The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Tag: robbie biershenk (page 31 of 32)

Aerial shots of courses played

July 29, 2005 / / 5 Comments

Oh, it seemed like such a good idea: I fly in, and as the plane is approaching I take a picture of a golf course from above. Then once I’ve landed, I find the course, play it, post about it in my blog and put the picture with it. Unique and easy, right? Witness. What would you think if you saw this:

Might you want to play it? I took this photo from the plane as I was approaching the airport in Seattle. I asked several people at Maplewood and another course called Foster and after some time discussing amonsgt themselves and agreeing it wasn’t their course and after hearing about the approach pattern of the aircraft, they all agreed the pictured course was one called “Taee.” They warned me that it was crap, or what I would call a “dogrun” but the photo looked playable enough that I thought I could still get through it and post an article about the round with my photo. So when I had time after work one day, I thought I’d go for it. Man, was I wrong and right at the same time. I was wrong that it was playable but right that I could get a post out of it.

Have you seen this cartbarn?
How caddyshack can you get?
Once I paid and rented clubs, they said “Just go grab a cart – if the number on the key doesn’t match, just pick one.” One of two, huh?
I swear the spiders behind the carts were black widows!

Here’s the proshop!

If you look to the left of the proshop, you’ll see tees 1 and 10, if you look right, you’ll see this: the runway of departing planes. This one happens to be a Southwest flight. I was lucky enough to experience some Alaska takeoffs as well.

I had no idea where to send my teeshot at #1, but as I tracked it with my cart, I saw some shirtless mofos playing my ball going the other way. I was by myself and not about to raise a stink, so I just kind of gave them the golfers tsk-ish stare and head-shake but clearly they didn’t care. I guess this is what happens at this course. I dropped a ball and played it, knowing I wasn’t long for this course. I grabbed the mismatched 8-iron from my piecemeal $6 rental set (oh, I forgot to mention the dented up “driver” I teed off with). Admittedly, it ended up just off the green, which was also right where another teebox and the requisite mofos were, and I never saw that ball again. I dropped, chipped up onto the green just for good measure, picked up and headed back to the proshop. All the while I wished I had a sports bra on just for the bumpy ride.

I really thought I would be tougher, though. I didn’t even get through the first hole. What a pansy. I took off faster than the next planes taxiing out.

I’m still up for the idea so if I see some courses as I approach I’ll shoot them and check them out once I land. One failure won’t deter me forever. Two might, but I’ll let you know! If anyone knows of good airport courses, let me know so I can be prepared.

Next post.

Milestone alert – my first first place.

July 28, 2005 / / 2 Comments

After not being allowed into the club that shall remain nameless, I was told of another local bar club that was more fun, played better courses and was co-ed. So we went right down, submitted our applications and money and joined the Treehouse Golf Club. I think it was right before the first tournament we were set to play that I found out they actually were an all men’s club but they had heard about what had happened before and were in the process of changing their bylaws and figuring out how to handle the handicaps and tee situations for coed play. Hallelujah! A board with brains! If your membership isn’t where you want it, why prohibit half the golfing population from participating? Whatever their reasons for changing, I commend them.Meanwhile, I am the only woman in the club so far and therefore competing against all men. There are only two flights — A and B, with probably 20-30 people in each flight. Naturally, I’m in B. The first tournament they had me play from the forward tees and I was doing pretty well but we got rained out half way through.

The next tournament, they had me playing from the reds again since it was stroke play, and I got 4th place. The cutoff for winning any money was 3rd. Rats.

The next tournament began the eliminations for the club championship. The format is match play, so they had me playing from the white tees with my opponent. They also run a simultaneous stroke play tournament for the money, which can obviously change strategies a little. I won my match and advanced to the next playoff round. There were 32 of us competing and now we’ve got it down to 16. Greg also won his match in A-flight and advanced to the next round. I also won $20 for coming in 3rd place in my flight for the stroke play. There was a milestone right there: winning anything in golf competition!

