As 2007 winds down, it's time to reflect back on the year, and make plans for a new one.

Last January, I posted my goals for 2007, along with a review of my 2006 accomplishments. 2006 was a big year for me. In my second year of playing, I cut my handicap by more than half, recorded my first sub-par round, hit my first hole-in-one, and competed in my first club championship and took 1st place net. Entering this year, I was hopeful about continuing this progress. I shared that I intended to play more new courses, stretch daily, continue my improvement by reducing my index to 2.0, consistently shoot rounds in the 70's, and shoot my first round of golf under 70!


Golf Course Winter Shadows by Steve at flickr.com

Well, I came close. I took 3 golf trips and played 7 new golf courses. I spent time with a golf conditioning coach, and even visited a chiropractor, and am now stretching every morning. My back still gets sore, but the chronic pain is gone! Although I didn't cut my handicap in half again as planned, I did get down to a low index of 3.3 and will be closing the year near 4.0. I did manage to come in under 80 in more than half my rounds, but breaking 70 eluded me.

I flirted with a round in the 60's on a few occasions, but the usual bad hole or a couple 3-putts stopped me. My last round was a 75, even with an OB, a lost ball, and 2 3-putts! I had a quadruple bogie during a round of 73 and a triple bogie during a round of 72. My best opportunity came during my recent round of 71. I was 2-under after 15, but double bogied 16 after someone in my foursome made a point to tell me my score.

Even though my progress slowed, it didn't stop. My putting and chipping have improved the most. That recent par round included only 24 putts! And even though I had a couple 3-putts in my last round of 75, I sunk a number of long putts and didn't miss anything close - and rarely do anymore. I'm finally confident with my putter! My chipping is improving too. This week while practiced getting up and down from different locations around the practice green using chips, pitches and lobs, I did so 23 out of 25 times, with 20 in a row!

My scores haven't come down in proportion to my improved short game mostly because my ball striking has gotten worse thanks to a shoulder injury. But even though I'm hitting less fairways and greens temporarily, I'm getting much more consistent about getting up and down to save par. I'm pretty confident that once my ball striking returns early next year, I'll see some extraordinary results.

I recorded 125 rounds this year, about 15-20 less than last year. I shot rounds of 75 or below in 1 out of 5 rounds (consistent with my handicap) and broke 80 in well over half of those rounds - leaving plenty of bad rounds for my handicap calculator to throw out. I shot 8 rounds of 73 or less, including 2 rounds of par, and only shot in the high 80's in 5 rounds. Plotting my scores for 2007 made for a perfect bell curve with an average score around 79.

This year I participated in 3 competitive leagues. I finished 3 points out of first place in my men's league that plays monthly tournaments at a local course. After leading in the standings all year, I slipped out of 1st place when I decided to take a trip to Bandon Dunes instead of competing in the club championship. I took third place in a weekly 9-hole team league where points are earned for both stroke and match play. Our team took 2nd place. The third league was a travel league where we play a different course each month. I've learned to score as well under the pressure of competition as I do recreationally.

I'll probably join these leagues again next year, along with a new men's club and travel league getting started at my home course. In the travel league our team will compete against 3 other local SGCA member courses in home and away matches during January and February. Somehow, I'll find the time to keep playing in the roller hockey league I just joined, continue donating my $20 to our local youth in our weekly skins game, and keep up with my work too. Now what was that I said recently about balance?

I truly enjoyed all the competitive golf, but it was my golf trips that highlighted the year.

My wife and I traded our timeshares twice this year to travel to Arizona and Hawaii. I played 3 rounds of golf in Arizona at the Sedona Golf Resort and 3 rounds at The Prince Course in Princeville, Kauai. Instead of playing more courses during these trips, I decided to play the same course a few times to see if I could improve on my prior round - since I struggled in both of my 1st rounds. I managed to shoot rounds of 76 and 77 on my second attempts at these courses. Good play or not, it was a pleasure playing golf in the incredible settings offered by these courses!

The biggest highlight of the year came during my trip to Bandon Dunes, with Fred Shoemaker and the Shivas Irons Society. I had recently attended my first event with the Shivas Irons Society, playing with its founder Steve Cohen at the Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang. When I then learned they offered a trip to Bandon Dunes, co-hosted by Fred Shoemaker and Jo Hardy, I jumped at the opportunity!

I didn't shoot any low scores at Bandon, but did have a few stretches of good play. I played a sequence of at least 9 holes at each course in only 1-over and succeeded in driving a short par 4 at each course. I was simply awestruck by the beauty of this place and the natural setting and links-style designs of these courses along the windswept dunes of the Pacific Ocean - golf as it was meant to be! The best part of the trip however was meeting and playing golf with Fred and Jo, along with all the other participants. It was a great group of people! If time and money permit, I think I'll repeat this trip next year!

