GOLF - Final Championship Qualifying round

14th September 2010. After playing the first championship qualifying round in pouring rain and very uncomfortable conditions, the second and final qualifier was the complete opposite. Sunshine, a pleasant breeze and the course relatively dry, the only real hindrance was patches of long grass on the fairways which could not be cut regularly in the past two weeks. This was frustrating for both finding balls and playing shots but definitely it could have been a lot worse.



The practise of the past weeks did deliver for me on the day finally managed to get the drives off the tee back to an acceptable level of accuracy. The problem of late was a combination of physical restriction in my swing due to injury and a massage on the Monday prior to playing relieved that. Which soon had me able to swing freely on the tee and get rid of the outside in swing plane that causes the slice out to the right. This combined with the short game practise in pitching and putting practise got my score below 90.



I did make mistakes and my gross score of 89 included three penalty strokes, two of those came from wayward second shots that rolled under trees, requiring a penalty drop to be able to play a decent next shot. The other a tee shot that went out of bounds, not by much but out is out. There were other shots that could have been better that effectively had little influence on the final score. As is expected the two shots that really stick in my memory are the pitch in for birdie on the 7th hole and the 6 metre putt for birdie on the last hole. A little disconcerting is I am now unsure of how much my physical injury restriction of the past few weeks has been affecting my game. Even so it is not a major influence I believe for any more than the past 2-3 rounds and was simply a result of it being nothing like the discomfort and restriction of movement that has been experienced previously.



My injuries were the result of a motor vehicle accident 20 plus years ago and the past two years the rehabilitation of these has finally had major improvement in my physical condition. The downside is being inured to pain and discomfort is a habit of mine and I accept the discomfort too often instead of getting it treated. Last year I was laid up for 3 months as my body reacted to the action of playing golf as internal scar tissue was strained and eventually corrected into a semblance of normality. This is why part of my golf practise includes weights and excercise routines, in moderation. The gradual strengthening routines are not targeting building up physique, they target stamina and conditioning to be able to play 18 holes of golf and not have the injuries sap away playing consistency.



The final results after a quick tally courtesy of Golf Link has the B Grade Championship Qualifying Table as follows; 1) 100 5101300281 N N 86, 2) G Dening N N 89, 3) 67 5101300264 N N 92, 4) 33 5101300255 N N 98, 5) 50 5101300267 N N 102, 6) 17 5101300251 N N 109 7) .?.. 8) .?..



I have managed to come in second place which may change as the first qualifier has intimated a move up to play in A Grade. No real difference going to the first qualifying place. Depending on whether any of the “C” Grade qualifiers elect to move up to play “B” grade it is possible I will have a bye in the first round of match play. Several of the C grade qualifiers have good enough scores to move up a grade and they have only moved to the lower grade since the new handicapping system came in. It will be no surprise to me that they choose to play “B” grade and I am confident against any of them. On the other hand having the number one qualifying play move to A grade is a bonus for me I have played with him several times socially in match play practise and the honours are all square. Fact is I have never came close to 80 and at my best could possibly score an 84-85 off the stick and would need him to have a bad round to be in with a chance of beating him at the minute.



That is all conjecture for now and the actual play off table will be available today(Tuesday) or tomorrow and then and will now what the state of play will be. In the meantime a trip away for a couple of days is on the cards and a week break before the first playoff to tune up my match play technique. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all” Geoff

GOLF - WInning is easy in the sunshine

23rd August 2010 Monday; A win on the weekend, all a result of the preparation over the past month. This was proof that golf is not a game of ‘luck’. Four weeks ago I began to improve my game and fitness for the final rounds of the Caledonian Inn Trophy on this past Sunday and next weeks, John Leake Trophy. There was finally a change in the weather and to not be playing in pouring rain and gale strength wind gusts was a delight. Yes dear readers, I was beginning to dislike playing golf after going through the past three weeks of weather conditions. A note of interest, thanks to referring back to Golf Link competitions played details, in the previous two weekends playing in terrible weather, I finished in 3rd place each time.




The result on Sunday with a Nett 67 gave me a one shot win for the day and tied the best two of three rounds result with 134 apiece for the Caledonian Inn Trophy. The final placing is still to be decided and I do not know how it is done. Hopefully it is based on all three rounds, as I had Nett 67, 72, 67 and the the other golfer had a Nett 66, 75, 68. Either way the competition was sensational fun. I do not attribute luck too much importance in playing well, I never discount that it does happen. On the 18th hole my opponent hit his drive out of bounds it bounced three times down a bitumen road and then rocketed to the left back into play, leaving him a 50-60 m shot to the green which he made in regulation, a 1.5 m putt for birdie which he just missed gave me the day. After I sank a 5 m putt up a two tier green on the 18th, it was one of those rounds where the pleasure of playing far outweighed what was being played for.



Golf is fun to play, if it was not then the game would soon lose its appeal to me. You have to make your own fun as well, it does not just happen we had a lot of good natured banter to make it fun and not a dull boring game. I definitely believe the improved weather had a lot to do with the happy nature of all the golfers playing on the day. Also I had three days away from the golf sticks (Wed,Thurs. and Friday) and that helped my game as well. The weight training benefits were obvious in my consistency with irons and driver golf swings and playing some of the more delicate pitch shots onto the green. All I do is a series of routines with 25kg each day now, to start with it was 15kg every second day taking no more than 20 minutes. It is a very minor gym commitment designed to do exactly what is being delivered, built stamina and stop those mishits caused by tiredness during a round. During this time I am continuing the daily excercise routine with the Chest Expander and Hand Grips. this is far easier to do in the comfort on my own home. The weight training takes an extra effort but after another 4 weeks will be almost finished with being done as a particular excercise and can be reduced to every second or third day by then if not sooner. I have to be on the ball at the minute, after last week when I realised that I had over done “golf” and had a three day break. This is recreation for me not a job so even though it is a happy obsession, it is still fun, not a must do activity.



