Tournament Play - Time to Travel

Well it is Tournament Time.  Time to travel to Nashville for the Senior Open Qualifier.

I have been getting prepared by practicing the drills for  warm-up, short game,  putting, and routine work out.

As I talked about in my post for focus it is time to put it into realization.

My wife and I will depart tomorrow morning for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Nashville.  Once there we will check-in to our hotel and relax.

The next day we will go out to the course where I will meet up with my caddy.  He is a student at a nearby college that works at the golf course I will be playing.  He will provide me with local course  knowledge since I haven't played the course before.  If you are playing in a qualifier or any tournament and you don't have your own caddy, the best way to inquire for one is to ask the golf pro at the course who they might recommend.  I believe I will have a good caddy in this fellow.  You see he is a player with a 4.5 handicap, so he should not only know the course well, he will have golf knowledge.

I will start with a work out on the range for warm-up, then practice at the chipping and sand area, and finish up at the putting green.  We will then tee it up with 3 other qualifiers.  We will map out the course and figure our strategy for the tournament play the following day.

We will also be able to relax and hopefully get some good photos of the course, since during the tournament I won't have the time and will need my focus to be at its best.

Well, time to get ready for a good night sleep prior to the long drive.

Until next time, keep rested so you won't tire out during the long haul......

Focus - Why it is Important in Golf

Focus.  A five letter word that means a lot in golf.  Especially during your game and practice.  How many of you loose focus while practicing, playing a round, or in a tournament atmosphere?

I know I have lost my share of focus not only when practicing, but during crucial times in tournaments.

Lets look at the definition of Focus.

Focus (cognitive process), selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things.  In golf terms, distractions outside your control such as noise from the click of a camera, sneezing, coughing, talking, etc. while you are trying to hit your shot.  Also, distraction of your mind, because of anxiety, pressure, scenery, etc.

Lets look at the third round of the US Open that just finished.  There was several golfers that missed a 3 foot but and then missed the putt coming back.   Those are generally missed because of loss of focus.  The play of Phil Mickelson today was in focus.  He maintained his concentration, because he stayed within himself on the course with great focus.  If he can keep that same focus tomorrow he should be able to win his first US OPEN.  His loss of focus in previous opens has caused him to have 5 runner-up finishes in the US OPEN.  I for one hope he wins tomorrow, he deserves it.

Now to get this post back on track since I lost focus talking about Phil. 

A lot of golfers think focus is just needed when playing the round on the weekend, or during tournaments.  I think that it is important then, but it is definitely needed during practice.  That is where you learn the golf technique, your repeat swing, and your routine you need on the golf course.  If you work on your focus during practice, then your focus will improve during your golf rounds.

Here are some tips to help you focus:

• Clear your mind from any mental stresses.  Problems and issues at the office or at home should be set aside for a while.  If possible, adopt a happy and positive disposition during the game.  That would help you attain, maintain and improve concentration
• Aim big.  Aim to always hit the ball at the right speed, at the right angle and toward the right direction.  Direction and goal is the name of the game and you should develop that self discipline of attaining those goals.
• Be silent and concentrate.  Focus on the ball, the hole and how you hold that golf club.  Before swinging, make sure your mind is occupied with nothing else except successfully landing that ball into where it should be, where it belongs, the hole.

By applying the tips above it will help you obtain more focus in your golf practice and game.  With more focus you should be able to lower your score and possibly take the bets during the $2 Nassau on the weekend.

Comments are always welcome on any of my posts.  You can follow my blog by subscribing or following by email.

Until next time, focus on what you are doing and it might just get done.......

Golf Programs for Youth - First Tee Program

When I was a growing up we didn't have the golf programs we do today for the youth. 

We weren't allowed to be on the course until we were 9 years old and had to be with a parent until we were 12 years old.  Once we were 12 we could play without a parent, but still were limited on time of day and day of the week we could play.

Fortunately, today there are many youth programs for the young golfers.  I see them starting as early as 5 years old.  In fact, I have a student that started with me at 5 and he is now 10.  He has worked with the First Tee Program, entered Pepsi Junior Tournament series and enjoyed the camaraderie with other young people along with learning values he can use the rest of his life.  These are just two of the many programs out there for the youth today.