One other golf-related event that I really enjoyed this year was watching our local golfer, Josh Warthen, compete in Big Break Mesquite on the Golf Channel. He demonstrated the exemplary character and attitude we all know him for, along with some great golf. Congratulations Josh on making it all the way to the finals!

2007 will undoubtedly be memorable, but I'm eagerly awaiting 2008.

Next year will be my last year before turning 50 and is the year both of my children graduate college! As they finally get started in their careers (fingers crossed), I will finally focus on fitness (out of necessity). I'm really motivated to improve my strength and flexibility so I can continue to play golf and hockey - into my old age. In my golf game, I'll make it a goal again to lower my index to 2.0, but my main goal is to continue to play for the love of the game, and look to its opportunities for community, discovery and transformation.

Wishing you all an Artful Holiday and New Year!

Labels: About, Goals, Progress

Since picking up the game in 2005 with my old golf clubs, I've gradually replaced each club with new ones - except for my Orlimar Tri-Metal fairway woods. I just haven't found any reason to replace them. When I think back to my most amazing golf shots, they almost all involve my favorite 20-degree Tri-Metal. My first eagle came on the par 5 6th at Monarch Dunes after I hit my 5-wood from 215 yards out to just 18 inches for an easy tap-in. My favorite was a Mickelson-like shot from within a eucalyptus grove that after navigating a narrow row of trees, carried a large lake and landed safely back in the fairway, leading to a remarkable birdie. I'm simply fearless with this club.

I initially purchased these clubs eight years ago when I made an earlier attempt to pick up the game, but quickly gave it up due to severe tendonitis. At that time, Orlimar was a renowned club maker. The popular Tri-Metal products had transformed this small company into a big business. It's designer, Jesse Ortiz, had grown up shaping wooden drivers for his father, who started Orlimar in 1960 in the bay area. Although he had devoted clients like Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller, it was his metal designs that put the company on the map and eventually grew Orlimar Golf Company into a $100 million enterprise.


Bobby Jones by Jesse Ortiz

When I started playing again a few years ago and began looking at new clubs, I was shocked that Orlimar was nowhere to be found. I eventually learned that the small company had grown too fast and basically choked to death on its own success, only to be later reincarnated under different ownership.

Then, just a few weeks ago, I happened to run across Jesse Ortiz's new golf blog and learned that he has recently reemerged, designing and building clubs for Bobby Jones Golf. Citing a desire for expansion of the Bobby Jones brand name into equipment, the Jones-heirs and the Hartmarx Corporation, owners of the apparel company, partnered with Ortiz and entrepreneur Walter Rosenthal.

I contacted Bobby Jones Golf to find out if their clubs were available here on the Central Coast, and to share that I was still using my Orlimar woods. I got a reply from their Chief Interactive Officer, Jim McDonough. During our subsequent email correspondence, I learned Jim lived about 30 minutes away from me!

Jim asked if I'd like to review their 21-degree hybrid. I did of course. I then asked Jim if he'd like to play Monarch Dunes. He did. Last week, we finally hooked up. Jim treated me to a Bobby Jones hybrid to review. I treated him to a round of golf.

Just during the short time we stood on the first tee, I learned that we were both hockey fans, both served 6 years in the military, both had worked for local tech firms and knew several common co-workers, both had developed websites for a local golf course, and now both worked from home. By the end of the round, we both loved Bobby Jones hybrids!

During the round, I pulled the 21-degree hybrid out of my bag on 9 different occasions! I performed full swings, punch shots, and choked-up half swings, from the tee, fairway and rough. Other than a couple pushes to the right, the rest of my attempts were right on target with a high trajectory and soft landing. I found the club easy to hit from all lies and was even able to work the ball left and right with little effort. Even with all this experimentation - and a lot of conversation - I shot a pretty respectable round. I didn't get a chance to hit the club from a divot or fairway bunker, but it's curved toe seems designed specifically for such difficult lies.



The Bobby Jones hybrid has the same maraging face as my old Tri-Metal, only it's even thinner. It's now about 1.6 millimeters. No one else is making a face that is thinner on their hybrids or fairway woods. This allowed Ortiz to again distribute weight optimally into his tri-tiered sole, reducing drag and helping to disperse vibration. Their hybrids are also shorter in length to increase accuracy and truly be long iron replacements, not fairway metal alternatives.

When you set the hybrid on the ground, you notice it's longish toe and triangular shape, giving it a classic look, kind of a throwback to the old Cleek or Mashee. This nostalgic look turns out to be very important to the playability of the club. The apex of the club is slightly lowered and the particular location of this apex helps the club to be more stable on off center hits. So, as Ortiz shares, "even though the club looks like something Bobby Jones would be comfortable playing, it actually has state-of-the-art technology built in to it."

