Golf - Winter and playing in the wind and rain

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1

18th June 2010 Travelled away for the first three days of the week and chose to not take the clubs with me in favour of having a few days break after the concentrated practise of past weeks. On arriving home Wednesday afternoon, considered going for a few swings and decided to withhold that pleasure until Thursday. The few days away from the course gave some soft tissue twinges a chance to recover and also was a little release from practising seriously and returned some fun and pleasure to going out for a hit again. Golfing never becomes a chore or task in my weekly routine and being able to realise that it is just a fun sporting game that I love playing is important to that view.


The first round of the US Open at Pebble Beach has begun with many still to finish the first 18 holes and the leaders in the clubhouse on even par. The course is playing tough it seems, Rory McIllroy on 2 over, Ernie Ells even, Tiger Woods even after 6 holes Sergio Garcia 2 over on the 8th hole, Tom Watson 1 over after 6 holes, Casey 2 under after the same so the Open has a ways to go yet and some good golfing action to be seen.

For those readers who may think it would be great to be able to go and have a hit at any time, it is. Golf is not my employment and is very important as relaxation and excercise that is the crux to why I make time available to play the game often. No more time consuming than going to the gym, playing football, cricket or bowls, golf gives sporting competitiveness as well as the former benefits for my well being. The sense of satisfaction from the clean sweep of winning the first round of the John Leake Trophy plus the nearest the pin and longest drive is very enjoyable. The two minor trophies are something that have not been in my ability to do, until recently. They are the first times since beginning to play again last year I have won them in fact, nearest the pin on a par three that is. NTP in two shots I have won before.

That I deliberately wound up for a crack at the long drive is true, it was on one of the holes that I do try and hit long on occasion as opposed to other holes on the course. There is an Out of Bounds on the hole but it is the 2nd hole and not the combined ninth and 18th the long drive usually is on. My tactic is not to take unescessary risks on the 9th and 18th holes. “I do have a particular game strategy, that has no bearing on what course I am playing on. Breaking 18 holes into loosely four sections being, the first 4 holes and having a gross score of 21-22, with this I know that I am playing close to bogey golf which is appropriate for my present handicap. After 9 holes a score of 44-48 is what I look for on my card. This gives me a definite focus on what I can shoot for at the end of 18. The next three holes I play with a touch more aggression, with a target of 60-65 gross wanted after this attacking charge. If I blow out during this stanza there is still 5 holes left to recover a close to nett handicap score, if not then my target is to play the final six holes in 25-30 strokes. My current handicap is 21 and I have played with this round strategy for the past 6 months and dropped 4 strokes. Soon it will be due for a recalculation to suit my next handicap goal.” Sticking to my round plan with the goal to win or have a good round rather than win a LD, on the 2nd hole though there is plenty of holes left to make up for any errors.

Went out for a hit on Thursday with an added incentive, the weather had taken a turn for the worse at last. Gale strength gusts blowing across the course and a few showers with the rain coming in sideways with a taste of salt from the waves breaking on the cliffs a couple of kilometres away, put the onus on concentration and technique to play well. Had an enjoyable 9 holes for a 45 with 14 putts, not to bad considering the wind was blowing the ball 6 inches from its resting place on some greens let alone the effect it had on some putts rolling towards the hole. It was real game time practise, slowing down and taking my time in the set up of shots and I performed better than expected. In fact the accuracy was beyond expectations with Tee and fairway shots. Pitching left a little to be improved on with my calculation of how much the wind would affect these shots. Friday is shaping up to be much the same except wetter so another 9 holes will suffice for my tune up into Sunday’s stroke round. With Saturday being spent putting and pitching and getting the short game in some good order. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf Babes: Cristie Kerr

Golf Babes: Cristie Kerr winner of the LPGA State Farm Classic June 2010
The Ladies Professional Golf Tour is marked with the established golfers and the up and coming new players as is the PGA itself. Golf Babes is a great site to follow and keep up to date with the results of tournaments.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf - Stableford scoring to win at last

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
14th June 2010 It is a bonus in winter to turn up on competition day and be in the midst of fine weather, a slight breeze, patchy cloud and a warming sun in between the cloud cover. This was the pleasant conditions for the field on Sunday and all that was required was to play some good golf. I had expected the round to be the Monthly Medal and had read the syllabus wrong, our June Monthly Medal is being played in July. The Pennant competition, Club Handicap Championships plus several Club Trophy competitions made it impossible to fit a stroke round for the Monthly Medal into June.


This day was the first round of the John Leake Trophy a club stableford competition. Was grouped with one of the big hitters from Fridays 9 hole Chicken run his brother-in-law a 10 and 7 handicap respectively and another “C” grader albeit one on a few more strokes than me. A bit of good natured stirring before the round was dealt out, the chicken I won on Friday went to the big hitter after it was found that I had played off the wrong hcp that afternoon.

