A Golf Blog

Re-Supply

I really enjoy playing mountain golf. The scenery is fantastic and we get the occasional elk and deer. Thankfully, the black bears restrict their activities to after sundown. It’s a good thing too – they can be pretty messy. As a matter of fact, there are local rules here that provide relief from wild animal poo!

It’s also fun to play at about 8,500 feet because the ball travels a good 10 to 15 percent farther. My last time out, I carried a 7 iron 175 yards. Not bad for a sexagenarian.

But, even with the scenery and the ball carrying farther, I still have to deal with narrower fairways, more penalizing rough, lots of water, and tighter out of bounds. That translates into more frequent re-supply of golf balls. Back in the flatlands, if I get an order in by noon at The Golf Warehouse it will be on my front porch sometime the next day.

US Open Television Camera Coverage

I don't know about you, but I think ESPN/NBC is doing a sub-par performance when it comes to their camera coverage.

I'm watching in HD and I haven't seen a tee shot in the air yet. As a matter of fact, I just watched two tee shots on #7; today it's playing 99 yards. In both cases, the best the camera could do was to pick up the ball after it came to rest at the back of the green.

Maybe it's the course? Maybe it's the way the natural light from the sea shore illuminates the course? Maybe ESPN/NBC could learn something from CBS?

I wait all year for the US Open and I'm not sure I can endure more than 6 hours of network coverage when they can't track the golf ball.

People, what am I missing here?

It All Matters or Everything Counts

The golf season here at the ranch is just about fully underway and will be when we can finally say goodbye to what seems to be about 4 weeks straight of high school tournaments.

Anyway, as more and more join the regular Wednesday and Thursday MGA games, pace of play becomes more of an issue. Last week, before starting our Thursday game, the MGA president had a few words about posting legitimate scores. Play the ball down, no gimme putts, and play ready golf. If everyone followed those directions, there’s no reason that the round or any round should take more than four hours.

Well, you’d have thought he’d poked someone in the eye with a sharp stick. The ESC handicap issue was mentioned – why keep playing if you’ve reached your max ESC score for a hole? Well, for one, your ESC score for a hole only gets applied after the round when posting your score. Here at the ranch, we post scores hole by hole and the GHIN system automatically adjusts your actual score with the ESC score when applicable.

Besides, consider if $$$$ is involved. What you shoot is what applies when figuring out prizes but it’s adjusted for handicap purposes.

Now, how about the time it takes to play a round. I still believe that you can shoot 72, 102, or 122 and still complete play in 4 hours. What get’s things all out of whack is the 35 handicapper plumb bobbing a 3 footer for an 8!

How about 1.) hit the ball; 2.) find the ball; 3.) hit the ball; repeat 2 and 3 until the ball falls in the hole the start over with 1?

That work for you?

Identity Theft

Well, maybe not but….I have several Google Alerts and one of them is for mentions of Acemakr.

Seems that recently someone has hijacked the Acemakr (search the comments for Acemakr) moniker. Not the web site, just the moniker.

Bit of a bummer, really.

Do Over

I realize that Golf Digest is a victim of print deadlines and had to have the artwork for their cover story in well before the news about Tiger broke.

But, you've got to know that they'd like a do over on this one - the last thing the president needs now is advice from Tiger.

The Big Chill

I realize that other parts of the US are getting hammered by the first real winter storm of the year. Here in North Texas, we got the cold and managed to dodge the snow and ice bullets.

We are pretty much able to play year round here but that does present some problems for our maintenance staff. When it gets really cold or is forecast to be for an extended period of time, our super stages tarps for the greens anticipating they’ll need to be covered. In my time here at the ranch, I think that’s only happened once.

What’s more common is for him to run sprinklers on the greens before daylight so when the sun does come up and the temps drop, the ice that’s formed creates a sort of blanket of insulation.

I’m sure he’d much rather run the sprinklers than have his crew wrestle with covering 18 greens and 3 practice greens.

Just think, the coming of winter in 13 days means that in 14 the days will begin to get longer.

A Gift That Keeps on Giving

I got a note from GolfLabels.com a couple of days ago. I bought labels from them when I got my latest set of irons and while I've not needed them as of yet, they do contribute a bit to piece of mind should I leave a club somewhere on the course. I've still got some spares but I'm thinking a set for each of my foresome would be a nice touch for Christmas. Not to worry, it will still be a surprise - I don't think either of the three ever visits the blog.

If you'd like to get me something...this would certainly fit the bill. It's a French Army Knife.

