I just returned from a trip to Sedona, AZ. Sedona is a long 10 hour drive from our home near San Luis Obispo, CA, across a lot of hot desert. Our route takes us along Hwy 58 through Bakersfield and Tahachapi, then I-40 from Barstow to Flagstaff. Sedona is just a short drive south of Flagstaff, through scenic Oak Creek Canyon. In addition to taking several hikes with my wife, I worked in three rounds of golf at Sedona Golf Resort in the Village of Oak Creek. I usually try to play a variety of courses on vacation, but I liked this course so much after the first day that I kept returning.


Sedona Golf Resort, Sedona, AZ

I joined a father and son from Edmonton, Alberta and a local named Ernie for my first round. I thoroughly enjoyed Ernie, a recent Assistant Mayor of Sedona who got involved in local politics in an effort to stop plans for a new 4-lane freeway into this picturesque town. Lots of development including tons of new multi-million dollar vacation homes have already sprung up since my last visit 15 years ago. Ernie succeeded in getting elected to the city council, but the council later filled with pro-development representatives, so Ernie has made plans to leave.

Ernie proved to be a great guide for my first visit to the course, giving advice on the best targets for tee shots and approaches. His biggest advice was to avoid the bunkers, which were more like crushed red rock than sand. What made the round especially memorable was the weather. The winds were up, but we weren't expecting rain. But after playing the first two holes, storm clouds began appearing over the mountains to the west and began drenching us by the time we reached the third fairway. I could tell the other three golfers really wanted to turn back, but I was eager to keep on and mentioned it would probably pass over quickly. Instead, the rain turned to hail. We got hailed on four times, making for interesting putting! On one fairway, I stood over my ball and watched a huge wall of white hail approach us. It was remarkable watching this curtain of white pass over the distant green, then approach us yard by yard down the fairway. I got my shot off just as the hail reached us. The cart made for timely cover! By the time we reached the sixteenth, the thunder and lightning were so frequent and close that sirens began to sound and our cart's display panel informed us to return to the clubhouse. Our Edmonton friends left, but Ernie and I continued on, agreeing that the lightning seemed to have already passed us to the south. The sun finally came out on the eighteenth, casting shadows while we made our final putts! The weather definitely hurt my score, finishing with an 83, but I actually loved being out in it and watching the storm and it's incredible cloud formations among the spectacular red rocks surrounding the course.


Sedona Golf Resort 10th

Wanting a chance to improve on my score and experience the course in better weather, I headed out again two days later in complete sunshine. I played this round with only another single, which made for a lot of waiting over many shots since the course was full in front of us with foursomes. Although the weather was very pleasant, my partner, who was a personal injury lawyer, spent most of the front nine on the phone attending to business. I'm pretty easy going, but it became very distracting. Due partly to his lack of etiquette and also due to slow play, I finished the front nine 6-over. I had shot 4-over on the front two days earlier in harsh weather conditions! Fortunately, my partner had to make a court appearance by three o'clock and had to stop after 13 holes! I finished by myself and shot even par on the back with 1 bogie and 1 birdie, happily ending the round with a 6-over 77! It's interesting what you learn about someone in a single round of golf. I learned that my lawyer buddy is 37 years old, married, 2 kids (5 and 7), is originally from Phoenix, runs the biggest personal injury office in Northern Arizona, and has a 5400 sq. ft. home on Flagstaff Ranch Country Club, which he bought for $875k, including the $75k golf membership. Boy, you sure get a lot more for your money in Flagstaff than where I live!


Sedona Golf Resort 11th

I played a final round the very next day among spectacular cumulus clouds, but no rain. I hooked up with another attorney, from New York, and an old Irish twosome from Long Beach, CA. This attorney was not only a very good golfer, starting the game when he was 6 years old, but was pleasant to play with as well. He also had an appointment which cut his round short, but he never pulled out his cell phone. One of the two Irishmen was an absolute joy. He started the round duffing one shot after another, but putting his lobs right up to the pin. After a few holes, he apparently got warmed up and remembered how to play, and began hitting pretty impressive drives for such a squirrelly swing. I finally got off to a good start, parring most of the first holes, but lost a ball on one tee shot causing a double bogie, then loosing another soon after, leading to a triple! I snuck in a birdie to finish the front just 5-over. I got a little sloppy at the end of the round, trying to repeat some great drives I'd hit earlier in the round - trying to keep up with the crushing drives of the attorney. I landed a lake on both 16 and 18, and finished the back nine 3 over for an 8-over 79. Not a bad finish to a wonderful vacation!

