The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Author: golfchick (page 5 of 46)

Golf Goal – Breaking 80 Update – Demons and Angels

June 20, 2011 / / 3 Comments

I first met my new swing coach, Jay Lim, a week ago yesterday. I have have been practicing my new swing dutifully since then, with mixed results. I was told it will get worse before it gets better and that certainly has proven true so far. However, yesterday I tweeted this to him from the range: “Hey coach! Last week my 7iron was my 135 club. Now it seems to be my 155! (c: This is so fun! @jaylimgolf” Yes, it seems I have picked up an extra 20 yards with my new swing. That is, when I hit it.  It’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows, unicorns and glitter.

So far I have had one beautiful day when something clicked and I was executing every shot well, striking the ball like never before and drove home with tears of joy in my eyes. It was magical. That was two days ago. Yesterday I had some of that and noticed the gain in yardage but then something unraveled and I could no longer make good contact.

My practice sessions have been quite up and down like that. I have had terribly frustrating days when I think I’m never going to get it and just feel like crying. Those are the times I really have to be mentally strong in this process. I have to stick with the commitment to this swing and not give in to the temptation of reverting to my old one just to make some decent contact and assure myself (and anyone watching) that I can.

Jay and I are still working out how best to approach this long distance method. Well, he knows how he wants me to do it – he’s a professional. I’m making things difficult – I’m somewhat professional at that. His process and manual takes 13 weeks. Granted, not starting completely from scratch so that can probably be accelerated a bit, but when I called Jay in my frustrated misery he said I shouldn’t even really be swinging yet and told me to stop. Of course I hadn’t been following his instructions because I wanted my swing to be at least somewhat course-ready by Monday – yes, tomorrow. My friend Peacha (you may remember me mentioning her in Mesquite) belongs to a country club in Burbank and invited me out to play there and I couldn’t say no. I may literally tear up the course with my swing the way it is but I will definitely be out there. And my old swing – Stella – will NOT be making an appearance no matter how ugly it gets.

It just may end up with us like this… again.

Anyway, after tomorrow I’ll be able to crack down and do things more the “proper” way according to Jay. Not exactly, I’m sure, because I’m a rebel like that, but I do trust him and want to succeed so I won’t be foolish about it.

Also, people are asking what I am changing – specifically – and of course I will get into that. Plenty of information to come! Meanwhile, just know I’m already sore in new and exciting places, and the hard work has only just begun. And now that the US Open is over and I have been extremely inspired by Rory McIlroy, I’m off to the range for tonight’s practice session. Hoping it’s a good tune up for tomorrow’s round!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially the best one I know – my daddy. (c:

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Golf Goal Update: Meet My New Swing Coach

June 17, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I need to get better at golf. It’s not just a desire anymore. Now that I have really set my mind on breaking 80, it’s not just something I want. Failure is not only not an option, it is not a possibility.

With my swing the way it was, I could probably do it in about… 40 years. Like my new swing coach says – “you see all those old people just hitting it up the middle with their steady, reliable swings? It took them that long to get that way.” I am not that patient. Therefore, I am re-developing my swing from the ground up… and this time, I have enlisted some help.

Jay Lim golf swing

Introducing my new swing coach: Jay Lim. That’s his sweet swing finish pose pictured above taken when I first met with him this past Saturday. Why did I choose Jay? Well, as some of you may know, I am also a firearms enthusiast (my alter ego is The Gun Chick). I first “discovered” Jay when I saw him a couple months ago on the television show “Top Shot” on the History Channel, and that is not a reference to golf shots. Jay was one of the contestants on the show and I was intrigued when they said he was a golf instructor so I had to look him up. Jay’s bio caught my attention even more: “I’m not just a shooter, I’m an athlete. I’m a thinker. I’m all that. Whatever I think–I can get my body to do.” Those words spoke to me because I share a version of that mentality. The power of the brain is awesome and if we harness it, we can do anything. I am going to break 80. Soon. With Jay’s help. He is not your traditional teaching pro and I am not your traditional golf learner. Jay is not just giving me a new swing – he is teaching me his guaranteed METHOD. An actual system. His book is a manual – a process. I love that. Hell, I WRITE manuals. That’s how I think. Boil it down, brother. It’s all about repeatability.