It was well worth the experience of the past two weeks, only using a #2 Hybrid off the tee and not carrying a driver, this week the big stick came back into the bag and produced good results. The short game, pitching especially, was very good from the practise and weight training. Putting was good for my expectations at least and will be a particular training focus for coming weeks. As regular readers are aware over the past three months my irons have been reshafted three times. This experiment has been completed and last week I reshafted the Presto periphally weighted irons again. I now have the original shafts in these irons to the #7. The #8 iron has a heavier True Temper Dynamic shaft and the #9 iron has an #8 iron shaft the PW has a #9 shaft and SW a PW shaft. It has been crucial to establish a set of irons that benefit my game and has not been expensive less than $200 to purchase a new set of Presto Irons, and two second hand iron sets that also gained me two new putters and a 60 degree lob wedge. This way of setting myself up with the irons that I need and am well suited to use is just that way I chose to do it. I do not recommend it for everyone, I now can plan on purchasing a set of new blades in the future if my game continues to improve.



Here is the proof of my success, on January the 3rd., 2010 my handicap was 25.2, today on the 23rd of August it is 19.4, six strokes better over an eight month period is a safisfactory result. There has been a lot of work put in and my target of reaching 15 is still in reach before the end of 2010. That I will get to the goal is not certain, the most consistent handicap I have played to in competition is 17 when breaking 90 (gross). While doing the maths is easy, to figure out what is possible, playing golf well enough to reach 15 is more than calculation, it takes action. Fact is I may not be good enough to play to 15, that is not defeatist that is something that may be a reality. A golfer at our club once wanted to make single figures, 9 or less. He reached 12 and could not drop those last three strokes no matter how much he practised or played. It was his own choice to stop and this was a fella who had 10 acres with his home and had built a practise area for driving, fairways and pitching/putting. Now playing and satisfied with his handicap he said to me that at the time it was irritating but simply he did not have the talent to get to single figures.



I have no delusions of my ability only the and desire to see what I can do on the golf course. This year will have me in “B” grade for the club championships and that alone requires me to improve a lot. Club Championship opponents in “B” Grade are far more experienced golfers than I and many have been Penant and “A” grade golfers to boot, that is something that can put their actual handicap into a lower figure during matchplay based upon the knowledge they have. Hence I have chosen to bolster my playing stocks with fitness and practise to try and be able to compete and succeed in this seasons games. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em Straight all” , Geoff

GOLF - Practise time it never stops...

12th August Thursday. Winter is making it’s presence felt this week with the wind still delivering strong gusts during the day. At least rain has been bearable and not a continual downpour drenching anyone who steps outside. Practice has been concentrated on the short game of pitching and putting drills. Gaining a little more variety with pitching to the green and being able to stop the ball from running though too far past the hole has been a major success. Never really had the confidence to try and play anything but the most basic of shots until recently and still do not vary far from “hitting the ball straight” for the most part. Playing with a conservative frame of mind with regard to attacking golf is still the main base of my game strategy. Improvement in my stroke play now has shots what would have been discarded as ‘too risky’ only a month ago, now I play them. Certainly many golfers would look at my deliberations over shot choice and decide to play what I call the risky one straight away. This is a slow decision for me as I come to terms with being able to play strokes consistently and not mishit as many shots.




I have persisted with last weeks decision and left the Driver out of the bag and used a #2 (16 degree) hybrid off the tee. Losing 20-40 metres distance is balanced with the accuraccy and fairways hit. The perceived effectiveness of this club in the windy conditions was always a reason behind the purchase of the hybrid. Last year I used my #3 Iron, the hybrid gives better distance and burrows into the wind on and off the tee block. As to whether using the driver would be just as effective is not an issue, I am hitting more fairways and that is enough proof for me and not having to create shots from difficult positions is a bonus. There is another factor which is benefiting my game at the minute, adding weight training to me excercise routine.



As written previously the past month has included regular excercise routines using hand grips, chest expander and yoga leg lifts. This week I began a regular weight regime for increased stamina during rounds. Starting off with 20 minute sessions every second day using 15 kg on the bar and three exercises this will become a daily routine in a couple of weeks. Not after any spectacular changes or improvements the results are already being delivered in the first week. The effort to swing a club is barely noticeable and yes I have become consistent with striking the ball and the benefits of this include confidence personally as well as results with the ball.



Putting is still a little bit erratic on occasion but this will be dealt with in time with more practise. Still a little surprised how the transition to the new mallet style putter has evolved and how badly I used this putter previously yet now am much better with it. Through research and reading what other golfers said about changing putters, then opinion of coaches and professionals and their attitude to using new clubs of any type that gave me the idea to seriously do the ‘change putter’ experiment in the first place. It comes down to ‘How little people like change’ the old adage of ’better the devil you know’ also comes into consideration. I am of the opinion that a good number of golfers are monkeys and have no idea what they can or can’t do on a golf course and perpetually sell themselves short. Yes I do make a particular effort to play a lot of golf and am in a position to do so. Yet I have heard many golfers rave on about their game and never act upon what they say is needed to be done, even better is the number of golfers who have had lessons and roundly criticised the coach as not having a clue. When all it has been is they do not want to accept the advice and change how they have (incorrectly) played strokes for so long.



