500 Followers!

June 15, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

Today is a major milestone for The Grateful Golfer; we officially have 500 members on the grateful golfer team. I am so excited to continue sharing positive thoughts, helpful tips, and humorous stories about the awesome game of golf.

Everyone contributes in their own way to the success of our message and I want to thank you all for your support, positive feedback, and outstanding insight. Every day I am grateful to hear from everyone and look forward to reading what you have to say.

Today 500; tomorrow the moon! I am a grateful golfer! Thanks for participating.

The US Open Final Round

June 14, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / Leave a comment

The final day of the 114th US Open is upon us! The varying scores were as expected, however the leaderboard…not so much. There are very few pundits who would have bet on a Martin Kaymer and Rickie Fowler final paring at Pinehurst #2. The media frenzy surrounding the usual Championship favorites quickly fell to the wayside with a pair of 65s by Kaymer after the first two rounds. As like the earlier part of 2014, the US Open is nothing like anyone expected.

If we were to poll 1000 avid golfers, asked them to think outside the box, none would have predicted the current top three players of Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, and Erik Compton! We have heard of the top two, but nothing about Compton.

Erik Compton is currently ranked 189th in the world and 89th on the FedEx standings, he is considered a journeyman player who for the past 5 years has worked his way up from the Canadian PGA Tour to the WEB.com Tour to the PGA Tour. He has not won a tournament to date, but has earned enough to keep his card. Before you pass judgement, there is more to Mr. Compton than meets the eye!

Recently, Erik Compton was honored with the 2013 PGA TOUR Courage Award by the Player Director’s Panel and PGA TOUR Commissioner. The PGA TOUR Courage Award is a new acknowledgment this year. Previously known as the Comeback Player of the Year Award, which has not been awarded since 2010, it is now aimed to honor a player who has overcome adversity. “We made it for someone who has overcome severe adversity, away from someone that is coming back from something that wasn’t career threatening.” He is a young guy, but has not really made a name for himself, until today!

The last round of the 114th US Open should be very exciting. What I find extremely interesting about this Major is it parallels the 2014 season to date. Many young players are playing their way to the top, if only for a little while, as the aging veterans are slowly losing ground. I had discussed this earlier this year and thought that the old lions would defend their territory, but it seems that the changing of the guard may be happening sooner than I thought.

With Tiger Woods is out indefinitely; with him gone who will be the standard-bearer for the PGA? It may be time for the PGA Tour to embrace the shift of a total tour concept instead of a one-on-one competition they have ridden for years to generate hype! I am not sure if the current shift is good for the economic side of the tour, but I believe the changes are for the good of the game!

What do you think? I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links!

Grinding in Golf

June 14, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 9 Comments

I finished the first round of the Wing Playdowns yesterday. This golf tournament is a three-day event to select a 5 man – 2 woman team to represent 8 Wing Trenton at the Ontario Golf Regional competition in July. Due to inclement weather, the second and third round will be played next Wednesday and Thursday. After two days of heavy rain , about 100 mm, the course played tough, long and unforgiving. We played from the tips (blues) and between the hot sun, sprinkles, puddles, ground under repair and casual water everywhere, all the players had to be on their game to score well. I am grateful for my two playing partners; they were very pleasant which really reduced any stress that might have mounted as the round progressed.

Shooting an 81 was a great score. Given the conditions, I felt very good about my result; let me explain. The very first shot was into a 200 yard par three. Using a 3 hybrid, I struck a smooth shot that tracked straight for the pin. As the ball landed 2 yards short of the green, it kicked straight right and finished 4 yards from the green, but still on the fringe. I could not believe it! When I arrived at the green, I noticed my ball hit the side of a sprinkler head! And so the games began.

I was short on most chips. For some reason I could not adjust to the wet conditions and could not hit the ball hard enough on my approach shots. Uncharacteristically, I only chipped the ball within 10 feet once all day. No matter where I was located, I could not seem to adjust. Having said that, my putting was very good. I made at least 5 putts from between 10-15 feet. Most of those were in the side door!

I am not a long hitter, so I do rely on the extra 10-20 yard roll from my woods and long irons. Well, during this round there was no roll! Therefore, I was hitting many long irons on my second shot. Everyone knows that hitting long irons into the green is not conducive to scoring low! As a result, I walked off with an 81.

Our round took about 4.5 hours. It was a bit slow considering we were a threesome, but we spent quite a bit of time looking for balls in the long rough. Our course has decided to let some of the grass grow along the course. Normally, this grass is not really in play, but yesterday it was. In some cases the grass is up to your knees and if you find your ball, it was likely you would call an unplayable lie. This change in routine definitely impacted how we played. Focus and concentration was definitely tested!

Some of the things that was very helpful during my round that helped me grind out a good score was:

pre-shot routine – this allowed me to stay focused on the shot at hand regardless of other results;
mental concentration – I worked both physically and mentally during the round. I found that the use visualization and positive mental focus prior to my round really helped; and
being grateful – stuff happens on the course. Good breaks and bad breaks, regardless I was grateful for the opportunity to play golf and hopefully represent my Wing at the next level. This positive attitude kept the negative thoughts from creeping in and really affecting my score.