I got another chance to hit shots with the hybrid a couple days later in a Men's Club tournament at another local course. With 2 holes to go, I was 3-over and within 1 stroke of the lead. A friend in my foursome was currently tied for first and had just landed the green from 205 yards out on the long, uphill, 2-handicap par 4 8th. Knowing I had to get on too, I pulled out the Bobby Jones hybrid for this shot from the same distance in the rough. My ball faded slightly towards the pin and left a ball mark less than 2-feet from the hole, but rolled towards the back of the green, right next to my opponent's ball. We both underestimated the downhill speed and ended up 3-putting for bogie. He made up for it by sinking a long putt for eagle on the final par 5 9th for a 1-over 73. I birdied to get back to 3-over and my 75 took 3rd place.

It's pretty impressive that with just a dozen prior swings using this golf club, I already had the confidence to use it in this pressure situation... and nailed it. Now I'm eager to try their new 460cc driver!

Jesse Ortiz Design Studio | Bobby Jones Golf

Labels: Bobby Jones Golf, Club Review, Hybrid, Jesse Ortiz, Rounds

One of my main intents in creating this website earlier this year was the desire to share a book that I read - Extraordinary Golf by Fred Shoemaker - that inspired my biggest breakthroughs, not by teaching me how to improve my swing, but by transforming how I think on the golf course. The day after reading the book, I broke 80. One year later, I broke par.

Not bad, but it pales in comparison to a story I just read about a practicing surgeon in Cambodia who at 47 years old returns to golf after 28 years, and after surprisingly finding his skills still mostly intact, decides to realize his neglected potential by first sharpening his competitive skills in high stakes gambling games with some generals from the Cambodian armed forces, and soon after, pursues his tour card!


Striking it Rich by Reid Sheftall, M.D.

Reid Sheftall M.D. shares his unique experiences during this improbable journey in his new book - Striking It Rich; Golf in the Kingdom With Generals, Patients and Pros - a golf story that inspires and entertains while providing real-life wisdom and invaluable insights into the game. As one of his readers shares, "You've never read a golf story quite like this one." I agree, and I finally have a second book to recommend!

I was particularly drawn to the book initially since Sheftall takes up the game at nearly the same time and age I did. I was intrigued that someone our age could make such incredible progress so quickly, especially while working as a surgeon and running a medical center in Phnom Penh. I was surprised, not only by how much this story moved and inspired me, but, like Shoemaker's book, that it contained so many insights with the potential to transform your game. The book definitely rekindled my desire to keep improving.

I was also taken by how similar our approaches were. Although he was more skilled from the start, we both determined that with our limited time to play and practice due to having jobs, we had a much better chance to improve quickly by focusing on the most important fundamental, "changing how we think on the course", instead of working on our swing technique and taking lessons. Sheftall believes "the only way to change the quality and direction of your life is to change the way you think. If you believe something, truly believe it, your mind will figure out a way to make it a reality."

Sheftall, when asked frequently how he'd compete professionally if he hardly ever practiced or played anymore, would explain, "he kept things simple and would just swing the club the way it felt most comfortable. That way he didn't have to practice anything to keep it in tune." If asked how he developed such a good short game, he'd advise, "just think of the target and swing... Don't worry about how hard to hit the ball or how far back to take your backswing. Your brain will figure it out for you... Take a relaxed yet focused look at the target and keep that target in his mind when you swing... Never do anything mechanical or measured. Let your natural athletic grace guide you. It's swallowing, not carburetor repair." Ah, music to my ears!

An aspect of the book I found very compelling is how Sheftall weaved his incredible non-golfing life experiences into his story, from counting cards at the blackjack tables of Nevada to operating on children who had suffered disfiguring scars from acid attacks. It was interesting to learn how he applied so much of what he'd learned from these experiences in improving his thinking and decision-making on the course. One thing I learned from his experiences is to never make a wager with a card-counting M.I.T. grad.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned from his book concerned expectations. The books I've read suggest we let go of expectations when we play, but Sheftall suggests this is bad advice. In fact, he thinks that "the better players are beating the rest of us, because to a large degree, they expect to." Once we've put in the work and gained the necessary experience, we should expect success. Sheftall encourages expectations. The key, he shares, "is to not get too frustrated if those expectations are not met as precisely as you envisioned them." His personal mantra, "on any given day", is all about expectancy, and reminds me of the power of Shoemaker's phrase "the art of the possible".

So, at this point you might be asking, did Sheftall "strike it rich"? Well, I'll only share that he finally discovered what was missing in his game as a youth and what he suspects is missing in the games of a great many touring pros and amatuers alike, "Hitting one shot at a time isn't the answer - enjoying each and every shot is."

