Category: Games

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

It’s a very chilly Sunday here in the Burgh, with temperatures in the 20’s, so no golf today. I was able to get in two rounds this week, shooting a 79 under some tough conditions at North Park, windy with temps in the high 40’s, and a nice solid 75 at Scenic Valley under better conditions with temps in the upper 50’s with just a slight breeze. I have been fortunate enough to have 5 holes in one, over the 50 plus years of playing this game, and the ball going in the hole is certainly just luck. But I must say, I had one of my luckiest shots of all time, which contributed mightily to my 75 on Thursday. I hit my tee shot just to the right of green on the par 3 sixth hole. It left me a very difficult pitch to an upslope and then a downslope to the hole. I shanked the shot across the green to the back and about 6 inches in the rough. I was already in a bit of foul humor, as I had just 3 putted the last green from about 20 feet. I did not go back to the cart and all I had in my hand was my 60 degree wedge and putter. I was about 50 to 60 feet from the pin and the correct shot would have been a low running chip. I was not comfortable shutting down the lob wedge especially after the shank. So I putted the ball and the ball just popped out of the air and carried about 5 feet onto the green and started to scurry along the green. As I was watching the ball, I thought I just might make a 4 here, and the next thing you know the ball broke about 10 feet to the right and into the hole. You gotta love this game. I bogeyed the next hole, but then went on to play the last 11 holes even par with two birdies and two bogeys. These two rounds this week were the 98th and 99th rounds of the year. Last year I was able to play 102 rounds. This does not include 9 hole rounds I played. The difference between the 2 years so far, is that I played 7 rounds in March of 2012 and only 2 rounds in March of 2013. The USGA doesn’t have to tell me to go out and play golf. I think all the new rule adjustments are fine that they recently made,  but I still think they missed the boat in one area. All rule decisions should be made on that day of play. Nobody should go to bed thinking they shot one score and then the next day find out they have been penalized for something that was discovered the next day no matter how it was discovered. When the day is over it is over. This weather is looking like it is going to sit in here for awhile, so golf is not looking too good this week. Will get back into the Mental A’ and discuss Acceptance next Sunday.

 

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

The blog is a day late because of a very busy weekend with dinner on Sunday night. This week I continued to play better despite less than ideal playing conditions. On Wednesday with 40 degree temperatures under a light mist and wind most of the day I shot 75 at Scenic Valley. On Thursday with about the same temps and a brief sleet storm that lasted a half a hole I shot 77 at Village Green. Yesterday at Scenic Valley with a little better conditions I had a real erratic day but managed to shoot 78.  I have a little 70’s streak going right now. Now it’s time to get serious. This has been the year to try and find the key to mental success in this game. While I have not been  successful in this endeavor, and it has caused by handicap to go from 3.1 to about 4.7, I feel that I have come to some important conclusions and have had a very productive learning experience. First lets get to some definitions.

The Physical Game: I define this as the way you grip the club, address the ball, and swing the club. The same thing can be said for putting. Its the way you grip the putter, address the ball, and stroke the putt.

The Mental Game: I define this as the way you plan your shots and what you are thinking when you make a swing or stroke a putt. It also includes the way you react to the results of each shot.

So the first question is, How much is this game physical, and how much is it mental. If you read instruction articles, one of the most common numbers put out there is, it is 90% mental and 10% physical. I do not agree. As far as I am concerned it is a 50-50 split. So lets look at the two sides.

1. Lets say you have a great mental game. Everytime you step on the tee you are focused on the middle of the fairway and are able block out the hazards right and left. You have complete confidence on the read of the green and think you are going to make every putt. But if your grip sucks, your alignment is wrong and you swing like a basball player, your going to put the ball all over the lot.

2. On the other side of the coin, your physical game is textbook. But if everytime you step up to the tee your thinking about trouble or doubting something, you are going to hit it  all over the lot, also.

A golfer in order to play to the best of his ability, must perfect the mind-body connection. The mind can not take over the body and body can not take over the mind. They must work together in unison. Obviously I have not perfected this, or the blog would have a different name. I will discuss in future blogs other reasons I think this is a 50-50 spit. The above 2 examples are extreme but you get the point.