For those players who understand that you can score well and play poorly; score poorly and play well; and really work on the course keep your score down, yesterday was the latter. I felt that I really worked at playing golf yesterday. My score is a bit higher than normal (about 4-5 strokes) but I am very happy with the result. I am encouraged and excited for the next Wednesday!

Currently, I am tied for 3rd place with two other players. Our moving day will be Wednesday and my strategy is to play my game and shoot my handicap. If I do that, I will be well situated to move on to the next leg of the competition.

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

Canadian Military Golfing Competition

June 10, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 13 Comments

As in previous years, tomorrow I am entering a stroke-play tournament to represent my military Wing at the Ontario Regional Golf Championship in July. This tournament is a three-day combined stroke event where the top five male and top two female players will move on to the next level. The Wing golf tournament will be played at the Roundel Glen Golf Course in Astra, Ontario.

This is my first attempt at my new Wing. The format is a bit different, but it works. After three days of competition, the top four male players are guaranteed a spot on the Wing team heading to the Ontario Golf Regionals. The fifth place player has to play one more time in an all or nothing 18 hole playoff with all the players who could not make the original tournament due to work commitments. The winner of this one day event is the fifth member of the Wing team. The results should be very interesting and I will keep you posted!

The Ontario Golf Regionals, played at the Garrison Golf and Curling Club in Kingston, Ontario, is a three-day stroke-play event with several competitions in one. First, there is the overall team competition. Each day, the lowest four scores of the seven players are used 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 will be use and lowest team score wins the event. That Wing is crown 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 score after three days is crowned the Ontario Region individual champion (men and women). Additionally, the lowest five male and two female scores make up the Ontario Regional team that represents their region at the Canadian Forces National Golf Competition.

The National Competition, played at the same course as the Ontario Regional Competition, 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.

I am excited to start the tournament tomorrow and my GAF (Golf Attitude Factor) is extremely high!

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

Casual Water?

May 17, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 11 Comments

Before I delve deeper into my article, I want to send a huge shout out to the Roundel Glen Golf Course staff for managing the flood conditions and keeping the course open today. We are all grateful for your efforts!

Today Rule 25-1 was without doubt the most important rule while on the links today. Before outlining the effects of this rule on today’s round, it is important to understand what it means. Golf Canada states that “Abnormal Ground Conditions – An “abnormal ground condition” is any casual water, ground under repair or hole, cast or runway on the course made by a burrowing animal, a reptile or a bird.” “Casual water’’ is any temporary accumulation of water on the course that is not in a water hazard and is visible before or after the player takes his stance. Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player. Manufactured ice is an obstruction.
Dew and frost are not casual water. A ball is in casual water when it lies in or any part of it touches the casual water. Okay, I think you get my point.

Fourth hole, looking back to the tee. Three wood off the tee clears the water. Normally this area has no water at all!

Roundel Glen experienced flooding from three days of hard rain. Over 20% of the course was under water and an additional 30% was extremely soggy. The amount of water on the course almost made it unplayable. However, that was not the case and I am grateful to have hit the links today.

Walking between the 12th and 13th hole!

The water posed many challenges. There was no extra roll on any shots (so most of us were 20 yards shorter off the tee!), all approach shots were from soggy ground which resulted in deep divots, and the ball plugged on most shots. Lift, clean, and place was definitely an asset today.

Rule 25-1 allowed us to move the ball to dry-ish ground. Sometimes the nearest point of relief was 30 yards from where the ball came to rest. The difficulty, in some cases, was to find relief without going closer to the hole. Regardless, we were able to find relief and play a great round.

A couple other challenges included the temperature at tee off time. It was a nippy 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees F). It did warm up on the back nine, but four layers of clothing was required initially. The cold weather turned our golf balls to rocks so carry was a challenge. Finally, it took longer to loosen up during the round than normal! Overall, many difficulties were faced today, but regardless of their impact on our games, we had a great time and are looking forward to playing again on Sunday!

A couple highlights: On the 7th hole, I found myself behind a tree. It was the most interesting shot of the day. Keeping in mind that the tree was directly in front of my ball, I also had to consider the soft ground, wet soggy landing area, and a quick sloping green. Drawing my 7 iron, I kept the ball low and did not worry about the pin (which was behind the tree). After two hops, my ball landed on the green and rolled 10 feet past the pin. Unfortunately, I missed my par putt, but was happy to walk away with a bogey.

Another interesting thing about my round happened on the 11th hole. Teeing off, I was quite happy to see the ball head towards the center of the green. Walking up to where my ball landed, I was confused not to see it on the short grass. After about a minute, one of the grounds keepers came over and said that my ball landed about 5 yards short of the post, skipped once, hit the post and fell into the water. Slightly dismayed, I stuck my arm in the hole to retrieve my ball. Thinking it was only a couple of inches deep, I quickly found out something different! I would never have found my ball without the help of the greens keeper. Thanks Buddy, I appreciate the help!

Rule 25-1 was a major player in today’s round and despite the wet conditions, I had a great time today! The company was awesome; the wet adventure fun; and I learned many things that will help in the future!

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