I am a Grateful Golfer!

July 28, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 3 Comments

Lately, I have had my fair share of abundance on the golf course. I am riding a string of low scores, winning team events at a tournament, winning golf balls and generally experiencing great bounces on the links. I am sure many of you have had times just like the one I am experiencing.

It is during these great times that I remember it is important to be grateful as it helps keep my golf game and life in balance. How lucky am I to have such an abundant life!

I am also grateful for all the positive support through the years and especially the past couple of weeks. It reminds me of a saying by Zig Ziglar: “You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.” The best way to show my appreciation to everyone is to just say thank you!

I am a grateful golfer!

An Awesome Gift from “Golf is Mental”

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

Have you ever been away on a trip and arrive home to find a special gift in the mail? Have you ever received a much welcomed gift unexpectantly? Well, that is what happened when I returned home after being away for 9 days on a work/golf trip!

A while back, Josh from Golf is Mental, whose “simple insights into a complicated game” are definitely worth the read, ran a contest for new subscribers and loyal readers of his outstanding golf blog. He was giving away a dozen Pro V1 golf balls in each category.

As a loyal reader for quite some time, I immediately signed up. With no expectation of winning; I thought I would support my e-community of golfing fans and pass the word around. Fortunately for me, Josh selected my name and let me know that the treasure was in the mail.

While away for the past 9 days, I focused on playing in Ontario Regional Golf Tournament and zoned out of the happenings back at the homestead. As my darling wife and I arrrived home, we stopped to check the mail and ‘surprise’ my gift had arrived.

A gift from Josh at ‘Golf is Mental”

Talk about brightening someone’s day! This surprise gift definitely lifted my spirits! Josh, thank you very much for the wonderful gift. I hope that someday we can play a round of golf and I can share the memories of how your generosity helped me break par!

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

Ontario Regional Golf Tournament – Final Thoughts

July 24, 2015July 24, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

Twenty four hours later, I had the opportunity to analyze the goods, bads and uglys of my play at the Ontario Regional Golf Tournament. It is not a chance to whine or point fingers at outside influences that may have negatively affected my game during the past three days. It is an opportunity to look at possible areas of improvement to move forward and still work towards my goal of being a scratch golfer.

I decided to use The Good, The Bad, The Ugly style of introspection to make sure I keep what was good and improve on the other aspects of my game. However, I do not like to end on a bad note for anything, so I am going to reverse the order to end on a positive note.

THE UGLY

Decision Making – each day, I made two poor decisions about shot selection. Each time, it was counter to my game plan and as a result it cost me 2 penalty strokes each day. These were mental errors that should not have made their way into my decision-making cycle. The area of improvement is that I know better and talked myself out of the right decision over half the time.

Chipping – I was not able to adjust to the greens while chipping over the four days. The lack of practice facilities (of any kind) did hamper my warm up, but I did have the opportunity to adjust….I just didn’t! I was very frustrated because a player of my experience should have been able to adjust, so this is a lesson learned and I will find ways to improve my ability to adjust to various conditions in the future.

THE BADS

Driving The Ball – my new clubs are awesome. I felt comfortable hitting all the clubs, however I had difficult hitting my driver. I was straight, but the new 12 degree loft was something that reduced my distance off the tee. I was consistently 25 yards shorter than normal off the tee. I did hit some that I would call normal shots and will work on hitting this club better in the future.

Approach shots from 150-100 yards – from this distance, I was only about 50% GIR. I struggled with my alignment this week. I am not sure why, but I will hit the range with my alignment sticks and work on my swing. Part of the challenge might be that I have tried to change too many things this year and as a result my approach shots have suffered. It could also be a lull in my play of late from that distance, but I need to find out.

THE GOODS

Ability to scramble – This week I relied on my ability to score well through the ups and downs of my game. It seemed that every time I was struggling, I would make several great strokes to bring my game back to normal. I consistently hit my 4 and 5 iron very well. Atypical to great play, my success from 175-200 yards raised my confidence and ability to play well.

My game plan – my game plan was very good. Having played at Petawawa before, I felt that my understanding of the how to play the course was a benefit. As stated earlier, I did make a couple poor decisions, but my overall strategy worked. I played within myself and took advantage of my strengths. The time spent on planning was time well spent!

Meeting Old and New Friends – This was definitely a good! It was outstanding to re-acquaint myself with old friends. I have met these players year in and year out at golf Regionals and every time it is fun to catch up on all the happenings in their lives. Additionally, meeting new friends who are attending Regionals for the first time. This year I played with one young gentlemen for two rounds and one gentlemen for three rounds. Both were excellent playing partners and I look forward to playing a round of golf with them in the future.

Objectively looking at my performance at the Ontario Regional Golf Tournament helps me be a better golfer. If I focus on my weaknesses and capitalize on my strengths, things should get better. It is difficult to identify our weaknesses and to make the decision to do something about it. I believe that this approach is good in life and is a natural extension to my golf game.

So I am off the range to see if I can duplicate my errors and find positive solutions to improve my game. I think that this process is an important part of being a better golfer. My approach has worked in the past and with any luck will produce positive results now.

Thanks for reading and I am always open to positive comments!

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

Ontario Regional Golf Tournament – Day 3

July 23, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 13 Comments

Approach shot to the 18th green!

My day did not start as expected. I bogeyed the first hole and doubled the third hole. After 5, I was 4 over and struggling to make a good swing. It seemed that no matter what I did, I could not find my normal smooth swing that I relied on over the years.