Jay is a golf instructor in Orange County and I’m in Ventura County, so it’s not a perfect match and we’re still working out how we are going to get this done. It will be different than what he’s used to not just because of the distance and remote factor, but because of who I am and how I’ll apply the system. I will share what I learn with you – what works for me and what doesn’t, and definitely keep you informed on my progress. I intend to share lots of photos and videos along the way.

So I hope you’ll stay tuned. More to come. Much more to come.

Next post.

Mesquite Amateur 2011 / Golf Chick Wrap Up Part 2

June 13, 2011 / / 1 Comment

… Okay so where was I? Oh yes, after the night of the first Mesquite Amateur theme party, sound asleep in my room at the Casablanca, dreaming about a stellar round. In case you missed it, here is part one of the Mesquite Am wrap up. And now for another epic blog post.

Such a round did not materialize for me. Although we played the same course (Oasis Canyons) as I did during my practice round, it looked and felt entirely different. When I looked at the card and saw the red tees at 4739 yards and the golds at 5335, I assumed we would play the golds. My bad. The reds just did not suit my eye or my game. My visualization certainly didn’t involve hitting 5 iron off so many tees. I was all screwed up and I lost confidence throughout the day in all my clubs. After the round, I worked that out on the range, hitting another 100 balls while the rest of the ladies were eating, drinking and socializing.

Oh by the way – I neglected to get a photo with my playing partners Garnette and Susan that first day (although I did put Garnette’s shoes up on Facebook for the Golfchick’s best shoe contest). And while I don’t seem to have any pics of me in my golf attire that day, I did snap a close up of my top because it’s a cool Golf Chick logo shirt I wanted to share with you.

It’s not meant to be a pervy boob shot, I just wanted to make sure to get the lime green piping, the TGC logo with the bling around it and the swoosh on the button placket. I think it’s a very cute top!

Back in my room, I relaxed a bit, tweeted some more and started the shoe contest on Facebook. Throughout the week, people would take photos of great golf shoes they saw during their rounds and post them to The Golf Chick Facebook page. My favorite men’s and women’s shoe submissions would win a Daphne’s Head Cover for the person who submitted them – not necessarily the person wearing them. It was quite fun.

That night at the tent party, I was supposed to address the golfers about The Golf Chick group and giveaway some prizes but I got bumped for time. They did invite me up to make a brief announcement to the group that I would be doing the prize giveaway over by the pool after the dinner. Trouble with that is, people had plans and got lured by the casinos so we only had about 45 people show up. Oh well, more prize opps for them! That night I gave away a Callaway Golf GPS to one lucky winner and $250 in gift cards good at all the pro shops in Mesquite, so we had a lot of happy people. Plus we got to mingle a bit more with one antoher!

A quick shout out to my fellow Mesquite Amateur sponsors (shown on the screen in the pic): The presenting sponsor, Golf Mesquite Nevada, The City of Mesquite, NV, and The Mesquite Resort Association.

And oh yeah… the long drive competitions were held on the first day and they presented those awards that night. When we approached my drive on the marked hole, we were excited to see that I got to move the marker and put my name on it. There weren’t too many groups behind us so I hoped it would hold up but you never know. Incidentally, remember Jana from the Callaway demo day long drive in my last post? Her name was on the marker for her flight … about 30 yards in front of mine. At least we’re consistent. Next year I’m going to have a new swing and I will be hitting a lot further than this 200 yard crap so she better watch out.