Today I am going to talk about the First Tee Program.

What a wonderful program.  The First Tee network is made up of 200 chapters that offer programs at more than 700 golf locations. Most chapters offer programs at multiple locations. When you search, chapter(s) near you will come up first, followed by locations.

The First Tee has established Nine Core Values:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Sportsmanship
• Respect
• Confidence
• Responsibility
• Perseverance
• Courtesy
• Judgment

This program has helped over 6.5 million youth since the inception in 1997.

With one in four students dropping out of public high schools today, the need for quality youth programs is critical. The First Tee golf program can be part of the solution to challenges facing today’s youth. The First Tee reaches young people ages 5-18 through golf instruction and life skills lessons administered at chapters, military installations, and to students in elementary schools.

So if you know any youth that enjoy golf or are looking for an area of life that they can incorporate not only fun but great core values, then please take or lead them to the first tee program in your area.

Until next time, It is up to us adults to help the youth find a good path in today's society......

Would You Like to Stop the Blow-Up Holes on the Golf Course - Keeping your Score Lower

Would you Like to stop those blow up holes during a 18 hole round of golf?

How often do you think you hit your 3 wood for your second shot during the course of the round?  Most of the golfers would answer about 4.  That is normally done on the par 5's.

Why is it that you use the 3 wood on par fives for your second shot.  Is it because you want to go for the gusto and get on the green in 2 and try for that infamous eagle? 

The percentages of everyday golfers that probably use the 3 wood for second shots on part 5's is about 80%.  The Tour Players are not even close to that percentage. 

So if the Tour Players are not using the 3 wood for second shots why do you think you should be.  I know, you think because the Tour Players hit the ball farther on their drives they have shorter distances into the green.  Well, they are actually playing par 5's from a lot farther back than you - usually 575 yards or so - so things average out.

I think this is an important question to ask since we're always looking for ways to help you get rid of the blow-up hole.  I think and probably know that the one thing holding the average golfer from having a good round is the occasional blow-up hole.

So, how many of you start your rounds off hitting the ball well and you have a good score up to the 7th or 8th hole then you have that blow-up hole. How did that happen?  Your playing well and then you have the infamous 8 or 9 on the par 5 and you end up having the same score you normally post after 9 holes.  Then you do it again on the back nine.  You end up instead of having the good score of 85 you end up with the 95.  Or you are working on getting that 99 to break 100 and end up with a 108.

After the round you are all sitting in the club house having a drink and you talk about if only I didn't have those blow-up holes, I would of had a good round.

Let me ask you a few questions.  How many blow up holes were caused by you hitting a 5 iron or 7 iron.  How many blow-up holes have been caused by your 3 wood?  Has your 3 wood caused more or less Blow Up Holes than your 5 or 7 iron?

I am not saying it is always caused by the 3 wood.  There are some players that would say they had more caused by 5 iron than 3 wood.  That is possible, but I would like to be there and see it to believe it.

Now what causes most blow-up holes?  Is it a bad drive into the trees automatically causing you to get an 8 on a par 5?  No, not at all.

This last weekend, I was playing a round with one of my friends and he hit a nice fade off the tee box down the right side of the fairway only to get a big hop and ran him right into the trees.  He was about 260 yards from center of the green with no shot.  He punched out leaving him 240 yards from the green lying 2.

What would you do from here. 

I think that if you would've gone on to make an 8 or 9 on the hole the bad drive would've had very little to do with the reason you made that score.  I think that pulling out the 3 wood trying to get as close to the green as possible for your 3rd shot - topping the shot because you swung to hard leaving your self still 200 yard out, hitting your 4th shot with a 3 iron only to chunk it leaving your 5th shot 150 yards out hitting your 7 iron into the green side bunker would of been more of the cause for the Blow-Up hole than your drive did.

How many of you have been there and done that!

So what we are truly looking at when we talk about Blow-Up Holes is mismanagement of the course. And, a little bit of ego.

