GOLF - Winter play is a new game

10th July 2010 Looks like my request for some winter weather has got through to the weather gods. I am sitting inside contemplating going out to film the course in its tougher playing conditions. Not raining but the gusting winds that makes the game so challenging here are rattling the windows. Doing a little mental refresher course in my mind at the minute, I have been out and practiced in the less favourable weather this season and it looks like tomorrows comp. will be the first time the practice will be needed. As usual feeling confident that I will be reasonable on the course, a little added incentive is that a win should have me the likely winner of the John Leake Trophy for the season. A best two of three rounds, won the first round and am in good form at the minute so should be able to come in near the top.




Have put in the hours practising putting and pitching this week. The long game is not going to have much effect on my improvement in coming months. To cut 4-5 more strokes a round off my scores is going to come from getting up and down in two shots when not on the green and one putting for birdie when on in regulation. Following on from last weeks round and recovering from a 10 on the first hole, yesterday afternoon’s 9 hole ‘Chicken Run” stableford comp also had me pull out the stops with 2 points after 3 holes and 18 after completing 9. Added to this I was also playing off 19 hcp and not my official 20 hcp. One of the conditions of this comp. is that players who win have a shot taken off their hcp the following week also players who come in with a 21 points plus for the nine also lose a stroke.



This is to make it a very open and fun competition not dominated by the same golfers winning each week. I have found it to be particularly effective in improving my game on two fronts. It is enjoyable and a very good tune up for the club competition round on the Sunday. Of equal import is that I get to experience playing off a lower handicap than usual in a competition and having to perform to win an event against other golfers. Like many golfers I try to break my handicap in practice, when playing off a lower hcp even if it is only 9 holes, the competative spirit certainly kicks in for me. Not to forget I do a lot more laughing, sledging and chatting than I or my playing partners would do in an official round.

It is especially intyeresting in this comp. The surprise many of us get when playing and seeing the other game face of people who previously we thought were so serious is a great benefit to the club social character. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit ‘em straight all.
 Geoff

Golf Chokers - Gary Player speaks on then and now.

As we age the perception of the following generation of golfers and their quality and character starts to cross our minds. Yes, times have changed well Doh!? The obvious statement is truly stupid, Time does not stop and evolving technology has changed the face of golf and the people who play it now, depending on their age some players can remember playing with Woods that were clubs made of wood, not the No. 1 Golfer of the time. The first metal drivers coming on to the scene in the 1980's as well as the iron revolution from PING and the end of having to play with blades as virtually the only choice of iron.

Gary Player a true champion of golf has delivered his views on the topic in his most recent book and following is an excerpt of an interview  and the link to the fuull transcript...

 Gary Player talks Tiger, mental toughness and how he stays fit at age 74

The 74-year-old nine-time major champion has written a new book, Don't Choke: A Champion's Guide to Winning Under Pressure.

Most pro athletes hate to even say the word choke. You wrote a book about it. Why?


I've done about 14 or 15 books in my career, and it's mostly been on theory. And so I thought, is theory really the important thing? You look at Trevino — he takes the club outside the line, and he's shut. Palmer takes it back, and he's shut. Nicklaus takes it upright with a flying right elbow. Hogan took it back on the perfect plane. Snead took it back inside and up. You have all these different swings. So what makes a champion is certainly not the swing. The swing is not the thing. It's what's upstairs.


Look at me. I was small, I had to travel and I had great difficulties to compete on the Tour. I was far from home, and I saw a lot of demonstrations against me because I was from South Africa. There was a lot of adversity.


In the book you say that you never choked. How did you avoid it?


I really believe that when you're young, the difficulties you've encountered are to your advantage. When I was young my mother died when I was 8. My father worked in a gold mine 12,000 feet underground. My brother went off to fight alongside the Americans in World War II. So I said to myself "when I play one day — and I never said if, I said when, — one thing I'll never be is scared to win. Most of the time when I was playing in these big championships, when I had a chance to win, I won. I can honestly say I never lost a tournament because I flat choked. The thing is, after what I'd gone through,


subconsciously I said, man, this playing in a golf tournament is Mickey Mouse compared to what I'd gone through as a young person. The worst thing you can do is to start thinking about the trophy, or the check, or the fame that you'll get out of the experience.






Are young players today softer than they were in your era?


Young people today are coming along at a different time. [Many are] obese — 26 percent of the youth, 55 percent of the grownups … how do you go into life and excel? You cannot obtain success unless you're in good condition mentally, physically and have a positive attitude.

I look at the Tour now, and there are all these international players coming in and taking over. What is the reason? You know what is? I think, we live in this great country of milk and honey. You think there's a sense of entitlement. We've got to get people to get back to the grindstone

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

GOLF - Documentary filming starts today

8th July 2010 Today is the first day of shooting of the Golf Documentary I have developed after 9 months of pre-production work. The preparation has been enjoyable, a little more so than usual as this included playing a lot of golf. Which may be an understatement and I fully intend to play a lot more golf in the coming months of filming as well. Movie production can even be seen as an analogy for developing your own golf game, doing a little bit at a time to produce the finished product. There are a lot of little bits to be done in the coming months to craft the completed film and it will be as much fun as playing golf.


This week has not been as concentrated on playing and practising that has been the way of late. Preparing for shooting today did take up a bit of my golf course time. Managed to get out for a casual hit on Tuesday and play 9 holes on Wednesday which showed again that it is a good thing to have a break from practice and playing all of the time. Hitting four of nine greens in regulation was very satisfying, not getting any birdies was not too much of a concern. Did not putt well either, finished up with 16 putts in a score of 42 with a couple of very scrappy pitches as well. The focus in coming weeks is on the short game for me to have any further progression down the handicap numbers. Now playing off 20 and taking 6 months to get there has been entertaining, it was also a requirement to be able to start shooting the film so the added motivation I am sure did help in reaching the target.

This coming weekend is the second round of the John Leake Trophy a best of three competition I won the first round and will be putting in a concentrated effort to keep in the lead Sunday. Being a Stableford competition does suit higher handicappers if they are on song and playing well. It is particularly favourable to the mid 20’s player who is on the path to the high teens and can come in with pars and birdies on those holes where they get 2 strokes. I only get two of those now, but scoring 3 points for a par is a just as effective in coming in with a near 40+ total and that will be just fine. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all” Geoff

Kingsbarns live web cam 18th green Saint Andrews golf course.

18th Hole Kingsbarn St Andrews Golf Course
Nothing on tv to watch or you enjoy watching the grass grow even. Of course there are the times when you can actually watch the hole being worked on by ground staff and people playing golf on the course.

Don't expect to be entertained with non stop action, even golfers canot play during the night.  
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff