29/11/11 Tuesday. The past weekend golfing was a pleasure to see and play in, starting on Friday afternoon with my first decent hit in 2-3 weeks. The 9 hole “chicken run” competition on Friday afternoons is fun and my approach to this is to especially enjoy the round and use it to tune up my game for competition. Having spent so long on the side lines of late it was good to be hitting the ball well and enjoying the company of my playing partners. Akin to a scene from Caddyshack the skies around us on the course were black with flashes of lighting sparking across the roiling sky followed by rolling thunder. With two holes to go the wind changed direction and the storm clouds turned towards us and soon big fat raindrops were splatting onto heads. Sitting on 16 points and playing well I stuck it out to the end. Totally drenched by the finish and a total of 20 points was well worth the soaking.
Saturday was the Robe Village Classic Ambrose and our four put in a very credible effort. With a final total of 7 under for the day, getting 5 birdies on the front nine our game lacked the putting skill on the back only adding another 2 birdies to the scorecard. We did not get any bogies or worse in the round either, but not able to drop the birdie putts on the back nine had us miss out on the prizes on a countback at the end of the days play. Best total was a 14 under, proving that the summer conditions are a boon to playing better golf. Each team included 1-2 players who were invited players for the next days Robe Village Classic Tournament for 5 hcp. or less golfers in the Mens and 18 or less in the ladies tournament. Personally I felt some responsibility for out teams shortcomings on the back nine, struggled after the 11th hole to putt well especially. In the team talent scale I was the 2nd best golfer, with a Scratch, me on 12, a 23 and a 27.
No matter it was great fun and it was well worthwhile to see the difference between my standard and a scratch golfer up close and unleashed off the tee. With the consistent set up of each hole with a shot on the fairway every time before the scratch golfer teed up, it was possible to see first hand the talent that is in the hands of low handicappers. On the day he used the driver several times off the tee in the Ambrose which if it was a solo stroke round would have used anything from a fairway metal to #2 iron. That comment was filed away in my brain box together with the observation of the same game approach from Mark Pretty (+1 hcp.) who played in my group during the Robe Open on the 6th of November.
Mark Pretty and Dylan Morgan were both tied at the end of the Open’s 18 holes and there was a playoff to decide the winner. Out club has a two hole playoff with best gross score deciding the winner and if tied it is sudden death play until there is a winner. The 2011 Robe Open video footage of the 5 playoff holes has been edited now and is included in the post here;
1st playoff hole
2nd Playoff hole
3rd Playoff hole
4th Playoff hole
5th Playoff hole
Winners Presentation Robe Open 2011
This was an interesting notation in my mind when referring back to my first year back golfing in 2009. I played successfully in that season using the #3 iron off the tee for 6 months before getting coaching from the club professional in January 2010 in using a Driver. Even today with the smaller driver (380cc) in the bag, I do not have to change to a #3 metal off the tee when that is a better choice than a 460cc Driver. Improvement with the #2 Hybrid in coming months is a must, this club is going to be a vital ingredient among others in my quest to reach a 5 handicap. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all” Geoff
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
A little dummy spit... Feel a lot better now
24/11/11 Thursday. Getting close to spitting the dummy at the minute, had a gutfull of not playing golf today. After spending a few hours at the club sorting out the stock in the bar and with the electrician getting the power fixed went to the car and got the sticks out of the boot and played five holes.
Bit of anger in the first few holes so some ratty shots, still hitting greens in regulation was done a couple of times. Putted crap and did not care was just happy to throw off the shackles and have a swing. Still some damned pain in the right fore arm, that is not a good sign. Of course I would rather have the arm ,even if it is a bit second rate than be a Mr Stumpy. In fact as I write this the anger is really roiling away, a good thing. Have been through a lot of physical discomfort for a long time so my acceptance of it is very limited. Being fitter from playing golf and enjoying the handicap progress, stopping something so good is not easy.
Saturday is the Village Classic Ambrose, unfortunately only two of us from last seasons successful team can make it and I am not in prime form. That said it is an Ambrose and will suit my current game very well. Pretty pumped to play after so long away, hahahah two weeks of reduced golf. Then Sunday a day of watching a field of 24, 5 or less handicap golfers playing for the 2011 Village Classic honours.