Let's look at this hole again.  Hit your drive into the woods on the right, punch out leaving you 240 yards to the hole for your third shot.  Hit a 5 iron about 180 yards leaving you 80 yard to the pin for your 4th shot.  Hitting your wedge on to the green within 20 feet and making the putt for a par. 

You know what, that makes it look simple.  Even if you didn't make the putt - the potential for a blow-up hole was taken away - you still wind up with a bogey which still won't hurt your score to much.

Blow-up holes don't happen because of bad tee shots.  They happen because you are not playing to your strengths.  They happen because you are playing to your weaknesses and not thinking of course management. 

Players play to their strengths so they don't have to play to their weaknesses.

When was the last time you were a Player.

Until next time, plan out your 18 hole game before you start, keep your cool, and play to your strengths.....

Golf Vacation Cont'd Wyndham Fairfield Glade Crossville Tennessee - Sites

Well I am back at the blog and I promised on one of the last blogs that I would provide the wonderful pictures of nature during our vacation at Wyndham Resort in Crossville Tennessee.

While playing golf and walking the nature paths below are the photos we took of the wildlife and flowers.








Now that you have seen the beauty of the Resort I hope to see all of you at the resort from time to time.

Until next time, on a windy golf day keep your ball flight low.....

Practie Continued - Practice Versus Playing

Playing a round of golf is fun, challenging and a great way to spend the weekend with your buddies.

As a golfer I have a lot of fun playing with my friends, co-workers, business friends and acquaintances.  I think it is the most relaxing part of the game.  You get to have great conversations, tell jokes, cut up, even sometimes shoot off a firecracker in their backswings.  After the round you sit have a few drinks and tell stories of how you did for the day.  That is relaxing at its finest.  It helps take your mind off the troubles of your life and worries of work for a few hours during the day.  Unless, of course, you have to bring that phone with you and ruin your game altogether.

As a professional golfer I still have those days stated above, but spend most of my golfing time at the practice range, chipping and putting area perfecting my game.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy practicing also, because I make games out of what I am practicing on.  This way I don't get bored and can practice for hours.

You see the way you look at things in your mind determines what you are doing is boring or exciting.  I think that if you are bored at what you are doing then you are more than likely truly not interested in this endeavor.  So my recommendation is that if you are bored at whatever you are doing than you have two options: change your attitude and perception of why you are doing whatever you are doing or, stop doing it.

I have enjoyed golf my whole life.  I have played and had a lot of fun over the years. A lot of good memories and a lot more memories still to come.  The decision I made to play as a professional changed my outlook on the game I love.  I still have fun at it, I just have to work more at it instead of playing just on the weekend, or a couple times during the week.  I choose to practice for hours an on my free time to compete at this high level instead of playing rounds upon rounds of golf. 

Now, as far as playing, I have found that a lot of times you go to the course with your buddies you don't have time to hit the range to warm up.  I recommend to at least do some good stretching and swinging of one of your long irons to loosen up before you hit that first shot.  You do not want to pull anything on the first hole except the ball.  With that being said I want to give you some of the new rules of golf I heard:

• You can take as many drives off the first whole as you want until you get the one you want, because everyone knows you don't have time to warm up before you start
• If you loose your ball in the high rough, trees you shouldn't have to take a penalty stroke because, eventually someone will find the ball and then it becomes a stolen ball and why should we be penalized for someone stealing our ball
• On the putting green if the ball roles over the hole then it is considered to be holed, because everyone knows that the rules of Physics out rule the Rules of Golf.

I do believe that no matter what level of golfer you are that practice is an important part of your game.   The better golfer you want to become the more practice you should be doing.  As far as instruction to get better you have to do three things.

1. Gain more knowledge in the game
2. Get lessons from a qualified Professional
3. Practice what you have learned and have been taught

Along with practice the other big area of interest in improving the game of golf is course management.  I will be talking about that later on.

Until next time, If you find yourself getting frustrated in what you are doing, stop and do something else for awhile......

Following the Golf Dream - Another Day of Practice - 3 hole drill Course Management

Well it has been a couple of days since my last post.