I absolutely loved the course! Not only was the setting spectacular, but I found it much more difficult than it's 120 slope would indicate. The greens were fast and undulating, and well protected by crushed red rock bunkers. Many fairways were tight, with menacing desert shrub grabbing any ball that seemed only slightly offline. But what challenged me the most was the thin air at nearly 4500 feet of elevation. I never quite figured out what club to use on my approaches. Although I loved hitting my 8 iron 170 yards, it usually resulted in finding a bunker beyond the green. On the downhill par 5 eleventh, I crushed a 345 yard drive, leaving me only 189 yards out. I then hit a 7-iron 10 yards past the hole, thinking I'd leave my shot below the hole for an uphill chip or putt! Believe me, I've never hit a 200 yard 7-iron before!

I definitely look forward to returning someday to Sedona, to enjoy another hike to Cathedral Rock, and to play a few more rounds at Sedona Golf Resort!

Labels: Arizona, Courses, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Rounds, Sedona, Sedona Golf Resort

"The more I practice, the luckier I get" -- Ben Hogan

Peter Nomm, General Manager and Head Golf Pro at Minocqua Country Club in Wisconsin, recently posted some great advice for your practice routine at his golf instructional blog. He suggests that instead of hitting dozens of shots with one club, then dozens more with another, then perhaps holing 100 3-foot putts in a row that we approach our practice routine more like we would for other sports or activities such as basketball, football, baseball, and even piano. A basketball player wouldn't go to the gym and spend five minutes shooting 5-foot jump shots, then 10-footers, 15-footer, all the way back to a bunch of three-pointers. Can you imagine a concert pianist practicing by striking the same key over and over?


I think I'll take a mulligan, by bensargent at flickr.com

Using basketball as an example for a new approach to our golf rehearsals, Nomm shares that, "usually the first few minutes of time is devoted to the warm-up. Randomly shooting short shots, long shots, and throwing in a lay-up or two - basically getting a feel for the ball as the body loosens up and get's ready to go. This is a great way to begin our golf practice session - hit some chips and pitches, high-and-low shots, and vary the distance of each. Focus on getting the feel in your hands: re-connecting your body with the game enabling your natural ability to take over. Eventually you will want to lengthen the shots so that you are swinging fully, but continually change from driver to iron to wedge and so on. Like a basketball player, every shot you'll face on the course will be different. Get your body ready for this... our focus should be getting us confident enough to be able to hit the shot on the course. Finally, when the warm-up is completed and the drills are done, usually the rest of the time is devoted to real game simulations. In golf, it means GET OUT ON THE COURSE. Practce out there. You don't have to play an entire round - it could be four or five holes. And like a coach observing a practice, if the team messed up a play, he may require them to do it again. If you're on the course for the purpose of practice, allow yourself to hit the occasional second try. However, if you have a recurring problem with a certain club or shot, note it to yourself and if time allows, spend a few minutes back on the range when you are done."

I think this is excellent advice! I have incorporated a similar practice philosophy and make a point to mix up my shots and putts as much as possible during practice sessions to better simulate conditions during a round. When I'm not working on a particular new shot or technique, I limit every shot I'm practicing to two shots. I call this my "Mulligan" practice routine. I'm sure we've all missed a shot or putt before during a round, then dropped another ball and tried again, just for practice. Chances are you nailed it the second time. I use this to my advantage when I practice. I hit one shot or putt and gauge conditions such as wind, break or speed, then hit or putt my mulligan ball, attempting to improve on the first shot. I know I only get two chances to hit my target or hole my putt, so I make the most of each attempt. I find that golfers who drop a whole bucket of balls down and hit or chip the same shot over and over again with the same club seem to loose focus. They think they're working on developing muscle memory, but the routine lacks the mindset required on the course.

On the practice green, I use my two balls and practice up and downs from varying locations around the green. I'll practice a random rotation of holing putts from various distances, lag long putts, chip from off the green, and lob over imaginary mounds and bunkers, then hole the resulting putt. I keep track of how many strokes above or below par I am, with each shot being a par 2. For me, this makes practice fun and I never tire of doing it. If my back didn't start hurting from bending over for so many putts, I could go on for hours.

Yesterday, inspired by Peter Nomm's practice advice and eager to experiment with Chuck Hogan's insights, I headed out for a lengthy practice session before my Tuesday night 9-hole league round. What I discovered is a new variation to my "Mulligan" routine.

On the range, I picked a very precise target (usually a single ball sitting on the range), then visualized my ball traveling through the air and landing on that spot. I then looked down and took my swing, doing physically what I'd just rehearsed in my mind. I then did it again with the same club, then moved on to another club. I didn't concentrate, I just looked out at the range and observed the conditions and visualized my desired shot. I was amazed by my accuracy.