Every golfer is going to do what ever they want to, that is the only fact that never changes in the game.

Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em straight all”Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

GOLF - webbed feet would not have helped

9th August Monday Time to relax and recharge the energy after a very draining day on the course in the competition on Sunday. One of the rare occasions when I had a care factor of zero for the result and continuing the round, brought on by a continual downpour for the first 6 holes. Not a skerrick of enjoyment in those holes there were moments when it was bearable, mostly nothing but getting drenched. Being a par round and nothing more than a game with no importance in the end result apart from the final score my concentration did wander for a space of four holes and if any less effort was put into them would have been better played by a coma patient. The day was won with a score of minus 2 and my score was minus 5 so not too far off the pace even though no effort was put into the game for four holes.




On reflection as the field only had four golfers in total it shows that my commitment was better than many. Maybe having played so much during the week was a detriment to my interest in the game, although it was a very good week of development for my game. Currently planning on increasing the gym work another level with weight work together with the low impact excercise routines of the past month. The playing technique improvement with setup, swing and short game can still improve over time, with the coming club championships I will need more advantages to succeed.



Unfortunately the fact is that as much as I improve, having now gone up into “B” grade, opponents will be far more experienced and consistent in their golf game. The improvements to my game skills will be a benefit of course but I am going to add a higher level of fitness in particular stamina/strength conditioning to counter some of the advantage other players have over me. This approach has previously delivered consistency on the golf course in my game and that is going to be vital in the qualifying and matchplay rounds if I make it though. It was interesting that my playing partner persisted in saying I use the Driver off the tee Sunday. I stated that would not be happening at the start of the round and it was replaced with the #2 Hybrid. Lost about 30-40 metres on the drive distance and the accuracy gain was well worth the sacrifice. Playing from the fairways is much better than having to construct shots around, over and under obstacles on either side, or losing balls.



As I understand it the grades for the Championships are suggested to be “A” 0-14 “B” 15-22 and “C” 23-36. In which case I will be in the high figure section of “B” grade. The best I have done in competition is play to 17 handicap, without lost balls and out of bounds my scores can get to the 15-16 handicap figure. Even so it is going to take a lot more than that to win against most opponents in the grade. The short game is the key, being able to get up and down in two shots for pars and making more birdies is the only way to be able to win. At the minute my ability is better but nowhere near good enough to be able to defeat several of the “B” grade regulars. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em Straight all”

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

GOLF - It is exercise in a good way...

28th July Second day of the excercise program for a golfing tune up is starting to show the effects. The Yoga ‘leg lift’ specifically for my back injury has delivered a surprise result in how much more strength is already established. Since the concentrated effort earlier in the year the improvement in this area has became the norm, to set up and do the routine again and the ease in doing the original regime without any strain is a bonus. Observing golfers in the professional ranks you can see that being turned out like an Olympic athlete is not a must. The Senior tour is not the only less athletic in competitors’ appearance. This does not mean that the players are not fit, playing the sport alone is a good excercise, as there is no impacts from opponent tackles and not too much strain from sprinting or rapid exertion. Golf is a fantastic sport for anyone who is already carrying injury from life. In my case several broken bones, fractured vertebrate and torn muscles did take a little gentle coaxing through the first 12 months of playing, over all between two up to three months of injury time stopped me from golfing. Doctor’s advice should be sought in respect to your injury and playing golf, in my case I went more to check up that the various ailments through the season were not harmful but in fact my body reacting to the improved flexibility and general physical activity.




For arm, hand grip, chest and shoulder stamina building I use a set of hand grips and a chest expander, two excercise tools that do not require room to use them. Both are very easy to store and importantly do not put undue strain on your body when being used, sensibly within your limits of course. In this refresher program the effects came to notice very quickly and I have had to adjust my pitching stroke strength. The mid to long irons are out of sync as well and this will take a little adjustment on the driving fairway to get right again. Off the tee the Driver is working well enough again after this mornings hit out. I had began to get erratic with it on Monday and had not had a real chance to retune the swing tempo until today. Nothing major in error as a result of getting tired after two days of competition and starting to hit at the ball too hard. Now back to the steady easy swing and the ball flying straight at my target point, without any slice.



One matter that I have to consider seriously is a diet change for a while. The winter weather has had me snacking on a few too many comfort foods with cups of coffee. A couple of kilos of apples has replaced the sugar rich biscuits and cakes that had been in the cupboard of late. It does not take much to alter your diet much like smoking (without the nicotine addiction) the habit becomes a part of regular routine. A little discipline is all it takes to get out of the snack attacks.

Thankyou for your time and attention "Hit 'em straight all" Geoff

GOLF - Monthly Medal winning round

26th July The playing of 18 holes in yesterday’s Monthly Medal round at Robe after the Open in Millicent on Saturday was a challenge that delivered very good results for me. Struggled with putting for the first 4 holes, a little gun shy after the pace of the greens the day before and not able to have my usual practice session before tee off to adjust. After those holes though the experience from Millicent was beneficial to the game on and off the green. An 8 in the par five first was not the best of starts and the result of a lost ball, again it was not a major problem as it was at the start of the round. Sticking to my usual strategy I was set to go after a front 9 total from the fourth hole and went on a par charge finishing the front 9 with a 46 and the back nine 41 for a total 87 gross and nett 67.

