Found myself with a spare 90 minutes and with the sun in the sky figured it would be nice to be hit some balls for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Due to the time crunch, I headed to the Jackson Park Driving Range. This is a CPD driving range with about 45 very distress mats and a range that goes to I believe 250 yards. It cost 13 dollars for a large bucket which is about the same as other large buckets I’ve purchased at the other ranges in the area.
It’s been a while since I picked up and swung a club for almost three weeks! So I was nervous what my swing was going to look like and what my ball flight path was going to look like. I was ultra nervous about hitting my driver, you never know where that ball is heading lol.
I started out with my usual starter club the 6 Iron.
My usual order of clubs is:
6i,4i,9i, PW, Driver, 52 degree Wedge
With the 52 degrees wedge, I will start with full swings than some 75% and lower to 50%.
I hit my 6 Iron really well and felt my glutes activating which meant I was hitting some pretty good distance. The distance and nice strokes continued through the Pitching wedge. I even worked in some nice little baby fades #beautiful
Onto to the Driver… I was a little hesitant to pull this club out of the bag but, with how well I was hitting the other clubs I felt ready to crush it #GripandRipIt
From my earlier rounds this year and the trial and tribulations I’ve had with my new driver with the flexible shaft it has. I had become very unbalanced and my hands were chasing the head of the club to compensate for my what I thought was a bad swing was really just the shaft doing its job. After a couple of rounds with some experienced eyes, I was able to swing the club and make clean contact and stay balanced throughout the full golf swing.
Remembering my cues to stay balanced and to keep my hands high on the down stroke to give the head a chance to hit the ball square, I hit the first couple of balls well but the distance was lacking so I decided to turn up the power and really drive from the legs and see what a 100% swing produced. Immediate chunked shot, followed by a topped ball that looked like one of those cool trick shot stingers you see on Instagram all the time. I took a quick break and drilled a couple of practice swings making sure to hit all my points to be ultra sure I wasn’t dropping my hands.
The 1st swing after the practice shot was just straight pipped down the middle of the driving range and so did the next 2 shots. Now feeling super confident I decided to get very aggressive and swing my hardest and see what would happen. The full power shot got crushed and went a little right and a little bit more draw than I would have liked but the ball went straight down the line and on a decent size fairway the ball would have been down the right side edge of the fairway or just little off on the first rough. I hit a few more drives and then the ball started to pull left or I was closing the club head. I’d had enough of the driver and was ready to start hitting my targeted checked down wedge shots.
Conveniently my to 50 and 75 Yard are damn near my 50% and 75% shots which come in handy when trying to find a target on the range to hit to. This is going to be my main interest in the upcoming range session is trying to dial in my wedge shots to help give me a better shot at eliminating 3 puts. If I can land the ball within 12 feet of the hole from 85-35 yard away from the pin. Would be nice to score some 1 puts holes as well.
Hopefully, this session will Kick start my interest in practicing more as it really is the only way to get better at playing golf. My goal is to hit 3 rounds in a row under 96 before the end of the summer.
Might have the chance to play up in the Lake Geneva area this weekend, I’ll be going for low 90s. Wish me luck!
I’m really happy that I’ve been able to keep up with all these 3 a week work out schedules. I do seem to be front-loading my workouts in the beginning of the week which left me sore, so sore that I feel it is smart move to not hit the gym and rest up towards the end of the week. My schedule has opened up on Thursday evenings but if go Monday- Tuesday rest Wednesday then hit it at the remaining of the work week.
This will increase my workouts from 3 to 4 a week. I wonder if I will be able to handle that extra volume, but I am eager to try it out. I have a plan I will try it out for one week where I will push my self to get that 4th in and see how I feel on the next week and if I can’t make it to all 4 so be it I will regroup and wait a week to try it again.
This will mean that my diet will also have to improve as the Mcdonalds it still pretty prevalent and so are other similar types of restaurants. I have already started pre-cooking breakfast consisting of 2 eggs and 2 bacon pieces which have helped me fix binge eating at lunch. Maybe I can move to meal prepping some lunches as well to help curve the need to go out for lunch every day.
