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

How To Find Lost Golf Balls

Americans lose 300 million golf balls a year.

The reconditioning and reselling of those used balls has become a hundreds of million dollars a year industry. The Internet and large retailers like Wal-Mart sell thousands of dozen each week. In the old days the only place you could find these ‘water balls’ was in the golf shop. Why don’t we find a few ourselves and cut out the middlemen.

So where do you look to pick up a few of the millions of lost golf balls.

When looking for balls try the out of bounds to the right 170 to 180 yards off the tee.

For the expensive balls try about 220 yards but still the right side.

Most golfers that should be looking in the 170 area look in the 200 yard area and most that should be looking in the 220 range look in the 250-260 area.

If you can’t find your own ball walk back, you likely didn’t hit it that far.

Better balls are often found left and behind longer holes.

When looking along water, more balls are found on the tee side than the green side.

Check out new tree wells, the edges of paths and any grass boarders that need a weed eater.

And lastly, if you find one, there is a good chance another is hiding nearby, make a circle around where you found yours.

Please don’t stop and look while playing, but there is always a chance to walk by some of these ball happy areas. Remember if you hit it here someone else probably did too.

Another Golf - Player of the Year

Adam Scott has been voted the Male Player of the Year by the Golf Writers Association of America, Tiger Woods finished second. Before you ask who the writers in the GWAA are, I will answer for you. Writers who publish a lot of words about golf but fail to watch or understand that winning a major and two small tourneys in Australia does not make a player of the year.

Tiger won the money title and the Vardon Trophy (lowest scoring average) who, on tour, wouldn’t want to win these two? If not Tiger, Henrik Stenson gets my vote for player of the year, wait, I don’t have a vote.

I might be prejudiced against Scott, and I admit it, I hate the long putter. He is a big young guy and, too me, looks silly with that senior tour putter. I for one will be glad when they are gone.

Looks like golf for me this afternoon, nice day!

Congratulations to Adam Scott for winning the GWAA player of the year – even if no one has ever heard of this award.

Tee It Forward

The tee it forward movement is a great idea and one I hope more courses find the time and place to let people tee it forward. Of course I am an old guy that doesn’t like hitting a three wood second shot into a par four. 

According to the tee it forward people if your average drive is only about 220 you should be playing courses around 6,000 yards or less. I think it would help if the forward tees would keep par threes at 165 yards or less also. It is really no fun to hit three or five wood on a par 3.

Also seems to be a men only idea, I see many women, maybe past their golf prime, who would love to tee it forward.

It’s still a great idea but there are problems, like the following example. This example would be someone like me playing a par five with a (20 or 30 something) single digit handicapper. He will be hitting from the members tees and some old guy, like me, will play it forward.

The hole we play will be - Par 5 - 520 yards

His tee - 520 yards – drive 300 – distance to green 220 yards, a hard 4 hybrid

My tee - 450 yards – drive 220 – distance to green 230 yards, can’t reach with anything

See the problem? We are in approximately the same place after shot #1, but shot number two is still too long, but even this old golfer does not want to play par 5s that are 390 yards long  (my 220 drive and  a 170 yard 4 hybrid). So tee it forward, just not too far.

*Special note - I can still hit it 250 on occasion, and hit my three wood 215.  On the above example I would have about 50-90 yards left with my third shot to hit the green in regulation. (Not Bad)

Down wind, downhill, hard fairways, I can reach about 500 in two. Not bad for a 65 year old 12 handicap.

Phi, Vijay, Sergio and # 16

Phil is tearing it up this week. I wonder if the happiest PGA pro in the world might be Vijay Singh. Phil is playing lights out and the talk is all about him and not about Vijay and the deer antler fairy dust conspiracy.

If you didn’t see the melt down, by now, staring Sergio García you really missed something. It was hilarious, although he probably is embarrassed by it now, he shouldn’t be. Golf doesn’t need to be so stuffy all the time.

Reminded me of the old time baseball managers, if you are old enough to remember Earl Weaver, or as old as me and remember Billy Martin, you know what I am talking about. They went crazy and it was fun, people loved it, they cheered and they booed.