Cuttin’ a Rug with the Canucks

After the prize giveaway, we turned loose on the casinos and lounges. I wanted to mingle with more people than a blackjack table would allow so I opted for the main lounge at the Casablanca. I arrived with a couple friends and there were several tables of golfers scattered around. I noticed a couple guys with some crazy fun energy and went and joined them at their table for a little while. Neil and Paul are brothers from Canada and they were a lot of fun. I brought them back to the table with my friends Rich and Bill. Before we knew it, all the golfers were sitting together and having a rollicking good time. Neil and I went out on the empty dance floor, where he then knelt down, removed my shoes and tossed them aside to the applause of the crowd. That was just the start of the dancing!

Tourney Day 2

On Wednesday, we played The Palms course, which is the oldest course in Mesquite and the site of my alltime record round of 82, which I shot there last year during the Mesquite Am. I had hoped for some more of that magic. Alas, it wasn’t to be. I shot the exact same score as the day before (101) which I figured would put me somewhere near the middle of the pack. Not good enough. However, it was a fun day with my playing partners. I rode with “Badass Vicki,” who is always up on stage when they need volunteers for entertainment or on the video reel doing something crazy. You can’t miss her and if you’ve been to a Mesquite Am you probably know who she is. In the other cart were Roxanne and Kathy, two terrific ladies. Incidentally, I played The Palms with Kathy last year when I shot my record round. This year, it was her turn. How awesome is that? In the pic Left to Right – Vicki, me, Roxanne, Kathy. Every one of us landed that green you see across the ravine. Sure it’s a big green but that’s a daunting carry in person. No birdies were made but two of us, including me, made par.

After the round, I did a little shopping at the Palms pro shop to spend my winnings from the long drive and got a really cute skort.  *Side note: That morning before the round I spent one of my certificates on a couple gloves since I left mine out on my bag in the hot car and it got all hard and gross.  This is exactly why I don’t leave my golf shoes in the car. If you don’t know this, hear me now. The heat and sun will remove the luster and shorten the lives of your leather goods including your awesome shoes.

Looks like I also paused in the pro shop to look at some shoes on my Facebook page and maybe tweet a little. Someone busted me and posted this pic of me tweeting on my own Facebook page. Thanks, Dana – you sneaky girl!

Cigars Under the Stars

That night at the tent party, volunteers (yup, including Badass Vicki – she is called that for her coffee company) took to the stage and entertained us with antics called out by the emcees. Pretty funny stuff.

I got up on stage and gave my Golf Chick spiel, shouted out my peeps and I think I gave away a prize or two. Then we headed over to the pool for the ever popular “Cigars Under the Stars” after-event. As a new non-smoker, this wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. Although I wouldn’t have inhaled, I refrained from smoking a cigar because I thought just the motion could undermine all my mental work. I do believe I caved in and chewed a straw or two, though! Hmm… I can’t be sure, but that looks like Neil (nutty canuck) might be getting a bit frisky with Ryan (loudmouth dude) there on the ground (front left). Cheeky! Well, the single malt had been flowing! And yes – more dancing ensued.

Last Day of Tournament

Since I hadn’t played well the first two days and didn’t have much chance of getting into the money, I made up my mind to relax, drink, take pictures and not care so much about the golf for our round at Casablanca Golf Club. I also figured that might even help my game. I had fun playing with Brittany, who was a hot little number from Florida and a great sport. She wore a super short skirt (pictured at right) just for my twitter followers. She was also super chill and a cool chick. I’m sure we’d hang out and play golf if we lived near each other. I started the day with a bloody mary but moved on to rum soon after that. I was actually having a decent round but didn’t know it. Brittany mentioned it to me on the last hole, so I proceeded to take an 11 there. Let’s just say it involved water and someone’s backyard and that my “good shot” on the entire hole went in the greenside bunker. With that 11, I shot 96. Thanks a lot, Brittany. I thought you were cool. Heh. My scored landed me smack in the middle of my flight for the tournament. Much better than last year’s DFL, but still disappointing. I like to play well and I like to make sure my peeps have a good time. I’m going to be working towards doing better in both areas for next year. And if you have any suggestions, please let me know what you’d like to see to make The Golf Chick portion of the event better for you!

This swing yielded me a green in regulation and I two putted for my par.