In the coming weeks I am going to write about what I call the A’s of the mental game. The A’s are: Acceptance and  Awareness  Or what I call the good A’s    Anger and Anxiety or the bad A’s.  How you do with the first four A’s will affect the last A of the mental game Adjustment.

I will be heading for San Diego to spend Halloween with the grandkids, so there will be no rounds of golf this week. But there will be plenty to write about in the coming weeks.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

This week the weather was not very co-operative and was able to get only 3 rounds in. The scores were a little better this week with a 76 and 78 at Scenic Valley and a 79 at South Park in some really tough conditions with some pretty good wind and a mist with temperatures barely in the 50’s. As I look back on this season so far and it is winding down, I look at the one big mistake I made this year. Playing Golf. I should have gone back to bowling. I think I am going to try to live the life of the Big Lebowski. Bowling is much better than golf. First of all there is no waiting. You get a lane and go at it. There is no rain. The season is 365 days. When I was bowling I refused to bowl on February 29th. The crashing and the noise of the pins beats anything golf has to offer. You are always close to a beer. Just like golf courses no two lanes are alike. The only thing you have to decide in bowling is whether you have to take a 4 or 5 step approach. Bowling balls are too heavy to throw so you never have to worry about hurting anyone with a thrown club. You never have to clean bowling shoes. You can be perfect in bowling, the 300 game. Your are never going to shoot 18 in golf, even at the minature golf level. So with that,The The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer is coming to a close because the answer can not be found. I am going to start a new blog: The Beautiful Game of Bowling Where You Can Belch Anytime. I can’t wait to get my first strike.

 

 

 

 

 

GOTCHA SEE YOU ON THE LINKS ALTHOUGH THE WEATHER IS LOOKING EVEN WORSE THIS WEEK. THE SEARCH WILL NEVER END UNTIL THE ANSWER IS FOUND.   WHOOPIE

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

The blog is a day early because I’m in Columbus, Ohio attending a veterinary conference. I just got back from 7 hours of lectures on dogs and cats skin problems. Whew! I will be getting home late tomorrow so I thought I would do the blog now, although I have this overwhelming desire to go to the bar. My play this week could also drive a man to drink. On Wednesday I played St. Clair which is a difficult track and I did manage to shoot an 80. I drove the ball pretty well and putted well but the iron game was a little off which led to some tough positions. On Thursday I went to my normal stomping grounds, Indian Run feeling pretty good but my iron game got worse and one horrific drive led to a double bogey and I shot 81. Even though the scores were not the greatest I worked more on getting my swing back and did some more things on the physical side, putting and chipping which seemed to help. I put the mental game on the back burner this week. Next week I should be able to get 3 to 4 rounds in. One of the mysteries of this game, which there are many, is why do swing thoughts or keys only work for so long. Bobby Jones wrote about this in the 1930’s. Golfers have always accepted this phenomenon as part of the normal ups and downs of the game. I think unlocking this mystery is one of the keys to the game. I don’t think I’ll be coming up with that answer any time soon. Well the bar is calling, and I am answering. See you next week.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Even though this is a golf blog the Burgh is buzzing over the Pirates taking a 2 games to one lead over the St Louis Cardinals, in the best of five series. Tomorrow is game 4 here in Pittsburgh and hopefully the Pirates can win it and take the series to get into the NLCS. Its been a long wait after 20 consecutive losing seasons but we are on a roll baby.  BEAT EM BUCS AND THE BUCS ARE GOING ALL THE WAY, ALL THE WAY.  I just aged myself terribly with that last line taken from the famous 1960 season, when Bill Mazeroski hit the greatest home run in World Series history, to beat the Yankees and win the series in the bottom of the ninth. Well I guess I have to talk about golf now. The week wasn’t too bad until today. I shot 78 at Village Green and a 76 at Indian Run to break the 6 round streak of 80 and above. On Thursday I started to get a little cold. You would have thought I had contracted the Bubonic Plague the way I played today. In the first 13 holes I had 9, yes count them 9 double bogeys and not one was caused by a penalty stroke. This on my way to a 94. The second time this year I failed to break 90. Now if someone had bet me that I would not break 90 this year twice, let alone once, I would be a pauper today. The funny thing was I felt better as the day wore on. It was a gorgeous day too, in the 80’s with lots of sunshine. The game is definitely goofy. Next week will be a short golf week, thank God, as I have to attend a veterinary meeting in Columbus next weekend. I will be playing only 2 rounds of golf. Trying to come up with some mental key or process this year has taken a bit of a toll on my game. I have got to staighten out some physical flaws that have cropped up, and kind of get my swing back. Its supposed to rain tomorrow but the rest of the week looks good so I should get the 2 rounds in. Lets hope something inspires me this week and the Pirates are in the next round.

