The Golfers Nemesis

If you ask any golfer what their major nemesis is, you'd get a lot of different answers.  It would range from "Any Sand Trap", to "My fucking Lob Wedge" (who can hit those things?) - or "My Driver", to "Any club in my bag".

But, after a few recent events, I've come to realize that weather is every golfers true nemesis.
 Those weather g-ds are evil.  We've all had the situation where, when hitting an iron into a green, the wind gusts to 20 mph just when your are in mid swing, and your ball lands short in a green-side bunker (that other nemesis).

I don't know anyone who had a great round in bad weather. Oh wait, there was one guy.  The Bishop in Caddyshack played one heck of a round in a teeming thunderstorm.

But, even that blessed round didn't end well

As for my game,
Two weeks ago, I felt I had finally gotten my game together.  I played a round with my friend Vak at Bethpage (Yellow).  The weather was perfect.  Sunny, warm (but not hot), and a light breeze.
I shot an easy 84.  42 on both sides.  Once again, the game seemed normal and the timing of shots natural.

Then, a mere 7 days later, I played at Eisenhower (Red) with a few Golfmatch/Golfstud pals.  We almost cancelled the tee time the night before, as the weather was supposed to be real nasty.
But, the forecast eventually predicted that the rain would clear - so we were able to play.

However, due to the weather - we could not warm up prior to the tee time.  The drizzle stopped just as we got to the first tee, although the temperature was chilly and it was breezy.
My first swing was a foul ball off First base.  I took a mulligan, and pulled the drive left (over compensation).
The entire round was less that spectacular - shooting a 98 (I had the low round!).
I shot a 51 on the front nine, and 48 on the back.  The weather cleared a bit more as we played, so I attributed my score to the change in the weather (as the back 9 on the Red course is harder than the front 9).

This past Saturday, was another day where the golf g-ds were frowning.  The Saturday weather forecast was thunderstorms until 1pm.  We cancelled our tee time.
But, when I woke up on Saturday, the weather prognosticators changed their tune, and now preducted that the rain would stop - so Vak and I went out to Eisenhower.  I quickly booked a tee time on the Red course - but when they eventually opened (10am), the kept the Red closed - so we were able to play the White course at 10:04.  Walkers only - no carts allowed.

I could see why they waited a few hours - there was standing water everywhere.

As most golfers know, hitting out of the rough is hard.
Hitting out of wet rough, is harder.
Hitting out of soggy, soaked, wet rough is brutal.

Although I played fairly well, the elements took it's toll.

Pushing my cart through the soggy grass was tiring.  Hitting out of the rough (over and over and over), was exhausting.  One of the guys they joined us with (Harvey) started to get back twinges.  As a back pain sufferer, it was painful to watch.  He finally stopped playing after 14 holes.

I wound up shooting a 46 on the front, and 43 on the back (89 overall for you non-mathematicians).  I attribute the better back 9 to the weather, which cleared a bit and warmed up a lot.

Now let's talk about Monday.  I had a scheduled outing at Baiting Hollow Country Club.  However, my arch nemesis (Mother Nature) seemed to have other plans - storms were in the forecast.  The club opted to have us tee off at 7am to beat the coming foul weather (This meant waking up at 4:30am!). 

We indeed teed off at just after 7am.  The outing was a scramble, so it was hard to judge how I played.  Lets just say that it was eventful.  Right after we walked off our last hole, the rains came.

As we ate our lunch, we watched the next outing tee off in the pouring rain.  I wondered if the organizers of their outing had pissed off the golf g-ds more than the organizers of our outing.

None the less, we showed, we played, we conquered.  

So, if any of you know the "Anti Rain Dance", please pass it on.  This weather is killing my game.

Until next time

Keep it in the Short Hairs

I Like to Watch....

Of course, I'm referring to sports on TV.

However, this weekend was mostly spent glued to some monitor watching the "Open Championship" – aka the British Open.

First, let me review the difference between watching golf, and watching other sports (i.e. - baseball, basketball, football, etc). 

