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The Golfchick
That chick blabbing about anything golf related.
Tag: robbie biershenk (page 30 of 32)
In an old post comment I was asked the following questions:
Anonymous said…
I read that you played Ko’loa??? in Hawaii, how did you like it and from the all couses that you have played what was your favorite and which was the hardest.
Since that’s an ongoing and updated post, I want to keep it relatively “clean” so I thought I’d post my response here. Besides, I’ve been meaning to comment on some of the courses I’ve played so here’s my first installment along those lines:
Ko’olau was one of my top two for scenery, the other being Luana Hills. I guess I like the jungle courses. In fact, there’s a photo from Ko’olau under my post “Reason #2.” They were both really difficult, but Ko’olau claims to be the “toughest in the nation.”
I played Ko’olau twice, once from the red tees after having played golf for only a couple months and shot a 108. I lost only two balls on this course where they say to bring as many balls as your handicap. Then I played again several months later from the whites and shot a 123. I lost a bunch to all the double carries but the other difference was my putting. I think I lost about nine balls that time. It would have been more, but they have a “special” rule that allows one to drop on the other side of the hazards in the drop area because of the difficulty of the course (they want people to come back). I would like it better if they allowed carts on the fairways. It’s too hot and muggy and hilly for permanent cart path only.
The other Hawaii courses I really liked were Turtle Bay Arnold Palmer and Makaha West.
As for around the CA area where I live, there are a bunch of nice ones. Glen Annie is definitely one of my favorites and I’m sure it’ll get its own post eventually. Monarch Beach is the most overrated, and I really like the way the ball goes clangety clang in the metal cups at Malibu Country Club.
I have mentioned my calculator/spreadsheet a few times now. Here is its latest entry:
| 18 Holes | Date | Tees | Course Rating | Slope |
| Par | Score | Over Par | Adj Score | Index | CH | Net | Target | PTH? |
It’s a record I keep of all my rounds since I started. I enter in the course information (rating, slope and par), my handicap index that day (it changes almost daily), and my score. The rest of the columns have formulas and calculate for me how many strokes over par I was, what my actual course handicap was, my net score, my target score for the course handicap and how many strokes I played over or under my handicap. It rounds the number off for the display, but my “PTH” (played to handicap) number for the example shown above is actually 0.196460176991152. It would show it in red and with a – sign if it was under my handicap.
To me, this is an indicator of the progress I’m making over time. Of course, statistics are so malleable. If I could measure my competitive spirit that day or my level of focus during tournament rounds, or have it factor in columns for stress levels, distractions or even number of drinks consumed, I might have a more accurate and helpful tool. It might not be a good indicator of anything, but at least I find it interesting.
I’d like to post the actual calculator template so people could copy it if they wanted but I haven’t figured out a way to do that on blogger. I doubt the excerpt above will view correctly on all systems, either, but you get the idea.
Forgive me, blog, for I have sinned.
Yesterday at Elkins Ranch, I bogey’d the ninth hole… just with putts. That’s right. I five-putted. I put one in the water and the next one in a bunker so it took me four just to get on the green and then I five putted for a nine. I had to adjust that down to an 8 to post a 99, which means I didn’t even break 100 from the red tees before the adjustment. Disgraceful.
I’m gonna get that hole next time!!!
Oh, I just entered the score in my spreadsheet/calculator and it turns out that my unadjusted score (100) played exactly to my handicap on this course. Still, it felt terrible and I want to get better every time I play!
Why didn’t I golf last weekend? Drag Racing!
So, this post is off topic, but it at least attempts to explain my lapse in golf that left me jones-ing and feeling guilty.
Greg’s dad drives a Nostalgia Eliminator class dragster, and Greg is on the crew.
Here is Greg working on the car in between passes. I hope he doesn’t
mind having his photo here. He doesn’t read this so if we don’t tell him, he won’t know!
So we spent some long days out in
Here’s an explanation of the NE class.
After narrowly qualifying, he ran his first perfect 7.60 ever and moved onto the next round. Unfortunately, he lost the next round even though his ET was shorter, I guess he was slower of the tree. Rats! I think he ran a 7.61, which ought to win!
Here’s a shot of the car in the staging lanes.
I might have time to play a round when I’m in Grand Rapids, MI the week after next. If anyone has a course to recommend or one they’d like to see mentioned and somewhat reviewed here, let me know!
I walked onto a course called A.H. Blank around 4:00 P.M. It wasn’t very busy, but there were only foursomes on the schedule so I went out by myself. It’s a municipal course and priced accordingly — I played for 20 bucks including the cart and I brought my clubs, so no rental fees applied. Actually, I don’t think I’ve played any 18-hole course in
Here’s how hole 12 looked from the tee box (wide open)…
…and from the GPS (not). All courses should have GPS.
How I played this hole: Perfect drive about 250 right in the middle of the fairway. 4 iron chunk (time for those rescue clubs!), 9 iron into the greenside bunker, sand wedge just over the green on the other side, sand wedge chipped in for par!
