The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

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Breaking 80 Golf Game Progress Report – Getting Closer!

August 2, 2011 / / 20 Comments

After I posted that last video of my swing when I thought I had a real breakthrough, my swing coach, Jay Lim, left me some notes in the comments for things to work on. At first glance it seemed like a whole lot to think about and change and I felt a little overwhelmed. But when I started to implement it I realized it was pretty much all the same thing – setup. Nothing to feel deflated about. In fact, as soon as I took those ideas to the range and called Jay to clarify his meaning about tilt, it started working right away. In fact, it made the other things I was doing even easier to repeat. Brilliant. I continued practicing it throughout the week and, once again, was eager to go try it on a golf course.

On Friday afternoon I rushed to a local course and since I wanted a good chance of finishing my round before dark, I skipped my warm up. As a result, my first few holes were disastrous and it took a few more to really get the feel of my new swing anywhere near comfortable. (I also had some trouble holding onto the club – details at end of post if you’re interested – but as this is something I’m just going to have to deal with, it is not something that I will allow to account for a poor swing or score.) I played alone for the first 5 holes until another single jumped a foursome and joined me. My swing improved a bit but never really got in the groove. My new walking buddy was impressed but I felt down and frustrated as I posted my 102! (White tees, 6000 yards, ratings 75.6/132.) It’s the identical score to the last two times I played there earlier in the month. Where’s the improvement? Can’t even break 100? How long until 80 now???

Then I soothed my mind and body with a nice relaxing bubble bath and a couple giant martinis. I got my head right, found my smile and shook off any discouragement. I would play the next day and try again, but this time with the right kind of warm up for my swing and mental game. I decided to try the little executive course where I played my first 18 hole round when I took up golf. I figured it was a great place for me when I was just starting out and since I’m essentially doing that again, maybe I can recapture some of that mojo. I hadn’t been there in years. I was excited!

golf chick warhol

Getting Closer!

I stretched, hit a small bucket of balls and my swing was feeling good. Did a little chipping and some ninja putting drills and hit the course. I played the back tees, which are only 4961 yards (par 67, 68.4 CR/112 slope). I went to the first tee alone and could see the foursome approaching the green up ahead on this 293 yard par 4. My tee shot went straight up the middle and I waited in the fairway 70 yards from the flag while the 4 guys finished. I stuck the green and two putted from about 8 feet for a ho-hum par. That was the only green I hit on the front nine, but with 15 putts I salvaged a 41*, making me 6 over at the turn. A twosome joined me on the second hole and we ended up playing through those guys in front of us and joining another single on the back nine. On the back I had two doubles, 3 bogeys and finished with 4 pars, which felt great and totaled 40. I posted an 81. *After I got home I realized I had forgotten to give myself a penalty stroke for moving my ball off a tree root in an effort to save my wrist. I should have posted an 82.

If I had broken 80 that day, I would not have counted it as achieving my goal (though I would have awarded a prize to Billy D, who chose that date in my Break 80 pool). I want to achieve it from the white tees at a regular “grown up” course. However, my personal best score is an 82, the same I shot on Saturday, and it occurred to me  to look up the length and ratings on that course, since we played the red tees. Turns out it was only 4799 yards, par 71, 66.5/111 rating. I count that as my previous personal best! Should I? Should I reconsider allowing myself to feel like I accomplished this goal if I break 80 from the red tees? Does it matter? In golf, everything matters mentally, and you know I believe I can do whatever I think I can. The really good news is, I felt like I easily should have broken 80 on this course and shot my 82 with relative ease. Friday’s disaster and realization was merely the stumbling block I needed to make mental adjustments and try a different route. I am beyond encouraged. Nice try, Friday! (c:

Video Update

The video here includes a couple of my honey badger practice swings on the range on Thursday as well as my tee shots on the last two holes of this round (two of my pars – the par 3 17th (pitching wedge) and the par 4 18th). Sorry – it had a cool tune with it but was disabled for copyright snags. Maybe I can get Big Head Todd to approve it. Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the silent movie.