Final night’s festivities!

Back in the tent for the dinner party, all the flight winners were announced. I was happy to see so many of the Golf Chick participants in the money and some even moved onto the championship round the next day! Huge congratulations to Dana Boyette, who was the 1st runner up for low net overall! She was also the most active Golf Chick player in the shoe contest and on FB in general (she’s the one who snapped a pic of me tweeting!) and won herself a prize for all that activity. Thanks for being so fun, Dana, and well done! Those of us not in the championship round did, of course, find the dance floor yet again.

Congrats as well to Jim and Lepha Luttrall, who both won their flights as well as the Golf Chick Couples prize, which was this fabulous golf cart cover generously contributed by Golf Shield! Thanks very much to them. They currently have a buy one get one free promotion going on so if you’re interested you might want to check it out sooner than later!

You can see everyone’s final scores and all the Mesquite Am results on their website here, then clicking “event info” and “event results 2011.”

Also a big thanks to Daphne’s Headcovers and Crystal Golf for donating such great prizes for the Golf Chick participants! Daphne’s makes the most adorable headcovers I’ve ever seen – but none better than this custom job.  Crystal Golf makes colorful and fun golf balls with 70 compression for the real player, not just a novelty! My favorites are the peach and the ladybug balls.

Some more winnahs!

Big thanks to everyone who participated with The Golf Chick group of players at the 2011 Mesquite Amateur! I had a great time getting to know you and wish I could have spent more time with you all. I hope to see you all back for more fun next year, with more crazy side-prizes, good times, great giveaways and wonderful company, and bring some friends! Meanwhile… may they all roll true!

Hugs! Kristen

Next post.

Mesquite Amateur 2011 / Golf Chick Wrap Up Part 1

June 9, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I had been eagerly anticipating the 2011 Mesquite Amateur golf tournament since the last day of the 2010 Mesquite Am. This year, as one of the sponsors of the event rather than just a player or media participant, I was actively involved in promoting the tournament and wound up with 69 people signed up to play with the Golf Chick group, plus the 13 guests of theirs who came along for the alternate daily activities and prime time parties. I could not have been more excited when the day finally rolled around for me to go and meet them all! Mesquite rocks and this is a long-ass post. And it’s only volume one. Don’t worry, I’m including bold type, italics and pictures for the children busy people.

Almost There!

My drive on Sunday from Southern California to Mesquite NV was physically uneventful but mentally strenuous as I prepared for my dual roles of hostess and competitor. I thought I was pretty well prepared for the former and concentrated primarily on getting in an aggressive mindset to conquer the field in golf. After all, I packed a championship round outfit and everything for Friday! My mind kept wandering to tasks I would need to accomplish onsite to ensure good times for my Golfchick peeps then would snap back to visualizing familiar golf holes, great golf shots, and beautiful putts. It was a roller coaster that had me fairly exhausted by the time I arrived that afternoon. I handed off the GolfChick swag and prizes to the tournament director and met back up with my personal items in my room where I proceeded to unpack my substantially overpacked bags (that happens when one drives), have a couple cocktails and plan my golf outfits for the week. Why do I bother that last part – I change my mind every morning anyway. I went down to the casino and played some blackjack where I ran into a media friend from previous trips here – Mike. We both walked away from the tables ahead that night. Things were looking positive.

When I got back to my room I got a text from none other than Tony – of Hooked On Golf Blog (HOG) and The Golf Space – someone I’ve “known” since practically the inception of this golf blog back when it was still on blogger (about 6 years ago) but had never met in person! He said he had just arrived so I spun around and went back down to the lobby where he said he was. We had a long overdue hug and headed to the lounge where we fell into a natural conversation like we’d been hanging out in person all these years. Relaxed and authentic, Tony is a great guy and someone I consider a true friend.

I think I got to sleep before midnight, and I know I woke up at 2:15, never to get back to sleep that night. My mind just would not shut down. I kept thinking of golf shots and trying to let the smooth tempo of my imaginary swing lull me to sleep like a metronome – to no avail.

