11-05-04                   Had my first meeting with Ben today.  We discussed my game plan and my goals for the future.  Ben then watched me hit a bunch of shots – with a 5-iron and with my driver.  Hit the 5-iron great but the driver was not comparable to the iron.  Ben then had me try a bunch of drivers in order to find the perfect spin rate and launch angle.  Left after about 2 hours – extremely pumped up.

11-12-04          Between my first and second meetings with Ben, he emailed me his plan for getting to the Champion’s Tour.  He thought I had a very good basic swing but was unsure of how I might be able to handle pressure.  He decided on a comprehensive series of sessions including videotaping, core-training workouts and competitions between him and myself.  The most interesting part was at the end of a series, we would have an 18-hole “tournament” round in which he would try his best to beat me and I would try my best to beat him.  If I beat him, my monthly fee would be cut in half.  We had our first workout session today using medicine balls, the balance ball and the body blade – I was exhausted but am convinced this is just what I needed.

11-18-04         Had a great session today – Linda came along in order to learn how to help me with my stretching exercises.  I did much better with the exercises (despite a terrible case of sinusitis).  Ben and I had a competition called “around the world” – we hit a series of shots out on the range to various targets and I came out on top – Ben is a great striker of the golf ball – and extremely long.  He also videotaped my swing and I had a little upper body slide on the downswing with my irons – but my driver was perfect – I hit 8 drives to a fairly narrow landing area and got them all in the landing zone – decent distance as well.  On my follow through, I was not keeping the club “in the slot” – too much straight up and down – maybe related to the sliding forward of the upper body. 

11-23-04                   Had an 18-hole match today with Ben at Lebanon Country Club.  We started on the back nine and number 10 is a par-5.  Hit an OK drive and OK 5-wood.  My third shot was about a 30-yarder with a lob wedge and I came up way short.  From there I 3-putted and put myself right behind the 8-ball.  I have to admit to being caught up a little too much in Ben’s game – he is an awesome striker of the golf ball and longer than anyone I’ve ever played with.  By the same token, I realized that he is human as well.  He will miss some fairways and he will miss some greens but his short game is good and he putts nicely as well.  Though I shot a horrible 82 and Ben shot 73, I feel as though I can beat him on any given day – if I play my best.  I paid Ben the $1500.00 for our first series of sessions and made a silent vow to myself that the next series would only set me back $750.00.

12-01-04                   Got back from the mountains last night and headed up to Ben’s for a session today.  We talked about the round and he paid me some nice compliments despite my bad score.  He said I was longer than he thought I’d be and I kept my composure pretty well not blaming anyone or anything else for my less than spectacular play.  He realized that I’d gotten down early in the match and was probably pressing too hard to try to make up for lost ground.  Then we had a very difficult workout.  I’ve gotten better at the exercises that Ben has designed for me but I know I’ve got a long way to go.  I felt like I was going to die on the drive home… but, I was pumped beyond belief.

12-03-04                   Thought we were going to have another tough workout but instead we spent time hitting balls into the simulator.  Ben is convinced my clubs are all wrong for me.  Says I need longer irons with graphite shafts and bent to at least 3 degrees flat.  He is convinced the irons are causing my driver heel mishits – and I totally believe him.  He is going to bend a set of his irons for me to try out.

12-07-04                   Ben informed me that his wife Ann had asked him how I was doing.  He was very upset that he didn’t have a quantitative answer for her.  We immediately sat down at his computer and he put together a worksheet of statistical data that I need to start charting.  He also put together (with a lot of my input) a list of goals that we feel I should strive to accomplish in the year 2005.  After that, we spent a good hour and a half checking and rechecking the irons he had adjusted for me to make sure the lies were exactly right.  Can’t wait for what I know will be a backbreaking workout session on Friday, the 10^th.

12-15-04          Had my toughest workout yet yesterday.  I worked out at home in the morning and then Ben put me through the ringer yesterday from 3:00 until 6:30.  I noticed that Cloie was very tired…  Ben told me that she had followed him around and around as he circled the driving range in smaller and smaller circles as he cut the grass.  He told me that by the time he got close to the middle, she just sat in the very middle and watched him.  She is a great dog with a super personality – just like her master!  A few days ago, we got a very nice Christmas card from the Witter’s with a picture of the whole family.  Ben included a personal note to me that basically said he was glad to be my coach and looking forward to the challenges ahead of us as I strive to get to the Champion’s Tour.  This man is most remarkable.  Oh, by the way, also had a good session with Ben this past Friday, the 11^th…   Just remembered… today before the workout, we worked with Ben’s spine-angler contraption and I hit a few drives over 300 yards (this was a first for me)…  was using one of Ben’s drivers – a 48 inch long 5 ½ degree driver…  he is really working hard with me to correct my bad habit of hitting my drives on the heel of the clubface.  I’m feeling more and more confidant after every session with “Superman”.            

12-21-05          Started out by bending my irons flatter – Ben helped me.  Spent time hitting balls and played “Pebble Beach” on the simulator – scored horribly but will do better the next time.