I then moved to the practice green and rehearsed my shots in the same manner. I casually observed the break of the green, visualized the ball landing and rolling to the hole, and picked a very precise spot on the edge of the hole where the ball should drop in. I then simply took the wedge or putter back and performed the stroke I'd just rehearsed. I never chipped or putted better.

What I discovered is that I was using my rehearsed "virtual" shot as if it was my first practice shot, then treated my actual shot as if it were my "mulligan" shot, which we all know is always an improvement over our first shot, because it's approached with that invaluable "non-caring" attitude. As I expected, I nailed that "second" shot every time. I already knew I could do it since I'd just done it "virtually".

Once the match began, I maintained my "soft eyes" and calm demeanor out on the course and continued to rehearse my shots, sensitive to the conditions of my surroundings, but without concentrating or trying. I simply trusted that I'd make the "mulligan" shot to the precise spot I'd just rehearsed visually.

I succeeded on nearly every shot and won my match. I holed every putt within 8 feet and shot a round of 2-over, even with a 2-stroke penalty for an out-of-bounds due to poor club selection. It was a very windy round and I miscalculated the wind direction on a long approach shot, thinking I had more headwind, when in fact it was mostly a crosswind. I ended up taking too much club and landed 1 foot past the OB marker beyond the green. I double bogied that hole and bogied 2 others, but managed 2 birdies to capture a great round under some difficult conditions.

It looks like I'll be practicing and playing with mulligans from now on!

Labels: Articles, Disciplines, Practice

"Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher." -- William Wordsworth

An anonymous reader of my last entry shared a link to Chuck Hogan's website. I mentioned Hogan in a previous post about the "zone", but at the time didn't know who he was. It turns out Hogan has worked for years with golfers of all levels, including several well known PGA and LPGA Tour players, helping them enter the "zone" using a combination of mental and physical disciplines. He provides several fascinating articles at his website, one of which provided insights that I haven't really considered in depth before.


Early morning round by Deano8 at flickr.com

Most fascinating is Hogan's observation that, unlike golf, we perform activities like brushing our teeth, tying our shoes, and driving our car without any thought of how we are doing the doing. He notes that the number of motor skills required for shoe-tying is far more complex than something as simple as the putting stroke. Once the skill has been learned, all that is required is intent to perform the task, and with little attention to the intention. What appears to make golf different from these other activities is that we attach "caring" to its outcome. Hogan suggests that its the caring that blocks the doing.

I've observed that in each of my par or near-par rounds, I was playing without expectations, with my attention focused less on my game and more on my natural surroundings or golf partners. I was "playing" golf. It didn't require intense concentration. It didn't require trying. I didn't experience tension.

Hogan claims that the mainstream philosophy that we must concentrate well to play well may be flawed. He submits that tension is too often associated with concentration and concentration is too often expressed as trying - with a hard, glaring, squinted-eyed stare. Instead, Hogan suggests that "soft eyes", eyes of engagement without tension, are part and parcel to the "zone".

These soft and engaged eyes are sensitive to all of it's surroundings, allowing us to be, as Hogan teaches, entirely free to consume the target and all of it's conditions, such that the golfer is less "hitting the ball to the target" and more "having the target elicit the ball from the golfer."

That sounds like something Shivas Irons would say!

Chuck Hogan warns us to "be careful of descriptions of how it is done. The descriptions of how one person plays great golf may be exactly how you would play your worst golf. Be careful of how it is supposed to be done and become a great student of how you play extraordinary golf. Have your way. You have specific ways that you play your worst and best golf. Become a student of how you work. Notice the subtle ways that you hit great shots and lousy shots. Assume nothing! Be a student of your own process. Know thyself! It might just turn out to be the most fascinating pursuits of your entire life."

With all senses engaged, come forth into the light of things surrounding and creating each shot, and let golf become your teacher.

Labels: Articles, Chuck Hogan, Concentration, Disciplines, Learning

"You’ll come away from the links with a new hold on life, that is certain if ye play the game with all yer heart." -- Shivas Irons

I'm currently rereading Golf in the Kingdom by Micheal Murphy. I'm drawn to its unique insight into the game of golf and the spirit with which it can be played. Shivas’ reminder that "your handicap is not an exact mirror of your soul, it is your relation to your score that really counts," reminds us that the game can be about self-discovery instead of just about performance.


