Monday 28 February 2011

Golf Course success with Club Management

 

Many of you may think that when I start talking about Golf Course management that I am discussing office level work or how clubs are run. This however is not what I mean, when I refer to course management what I am talking about is how to negotiate and manage your round of golf. Strategy if prefer.

Break it down
It is most important to remember that you have a long way ahead of you, maybe 4 hours to play your round, depending of course on how many playing partners are with. You will also have to contend with the distance of each hole and how to break this up into manageable "chunks". When I talk about chunks really I mean of course how many shots you will need to get your GIR (Greens in Regulation).

Sunday 27 February 2011

The Golf Clubs I carry and why... an insight into my bag selection

Here are the clubs I currently carry and my reasons for doing so:

3 Wood - Wilson Staff Fybrid
4 Iron to Sand-Wedge Jack Nicklaus HiCT
60 degree PING Lob Wedge
White Hot Odyssey Putter
Rescue Club - Taylor Made R7 CGB Max Distance 3

Surely a driver?
What no driver? Well for me I have dropped the driver for the moment as my swing tends to cause punishment if I miss-hit. Nothing is worse than hitting a long ball along way out-of-bounds or into some wooded area, and I have found that the 3 Wood can give me the same distance but with a-lot more accuracy. I am surprised sometimes when people take drivers for holes which don't necessarily need a big hit to get the GIR (greens in regulation leaving 2 putts for par) GIR explained.

Saturday 26 February 2011

Bundsay Downs Golf Course - Rain Play and What NOT to Do

My fellow golfers looked at the forecast without trying to turn to religion to increase our chances of holding the rain at bay. I checked the Met Forecast, the BBC both TV and Web - and local regional weather. The rain was due from late morning till late morning. What should we do?

Well we already had tee-times booked in advance for 10am and 10.12am, and I thought if I could drag my heels a little, it would be possible to avoid the worse of the english weather - well at least the early morning part.

Friday 25 February 2011

Stableford Scoring System - How it works



The Stableford Scoring System – What is it?


Stableford Scoring, works in combination with your handicap (whether it is a club handicap or an assumed handicap amongst a group of friends) awards golfers points for their score on each hole providing the NETT outcome is one over par or better. If not it is considered a BLOB (i.e. no points can be awarded and normally to speed up play a player will pick their ball up as they can’t score on that particular hole).

Braintree Golf Club - Stonebridge Society competition

Well the first competition got under way for the Stonebridge society at Braintree Golf Club near Stisted in Essex. There were 20 players and although this was a non-scoring events in terms of the Grand Prix, prizes were given for 1st 2nd and closest-to-the-pin which I managed to win!

One problem which was expected was rain. Playing in the rain requires a whole new mindset. And rain it did over the whole round.
I discovered my play is effected massively by wet-weather equipment and once my club grips get wet my confidence plummets. The greens in particular were effected with water not soaking away and leaving the greens in a very poor condition to get those important 2 putts.
The course itself was close to being shut for play, but considering the event had been booked for 3 weeks before had, us hardened 20 souls ventured out.
The point scoring reflected the bad conditions with the winner coming in with 30 Stableford points followed by second on 24. I felt an odd pang of disappointment and only managed to get into double figure (14 points) with more blobs than I dare to think about.

For more information about this fantastic course see the link below

Sunday 20 February 2011

Short Game PW SW and a Lob Wedge from 35 yards to 150 yards

Well I went to the range and discovered some interesting factors - I try to concentrate on my short game at the moment, because as I see it this part of the game costs me so many shots. Now I can drive very well from the tee, mostly using a 4 or 5 iron to take me 190-220 yards, HOWEVER my problem is taking fat-shots into the green when I have only 100 to 60 yards to go.

Saturday 19 February 2011

How I like to Putt... my golfing technique and focus

For some putting is the hardest part of the game but for me it is the most gentle part. Of course technique is key here, but so is a good mental view-point. Often I will visualise the putt in my mind, seeking the line in my mind's-eye.

The set-up I use is 2 practice warm-up swings getting the feel for how the ball will travel from the putter. This helps me ascertain distance. Next is a good-read looking at how the slopes will effect the ball direction, left, right or up or down.