The power problem had been noticed for 6 months or so and was a dimming of the lights in the main. Sparky gets the call and says it is not a good sign, as an electricity nimrod I had no idea what this potentially meant. A mini Hiroshima or a burst of cow flatulence. To make a long story short after answering no to the questions ie has any one been shocked with the juice or any electrical equipment been fried. He was surprised and then showed that instead of 240 Volts the club was getting up to 300V. ETSA sent a crew straight away and fixed the lines and so now we are back in the safety zone. By pure luck it seems because the club gets limited use through winter, not much wedding hire etc the possible disaster was avoided.
The Club AGM went well last night, bigger attendance than the last one, which in AGM terms can be a concrn as if members are happy they dont come out in large numbers. Yet the meeting went along smoothly the floor members voiced no concerns or problems with the plans and decisions mooted for the coming expansion. New people on the committee as well which is a good thing and I have stepped down from Secretary and taken on Vice President for the year. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”, Geoff
Bit of anger in the first few holes so some ratty shots, still hitting greens in regulation was done a couple of times. Putted crap and did not care was just happy to throw off the shackles and have a swing. Still some damned pain in the right fore arm, that is not a good sign. Of course I would rather have the arm ,even if it is a bit second rate than be a Mr Stumpy. In fact as I write this the anger is really roiling away, a good thing. Have been through a lot of physical discomfort for a long time so my acceptance of it is very limited. Being fitter from playing golf and enjoying the handicap progress, stopping something so good is not easy.
Saturday is the Village Classic Ambrose, unfortunately only two of us from last seasons successful team can make it and I am not in prime form. That said it is an Ambrose and will suit my current game very well. Pretty pumped to play after so long away, hahahah two weeks of reduced golf. Then Sunday a day of watching a field of 24, 5 or less handicap golfers playing for the 2011 Village Classic honours.
The power problem had been noticed for 6 months or so and was a dimming of the lights in the main. Sparky gets the call and says it is not a good sign, as an electricity nimrod I had no idea what this potentially meant. A mini Hiroshima or a burst of cow flatulence. To make a long story short after answering no to the questions ie has any one been shocked with the juice or any electrical equipment been fried. He was surprised and then showed that instead of 240 Volts the club was getting up to 300V. ETSA sent a crew straight away and fixed the lines and so now we are back in the safety zone. By pure luck it seems because the club gets limited use through winter, not much wedding hire etc the possible disaster was avoided.
The Club AGM went well last night, bigger attendance than the last one, which in AGM terms can be a concrn as if members are happy they dont come out in large numbers. Yet the meeting went along smoothly the floor members voiced no concerns or problems with the plans and decisions mooted for the coming expansion. New people on the committee as well which is a good thing and I have stepped down from Secretary and taken on Vice President for the year. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”, Geoff
Monday, November 21, 2011
How low can I go.....
21/11/11 Monday. Sticking with the no golfing effort to assist in recovery from the Tennis/Golfer elbow malaise. The last week was not easy did go out on Tuesday and hit 20 balls with my drivers just to work on the swing fault which affected the Penola round and had a 15 minute putting session on Wednesday. That is the total of golfing practise and the least number of hits in the past three years, so it was a difficult excercise. At the minute the recovery is still very slow, unfortunately on weekends I throw the papers for the local newsagent. Whilst the discomfort was less on Sunday than after Saturdays paper round it was not a good thing to do. At this stage I will have a hit on Friday in the Chicken run 9 hole stableford, before playing in the Robe Classic Ambrose Comp. on Saturday. Should be no problems with this amount of activity, although the Race To Cypress Lakes competition on the 2nd of December is looking like a non entry for me. Only 7 spots left in the field for the Vines and I cannot commit given the slow improvement.