Every year, this club holds an “away” tournament. This year it was at Primm out at the Nevada/California State line near Las Vegas. There were tournaments on both Saturday (at the Lakes course) and Sunday (at the Desert course) but they were both just for fun (and money) and were not playoff rounds. They were both team events and Greg and I played together. On Saturday, the format was that each person played their own ball the whole round and, including handicaps, your team uses the best score on every hole for a team total. We both played really well and netted a lot of birdies and eagles. I had one of my best rounds ever and netted 63 (93 gross). It was so much fun AND we won that day! My first experience winning first place! We made a great team, which was nice.

This is 16 on the Lakes Course. Both of these resort courses are pristine and

challenging in their own ways and I recommend them highly. Maybe just not

in the middle of the summer, but that’s when it’s cheapest, of course.

The next day the format was a “modified Pinehurst” alternating best ball type thing, which was a lot more fun as an idea than in actual execution. We really struggled trying to get a rhythm going and performed poorly. (I’m sure this had nothing to do with the casino experience the night before.) It was interesting for a non-postable round, but we didn’t win a thing. Didn’t even come close.

This is 17 on the Desert Course. I don’t know if it was just because it was windier that day

or because it’s not as shielded, but the wind was a bear toward the end of the round.

There also seemed to be more places to get in trouble on this course than the Lakes Course.

These are a couple of the jackalopes that run around munching up the courses.

The next tournament was just this past Saturday. It was a playoff round, match play, from the whites at a course unfamiliar to me. Of course, in these match play events, Greg is off in another foursome because he’s paired up with another A-flighter. So we wish each other luck and off we go. I had another really good round. I set a new personal record for par streak (4!) and putted like I’ve never putted before. I drained three 20+ footers, two of which saved par in that streak. It was magical. I was reading the lines, hitting it and it was going right where I wanted it to at the right speed! That’s never happened to me before. On fifteen, I sank a one-putt from about 15 feet, which my opponent (a guy on the cusp between A and B flights) called “the dagger.” It put me up by 3 holes with 3 holes to go. We halved 16 and that was the match. Now I know I’m advancing to the next round with only 4 people in each flight. I still had the stroke play tournament to consider, but winning the match was a relief and I three-putted from about 7 feet. On 18, I went into the sand and it took me four strokes just to get out and I took a nine there. I still netted a 67 and my opponent netted 70. I was just happy to have won my match and never considered the stroke play as a possibility. Turns out I won and my opponent took second! The par streak, the putting, the match win and now my first First Place win all by myself! Now that’s a milestone!

Next post.

A blog about blogging about bloggers and blogs.

July 28, 2005 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been noticing a lot of blogs lately about other blogs and bloggers. Not wanting to miss out on the trend, I thought I’d take it one step further by posting this observation.

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This isn’t Augusta, it’s a dive bar.

July 27, 2005 / / 1 Comment

The Old Boys’ Club — and I do mean old.

Last fall I tried to join an all men’s club in town because I knew a lot of the guys in it and thought it would be fun to play with them. That’s all. Since all the young guys were cool with the idea, I figured it was probably just an all men’s club by default because they never thought to change it over the years. I wasn’t out to buck tradition; that would have just been a happy by-product. However, the old farts who voted on things like that were just too obstinate (backward?) or misogynistic (gay?) or threatened (pusillanimous?) to embrace the change and allow me in. Can you tell I’m bitter? They welcomed me and my money at the bar — yes, it’s a bar club and a beer and wine only bar at that — and said I could join as an associate member. Oh, they were so forward-thinking they had already allowed a woman as an associate member! So I could pay to join, and play when there was an opening due to a cancellation, I just wasn’t eligible to really compete or win anything. Thanks but no thanks.

They misled me for awhile and said they were going to change their bylaws and welcome me as a full member. The accepted my application and my check, we agreed that I would have to play from the white tees with everyone else and it was supposed to be a done deal. Of course, this was at the same time they were in the process of transitioning to a new handicap chairman who just happened to be my boyfriend, Greg. Once that was in place, they held a meeting and the old farts decided against letting me in. They said a lot of people voted to let me in, but that it had to be unanimous to change the bylaws. So sorry, buh-bye.

