Regional Golf Championship

July 19, 2015July 16, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 21 Comments

As many of you know, I am off to the Ontario Regional Golf Championship. The practice round is on Monday, with the 54-hole competition starts at 0800 hrs on Tuesday. This is my 23rd time I have attended this leg of the competition in 25 years and I feel that more confident than I have in years.

The Ontario Golf Regionals, played at the Petawawa, Ontario, is a three-day stroke-play event with several competitions in one. First, there is the overall team competition. Each day, the lowest 4 scores of the seven players are counted to determine the total score for the Wing on that day. (For those who think that the female scores do not count, think again; they are usually used a couple of times during the tournament) After three days of competition, your total team score from the three days will be calculated and the lowest team score wins the event and crowned Ontario Regional Team Champions. They receive a pennant which is proudly displayed at their home Unit.

Another event inside of the team competition is the singles competition. The person with the lowest gross score after three days is crowned the Ontario Region individual champion (men and women). Additionally, the lowest five male and two female gross scores make up the Ontario Regional team that represents their region at the Canadian Forces National Golf Competition.

The National Competition, played at Shilo, Manitoba, is the same format as the Regional Competition except the players are significantly better. It is an exciting time of military golfers and believe me, bragging rights are as important as the hardware.

With new clubs in hand, I am playing the most consistent golf all year. With 5 consecutive rounds in the 70s, things look very promising. However, I will say that at least one-third of the field in Petawawa play at the same level or better as I do; so competition will be fierce. Winning this exact tournament in 2009, in Petawawa, I know how to win….I just need to execute when required, use proper course management and stay positive for 4 days!

More updates to come! I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

The Open. Dustin Johnson Leads.

July 16, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / Leave a comment

This is a great recap of Day 1 at the Open Championship thanks to White Dragon Golf

White Dragon Golf

Dustin Johnson leads the 144th The Open Championship on day one at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

The Open Dustin Johnson/ Getty Images

Dustintook advantage of the easier early conditions to post a bogey free first round -7 under par 65 on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Dustin said on Monday he had no hang-ups about his Chambers Bay near-miss, and this round proves it;

“Nothing bad happened at Chambers Bay, so I wasn’t disappointed, really.”

“I did everything I was supposed to. I couldn’t control what the ball was doing on the greens there.

“There’s really no bad feelings from that, only good. I played really well and then it carried over to today.

“Any time you shoot 65 it is very pleasing. I thought I played well today I made two key par putts on 16 and 17.”

There are six players…

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The Duck Update!

July 12, 2015July 12, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

For those that are wondering, The Duck has moved to Belgium! Attached to the hip of my buddy Kirk, it must go where he goes. As I was talking to Kirk yesterday, he showed The Duck sitting proudly on a table in his new house.

I miss The Duck (ok not really) and wish it fun travels throughout Europe! I am looking forward to another match and sending that little yellow treasure packing to where ever its travels will take it.

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

New Titleist Golf Clubs – 1Week Old

July 11, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 12 Comments

From earlier posts, most of you know that I purchased new golf clubs. Well, I finally picked them up Sunday. I was fitted about 3 weeks ago and I am completely happy with my new purchase. Since picking them up, I have played three rounds of golf and hit the range twice. Everyday is a better day and contact is improving each time I swing my new AP2 irons.

My results have been very good and the are easily meeting all my expectations. My first round with the new sticks was at Wildfire Golf Course. It was fantastic! The course was in awesome shape and I plan to write a review in the coming days. It was the first time I hit my new irons and the third time I hit my new 915 D2 driver, 3-wood, and 3-hybrid. Some shots were a bit of an adventure, but when I hit the sweet spot the results were amazing. I ended up with an 82 (with 4 doubles) with 28 putts!

Brandon showing us how it is done on the range!

Next, I hit the range to work on contact and alignment. I brought out the alignment sticks and they really helped. I was able to determine the positioning of the ball in relation to my clubs and more importantly, what it looks like when my setup was correct. I took my time to examine my feet, hand position and my head position when swinging the clubs.

I also hit the range today, (after playing 18 holes this morning) and continued to work on the same things I worked on last time. I am feeling more confident every day! The best part about the range today, besides my wife being there, was a close friend of the family joined us. Brandon, who I know since he was 6 months old, came to the range to show how to hit the ball a long way. He was using my old clubs and showed me the way to really hit them.

My second round was a 9-hole loop with my wife last Thursday. It was fantastic to play on a local course, Quinte Hills, and support a course that is just starting out. Quinte Hills is 5 minutes from our house and its relative obscurity affords us the opportunity to play 9 holes without anyone pushing us. It was very relaxing and my wife enjoyed playing without feeling rushed or that we were holding anyone up. This course is rough around the edges and the hilly terrain is a bit challenging. But overall, it is a great course for my wife and I play and enjoy the time together on the links. I shot an even par 36, but sank 3, 20+ foot putt along the way. My contact with the clubs was better and my putting saved the day. Hence the great score.

Today, I played 18 holes with my normal group. We enjoyed the warm sun and a cool breeze. Starting off 2 over after three holes, I settled down to par the last 6 holes of the front nine. Feeling confident, I walk to the 200 yard par 3, 10th hole and quickly doubled it. I was a bit frustrated, but still felt very good about my round. The next 8 holes I ended up 2 under and left 3 shots on the course. My ball striking was very good and my putting deadly. With a final score of 74, it is my best round this year and with new clubs in my hand, I feel that I am peaking at the right time.

My new Titleist clubs are well worth the whole ordeal of being fitted and purchasing clubs made for my swing. With the Regional military competition just over 10 days away, things are looking very good.

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

Match Play In Golf

July 5, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 3 Comments

Each year, my home course sponsors a Match Play event that lasts all season. This year, 32 men signed up to play head to head to determine who is the best. Because of work and, well life, each match is played over a week or two period until someone wins. Our event should be finished in about 10 weeks.

Today, was my first match and it did not go so well. It was a match against last years winner Apollo. He is a 15 handicap and I am 6. So I gave him a stroke on the nine toughest holes. This was a tall order, but I felt confident I could come through in the end.

Well after 9 holes, I was down 5! Apollo shot a 40 front nine and I shot a 42. He was playing below his handicap and I was playing above mine. So, it is not surprising that he had such a commanding lead. After pushing holes 10 and 11, I knew things were not looking good for The Grateful Golfer! Apollo closed my out on the 13th hole.

However, today was not lost. I ended up shooting a 39 on the back nine. I played better starting on the 8th hole, but I could not build up enough momentum to close Apollo’s 5-up lead Apollo.

It is not unusual for me to have different nines. And today was another day of some inconsistencies. I seem to be a slow starter lately, but I am playing pretty well. A couple of things that changed to make me play better today included:

a better putting stroke. It appeared smoother and softer;
closer chip shots from 40 yards out; and
most importantly, I was in play off the tee!

The difference between the first 7 holes and last 11 was amazing. I guess I could come up with many excuses, but that would just cheapen Apollo’s win and make me look like a sore loser. So congratulations to Apollo for coming through in the clutch.

The highlight of my game was my playing partners. Ted and Serge, the other two players in our foursome, were fun to be around. Our loop around the links was light, full of laughter, and focused on fun. I really enjoyed it and hope we get a chance to play together in the future.

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