Who Is Your Favorite?

October 20, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

This is a discussion I have with my friends all the time. Who is your favorite? Of course the answer changes depending on the rest of the question. I have many favorite golfers and below are just a few. So let’s get started!

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2010-01/jack_nicklaus_at_70

Photos: Golf Digest Resource Center (35), Nicklaus family archives (10), Focus on Sport/Getty Images (1983), Augusta National/Getty Images (1990), J.D. Cuban/Getty Images (1996)

Who is your favorite golfer of all time? This is easy for me – Jack Nicklaus! I grew up watching him play and change the face of golf. All the players of his time contributed to the success of golf today, but Jack is my favorite. He is classy, skilled, humble, focused and most of all has given back to golf more than he received. Golfdigest.com has a very good article about his career and life. It is a petty good read. Jack Nicklaus’ overall career stats are amazing and he is as well.

Who is my favorite present day golfer? Without question Phil Mickelson! I think Phil is very much like Jack Nicklaus. He is classy, skilled, humble, and gives back to the game. I love his approach to the way he plays golf. He uses a devil-may-care attitude mixed with wedge play that is unparalleled. I realize he has mixed success, but I feel stroke for stroke he is the best in the game today. He makes golf fun for those around him; he interacts with the crowd and is a larger than life figure that makes time for the fans. I know all the Tiger and Rory fans will disagree, but that is fun to discuss the many facets of golf.

Who is my favorite golfer with the greatest potential? Dustin Johnson is the man. He is a long hitting, cool under pressure, up-and-coming pro that has endless potential. Many would say Rory Mcilroy, but I would suggest that he has already made it to the top. Dustin Johnson is ranked 14th in the world, but I believe he has not reached his full potential. He won once this year and then missed the cut at the US Open the following week. He was either on or off, nothing in between. He continues to get better and now that he is back from injury, I expect great things from him next year. He is a young guy with tons of potential.

Who is my favorite Canadian Golfer? It has to be Mike Weir. He is a Masters Champion, a 5-time member of the Presidents Cup (first Canadian) and has won 8 times on tour. Of course I would be remiss not to mention his 2007 Presidents Cup win of Tiger Woods in Montreal! I realize he has not played well since 2008, but he is still my favorite Canadian golfer. He is a true sportsman and has brought class to the game of golf. Additionally, he continues to promote golf in Canada and has several charitable foundations. Overall, Mike Weir has been great for golf no matter where he plays.

Golf is an amazing game filled with many players who provide excellent examples of how to play the game. I have many players who I have enjoyed watching through the years and these are but a few.

Who is your favorite?

How to Align Your Shot

October 5, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / Leave a comment

Aligning your shot is far from easy. I have heard of many methods to align a shot. For example: point your left shoulder towards your target; draw an imaginary line along your toes; place a club on your thighs and let it point to the target; align your elbows, stick out your tongue and close your right eye…. OK, I made the last on up, but my point is that there are hundreds of suggestions on how to align your shot while playing golf.

Recently, I came across a method I had never heard before and it actually is repeatable, simple and makes sense. This is a recipe for success if you asked me! In my Golf Canada Magazine, David Hearn provides a unique tip on how to be successful when aiming at a target. Align your heels! He says it is “imperative that the club be placed on the ground flush against your heels and not your toes. Because feet tend to flare out, the heel line is the best indicator of where you’re currently aimed.” This is brilliant. It makes absolute sense to me.

Aiming your shot has many variables, but the important point about this tip and many others is to consistently have the same set up routine. That is what really ensures success.

If you have a tip about aligning your shot, please pass it on; we would love to hear about it!

Course Management: Reality or Myth?

October 2, 2012October 2, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

Play the shot that makes the next shot easy. – Tommy Armour

No truer words have ever been spoken. I am a huge supporter of course management. I believe that choosing the smart shot over bashing your way around the course is how amateurs break 100, 90, 80 or 70. Course management is something that takes practice and is unique to everyone. No two players can manage their round of golf in the same way. No really, course management is unique to each player.

GolfLink.com states that “Golf course management for a player means understanding how to play the best round possible by using your strengths as a player against the challenges the golf course has to offer.” This article provides further details on course management, but the main point is that each player must play to their strengths. If you cannot reach the green on your next shot, hit the ball to your best distance. For me that is 115 yards. I would rather hit a full pitching wedge than a three-quarter sand wedge from 75 yards.