Speaking of booing and cheering, most people watching the Phoenix Waste Management Open don’t know what to think about #16. Cheered if you hit a good one, booed roundly if you miss the green, it’s like going to a golf tournament in Arizona and a hockey game in the Bronx breaks out.

Enjoy the Super Bowl and go Phil

 

A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well. ~Anonymous

10 Things To Remember On The Course This Year

As we all start, at least trying, to think about golf. Yes it will warm up and turn green sometime in the future.

Here are my things to remember for this year.

1.    Do not try to hit through a tree—all that stuff about trees being 80% air cannot be true

2.    If you are not sure, go around instead of over—remember trying to hit that lob wedge over a 60 foot tree 20 feet in front of you?

3.    Club up or down and hit your 70 or 80% shot from uneven lies

4.    Light rough still hit one more club

5.    Heavy rough – see #3 above

6.    Remember, direction is more important than distance

7.    Find out your distance with each club – average distance, not best distance

8.    Find a swing for the 75 yard shot – sand wedge, half sand wedge, half gap, whatever it takes

9.     A found golf ball is a good golf ball - tee it up

 

10. Remember the other nine

 

Happy Golfin'

 

 

Three Million-Come on Man

 Looks like Tiger Woods will not be playing in the Qatar Masters, this year. Woods three million dollar appearance fee was too steep for the tournament that has a total purse of about two and a half million.  I like Tiger, always have, love to watch him play, great, fierce competitor. But like the NFL folks say, “Come on man,” three million is a little steep for the world’s number three.

Let’s see if the average American lives on about $50,000 dollars a year it would take 60 years to make the three million that Tiger needed for less than a week of work-good deal if you can get it, but even Tiger couldn’t pull this one off.

 

 

I still think a quarter a hole is a big deal match! And maybe a beer a side.

Is this a Bad Sign?

Too much wind to play golf in Hawaii-too bad. I see where one famous teacher said playing in conditions like that could ruin a golfer’s swing.

I now feel much better about my ruined swing, playing here in Wyoming, with a lot of wind that must be what happened.

Hope they do get the tourney going, feel like watching some golf later today. The first pro tournament does tell me that warm weather is getting closer, not farther away.

 

Remember- There are two ways a golf ball bounces: unfair bounces, and bounces just the way you meant to play it.*

*Not sure where I saw this first but always thought it was appropriate

The Great Golf Ball Test --2013 soon

I bought ten dozen (at least) new golf balls, (OK, so sometimes I get a little carried away on E-Bay) can’t wait for spring and a chance to use them. I will let you know what I find out after using at least a sleeve of each. I am still on the quest to find a mid or low priced ball that fits seniors who are still serious about their game. But like me, seniors on a fixed income that makes the top balls a little out of reach, or we would have to give up food or alcohol or some other meaningless wants we have to buy them.

I will be testing three Wilson Staff Balls, two Taylor Made balls and one Calloway and one Bridgestone to start.

Wish me luck, gonna be tough having to play all those rounds, oh the sacrifices I make in the name of good golf.

“Golf is golf. You hit the ball, you go find it. Then you hit it again.” ~Lon Hinkle

No Golf Today

Jan 1, 2013 – Going on official record – “I love the New Year and I love New Year’s Resolutions.”   "And I will play more Golf in 2013"

6:00 a.m. - Eight hours of sleep, healthy, balanced breakfast, went for a walk, did my stretching and lifting workout, spent some hobby time, did some putting away and picking up in my workshop.

8:00 a.m. - New Years are great-reinvigorating, life anew - and soon more golf

9:00 a.m. - Feel like I need a nap, have a bit of an upset stomach, my shoulders, hips and feet ache.

10:00 a.m. – Doing much better now, reclining on the couch, watching first of many New Year’s Day Bowl Games, still resting after my workout, and dreaming about the next year.

11:00 a.m. - Very soar, dull pain starting on top of my head and ending on the bottom of my feet, not feeling well at all, will take a handful of pain killers and continue resting on couch.

I really do not like New Year’s—except for the Football

Noon – Drinking soda, eating chips and peanuts, still resting on couch, feeling some better, game has reached halftime, watching shootout on the Western Channel until second half starts. Golf is all reruns.

“Maybe Next Year, never have liked New Years stuff, too much hype, just another day for this ol’ cowboy”

-Happy New Year-