The Drive to 300 Yards: Aging gracefully on the golf course

After breaking 100 for the first time in my golfing life last month, I have actually continued that streak every time I’ve played since. Consistency around the green is still eluding me, but my tee and fairway game is getting much more comfortable.

So much so that I am down to two duffed shots a round — which I know doesn’t seem like so much, but they were much more frequent at the start of the season.

Another sign that my game is improving (besides a handicap that is now down to 20.2) is that I am only losing one or zero balls a round. That’s a big improvement from years past.

And I needed that improvement before playing nine holes with Ontario Golf Hall of Famer Judith Kyrinis at The Thornhill Club in the video at the top of the page.

She is by far the best golfer I’ve ever played with. In fact, based on handicap, she is 23 shots better than me. I was nervous to tee it up in front of her on camera, but I held my own pretty well.

Off the tee and fairway, I actually played really well. But once we got around the green, Judith destroyed me. Her short game is just so good and that is such a massive difference-maker when trying to shave strokes off your game. I shot 48 and wasted way too many shots within 40 yards of the hole.

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But her tips will serve me well as I get older and want to age my game gracefully.

A technique that seems to be working for me is getting one driving range session in between every two or three rounds of golf. Both Judith and my coach Stew Bannatyne from Modern Golf recommend that I only think about swing tweaks and making improvements while on the driving range, not on the golf course.

Trying to fix things on the course can lead to paralysis by analysis. I try to just play while on course and work on things on the range. That has kept my score below 100 over the past month.

I really want to break 90 before the end of the season. And, of course, I want to hit a driver 300 yards. Well, I got a little closer this month as you saw above. I am only 10 yards away now!

I’m using my driver a little bit more on the course and my comfort level is increasing. I’m hopeful that I will be able to crack that magical 300-yard barrier before the end of the summer.

Fingers crossed!

Mike Arsenault is a digital broadcast journalist and a host of ‘Global News Weekend.’