Chipping is a fundamental skill that all golfers must master. It is one what requires patience, imagination and confidence in order to develop the chipping stroke needed to lower your golf score. All to often, amateurs, like myself, forget to trust in our technique and try to help our chip get just a bit closer to the hole. Unfortunately, the only thing that happens is we stub or blade our chip resulting in grind to make par or bogey. Helping any golf shot usually results in poor execution, but when chipping it seems to create worse results.
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The PGA Tour and LIV Fight For Golf Dominance
I have purposely stayed away from commenting about the division in world of golf. With the multitude of opportunities to play professional golf at various levels, having a battle at the core of golf is disheartening and distracting. As an amateur golfer and one who has no opportunity to watch a professional golf tournament live, the daggers thrown back and forth are starting to sour my perception of upper echelons professional golf. It is coming to the point where the white noise of conflict is turning me away from caring about the men’s side of professional golf.
Continue readingPlaying Fun Golf With Success
Yesterday I hit the links with the intent of playing different formats through different holes. It was not to work on anything new, but to shake up my game and have some fun. So, I played best ball (with two balls) for the first four holes and a scramble for the last five. It was all about having fun until I started playing well, then my competitive nature kicked in. It all started on the first hole!
Continue readingA Telling Golf Stat That Everyone Should Know
Golf is a game that has gone statistics crazy. There is a stat for just about everything. In the past, I have tried to capture a bunch on my own and realized after a couple of years that the data I was collecting was helpful to a small degree. I have discussed stats in the past and have concluded that how close the ball is to the pin on approach shots is really the top stat. I have focused on greens in regulation (GIR), but I think it is time to expand that concept a bit in order to fully understand the most telling stat in golf.
Continue readingI Just Want To Play Golf
Golf is a game that demands each player dedicated time to becoming a better player. Rarely have I noticed anyone play golf as a ‘natural’. The swing movement is so complex, that picking up a club and shooting a low score seems impossible. Therefore, it is easy to conclude that dedicating time to practice is important for any golfer to improve their game. Through the years, I put in that time, but now it seems that I just want to play golf!
As a senior player, I think that my game has peaked and I will be riding a plateau for quite some time. There is always a fork in the road where every athlete must decided they have reached the point of diminishing returns. It seems that I am at the point. I still try to practice, but hitting the links and playing an extra ball or two seems to be the norm right now. Of course I can approach my game this way because I have already put in the hundreds of hours needed to be a low handicap player.
I like playing golf more than practicing; actually, I always have. Most athletes, in my opinion, think that way. We experience the joy of competition more than the satisfaction of honing a skill. I do not think it is a far stretch to conclude my statement above because the thrill of playing is what most of us look forward too.
Keeping in mind what motivates us to play golf, I do recommend that practice be a part of your plan to shoot lower golf scores. It is important to hone skills that will set you up for success. Practicing from the pin outward is always a great place to start. There is no wrong answers here because your desire to a certain level of golf will drive your need to practice. The joy of playing will never go away, the desire to practice will dim as we approach our point of diminishing returns.
Ultimately, I am a grateful golfer. I am grateful to be able to practice and play. However, right now I am leaning towards the ‘I just want to play golf’ path. How about you? Where is your game right now?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 