The “Chicken Run” Stableford comp is more than just fun. It is not an official comp. and there is a specific club adjustment for handicapping purposes that prevents it being dominated by high handicappers who can play a blistering 9 holes. If you score over 18 points a stroke is taken from you handicap, over 20 another stroke and over 25 another stroke is deducted. So it is possible to lose 3 handicap strokes in a round. This is a benefit for people like me who are trying to get down to lower handicaps as I have to play to a lower handicap than I would usually to score points on holes. Unfortunately I missed the last deduction of a stroke off my hcp for this comp and played off 21 instead of 20, no great worry but it had been a while since winning a chicken and having a bit of an ego boost.

The end result though was I received some ribbing at losing out in the chicken stakes and some additional motivation. It definitely worked in my favour together with the past weeks practise and focus on certain areas of my game. Had a Front Nine 44 gross for 21 points and Back Nine 47 and 17 points, total of 38 points, not to pass by that I had a gross 91 for a nett 70 on the day. Won on a countback and to top it off made a clean sweep of all the days prizes, the longest drive and nearest the pin. First time I have ever won these two daily prizes and that was very satisfying for the efforts I have made to improve my accuracy with all my clubs. The Longest Drive was won by hitting the fairway. I was out driven by 10 metres on the hole by the 7 handicapper except his shot went into the rough. The nearest the pin was extremely satisfying, hitting a 120 m par 3 green from a hill, down to the green and on a hole I struggle to get the right distance and club on. The near perfect weather and no wind to affect the ball was what got me on the green.

Now it is possible for me to look seriously at my progress after the past week of committed effort to improve my hitting, from the driver off the tee to the putter on the green. I had four double bogeys and one triple bogey in the round of 91 gross. Balanced out with a birdie and several pars I am happy with my performance. It is possible to continue improving and it is all a matter of hitting more balls and getting the consistent swing and minimise the errors a little more to take off another 4-5 strokes per round. Does not look like a lot of strokes but it is easier said than done and I have no delusions of this being as easy as boiling water. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”  Geoff

Golf - underclubbing... practise never ends

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
12th June 2010 Preparation for Sunday’s round was finished off this week with two 9 hole rounds and a revision trial in swing balance for curiosities sake. Finally got myself back into the winners spot in the Friday night 9 hole “Chicken Run” stableford comp. at the club won on a countback between 3 golfers with 18 points and that included zero points on the first hole and had a gross score of 47 off the stick. A good return considering the eight shots on the par five first hole. The “Chicken Run” is a semi serious comp. and is a lot of fun to play in. Also a great way to tune up for the weekend. It was interesting to be in a group with 3 of the clubs acknowledged big hitters, as I have commented before I am not seen as a big hitter by myself or the other players. This may have to be reconsidered, after the round which included a lot of running commentary and gamesmanship I more than held my own off the tee.


The gamesmanship was a result of having five golfers who have all played matchplay this season against each other, it was very good natured and after this game it is apparent that we all accept future meetings in the club championships are considered possible this season. I do prescribe to the adage; “Drive for show and Putt for dough” in my golf. The effect of playing good shots off the tee especially of late in my experience cannot be ignored. For those who may not know from my previous posts, I did not use drivers at all in rounds for the first year, only since January 2010 has the driver even been in my bag. It has taken a while to get the accuracy off the tee that was so beneficial last year using irons only. Certainly had a lot of fun as well in the transition period, winding up and really belting the ball at times with the driver just for the sheer joy. Since getting the rythym and swing technique consistent the distance of my shots has been average 220 m and occasionally 250 m. Making it so apparent that technique is the key to golf rather than brute strength. In 9 holes on Friday I was up there or past the big hitters I played with and still all that mattered to me was being on the fairway and not the length. On the third last hole a par five one of the guys tried to cajole me into using a driver for my third, a little bit of argy-bargy followed and I played my 3 iron as intended and he pulled his out and played his as well. It was all gamesmanship and fun to do but I take note of this as much as the various playing style and attitudes of other golfers as well for future reference. In fact I won the comp. beating this guy in the final countback for the day. We both knew what the others approx score was at the time and he was trying to goad me into letting him in with an ego driven slog and possible error.

Yesterday was a very relaxed day, ambled out for 9 holes (44 gross with 12 putts) after practising first. I was only doing short iron hitting 7 to 9 and some pitching wedge pitching in practise. My short irons have been a bit of a quandary of late, since changing to the older (1980’s) irons and reshafting the to my preferred length they have improved. I appear to have lost 5-10 metres with my lofted clubs these do have more loft than the cavity backs had for the same iron sizes, to balance this though has came greater accuracy and “feel” with the irons so the practise is to get comfortable with the choosing right club for distance. For curiosity I did use an older practise routine for some variety and to help gauge my club selection choices. Simply standing with my feet close together and taking as large a swing I could without losing my balance is the drill. Then widen the stance and hit another ten balls then out to my regular stance and another ten. This has helped me in realising hat my swing is not too bad and I had good accuracy and did not lose my balance with the feet close together. From 100 metres out I now have to take a little more time in club selection and acknowledge the course conditions and this will curtail the under clubbing problem. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all”  Geoff