Watching a golf tournament is not as "exciting" as other sports.  Now, before you get all pissy and start ranting at me, I don't mean that the sport of golf is not exciting - nor that it doesn't have highs and lows like other sports.

I just tend not to curse and throw things during a golf tournament.

Here's an example: on Sunday (long after the final putt of the British Open), the New York Yankees had a 2 run lead in the 9th inning. Their reliever, Aroldis Chapman, appeared to be TRYING to lose the game.  First, he gave up a hit.   Then a long double.  And, lastly, a passed ball/wild pitch.
So, I started cursing at him – and if my 60 inch TV didn't cost so much, I would have thrown the remote at it.

This doesn't happen when I watch golf. At one point today, Jordan Speith pulled a Chapman, and looked like he was blowing his shot at The Open championship. Not once did I have the urge to strangle Jordan, or throw the remote through the pricey TV and nail him on he head. (by the way, the Yankees still won)

But, as a golfer, it's totally enjoyable watching professionals play the sport the way I wish I could.

Especially like this weekend, during a "Major".

But, I've digressed:

Getting back to my original topic – watching The Open. In "Olden Times", we digital spectators scheduled our weekends around our home TV, or local watering hole to watch our sport of choice.
In today's world, we have so many options – it is hard to miss a stroke. Aside from the normal televisions, in the car I have XM radio - PGA Network giving play-by-play. On my phone I have several apps (The Open, PGA, NBC sports) to get everything from leaderboard updates a live stream.  At work, you can live stream the content:

On the GolfMatch app, people posted their viewing setups.As I was away for the weekend, this was mine:

Work and golf, side by side

All you need is either wi-fi access, or a data plan with enough data allowance.

Personally, I don't watch ALL golf tournaments when out of the house – just the Majors. They are sort of the SuperBowls of golf.

Of course, in between watching the Open, I actually got to play a bit. Amazing how that works out.

So, congrats to Jordan Spieth on his impressive win.
I don't think I can string 5 ending holes like he did – but I'll keep trying.

On a side note, my blog is now carried by GolfStuds.  Check out their site at www.golfstuds.golf    

Until next time,
Keep it in the Short Hairs

3rd JC Golf Studs Tradition Outing

I know it's been a few weeks, but it's been hectic in the golf household.  I've been trying to play as much golf as my back allows.

For the past few weeks, I've played perhaps two round per week - weather and back permitting.

This past week, I got to play both Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend outing (noted in the title of the Blog entry) was organized by "GolfStuds", a group that evolved off of one of the groups on GolfMatch.

This was the oddest group (in my opinion) that evolved into one of the best groups/organizations.

For many of you Instagram patrons who are are golfers, you are aware of several Instagram accounts that are composed of female golfers, which attract thousands of followers.  With such followers, they get sponsors to show off clothes, shoes, etc.
There are also a few "Male" versions of these groups, that post less beefcake shots, and more comic/golf posts.

And Honestly, I thought GolfStuds was going to be sort of a combination of both.

WRONG!!

I invite you all to click on their link and read their welcome.  It's a group of golfers (Gender neutral) that love the game of golf.  The intent is to use golf to grow the game - through friendships, youth programs, etc.  And, to support worthy causes.

The gathering this weekend was to support Folds of Honor and The Junior Tour Academy.  Folds of Honor helps out families of our fallen or disabled service-members.  The Junior Tour Academy (as you might guess), aids youngsters entering the game.  The outing raised just under $3,000.  So, not only did we have fun, but we helped some worthy organizations.

23 golfers from across the country gathered at Bethpage State Park.  For most of these golfers, it was a rare treat to play at a facility as majestic as our Bethpage State Park, Home of The Black.

We met in the patio behind the clubhouse at 9:30am.  It was like meeting old friends, for the first time.  We'd all been on GolfMatch and Instagram so long, we knew each others life stories.

The Saturday outing was the official golf day, running 6 foursomes - on Bethpage Red.  I had the opportunity to play with four "locals" (NY Area) whom I've "conversed" with a lot. Reggie, Ovi, and Paul.