Memorial Day Practice Round

The Mesquite Am occurs the week of Memorial Day. Monday isn’t an actual tournament day, but the day everyone registers and either just arrives, plays a practice round or participates in the organized skins game. I haven’t done the skins game yet but plan to next year (Hi George)! For the last three years my routine has been to dress in a red, white and blue golf outfit and hit one of the courses for a leisurely practice round and this year was no different. I planned to play with an up and coming LPGA hopeful but she flaked on me got a flat tire (kidding, KyLee!), and the twosome they paired with us also didn’t show.  I called Mike from the night before and he met me on the back nine. It was a nice round overall at the Oasis Canyons course. I’m a flaming patriot and thought of all the sacrifices of our troops and their families many times throughout the day. I also honored another kind of hero we recently lost – Seve Ballesteros – with my choice of the navy blue golf top. As you can see from the photo, I’m so patriotic I went for the lady liberty look with my hair. No, those aren’t just unplanned flyaways. Really.

Each year I go to Mesquite I mention to someone in charge how nice it would be to see US flags on the flagsticks like I see at home on other patriotic holidays. Kind of disappointed. Hear me, Mesquite?

Registration hadn’t opened before I left for my round so I headed over there directly when I was finished playing. The place was packed with golfers just coming back from their respective rounds to check in. The Golf Chick table looked awesome with all my swag giveaway goodies and prizes on display.  I met a few of my peeps and chatted with the volunteers who were running it. These people are amazing all week long. Always smiling, always helpful and always ALWAYS just happy to be there. I hear there is a waiting list to be a Mesquite Am volunteer. Incredible job they do! Here is the Golf Chick Mesquite Am 2011 swag bag and its contents:

Golf Chick Mesquite Am swag bag

And some close-ups of the smaller items…

The magnetic ball-marker “chicky charm” necklace! These were SUCH a hit! These were originally Inspired by Putterflys but took on a life of their own. When you remove the magnetic ball marker, the smashed bottlecap backing also displays the adorable (if I do say so myself) Golf Chick logo so you’re not bare while you putt! I have had a lot of people express interest in these so you may see them for sale here soon. Let me know if you’re interested in these, the hats or anything other Golf Chick logo merchandise in the comments section!

Many thanks to Bella Luna Foods for providing the gorgeous bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to all the Golf Chick participants. A very generous donation that was well received and appreciated! You can also like them on facebook here.

And here is the bag tag – front and back. This is a blank, but Golf Chick registrants had their names pre-printed instead of the blank line there.

Next year I think I have to find a way to play a practice round and still be at the registration table the whole time to meet everyone when they first check in. I felt like I missed out on getting to know so many awesome people!

After registration, I headed over to catch the end of Demo Day at Casablanca Golf Club. I ran into some friends from previous years there and met some fun new peeps. I competed in and lost the long drive at the Callaway booth to Mesquite local, Janna, the obvious front runner from the start. She beat me by 30 yards (keep that in mind for the next Mesquite post if you can). I snapped this shot of some fun boys in Loudmouth Golf shorts only to find out later that they were Golf Chick players – they totally busted me for tweeting that pic when they saw me later at the casino. Fun guys!

After a quick shower, change and compulsory (and compulsive) facebook session, I headed over to the big tent in the parking lot for the welcome dinner… the first prime time party of the week where all the golfers get together for the first time for a themed dinner. The Golf Chick Group had reserved seating, taking up half of the front row tables. I met some great folks that night from my awesome group of peeps (what else do you call golf chick people? Hah!) I also had the pleasure of finally meeting Patricia Hannigan of Golf Girl’s Diary – a blog about the fun, fashionable side of golf. She was super sweet and I was impressed to see her there to compete in this event since her reputation has been more as an advocate for social golf, pro tour appreciation, and social media than for keeping score, let alone competitive playing. Sadly, we didn’t get to talk long before I was swept away. I saw her again later … but you’ll have to stay tuned for the next post for that!

