This post is designed to give the reader an idea of what’s its like to resume golf after hip replacement surgery.  I know it could be viewed as a bit “arrogant” by the reader as the golf round described here is a “so what” to the player that is out there all the time.  It was a special event for me as I have not played without significant pain since last October and I didn’t have a clue as to what might happen.  I’ve had to work hard on my game as I’ve aged as clubhead speed slows but the yardages don’t change.

It is week 10 post procedure and the surgeon had cleared me to start hitting balls at week 8.  He advised me to start gradually with short irons and then get to the complete bag if everything felt good.  He cleared me for play at week 10 and I took the instruction verbatim and headed to the Dunes Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

I had four practice sessions heading up to the big event with fear, trepidation and wondering what kind of swing would show up as I reengaged with the game that I love.  I have a tendency to be positive and take a “glass half full” approach when it comes to my golf swing.  I have achieved consistency over the years and hit so many fairways that my playing partners would characterize my play as “boring.”   I’m not hitting many par 4’s in regulation so chipping from 20-100 yards is critical to scoring.   As I have aged, clubhead speed has been reduced significantly and this is my number one weakness.   I’ve had formal physical training with a trainer for  over twenty years to maintain health and flexibility.   The effort yielded significant  benefit in rehab after the replacement surgery, but it hasn’t had any appreciable impact on gaining clubhead speed.  I would also have to reintroduce my left hip to the game as I did everything possible to suppress it pre-surgery due to the excruciating pain.

The practice sessions revealed some rust as timing was off, which impacted ball flight and expected yardages.  Putting and chipping were not really impacted much by the hip replacement.  Disappointment came with reductions in yardages particularly with the driver as tee shots were down to 200 yards.  What was important in these practice sessions was to restore the confidence in the golf swing from where I used to be before the injury.  Focus on making the small adjustments to restore the correct timing renews the confidence and repetition of performance.  The yardages may be different but getting the right ball flight trajectory and accuracy are more important at this stage of recovery.  I am against making swing changes or adjustments without the view of the teaching professional.  I am not going to try to change things and potentially disrupt the firm foundation that’s been laid for many years.

The appointed day came and without much worry, the first tee shot ran 200 yards down the middle of the fairway.  Getting the timing back on the fairway woods was a bit challenging on the first few holes resulting in three consecutive bogeys–I usually only make par on one of these three holes so my attitude was still pretty positive.  I then smacked a hybrid club into the woods on the par 3, 4th as I didn’t take the club back far enough, which will produce an open clubface on impact and a search for the ball in the trees.  I absolutely recognize and hate this fault so I have to respond by ensuring getting that club back.  Double bogey on 4–erratic but not terrible play continued through 7.  I usually count the number of “misses” which I define as shots that I hit poorly through bad execution–the standard for me is 1/round and by the seventh hole–the standard was thoroughly crushed.  The round started to improve on the back nine especially on the par 3, 10th when I thought I had missed an iron that landed on the green.  A couple of long putts holed on 11 and 13 and some cool chip shots on 12 and 16 generated a lot of positive momentum.  The best part of the day was the tee shot on the par 3, 14th ocean hole to about 10 feet; however, I did miss the birdie putt. (key blog image)  My 80 yard chip shot on the par 5, 18th sailed over the flagstick into the thick rough behind the green, I simply chipped in from there with my Taylor Made sand wedge that I had fished out of the pile of sets in the Pebble Beach house garage.

Day 2 would be way better with much more consistency, accuracy and even play.  I made my first post hip surgery birdie on the par 3, 7th hole with a 5 iron to 4 feet.  I hit a number of 80-100 yard shots that produced pars on the par 4’s.  No errant shots today and no hip pain for both days.  Instead of knocking the ball in the trees on No. 4, I nailed a 5 iron to the green for a par.  The session was pretty positive and I was stoked as I walked in to the pro shop.  The last thing I’m going to do is to take Day 2’s performance as something that can be automatically expected in the future.  Golf is complex and I believe more mentally than physically challenging.  I will go back to the practice tee and eventually my teacher to increase clubhead speed and move back to the tee box experience prior to the hip trouble.  It’s a goal that will not be easily achievable as you have to get better in the ability to hit the ball further while maintaining the performance that has already been achieved but will be continuously tested everytime out.

As I’ve said before in my books and blog posts, “Golf is Hard.”