Surreal by insight32 at flickr.com

Golf is played at many levels and for many reasons, but as Murphy shares, "Golf is first a game of seeing and feeling. It can teach you stillness of mind and a sensitivity to the textures of wind and green. Golf is also a game to teach you about the messages from within, about the subtle voices of the body-mind. And once you understand them you can more clearly see the ways in which your approach to the game reflects your entire life."

That's what golf offers at its deepest level, that opportunity to discover more of who we are and to evolve towards who we can be. Instead of playing golf as a simple pursuit of recreation or competition, golf can inspire us toward inner growth. For, as Flower A. Newhouse shares, "evolution is working on us, chiseling and refining us, bringing all its tools of experience to bear on us." And golf is one of evolution's tools!

After rereading this novel, I discovered the Shivas Irons Society, which was formed fifteen years ago in response to the popularity of the book and the outpouring of letters from readers. This non-profit society is dedicated to furthering the game of golf as a mindful pursuit and as a tool for personal growth and transformation. Having a similar philosophy, I decided to become a member. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the 1000+ members who share a common love for the game and a respect for golf's deeper dimensions.

I've also been inspired to reevaluate my goals. Instead of focusing solely on shooting lower scores and lowering my handicap, I'll place more attention on raising my awareness and developing my character. It doesn't hurt that the self discoveries and transformations that I've already made have also improved my game! Approaching the game with a humble spirit has helped me the most in making such swift progress. The challenge now is to stay the course and not become focused on those results, but continue on the path of self-conquest that enabled those results.

Labels: About, Books, Flower A. Newhouse, Golf in the Kingdom, Michael Murphy, Shivas Irons Society

"We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it." -- William Hazlitt

In the early 1970s the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was puzzled by an intriguing question in human motivation: Why do artists and other creative people forego the common rewards and enticements of everyday life-food, sleep, sex, comfort, status, and the like-in the single-minded pursuit of their craft? In a series of studies, Csikszentmihalyi examined the motives of creative people across many disciplines. He found that creators across varied fields report the same quality of experience, and that this enjoyable experience in itself motivates them to seek new challenges.


Let's "Play" Golf

Taking his cue from rock climbers, Csikszentmihalyi adopted the term "Flow" to capture this experience. Flow denotes a state of immersed concentration in which attention is centered, distractions are minimized, and the person attains an enjoyable give-and-take with the activity. In this state people report they lose track of time and their daily problems; forget hunger, pain, and fatigue; and pass from a stance of control and "efforting" into a mode sometimes described as "active effortlessness."

Golfers love the zone. Love to be in it. Love to observe when others are in it. Love to wonder when it will happen again. Golf's mystery lies in the fact that in a game where time and a stationary ball seem to give the player the most control--to plan, to rehearse, to adjust--we seem to find the zone the least. "The moment you think you're in it, you're out of it," goes the zone conundrum.

It's the game's cruel joke that the closest the fearful, ego-driven and brain-locked golfers get to the zone is when, immediately after a poor shot or missed putt, we reflexively drop another ball, and with our mind on nothing else but where the damn thing should have gone in the first place, stripe it down the middle or into the hole.

Interestingly, with all we've studied and learned about the zone, Dr. Fran Pirozzolo, a neuropsychologist who works with professional sports teams and individual athletes, believes the experience is less frequent in sports than ever. He shares in an article, The Future of Golf by Golf Digest, "I look at Sam Snead, an intuitive genius who played for the intrinsic joy and yet had the discipline to develop his skills. Sam was built to enter the zone, probably quite often. But our culture today has taken the concept of play out of high-level sports and replaced it with a photocopy of work. At the same time, there is a drive in our culture to make things easy. The most important condition for entering the zone is a high-challenge situation with highly developed skills to meet the challenge. Without the enjoyment of play, and without high challenge and high skills, you don't have the zone. And I think we have less of those things today."

Peter Jacobsen says he achieved the zone in winning the Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49. He shares that, "The key is to create your own reality on the course. Down the stretch at Hartford, I just kept saying to myself, Be who you are, and the golf shots will be easy."

Phil Mickelson went through a similar process in achieving his "different feeling" at the Masters. Like Jacobsen, Phil said that, "I just decided that I had come so close trying to be so focused and so intense, but that's not really the way I am normally. I enjoy having fun, and I wanted to carry that into my play. And that brought out my best game."

Chuck Hogan, who after 35 years of pursuing the zone from all angles, has come full circle and now believes that "The zone is all about play. It's the simplest bypass to all the things we do to screw ourselves up. The whole reason we play is to find that primal joy we once had. We know it's in there, and it becomes its own reward. The way to the zone is your own."

