A Great Day On The Links

I always enjoy playing golf, good or bad, as the old saying goes – it beats working. Today was one of my, turn back time, days. Not the double, double and bogey start, but the rest of the round. After going five over on the first three holes, I preceded to shoot 79, including four birdies the rest of the way. First of all, four birdies are my norm for about eight or ten rounds, not one.

Keep Rolling

What else? I drove two short par 4s. A bit of a tailwind but not much, maybe all that stretching is finally paying off. As I said, short, 270 yards and 290, but come on, I am less than two years from starting my seventh decade of life and driving a par 4 is fun. Some days I can only average about 210-215 off the tee. On my best days, I might average closer to 225-230. On occasion I hit one 250 but wow! What a day.

Cannot wait to get back to the course.

A Little Practice With My Grandson

On another note, my murder mystery, that will be my ninth book should be out around the first of the year. I am about 40% in, and so far, I really like it. By the way – My working title is - Murder On The First Tee.

Interested in any of my other books? Take a look here, and thanks.

Book 6 Coming in Two Weeks

Winter Golf - You Bet

Played in shirtsleeves Tuesday and last night we had snow and zero temperature early this morning. But then again that is life in Wyoming, ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon.

If you have not tried it yet, http://www.golf18network.com/, is terrific, try it. Deep discounts for golf in whatever area you wish. I have no connections with these people, just wanted to let you know about a great golf deal.

-JUST FOR FUN-

 Every Saturday morning, Josh headed to the golf course. It didn't matter what the weather was like. It could be raining and 40 degrees, but Josh didn't care. It was off to the course, every single Saturday morning for than ten years.

But one Saturday, Josh finally met his match with the weather. He got up early and drove out to the course, hoping the weather would improve by the time got off the first tee. But once at the course, he knew he couldn’t do it. It was just a few degrees above freezing, and snow was spitting down steady and icy cold.

For the first time in years, Josh headed back home on a Saturday morning.

His wife was still in bed when he got there, so he took off his clothes, snuggled up to his wife's backside and said "Terrible weather out there."

"Yeah," his wife replied, "and can you believe my idiot husband went to play golf

 

 

Senior Golfer - Play the Right Shat and Hit it Deep

 No one wants to hit if farther than the typical senior golfer.

So, lets make it happen.

What shaft should senior golfers play? I believe seniors often, too soon, go for the softer shaft, then slow down their swings and seem satisfied with the down the middle 185 yard drive. Not sure that is the way to go, or best for your game.

Not everyone can have a pro check their swing and measure swing speed but everyone can do the following.

1.     Look at your ball flight-If you are hooking the ball even occasionally, do not go to a softer shaft

2.     If you slice bad and have a decent swing, go to a softer shaft or go to the drill below and help out you game and yourself

3.     If you want to stay with the shaft you are using but age is slowing you down—go to a good exercise program-too lazy to exercise? Try this drill.

-The Stay Young and Hit it Drill-

    Using a full length driver (not over length) take 20 swings a day concentrating on getting the weight on the inside of your back foot – shifting - and finishing with most of you weight on the inside of your front foot.

    Increase swing speed with each repetition until you are swinging faster than normal.

    Make sure you are getting a full turn with each swing

    At the end of the swings do five, eyes closed swings. These will allow you to feel the balance. WARNING—Start with a scaled down swing speed, you will lose your balance on these swing the first few days.

    Add 10 more swings each week until reaching 50 and stay with that.

    This drill can be done on the deck, in the back yard, driveway anywhere you can take a full swing.

    This is a great off season drill to get in shape for golf season.

One more mile-per-hour will add two or three yards. Use this drill five days a week for five weeks and you will see the gain—most senior players from 10-20 yards.

A good walking and stretching program will help get you closer to the 20 yard gain.

*Note-It’s January and I played 18 today, get out when you can!

Best Golf Ball For Senior Golfers

If you type in ,“best ball for senior golfers or best golf ball,” you will get hundreds maybe even thousands of hits. The reason? Everyone wants to hit it far and straight and no one wants to practice. So the best ball is—

Find one that feels soft but not so soft that you feel like you need to swing harder.

I personally like three piece balls because I hit them for decent distance and they will spin and stop. I also will play a two piece ball if it is soft, almost everyone is making one now, but I really like the Wilson Staff 50/50.

The short game is still where most of the scoring takes place but when you become a senior type citizen, we still would like to drive it past the ladies tee. So in my pursuit of hitting it farther I have the following suggestions—

1.    Find a softer ball

2.   Make sure your swing speed matches your driver shaft

3.   Stretch at home—30 seconds of stretching before you tee up on #1 is not enough

4.   Increase your swing speed—50 or more hard swings with a full length driver every day in the off season, and during the season for that matter, swing faster each swing for the first dozen, for the rest maintain the fast swing. Take your time between swings, make sure you finish with weight on your front foot and chest to target.

5.   I also have found that playing in the off-off season when there is no water on the course and the fairways are frozen really helps my distance off the tee—maybe I should give up summer golf and concentrate on winter golf, but not in the south.