Between the rain, power outage and practice it has been an interesting couple of days.

As I mentioned in my past post, I am recovering from a broken finger so I am easing into my game.

I spent a lot of time on the short game the last two days.   I have worked on the routine presented in the last post.  As I have stated before, the most important part of the game is 150 yards in.

Today, I decided to walk 3 holes after a little warm up on the range to see what else I need to practice on.  I also wanted to see how my finger would do in game conditions.

Even though I warmed up, I still was a little skittish on whether my finger would hurt or not.  I pushed my drives leaving me in deep rough on all three holes.  Being in the deep rough I would have a good test of how my finger would do.  It didn't feel bad, but could feel it.  I also learned that my distance was a little shortened because I was favoring my right hand.

With the first two holes being par 5's I left my self short of the green on my second shot.  The first hole from 10 yards just off the green and the second hole 75 yards short of the green.  Utilizing my chipping drills I have been practicing, I was able to get up and down giving myself 2 birdies.

On the third hole, a par 4, again pushing the drive right and hitting from the rough I left my second shot short of the green again.  I was able to chip to 5 feet and one put to get my par.

What the 3 hole practice and course management has told me, I am still mentally hesitant and concerned my finger will hurt or I will re-injure it again.  I also saw that the work on my short game has definitely paid off.   Because of the work I have done on my short game, I am not concerned over temporary loss of distance with my full shots and missing the green on my approach shots.

Well time to close and spend some time with my wife before we go to sleep.

Until next time, remember perfection is not achievable in golf, but progression is.......

Getting Ready for Tournament - Short Game

It was a beautifully hot day today for practice.

Today was a good day to work on my short game from 100 yards in.

The golf course I practice at just modified the range to be able to work on this part of your game easier.

They placed yardage markers at the hitting area giving you distance to each flag.  They adjust it daily as they move the tees.  The markers are set to color coded flags that they also just put in.

So today I was able to start my drills for the short game shots 100 yards in.

They have three flags situated at 100, 75 and 50 yards:

Below is my workout:

• Warm up
• stretch
• Hit half shots with 52 degree wedge
• Hit full shots
• 10 balls with my 60 degree
• 10 balls with my 52 degree
• 10 balls with my 9 Iron
• 10 balls with my 6 Iron
• 10 balls with my 3 Iron
• 10 balls with my Hybrid 3
• 10 balls with my 3 metal wood
• 10 balls with my driver

After my warm up and going through the full shot routine I am loose and have my swing feel.  At that time I start to work on my short game.

• 50 yard flag
• Work on shots with slight draw
• 60 degree
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• Work on shots with slight fade
• 60 degree
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• 75 yard flag
• Work on shots with slight draw
• 60 degree
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• Work on shots with slight fade
• 60 degree
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• 100 yard flag
• Work on shots with slight draw
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• 9 iron
• Work on shots with slight fade
• 56 degree
• 52 degree
• pitching wedge
• 9 iron

By working on the 100 yard in shots with these variety of clubs helps me work my swing tempo for 1/4 swing to full swing.  This also, aids in learning distance control with a variety of clubs.

The main reason you want to learn to hit different shots to different distances with different clubs is that the rules only allow you to carry 14 clubs (one of which is a putter).  By practicing the shots above you have now increased your club count from 14 to 23 without adding any more clubs to your bag. 

You never know what the conditions of the course are or the weather.  Therefore by having the ability to use 14 clubs in your bag in a variety of ways increases your chances of scoring lower on the course.   It will also assist you in getting out of trouble when your ball goes off line.

The practice today went very well.  Along with completing the drills above, I also worked on my putting and chipping around the green.

Until next time, remember that the game of golf is 10 percent skill and 90 percent mental, so always be thinking of different ways to help your self out......

Following the Dream - Getting Ready for Tournament - Daily Practice

It is another day for practice to get my self in shape for the next tournament. 

Today my main practice was on putting.