The details I promised about my grip

I think I have mentioned the aggravating pain in my hands and wrists that hasn’t really bothered me since I was a kid but has returned. It’s actually not always painful per se. Sometimes it’s just more of a discomfort with irritating spasms, locking up certain fingers and joints in odd positions and making it difficult to hold onto things. After the week of practice, my right hand was really getting frisky on Friday (in previous weeks it was more my left). My buddy Jay over at Jaysgolf.com has a better understanding of such challenges than I do and we joked together about the “death grip” we subsequently put on our golf clubs, tearing through gloves and creating callouses faster than rolling O’s.

I understand the more I keep exercising the joints in the manner that aggravates them, the less they will hurt over time. Kind of hard to believe the morning after I’ve played golf and I can’t even grip my toothbrush but golf is certainly better than no golf so you know I will find out if it’s true! Meanwhile, I’m primarily treating the pain by deciding not to feel it or care, along with over the counter and over the bar medicine, and trying to control the spasms with my ninja mind. I don’t have insurance.

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Tested My New Honey Badger Swing at Charity Golf Tourney

July 24, 2011 / / 9 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a little breakthrough with my golf swing progress last week. After some exciting practice sessions, I was eager to try it out on a golf course, and I had a great opportunity to do just that on Friday.

golf chick honey badger smile

I played with two friends (the 4th canceled last minute) in a fun charity tournament to benefit The American Cancer Society. Since it was a scramble format, there was no real pressure on my swing to tempt me back to comfort since I had two others to back me up if all went wrong. However, with their 35 and 40 indexes, I did have some work to do. They were actually quick to point out that when I went last and we really needed to hit a green, that’s when I performed the best. Not really a surprise to me; I dig the pressure.

Photo right- honey badger that ate the canary

Photo below – gallery on 18 at tourney

Gallery on 18

golfchick wins kp

My swing felt great. Sure, I had a few that missed the mark but overall I am striking the ball much better. I should have counted the greens I hit but we were having too much fun. We shot even par so you know I had to have hit a bunch of them. I was sticking them pretty tight, too. I also had a nice chip-in for birdie. Made a few fantastic putts as well. I love this game!

There was only one hole in the closest to the pin contest and it was for all golfers, not split by gender (although we did have about a 15 yard advantage – 135 vs 150). Honey badger nailed it! 7 iron, no roll – sat right next to its ball mark about a flag length below the hole. Photo left – with tournament organizer & not unhappy about winning.

I got some more practice in yesterday – below is the 7 iron swing that won me 110 clams. You can see it’s still a little loose on top so I have even more room for improvement.  As I remember shouting a couple times on Friday – THIS IS FUN! Some more practice this week and maybe I’ll go test it out in my own scoring round. Breaking 80 is still the goal!

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When Will The Golf Chick Break 80? Pool Announcement and Progress Report

July 21, 2011 / / 8 Comments

As my golf swing continues to progress, I started the pool about when I will break 80 over on my Golf Chick Facebook page last week and people are getting their votes in. There is an over/under for the less adventuresome but some people are also naming specific dates. I’ll tell you something – there will likely be a prize or two and it will be a lot harder to choose a winner from people who only picked over or under. Just saying. Wagering amongst one another is up to you and the laws that govern you (does that cover my ass?).

People who read this blog regularly will have an advantage because you’ll know the progress I’m making. Scores I’m shooting, how practice is going, how dedicated I am (or not) day to day, week to week, how I’m feeling about it all, etc. Some people are choosing the “over” in the pool, which I perceive as an underestimation of me – one I look forward to proving wrong. Perhaps they’re doing it on purpose to motivate me, but if you haven’t voted and are considering the same – here’s another clue: I’m plenty motivated now. That grenade has been jumped on. Pick a more winning date.

Golf Chick Break 80 pool

A couple people have chosen their own birthdays as my break 80 date, which I think is fantastic. I wish I could give that birthday gift – the first one is next week though! Zoinks! Plus, I should tell you potential pool participants that while I do manage to play during the week at times, I’m much more likely to play on weekends. By the way, if you don’t use Facebook, feel free to make your pick here in the comments of this post. If you are dropping by my FB page to make your pick, I’d love it if you would click its “like” button if you haven’t yet!

