"Tour Confidential" a PGA autobiography by Ewan Porter

Working my way through "Tour Confidential" and enjoying the read I find that Ewan has written his book in some way typical of Australian author Matthew Reilly’s writing style. From the first sentence Ewan reveals himself, it is a autobiography after all. You won't find great prose or deep character analysis. The pacing, action, settings, and storytelling are frenetic compared to the Older generation of golfer Biographies churned out. I enjoy Porter's enthusiasm, not holding back from telling the misadventures revealing his ignorance, naivety, desire to be the best, motivations and reality of the ups and downs of having a crack at a Professional Golf Career. Without the carefully edited and manufactured, read gently and not tread on any toes style of past golf player books read.

In some ways this book is reminiscent of "Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door", an autobiography by Wilt Chamberlain that served as his first venture into writing. That book painted a picture of the NBA that few had seen before, as it was one of the first accounts told specifically by a player from the league. It was one of the first sport biographies I read. As a benchmark to follow "Tour Confidential" is a book that Ewan Porter does not cover up his faults. If you want to learn then knowledge is invaluable and this book passes on gold.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Winning score at last...

2/12/12 Sunday Three weeks between posts most likely the longest break for me yet still golfing. Sticking ith the fun aspect of the game in the 'less is more' approach to the end of 2012. Recovered fully from the various injuries now and have played a few Ambrose and club competitions in the recovery period. With some basic practise sessions tuning a few game aspects. there is also the club involvement. One more year on committee was got out of me by the president and that has started with a bang at the AGM and firing up a few with a motion to change the constitution.

Had the numbers and won the vote, yet there was dissent on over the procedure and listing in the agenda so in the interest of club harmony let the motion lapse and will call a special general meeting after the new year. This is a good thing as the older members were not expecting this to have support now they know their way is not the majorities choice. Showed that the club is split significantly on the future view and operation and this is not going to go away now a vote has been taken.


Yesterday played Kingston and the form returned with 37 points 85 gross with 32 putts including one 4 putt and three 3 putts. Not even bothered with that it was expected. The rest of my game is really on song and still keeping my game preparation at a minimal level and resting up. An open on the 15th is in the schedule and that is being used as focus to get my putting under 30 a round. Thankyou for your time and attention
Hit'em straight all
Geoff

Australia's national poet Adam Lindsay Gordon

Australia's national Poet Adam Lindsay Gordon available on iTunes and Amazon music downloads
The touring show on Australia's national poet has been recorded in studio now and with the added special effects of the production crew  is a very entertaining listen.

Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-70), Australia's acclaimed national poet was many things in his time.  A mounted trooper, champion jockey, horse breaker and Member of Parliament.  He was the first to capture Australia and her people in the words of poetry, paving the way for Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson and William Ogilvie to create poetry that was uniquely Australian.  In his travels, he lived in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia - no mean feat at a time when travel was on horseback or by sailing ship, and his words spread by word of mouth across the nation.

TRIBUTES TO ADAM LINDSAY GORDON

Gordon's English military instructor:

"...idle and reckless, but I never heard of him doing a dishonourable action".

"Adam Lindsay Gordon has left Australia a sterling, manly ideal for its manhood and its poetry, and it could not have had a more robust master".
—John Masefield, Poet Laureate


"Gordon was a fine poet and a fine sportsman, and it is curious that in a sporting nation like ours his great merits have not been more generally recognised".
—Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of 'Sherlock Holmes'

"Gordon knew both pleasures and trials. He not only experienced them, but was inspired by them, and set them down in matchless poetry, and left to Australia a great literary legacy. Gordon's poems rang with sincerity".
—Sir Stanley Argyle, Premier of Victoria

"Gordon is one of the finest poetic singers the English race has ever known".
—Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist, poet and author

"...he was the poet of the horse.  No other poet ever understood horses so well.  He made the live in his poems.  The rhythm in his poems was the rhythm of riding.  But they contained also such lofty philosophy of manhood as only such a hero could have penned".
—Douglas Sladen, biographer

Marcus Clarke, author of For the Term of his Natural Life:

"The poems of Gordon have an interest beyond the mere personal one which his friends attach to his name. Written as they were, at odd times and leisure moments of a stirring and adventurous life, it is not to be wondered if they are unequal or unfinished. The astonishment of those who knew the man, and can gauge the capacity of this city to foster poetic instinct, is, that such work was ever produced here at all".

H M Green, reviewing Gordon's poetry:

"We read Gordon, not for his fine phrases, but for the directness of some cry, and above all for the breadth and effectiveness of any utterance taken as a whole. And we read him because even if we ourselves are not hunters, sportsmen, soldiers, adventurers he uncovers some underlying stratum of such men in us, opening up to us the road of adventure and blowing over it the wind of romance".

John Riddoch, confidant-in-chief:

"...a moody unsociable man when his poetic fit was on -- a great smoker. Often on arriving at the house he would go away into the bush and fend for himself rather than face company inside".

John Riddoch (presumably):

 This comes from 1869 when Gordon accepted an invitation to visit his friends the Riddochs, at Yallum:

"On his previous visit he had taken a whimsical fancy to a gnarled old gum tree that stood in a sunny paddock a few hundred yards from the house. After breakfast he used to climb it, and sit in a natural armchair upon a crooked limb. There he would fill and smoke successive bowls of his clay pipe, and those who were curious might see him from time to time jot down lines in pencil on paper spread upon the branch, or sometimes on his hat. He never had any thought upon the time, and when meals came round he generally had to be specially summoned, whereupon he would slide down the trunk and apologize for causing delay".

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Home Club Open this weekend...

10/11/12 Saturday. A good week of golfing fun finally getting out to practise without interruptions.The cross us amateur golfers bear is that we have to let golf be second more often than not to our regular living. In my example the need to have less time golfing is not that much of an irritant. The balm being that my golf has improved a lot since 2009. The 'less is more' as an ethos to recover from the injury flare-up in August has been maintained in line with not having to practice as much to play reasonable golf.

Fluctuating between a 12 to 14 handicap in the 2012 season whilst playing to a 6 handicap in my best competition round in review has me satisfied at the minute. Did not manage to reach my goal of a ten Handicap in 2012. it was always a big ask given the combination of ability, fitness and other commitments.

Already my fitness has been improved with reducing my weight by 8kg in the past three months and well on target for losing 10-15 kg in total by January 2013. The past month while gradually playing more golf again has been highlighted by the noticeable difference of being 8 kg lighter.

This week concentrating on putting has been the main goal, closely followed with range time with the #3 to #6 Hybrids. Hitting them well enough yet have had too many shots that hook to the left. This has a major affect in lessening the greens reached in regulation. I need that to improve to improve my handicap. It is not a major fault that needs correction as it is caused by the adjusting to being able to rotate my hips when swinging. This was almost impossible in 2009 when i returned to the game. This is a significant physical ability change, I lapse into the previous restricted body movement pattern unconsciously still and this causes the ball to draw to the left a lot at times. 

All is good though and with the club open tomorrow I am still considering if playing Kingston today is going to happen or instead play socially on the home track. Thankyou for your time and attention. "Hit 'em straight all."
 Geoff