It is nice to get out of work for that 45 minutes or so and relax and let the mind rest before that afternoon stacked of work slaps me in the face as soon as I walk into the office. So I assume slow progress on bringing lunch to the office until I can find a way to escape for lunch but not eat out.
Onto the Thursday golf round.
My friend was able to snag a great deal on a 9:30 am tee time. It was little hairy having skipped out on work but hey the weather was nice and I like to golf so #treatyourself We played Portside at Harborside and I was determined to figure out how to swing my new driver. This one of my favorite parts about Playing at Harborside is that you feel like you can use your diver 16 times a round.
My buddy noticed that my Driver swing was all out of whack, I was way off balance. I was falling forward after my seeing unable to hold a pose. This is the first time I have experienced this type to a fault in my swing. After some video of my swing, I wasn’t able to see any major faults as to why my body was falling forward after my follow through. He gave me a cue just to “be an athlete and swing the club” for whatever reason that helped me a ton.
I think just trying to be concise of where my weight was and when the shift happened with my new flexible shaft. It looked like my arms were coming way to low and adjusting my center of gravity forward causing me to fall forward because I was trying to chase the swing rather than use the flex to my advantage.
It took 5 or 6 holes for me to realize this and then a couple more to get my arms back on a nice swing plane but once I did it felt very comfortable now its time to get to the range and practice, practice, practice to get that muscle memory locked in. If I can get off the tee better my golf game should improve by at least 3 to 5 strokes.
My long iron game is definitely the strongest part of my game so that is why I believe this new driver will make such a difference to my scorecard.
On the fitness front, I’m happy to report that I logged 3 workouts this week and would have had a fourth if it wasn’t so nice out on Friday. It was so nice that my brother texted me right after lunchtime to see if I wanted to golf. That was very fast yes and we booked a tee time at my “home” course Harborside International. It was low 70s all day and sunny all day so we were eager to get out and hit some balls.
The traffic was dreadful and made us late for our 2:50 tee time. Luckily the course was pretty open so we were able to jump on the 3:40 tee time which was putting us pretty close to finishing right at sunset so we had to be on our horses to get all 18 holes in before the sunset.
I’m beginning to hit my driver a little bit better, but my drives are not at the level as my old driver. As it turns out I was actually planning to go get some serous swings in at the driving range before I got the ca to play 18. So at least i’m trying to get some practice in lol.
I will need to start getting some drills in for my golf swing while I’m at home watching tv. I like to do them on the commercial breaks to cater to my short attention span.
The weather does seem to be turning but this rain will not quit especially in e the weekends. Whatever i’ll just keep trying to get on the course when my schedule allows it.
It was a fun packed weekend with Cinco Day Mayo and the Kentucky Derby but an even bigger weekend of food.
3 new restaurants to the list and I ate like a king at all of them. it was a non-stop feast and by Sunday afternoon i felt like I weighed a ton. I was to scared to look at the scale!
My favorite dish of the weekend was a special from the Walton Street Kitchen which was the veal. It wasn’t the usual Veal Parmesan that I usually get so I was a little hesitant to order but I was happy I did. It was a huge pounded way thin piece of meat that had just the right amount of breading to form a nice crust that left each bite with the right portion of meat and flavor. Highly recommended if you get a chance to try this place out.
Looking forward for this weather to change so more people will be game to golf. It’s just been stuck in the mid 40s and rainy for too damn long. All the courses are still cart path only due to all the precipitation and frankly is just not that comfortable being outside for 4 hours in that type of climate, maybe I’m getting old.
Had a great group of friend go sit in the bleachers at the White Sox Park. We “coincidentally” sat right next to the Modello/Pacifico beer stand in left field. 2 very large bag of peanuts and about 12 home runs later the White had a major come from behind victory against Detriot.
Overall this was a party week! I took advantage of it to the max. All my friends and family that came and celebrated with was what made it special to me and I would like to thank them.
On Sunday a group of us went to take advantage on the sunny but super wet day after our early tee time got canceled we decided to hit up Top golf in Itasca. After being to more than a few top golf location in the country, I was ready for the usual good time with all the fun interactive games and endless bays. Turns out this was the third location built.