PLAY YOUR BEST GOLF - BREAK 90
A good enough score to win the monthly medal by one stroke and also picked up a NTP in two shots on the par 4 ninth hole. Best of all the nett 67 has got another .3 off my handicap to 19.7, it was the 2nd of the three rounds for the Caledonian Inn trophy and thanks to the Golf Link rounds being available to review I am now leading this by one stroke. Next weekend is the Kingston Open only a 45 km trip away and a course that has had a lot of work in the past year. Expanded to include new holes in the original 18 since last playing there in the New Year weekend Open ,only the 18th is not completed so it will be interesting to play the new holes. It is also the 6th round of the DK Edwards Trophy and the last one until September 5th at Bordertown. Playing at Kingston will give me five of the necessary six minimum played to qualify.  “Hit ‘em straight all”

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

GOLF - When a course hits back at you

July 24th The satisfaction of playing well and not winning is an attribute that golf delivers more adeptly than any other game of skill. When a player has that experience in a round it can take a little while to absorb the effect and realise the benefits to your game. From the practise round at the Millicent Club on Tuesday in preparing for the challenge this course was going to be to my ability, that feeling of something special was established for the Open yesterday in my game.




My game plan was to use the “Alamo Strategy” do nothing heroic and go and get help while the rest hold the fort... in simple terms do nothing that would bring risk into the game play. My practise round established the game plan of total concentration for accuracy and avoid journey’s into the trees off the tee and along the fairways. The second part was to go for the greens in regulation whenever possible and at least get on in one shot over regulation. The short game was pretty much in the hands of the golfing gods... as much as I have been practising pitching and putting to a greater level the past two weeks my execution of this and ability in reading greens of the calibre at Millicent was the weakness that could not be rectified in time.



With a front nine 47 and a back nine 50 the gross 97 (77 nett) I am not certain what the grade handicap cut of points were. I am assuming that 20 had me in “B” grade (for the Millicent Open) where the two scores had me in 7th place (gross) and 4th place (nett) in “C” grade it was a 2nd (gross) and tied 2nd (nett). For my first ever “B” grade ranking on a course which was a true test of my mettle I am a very happy golfer this morning. There was only one totally unexpected occurrence on the day which had an effect on my game play. Although it was a typically cool winter day with not even a zephyr of wind (unusual) I was hitting 7-pw irons 10-15 metres more than usual. The first time it happened on the 4th hole I hit a six iron after deciding it was not quite a five iron. It was not a one off beautifully hit shot just normal and it wend 15m + long over the green. An up-hill shot to boot and I could only assume it bounced well as the ground was not muddy. Even so a little mental note was made and by chance the next hole was a par three 161m a four iron usually but with the previous hole in mind and seeing that falling short would not be too harmful took out a six iron and sure enough had the distance!



On top of this eventuality the greens had me beaten all day, being quick and over shooting several putts for the day another fault was pitching on the green and the ball which placed that well on my home course would be in a 1-2m distance of the hole just kept on rolling leaving 3-6 m putts instead. here was an example of why playing other courses develops your skill. At the Robe course playing the pitch and run where the ball hits off the green is very risky as the green collars are very spongy uneven grass and the ball will often pop up and stop so I choose to hit the green, at the Millicent course pitching onto the collar and letting the ball run to the green is a playable option. Unfortunately it was not possible for me to adapt to that and so had to suffer the results of hitting the green and the ball rolling far away from the hole. To end up with a gross 97 and to lose a ball on the 18th and have to play a provisional after the only slice into the trees all round was a good result. The course did not beat me but instead gave out the most enjoyable challenge to my ability and yes I will return to play Millicent again as a benchmark of skill. Especially as my short game practise continues along and improves.



This morning as I write this, it is a prelude to heading out and playing in todays competition on my home course, in fact the first time playing two succesive 18 hole competative rounds is too good a challenge to ignore. Plus satisfy the curiosity of putting into practise some of yesterday’s experience is too tempting to ignore. Especially the realisation that hitting the ball accurately is not beyond my ability and that it has been laziness and making errors off the fairways are not punished on many of the holes as opposed to all of them at courses like Millicent. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all” , Geoff

GOLF - Millicent Golf Course a challenge worth taking...

1st Hole - Par 5 - 506 Meters - Index 6

20 July Tuesday Took in four hours of walking around the Millicent Golf Course for 18 holes of practice. Great course and all of the reports about it were accurate, a really invigorating challenge to play on. Have never been there before today and would usually take the chance that it plays similar enough to other courses in the region. Must be getting smarter because if today had not happened Saturday would have been a disaster of a round. Unlike my home course apart from the par 3’s no more than 2-3 greens are visible from the tee and it is hilly as opposed to the flat coastal course I play on. The big note to self is to look up when setting for a shot. had a few probs with not doing this at Keith and Lucindale too, not being used to a course with towering gum trees along the fairways. Importantly have a feel for the greens and definatley have to work on my pitching. At the very least I have an idea of how to play it now for the Open on Saturday. If you are ever travelling near by take the opportunity to call in and… play on a top 100 rating golf course. The Millicent Open is the fifth round of the ten in the S.E.G.A. D.K .Edwards Trophy. Having played in 3 of the first four I should have no problem completeing the required minimum of 6, at the minute well placed in the top order of my grade to be able to put in a challenge for a win.


Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

GOLF - First place finish Lucindale Open

19th July 2010. After 3 weeks of finishing third in competitions, yesterday was a first place finish and Gross Winner of the “C” in the Lucindale CAVPOWER Tournament. As someone commented on my way to receive the prize, “1st is better than third” that has been a motivating factor inmy mind for the past week and it is a reward for putting in the effort to prepare yourself to play as well as possible that made it worthwhile, not the winning. Playing golf is importantly fun and the social enjoyment with my playing partners was a bonus to hitting the ball well. “C” grade is the place where some of the most amazing shots happen in my opinion. As many of us are beginners and at times play the most atrocious shots imaginable the law of percentages decide that eventually the occasional absolute miraculous shot happens. One guy with us hit two on the same hole, a low shooter out of the gum trees scorching across the green heading interstate, stopped by hitting a sign post and ricocheted back to the green. Followed by a putt that was hit hard enough to stun an elephant yet found a line to the hole, bounced up in the air and dropped into the hole like a roulette ball into your lucky number. That was just a couple of the moments that made playing the round enjoyable and not a dull, clinical and methodical delivery of golfing skill.


Maintained the same practice routine throughout the week. Pitching for an hour plus a day into a target net resulted in an accuracy 55% in the net from 5m, 10m and 15-20m out. The closer the more that went into the target which is approximately 75cm in diameter circle. Even at the worst from 20 m out, the ball would land no more that 3 metres from the target. In the round on Sunday at Lucindale this practice was the crucial factor in my success. Also dedicated time for putting practise was included, in the aftermath of the round this was well worth it but is still a significant weakness in my game. I will be spending a bit of time today looking a some green reading practices. The putting practice routines I use are fine, adding the use of a putting stroke guide tool has been a major benefit in establishing a consistent stroke. The faults that cost my rounds are misreading greens and concentration lapses.


Obviously there were more positives in the round than negatives, off the tee as the round progressed I became more accurate with the driver and using the long to mid-range irons were superb (for a 20 handicapper) hitting near 50 % of the greens in regulation. Missed every birdie putt though! It was a very different experience to be hitting the ball to where it was aimed and being able to walk up and do the same with the next shot as well. The small things were what made this happen. Sticking to the set up routine and not taking shortcuts after hitting a few good shots. On a several holes the tee shots were played for safety to consolidate my game and avoid blowouts, this was coupled with shots played to the green that hit. At this moment, a day later it is very satisfying to realise these were not lucky flukes but the result of my practice.


There were errors made that after some reflection and replaying mentally were the result of concentration lapses. At this stage I have one thing that must be done to correct this. When the focus is lost during setting up for a shot I must stop walk away and start the whole set up routine again. With a 46 and a 44 for the front 9 and back 9 respectively (we did start on No. 10 though) my first hole was an 8, three over on a par 5. That was one hole in a total of 44 for that nine, again my focus was not even distracted by the initial score it took a quick calculation to figure out my target for the next three holes and it worked.


This Saturday is another round of the DK Edwards Trophy this time at  Millicent Golf Club, one of the best courses in the region, noted for their fast greens which will be a challenge for an erratic putter like me. A course I have never played as opposed to Lucindale which I had played on before albeit 20 plus years ago. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf - Practice putting a ball in a hole

15th July Sticking with my golf program is not difficult with the use of little discipline in the beginning. After so many months of practice the routine is now established and is never an imposition which fits in very well with the enjoyment of playing golf as a whole. In reading many of the coaching guides and training books that are written with a more personal approach to the golfer, (as opposed to the books which are a one way lecture of do this and this and so on.... and miraculously at the end you will be hitting in the 70’s blindfolded.) authors often mention how golfers get on the range and hit the long irons and drivers and rarely put the same effort into their short game. This week is concentrating on the short game specifically pitching from 20m in to the green and putting.

There are still many parts of my game to be improved beside this that require some dedicated error/technique practice, it is only possible to do one a a time and benefit in my particular case and that is okay. No doubt there is many more able and talented golfers than I who can take control of their game development on a broader scale, I cannot and so for this approach is working. After the first couple of days today was the day when it was a pleasure pitching the ball to the target net. The swing was smooth the accuracy for 5m, 10m and 15m was very good by my standard, 50% of the balls went into the net the rest inside a 2-3 m circle. Best of all no mis-hit that dribbled forward, damn those are among the most frustrating errors to make. In a position to pitch onto the green and have an up and down chance for par, instead you dribble the ball forward up to a metre and are left with up and down needed for a bogie.

Did a little practice with the Driver and long irons to finish off today, been a few costly errors made in recent rounds that needed a bit of exploration. The Driver technique that worked so well had started to be eroded from my game. It was all in the mind, thought that the stroke was being played as the professional coaching lesson in January established. Truth was it was not and the occasional fade was beginning to become a slice again and giving me shots off the fairway from the tee as well as out of bounds results. Long irons were nothing major, mostly rushing the set up and not being settled for the shots. Hitting three to five fat long iron shots a round is the usual result and that has been expensive over all in the scores. With totals of gross 91-92’s the past 3 weeks, that is how fine a line it has been of late to breaking 90 and handicap. My next coaching lesson will include playing long iron shots in particular. Up until very recently my technique was the ‘scoop’ off the fairway, with practice now the stroke is more in the pure technique taking a small divot after hitting the ball on the downstroke.

Although reaching the green in regulation is now becoming a regular part of my round, without the stunned exclamation of, “How did that happen!!!” It is still a learning experience with a long way to go from being able to aim at the green and hit, to landing the ball on a particular spot of the green from 150 m out. Modest understatement is not a part of my nature in many things golf is an exception to that. False modesty is a trait that some people put out and that is not something that works in my opinion. Hence I can accept that my game is not rubbish but it is definitely a 20 handicapper game and improving. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all.” Geoff

GOLF - Third place again....