Psychologist Jon Skidmore shares steps he teaches to help young musicians attain flow to overcome anxiety and enjoy themselves on stage in an article, Putting the 'Play' Back into Performing by the American Psychological Association. These steps translate perfectly to helping us play golf with less anxiety and more fun.

Relaxation on demand - Stepping in front of an audience excites most people, says Skidmore, but musicians can keep their heart rate from skyrocketing by breathing deeply while tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups. The psychologist advises performers to master this technique in their practice room-perhaps while taking a needed break from playing. However, other musicians may experience the opposite problem-not being excited enough about a performance-says Skidmore.

Preperformance preparation - Skidmore recommends that musicians take five minutes before stepping onto the stage, using the minutes to relax and focus on their performance goals. During workshops, the psychologist helps musicians discover their own trigger words-words that capture how they want to perform. One student, for instance, uses the words "outrageous" and "bold." As he breathes out, the pianist says those words to himself and then steps onto the stage.

Attention control - Good performances happen when the musician can let go of all thoughts unrelated to the music itself, says Skidmore. To that end, performers can practice tuning out mental noise–thoughts about dinner, about one's family and even about particularly difficult passages–and focus completely on what is happening in the moment.

Performance enjoyment - Letting go of anxiety and outside concerns frees up a musician to have fun, and that really comes out in the performance, says Skidmore. "It's not called 'playing' for nothing," he notes. During his workshop, the psychologist attempts to redefine the stage as a place for fun, perhaps by asking performers to act like animals or make up impromptu performances with noisemakers. These unusual performances help performers identify and conquer what Skidmore calls their "imaginary rattlesnakes"–concerns that are making their stage a dangerous place to play.

Constructive criticism - All too often, musicians mentally rehash every mistake they made, Skidmore says. Instead, he teaches performers to take a few minutes and debrief themselves about their performance. During this time, the musicians look at their recital as objectively as possible, congratulating themselves on successes as well as noting what they would like to have done differently. Skidmore guides musicians to think about what might have contributed to mistakes and then brainstorm ways to overcome those obstacles in the future.

After just one weekend with Skidmore, a student reports that he completely redefined the way he approached live performances. Instead of seeing the audience as a group of people passing harsh judgment, he began to view them as "playmates".

Labels: Articles, Disciplines, Play, Zone

I've experienced some dreadful rounds in the past couple weeks. One of the leagues I participate in plays 9-hole team matches every Tuesday night. Two weeks ago, I shot a 44 after getting off to a good start, but then 4-putting on my 5th green. This week, I went out early to play 9-holes before the match with one of my teammates so we could get in a little practice and to check out the pin placements. I shot a 51, my second worst nine in my entire 2 years playing! I lost 2 balls on the first hole and another ball a few holes later! My putting was horrendous too! But worst of all, I was duffing shots with some of my favorite clubs. My game completely unraveled for the first time since I can remember.


Peaceful Reflections by brunosmi at flickr.com

When we finished our practice round, I learned I was matched against the best player in the league for the upcoming 9 hole match. My handicap has improved so much recently, that I also found out that I didn't even get any strokes. We were both playing as 4's. Honestly, I just don't see myself as being in the same league as this guy. He's at least 15 years younger, in a lot better shape, and simply kills the ball. He has the smoothest swing I've ever witnessed. I strike the ball pretty well, but I can't even come close to keeping up with this guy. I played a round with him last year, and on a 185 yard par 3 where I take a 6-iron, he takes a 7-iron and even goes 8-iron at times. He makes it look effortless, like a pro. Although we both share a background in hockey, he's played golf since he was a youth. I've been playing seriously for just over a year.

Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive and doubtful about my chances after coming off a 51 on the same nine holes we were about to play!

Now, my bad play of late didn't just appear out of nowhere. I've spent the last two weekends ripping up tile and carpeting and installing new flooring at my wife's retail store. My wife's partner's husband had already repainted the store, and I helped him install new wood-like flooring. In addition to all the bending over that's required, moving all their displays back and forth really did a number on my back. As expected, I lost my swing and gradually lost every other part of my game.

So, without an ounce of confidence, I took this guy on.

He starts off with a 300 yard drive on a par 4, leaving him with a short wedge in. He gets it up close and makes his birdie putt. I on the other hand, hit my drive into a hill covered in long fescue. I managed to hit the fringe on my approach, but left myself with an Augusta-like, curving downhill putt with sprinklers in the way. I chipped to avoid the sprinklers and was left with 15 feet for par. I made the putt! Although I lost the hole, I made a great up and down.

