Long and Straight
No, this is not a penis post.
Yesterday was the day I learned to hit it straight with my driver. I knew that the reason my ball usually hooked right is that I wasn't following through all the way and completing my swing, but I honestly didn't know what I needed to do differently to get to completion. Apparently, time was all it took to get comfortable. I hit at least two smash-down-the-center drives yesterday, and a couple other respectable, fairly-straight ones. One ball even outdistanced Al's; I figure when I can do that consistently, I'll start hitting from the whites.
I should note that just because I'm getting better at driving, and much better at chipping and pitching, it doesn't mean that my scores are going down. I'll worry about that later, when I'm secure in my fundamental skills. Al is dying to see me break 100, but given that my all-time-low for 18 holes is 114, I'm not holding my breath that it will happen this year. Al's game, meanwhile, is getting much better, and he credits the time off that he's had this year with the improvment. I kinda wish that I were going to be employed in spring/summer (or in California :) as he was, so I could play more. I'm guessing that Pennsylvania residents don't get to play much golf after the first frost, and I don't expect to move into a permanent home—and thus unpack my golf clubs—before then.