Author: The Grateful Golfer

Hickory Stick Tour Comes to The North

/ The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

This Friday and Saturday, the Golf Historical Society of Canada (GHSC) is making is annual Northern Hickory Tour to North Bay and Mattawa. Spearheaded by GHSC president, Lorne Emery, this will be the fourth year that the hickory sticks will be playing in the area. The intent of this tour is to promote the history of golf through playing with vintage equipment. This will be my third year participating in this fantastic event and I am thrilled to host a stop at the Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort on Saturday.

Northern Hickory Tour
This is a 4-day hickory extravaganza in Northern Ontario and involves three different golf courses, as follows:

  • Thursday, August 24 early afternoon – Couchiching GC (Orillia)
  • Friday, August 25 noon – Osprey Links – Callander) 
  • Saturday, August 26 noon– Mattawa GC (Mattawa)

This is the third time the hickory tour is being organized and a few spots are still available. Southern Ontario players should contact Lorne Emery, GHSC President, by email at lorne.emery9945@gmail.com if you want to be added to one, two or all three rounds. Bill Vossen (vossenb69@hotmail.com) and Jim Burton (“The Grateful Golfer“) is the GHSC Hickory Ambassador from North Bay coordinating this event.

I am looking forward to playing two days of hickory golf this year. The Northern Hickory Tour is a great way to promote the history of golf and seeing some old friends with the same interests is really the big prize!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!


The Flying Elbow…Sometimes?

/ The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

I enjoy playing golf with different people. Virtually every match I played in the past has been pleasant. It affords me the opportunity to meet different players, see different approaches to the game and in some instances, learn new things about my swing. All of the above happened yesterday when my friend Charlie and I played in a senior’s tournament at Clear Springs Golf Course. During the round, our playing partners, Yvon and Tom reinforced my view that playing different players is always a great time.

Continue reading →

Outcome Versus Process of a Golf Shot

/ The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

The amazing aspect of golf that is often overlooked is the plethora of methods to achieve a specific outcome. Whether you subscribe to pure process or pure feel (or somewhere in between) the number of ways to play a shot can be countless. Personally, gravitate towards process especially as I gain in experience and knowledge. Process, for me, removes many of the ‘what ifs’ when deciding how to play a shot. Following a process helps me narrow all the stressors of a shot by improving my focus on what I can achieve. Yet, I feel this is more to this way of playing golf!

Continue reading →

A Wandering Mind Is Bad For Your Golf Game

/ The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

Playing plenty of golf has the tendency to lead to a wandering mind. You know the affliction when you are thinking of a million things and none are on your golf game. The stray thoughts on the golf course surely leads to higher scores and greater frustration. I experienced this challenge many times in my career and it usually happens when I play four or five days in a row. It is not something I can control, but try to work through when it happens. I am not sure there is a fix for a wandering mind, but I sure would like to think so for the sake of my game.

Continue reading →

Playing A Difficult Golf Shot

/ The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

Every round of golf presents the opportunity to play easy and difficult golf shots. Obviously, the easy shots pose the least stress during the entire shot process. Difficult shots have the opposite affect. At Mattawa Golf and Ski Resort there is one shot that still poses a quandary for my game. It is a known challenge and I have not really develop a shot to crack this nut. It is a fun hole and one that needs to be shared.

Continue reading →