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The Goofy Game Golf of Searching for the Answer

An unexpected new course was added this week, as I was able to get in 5 rounds. We went back to Blackhawk in Beaver Falls, Pa. about a 45 minute drive. This is the course that has 36 holes and each nine is named 1 2 3 and 4. This is where we finished the front nine in one hour and twenty seven minutes and they told us we would have to speed up. I thought I would never go back but my friend Andy suggested we play there and this time the 36 holes worked out and we played nines 1 through 4. I have to admit I really liked playing the 2 courses and the greens were in great shape running a nice 7 on the stimp and were very smooth. This course features a lot of short par 4’s but has some nice par 3’s and a couple of really long par 5’s. Course 1 and 2 played 6100 yds. and course 3 and 4 played 6300 yds. They both played to a par of 72. Neither one of us played very well as I shot two 81’s and Andy shot 81 and 83. I had already had a hot dog there and really didn’t feel like having another one. Now let me take a deep breath as I write these numbers down, 81, 81, 80, 80, and one final 80. The definition of consistently lousy. I am through with mental madness and have replaced it with I don’t give a shit. This winter I will go through some of these mental experiments but lets just say for now they have failed miserably. It’s back to drawing board and another beautiful week ahead. At least we got course number 92 in and the search will continue, at least for now.

 

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Another rain shortened week, as it rained pretty much all day on Saturday. The three rounds I played were as up and down as the weather, with scores of 81, 73 and 84 today. Putting has been the big problem but ball striking today was not exactly superb. Since my game is in a state of limbo, I thought I would write about a subject that is strictly mental and certainly has nothing to do with swinging a golf club and that is green reading. Now I have read all the books and watched a lot of instruction on TV, concerning reading greens but it still can be one of the most mystifying and frustrating parts of golf. I can deal with over reading or under reading the break of a putt, but when I think a putt is going to break 3 inches to the left and it breaks right then that can really leave me bewildered and deflated. Now even though we see on TV, that the tour pros can misread a putt, one thing that they do, is they spend a lot more time than we can in actually reading the putt. They look from behind the hole, to the side, and from behind the ball. In fact, despite what you read about getting on the side below the hole to get a feel for the distance of the putt, the pros do a 360 around the line of the putt almost every time. If we took that much time to read our putts then every round would be of the 5 and 1/2 hour variety.   Now I don’t know if it would even help, if we took that much time in reading our putts. Your never going to read in any instruction book to take that much time in reading putts, because of the slow play issue. Let’s face it, that is where the tour game really slows down, when it comes to reading putts. Are greens that diabolical or are we making something hard that may not be all that difficult. No matter what method you use to read greens, when you are finish, there are one of three things that are going to happen.

1. You know how this putt is going to break and you are right, make a confident stroke and the ball goes in.

2 You know how this putt is going to break and you are wrong, make a confident stroke and miss.

3. You are unsure how the putt is going to break and you have to do something, so you try to commit to a line, make a tentative stroke and most likely miss the putt.