I had decided before the round to limit use of my driver because it had gotten me in so much trouble during my practice round. But on the following hole, my opponent hit his drive so far, he only had an iron in to the par 5 green. I pulled out my driver to at least give myself a chance to get close in 2. I then hit my favorite 5-wood left, into some wood chips below a grove of eucalyptus trees. To my amazement, my opponent then missed his approach right. I was still in it. I hit a full lob wedge from the chips that cleared some huge bunkers and landed the green, which was out of my sight, some 25 feet above me. My opponent chipped up, but failed to clear a mound and rolled back off the green! I lagged to 2 feet. He chipped again, this time up to about 4 feet. I missed my 2-footer. He made his. We halved the hole. I had thrown away a perfect chance to take the hole and get back to even.

It turns out that my poor play began to rub off on my opponent as the round continued. On the next hole, I 4-putted after struggling to even get to the green, but he then 3-putted on the following hole. By the time we reached the final hole, I'd pulled to even in the match, and was only 1 back in our stroke play. Unfortunately, I chunked yet another tee shot and lost the last hole with a bogie. We had both played terribly. I shot a 45, he shot 43. We're both looking forward to redeeming ourselves the next time we play against each other.

I finished the round just wanting to quit playing for a while. As hard as I tried, I had a hard time enjoying myself. I felt like I'd regressed all the way back to being a beginner.

Luckily, a good night's sleep changed my attitude.

After work the next day, I headed over to another course to hit some balls on the range. After a few swings, I decided to play with my grip and ended up going a little stronger than my normal neutral grip. Immediately, everything felt better and I reduced the severity of my natural fade. I took out my driver and started hitting some pretty long and straight drives. Then, as I often do at the end of my practice session on the range, I hit a few "Happy Gilmore" drives. I have an uncanny ability to hit some awesome drives by standing back about 10 feet from the ball, then walking up and swinging with everything I've got. It's great practice for hand-eye coordination. All the golfers from the local high school team happened to be on the range with me. Before long, about a dozen of them turned around to watch this "Happy" spectacle. Effortlessly, I sent these "Happy" drives, one after the other, to the ends of the range! One guy commented that my drives were "tight" ;).

I finished my bucket and went up to the clubhouse for a beer, where I ran into a fellow x-submariner friend who lives on the course, is retired, and currently plays to a 3. He asked if I wanted to play 4 or 5 holes with him after we finished our Firestones. Eager to try out my new grip out on the course, I obliged. We played 14 through 18. I hit every green in regulation and only missed one fairway by a few feet. After I hit that one drive a little left. My friend suggested I try strengthening my right hand too. Apparently, I'd strengthened my grip with my left hand, but my right hand was still neutral, causing me to come over the ball and pull it left. I tried his suggestion on the next hole and got immediate results. On the par 5 18th, I hit another booming drive, but still had about 220 yards to the back left pin. I decided to see if I could get a little extra out of my 5-wood with my new and improved grip. I hit it perfectly and cleared the lake protecting the entire green and landed nice and soft with an easy 2-putt for birdie. What was most rewarding about this shot wasn't the extra distance and accuracy I'd discovered, but that this was the very hole I collapsed on the last time I played it, shooting a quadruple bogie after putting 2 balls in the lake during a Men's tournament, after fighting back to get to even par after a poor start.

Now back to the title of this post. I made an artful discovery. However, I'm not referring to my new grip. Yesterday, I snuck away from my computer about 2:00 in the afternoon to go back to the course I had just shot that 51/45 round. I went out as a single. My goal was to get a little more practice in with my new grip, without the influence of the beer or two I experienced the day before.

I was told in the clubhouse that they were starting off on the 10th and that nobody was in front of me for several holes. Perfect!

But when I walked up to 10, I found I was behind 2 young guys that just teed off and were now hacking the ball from one side of the fairway to the other. It wasn't pretty but at least they're giving it a try. After I wait for them to get out of range and tee off, then start walking up the fairway, another twosome comes up behind me, glaring at me with their hands on their hips. I wait in the fairway for the hacker twosome to clear the green, while these other 2 guys are still waiting on the tee for me to get out of their way. I hit a poor 7-iron short of the green, chip up and 2-putt for bogie.

I then get up to the 11th tee and see that another twosome has just let the hacker twosome play through. I wait about 10 minutes for both groups to finish this par 3. While I'm waiting, the twosome behind me catches up and joins me on the teebox. I then learn why they're irritated and why this supposed empty course is all congested. It turned out that the hacker twosome and irritated twosome weren't told to start on 10, so they had just finished the front nine and now run into those of us just starting our round. What a mess. We decided to join up as a threesome. We warmed up to each other quickly and they started smiling again. Finally, the green cleared and we all hit good shots that landed the green, but ended up on the upper tier above the hole. We all 3-putted for bogies.