Hat-Tip to Cash @ Bushwood

Job Hunting

In February, Hunter Industries is  partnering with the GCSAA to present a Student/Superintendent Employment Fair. If you are interested in a career in  turf management or enhancing your resume with classes and seminars, you might want to see about getting to San Diego in February.

More here.

Winter Maintenance

We’re not there yet; winter that is. Here in North Texas, we can pretty much play year round but it does get chilly. And the chilly weather brings with it a different course. Except for the over seeded tee boxes, all the turf (> 200 acres of it) is dormant. That means the little white ball rolls like the dickens – a good drive in the summertime could translate to winter time madness because a ball that found the fairway 6 months ago will now roll through the fairway and into the rough, a hazard, or out of bounds.

The cold weather also brings with it a different kind of maintenance. The course mechanic is overhauling equipment and our GCSAA superintendent is doing projects that took a back seat during our peak growing season.

Seems like there are always challenges with drainage; whether it’s puddles in low spots on the cart paths or soft false fronts to some of the greens is always something. Then there’s our ESA (environmentally sensitive areas) that get their once a year cleanout.

One of the initiatives here actually free up some of the hours the staff needs for course set-up. A couple of years ago, we went to rotating cups during the dormant turf season. Each green has 3 hole placements. They are rotated daily (maybe every other day if play is light) and new holes are cut only ever second or third week (again depending on play). The cup plugs aren’t growing so there is zero chance the hole ‘scar’ will heal.

It works pretty well and when the warmer weather returns, the greens bounce back a lot easier.

Precision Putting Training Aid

Every so often, I’ll get an unsolicited email from someone representing a new technology or, perhaps a different bend on an already implemented idea that is advertised to improve your golf scores. There have been a few that have made it past my email in box and this is one of them.

When I took up the game almost 15 years ago, my first teacher’s philosophy was to start at the hole and work your way back to the tee box. Putting was first, then short game, mid irons, and finally, driver. Since putting was the easiest to practice, didn’t require a lot of strength, and accounted for about 50% of the strokes in round, it made sense to me that it was a good place to start.

Back at the end of September, I received a much anticipated package from Putting Technologies; they’d sent me the Precision Putting Trainer and asked that I ‘test drive’ it and if I liked it, maybe write a review.

This is Precision set up on my putter – it comes in two pieces. The first piece clips onto the putter shaft – the yellow bar, when parallel to the putter face, is a good visual aid for alignment. The rocker arm hinges two ways on the yellow bar – one helps with the putter head lie and the other with smoothness of stroke. It also came with easy set up and use instructions, a hard carry case for storage when you’re on the course, and two practice ‘bumperCups’. The larger cup is sized so if your ball even brushes the edge of the bumper, you’ve sunk the putt. The smaller bumper, a smaller target, is for more intense practice and incremental improvements.

My first practice was on our bedroom carpet. With this aid, the hinge on the yellow bar is supposed to align with the middle of the putter face – the sweet spot. So, when you’re standing over the ball, the hinge is between the middle of the back of the ball and the sweet spot of your putter face. At that point, it’s very easy to get your eyes set up directly over the ball. The first thing I noticed was my usual eye alignment was almost 2 inches inside the ball. The hinged rocker arm is red on the lower inside. The red is only visible if the toe or heel of the putter head is too high or too low. Once I corrected being set up 2 inches inside the ball, pushes and pulls were all but eliminated. On the carpet, I got pretty good and could ‘sink’ 8 of 10 putts from 6 to 8 feet. On the course is different but I am seeing a lot more putts within a foot which all but eliminates the dreaded 3 putt. I’ve even dropped a couple of 15 footers for birdie in my last couple of rounds.

So, the bottom line for me is it works. I don’t have to worry about mechanics or line (as long as I practice) – it’s now all about speed.

The weather today is awful and since I’m not really a cold weather player, I can spend time on the carpet and work on putting.

Putting Technologies has a great web site that will answer all your questions.

Remember, stroke it, don’t poke it.

Ball Marks

My regular group is pretty good when it comes to course etiquette but there’s always the occasional memory lapse. Sometimes it’s filling a fairway divot (when doing that, try to find one or two additional ones to fill), unnecessary cart traffic in already worn turf, not being ready and, not fixing ball marks on the green.

I wrote about that almost 2 years ago and I don’t know about where you play, but here at the ranch, ball marks are still a problem. If your greens are dormant or heading in that direction, they still need ball mark attention.

When I first started playing, fixing my ball mark meant that I’d probably hit a green in regulation which meant I had a fair chance for par and with a little luck, and close enough to the flag stick, maybe a birdie. For a beginner, that was pretty neat.