After some more socializing and meeting peeps, I headed to my room for a relatively early night considering my lack of sleep the night before. I organized myself for the next night’s Golf Chick duties and went to sleep visualizing my best round ever. Same course I played today. Could almost see every ideal shot. Let the games begin. After I sleep…

To be continued…

Next post (Part 2)

Get a Grip, Woman. A Golf Grip!

May 27, 2011 / / 9 Comments

My game needs some fixing and I’m working on that, as you will read more about if you keep coming back.

However, I think I figured something out that may be correctable with equipment which excites me more than it probably should. A couple weeks ago I shared the following picture of myself on facebook and twitter from a round I played that day which showed an embarrassing look at my swing and grip. (Side note: I also realized how enlightening it is to look at my swing! Video is the logical next step to this analytical process, but that’s for another post and another time.)

My question at the time of posting this totally ignored the chicken wing, which I addressed with another pic and instead focused on my insane hands. What the hell are they doing?

Last week I lost my 56 degree wedge and was trying to figure out whether I should replace it with my old, dinged up wedge or the brand new off-brand wedge I had sitting around. I took both to the range to decide. The brand new club’s brand new grip was sharp and it made me realize how worn all the grips are on the rest of my clubs. Then I started realizing how my hands were slipping when I used them, especially the hand without the glove! Then I remembered this pic and took a closer look:

My left hand seems to have slipped a bit, but my right hand has totally lost its hold. No, that is not how I grip the club! After I realized how slick my grips were I started paying more attention to where my hands ended up in the finish pose and it was not pretty. My driver is relatively new and has a sharper, tackier grip and the same does not happen with it, nor with the new wedge.  Conclusion: I need new grips.

Now, my next competitive event is next week in Mesquite as you may know. Obviously I’m running out of time to get things done before I leave for that trip. I’d like to shop around for awhile and re-grip my clubs myself and blog all about it for you but I’d rather have them done in time for the event just in case it makes a difference. So I may just take the recommendations I got and have my local shop do it for me all lickety-split like.  **Mitochondrial DNA. No, there is no good reason for me to type “mitochondrial DNA” right now but the phrase popped into my head and out of my mouth and if you were here right now you would have heard me say it so I thought I’d share.  Gary Busey moment. Now where was I?**

You can definitely see the difference in wear in the photos of the two grips below. If I end up not being able to get this done in time, maybe I’ll have to try the Tommy “Two-Glove” Gainey technique for the interim!  Don’t worry, you know I’ll let you know. (c: Have a great weekend everyone!

Update!: I went down to the local club shack and cashed in a gift certificate and got all my irons and my hybrid re-gripped with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips (pics on Facebook). They look and feel awesome and I hope to test them out tomorrow morning.  My 5-wood and 3-wood grips had to be ordered in so they’re going to Mesquite as they are. The clubs are so old nobody stocks the grips around here. Really wish I could have at least gotten my 3 wood done since we play the forward tees in the women’s division at the Am, but I’ll just have to hold on tighter!

Next post.

All Set for the Mesquite Amateur!

May 23, 2011 / / 8 Comments

Registration is closed and the numbers are in for the Mesquite Amateur golf tournament! Less than a week from today, 550 golfers and their guests will descend upon Mesquite Nevada for the 9th annual Mesquite Am!

Mesquite Am tent event

I’m told that’s more than we had last year (picture above from one of the nightly dinner event parties from the 2010 Mesquite Am).

So how many are participating in The Golf Chick tournament-within-the-tournament? Lucky number 69. Yes, 69 golfers (plus their guests) are going to have just a BIT more fun than the other 481 players. Haha.  Monday night in the tent, we will have reserved seating for our group (82 people) so we can meet, greet and mingle. We will also be selecting the lucky winner from the golfers to receive a Golf range finder! All the golf chick players will be receiving some bonus swag as well. Plus, we have some fabulous gifts to give away as prizes for certain accomplishments throughout the week as well as actual golf score results for just our group. (Follow along with me on Facebook and Twitter to participate in – and help decide – who wins and what for! You can also chime in to me in person in Mesquite but I’ll probably ask you to make it official on FB to make it easier to track.)