Below is the routine I followed:

• Started with 3 foot drill
• Place 8 balls 3 feet from hole
• putt until miss
• keep putting until make 50 in row

• Then worked on 5, 10, 15 drill
• place tee markers 5, 10, and 15 feet from hole in straight line
• place another tee marker 2 feet from opposite line of the 5,10, 15
• place three balls at 5 foot tee marker
• stroke each ball either in the hole or stopping before the 2 foot tee marker behind the hole
• If you hit any putts short of the hole or past the tee marker start over.
• continue to 10 and 15 foot marker
• again, if you miss any you must start back at the 5 foot marker and begin again
• continue until you have completed 3 balls at each marker

The first drill I worked on helps with confidence and consistency.  You will be amazed how much your confidence will build by making 50 putts in a row.

The second 5,10,15 drill will help build your distance and speed control.

By continually practicing these drills you will be able to not only impress your playing partners on the weekend, but take their money.

Until next time, keep your tempo smooth and your eye on the ball.......

Rainy Day Sunday Cont'd - 5. Working on Swing Balance

The fifth and last item I want to work on when you are stuck indoors is Swing Balance.

Along with everything we have been talking about on the previous 4 blogs they all will help you with Swing Balance.  Without swing balance your golf game can only stay mediocre. 

As talked about in Rainy Day Sunday #3 the swing balance is important which can be worked on everyday whether you are working on the range, course or at home.

You can practice your stance and weight distribution by:

• Establishing a good address with weight distributed evenly on the inside ball of each foot
• slightly bent knees
• Your backside pushed out (feeling like you are resting it on the edge of a stool)
• Angle of your back positioned at about 70 degree

After you feel comfortable with working on your stance above, you can work on the following:

• slowly taking your club back to about 10:30 position
• hold then start your club going down
• working your weight shift feel the change in your feel in your feet
• follow through holding your finish and once again feel your weight shift
• continue this until you find yourself having total balance from start of the swing to finish of the swing with complete weight shift moving fluidly.

I want to thank you for taking the time reading the Rainy Day Sunday's Things To Do Indoors.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

If you want to have me provide any information on any other subject I would be happy to provide you the information.

I know the drills and information will assist you working on your game not only when you are indoors, but also when you are at the range or on the course.

My next blog will cover Understanding What You Need To Practice.

Until then, work on your game with a purpose and your game will have purpose.......

Rainy Days Cont'd - Five Things To Do Indoors 1. Stretching

To start off Five Things To Do Indoors, the first I will present is stretching.

Stretching in Golf, I believe, is one of the most important things to keep your body and swing loose, tempo smooth, in balance, and from getting pulled muscles. 

• Wrist, Arm, and Shoulder Stretches

• Take right arm and place straight out putting your hand at 90 degree angle point fingers upward
• Take left hand and pull lightly back fingers to shoulder and hold for 10 seconds
• repeat at least five times
• Switch Arms and hands and repeat
• Using same technique only pointing fingers downward and repeat same as above
• Take right arm and place behind head grabbing wrist with left hand pulling gently for at least 10 seconds. 
• repeat at least 5 times
• change and do same with opposite arms
• Take right arm behind back around hip area grabbing wrist with left hand pulling gently for at least 10 seconds 
• repeat at least five times
• change and do same with opposite arms
• Take right arm in front of body grabbing elbow with left hand pulling gently for at least 10 seconds
• repeat at least five times
• change and do same with opposite arms

The above exercise will assist in flexibility.

• Find a broom stick or you an use one of your long irons or woods (be careful if using your clubs not to bend your shaft).
• Get in your address position and place in the following position:
• Take stick or club behind back and place inside each elbow
• Start with turn of shoulders going in movement of back swing motion which allows your hips to turn naturally
• once you obtain the shoulders at a 90 degree turn (or best turn you can) with weight shifting from neutral position to weight moving toward insight right foot start your down swing motion with weight shifting and moving to the  follow through finish.
• repeat at least 10 times with tempo you would use with normal golf swing.

The above exercise will assist in flexibility, work with tempo of swing, weight shifting, and balance.

Both exercises will also assist in warming you up before your round and practice on the range.  By continually doing these exercises and others you will find that your golf game can improve with increased flexibility, which increases your range in motion and assist in obtaining easier smoother tempo.