Like old friends, we started ragging on each other right off the bat.  It's not easy to be comfortable goofing around with new partners - but we bonded immediately.  Although I didn't play well, it was one of the more memorable rounds of the year.

Afterwards, we all gathered for an awards ceremony, pictures, and to some, a farewell till next time.

Although the group was heading to a dinner in NYC, I opted against it, as I am freaking old - and was damn tired.
They gathered at PrimeOne16, a steakhouse in NYC.  The guest speaker was Major Ed Pulido, U.S. Army (ret).  From what I understand, this guy is amazing.  Wish I could have been there.

Major Ed (center) with Ovi and Paul

Sunday, was the day to play "BLACK".  Unfortunately, New York State frowns upon outings on the Black - unless you can fork over $100,000.
As that wasn't in the budget, we opted to get individual tee times.

As many of you know, getting a tee time on the Black is like hitting Lotto.  So, although I was dialing like a madman the week prior, I didn't get anything (again, like Lotto).  But, calling on Friday (2 days prior) I was able to snag a 9:24am foursome.

I got to play with another  great foursome.
JC - one of the founders of GS, and the organizer of this (and many other) golf events.
Mark C - another friend from the GS/GM community.
Kevin - yet another GS friend.

JC is an ex-LongIslander, and has played the black over 100 times (my back hurts just saying that).  Mark is an excellent golfer, who hits the ball a mile.  Kevin, also an excellent golfer, finished out the foursome.

Although I've played this course dozens of times, its always fun to play with people that have only read about the course.  So, seeing Mark and Kevin tee off on the first hole, was exciting in itself.

We New Yorkers (and Long Islanders, especially) tend to take the availability of one of the PREMIER GOLF COURSES in the country, for granted.  I was able to see the course through "virgin" eyes, once again.

We had a great round.  I tried imparting some course knowledge, like where to hit, not to hit, etc.

By the 17th hole, we were pretty well spent.  It's a tough course, that walks very tough (no carts on the Black).

Mark C - taking a chill on 17

But, wanting to finish strong, I gathered myself for the strong finish.  My drive was dead center, splitting the fairway.  For the first time today, I out-drove one of my partners (Kevin).  I then hit a beautiful 6 iron to the elevated green that landed just over the green in the rough.  A short chip and putt for Up-And-Down, and I finished with a Par - and a 98 for the day.

We had some drinks and lunch afterwards, before we parted.  We hugged (yes, guys hug it out) and shook hands and knew we'd be playing again in the not-so-distant future.

Although many of us play golf a lot, weekends like this are few and far between.  23 golfers from different locations got together to enjoy the game, help some causes, and cement friendships that, previously, had only been virtual.

If you want to check into Golf Studs. hit them up on their website, Instagram account, or on GolfMatch.

More important, if you get a chance for a weekend like this, grab it. They don't come that often.


So, until next time,

Keep it in the Short Hairs

The Best Way to Get to the Masters (Part 2)

My last blog post was regarding practice, and, the importance of practice, practice, practice.

Although I can't stress this enough, I do want to note that practice alone is not an answer.

SMART PRACTICE is essential.


I hit the range twice this week, and took notice of the other hackers working on their game.

Many (MOST?), swing, ball after ball, and repeat same slice (hook, top, etc.) over and over again, thinking that just swinging again will fix the issue.

Some others I see attempting to look at their swing.  Looking back at the club in the back-swing, or taking slow swings to see what it looks like.

When I went to the range on Tuesday, I had an awful slice with my drive, and was chunking my pitches.  Note, that my under-100 yard shots are all pitches with different clubs, and different length back-swings.

As of late, I had been hitting many FAT.  If you're a novice golfer, FAT does not refer to that jelly roll around my midsection - it means you're swing arc bottoms out before hitting the ball.  The end result is hitting the ball short (or barely at all).

On Tuesday, I took a video of my swing.  I see these videos all over FB, GolfMatch, and other sties for their #TipTuesday, where you post your swing, and get analysis by roughly 4,000 other hackers who not only comment on your swing, but your poor choice in shoes, attire, and hair style!