There are plenty of things going on for non-golfing guests to do as well, which you can see here.

It’s going to be a fabulously fun week and I can’t wait to see you all there! Luckily, I don’t have to wait long. Are you ready??? Some of you may know about how I came in DFL last year (in fabulous fashion, I might add). How mad will everyone be when I win it all this go around? I hope to find out!

Next post.

More Kikkor Golf Kicks in My Shoe Collection

May 21, 2011 / / 5 Comments

Back in February, I wrote this post about my first pair of Kikkor Golf shoes. Since then, I got another box of awesomeness – this time, the “Tenny Clayburn.” They were my first choice but I went with the white ones first thinking they would go with more outfits. I’m finding I actually wear the gray Clayburns more. When you like a shoe this much, you can work your outfits around it!

Kikkor Tenny Clayburn

These shoes feel even cooler than they look. They are amazingly comfortable! If I could stop looking at them I might forget I was wearing shoes at all. However, they’re also quite stabilizing. They make me feel secure when addressing the ball and give me confidence in my golf shots. I wasn’t sure that would be the case when I first saw the spikes, but they do their job well!

Here is another close-up of the rockin style I love.

Kikkor Tenny Clayburn

And here they are in action on the course:

kikkor golf tenny clayburn

If you like their styles, I highly recommend picking up some awesome Kikkor golf kicks for yourself!

Next post.

A Renewed Golf Mission and Goals

May 18, 2011 / / 7 Comments

When I first started this blog back in June 2005, about 10 months after I first picked up a golf club, Bush was in the first year of his second term, it had been two years since he declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq, I was blissfully immersed in my new golf obsession, and I already had my two holes-in-one under my belt. I was working as a sales trainer, traveling the country delivering lessons in between golf rounds wherever I could squeeze them in. I took my clubs everywhere and played whenever, wherever I could. I didn’t really practice because I just wouldn’t make the time.

I had already joined my club – I’m still a member – which calls itself coed  (we finally added our second female member this year) and plays a different golf course one Saturday a month. In between work trips, there wasn’t time to do much besides laundry, re-pack and spend some time with my then dog and then boyfriend before heading back to the airport. Somehow I managed to improve my golf game at a rate sufficient to keep ahead of my handicap index and keep winning our club events. Much to the chagrin of all the seasoned male players, I even won our club championship my first year out and went on to represent our club at the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions and – much to their delight – won that, too.  My handicap improved a bit more but the lowest it ever got was 14.2.

While all that was going on, I managed to get more blogging done in a week than I do in a month now… sometimes longer. Six years later, I’m back up over 20 and can’t win anything but a gambling match between friends.  Life has a way of getting in the way. I’ve poured my bi-polar heart out on here in more than one inappropriate and off-topic post so my excuses are available if you care to dig them up. But now… I’m going to declare myself officially BACK -on track and on golf topics primarily.

I’m so amazed and humbled by the readers who have stuck around all this time and I’d love for you all to be involved in holding me to this. So I’m going to state some goals so that you can follow along and keep me accountable if you’d be so kind.

Golf Performance Goal

First, my record round is 82, and I have only had a few rounds in the 80s at all, but, like so many golfers, my next score-related goal is to break 80. Along the way I’ll need to break 90 a lot more, of course. I plan to accomplish this with a lot more practice. Yes, practice. I still chomp at the bit to get out on the course whenever possible but I’ve also come to appreciate practice a lot more. I also have some specific plans for that practice and some coaching help which I will tell you all about in a post coming to your screen very soon. One specific goal is to fix the chicken wing you see in my swing in the photo below.