I was used to the four-story and like a billion bay location I’ve been to in Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando, and Naperville-IL. Those locations were all built after the proof of concept that their Itasha location was/is.
It was still the same general set up hot golf balls into targets that dug into the ground and you score points the closer the ball lands to the center of the target.
This location was smaller in only had two stories and was missing almost all of the fun electronics and TVs the newer location have. The biggest thing it was missing was the in-bay ball dispenser. This missing key feature also led to a different price model and sign ing up for a new top golf card which was very aggravating! In short, you had to purchase “games” which consist of a basket of 20 balls that you would have to get in one central location like a traditional golf range. This is where the experience really disappointed me. if memory y serves me right it was 8 dollars for 20 balls which feels way more expensive than you and your buddies split 50 dollars an hour at newer locations. All in all I will stick to the two other locations here in Illinois and be mindful to check when I go out of town and to make sure and not attend this generation of Top Golf.
To be fair I do like Top Golf as long as its a one of the newer locations, but nothing beats being out on the course for 18.
This Sunday gave the best weather of the year and I enjoyed it as much as I could in a back yard in the Beverly Neighborhood, did a little Easter egg hunting for some chocolates.
The golf round at Harborside was 7:10 am tee time- way too early. It was also incredibly windy we had gusts up to 55-60 mph which made golfing on on the Links style. Lake Michigan was whipping our balls across fairs ways and eating up distances. My 3 iron was barely making it 175 yards into the wind. But it was nice to get out for the second round of the season. Chicago has not been producing many great days to go golfing yet this year.
Didn’t hit the new driver to well, but I still haven’t been able to swing it with any practice yet so that is to be expected.
Two baseball games in one week were a doozy but tons of fun. In case you were wondering the White Sox have better nachos. Both of the games started in warm weather and got cold once the sunset. Looking forward to catching a couple of games once its warm all the time.
Got to the gym three times this week and worked out pretty hard. I’m going to shoot for 4 times next week with a Monday, Tuesday rest Wednesday and work out that Thursday and Friday.
Masters weekend was MEGA. Was really something to sit in a bar and observe the range of people that enjoyed watching Tiger win his 15th Major and his 5th Masters Green Jacket. In my mind, this comeback win has made Tiger the Greatest golfer of all time. He does have a few more wins to beats Jack Nicklaus record of 18 majors which is insane.
I finished the book called “Raising the Bar” by Jon Taffer, after watching Bar Rescued for the past years I figured it would fun to understand on a deeper level what he is doing outside of the 22-minute format every hangover Sunday. I’m going to attempt to write a book review sometime soon. Here is a full list of the books I’ve read in the past 18 months.
An action-packed week and weekend lead to some serious low amounts of sleep.
Wine Wednesday with the Family to celebrate my fathers birthday was a delicious dinner that turned into a Bourbon fest with some heavily poured glasses of Bookers Bourbon. Bookers was my grandpas’ favorites so it is always nice to enjoy a couple of glasses and hear fun stories about him.
Dinner was homemade Italian beef made by my sister. She nailed it with the ratios of meat and bun. The majority of the time I don’t order this sandwich at the restaurant due to the mess it comes with. I walk out of lunchtime feeling like I need a shower to clean up.
Not sure when it will be my time to host a Wine Wednesday, but I will for sure post the full spread of food and drinks.
Now onto the weekend.
This Saturday as a college buddies birth party. The weather was super nice and sunny with the temperature pushing 70 degrees. Standing on the deck was almost too hot, but that was just that “fools Spring” feeling. once the sun started to set that cold air overcame the warm sunlight and we head indoors to watch the Michigan State and the Texas Tech basketball game. Made a live bet on this game and one a unit so I was feeling pretty good.
The after party went back to the birthday boys house since the sun had set. Old jokes and stories came about with beers. The party was running its course and someone mentioned that “We should go to the Casino” This came at the perfect moment where everybody was deciding whether to go home or go out and there was a handful of us ready to stay out.