I bogied the next par 5 hole too with another 3-putt, but didn't care since I was striking the ball so well. After all, I was just practicing with my new grip. I wasn't focusing too hard on my putting or worrying about my score. But then I birdied 13 and started thinking I might as well try to play a good round. I bogied one more hole and finished the back just 3-over - the same nine I'd just shot my 51 and 45! I was feeling good and happy that I didn't actually quit golf like I told myself I would a couple days prior!

My newfound friends left after we finished the back since they'd already played the front, and I continued on as a single. I hit some trees on my approach to the first green, then left myself about 15 feet above the hole after my wedge in. I lipped out on my par putt and made bogie to go 4-over. Then on the par 4 2nd, I overswung and hit another tree. I decided to pull out another ball just for practice and hit it right down the middle. The ball that hit the tree had bounced way back, but into the fairway. I hit a 7-iron to about 50 feet from the pin. Just for fun, I played my other drive too and put a wedge to about 20 feet above the hole.

For anyone who decided to keep reading, this is where my artful discovery comes in!

I took a long look at the 50 footer and decided it broke left and was downhill - a putt that could easily run away from the hole, making for an easy 3-putt. While I was standing over the ball, I got this feeling that I just wasn't lined up right. I started moving my putter alignment further and further away from the hole, then all of a sudden, I just got this feeling that I was now lined up right. Since I didn't have much confidence in my ability to 2-putt from here anyway, I decided to trust this feeling and just putt. As you might have guessed, I sunk the putt and made birdie! I then decided to go ahead and see if I could recreate this feeling with that other ball, sitting 20 feet above the hole. I hardly spent anytime looking at the putt, just enough to get a general idea of which direction it would break. I then stood over the ball and turned my putter until something just felt right. It's not a feeling I can describe, but some type of intuitive knowing. While turning my putter head to change my alignment, I got that feeling again. With total trust (I already had my birdie), I took the putter back and sunk another birdie putt! A double birdie! I was now back to 3-over.

I continued to try out this new putting method for the rest of the round. Although I didn't keep sinking all my long putts, I did leave all my lag putts within inches of the cup for easy tap in pars. On one hole, I even tried this new discovery out with my lob wedge. I was about 70 yards out with an uphill shot to a hard-to-stick green. I waited for this feeling while standing over the ball, then swung. I landed 3 feet out and putted for birdie - now just 2-over!

I missed a curly little downhill putt for par on the 8th, but made an impressive par on 9 to come in just 3-over. I'd shot even-par since those first 3 holes where I wasn't really trying to putt or score well! Shooting a 74 right after those dismal scores I'd shot the other day certainly lifted my spirits!

This little discovery of a feeling or intuitive knowing while putting has me excited! I have no doubt that after my eyes have looked over a putt from all angles, my body has all the information it needs to make the putt. I just need practice working with and trusting my intuition to guide me. Being a naturally left-brained analytical type, this will be quite a challenge for me, but I have a deep sense that what I experienced yesterday wasn't just a fluke. I really did "feel" something different when my putter was lined up correctly, even though the analytical side of me was convinced I was now aiming too high or too low.

Golf can be quite an adventure in self-discovery! If anyone has any insights or experience of their own using intuition in golf, please share.

Labels: Disciplines, Intuition, Rounds

In March of last year, I took my first vacation centered around playing golf. Although I played one round during my vacation to Kauai in 2005, this trip was my first-ever golf vacation. My wife and I traded one of our timeshare weeks to stay at the Desert Oasis Resort in Palm Springs, just a 5 hour drive from our home on the Central Coast. While my wife and I enjoyed time together shopping and dining, I also got to sneak out for 5 straight days of golf! Prior to this trip, I'd only played golf on back-to-back days a total of 3 times.


Silver Rock in La Quinta by golfslo at flickr.com

In all honesty, Palm Springs isn't really my cup of tea. As more of a nature lover, it's a little too upscale for my liking. However, being situated at the base of the snow covered Mt. San Jacinto, made for quite an impressive desert setting. The deeply weathered summit of Mt. San Jacinto stands 10,800 feet above sea level, and is the second highest mountain range in Southern California. That's a pretty impressive backdrop from the 500 foot elevation in the desert, making for the largest elevation gain from base to peak in the continental U.S.

I'm particularly drawn to this mountain since my in-laws own an old cabin in Idyllwild, which we love to visit. Idyllwild is located one mile high on the other side of the mountain, among the majestic Ponderosa and Sugar Pines and Incense Cedars.

