Close run finish..qualified for championships

20/8/12 Monday. The first qualifying round had to be played on a composite course yesterday. The front nine had too much water laying on some holes not to ignore that the ground was muddy and plugged balls would have been easily lost. A stroke round and championship value it would have been unfair on the possible scores. Hence the decision was made to play the back nine twice as this is up in the sand dunes and not as much effect on the holes by the flooding.

I was in a good mind set and the score was a messy 83 for a nett 70 a par for the back nine as this is 35 gross series of holes. Apart from an out of bounds on the ninth hole two missed putts and one duffed chip shot the rest of the round was played out well enough to my expectations. In the days competition I tied in fourth place. Behind the winner with a nett 66, second place 67 and third a 69 nett there was no regrets in the score, improving on the previous days effort at Kingston was achieved again. I do have a benchmark expectation with the two competitive round weekends I have been playing to prepare for the club championships. Eventually I want to be playing the my handicap or better at both club rounds each day. Improving on the moderately effective first rounds followed by the winning or par at least efforts the next day.

It was also the second round of the Gallerie Trophy and I have now moved to second place over all in this annual club competition won from the best two of three rounds played. Leaders Score is; 78/67=145, mine in 2nd 77/70=147, 3rd 80/69=149 & 4th 81/71=151. This is a little in my mental favour as this is Trophy I would like to win and will be coming out to chase the victory next weekend. My preparation for the championships is more than just playing two competition rounds a weekend in the build up for form. The whole point of playing in genuine club competition is to doing the effort to win in match conditions. The next five weeks of competition are all going to be played to break my handicap standards. That is the only way winning is going to be possible.

The current club champion has just drifted out to an eight handicap I am fluctuating between 11 to 13 of late. Yesterday by good fortune I was again drawn to play in his group and got to compare our game standards in a review this morning. In the same foursome I kept my partners card and noted the champions scores as well on each hole. My front nine of 44 compared to the champions 40. Followed with a 39 alongside his 38 for the back nine. We both had the same number of putts and the major difference was in GIR, I am a marginally better putter with five one putts to his three. Also my driver is 20-40 metres less off the tee and that is a major difference on the par four holes. The game was not a matchplay event so a lot of the game pressure was not there yet the pair of us were competing on a sociable level. On the scores I would have been defeated with a score of -2 on the 18th hole (one down after the 17th). The previous week I was in the same group as the champion as well and the result was the same. I am 4-5 strokes higher in handicap yet closer than last season by 2 strokes when losing on the thirty second of the thirty six holes in the final.

This may seem to some a little silly to have put this effort into getting closer to being able to beat the club champion. To me it makes total sense, the benchmark is a person but the prize is a championship. A victory that I have the good fortune to be able to analyse what is required to be a legitimate competitor in. I am not going to make up the distance off the tee, the ability to hit the green from 140 to 160 metres is a must improve game aspect. As well as maintaing the current putting and chipping standards attained so far. My total physical game standard is still improving and is much better than last season both in ability and condition to be able to play comfortably. The mental aspect of my game is under review as well and has also been conditioned in the preparation of past weeks. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”  

 Geoff

Weight keeps getting lower...

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18/8/12 Saturday. Very satisfied with the weigh off this morning.Following last weeks gain of .7 kilograms, today the total is 102.1 kg a loss of 1.10 kg.

The thought did cross my mind that possibly the diet supplements had ran their course of effectiveness and were beginning to falter as a reliable weight and health program. Instead the supplements have passed with the best possible result and that is a lower weight figure on the scales for me.

Again there was no specific dietary regime followed in the weeks eating. Coffee, toast and cheese for breakfast. Ham and salad sandwiches for lunch and grilled lamb chops with salad and vegetables with baked potato for dinner. On Friday and Thursday I had baked chicken Pie with salad for dinner. These were straight from the Bakery. What is a major plus is eating apples and carrot sticks or celery when getting the hankering for a snack while working. No crap foods like corn/potato chips, biscuits or cake etc.

With the particularly bad weather during the week I did less exercise with no 3-4km walks around the golf course on Thursday and Friday as I would usually do. With this and not following a particular diet program it would be possible to gain weight. Instead once again there has been a significant loss of more than a kilogram.