Now you can do 2 and 3 for only so long and you will begin to lose confidence and your putting begins to fall apart. Right now I do not see a solution to this problem. I’m not saying there isn’t one. I just don’t see it for right now. Yes, I know all the green reading rhetoric. Start reading the green from 20 to 30 yards out, it breaks toward the water, it breaks away from the mountain, there is a high point on the golf course and everything breaks away from that, and the grain grows toward the setting sun. My favorite is the one about water being poured on the green and you visualize where it is going to puddle and flow. Doesn’t that make you want to visit golf courses when it is pouring rain and take pictures of all the greens that are covered with water. So, green reading is a problem that must be solved if one is going to play to his full potential. The mental madness was more like just madness this week. Another week awaits and the weather is looking better. Maybe I will take 5 minutes to read every putt. How to become the most popular golfer in your group in just one easy lesson.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

August 11 we went to golf courses 3 and 4 and again we went into Eastern Ohio near the same area as last week. The first course we played was Kennsington Golf Club. This is a new golf course, about 4 years old and again connected to a housing development. This was the first time I had ever played this course and I had heard some good things about it. We played from tees that made the course play about 6600 yards and there are tees that will stretch the course to 7050 yards. The golf course itself is ok with some pretty nice holes, but it is a position type of golf course. We played the first 6 holes and then we ran into a green that was almost completely burned out. Then another and another and eventually there were 9 greens that were a mess. The greens that were ok ran about a 5 on the stimpmeter.  Needless to say this took away some of the enjoyment of the day. The overall condition of the course was not great either. We only had a threesome today. I shot 77, Pete shot 86 and Donna shot 84. It’s hard not to be too harsh on a golf course that is in this bad of shape even a new golf course but lets just say that it is not worth the trip even if you just have to walk out your back door to play the place. We made the turn a little after 11am and there were no hot dogs to be found, a very bad day at Kennsington Golf Club. There’s potential here but they better start taking care of the place. The next stop was Reserve Run golf course which is about 15 minutes south and east of Kennsington and it is about 10 or 15 years old. This is the first of many courses that I will call short golf courses. From the tips it is only 6162 yards. This golf course was in good shape, with the greens running a nice 6.5 on the stimpmeter. This course is very enjoyable to play. The holes are easy to follow and it is fairly wide open but there are some holes that can be very tight. There are some blind shots but overall it is a nice course to play. Is it worth the trip. If you pair this course up with Copeland Hills the first course we played I would most definitely say Yes. The course is not difficult and greens are not severe so any level of golfer should be able to play here and have a great time. The hot dog at the turn was just fair but at least they had some. Man, I was hungry. I shot a 75 Pete shot 82  and Donna 82. It was another hot and humid day but clouds rolled in and it was better in the afternoon. Did we find any answers today. Obviously I am playing a little better. In rounds of the last 7 days I have shot 75 76 77 and 75. These rounds are not 2 handicap caliber but there is some improvement here. Have I made some adjustments? Yes. Will they be long term? Who knows. The second 18 at Reserve Run was interesting. I birdied the first hole a short par 5 and then made only 1 bogey and 6 pars to be even par as I headed to the 9th tee. For the next 5 holes I simply lost control of my body. I hit 3 horrible tee shots on the 9th, 10th, and 13th holes and had short game blues on 2 other holes to make 4 bogeys in the next 5 holes. I pared the 13th hole despite the drive and then bogeyed the 14th hole when I flew an 80 yard pitch shot over the green on a fly, from the middle of the fairway. Then I pared in from the there. Golf does this to you. You simply for whatever reason lose control of your body. From a 3 foot putt to a tee ball there is something in the thought process system that causes your body to do things that it would never do on the practice tee.  I had a golf instructor tell me once “Control the body, control the golf club and you will control the golf ball. Can we do that we will see. 4 golf courses down 86 to go.

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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