Now, making sure I have a ball mark repair tool in my pocket is a regular part of my pre-round routine. I keep my repair tools in the same pouch in my bag as my ball markers.

Next time I out and about, I think I’ll pick-up 6 to 12 inexpensive repair tools and have them handy when one of my playing partners has one of those memory lapses I mentioned earlier. In case you’re wondering, I use the Green Fix tool – it’s supposed to be more turf and root friendly. I tried getting it adopted as the ‘default tool’ here at the ranch but interest just wasn’t there.

First Tuesday

Today is the first Tuesday of the month in almost 4 years that I have the day off. Over that time, I’ve held several volunteer positions with our Men Golf Association. It feels odd that I’m not participating but it was time I made room for another volunteer.

We transitioned the new board members this past month and feedback, while positive, also included many comments about how involved the new volunteers would be. Yup, there’s a lot to do – welcome aboard.

I’ve already been asked to help ‘consult’ with the 2010 edition of our Member/Guest.

Pencil Whipping

This booklet arrived with my renewed membership for the coming year in the USGA. It's chock full of interesting tidbits about handicaps and how they are the equalizer when golfers of different skill levels compete against one another. The intro page says "the idea behind the system is to enable golfers of all levels to compete on a comparatively equal basis." Equal basis here is comparative (some feature to a greater or lesser extent than the thing it is being compared). Greater or lesser; hmmmm.....

Now I'm not the sour grapes kind and I do believe the handicap system, while some have questions about how it's administered, is what keeps most coming back to golf year after year. Yeah, there's the club sandbaggers and because you know who they are, you can choose to not compete in events where they're playing.

Yesterday, our MGA had a flighted, low net mixer. The MGA paid the top three in our flight with golf shop credits (I've got lots to say about that - goodness, I'd not want to jeopardize my amateur standing by winning too much cash each year - mixer entry fees here are $3 to $5 depending on the day you want to play so you can see how it could add up on an annual basis) but....I digress.

One in my group played from the forward tees. Yes, his handicap was adjusted to account for the advantage of the shorter course, but, on average, he had almost a 50 yard advantage on all par 4s and par 5s. After yesterday's event, I found out that 2 of the 3 winners in our flight (first) played from the forward tees. 50 yards represents a significant advantage; maybe next time I'll opt to play from the forward tees.

The Mind

As I recall, the TV ad catch phrase was “the mind is a terrible thing to waste”. In golf, it could be “don’t let the mind get in the way”.

I’ve been struggling mightily over the last 20 to 25 rounds. I think I shot my handicap only twice – and my handicap index is reflective of my struggles.

Yesterday, our regular group got together and I decided on some good stretching, a short warm up on the range, and maybe 5 to 7 practice putts before heading out on the course. Oh, and also to focus on ‘the game’ and not the process.

Guess what? Two birdies, no three putts, played the entire round with the same ball, and shot a net 66.

Maybe the catch phrase for golf should be “forget you even have a mind”. I get some pretty good input from Cameron Strachan. Thought you might too.

Bad Timing

Well, the club championship here in Angel Fire is next week; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The format is match play and you wouldn't exactly say that I'm at the peak of my game.

Last time, I wrote about slope and how it's a beat down if you aren't used to narrow fairways will lots of elevation changes.

Well, my GHIN update came out 2 days ago and I've added a full stroke to my index. As a matter of fact, in the almost 20 rounds I've posted here, I've only matched or bettered my course handicap once.

Maybe the beverage cart will make early appearances next week. That might help lessen the 'pain' of not being able to hit 3 decent shots in a row.

Beaten by Slope

While differences in slope rating don't necessarily translate one to one in stroke differences, it's close.

My home course is rated at 123. Here, it's a full 10 points higher at 133.

In 5 rounds here, in the past 2 weeks, I've missed my handicap by more than 10 strokes on average.

Had a game scheduled today but a steady rain late yesterday and last night gave me the perfect excuse to wait until tomorrow. If I keep this pace my handicap index will be through the roof by the time the club championship rolls around.

PoP

For the uninitiated, that’s pace of play and I have to tell you that the pro here in Angel Fire, Ron Moxom, must feel like Don Quixote chasing the PoP windmills.

Pairings for our weekly games come via email (which for me is a challenge because at the condo I only have dial-up which I’ve not used or my telephone’s browser which is cumbersome or free Wi-Fi at the library which means a car trip to check the junk mail and spam…but I digress). So far, the pairings have included words of encouragement from Ron about keeping the pace of play reasonable. They’re targeting 4 hours 30 minutes which should not be a problem because we’re playing with 10 minute intervals between groups and there are starter times also figured into the tee sheet.