The uber ride to the casino was pretty funny with a honda civic packed with a bunch of drunks dudes amped up for the casino. When we arrived at the Casino there were cop cars with lights flashing. Turns out there were literal “gypsies” in the casino that were caught selling drugs and solicitation dates just before we got there.
This group was referenced pretty heavily at the craps table we started playing at and there were some serious jokes at their expense being told by the patrons and dealers alike.
It was long night ant the table but I ended taking home some cash to have a fun breakfast the next day. I’ll be back for some more action soon I bet. lol.
Last week there was a solid Saturday Afternoon that was low 50s and sunny. Was able to snatch a 2:10 tee time at Cantigny Played a solid round with a couple of buddies and one of their friends for an almost chilly kick off round of the season.
I shot under 100 for and hit that ball pretty well off tee. As usual, my short game got the better of me especially 50 yards and under. I can’t wait to focus on that in practice this year. It should shave at least 6 strokes off my game easy.
Other big news was that for the first time out of the hotel, I am sleeping in a King size bed. What a game changer to have all that room. I had been having trouble falling asleep once in bed for a while now. I tried a lot of things like blue light glasses and not looking at my phone after 9:00 PM. Since I started sleeping on it I’ve fallen asleep super fast and stayed asleep which is always a good thing.
Looking forward to next week I’m going to keep logging my food and hit the gym 3 times this week. Working on portion control might be easier than a stricter diet.
This was my second year for this annual ski trip with a large group of friends from college. I flew into Salt Lake City on Monday and came back to Chicago on early evening Saturday night. It was an action packed trip and was sad to have to come home but was very glad to get home back to my shower and my bed.
Trip Break Down:
Monday was a travel day that turned into quite a ride, to say the least. I’ve traveled quite a bit for work in my career so I have my timeline just right of how to get to the airport. An easy estimate would be over 550 flights, with most of those originating out of O’Hare airport. What I’ve never encountered on my way to the airport was a Level 2 Hazmat situation that locked me in the Loop of Chicago for over 20 minutes. I was stuck in my Uber and was not allowed to leave due the traffic situations and the emergency vehicles blocking the intersections. I was for real stuck in my Uber with now way out except to ride it out.
After what seems like for ever I was able to exit the Uber and make my way down to the Blue line all the way to O’Hare. I made it there with 20 minutes before boarding but, it was to late to check my bag 🙁 I conceded and check my bag for the next in 4 hours. I was on standby with 14 open seats I was pretty confident that I would make the next flight to SLC. I slipped through security with no problem(Thanks TSA Pre-check) and began to walk down the gate to go grab some breakfast since i had all this time to kill.
That’s when I saw my original flight start to board. This was a sad sight and I really debated just jumping on this flight and having one of my buddies grab my bag that was on of the later flights.
In a quick bout of depression, I came up with a great idea! The American Airlines Lounge was a clutch idea. For not a small fee ($59) you have an open bar, what I continental plus breakfast and lunch and all the brownies and cookies you can eat. Trust me the brownies are awesome and I probably have put down a whole tray of them on many a layover. #cuethestomachache
Miller Lite in the American Club at O’Hare Airport
After more than a few beers and 3 or 4 handfuls of brownies, it was time for me to move to the gate to board. Flight time was a lot longer than expected, we were in the air for over 3.5 hours and my butt fell asleep hard. With the delay of getting into SLC, I had to find my own ride to my friend’s house who thankfully loved a quick Uber ride from the airport. With a fast pit stop, we packed our gear up in the truck and headed to the mountains for what was sure to be a wild week.
This trip in an annual event with a mixed group of friends from college and some girlfriends. Our housing was two conjoined condos that were mirrored and most importantly had 2 separate hot tubs to help relax those muscles after the slopes along with a bunch of beer.
Our condos were a 6 min bus ride (free) from the base of Park City which is a huge mountain that has something like 370 runs. The two days that we skied here I was only able to hit about 27 of them. I will need to come back and get a few more days here to really have a complete scope the mountain, but I would definitely recommend it.
We split the 2 days a Park City with active rest day of Snowmobiling at Thousand Peaks. This was insane experience, I highly recommend the three hour tour with a private group if you have enough people with you. I took the chance to rent the upgraded to the faster snowmobile. The 300cc sled was blazing fast and well worth the price, it had no problem charging up the hills/mountains.
Snowmobiled to to the top of the world!
The $20 dollars for insurance was an easy purchase, gave the confidence to be able go full throttle and get a little reckless on the sled. Turns out it’s a lot easier to roll one these things than you think especially when your 250 feet up a mountain and your trying to turn back down hill.
Skiing on Thursday got intense, a small group of us got together and skied our asses off for the whole day. At the end of the day, my slopes app totaled just over 18,500 feet over 16 runs. The legs were burning on the way home. I ran into some trouble after trying to slide down a double black diamond run. I was feeling pretty confident after hitting a bunch of black diamonds threw out the day. The giant moguls on almost vertical terrain way above my skill level. I had to bail on the run 1/2 way through, it just got too hard trying to surge the moguls so I took a cat track to get back to one of the bigger “easier” runs. This where one bad decision turned into a very bad situation, turns out that cat track was not really a cat track. It was an access road to my dismay, so I had to cross country ski in 6 inches of snow for about 40 min to get back civilization.
When I finally popped out of the woods it was magically next a small chair lift. I was greeted by an awestruck lift operator that said: “Where did you just come from?” I responded with “don’t ask” as I plopped on the 2 seaters and caught my breath on the slow ride back to the top of the mountain.
Thursday night was a blast and it snowed quite a bit which got us even more pumped for Powder Mountain the next day. Powder Mountain is a 90 min drive from Park City so we ha dot gets up a little early to try and make the first chair. The ride to the mountain took what felt like forever as all we could see was the deep freshly fallen snow.
As a local Mountain, they only offer 1500 lift tickets a day and at the time of when we got there was still 1100 tickets left. Except for the first lift the runs were empty. IT really felt like our group was the only ones on the mountain. The legs were sore to start the last day of our ski trip, it was only a Green run but my legs felt zapped. It took the next two runs to get my legs firing on all cylinders.
The highlight of the day was the recent deposit of 8 inches of fresh powder the night before our day at Powder Mountain. That much pow pow with on a local mountain with only 500 people in attendance gave us fresh runs all day.
For something like $25 dollars, you can purchase a one way Cat Trek ride to some backcountry lines. Half of our group participated in the Cat lift, it was a packed ride up to the top of the mountain with all the other skiers and snowboarders not in our group.
It was a funny sight having the group stumble out of the back of the Cat with our ski boots on. After we all got kitted up the guide gave the three different subgroups of abilities instructions of what routes to take and what to avoid. I paid extra special attention of what to avoid because there were some real threats in the Back Country. Hidden drop-offs and cliffs trees and rock formations that were really hidden by all the recent snowfall.
I placed myself in the intermediate subgroup and followed them down the little trail to our suggested run. We stopped at the top of the run to plan our attack with began to get daunting. Trees, bushes, rocks/boulders, and a “don’t go left there is a cliff” I was as ready as I was ever gonna be. The snow was so deep it was really hard to turn, took a few slow turns to get the jump turn that everybody talks about. In about 25 seconds it was time to negotiate some trees mixed in with rock formation. As I made it past those obstacles with way to much speed I tired another jump turn which turned into a few head over heels tumbles. Falling in that deep of snow was surrea.l. You fall down but you just sink into the powder. Everything was cushioned so there’s was zero impact with any hard surface. The closest thing I could compare it do if you fell into a ball pit with nerf bullets that were coasted in baby hair lol.
that nice powder did make it hard to get back up on my skis though which I would say is the only downside of being a crap skier on a whole mountain full of powder. That is a great motivation to learn and develop my technique before my next trip.
All in all, this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. The group of people combined with the house the activities and the mountain make for a very exciting action packed week that takes me more than a week to recover from. So worth it though, Hoping to get in at least one smaller ski trips next year to take some lessons and see how wrong I’ve been skiing this whole time lol. Can’t wait till next season!