Quick answers and summary of progress: People have asked me on Facebook and Twitter about my progress. All my golf and swing progress is documented here on my blog. Quick review to date – best score before swing change: 82. Best score since swing change: 86, however that was too soon and I don’t feel it was my authentic new swing. I played 5 rounds with a flawed new swing and am now back to only practicing to get it more ingrained and it’s feeling better already (details below). I’m playing a scramble charity event this Friday (July 22) and plan to continue to grind away at the range after that. I will throw in a round from time to time to keep practice interesting. As I mentioned earlier, weekends are far more likely for such rounds to occur but some weekdays are possible.

Golf Swing Progress Update:

I had three amazing practice sessions the last three nights. I focused only on my irons and really had them working well. Getting back to the fundamentals after so many days on the course really made a difference and I was able to focus on how what I should be doing and feeling rather than the outcome of each shot on a course. I was striking the ball very well and more consistently than ever. Not just since I got my new swing but EVER. Which, according to Jay Lim, my swing coach, (and perhaps every other instructor) is precisely the objective. Consistent repeat-ability. I’m getting there and it feels amazing.

Golf Tip – From the Horse’s Mouth – Am to Am Translation

I’m sure it has been spoken and written countless times but something occurred to me on the range the past couple days that really made a difference for me and felt like a breakthrough. One of my weaknesses Jay has been coaching me on is how I lead with the hands or arms instead of the shoulders on the backswing. He keeps telling me the shoulders need to start the swing. If he explained why I don’t recall but the reason I just figured out on my own is that it makes it 10 times easier to keep my left arm straight(er) and control the steepness of my swing plane. Jay usually speaks my language very well, which is important in a student/swing coach relationship, but whatever he said or I read about consistency and leading with the shoulders did not really click for me until I came to this revelation two days ago and reinforced last night and tonight. I share it with you now in the hopes it might do the same for someone else. To put it the way it made sense in MY head: lead, almost push back, with the front shoulder to keep the arm “connected” in the swing. If I lead with my hands or club, the shoulders have a hard time keeping up and it’s almost impossible not to bend my left elbow. If I turn my shoulders first, it practically keeps itself straight! Then if I keep my plane (which I’m doing better by keeping my right knee bent), it’s much easier to contact the ball consistently because my arm doesn’t have to “figure out” where to go. It has already been there.

Romance in the Air

I am falling in love with my new golf swing so I need to name it now more than ever. You know, before I start calling it some cutesy name like “Cupcake” instead of a fierce name like a honey badger deserves. I’m considering Chuck, or Norris (not both – I can’t see myself loving Chuck Norris but he could be my swing’s namesake). I am so excited. I seriously cannot stop thinking about my swing and when I’ll be able to spend more time with it. It feels like new love. For a golf nerd. If you read this far, I bet you know just how I feel. Admit it.

UPDATE: I DID IT! July 11, 2015.

Took me long enough, but I finally broke 80! I shot 78 at Falcon Ridge golf course from the maroon tees (4440 yards). I normally play the gold tees there but we played with another couple and I decided to step up and play the forward tees since the woman was playing there and the guys were split, so rather than stop at four sets of tees… you know how that goes. Anyway, even though it’s exceptionally short, it’s still a challenging course and you have to make the shots. So it counts! 😛

78 scorecard

 

Then, less than a week later we went back and I played the gold tees (5279 – still short, but with a 124 slope that’s my spot). After breaking 80 from the forward tees, breaking 80 from here was my next goal. Guess what? NAILED IT! Shot a smooth 77 for a new personal best!

77 scorecard

Haven’t seen the 70’s again since, but my new goal is to break 80 at any other golf course. Then just try to keep it in the 70’s.

I’ve always been pretty chill on the golf course because, well, I’m “not good enough to get mad.” But now that I’ve seen and felt the 70’s, I find myself feeling more frustrated out there when I don’t play well. Maybe I need to look into meditation.

~May they all roll true.

Honey Badger Don’t Care – But My Golf Swing Needs More Progress!