 To the right is example of several exercises that will help you loosening up your body muscles:

There are numerous other stretching exercises that you can perform these are just a few.

  By stretching and exercising regularly you will work through the pyramid below eventually achieving all levels:



Next tip will be on Practicing putting on indoor carpet or putting pad.

Until then keep your body loose and stretch often to help keep from pulling any unnecessary muscles.....

Rainy Day Sundays

Today is a beautiful Rainy Day Sunday.

We have had a steady stream of rain since yesterday afternoon and today it is still beautiful.  I have been enjoying quiet time with my wife.  Her working on her genealogy and me thinking of what next to write about and enjoying a day of golf shows and other sports. 

It has been about three weeks since I broke my finger and I get to see the doctor this next week to see when I can start practicing again.  I have a couple of tournaments I want to get ready for such as the Senior US Open Qualifier in June and a local Pro-Am also in June.

I can't wait to starting working on my short game and eventually work on full swing to get my tempo in tournament condition.

As I have been sitting on my favorite chair looking out the living room window listening to the birds, watching our cat chatter at them, listening to the rain drops hitting the trees and ground along with the wind flowing through the trees and constantly looking at my gorgeous wife doing her thing I thought what rule can I talk about today and it came to me lift clean and place.

When playing golf for many years and with a variety of people I think the most misunderstood rule in golf is how to play lift clean and place properly.  A simple rule made hard by human thinking.

As provided in Rule 33-8a, the Committee may make and publish Local Rules for local abnormal conditions if they are consistent with the policy established in Appendix A.

If local abnormal conditions interfere with the proper playing of the game and the Committee considers it necessary to modify a Rule of Golf, authorization from the USGA must be obtained.

The Appendix A 4a is the one that will be utilized when the tournament director states they will play Lift Clean and Place.

Lifting an Embedded Ball, Cleaning:  Temporary conditions that might interfere with proper playing of the game, including mud and extreme wetness, or warranting relief for an embedded ball anywhere through the green or permitting lifting, cleaning and replacing a ball anywhere through the green or on a closely mown area through the green.

When this is implemented by the Director of the Tournament the proper procedure is to:

• Mark ball before lifting.
• Clean Ball (cannot change ball in play at that time)
• Tournament Rules dictate the distance can be placed from original spot no closer to hole.
• Ball in play

Well time to get back to the peacefulness of the Rainy Sunday and quiet time with my wife.

Until next time,

When playing in the rain keep as dry as you can and have the proper attire to help make the game stay fun..........

 

Golf Tournament Goes Bad

Well I am back from my golf venture in Georgia.

Sorry I haven't written in a while but I am back.

It didn't go as I wanted.  I was attempting to qualify for a Champions Tour Event.

I was doing fairly well and then with 4 holes left I hit a nine iron which stopped when it hit the ground and ended up causing a hairline fracture in my right hand ring finger.  The pain was excruciating and as my wife stated, "You looked like you were going to fall to the ground you were in so much pain."

So I had to withdraw and not finish the tournament.  This was to be the first event for the year and now it might be the last.  We will see how long it will take to heal.  I have to wear a splint on my finger for at least a month.  Then depending on the healing I don't know when I will be able to swing again.

I had to withdraw from the US OPEN Qualifier May 7th, but am keeping myself signed up for the Senior US Open Qualifier in Nashville on June 20th for the time being.  I will know more by end of May if I will have an idea if my finger will be able to take it by that time.

Well, time to go.  I will continue my blog on Golf Etiquette on my next Posting.

Keep your tempo smooth and your swing easy.......

Golf Etiquette, Make Golf More Enjoyable Cont'd

Time to continue with the Etiquette Tips to help make golf more enjoyable.

Today we are going to talk about Keeping Golf Safe:

• Do not swing your club until you know that others in your group are at a safe distance.  Likewise, keep your distance when others are swinging.  Be aware to steer clear of trouble.

• When practicing your swing never swing in the direction of another player.  There may be pebbles or twigs or other matter in the grass that could fly up and injure a playing partner.