As for the course itself, if I had played it before, I would probably rate its difficulty just slightly above
My handicap index is now a 24.9 (down from 28.8 not long ago) so that made my course handicap here a 26, which made my “target score” a 96 and I shot 101 — 5 over my handicap. I enclosed target score in quotation marks because that’s only the official target to play to my handicap. My own target or goal is to break 90. Boy, I couldn’t even break 100 and it didn’t feel like I played that badly! I guess it’s time to start beating myself up over double bogeys and not just triples. I need to adjust mentally to keep up with my changing handicap.
“A.H. Blank,” though? I wonder why they call the place Blank. Are we to fill in our own descriptors? I’m sure golfers would vary their choices depending on how they play. It could go from Actually Hit Par to AH F*** in the same cart.
All in all, I played in just over 3 hours and even though it was really hot, it was relaxing and fun.
It has been brought to my attention that some people are having troubles with the display of my site on their computers. I don’t really know what I’m doing here and I’m trusting blogger.com to get this right with their templates. However, I have messed with the code a little which might be effecting the overall display. I have tested it using all different resolution settings on my monitor and it looks fine to me.
I wonder if the problem is browser related. I use Firefox, which I really like so I put a link to it in case anyone wants to switch. I have been using it for awhile now and really enjoy the lack of popups and other internet annoyances.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, I don’t know what else to do! If you other, more experienced and technology-savvy bloggers want to share any tips with me, I’m all ears, er, eyes.
Butter Putter
If you were a butter sculptor and you had already done a barn and a cow, what would your next piece be? The obvious answer is Tiger Woods. If you don’t see the natural progression, you must not be a real butter sculptor.
What’s that under the bench? Did the butter go to Tiger’s
head and cause him to not only eat a Big Mac, but litter, too?
This week I found myself in Des Moines, Iowa, where I was fortunate to find the Iowa State Fair poised to open its ten day run. The fair actually started the day I left, but the night before there was a free preview to anyone wanting to roam the fairgrounds.
A lot of the features and shows were open and running as well as restaurants and assorted deep fried foods-on-sticks stands. Some of the rides were even running. Most of the animals were there, though “Champions Row” was empty so I didn’t get to see the prize hogs which are reportedly a sight to behold. However, I did see a lot of cattle, swine and other animals I’ve never been so close to before. It was kind of thrilling.
Here is Scooter, the flirting Ostrich. He was into me. I could tell by the
way he kept batting those long eyelashes and leaning in for the photos.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to make your way into the Agriculture building. That’s where you will find the amazing butter sculptures.
I looked up the artist on the internet so I could give her credit since I’m putting her artwork on my site without permission. Her name is Norma “Duffy” Lyon and here is her website. It lists a few of her other subjects and has a picture of another of her sculptures – The Last Supper!
Does it even make a difference?
Do I strike the ball any better with a TaylorMade club? Do I sink more putts with a Titleist putter? Do I even hit the ball any farther with a ProV1? A big resounding NO.
At home, as I’ve mentioned, I play with all TaylorMade equipment. On the road, if I haven’t brought my clubs, I play with whatever rentals are available. At the nicer courses, I can sometimes get newer sets and the latest drivers and the big name brands. Most of the time, I get haphazardly assembled “sets” that look like they’ve seen more action than Paris Hilton. Often, they don’t have any kind of recognizable brand name on them if any at all. Yesterday, I even got a putter that appeared to be “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts” brand. I still played right to my handicap.
I’m a fool, though. People told me I should just start with a cheaper set while I was learning the game. I was so immediately obsessed that I figured I’d invest in the better stuff right from the get go. Well, as I whittle away at my handicap, I’m whittling away my clubs and for all the difference it makes, they might as well have been from Target. They probably have some kind of replica driver with a head and face similar to my R580XD that I’d be just as happy using. Would I hit the ball any better or worse with it? NO.
Maybe it makes more of a difference to better players. You tell me. I’m guessing that by the time I get my handicap down to a single digit, my clubs will be ready for replacement. I’m already starting to rationalize the purchase of the latest and greatest and most hyped equipment when that day comes. I still haven’t learned my lesson as a beginner, though. I’m going to add some hybrids to my set soon, and I’m sure I won’t even consider going to Big5 to get them. I’ll be back down at GolfSmith or some proshop shelling out buckets of clams for the TaylorMades or Pings. Probably the TaylorMades just for aesthetics and continuity in my bag. Will they make me perform any better on the course? Well, better than my long irons I hope, but better than other hybrids? NO.
Speaking of bags, I “need” a couple new ones. A nice cart bag and a new stand bag because I’m not happy with mine. I think I want ones with a separate slot for each club, and I definitely want the ones with the protected slot for the putter. They need to have lots of pockets, maybe a designated umbrella holder and other fancy accessories.
Will any of this make me a better golfer? Say it with me… maybe.
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