July 18, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Rather than practice like a good girl this weekend, I went out and played golf. Why? Because I’m a honey badger and I don’t care! I may be a ninja on the greens (stealthy, smooth and fierce) but when my swing is ready, it’s going to be badass honey badger all the way. If you’re a honey badger you won’t care but the hilarious video below contains language that may be inappropriate for sensitive ears & environments.

I can pull off honey badger attitude today, however, the swing portion still needs some training. After some seriously mediocre play on Friday and Saturday, the only golf I did on Sunday was to watch Darren Clarke win the British Open and spend some time smacking balls at the range with my irons. My execution was less than stellar and I found myself having to access databanks in my brain to basically re-learn some of the aspects of my new swing. Which means, I was not doing it right on the course. Not at all.

So my practice session was actually quite valuable. I was reminded of The Almighty Process and that I need to get back to it. The swing just is not ingrained in me yet and without the time and thought process that goes along with practicing, it seems I’m mostly reverting to my old swing with maybe a couple new aspects thrown in. Not effective. I am determined to do this right. I have a charity tourney on Friday but other than that it’s going to be mostly practice for me for awhile. Sure, I’ll have to thrown in a round here and there but strictly as practice – where I don’t care about the outcome of the swing (no competition) and just try to put the correct new swing to use on course. Have to keep practice fun or it becomes a chore, right?

Saturday was a club tournament and I played with my friend Cristen. She’s awesome and you will be seeing/hearing more about her in the future here on TGC. She suggested the name “Minx” for my swing. It may become bold and impudent but does my swing seem flirtatious or of low morals to you? Haha I kind of like the name though. Think it may have to be more along the honey badger lines though. Any more ideas?

Speaking of honey badger (again), I want to give a shout out to my friend Brad Schott, whom I know through twitter, for turning me onto this honey badger thing. I am now an official member of the Honey Badger Golf Club, which is something Brad is developing for a potential launch this fall. I can’t really share any details with you for now but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun! If you’re interested, you can follow him on Twitter for now until he gets a website up for it. He’s @GolfSchott and @HoneyBadgerGolf. Are you a honey badger?

Cute statue at home on Sterling Hills Golf Club, where we played Saturday.

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Is Time Running Out For The Golf Chick’s Golf?

July 11, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I had a meeting yesterday (which started on a golf course but ended in a living room) during which I basically committed to yet another 20 hours a week on a project. With pesky sleep, household & single (with shared custody) dog mom duties, I’m running out of hours in the day. I’m afraid that my current bill paying projects may take away from my golf practice & progress toward breaking 80, not to mention my blogging, tweeting and facebooking about it all. However, I will do all I can to do all the above and continue to pretend to be remain sane. If I tweet, FB or blog less, feel free to smack me around a bit. Beware, I may smack back – heehee. This mad pace should be temporary, but may fluctuate up until November 2012.

My personal golf improvement goal remains as well as my desire to bring you tons of TGC material in text, merchandise, events and fun over the coming seasons. This is kind of starting to sound like a non-announcement announcement or just a vague Tiger presser. I’m just trying to keep you all informed on my situation! If you’ve been here long, you know I’m painfully honest and probably overshare at times, but hey, at least you know what you’re getting! Best of golf to you all, may they all roll true, and I hope to “see” you back here a couple times a week!

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Breaking 80 Progress – Golf Chick Update

July 7, 2011 / / 3 Comments

I played three rounds of golf over the long Independence Day weekend, taking my new swing out to the course after strictly range practice the past couple weeks and was excited to see how it would work. I looked at the rounds just like practice, but more fun than banging balls on the range.

On Friday, I just walked on at a local course I’m familiar with and was paired up with three other singles. All nice guys and we had a good time. In fact, I kinda fell a little in love with the nerdy married one because he had such a pretty swing. My swooning may have distracted my own game a bit but they all said they were impressed with my swing, new or not. My short game and putting really let me down. However, when I posted my score (96) – the system actually warned me “your score is lower than usual.” No bells, whistles or confetti… maybe that happens when you break 80. We will see.

The next day my hands and wrists were really hurting (I may need to figure out a good pain remedy for this new swing & my arthritis that hasn’t bothered me much since childhood) so I didn’t play or even practice my full swing. I did, however, hit the practice facility for a long overdue short game session of chipping and putting. It paid off the next day.