Southern Ports Tournament in 2012 , end of February and first week of March is still the major start to next seasons competition targets, after finishing second in “B” Grade in 2011 and the same in “C” Grade in 2010 now I am up into the”A” Grade. Relishing the challenge at having a crack at this, reality is that being in the higher handicap section of the grade, target is the Nett competition not the Gross. Another two weeks are committed to recovering from the injury before I have to start the pre-Competition preparation.
The upside to not playing golf at the minute is the amount of “thinking time” that my game is getting to counter not being out playing. Was about time, in hindsight, that I sat back and put some thought into where I am going with golf. The dreamed of handicap goal back in 2009 when starting was 10, the must get target was 15. Reached that figure in February 2011, and now playing off 12. Nearing the first of the double figure handicap numbers, has me looking at the single digits below. Playing to 19hcp is still fresh enough in my experience to be able to notice the major improvement in 12 months to be 7 strokes better. Whilst all of the playing focus is on cracking the 10hcp level, mentally my mind is rambling among the single digits for a target.
Being aware of other golfing partners/opponents achievements over this time handicap wise is a benefit. Specifically two have got down to a 6hcp from 12-13 another from 4 to 2. In that time there has been several casual golfing partners, who during rounds have discussed their handicap journeys from where I am at to the single figures. After a week of thought, the revised handicap dream target is 5, I will accept 6 or 4 either side of the number as well, which pretty much reveals that until I get there the hunger to improve is a motivation at the minute. Being able to go back over three seasons of a golf diary and two of blogging which were written as the golfing happened is a significant benefit. I can see where I have had various influences, positive and negative on my game develop. The equipment and coaching experiences are especially valuable. In fact the latter is the most influential aspect which improved my game. A golfers attitude to receiving professional coaching is what makes or breaks their game in my opinion. For those who stand by the position of coaching does not benefit a golfers game, that is your choice. I will draw your attention to the fact that the professionals who play at the highest level today, still get coaching to keep their own game at it’s best.
Whilst I do have a documented training/practise schedule that has worked so far it is not static or set in stone. It has evolved since 2009 to produce my golf improvement and although it has maintained the core principles to enable playing my best golf. Not once have I gone off on a tangent chasing one of those imaginary “Secrets” that will take your golf to a brilliant level. Grip and Swing in tandem with practise are what has got me this far. Never have I gone to a coach without a set idea of what was needed. Hence I could listen to the advice. practise the routines and here I am playing my best golf for now. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”
Geoff
Southern Ports Tournament in 2012 , end of February and first week of March is still the major start to next seasons competition targets, after finishing second in “B” Grade in 2011 and the same in “C” Grade in 2010 now I am up into the”A” Grade. Relishing the challenge at having a crack at this, reality is that being in the higher handicap section of the grade, target is the Nett competition not the Gross. Another two weeks are committed to recovering from the injury before I have to start the pre-Competition preparation.
The upside to not playing golf at the minute is the amount of “thinking time” that my game is getting to counter not being out playing. Was about time, in hindsight, that I sat back and put some thought into where I am going with golf. The dreamed of handicap goal back in 2009 when starting was 10, the must get target was 15. Reached that figure in February 2011, and now playing off 12. Nearing the first of the double figure handicap numbers, has me looking at the single digits below. Playing to 19hcp is still fresh enough in my experience to be able to notice the major improvement in 12 months to be 7 strokes better. Whilst all of the playing focus is on cracking the 10hcp level, mentally my mind is rambling among the single digits for a target.
Being aware of other golfing partners/opponents achievements over this time handicap wise is a benefit. Specifically two have got down to a 6hcp from 12-13 another from 4 to 2. In that time there has been several casual golfing partners, who during rounds have discussed their handicap journeys from where I am at to the single figures. After a week of thought, the revised handicap dream target is 5, I will accept 6 or 4 either side of the number as well, which pretty much reveals that until I get there the hunger to improve is a motivation at the minute. Being able to go back over three seasons of a golf diary and two of blogging which were written as the golfing happened is a significant benefit. I can see where I have had various influences, positive and negative on my game develop. The equipment and coaching experiences are especially valuable. In fact the latter is the most influential aspect which improved my game. A golfers attitude to receiving professional coaching is what makes or breaks their game in my opinion. For those who stand by the position of coaching does not benefit a golfers game, that is your choice. I will draw your attention to the fact that the professionals who play at the highest level today, still get coaching to keep their own game at it’s best.