With approximately 2 weeks to go until the end of the second month of taking the supplements, it is still possible to reach my goal of 100kg. The benefits of carrying less weight 7kg at the minute is apparent in the lessening of other physical ailments. I had a Bowen Therapy yesterday and the usual groin and hamstring treatments were barely noticeable. They were almost perfect in their ability to operate without discomfort and pain.

Will head to Kingston and play 18 holes of golf today and also on the home track Sunday in the competition, first qualifying round for club championships.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Winning... It matters to me

16/8/12 Thursday. No practise is going to happen today, in the words of Noah (before the publisher edit), “It is p!ssing down” With some luck perhaps a bit of putting may happen later in the day if the rain goes to intermittent showers. Not the best situation for my preparation for the championship qualifier on Sunday but not a concern.

Compared to the 2011 season at this stage then I was running on empty as the season drew towards the championships. There were a few injury problems with the golfers elbow. In tandem with having pushed my body to it’s limit it was a limping finish to the season.

This year had much better staging to see the season out. Improved fitness and especially being 7 kg lighter at the minute following the weight reduction program of the past months and of course second season as a non smoker. Golf wise my form is peaking as opposed to waning, at the minute, aside from having broken 80 in recent competition the combined form and equipment improvement are all bonuses. None of this guarantees success in the play-offs but certainly supplies a better foundation to make the attempt from.

I dont care what the opinion of others is regarding the efforts I put into golf. While I have limited time available in recreation it is my choice to utilise it this way. Not surprised to know that there are some who do not think it is fair to be playing against golfers who practise a lot. Yes this is an undercurrent at the club. I do not think that fitter, younger golfers have an advantage over me though, if anything that drives me to be a better player. This effort hurts at times to but there is no other way to get into form.

Defeatism is not a tolerable situation with my mindset and if others have it, terrific! I will take the advantage and love the edge it gives me. In fact surreptitiously encouraging it with opponents is a fair tactic, if only I knew how to do it.
Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all”

 Geoff

A Winning performance...

13/8/12 Monday. Once again the two competition round golfing weekend has delivered winning results in my game. Ever since I started travelling away to play on Saturdays, when playing the next day in the home track competition no matter how I perform away my golf is either a winning or top three place result. It is an odd experience as the away courses are very different, invariably the greens are faster and fairways feature taller trees. This seems to make me hit much straighter off the tee and fairways, and the slower greens do end with me having several putts stop well short of the hole. Yet rarely miss the second putt with an aggressive straight to the hole stroke.

Yesterday I scored 38 Stableford points, 19 on each nine played and a wipe on both nines as well. One was just poor golf the other totally bemusing. Hit a second shot saw the ball go into a tree and could not find it anywhere, lost ball penalty killed the scoring on that hole. Apart from those two blemishes the round was highlighted with greens in regulation or just missed and accurate drives off the tee. Putting was not a strength and whilst not too bad needs to be tuned up this week. The following two rounds are club championship qualifying events and I am not far off my best form at the minute. Played with the reigning club champion yesterday and while having the better score by one point his handicap of 8 is four less than my 12. Overall though it was an encouraging day for my aim to have another crack at the club title in 2012.

Coming runner up in 2011 has been a motivation for the improvement in my golfing this season. This covers several areas from equipment to physical condition. This time last season I was struggling to maintain the ability to be able to play well with my body having reached its limit of endurance. That is not the case in 2012, having dropped 6.5 kilograms in weight. Planned for practise to include a schedule that does not have me lacking in energy and capability when it came to the qualifying and championships. I play golf for fun and exercise yet the varied competition is an inspiration to play as much as I do.

Equipment wise there has been the change to a larger driver giving extra distance and not sacrificing the accuracy of the smaller club head size I have been using. The change to a mallet putter has also been an improvement which has increased my confidence when putting on the green. Finally and most recently has been the change to having a complete set of hybrids in the bag from #3 to PW. This most recent development was not expected to have such a significant influence as it has. Certainly not going to discount this and am a wholehearted convert to this style of club as best for my game.

This week will be one of practise as usual with more attention to putting improvement. No matter 

what level of golf played getting the ball in the hole is always the most important part of your round.

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

Geoff