As I write this article, I am looking out my front window at my frost covered yard. Frost in the morning at this time of year is a known nuisance for anyone living in warmer climes. In years past, I was frustrated when I arrived at the course only to find that there was a frost delay of an hour or more. My lack of understanding of why courses delayed play did not help. After talking my friend Jeremy Sizer, the Superintendent at Roundel Glen at that time, I gained full understanding of why playing golf on a frost covered course is a very bad thing.
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The Reality Of Distance Off The Tee
How often have we discussed the importance of distance off the tee box. The reality of how far we actually hit the ball compared to our ability to post low golf scores. Like all things, many golfers (including myself sometimes) think they can hit a golf ball farther than we really can. Yes, I can poke a ball out to about 280 or 290 once in a blue moon, but my average distance is not anywhere near that length. The key to my last statement is my average distance off the tee. I found some interesting statistics from credible sources that grounds my view of driver distance and shows that my focus on hitting the ball farther might be taking up to much of my focus.
Continue readingAn Update On Relief From Penalty Areas
Red and Yellow stakes are often confused. Most amateurs who do not understand the rules and drop the ball within 2 club lengths of their point of entry into the hazard and then just carry on. They often ask the question about the number of penalty stokes they must count and sometimes ‘forget’ the penalty all together. For the weekend golfer who does not really care that much about their score, it really does not matter. However, when playing in a competition it is important to understand your options in order to avoid unnecessary penalty added to your overall score.
Continue readingHow To Achieve Your Golf Milestone
Are you the type of golfer that likes to achieve milestones? Generally, this means breaking 100, 90, or 80 on the scorecard. But, does breaking these challenging scores once really mean you have achieved your golf milestone. I realize that breaking through the wall opens a plethora of opportunities for our game, but amateur golfers get confused on what achieving a golf milestone really means. It is not about achieving the score, but sustaining it over the long haul.
Continue readingAre You Sure You Want To Golf?
I sometimes wonder if golf is a universal sport designed for all athletes. Don’t get we wrong, golfers are athletes. Like all professional and amateur sports the higher level of play (or elite players) have a combination of athletic ability and a passion to excel on the links. This combination is nothing new, but in golf, it seems that the stakes are higher because of the frustration level of trying to achieve a high level of play. With the combination of so many factors, I often wonder why beginners take golf thinking that this sport is fun and easily mastered!
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The Grateful Golfer 