Blogging & Sharing Goals – I need your help

If you’re already familiar with this blog and my writing style, I hope you’ll expect that my documentation of this process will be anything but dry and strictly technical. I’m still me. I will share any tips I think are helping that may help people in similar situations but we all know I’m no pro. My goal is to deliver such a post at least once a week. In addition to that I intend to write another post about some other golf topic once a week.  Martini blogging can never be ruled out so if you think I’ve strayed too far off topic, let me know and I’ll owe you another post. Please feel free to participate in the comments with your thoughts, encouragement, tips, etc. And if I don’t live up to my two post a week promise, crack the whip!

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Skirt Golf Raising Money for Charity – Please Help

April 14, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Breast cancer awareness and research is a cause that’s close to my heart. Yes, literally. (c: And close to my family. My lovely and brilliant mother is my favorite survivor. Charity events may seem saturated with pink ribbons, but this disease still effects so many women and families and still hasn’t been cured!

Now, a group of guys over in the UK are getting together at Astbury Hall, a Troon Golf facility in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, to don skirts and play 18 holes in the name of this excellent cause this Sunday, April 17th. Jonathan Gidney, a European Tour Pro, is the organizer of this event (and a participant). The guys are great sports and looking forward to playing golf in skirts for this wonderful cause. They banter about on twitter and have great fun. You can follow along there under the hashtag #skirtgolf as they will be live tweeting from the event with pics & vids. Should be good fun, or as Jon says on twitter: #goodtimes. And ladies… did I mention these are some sexy dudes? In addition to the comedy, there should be some nice eye candy while watching them play in skirts! They tee off at 9:20 AM local time. Yep, that’s 1:20 AM Pacific time. I plan to have a nap and get up in the middle of the night to follow along. Who am I kidding? I may not get that nap in.

Here are some of the twitter handles for the players: @JGidney, @millichampios, @DownDaMiddleDan, @nirmski, @barrybethell, @stu1hemming, … You may want to follow them all on twitter in case they forget to include the #skirtgolf hashtag in any of their tweets! Plus, they’re fun to follow anyway. I do from @TheGolfChick of course!

Please contribute to this cause by donating on Jon’s “Just Giving” page here. By the way, Stu Millichamp (@millichampios) is feeling extra generous and has decided to match any donations that are made before the event starts! How awesome is that? So get over there and donate now! (Skirtgolf image from Jonathan Gidney’s Just Giving site.)

If you don’t happen to be on twitter or miss any of the action, I will post a follow-up here with pics, and I’m sure there will be plenty up on the donation page as well and probably a few facebook pages. I’ll let you know!

Again, please contribute and keep spreading the word about breast cancer awareness. May they all roll true!

Update: Here is the “official” music video from the Skirt Golf event. Yes, it’s a custom song. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1-v72h-ZDA

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Mesquite Am Golf Chick Early Bird Winner Announcement

April 5, 2011 / / 5 Comments

We have a winner! All Mesquite Am participants who registered by March 31 (the early bird deadline) using the golf chick code were entered into a drawing to win their hotel stay free.  And the winner is…

Rob Kaczur from Surrey, British Columbia.

Congratulations, Rob! You will be receiving a certificate from the resort. I look forward to meeting you in Mesquite! Thanks to all who signed up early and played!

It’s not too late! We have a nice group of people registered with the golf chick and they’re still coming in. It’s not too late to get in on all the fun! Plus, the Mesquite Am extended the lower early bird rate through April 15th! They also announced that the nightly dinner parties, which are always themed, will be based on the majors of Men’s professional golf (plus the Mesquite Championship). That should make for some fun decorations, games, prizes and more. If you still haven’t registered, you may do so here. And don’t forget to enter “golf chick” as your promo code for the bonus fun!

By the way, The Golf Chick is not officially associated with the “Doing it in the Desert” Monday skins game, which is run by George Salcedo. Haven’t decided if I’m playing in that or not, but I usually just play a casual round at another course not on my rotation, since there are so many great courses around there.

However, I will be at Cigars Under the Stars on Wednesday night, June 1st, poolside at Casablanca. Will you? (If so, let them know in a comment in the blog linked here to make sure they have enough cigars!)

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