In my opinion, Striking It Rich would make a great gift for the holidays! And half of the proceeds from the book are donated to Operation Kids, a fund founded by Sheftall to provide free operations on children who have suffered disfiguring scars from burns. The surgeons at the American Medical Center in Phnom Penh have agreed to waive their fees in performing reconstructive surgery on injured children of limited means. To date, they have performed 92 such operations on 86 Cambodian children.

Labels: Books, Competition, Expectations, Reid Sheftall, Striking It Rich

As a new year approaches and I near the end of my third year of playing golf, I'm finding it's time to reevaluate my goals and priorities and perhaps regain more balance in my life. I've made golf a big priority over the past 2 years, playing an average of 10 rounds per month and practicing once or twice a week while staying gainfully employed as a software developer. With my spouse working and both kids in college, my family commitments are minimal, so it's been rather easy to spend most of my free time playing golf.

I've kept up with my responsibilities at work, but I've admittedly let many of my tasks around the house go. I've got termites munching on our veranda, woodpeckers pecking on our chimneys, gophers feasting on our new landscaping, a lawn needing reseeding, dead trees needing removal, burn piles needing burning, fencing needing replacement, and of course, the never-ending honey-do list to attend to.


Balance in snow by Oilinki at flickr.com

Even activities that I enjoy have been set aside. I've only recently returned to playing hockey. I've barely made any trips to the mountains to go snowboarding or hiking. And my wife and I have hardly taken any weekend trips in our little motorhome.

I've continued to neglect my health and fitness too. With one more year before turning 50, I've never been to a gym, never exercised regularly, and only recently began stretching for a few minutes each morning. My back is better, but continues to limit my ability play or practice more frequently, and now a new shoulder injury threatens to sideline me from the game for a while.

I initially hurt my shoulder a month ago after purchasing a new driver, then spending the next 3 days on the range, hitting way too many balls trying to hit 'em straighter and longer - to justify the unnecessary purchase. I continued to play despite the pain and found myself in even more pain after each round. Last weekend I played in a 2-day match tournament and followed that with my weekly skins game on Monday and weekly roller hockey game on Tuesday. Now my shoulder is throbbing and affecting my sleep.

I'm certainly not complaining. I realize how fortunate I am that such a trivial injury is the only real challenge I'm currently facing. My family is healthy, my wife is happy, and my kids are doing well in school. I'm actually viewing this more as an opportunity to regain balance in my life. Or perhaps the injury is life's little way of telling me that I need to regain some balance. Either way, I'm eager to make some changes.

We've all watched friends make a religion out of something, whether it's golf, or fitness, or nutrition, or even work. It's important to maintain balance and put sufficient energy into all aspects of your life - family and friends, body and spirit, education and career, and travel and recreation. As we all know, golf can easily consume a lot of time and energy, taking time away from other important areas.

That said, I've also found that putting extra energy into a single activity for long periods of time is sometimes necessary and can even benefit other aspects of our life.

In my twenties, I put my career first. For the first time in my life, I applied myself at something. I put all my energy into my studies and my work. In the Navy, I gradually climbed from the bottom half of my class during my training as an Electronics Technician and Reactor Operator to finally graduating #1 in my class. I was rewarded with instructor duty, reducing my submarine duty to 2 years. I then continued this drive after the Navy, graduating from Coleman College with a 4.0 GPA, and was soon rewarded with a challenging and successful career in software development.

But over time, life seeks balance.

When I turned 35, I gradually started spending less time at work and more time with my family and having fun. I started coaching my son's soccer, baseball, and hockey teams. I learned how to snowboard while teaching my family how to ski, and I started playing roller hockey. I tried playing golf on two occasions, but didn't stick with it - mostly because my son and I were enjoying hockey together.

I loved playing sports growing up, but gave them up completely after our family moved when I was 12 years old. I got a job at a gas station in 7th grade, caddied during 8th grade, and worked and partied through high school. Then I joined the Navy for 6 years, got married 1 week after I got out, and found out my wife was pregnant 4 months later. Responsibility meant having fun had to wait.

But having met those responsibilities, I made a choice several years ago to leave a very stressful career and take a step back. Now, with a less demanding job and less family commitments, I've enjoyed the opportunity I've had to take up golf. And even though I've put a lot of time and effort into my game, perhaps at the expense of other responsibilities, this little obsession with golf has made me happier and has even taught me patience!

However, I think it's time I let go a little with golf and catch back up on other activities and responsibilities. I'm still planning to play golf on a regular basis once my shoulder heals, but with a different attitude and focus - one that makes time for hockey, snowboarding, hiking, friends and family, and my fitness and health!

I have one year before I'm 50... I'm planning to get there in better shape than I've been in since my 20's!

p.s. I'll still be posting here. I'm currently reading 3 golf books that you'll want to hear about.

Labels: About, Balance, Disciplines