When I first started talking to them about joining it was also so I could get an SCGA number and start establishing a handicap. I was less than two months into my golfing experience but already hopelessly addicted and eager to become “official.” During the time I was being bamboozled, Greg processed my application and posted all my scorecards with my shiny new SCGA number. Since then, I joined another club and transferred that number over. Of course, I’m still privy to all their tournament results since Greg gets the sheets for posting. For a club that takes itself so seriously (who do they think they are, Augusta?) what a bunch of beer drinking hackers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! In fact it’s partly why I wanted to play with them, or at least the younger generation that wanted me to join. They’re all about having fun, but, like me, also want to play well and improve their games. However, based on the results I’ve seen, I would probably have consistently won in my flight, already advanced a level and be competitive in that flight as well. Maybe that’s what scared them.

Next post.

The “Line-of-Flight” Debate

July 26, 2005 / / 4 Comments

There is so much to learn about golf aside from just how to hit the ball. There’s a lot of etiquette to know, but there are just so many rules it’s mind boggling. One situation that most of us experience frequently is hitting into a hazard, so one might think that the rules that go with that situation would be widely known and accepted. Over the course of my golf education so far, I have been given a few different explanations of how to take relief from a water hazard and a lateral water hazard. Most people I talk to about it are absolutely certain they are correct, but they don’t always agree with one another. This difference of opinion caused me to look up the official ruling, after which I thought I had it all sorted out in my head. However, it came up again after my tournament this past Saturday, and a spirited discussion followed. I stated how I understood the rule and how I took relief accordingly on a hole during the course of play. My foursome agreed with the ruling but none of them were there for this discussion. The longer we discussed it and the more alcohol that was consumed, the more certain we all were that I was wrong after all. They’re the experienced ones and they seemed so sure — I must have misunderstood the rule I read or looked up the wrong thing. They changed their bylaws to allow women and let me in their club — who am I *blink-blink* to make waves when they want to instruct me in the rules of golf? Especially after coming in and immediately starting to win tournaments. As long as the rules are followed correctly out on the course, right? So to that end, I looked up the rule again and I’m convinced I had interpreted it correctly after all.

Here’s the debate: How should one take relief when a ball is lost inside a water hazard? Same question for a lateral water hazard?

Everyone agreed on the penalty of one stroke.

Everyone agreed that in either scenario you could go back and hit from the teeing ground or the place from which the ball was originally played.

In this debate, everyone agreed there was a two-club length rule for the lateral hazard, and for the most part, we agreed on where that could occur.

Based on past discussions, some people think there’s a one-club length rule for a water hazard and two-club lengths from a lateral.

Most people agree that from a water hazard you could take the ball back any distance, but here’s the most widely accepted idea that seems to be dead wrong: the line you take that ball back is either the line of flight the ball was on when it crossed the hazard or between the point where it crossed and the point from where you originally hit it.

I understood that when you take it back to whatever distance, it had to be on the line from the hole and the point of entry. From a water hazard it’s from behind the hazard and from a lateral, it’s along that line from the side far side of the hazard.

Here are the rules and even an illustration copied directly from http://www.usga.org:

26-1/15 Procedures for Relief from Lateral Water Hazard http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/books/decisions/dec26.html#26-1/15

In the above illustration, a player has played a ball from the teeing ground (Point A) into the lateral water hazard at Point B. It last crossed the margin of the hazard at Point C. He may play the ball as it lies or, under penalty of one stroke:

(a) play another ball from the teeing ground – Rule 26-1a;

(b) drop a ball anywhere on the far side of the hazard on the dotted line from the hole through Point C, e.g., Point D – Rule 26-1b;
(c) drop a ball in the shaded area on the near side of the hazard which is all ground within two club-lengths of Point C, but not nearer the hole than Point C – Rule 26-1c(i); or
(d) drop a ball in the shaded area on the far side of the hazard which is all ground within two club-lengths of Point E, but not nearer the hole than Point E – Rule 26-1c(ii).