Today started the 90 golf course trek through Western Pennsylvania. We started however in Eastern Ohio. The first course is an old traditional course called Copeland Hills which is in Columbiana Ohio which is about 12 miles from the Pennsylvania border. It is a long but fair golf course and the tees we played from today were about 7000 yards long. Just about as long of a golf course that this 60 yr older is willing to play. The golf course was in great condition and even though the greens were slow about a 4.5 on the stimp meter they were very smooth and putted extremely well. There are 4 sets of tees so you can play a much shorter course but even from the front tees this golf course can give you a challenging day. All the holes are tree lined and though the fairways are not extremely narrow you still have to drive the golf ball if you are going to score. It is a very enjoyable course to play and definitely worth a one hour to an hour and half drive. The rate for a senior is 23 dollars with a cart. It is a great golf course for anybody, but a low handicapper would particularly enjoy the challenge of this fair but difficult golf course. Yours truly continued his struggles with a laborous 87. Pete and Ron shot 88 and 80 and we are all single digit handicappers. Donna shot a 92 and she is about a 16. The second golf course we played today was Firestone Farms which is about 5 miles east of Copeland. This golf course is a newer golf course about 10 years old. So naturally  there are less trees and more houses near and around the golf course. This golf course is also in good shape but the greens were not as nice as Copelands. They were just a touch quicker a 5 on the stimp meter but they were very bumpy and definitely had some brown areas. Despite this, the course is very enjoyable to play. The senior rate is 25 dollars with a cart.  Little more room for errant drives and not quite as long as we played the tees that made the course play around 6800 yards. There are tees that will stretch the coures to 7200 yards but we will leave that for the big boys. Everybody in the group did a little better on this course as it is not as tough. I shot an 80 with a  pretty nifty 38 on the back. Pete and Ron shot 80 and 79 respectavly. Donna shot 89. The hot dog winner was definitely Firestone if no other reason the condiments. Jalapenos, Banana pepper rings, and a much more flavorful dog. Copelands dog wasn’t bad, I have had a lot worse but it couldn’t compare to Firestones. Very nice day 48 dollars for 36 holes. It was hot and humid and we were lucky that the thunder storms went south of us for the most part and we only had about a 10 minute delay on the back 9 at Firestone. Is Firestone worth the trip, barely. Hopefullly they can fix the green problem. Having many houses around the golf course is not something that adds any esthetics to the course. Did I find any answers today. HELL NO! It is all very frustrating. My game is in such disaray that even health insurance couldn’t help it. I started the day by trying to get back to what I thought was some fundentals and ended the day by just hitting the damn ball. The putting today was bad but I had good speed all day but really could not buy a putt. The short game was worst, and well, with the heat and the humidity I mostly thought all day that at least bowling alleys are air conditioned. So it is back to drawing board but I am lost.      
 
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The Goofy Game of Golf Searching for the Answer

During the next 24 months I hope to play 90 different golf courses in the Western Pennsylvania area. These golf courses are all public golf courses and will be no more than an hour and a half drive from my home which is about 5 miles south of Pittsburgh. These are all regulation golf courses with the shortest being about 5800 yards and we will play from tees when this is possible which will make the course play  about 6700 to 7000 yards. Will not play from tees that are over 7000 yards long. I have been playing this game for 53 years missing one year in 1964 and not playing from October of 1994 until May of 1996. Some years I have played more than others. Some years over this period of time I have played as little as 12 to 15 rounds and other years I have played over a 100 rounds. Golf is one of the oldest games known to man and I still think we really don’t know how to play the game on any level even at the highest level which is the PGA tour. On each of these blogs I will give an example of why this game for lack of a better term is just plain goofy. About 13 years ago there was a young man who won one of the biggest golf tournaments on the PGA tour by a whopping 12 strokes. After such a dominating performance he spends the next 12 months changing his swing. Now he goes on to dominate the golf world but what would people be saying if he had not won another major tournament. Why did you change your swing. The young man of course was Tiger Woods. Why would you go through a major swing change for the next 12 months when you just had won the Masters by 12 strokes. Tiger addresses this by saying he wanted to get better but how much better can you get when you destroy the field at a major championship. Granted he went on to win more Majors including a unprecedented 4 in a row. Do you think he could of done that if he didn’t change his swing, we will never know but its what makes golf a goofy game. Other players have done similiar things after having great success on the PGA tour with not as good of results. In fact some have been career ending moves. What makes an individual do this when he is having success at the highest level of golf I will never know. I am in one of the worst stretches of play in my life. My handicap has risen from 2 to 5 which takes a pretty prolonged period of worst than normal scoring to do something like that. It has been very frustrating to say the least. Talk about swing changes. I change my swing on every shot. Do I expect to find the answer to what makes this such a goofy game. HELL NO! But I think this is kind of a cool thing to do and then maybe I will pack up the clubs and do what every golfer wants to do and few actually do and that is to throw bag clubs and ball in a body of water. I will give a short critique on all the golf courses I will be playing including “How is that hot dog at the turn?” I will make comments on the condition of the greens and the course and how overall enjoyable the course is to play.