• Do not hit the ball until you are certain that the group ahead of you is out of range.

• If your ball appears headed toward another player or another group give them a warning by yelling out, "FORE!" (an internationally recognized alert)

• Observe the safety suggestions posted in golf carts and drive carefully.  Golf etiquette requires your cart off the grass as much as possible.
• Never throw clubs in anger.  In addition to being rude and childish, it could also be dangerous.

Tomorrow we will talk about Kindness to the Course. 

Until then, Be Safe and have fun......

Golf Etiquette, Lets make Golf More Enjoyable for All

What a beautiful day it has been.  70 degrees, Cloudy then Sunny,  some wind, but a great day for golf.

Yes, I went and played golf today,  I warmed up the range, chipping and putting green.  Everything seemed to be working well.  Then I wanted to go out and work on my course management.  The local PGA Pro teamed me up with a couple of other golfers because the course was busy.   I always enjoy playing with different people because they have different views on life and it is a lot of fun getting to know new people.  Well today was a little different.  These golfers were new to the game and unfortunately didn't know much golf etiquette at all. 

I grew up with learning golf from my Father and as a caddy at a Private Golf Club.  The first thing you learned was golf etiquette.  You didn't play or carry a bag unless you knew the game and how to act while on the golf course. 

I watch several times as people take the game of golf up for a lot of reasons; there friends play, business, they retired, or they just thought they always wanted to play and never did.  When people take up the game they don't realize that there is more to it then just hitting a little white ball around some grassy areas.  They don't realize that there are other people out there and if they are to loud they can bother them.   They don't understand how it affects a golfer getting ready to hit a ball and they walk or talk while they are in their back swing.  They don't realize that they  affect the putting line when they walk over where the other golfer is getting ready to put. 

So I want to give some etiquette tips that will help the new, average, and weekend golfers.

Golf Etiquette in today's golf is being lost.  Etiquette is a word that's often hard in relation to golf, more so than with any other sport.  But it's not just about manners. 

Golf Etiquette is important for several reasons;  Many of them relate to the safety of golfers, many relate to pace of play (which helps keep the game enjoyable), and other rules of golf etiquette relate to maintaining the quality of the golf course. 

In other words, golf etiquette is an essential part of the game.  It's something that newcomers generally learn as they go, on the course when playing with more experienced golfers.  It is truly the role of the experienced golfers to help pass on good golf etiquette. 

I am going to spend the next several blogs going over some of the golf etiquette to assist in making the game more enjoyable for you and those around you.

So keep following and if you see a golfer that isn't showing good golf etiquette please tactfully pass on the information that will undoubtedly improve his/her enjoyment, but the others they will encounter during there golf endeavors.

Information on golf etiquette will follow over the next several bogs......

Warming up at The Range, 9 tips

Well it is another day at the Range.

Most people when they go to the golf range they just buy the bucket of range balls and then start hitting with their driver usually.  Everyone seems to like the long ball.  They like seeing it go beyond the border of the range.  Well, they would like to think so anyway. 

If you want to improve your game go to the range and practice with a purpose.

1.  What am I going to work on today.
2.  Plan a time frame of approximately 15 minute intervals working on different areas
3.  Before you start stretch.
4.  Warm up with the wedge group taking half swings loosening your muscles.
5.  Start working on what you planned and stick with it.
6.  If you start getting frustrated change what you are working on, take a break and come back to it later.
7.  Once you have completed your planned work out, cool down
8.  Hit the last few balls from the bucket with half swings of the wedge aiming at same distance target.
9.  Stretch again before leaving range.

When practicing at the range and not on the course you will become more consistent with your shot making and will be able to reduce your score.

I was listening to Gary Player during an interview and he told a story; He was practicing hitting sand shots at the practice green and three shots in a row went into the hole on the green.  A fellow golfer saw this and commented, wow, that was sure lucky.  Gary responded, yep, the more I practice the luckier I get.

Remember, enjoy the game and have fun.

Until next time take your frustrations out on the range and not the course.

Bye for now.....