“Good course management requires planning ahead” by Joan A. King at Positive Mental Imagery is another outstanding article. She outlines many excellent tips on how to successfully manage a round of golf. I especially enjoy how she focuses on the mental aspect of staying focused and being positive throughout the round. As Jack Nicklaus says: “Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.” Staying positive during your round will lower your score.

“A video from the Whittle Golf Tips Series takes a look at some course management. It shows how the seven out of ten rule can be used to make smart decisions in competition and produce the best results.” This is a great rule. Play the shot you can hit 7 out of 10 times and find success instantly.

Course management is something that takes time to learn and is unique to everyone. Playing a round of golf without focusing on your strengths only leads to disaster. I am confident that everyone can be successful on the links; it just takes focus and the willingness to try new things. See you on the links!

Playing Golf for Fun!

September 6, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 3 Comments

Hole In One from 208 Yards
Man I Love This Game!

Fundamentally, golf is a game! I know this is a profound statement, but it really is just a game. I realize that this blasphemous statement does not sit well with many of you, however it is important to take stock of why we play.

Take me for instance, I have played golf for 35+ years. I have had many ups and downs throughout my golfing days. My game has continued to evolve and I can honestly say that I still have plenty to things to learn. So what drives me to continue, to push the edge, to challenge myself….the love of the game. I love the competition (both in tournaments and against myself on regular days), the social aspect of playing, learning from my fellow competitors and hoping for that one perfect shot….the elusive hole in one.

Many golfers may not look at golf this way. They look at the game of what they cannot do…not what they can do. They see the negative aspects of a bogey instead of the positive view that it could have been worse. A positive attitude will drive every golfer to great successes and real appreciation for the game.

An article in the New York Times outlines some very good aspects of why we play golf. The following is from that article: “Does being a golfer mean enduring clumsy embarrassment? Well, yes, it does sometimes, but that wasn’t the point. Being a golfer is to join a tribe with an elaborate set of tenets and canons, one with its own mores and protocols and no definable mission other than to chase a little ball into a hole.

It is a silly game, somewhat childish, a good walk spoiled, as Mark Twain said. It is all those things. So why do we love this game?

The allure of golf is its simplicity, which leads to a thousand complexities. It is sophisticated because it is subtle. It is perfect because it is wholly and forever imperfect.

I once asked David Duval, a British Open champion, what made golf so difficult and yet so appealing. He said, “It’s all the time to think between shots.”

I asked the great Phil Mickelson the same question and he said, “It’s all the choices you have.”

I asked Jack Nicklaus and he replied, “Because you must master so many elements, including yourself.”

I asked the golf commentator and author David Feherty and he said, “Because it’s a ridiculous game and it’s our fault for playing it.”

There you have it. Golf means something different to everyone. I can say that the reasons for playing golf over the years has morphed. Now, I play to enjoy the walk, talk to my friends (old and new), and challenge myself hitting a little white ball into a hole. I am a grateful golfer!

What to you love about Golf?

Visualization to Success!

August 28, 2012 / The Grateful Golfer / 5 Comments

Visualizing is the key to success in golf. I believe that visualizing your ball path will have nothing but positive results. So what does this really mean? How does one visualize anything? These are very good questions.

The Golf Sage says that “A perfect golf swing extends well beyond just having the best equipment to play the game. Yes, you need quality, reliable equipment and a lot of practice but that practice needs to be both physically and mentally as perfect as possible. Don’t replay your negative or unsuccessful plays in your head. You must focus on thinking about the positive and successful visualization of your game experience in every way.”

Jack Nicklaus said that: “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”

At Golfblogger.com the method described is the one I use. I pick a spot one foot ahead of my ball and visualize the flight path along that line. I focus on where I want it to land and how far. On the green, I do the exact same thing with one small change…..it goes in the hole every time. I find that I can easily duplicate this process and it enables me to quickly visualize success.

There is one thing in common in all the above comments. Visualization works and is important to improving your game. I visualize success everyday and while playing I visualize the perfect golf swing. I am a grateful golfer.