With so many golf courses to choose from, I decided to whittle the list down to only those with 4 and 4 1/2 star ratings from Golf Digest Magazine. I also tried to pick a couple courses I could walk.

I decided to start off easy at the Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort - Resort Course (Whites 69.9/123). The Resort Course was designed by Ted Robinson Jr. and opened in February of 1995. The course is a links style desert layout, and like many of the courses in Palm Springs, is lined by homes on many of it's holes. I joined three other singles - all walkers. One of the golfers was in his early 60's, retired, and lives year round in Palm Springs. He plays Tahquitz Creek regularly during the months that all the tourists are in town, but spends the hot, but quieter, summer months playing 36 holes a day at all his favorite local courses. I can't imagine playing 36 holes a day in temperatures over 100! Anyway, the guy could play golf! As I remember, he shot 1 over on the front and 2 over on the back. He shared with me later in the round that his son plays on the Nationwide Tour, so I imagine they both play a lot of golf. Even though from the whites the course was easier than most of the courses I play at home, I had a rough start and came in with an 88. However, I was playing to about an 9 then, rarely breaking 80 and still getting scores in the high 80's perhaps 1 or 2 rounds out of every 10.

My next stop was Indian Wells Golf Resort in Palm Desert. I joined a threesome and played what was then called the East Course (Whites 70.1/131). I think it's now been redesigned and renamed. This is the first course I'd ever played where you get young guys taking your clubs and parking your car as soon as you pull in. A men's club tournament was going on when I got there, so I had to wait a couple hours for my teetime. I used that time to get in some good practice on their very nice range and putting green. That seemed to make a difference. I played well and shot a very respectable 80. The course difficulty was about the same as the two courses I play the most at home. Overall, I loved the course, but the pace of play was horrible. They were putting foursomes out every 7 minutes! That was a little painful, given the $125 I'd forked out to play.

The next day, I headed over to Silver Rock Resort in La Quinta, a new course that will soon be home to the Bob Hope Classic. This turned out to be my favorite course. The area around the course was still undeveloped and it sat right up against the region's rocky foothills. The course didn't have any homes bordering its fairways, but instead was lined with native desert sand and flora. Sand traps were everywhere! Again I walked, but joined a delightful threesome (1 couple and a friend) from Pennsylvania in carts. They were playing the whites (72/130), so I did too. I played another great round, avoiding all but 1 bunker, coming in with an 81. I was pretty happy to record an 80 and 81 for my last 2 rounds on relatively difficult courses I'd never played. I highly recommend this course.

A first trip to Palm Springs isn't complete unless you try your hand at the PGA West Stadium Course in La Quinta. Many golfers believe there may be no greater challenge in the game of golf than the PGA WEST Stadium Golf Course, designed by Pete Dye and ranked in The 100 Greatest Courses in the U.S. by Golf Magazine. Nine of the holes have water very much in play, and almost every hole displays Pete Dye's tremendous bunkering. It's no wonder the Stadium Golf Course has been the site of so many high-profile events, including The Skins Game, The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. I hooked up with 3 young guys visiting from San Diego who insisted on a milder challenge, so I again played from the whites (70.4/135), still nothing to sneeze at. Amazingly, I landed only 1 or 2 greenside bunkers and 1 lake. I even hit the green in 1 on the fabled 17th island green (which we played from the back tees). My good play continued and I finished my initiation at PGA West Stadium with a respectable 81. Next time I visit La Quinta, I plan to play the PGA West Nicholas course, which was recommended to me by the friends from Pennsylvania.

I ended the trip at Desert Dunes Golf Club, a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course over on the windy side of the freeway. Desert Dunes is widely considered one of the best layouts in the Coachella Valley. Mr. Jones took maximum advantage of the natural sand dunes and native desert vegetation when creating this timeless masterpiece. Perfectly situated to provide some of the most stunning views of the surrounding mountains, this championship course was one of my favorites and is known as one of the best golf experiences in the area and a favorite among both locals and visitors. I thoroughly enjoyed it's natural setting with fairways lined with native desert shrub and chaparral. The views offered of Mt. San Jacinto were stunning. I arrived early to save on greens fees and avoid the common 40 mph winds. I walked the course, playing again from the whites (70.2/124), with another single from the Midwest. My partner shared my appreciation for birding and we quickly started identifying the many desert birds during our round. Before I knew it, I realized I was only 1 over on the front! Being one of my first experiences with such a good start, I faltered on the back and shot 42, still managing a 79 - my first sub-80 round on vacation and a pleasant way to end the trip!

Labels: Courses, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Palm Springs, Rounds