The player may not drop a ball on the so-called “line-of-flight” at Point F or anywhere else on the line the ball followed from A to B, except in the shaded area on the near side. Nor may he drop a ball within two club-lengths of Point G, the point on the far side of the hazard directly opposite Point C.

26-1. Relief for Ball in Water Hazard

http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/books/rules/rule26.html#26-1

It is a question of fact whether a ball lost after having been struck toward a water hazard is lost inside or outside the hazard. In order to treat the ball as lost in the hazard, there must be reasonable evidence that the ball lodged in it. In the absence of such evidence, the ball must be treated as a lost ball and Rule 27 applies.

If a ball is in or is lost in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:

a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5); or

b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or

c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.

The ball may be lifted and cleaned when proceeding under this Rule.

(Prohibited actions when ball is in hazard – see Rule 13-4.)

(Ball moving in water in a water hazard – see Rule 14-6.)

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The Golf Shield

July 24, 2005 / / 1 Comment

Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons! (Vizzini, 1987)

I believe this is a world of jackasses and morons but generally we don’t notice it amongst our own inner circles because we have other things in common that bind us. That doesn’t mean we’re not lame in our own ways that others would find unacceptable. Something about golf must hide those aspects long enough to get through a round. This “golf shield” occasionally leads me to believe that golfers are better people than non-golfers. This could be true but there are so many golfers in the world that if it were, that would blow my original theory that people suck. I can’t easily accept that. Maybe golf, even with all its frustrating aspects, will actually make me a more positive person. I know it’s changing me in other ways.

For example, I’m somewhat disorganized. Some would say (and have said) that’s a severe understatement and that I’m downright scatterbrained. Competition, however, has always seemed to bring out my ability to focus. It never seems like a conscious effort, but the results show a level of concentration I don’t have when I’m just playing for fun. This was true when I used to play competitive softball, and it seems to be true when I play in golf tournaments these days. I’ve only played in a few, so that remains to be seen, I guess. However, I recently had occasion to summon my game face at work and was able to concentrate at will when I otherwise might have fallen apart. Without the recent influence of golf and the focus I apply during play even in non-competitive rounds, the outcome could have been disastrous. Then again, overall I guess I’m still a scatterbrain… look how off topic I got. Back to the original topic of the nature of people…

I would venture to say that about 90% of the people I’ve been matched up with at the discretion of the starter have actually been really great people, at least for as long as it takes to play 18 holes. As for the other 10%, maybe they were just having bad days. I know I have been less than pleasant to be around on more than one occasion on the golf course — mostly when I let my hacker status upset me and compare myself to better golfers. My point is, either golfers are better people, or golf brings out the best in people most of the time, or I’m just wrong about people in general and they are actually great anyway at least 90% of the time. However, there always seem to be morons somewhere nearby on the course creating a ruckus or otherwise disregarding golf course etiquette in their shirtless glory (depending on the course), so maybe the golf shield is more like a cone of silence and only applies within each group. It creates a temporary inner circle and makes us immediately forgiving to one another as if we were lifelong friends. What is it “they” say… something like “there’s a [insert choice of descriptions here — e.g., moron, crazy person] in every group or family. If you don’t know who it is, that person is you.” I’ve long suspected it was me, but I’ll continue to point the finger elsewhere to help get me through… at least until golf helps me grow out of it.

Clearly I still have some focus issues … I got distracted from my original point again. I’ve spoken mostly about the 10% and even titled this article “The Golf Shield,” but the heart of the idea is Reason #3: The great people!

Reason #2: The scenery
Reason #1: The brotherhood

Next post.

Washington: Check!