The problem? For many here, it’s the grey matter between the ears and I’m no exception. At 8500 feet, a golf ball carries a full 2 clubs longer than at sea level so the temptation to ‘bomb and gouge’ is enormous. Now, that’s not bad back at the ranch – you miss a fairway, no big deal. The first cut at the ranch is about 15 yards wide and not punitive at all. The second cut includes what we refer to as ‘native’ and it’s a bit longer than the first cut but you really don’t have much of a problem finding balls after wayward shots.

But, this isn’t the ranch. The fairways are narrow, the rough is punitive, and if you miss the first cut, you’ll find yourself in grasses and reeds deeper than knee length. There are also streams that meander the entire course and all are in play. Plus, you have the elevation changes that create distance problems. So, if you’re playing in a group of bogey golfers, each player is likely to loose at least one ball. If each player took the allowed 5 minutes to find their ball, that would mean a cumulative 20 minutes added to the time it’d take to play 18. Now, if no one else is on the course, no big deal. But, as they like to say here, every day in Angel Fire is like a holiday and that means lots of golfers and lots of pressure on the tee sheet. Unfortunately, not all groups lose balls at the same time and that causes the PoP to spread groups on the course unevenly and, likewise, increase the time it takes to navigate the challenges of 18 holes.

But, here in Angel Fire, we also have the diversion of incredible scenery. So, play smart and if things do slow down, soak up the wonderfulness that Mother Nature has provided.

Heavyweight Spring Maintenance

The cooler early spring weather is behind us here at the 'ranch' and with that, it's time to kick into some heavyweight spring time maintenance.

Last week, our 'super' aerated the greens complex. The temperatures have held and the greens are starting some vigorous growth. In the next several days, we won't even be able to tell that they'd been aerated.

As last year, we're also getting the fairways 'punched'. But, unlike last year, the ground is much softer due to the cooler and wetter spring. The aerator is getting anywhere between a 9 and 12 inch punch. This will really help reduce compaction and we should expect positive results through the entire season. The plan is to have it done once more when our turf begins to go dormant late this fall.

The best part is that play has not been suspended and the job leaves only neat manicured holes in the ground.

The down side (today) is that we've got gusts to 45mph - no golf for me. That's just not fun!

By the way, many thanks to our benefactors in AZ at Robson - they've bent over backwards to help us keep ahead of the maintenance curve. For those of you that might be local to the DFW Metroplex, you can find the 'ranch' on GolfNow.com - look at courses in the Dallas area and select Robson Ranch. Or, if you'd prefer, ping me via a comment on the blog and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Keep it in the short grass.

Charity Golf

I played in a charity golf tournament yesterday - you know the format; 4 man scramble. Winner's carded a 59 and that was after 6 random holes ( 3 on the front and 3 on the back) that were declared pars regardless of what the score actually was. That meant they had to have a couple of eagles in the mix. Played at Tour 18 Dallas and the course was in pretty good shape. A direct result of cooler, wet weather.

The tournament benefited RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) of Denton. They had a great turnout and 'the ranch' is a big supporter and sponsor.

Too bad the round took 6 hours - ugh!

Something's Working

Just after the first of the year, I wrote about a 'Winter Golf Project'. I must say that I had some reservations about announcing to anyone that could read I was ready to tackle a 3 pronged project to improve my golf game. Part one was to get fitted with custom clubs, part two was to address the physical part of the game, and part three was all about what's in the 5 inch space between my ears.

It's time for a progress update.

As for custom clubs - I'm having something of a quandary here. My drivers have been in 'time out' for about 6 weeks. I've been using an old stock Callaway Hawkeye VFT 3 wood for tee shots and I must say that I'm pleased with the results. Distance wise, I'm averaging about 265 and easily hitting 80% of the fairways. Yesterday, one tee shot came to rest 296 yards down range - a slight miss to the right but only 40 yards to the pin.

Fitness wise, I'm stretching and walking. I've noticed that I don't tire after 15 or 16 holes. That's a good thing - it makes focusing much easier.

As for the mind thing....I'm still trying to find something positive to take away when playing in the Texas wind. I'll keep working on that.

Yesterday was a relatively calm day, not a lot of sunshine, and the temperature was in the high 60's. Had my career best on the back 9 yesterday - 35. Three birdies and two bogies. If I happen to bump into you, I'll tell you all about it. Actually, I'm telling anyone that will listen - for me, it was pretty special.

Keep it in the short grass.