As I watched my drive swing on the video, I noticed right away that my first move was to cock my wrist, and then take the club back. THIS IS BAD!!

As I thought about it, I remembered that last season I had a very bad case of Golfers Elbow (tendinitis in the lower part of the elbow).  I might have adjusted my swing (subconsciously) in an attempt to minimize the pain, and my "muscle memory" now took over.
It looked ugly.

So, on the Thursday practice session, I made a point of keeping my takeaway all shoulders, and not cocking my wrists until my turn stopped.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  My drives were straight or a draw.  Such a simple change, yet so difficult to analyze when you look at yourself.

With that issue fixed, I now needed to fix my pitch shots.  I took out my two fold-able alignment sticks.  I recently got these off of the GCT (Golf Club Traders) forum on Facebook.  A great place to pick up equipment pretty cheap.  The pair was $10 with shipping.

So I set the sticks up aligning to the 50 yard marker.  I was still hitting chunks 50% of the time.
Then I reset the stick to 90 degrees off - meaning it was under me facing the ball.  As I set up directly over the stick, the ball should be at the tip of the stick (dead center of my stance).

I now saw that my setup had the ball a shade forward - a damn good reason to hit the ball FAT!

Once I adjusted that, my pitches were on point again.

So, what's the object of this post?

When practicing, don't keep swinging and repeating your errors over and over again.  I've always referred to muscle memory as a good thing.  But, in this case, if you keep repeating the wrong swing, your muscles will remember this and repeat it in practice.

1. Pay attention to your swing and issues.
2. Use practice aids to determine what you problems are.
3. If all else fails, see your golf instructor for some help.

I can't wait to hit the links this weekend and see if I can finally shoot a decent score.


Until next time

Keep it in the Short Hairs 

The Best Way to get to the Masters

There's an old joke that goes,

A visitor to Augusta on Masters weekend is driving around lost.

While driving, he sees Jack Nicklaus in his car.  

He yells out the window to Jack,

"Jack, how do I get to the Masters?"

Jack's reply is, "Practice, practice, practice"

Well, it might have been Palmer the first time I heard it, but the message is the same.  The only way to get better at golf, is to practice.

I play with a lot of golfers.  I will go out with friends, I'll go out alone and play with other groups, I'll meet some of my GolfMatch friends, or GolfStud friends.  

Invariably, I will play with a golfer that says "I can't believe how bad my game is".  

REALLY??? HE CAN'T BELIEVE IT???

More often than not, the words are spoken by a weekend warrior - those of us that have 9-5 non-golf jobs, and come out on the weekends to hack around the course with expectations of grandeur.  

How can a person think they are going to be a better golfer, when they play once a week?

Golf, like many sports, requires effort to become good.  It requires only a little effort to become a decent golfer.  It's a game where "muscle memory" is a key component of anyone's game.  If you're muscles are not trained to do the same thing over and over again, you are bound to fail.

If your pre-shot routine is to remember the 218 different swing thoughts that you've been taught across your golfing lifetime, you're bound to fail.  

As each golf season starts (in NY that's late March, early April), my game SUCKS!!!  It's almost depressing.   After all, I haven't swung a club in months. 

But, I head out to the practice areas mid-week to work on my game.  

This year, the weather has been awful, so I hadn't been able to get any practice time in, either at the range, or at the putting/chipping area.  

And it was reflected in my scores.  My 18 hole scores ranged from a low of 96 to 100 - on a consistent level.  Granted, the weather was playing havoc with the game, too.

High winds, light rain, low temperatures - all took their effects.  But, the root cause of the breakdown was a lack of practice time.

Finally, last week we had some good weather.  So, I went out to the range - twice.

I am lucky enough to work across the street from a golf course, and practice range.  So, getting to the range is not difficult.  

Leave work

Drive 5 minutes to the range, 

Wham!  

So, I hit the range - with two objectives.  

1. Work through all my clubs, focusing on setup and form.  
2. Get the balance of my new clubs (I replaced my old TaylorMade 4W, 7W and 4H with new Taylormade 3HL wood, and a 3 and 4 hybrid - both M2.

The results were not outstanding, but I was aware that it's a process.  