July 22, 2005 / / 0 Comments

I know it’s been awhile since my last post but I’m still here and ready to explode with words to make up for it. I’ve been on the road and flat out busy for the last two weeks. On July 12, I walked on for a twilight round at a course called Maplewood in Renton, Washington, near Seattle. I got hooked up with a lady’s league that plays every Tuesday night. I didn’t think I would have time to play on this trip so I didn’t even bring my clubs. Had I known, I totally would have brought them since I was also playing at Apple Mountain that coming weekend and could have checked them as luggage when I flew from Seattle to Sacramento where I met Greg instead of having him cram them into the car with the rest of our stuff on his way driving up. Whew… I told you I had a lot of words stored up. Back to my story — I get so distracted! So, it was pushing 6:oo and I was scrambling because I wanted to play 18 so I could post a whole round. Plus, unless I play 18, I don’t feel I can count it and couldn’t have checked off Washington on my list of states where I’ve played! I had a glove and some tees in my purse, but I had to buy a couple logo balls from the barrel in the pro shop. I had my full travel-packed purse, camera and the thrashers I rented (the bag didn’t even have a stand) and they’re telling me they’re sending me out with these women who are walking. So my lazy ass took a cart anyway and rushed out there.

The first hole at Maplewood. My drive ended up near the little tree to the
right of the third bunker. Not great, but not as bad as I’d feared.

It’s still intimidating for me to play a new course because it’s not yet instinctual as far as where to hit and how the course will play. Fortunately, I had a nice group to help me decipher it. Shout out to Justine, Dale, and Carla from my foursome and Dawn and oh-damn-what-was-her-name from the group in front of us! (Who do I think I am with the “shout out”?) I was also nervous because the starter told me about this league and how these ladies play here all the time. I was worried that I would embarrass myself, what with the unfamiliar course and the rented clubs and the fact that I’m still struggling so much learning the game. I had looked over the scorecard and had been thinking I was going to play from the whites because it looked kind of short. Then when I got hooked up with this group and they were all playing from the reds, my decision was easy.

The driver in this “set” was the size of my three wood, and I’ve mentioned before how comfortable I am with my enormous driver. So I was a little worried when I teed up on the first hole. It didn’t turn out that bad, though, and it kept getting better. I didn’t hit it as far as I do with mine, but I was hitting it straight up the middle of the fairway for the most part. I didn’t embarrass myself and it all turned out fine. All the women were friendly and hospitable and I was thankful they let me join in. They even invited me to participate in the friendly wagering but I thought I’d never be able to compete and didn’t really want to impose further anyway. They stopped after nine, as they do every week, so we parted at the turn and I went on to finish the round.

Here are some guys fishing as we crossed the bridge on the way to #8.
Must be a Washington thing.

I rushed myself on the back nine a little to make sure I’d get them all in and ended up with a couple big numbers. Overall, I shot a 99, which is higher than I’d have liked on a short course like this but still under that 100 threshold which is where I feel I belong from the red tees. I’m still waiting for the next magical milestone of breaking 90 from the reds. I saw the ladies again at the clubhouse when I was finished, just before dark. Golf people are awesome. This fact inspires me to write a whole separate post.

It turns out this lady’s league isn’t just a local thing. They are a part of the Executive Women’s Golf Association, which has chapters in cities all across the country. I would probably seek out my local chapter and join up, but I’m not in town enough to commit to something like that. I will definitely keep it in mind in case I have a career change in the near future. (Does anyone need a golfer with artistic, design, and marketing talent with a knack for technology and learning who can apply all of those things in relational, language and presentation skills? Surely there must be a business that can benefit from all those abilities that doesn’t require travel so I can golf in the evenings and on weekends.) Meanwhile, I might be able to track down EWGA chapters and be able to join up with them in other cities like I did this time. It was interesting playing with women for a change. Maybe since it is an association of “executives” I should just join and participate when I can for the networking and could affect my career change through golf! What a concept.

Next post.

You Might Already Be a Winner: A book report.

July 10, 2005 / / 5 Comments

I have a new instructor and I’m so excited! Perhaps you’ve heard of him or maybe you have even “taken lessons” from him yourself. It’s Ben Hogan!

My colleague and friend, Bill, recently gave me a copy of Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” to me, which had been given to him from his father back in 1965. Thank you, thank you thank you, Bill!

