Using Your Imagination in Golf

August 17, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 8 Comments

Yesterday I played golf with my old friend Blair. We have known each for over 30 years and for the always enjoy hitting the links together. Meeting in the middle, we made our way around Keystone Golf and Country Club, Peterborough, ON, we laughed, joked, and caught up on the goings on in each other’s life.

For the most part, we played very well. The course had its challenges and on the 16th hole, Blair found himself in the woods after his approach shot sailed over the green. The ball was in the woods about 12 feet nestled among roots, dead sticks and leaves. After removing all the loose pediments, Blair was now faced with an almost impossible shot.

Standing with his back to the green!

His options were to play it where it laid or declare an unplayable and to go back to his original spot. He decided to play the ball where it lay. Unfortunately, there was a root about 2 inches behind his ball. There was no way he could make a swing at the ball and make contact….or so I thought!

Blair surveyed the ball position and decided the best play was to stand in front of the ball, chop directly down on the ball (like chopping wood), hit the ball and pop it out through his legs!

I know what you are thinking and I was thinking the same thing. Chances of making solid contact were very low. Chances of hitting himself with the ball, very high! This seemed like a very low percentage shot, but he was convinced this was the right shot to take.

Ball in the foreground of the picture.

Well as it turned out, Blair’s chopping motion was perfect. He made solid contact on the ball and it popped out as if he hit it normally. If I did not see it myself, I would have called, well you know what I would have said. But, I did see it and was amazed at the results!

Using your imagination in golf is very important. It takes an open mind and willingness to take changes to pull off shots like Blair’s. Players like Seve Ballesteros and Phil Mickelson have that special talent and I guess so does Blair.

Next time you are in a strange predicament, do not be afraid to try the “impossible shot”! Use your imagination and you might be surprised at the results.

Have you ever made a shot like this?

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

Golf Is Such a Simple Game!

May 31, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 5 Comments

What do you think?

Recovery Shot’s in Golf

May 15, 2015 / The Grateful Golfer / 9 Comments

I love this recovery shot. From behind the trees, through and opening, to just short of the green! I always wonder what people are thinking when they make awesome shots like this!

Do you see the ball! What a fantastic recovery shot!

Do you see the ball? What is your favorite recover shot?

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

Lucky Bounces in Golf!

August 4, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 14 Comments

Golf is a game of lucky and not so lucky bounces. The movement of the ball one-inch in any direction can be the difference between a birdie or a double bogey. Anyone who plays golf regularly calls this the ‘rub of the green’. We have all experienced it and today was one of those days.

After my tee shot on the par 5, 9th hole, I was sitting about 240 yards from the pin. My second shot was wide open, so I decided to go for the green with my 3-wood. That was when the fun began.

Roundel Glen 9th Hole – 240 yards from the green.

From where I stood, the pin was just left of the 100-yard marker and the sand trap. Playing out of the rough, I was lucky to have a fluffy lie and was able to make solid contact. As the ball flew towards the green, left of the pin, something strange happened!

Roundel Glen 9th hole from 75 yards.

All of a sudden my ball took a hard right kick towards the pin. As we walked towards the hole, I noticed the five brown posts used to direct cart traffic away from the green. Walking forward, my playing partners said it the top of the far left post!

The uneven top of the far left post used to direct cart traffic from the green.

I continued to walk in disbelief, but there seemed to be no other explanation. Upon examination, I realized my ball hit top of the post on the surface closest to the bottom of the picture! I found it difficult to comprehend that my ball could hit a two-inch surface from 215 yards (the post was 25 yards off the front of the green) and then bounced towards the pin.

Roundel Glen 9th green. My ball is directly behind the pin!

But, that is exactly what happened! My ball bounced off the post and rolled directly behind the pin. You can see the ball sticking out just above the bottom of the pin! The above picture was taken from the far left post described above. I kid you not; now I am putting for eagle to go 1 under for the front nine!

Roundel Glen 9th green – my ball 25 feet past the pin.

As I continue to walk towards my ball, I am grateful for the lucky bounce and started to focus on my next shot. Getting to our balls, my friend Mike looks right at me and says with a straight face, “What, you could not judge the distance any better than that! Your 25 feet past the hole!” As all three of us started to chuckle, I just shrugged my shoulders; for once I was speechless!

I wish I could say that I made the eagle putt to really cap off this amazing story, but I will never begrudge a tap in birdie! As we walked to the 10th hole, I was even par and looking forward to a great back nine! I finished the round by shooting a 2-over par 74. What a great day on the links!

Today, the one-inch was in my favour; tomorrow, who knows! Lucky bounces are part of golf and make the game interesting. It is one of the reasons I love and sometimes hate this game!

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

Deja Vu!

September 25, 2013 / The Grateful Golfer / 14 Comments

Yesterday was the final of our inter unit golf league at Roundel Glen Golf Course. Our team won and we now have the bragging rights on our military base for one year. The bragging rights are more important than the hardware and it also creates friendly rivalry between units.

The format is very straight forward. Each team provides two sets of twosome. Each twosome played a scrabble match-play format. The final was for 18 holes for each team. Therefore, there was a possible 36 points up for grabs. The final tally resulted in our team being up 15 points overall. My twosome was up 5 and our other twosome was up 10. In all fairness, he had a pretty strong team and lady luck was on our side.

So, where does the Deja Vu occur?

Last week, we played the same format (except it was 9 holes). The second hole is a par 5. We hit the ball well off the tee box and laid up on our second shot to about 75 yards (see the creek up by the green – it is about a 240 carry after a good drive). We chipped a bit long and landed just on the back right off the green. I pulled my 52 degree Vokey wedge, chipped and drained it for birdie and one up.

Roundel Glen Hole 2

This week, on the same hole, we hit poorly off the tee box. Hit our second shot to 165 yards from the green. A smooth 6-iron placed us just a bit long left, behind the trap, off the green in the long grass. So, I calmly pulled my 60 degree Vokey wedge and flopped the ball on to the green and watched it roll into the cup for birdie and one up.

It is hard to believe that it could happen two weeks in a row! I believe that this shot mentally demoralize our competitors because we won the next three holes to go four up. Both weeks we seemed to cruise to victory after the chip-in. Additionally, it gave my playing partner and I confidence that lady luck was on our side!

The best aspect of both weeks was that I met new nice people and enjoyed their company. The weather as perfect for golf and a great time was had by all. I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links!