So Saturday's round started off much like my previous ones - after 8 holes I was 14 over par - already.  

Then, somehow, the muscles started to remember what they were supposed to do.

(at my age, I'm lucky that I or any body part remembers anything!)

I parred 6 of the remaining 10 holes and was 6 over for those 10 holes.  

What a change!  

My new GolfMatch pal Liam was with me, and was good enough to take a photo of our round.

So, my recommendation to all of you weekend warriors is to get out at least once mid-week to hit a bucket of balls.  And, don't just whack at it - work them.

I takes me 45 minutes to an hour to work through a bucket.  Between warming up, and working my swing, it takes a while.

I recently got alignment sticks, so I set these up at different targets to work different aspects and clubs.  I follow my usual pre-swing routine.  Then I watch my ball flight, and step back.  

Then start the pre-swing routine again.  

As the weather warms up, I'll head out at lunch to putt or chip for a bit - no one should ignore these critical components of their game.  

Every little bit of practice works.

So, my suggestion to all you golfers (or other sport enthusiasts) is to take Jack Nicklaus's words to heart.

Practice, Practice, Practice

So, until I see you on the fairway, or at the range

Keep it in the Short Hairs

Memorial Day Weekend - Slow golf

I totally understand why the younger generations don't take up golf.  In NY, a round of golf averages 4 1/2 to 5 hours for a round.

In reality, it takes about an hour to play 18 holes of golf.  The other 3-4 hours is the time spent getting to the ball, choosing a club, cursing, throwing your club, and retrieving it!

Golfers don't need to be as slow as turtles

Calculate in travel time, warm up, cool down, (drinks?) and you're talking about a 6 to 7 hour commitment for a round of golf (average).

This gets very frustrating to the average golfer.  Waiting at every hole/shot, creates stiffness, and also doesn't allow you get get "into a grove".
Or, if you eventually get that groove on, you'll lose it waiting 15-20 minutes until your next shot.

Memorial day weekend is notorious for slow rounds of golf (much like Father's day).  It's a day when people that don't normally play, go out and hack around.

Now, don't get me wrong - it's not the level of a person's play that makes the round slow.  A high handicapper can play 18 holes in 4 hours, and a single digit handicapper can play in 5 hours - It's the little things that add on 30 to 60 seconds a shot (at least!).

Here's an example:  On Friday afternoon, I met Richie at the course and we teed off at 2:20-ish.  Having played late afternoon rounds in the past, I was expecting a 4 1/2 hour round.  

This round was very slow.  The group in front of us was a foursome, and we were a threesome.  This creates a slow "Feel" to the round, as only three players are hitting into a group of four - so you're waiting an extra 1-2 minutes per hole.
Additionally, we rode in a golf cart - meaning we got our balls faster than if we walked - so it felt slow.

And, this group in front of us had no clue how to play golf at a decent pace.

The group consisted of 4 golfers. One walker and three riders (in carts).

They were taking about 15 minutes per hole.
The course puts out groups at an 8 minute interval - so this starts to back up the groups.

Bored as Hell waiting to hit

In relative contrast, playing Saturday was different - and not.
The round still took 5 hours - but on Saturday I walked.  So, I wasn't standing over the ball as long.
The round "Felt" faster, even though it was not.
The Saturday issue was my tee time was 9:30am - already "late" in the golf world - and so it became slow.

Sunday's tee time (8am) was earlier, and we played in 4 1/2 hours.  What I consider "Normal" for this area.

There has been a lot of discussion, articles, and effort put into the ideas on how to speed up the game.  Some ideas like:

• Make the number of holes less (12-14) - which I feel is just stupid
• Make the size of the cup larger to make putting easier/faster (cool for beginners)

Personally, I think both ideas suck!  The problem is that most golfers don't know the etiquette of play, keeping the pace going.  There should be a free training course available (by the USGA?) that teaches new golfers how to keep the pace moving.