Making New Friends

Someone I have connected with on Twitter – Kent (a.k.a. @Voxjazz) came to town and we were able to hook up for a couple rounds the following two days. On Sunday, we met out at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where there is a gorgeous golf course I had previously only heard about – and heard great things. By the same designer as Riviera, the course did not let me down. It was amazing. If you go for the first time I recommend arranging ahead of time for the optional caddie service. We did not and were met with some difficult decisions.

Kent is a good golfer with aspirations of playing – and winning – on the Champions Tour and I think he will do it. He had mentioned before we met that he’d be happy to give me advice on my swing progress. He then saw a tweet of mine to my swing coach, Orange County golf instructor Jay Lim, that I would try not to let any other influences effect our progress, and Kent was completely respectful of that and didn’t make a single suggestion. In fact, he said he wouldn’t change a thing. As for my putting? He said my putting stroke reminded him of Steve Stricker! Umm… isn’t he one of the best putters on the PGA Tour? Hello, ninja!

That first day with Kent in Ojai, I actually shot an 86. Yes, 10 strokes better than the day before on an unfamiliar, more difficult course. The company you keep? I think so. Thanks, Kent. The system didn’t warn me about my score when I posted it that day. I think I’m going to start carrying my own confetti for when the day comes I post lower than 80. Maybe some noisemakers, too.

I have a lot of work to do yet on my swing. The third day my hands were in pain again and I proceeded to shoot a 99 – also on a difficult course. And yes, all three rounds were from the white tees. I can tell that I’m not executing my new swing every shot. It’s not ingrained in me enough yet and I will continue to practice practice practice to get it there so I don’t fall back on old habits when I don’t concentrate enough.

I think I should start a pool on when I’ll break 80. Place your bets. Anyone want to volunteer to run it? Not sure how to set it up on here… but I think it would be fun!

Meanwhile, here is a compilation of some swing videos and photos from over the weekend. I hope you enjoy it! May they all roll true!

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Swing Juice, Aiming Fluid, Driver Lube?

June 29, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Some people only play golf while consuming adult beverages. Others never “drink and drive” on the golf course for various reasons. Personally, I go both ways. It kind of depends on how competitive I want to be – and whether or not I need some ‘lube” for my nerves. If I’m just playing a casual round with friends or family, there are usually plenty of libations to keep us all good and loose.

swing juice on golf driving range

There are plenty of cute nicknames for what to call an on-course adult beverage , (I’ve heard a bunch but a popular one in my circle is “aiming fluid”), but by far the one I hear most is “swing juice.” Well it turns out there is actually an officially named GOLF DRINK by that name. Swing Juice is an energy drink that was developed by a passionate golfer like us! It contains lots of vitamins and supplements that help boost energy & focus for better performance on the course. Here is the list of ingredients and their benefits.

I actually tried the stuff years ago when the creator sent me a sample. I may or may not have blogged about it them but I sure am now. I am connected with Swing Juice on Twitter and saw a recent tweet from them that included cocktail recipe concoctions and – naturally – wanted to get my hands on those recipes. They sent me some more Swing Juice, but despite several requests have neglected to send the list of recipes. That’s okay, though, I’ve some experience and even though my recipes aren’t as fancy as theirs looked (mine generally lack creativity and are rushed together with two ingredients – booze and Swing Juice), they do the trick and are quite delish. The pic above is from a hot day of practice on the range when all I wanted and needed was straight up Swing Juice. And I LOVE the lemonade flavor.

Later that day on the golf course, I added a little tequila to another bottle of lemonade Swing Juice.

Tonight, I’m enjoying some vodka with the yummy Pomegranate Berry Swing Juice.

You really can’t go wrong, straight or spiked. I highly recommend the stuff. As you may know, I’ve been practicing a lot lately (daily) and it may or may not be a coincidence but I can actually say I’ve had better success on the range – and more fun – when I have hydrated with Swing Juice, and I plan to continue. Cheers!

What do you call YOUR on-course beverage?

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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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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!

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