12th July 2010 Put in a fair effort in yesterday’s competition, scoring 36 points and finishing third overall. Unfortunately, 1st place (39pts) and 2nd (37pts) were both the golfers whom I defeated on a countback to win the first round of the John Leake Trophy. We were all tied on 38 points, so now I need to come in with a better than 39 points (at least) in the third round to have a chance at winning this trophy.


Not too perturbed at my performance and the result, a few errors with my approach shots and a couple of bad drives cost me a better score, wiping two holes. Fact is I am a 20 handicapper and still improving to the next lower handicap figure.



I was particularly satisfied with my putting it was confident and consistent for the whole round and did not have any three putts. Importantly I did not miss a putt inside 2 metres from the hole, as has been happening over the past two weeks. the past week putting and pitching practise was my main focus and proved it’s worth in the round. Scrappy pitching did cost me a couple of points as well as the mid iron approach shots that I hit fat. This week will be a continued favouritism of putting and pitching practise. I want to get the two skills back to a consistent facet of my game. The mid iron shots are going to have to take a back seat to the short game practice, the execution is not that disastrous to my game at the minute more frustrating than a round wrecking fault.



The fault with drives of the tee has been identified and corrected to a degree. It was nothing new that had happened. The slicing and inaccuracy was caused by no longer executing the drives as the coaching from the club professional in January had established. Although it ‘felt’ like I was still playing the strokes with my driver correctly this was a fallacy. Unfortunately the weather has been particularly bad here and I did not get to practice the corrected stroke enough before playing the round. Bad drives cost me two holes of scores and I will reiterate that the round was not bad and provided more satisfaction with my game as it is at the minute.



The time has come to retract an opinion I have about my game and ball hitting. Not many things peeve me and one of those that does is false modesty and it is time to stand up and admit to a part of my game that I have been understating for the past few months. Not blatantly ignoring the aspect on my part more so not convinced or certain that there had been a significant change and this round has delivered the final proof. Understating my club distance hit very nearly became an established fault. There are still several longer hitters at the club, yet now 235-250 metre drives are the norm in rounds. The same with the iron shots not as consistent and this unsettled state is the main reason for the mis-hit (fat) shots played on Sunday. It is particularly unnerving to be relearning how far I hit irons during a round even though it is a part of my practice routine. A 10-15 metre distance increase is significant and across the range from the 3iron to PW in my bag.



The next few weeks will have me concentrating as much as possible to maintain the progress of late. Travelling in totally new regions of the handicap is exciting and stimulating, hitting greens in regulation, putting for birdies are now usual parts of my rounds and not the unexpected surprises. It delivers a level of excitement and interest in getting out to play that is stimulating. I have no idea when my ability at golf will peak, that is something that I want to know and so will have to keep playing. Thankyou for your time and attention. Hit ‘em straight all. , Geoff

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

Golf - Winning is better than coming second

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
28th June 2010 Experiencing the personal reaction to a performance in a competition is a many faceted journey for me, this weekends round in the Keith Open was particularly stimulating on review. Managed to play under my handicap again in consecutive weeks and this should see me dropping to a playing handicap of 20 and another step closer to my goal for the season. Did not win either major prize in the “C” grade, missing out on the gross score runner-up by 1 shot and finished 3rd only 2 shots behind the winner and the Best Nett score was a fourth place finish on a countback. With a front nine 43 off the stick, the back nine resulted in a 48 with 34 putts for the day. Not a bad result for a “C” grade golfer, considering this is the first time on the course and having a few additional challenges that affected the round.




The week preceding had the unpleasant suffering of an abscess in the mouth from Monday morning until the eventual tooth removal on Thursday. The second setback was the result of a bit of an oversight on my part, having felt particularly good physically for the past 3 months prudence suggested it would have been a good time to have a tune up from my Bowen Therapist and get the back and hamstrings all moving freely without any tightness. I didn’t have the tune up and after the front 9 and sitting down for lunch following the 90 minute drive to Keith, my back went stiff and my swing was affected enough to make the round a battle. Even with these matters considered it is not possible to feel negative about the result, to do so would be just irrational carping the equivalent of winning a lottery and complaining about the tax you pay on the earnings!



It was confusing for me to have done well and not feel satisfied until the obvious was realised, I did want to win and to have came so close and falter in the last nine holes was the irritant. Not only did my game falter, for the first time in my golfing career I experienced playing on greens that changed dramatically during the course of the round. The front nine had greens which were quite fast not overly so but the pace of them was totally different slowing down a lot in the afternoon nine. Not being experienced enough to be able to adjust my putting while struggling with the stiffness in my back which had my tee shots with an outside in swing plane and slice taking me off the fairways. This added a stroke to several holes having to play recovery shots to be able to play at the green with the third shot and this is a long playing course with five par 5 holes and par 4 holes of 370-400 metres. The distance tested my mid iron accuracy and pitching ability and I am not adept to make the ball stop with my wedge and in many of the back nine holes I needed one putts for bogey and did not get them, 34 putts tells the story on the greens (2 x one putts and the rest 2 putts).



Once again the benefits of playing at another club’s Open Competition were more than just refreshing skills and game approach on a different course. For the second time I played in a group with a 4 handicapper who I had the pleasure of playing with in October 2009. A very sociable and chatty fella who revels in the game it was interesting that on the front 9 we were invariably playing our second shots from similar parts of the course. Not that I was trying to follow, he was teeing off after me. Once my ability to play accurately off the tee went in the back nine I fell away at the end of the day it was good to know that my game plan was similar to this players and that is very satisfying. There was also a 6 handicapper in our group and he had a 37 off the stick on the front nine (square with the card), on the back nine he started with an 8 on the par 5 tenth. He could have easily avoided this by playing safely when his drive went among the gum trees, playing sideways onto the fairway as opposed to taking the riskier shot towards the hole which hit trees and left him still among the timber. No wonder I feel tired after a round of competition golf, my brain is going flat out on my game and observing everything from the markers shots the rest of the playing group, the course and the nuances of the fairways and greens.