As I closed the front nine with a double bogey, I was a bit deflated as I walked to the 10th tee. Finishing the front with a 43, I was wondering if my current strategy of being patient was worth keeping for the back nine. After I bogeyed the 10th hole, I decided to change my focus and try to hit the ball closer to the hole on my approach shots! I know this sounds silly, but I no matter how hard I tried, I was short on most of my approach shots all week.

Suddenly, I birdied the 13th hole and the train was back on its tracks. I jockeyed back and for on the back nine and was 10 over standing on the 17the tee. It was toughest 16 holes of golf I played in a long, long time. But, now was not the time to give up! Our team was still vying for the Pennant and bragging rights for a year.

The 17th hole was a 150 yard par 3 with a strong wind blowing directly in our face. Additionally, the tee box was 40 feet lower in elevation than the green. Normally, I would hit an 8 iron from 150 yards, but given the wind and elevation change, I hit a 6-iron. I hit a laser that looked like it was going in from the moment it left my club. My ball flew right beside pin and stopped 6 feet directly behind the hole. After making the putt, I was now 9 over.

Teeing up first on the 18th tee, I hit the ball straight down the middle to 135 yards from the green. The 18th green is elevated and is 100 feet above the fairway. It is an extremely difficult closing hole. Normally, I would hit a 9-iron, but chose an 8 for my final approach shot of the tournament. My contact was pure and my line was dead on. As the ball flew towards the pin, all I could think was, “be enough”! As the ball came down, I lost sight of it over the ridge of the green. After struggling to climb the hill to the green, I notice my ball stopped 8 feet from the pin! As I stepped up with confidence, I putted it true for another birdie. My third on the back nine.

After all the smoke cleared, I shot another 79! My third straight. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get me in the top 5, but I was very happy with my final result. I finished in 7th place. Petawawa Golf Course was a very tough track because of the very slow greens and the windy conditions. There is a slight possibility I can attend nationals, but two of the top 6 players have to withdraw because of work or other reasons.

Another aspect of the tournament was the team play. The top 5 scores from each team are counted each day. This aspect of the event is where the Pennant is won. The Pennant is a covenant trophy that military organizations proudly display in their trophy case for all visitors to see. This year, my team won by 5 strokes! After three days of competition, my team won by just 5 strokes. After calculation 15 rounds of golf, Trenton shot 1201 and Petawawa shot 1206! The funny thing about our win this year is that none of the Trenton players made the top 5!

Thanks to my team mates for a great tournament and wish you all the best for the rest of the season.

This years Ontario Regional Golf tournament was outstanding. I had a great time and look forward to next year.

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

Ontario Regional Golf Tournament – Day 2

July 22, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 8 Comments

The second day is complete. The course conditions and weather did not change, but the scores were different from the previous day. Many players shot a higher score, which was a bit surprising. However, that is the nature of golf tournaments and Day 3 will likely be different again.

As I stated yesterday, I was tied for 6th heading into today. My goal was to shoot a couple of strokes lower and to stay focused for the entire 18 holes. I had a good strategy to be patient and not to force shots in the attempts to make a lower score. The fact that it was moving day did not change my strategy because I felt that if shot the same or slightly lower score, the movers would be behind me. Well, as it turns out, that was a pretty good strategy.

I shot another 79 today. I am still tied for 6th spot; only two strokes out of 5th place. This is a very close competition and any mistakes could be very costly. I followed my game plan to the letter for most of my round.

After shooting par on the first two holes, I striped my drive to the centre of the fairway on a reachable par 5. Instead of following my game plan of hitting the ball to about 120 yards because of the hazards surrounding the green, I decided to go for it. Well, this mental error resulted in the dreaded ‘snowman’! Yup a smooth 8! After I gave myself a mental beating, I routinely birdied the 4th hole. This did take some of the sting out of the previous hole, but reinforced my need to follow my strategy.

I played very steady for the rest of the nine and ended with a 41. One better than yesterday. So with a triple on one hole, I was feeling fairly confident heading into the back nine. After hitting my ball in play on the 10th hole, I smoothly duffed two chips and walked away with a double! I never realized that it was possible to have steam come out of your ears, but it is possible. After laughing at myself, and yes I actually laughed out loud, I played the last 8 holes only 1 over par. I hit some good shots played steady most of the time.

The highlight of the back nine was the 45 foot putt I sank on the 15 hole for par! I gave a little whoop and a fist pump! I felt like I stole a stroke there. Carding a 38 on the back nine, I shot a 79 overall for the day.

The biggest challenge we have for this tournament is the length of each round. We are averaging 5 hours and 45 minutes per round. It feels like a battle of attrition out there; but I will have to parse my words by stating that the level of play ranges from 72 to 120 strokes per round. The course is difficult to play for the low handicappers and the more inexperienced players are finding it even more difficult. However, we all knew this; so we are prepared with lots of water and towels to sit on while we wait.

The team competition was much closer today. We actually lost ground to our main competition, Petawawa. We are still 4 strokes up, but Petawawa is looking to raise the pennant tomorrow. As we tell every player, it is important to grind out the lowest score you can, no matter how you are playing! The pennant means bragging rights and hardware for our home unit!

My golfing is pretty solid for the most part. I have left a few shots on the course, but tomorrow, I plan to not leave anything out there. I will stay focused and play my game. I might have to pick selected times to press the issue, but overall I must make sure it is the right time and in the right location.

Thanks to everyone for all the positive support. It is great to hear from you and it does help me stay focused!

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