I had Jury Duty on Friday, and I read the book cover to cover that morning while waiting to be called in. It’s got me all fired up. Again. It’s more than just instruction, it’s downright inspirational. He actually has me convinced that I can shoot in the 70s, and relatively soon, if I just follow these basic lessons. It’s also teasing me about how much more I’ll actually enjoy and appreciate the game once I play it better. I kind of already assumed that (duh) but now I know more specifically why and look forward to focusing more on strategy than swing once I get there.

The lessons themselves are precise and simple to follow. The way he explains the REASONS for everything is so helpful to me. Instead of just telling what to do, he tells exactly how to do it, and why it’s important. I plan to go to the range as much as possible and use these lessons. I took some notes on the points that really stood out to me or that I knew I struggled with what he said not to do or that were just especially interesting. I will also be re-reading it from time to time and refreshing myself in certain areas. I’m going to expand on the notes I took below, one lesson at a time. It’ll be a relatively long post, but worth the read, I hope!


The Grip:

I think my grip is pretty right on since my runaway instructor already fixed it. I guess he knew what he was doing on that angle. I will double check it against my new bible, though. His explanation of why this grip works makes so much sense about how the two hands work together. Essentially, the grip neutralizes the more powerful right hand and helps it work in conjunction with the left instead of taking over and causing all kinds of problems in the swing. I’ve had so many golfers tell me it’s all about where the V’s in your hands point, and now I know that’s not true. Not even if they would have been correct about the positioning of the V’s in the first place. There’s just so much more to it than that. I also learned a couple interesting tidbits, one that most golfers probably already know: a warm ball flies further than a cold one, and one that people might not have heard or remember from the book: drinking ginger-ale reduces puffiness in hands due to its effects on the kidney.

Posture and Stance:

I was under the impression that my toes should be perpendicular to my target line if I desire the ball to travel straight to it. I thought opening and closing your stance to adjust the ball flight included position of the left toe. According to my new instructor, this is incorrect. My normal stance should have my right toe pointed straight in front of me (perpendicular to the target line) or even slightly turned in toward the target. My left toe should be turned ¼ turn of 90° toward the target, or about 22°. The way I understand it, this is purely in order that my knees will break in the proper direction to get the most power out of my swing. It’s also just one thing in “the chain” of the swing that all comes together to make a repeatable, reliable performance. The book doesn’t go into controlling ball flight and adjusting shots, so I assume what little I know about opening and closing my stance by repositioning the angle of my legs (not feet) in relation to the target line remains the same.

First Part of the Swing:

He talks a lot about the plane of the swing which I hadn’t read anything about until now. I had heard people mention it but I never really knew the significance or understood where that plane should be. The illustrations in the book are immensely helpful. The image of the head protruding through the glass pane which rests on the shoulders and angles down to the ground was especially enlightening. I will be working on these exercises plenty while I try not to shatter that imaginary glass!

At the peak of the backswing, my shoulders should be perpendicular to the target with my back facing it completely. The club head should be pointing right at the target and my belt buckle (were I wearing one) should be pointed at my right toe. He emphasized the importance of not rotating the hips beyond that area in order to achieve the right torsion to increase the power of the swing after the brief pause at the top. So cool!

Second Part of the Swing:

1. Think hips, hips, hips! The hips begin the downswing. I didn’t know the mechanics or steps of this maneuver. I think I assumed the forward swing should travel approximately the same path as the backswing in order to be repeatable and controllable. I probably got it right accidentally some of the time and it produced my best shots and I didn’t know why. I predict working on this the most at the range. Since I read the book on Friday I’ve not had the chance to go to the range but I played a round on Saturday and mistakenly tried to implement this into my game without practice. It just sounds so tantalizingly easy with the most dramatic improvements I had to do it. This is why we test things at the range first. I shot a horrible round, for which I have many excuses in addition to this.

2. The downswing should not retrace the upswing! When your hips start the swing, that motion pulls the shoulders and changes the plane so that you’re swinging inside out. If you always start with the hips and have this repeatable swing, you’ll never be correcting that outside-in swing at the last minute in other ways and getting unpredictable results.