If I had played this inaccurately at my home course my score would have been in the 100’s after the back nine. No matter what I did though it was just not possible to get my swing right on the back 9 off the tee, it felt odd to realise that I knew what was going wrong only 6 months ago I would not have had a clue!? Booked a “tune-up” appointment for Thursday and getting ready to have a crack at the Monthly Medal this Sunday. “Hit ‘em Straight all” Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf - Setting up for your swing

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1

If you're not hitting the sweet spot on the clubface, you're probably not driving the ball well. One reason why you could be missing the sweet spot is that your head is over your back knee at address. This might not seem like much, but it affects everything else in your swing. The most efficient--and fastest-- swing rotation occurs when your lower body is stable. You can only achieve this by being centred and balanced at address.


Below are seven keys to a power-laden setup:

1. Widen your stance at address
2. Shift more weight on your right side
3. Keep your chin up to allow for the turn
4. Make a full 90-degree shoulder turn
5. Hover the club head above the ground
6. Sense your right forearm crossing over left
7. Finish high and in balance with your swing

A balanced, centred position starts at address. A good setup allows you to make a good turn away from the target, yet still remain behind the ball at the top of your swing, with your weight over your back foot.

But it's not uncommon for a golfer to create extra side bend at address by moving his head over his back knee. This imbalance ends in a setup that results in (1) a slice causing-reverse pivot at the top and (2) too much "hang-back" at impact.

Since your right hand (left for lefties) is below your left hand on the grip, tilt your back shoulder down the same amount. You want to feel as if you're on top of the ball, with your head just slightly back of centre. If you tilt too far back, you throw your entire swing off.

We all want to drive the ball longer off the tee. Hitting driver/8-iron into the green beats hitting driver/4-iron into the green every time. But you must be centred and balanced at address to do this. If you are, you're in great position to hit a bomb. Thankyou for your time and attention, 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

Golf - Putting and chipping practise works

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
9th June 2010 Got out on the course at 3pm this afternoon to practise pitching and putting. Set up a pitching target and used the Wedge only in the practise, in games of late often used the 7 iron to pitch and run from the fringe of the greens. The 7 iron has taken a while to get a good enough touch to pitch and run the ball up to the hole. Do not have a preference for using either club it is a matter of which one will deliver the best result. The Pitching Wedge is becoming a very effective tool for me from 25 metres and in to the green, all from the repetitive practising that has been done in 2010.


Putting; often referred to as the “other game” in golfing conversations is not a strength in my game, still making bad putts in close to end up with three putting holes. Searching for knowledge to improve my putting and having lessons have all began to give my efforts some substance to improve on. Recently some words and a description in how to improve putting from Hale Irwin (US Open, 1974/79, Aust and Sth African Opens 1978, Brazilian Open 1982, winner US Ryder Cup Team 1975/77/79 and US vs Japan Tournament 1983.) has made this a lot easier to practise.

Hale Irwin comments, “I know you see a wide range of styles on the putting green, but the players who are consistently good putters have three things in common. They operate from a stance which is basically square and well balanced; their heads remain almost completely still throughout the swing; and the face of the putter repeats its square contact with the ball every time. It does not matter how odd some of the putting styles may look, you can guarantee that if they are successful they will incorporate these three factors. So should your putting action.”

Practising putting is not spectacular or as energetic as it is with drivers or irons and we have all heard the advice of why it is important and the reasons. Even so it can easily become an irritating mantra which takes the fun out of practise. That is the “F” word that is important in golf; FUN none of that in the game and where is the enjoyment for a player? I enjoy practise at times it does become a task, that is when I change the routine to enliven my spiit and challenge my progress in a different direction. A little change and I can return to practising the same routins again later on refreshed and enjoying it as much as when I began. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all.”Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf - Some progress is happening slowly

Play Your Best Golf - Break 90 Vol 1
Jun 02 2010  The last two days have been spent practising and getting a semblance of effective consistency with the driver and irons in my bag. The driver did not require much to improve and get the result I am after. It has been a lot of fun the past couple of months hitting booming drives off the tee. I am not a big hitter of the ball, never had the physical conditioning or swing dynamics to get the long metres off the tee. With that in mind it was my decision to wallow in the ability to drive 250-270 m for a few weeks. It was not a waste of effort, learning to control your drive and deliver the ball as accurately as possible is crucial to improving your handicap. Having never been in the position before and have a reliable drive technique to practise this with has been another distraction in my game of late.

For those of you are not aware, I have been back playing golf a little over a year now. That means there is a long way to go to reach the various stages of lower handicaps. The transition from low 20’s to the teens is where I am at now. Where as previously my handicap had several holes giving two strokes added on to par now it is three (21Hcp). I can play bogey golf and plug along easily enough, it is more enjoyable to grab the moment and see how well I can play and win competitions though. Getting my drive on par 4’s to the 150m marker or closer to the green has been achieved. The accuracy was not there and this week I have corrected the fault in my set up that seems to have been the cause. I was concentrating during setup on the tee in my body alignment. Changing the focus to the club head during set up courtesy of advice from Billy Dunk and Kel Nagle (yes been reading Golf Porn again) has delivered accuracy. Apart from the accuracy, the most noticeable change has been that I am standing a lot closer to the ball on the tee and the club feels more comfortable in my grip not being stretched out so far to reach the ball.