Whilst I do have a documented training/practise schedule that has worked so far it is not static or set in stone. It has evolved since 2009 to produce my golf improvement and although it has maintained the core principles to enable playing my best golf. Not once have I gone off on a tangent chasing one of those imaginary “Secrets” that will take your golf to a brilliant level. Grip and Swing in tandem with practise are what has got me this far. Never have I gone to a coach without a set idea of what was needed. Hence I could listen to the advice. practise the routines and here I am playing my best golf for now. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”
Geoff
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Golf as described on ABC Gruen Planet 16/11/11
gruen planet 16/11/11
“Chalmers took home 1/4 of a million dollars after the Aust. Open, Tiger Woods income has dropped from $100 million to $60 million p/a.
Host Wil Anderson, “Russell how is it that golf a moderately popular game, is the best paid”
“because it is a game played by white in the main, middle class men in the richest countries in the world”
“Well that does explain it…” as simple as that.
Agencies look at sporting events as advertising properties and golf is one of the premium and most valuable. The main reason for that is, “Who watches it” mostly 35 year old plus males with money.
And the consumers of golf product are wealthy, so it is a rich persons sport. Not necessarily a rich persons sport but more so than your average persons sport. Played by upper middle class people who love spending money on themselves, because in the main they are selfish.
Then the one panelist (who plays golf came in)... What! all golfers?
There are two things; One you participate in golf, it is the rare sport where you can increase your participation the older you get and the more you enter you wealth phase. Second in golf you see anything a new driver, ball, pair of socks that will take half a shot of your round you gotta go buy it…”
Episode link Gruen Planet Episode 8 16/11/2011
This TV show is entertaining and delivers the cold hard truth of Advertising up with a serving of wit and in house Advertising opinion. As a golfer myself I had a laugh at the segment the above transcript is taken from. Admittedly this program does have a significant humour quotient as part of the patter, so this has to be taken into account with these words out of the program.
That said it showed to me the image problem Golf has in Oz. It is a cheaper sport for me to play than Football or cricket for that matter., being country based the membership is not too expensive and I get to play as often as I like. Yet golf carries the dated imagery of “exclusivity” still in the minds of many.
Golf has to overcome this sterotypical image to regain a larger share of the sporting public playing the game.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
“Chalmers took home 1/4 of a million dollars after the Aust. Open, Tiger Woods income has dropped from $100 million to $60 million p/a.
Host Wil Anderson, “Russell how is it that golf a moderately popular game, is the best paid”
“because it is a game played by white in the main, middle class men in the richest countries in the world”
“Well that does explain it…” as simple as that.
Agencies look at sporting events as advertising properties and golf is one of the premium and most valuable. The main reason for that is, “Who watches it” mostly 35 year old plus males with money.
And the consumers of golf product are wealthy, so it is a rich persons sport. Not necessarily a rich persons sport but more so than your average persons sport. Played by upper middle class people who love spending money on themselves, because in the main they are selfish.
Then the one panelist (who plays golf came in)... What! all golfers?
There are two things; One you participate in golf, it is the rare sport where you can increase your participation the older you get and the more you enter you wealth phase. Second in golf you see anything a new driver, ball, pair of socks that will take half a shot of your round you gotta go buy it…”
Episode link Gruen Planet Episode 8 16/11/2011
This TV show is entertaining and delivers the cold hard truth of Advertising up with a serving of wit and in house Advertising opinion. As a golfer myself I had a laugh at the segment the above transcript is taken from. Admittedly this program does have a significant humour quotient as part of the patter, so this has to be taken into account with these words out of the program.
That said it showed to me the image problem Golf has in Oz. It is a cheaper sport for me to play than Football or cricket for that matter., being country based the membership is not too expensive and I get to play as often as I like. Yet golf carries the dated imagery of “exclusivity” still in the minds of many.
Golf has to overcome this sterotypical image to regain a larger share of the sporting public playing the game.
Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff
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