[JPsuff]

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Tee shots, putting and all the day to day stuff is great and it's nice when one turns out exceptionally well, but all of that, to me anyway, is basic stuff and if one shot or another ends up stiff or just where I was aiming, I figure that I WAS aiming for that spot, so it's not really a surprise or unexpected when it happens.

But the one thing that always gets me going is hitting over things.

My biggest strength has always been the ability to hit very high shots. It could be with a driver or a three iron or just with a wedge but most of the time, when 80% of most golfers would be looking for ways to chip out or try to hit something low and under the branches, I'm looking up and over.
Just last week, after a particularly vicious slice on the sixth hole, my drive ended up clear across the fairway of the fifth hole. When I got there, I checked my SkyCaddie for the yardage and looked at the lie. Between where I was and the green I was playing for was a stand of very tall oaks (in the 50-foot plus range) and then the green just behind them. I selected an 8-iron and set up for a "moonball" and it flew perfectly over the treetops and dropped like a rock on the other side about six feet from the pin. I dropped the putt and gave myself a little pat on the back.

I love it when someone sees whatever predicament I've hit myself into and they say something like, "Oh well, I guess it's time to take your medicine".

When I hear that, my unspoken response is, "Oh yeah" Watch this!"

And if it's at all possible, I will find the spot near the top of the trees that I just know I can hit this ball over and then I just do it and quite often with very impressive results.

Most people complain that they can't hit a ball high enough and indeed the shaft industry is definitely geared towards that particular problem, but not me. When most people approach a dogleg, they're looking for ways to get around it while I'm looking to go over it. I've always had the ability to get a ball up in the air quickly and with enough force to get it where I need it to go.

It's one of the things "I really do great", and even after doing it for as long as I have, it still makes me smile and think to myself, "Great shot!"!


-JP