 - 275 yards

Hole 12 Par 4 - 260 yards

Hole 13 Par 4 - 254 yards

Hole 14 Par 5 - 230 yards

Hole 15 Par 4 - 253 yards

Hole 16 Par 4 - 277 yards

Hole 17 Par 4 - 247 yards

Hole 18 Par 4 - 238 yards

April 14 Sim Major St. Andrews

The second week of week coincided with the final days of membership at Five Iron. Instead of racing through a quick warm up and then playing two rounds, I switched gears to an extended warm up and practice before taking the course.

With my video camera rolling, I buckled mightily under the simulated pressure and could never recover.

Hole 1 Par 4 - 145 yards

Hole 2 Par 4 - 244 yards

Hole 3 Par 4 - 137 yards

Hole 4 Par 4 - 220 yards

Hole 5 Par 5 - 198 yards

Hole 6 Par 4 - 262 yards

Hole 7 Par 4 - 259 yards

Hole 9 Par 4 - 272 yards

Hole 10 Par 4 - 263 yards

Hole 12 Par 4 - 253 yards

Hole 13 Par 4 - 276 yards

Hole 14 Par 5 - 210 yards

Hole 15 Par 4 - 280 yards

Hole 16 Par 4 - 165 yards

Hole 17 Par 4 - 250 yards

Hole 18 Par 4 - 254 yards

Total Averages

February 1 First Ever Sim Round: 248

March 27 Trackman Driving Range: 277

April 8 Best Sim Round to Date: 262

April 14 Sim Major: 230

Unfortunately, the February 1st numbers have to be taken with a dump truck of salt given the number of mulligans but it is still comforting to see improvement two and three months later.

In Jon’s book, he mentioned a PGA tour professional who had a massive shot difference between his first round and second round.

If it can happen to them, I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

Nonetheless, seeing four drives under 200 yards in a make believe sim “major” is devastating to recall a month later.

Where to go from here?