3. The left wrist should be supinating at impact. Put another way, the left wrist is essentially the first part that crosses the line of the ball with your palm facing the sky on your right. Pronating (your palm is facing down) is the cause of many errors — hitting behind the ball and the dreaded skull, but also it causes a change in the arc of the entire swing which of course effects the hit more fundamentally. You have a steeper pitch of the upswing which can cause all kinds of errors in flight, but even if you hit it clean it won’t have the power and predictability it should.

Summary:

I highly recommend this book to all golfers who want to improve their game. For people just starting to play, I recommend you experience the game a little before reading it so that the references will make more sense. I wish I would have read it for the first time about 2 or 3 months after I started. I think it would have helped me improve faster than I have so far. Before that, I probably wouldn’t have understood some of it. For seasoned golfers, even if you’ve already read it, I recommend checking it out again. It’s not like it takes long to read 127 illustrated pages. Or just read a lesson at a time and work on it in pieces. You might pick up a tidbit you’ve been lax on that will dramatically change your game.

Footnote: Spell check suggested that I replace the word “supinating” with “urinating.” I hope it didn’t mean in the golf swing.

Next post.

The Dreaded Golf Tan

July 7, 2005 / / 14 Comments

I’m trying to look at it like a golfer’s badge of honor. I really am. It’s not working. My sleeves, necklines and skort lengths vary, so while it’s annoying in these areas, it’s not nearly as obnoxious as the prominent line around my ankles. My left hand is pale, but it doesn’t quite look like I’m wearing a glove when I’m not. I have ordered one of those tan-through gloves so I’ll let you know how that goes. My feet, though! It looks like I’m wearing footies when I’m barefoot! B.G. (before golf), I could wear one of my many, many pairs of sandals (I told you I’m obsessive) and not worry about the horror that is the golf tan. Forget sandals, now I can’t even wear a sling-back, mule or even pump without displaying it. And it’s not like I can wear sneakers or golf shoes to work. So what’s a girl to do? Certainly not wear stockings — not that it would help matters unless they’re opaque anyway. It’s summer, for crying out loud. Those self tanning lotions are too orange and streaky especially around contoured areas like the ankle and toes, so I tried that “Natural Glow” lotion to no avail. I can’t bring myself to get those ugly golf sandals that look like Birkenstocks on steroids. And who has time to tan them naturally? Those are the hours spent golfing — hence the problem. Fortunately, there are so many golfers out there and I work in a predominantly male industry where their numbers are even greater. For the most part, I’m with a new group of people every week and it can actually help break the ice or even build rapport with my customers, so I know it could be worse. That won’t stop me from wanting a solution, because it sure is distractingly unattractive which takes some of the fun away from wearing those cute shoes and thereby the pleasure of shopping for them! Hey, how about strap-on spikes, like old fashioned roller skates?

This has been a test of the Decidedly Girly Entry Broadcast System.

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Golf Takes Over

July 6, 2005 / / 6 Comments

Before Golf (B.G.), it always seemed like I was really busy and rush-rush-rush all the time. It still does, but I get to slow down and enjoy a few hours when I golf. But this leaves me wondering what I used to do with all this time I now spend golfing! In addition to the hours I spend in any given round, as an obsesser (and a maker-upper of words), golf has supplanted most of my other hobbies and activities in one form or another. Whereas I used to go to the shooting range, now I go to the driving range. I used to be working on (never completing) novels and screenplays, now I write a golf blog. On airplanes, I used to read novels or science books, write fiction on my laptop or even work *gasp*, now I read golf magazines, stitch my own unique golf shirts and hats and write a golf blog. Going to a baseball game in the daytime is a thing of the past. Night games are still in the mix but rare — (GO ANGELS). As for weekend activities, if it doesn’t fit in before or after a minimum of 18 holes, forget it. And in the summer — golf bless daylight savings time — let’s not forget twilight rounds. I never spent Sundays worshiping until golf came into my life. (Hey, that actually sounds quotable.) So the lost activities account for some of that time, but what was I doing with the rest of it before I squeezed in golf? What am I neglecting? People?

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