Since many of you are golfers, I'll share my top hits on how to play faster:

1. Choose the right tee box.  You probably are not a great golfer (statistically speaking).  If you are a 12 handicap or better, play the Blue tees.  If you are a senior, play the yellow tees. Ladies play the Red tees.  All others play White.
   There is nothing more frustrating that seeing a group hit from the BLUE tees and ground a ball just past the white tees!!
2. Every player goes to their ball and sets up separately, waiting for the group in front to clear.  Choose your club, set yourself up.  This way, a foursome should be able to hit their shots in under 2 minutes.
3. Play "READY GOLF".  If a player in your foursome is further away than you, but he's not ready - HIT THE GOD DAMN BALL!  No need to wait.
4. Courses should space the times of each group 10 minutes apart.  (8 minutes per hole means a 2 1/2 hour round).  This will never happen, as courses want to cram as many golfers onto the course as possible (think seats on a 737)

Rules 2 and 3 go for putting as well.  

Just doing the above, could cut anywhere from 4 to 5 minutes off of the time it takes to complete a single hole of play.  This translates to over an hour saved across 18 holes.

Maybe the clubhouse could put remote cow-prods on every golfer. When their group slows down,
Bzzzzzzzz

I'd apply for that job!

But, for now - we'll just have to deal with slow play.
Perhaps bring a bottle of scotch to pass the time.


Until next time,

Keep it in the Short Hairs

Senior Golf - It Ain't Easy

Since my last post, I've played two round of golf - and turned 60!

Somehow, age creeps up on you and before you know it - WHAM!  The big 6-0 is here.

Now, I'm not a complainer about age - I actually love being 60 (all 5 days of it).  After all , I'm in good shape, have a great family, and a somewhat decent golf game.  So, no complaints.

But, I have noticed a few things that age hits you with, that have affected my golf game.

No - not distance. I know a lot of people have told me that you lose distance as you get older.  So far, I still hit an 8-iron 150 yards, so I can't say that's the problem.

Mostly, it's the ache's and pains that creep gradually work into your bones.

The last two rounds are a great example.

Wednesday (my birthday), I took off and played at Swan Lake (with Dan, Dave and Eddie).  Very pretty course, with no driving range.
This in itself is not a problem, except for those of us that needs to warm up before a round.  (me and my 60+ year old friends).
I like to swing a club a bit to loosen up, and hit a handful of balls.  But, that wasn't going to happen.  Luckily, the weather was awesome - so I was naturally warm.
I also pre-gamed by taking two Advil.  Since I couldn't really warm up, I wanted to be sure I don't pull a muscle.

This is what Senior Golf life is.  You no longer play 18 hoping for a hole in one, or to break 80.
You play 18 with the hopes of not injuring yourself.

My play on Wednesday was not spectacular -mostly due to my driving.  I had one good drive and the rest were horrible.

Saturday I played Eisenhower Park Red (with Peter, Mike D, and Liam - the latter two are GolfMatch buddies). I drove the ball better. But, as  Saturday's weather turned into Early Spring (Cool, windy, cloudy), my back started to get cold - and tighten up (Hello 6-0).  So, I popped two Advil and took 4-5 holes to finally be able to swing normal again.

My thoughts now are that I might not buy those new woods for my birthday - perhaps just a large bottle of Advil!

As I mentioned my Birthday - I'll also touch a subject on one of my new presents.  The Garmin Approach S20 GPS watch.   I've had the Garmin G6 for a few years and love it - but I wanted a watch lately.  This one was simple to use, easy to read, and gave you layup distances, hazard info, etc.
And, it maps out your hole!  Here's the shot log for the 2nd hole on Wednesday

Notice I picked a hole with a good drive and a par!
Now I can analyse my game (ad-naseuum) and try to fix things that are not yet broken!!

The other thing I did was adjust the weighting on my TaylorMade M1 driver as suggested by Mark on GolfMatch.  By aligning the weights both at the back, it makes the club much more forgiving.

I made the change in between the last two rounds and noticed a huge difference in the ball flight of mis-hits.

So, this week looks to be rain all week, and chilly.  Not golfing weather here in NY.  So, I'll try to get out over the weekend a few times.

Until then,

Keep it in the Short Hairs