Next up in the improvement list was the irons, been getting too much height and some atrocious pulled and sliced shots of late. This was compounded with the 3 changes in clubs of late. Two of the sets were too short in the shafts, plus being older clubs have more loft than newer models. Having the reshafted clubs available to use again since last Friday has been an improvement in the equipment. The shot execution was still below average until yesterday. The crux of the problem was that for some reason I had started playing the ball closer to my front foot. This resulted in me scooping the ball up and not having the loft of the club doing the work. It was as simple as that, moved the ball back in my stance and the accuracy and distance returned to the iron shots. All of them that is, from 3 iron to Wedge iron, I use all of theses clubs from 170m in to the green.



Proof is in the playing though and this morning I had to rush out early and get 9 holes in to see if the practise had delivered. Early start as it is ladies day and the course is full from 10am onwards. The results were 5 greens hit in regulation, a 42 off the stick, all drives on the fairways and a very enjoyable morning hit. My putting was very ragged, only one birdie but that was not a concern it was the long shots I wanted to see the results from. Past few weeks pitching and putting has been no fun at all as these shots have all been the make or break strokes trying to scrape home bogeys after my erratic drives and fat second shots. No matter what my goals are in golf, having fun and enjoying playing are always the most important ones.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Hit ‘em straight all.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Golf - Caddy for championship finalists

May 29 2010  An enjoyable experience being the ‘eyes’ for one of the golfers in the matchplay yesterday. Did make an error in the previous post, the guy who is losing his sight’s handicap was 7 and went out to 12 with the new handicapping system. The glaucoma which is causing the blokes vision to go is gradual and prior to the onset of this his handicap was down to 4. The opponent was a fella who started playing last year as I did and is slowly getting his game together at the minute on 32, being handicap matchplay the 12 handicapper gave him a stroke on every hole plus two strokes on one.
Play your best golf - break 90 Vol 1

I did speak to them both on the first tee explaining that I was there to observe and not to have to bother about including me in the social chatter as the game progressed. It was all convivial for the match as it went anyway, I just wanted to let them know that I understand the gamesmanship that goes on during these matches and did not need to be considered a distraction. On the back nine I did ease myself a little more ‘space’ away from them. The game was getting serious and by the 14th hole I don’t think they even knew I was there.

After 9 holes the low handicapper was 2 down after winning the 9th. The high handicapper is one of the biggest hitters at the club his short game lets him down and his club selection is a failing limiting his options. Tends to hit hard and long without any finesse. Good grief here I am on 21hcp making this observation and I have only recently began realising there is more golf swing speeds besides “FLAT OUT”shots can be shaped deliberately and not flukes that come about when trying to hit straight. Five holes later the score was all square, the 11th to 13th holes are tight and no room for error off the tee and the low handicapper won both 11 and 12, had the chance to go one up on the 13th and missed a short putt to end up halving the hole. A little reaction of disgust in himself steamed out and it was game on from there. Match play in finals adds pressure on players and it can be the mistakes made from club selection to thought that gets the result in the end. This match went to the 18th hole and even with a bad drive and a bad second, third long into the bunker fourth on the green, fifth a lagged putt that stopped short, the higher handicapper sank a sensational putt, 4 metres, down hill over a tiered green to hole out in 6 and still lose to a sensational 5 m lag putt his opponent stopped 4-5 cm from the hole and and par the last.

It was a matter of pressure having a greater effect upon the less experienced player. Some poor club selection in particular choosing a ‘Lob’ Wedge ( I think they are called that? 60 degree loft) around the green and popping the ball up in the air and going forward a metre or two and still off the green. Not once but several times On the other hand the lower handicapper played a game that unless I was there would have been indescribable. Perfect placement to my vision (not to the guy losing his sight) the fact that on our course which is 14 holes, 4 holes are played twice with different tee markers. On the holes played twice his shots were in the same position from drive to second and on the green in regulation. If you reading this are a single figure handicapper that is without doubt what makes the difference among the grade of golfers. ‘SHAPING THE BALL WITH DRAWS AND FADES TO LAND PRETTY MUCH EXACTLY WHERE YOU AIMED’. That is a huge advantage and display of ability and skill from the better golfers. Having several practise swings before playing a shot was exactly the same each time the by the low handicapper and did he release some power in the swing. The totally smooth effortless swing that does not show any sign of effort.

I have a long way to go in getting to 15hcp this season, at least there is no delusion in the effort and improvement that is needed to achieve this. Also the reality of my getting to 15 is by no means certain, although the end of June should give me some indication of how my progress is going. I have now started using the reshafted clubs after the glue curing period ended Friday. I tried really hard to not use them until Saturday but it was like having the keys to the lolly shop and not opening the door to have a peek. The longer shafts have been the exact change needed, the ball now gets the distance that was lacking before. Not an increase in distance but back to my usual club ranges. Also have gained a much better ‘feel’ and touch using the clubs around the green which is vital. The results so far with the new clubs were a 43 with 14 putts Friday and a 94 with 32 putts Saturday having a social practise hit. Tomorrow will be a challenge as my putting is still poor and my accuracy (Long to Mid Irons) is not up to standard. Next lesson with the club pro is going to be on my long and mid irons, he has done a terrific job showing me the way to use a driver also pitching and putting around and on the green. I am a great believer in getting professional coaching to tune up and establish a golf game. It makes a lot of sense and gets results for me. I have listened to other golfers say that lessons have not helped them which is hard to believe. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”.Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff