As I've shared before, I read the book "Extraordinary Golf" by Fred Shoemaker about 6 months after I picked up the game of golf at the age of 46. I shot 76 the very next day. Now 50, and after nearly 5 years of applying Fred's principles, my handicap is down to 2 and I'm continuing to improve. In fact, I just experienced my best weekend of golf ever, shooting 68 on Saturday and 72 on Sunday, with 6 birdies in each round! Ironically, this follows some of my worst golf in months.

My learning experience has had many ups and downs and has certainly been very frustrating at times, but every time I return to Fred's approach and get out of my own way, I seem to get back on track.

This afternoon, I read an interview with Fred, which I'm passing along here with the hope that inspires others to try this unique approach to the game too. As Fred explains, it's not a mental approach, it's simply a matter of trust and being present -- and you don't have to fix something you trust.

A Top Teach Talks

Labels: Fred Shoemaker

"Why I love the games so baffles me until I realize that it's not the results that are important, it is what you learn while expecting excellence at each opportunity the game affords. That terminal gravity keeps our feet on the ground and our hearts in a gracious and giving place." ~SIS Member, Jimmy Stewart

Source: Shivas Irons Society - Facebook

Labels: Shivas Irons Society

"Taking too many lessons without practicing, and reading too many golf instruction articles can make anyone crazy... Most golfers need more mind power programming, and to just get out and play the game!"
~Randy Friedman, Golf mind power beyond the course

Labels: Body Mind Mastery, Randy Friedman

Golf Journey shares new scientific evidence that we've already swung the golf club 6 seconds before we take our shot!

"What sports psychologists and pioneering quantum science is telling us is that visualisation and thoughts are a major percentage of all sports, and some say it is 100% of the golf game. Well this science proves this to be true... What this is tells us is that we should walk on to the tee prepared for a brilliant swing, being focused and in our mind swinging free and easy; your best swing! Positivity here is key to the shot your conscience won’t play for another 6 seconds. When you stand over the ball it's too late, your swing choice has already been made; amazing!"

Labels: Articles, Body Mind Mastery, Golf Blogs

I played in two local Club Championships in the past month. Although I finished third in both, the first tournament was a disappointing failure, while the second was a huge success!


Tiger and Stricker at Presidents Cup by 44Diaries

In the first Club Championship, I was tied for the lead after the first day. I had nearly given up after throwing up a triple bogie on the 8th after grinding so hard to get through the first seven holes just 1-over. A bogie on nine just frustrated me further. I figured I was out of the hunt at 5-over, but after finishing with 3 birdies on the final 4 holes, I rallied back to actually finish tied for first, with the defending champion just 1 back. The fourth player was 3-back.

We played together as a foursome in the final round the following day. We were all friends who enjoy playing together, and although we all wanted to win, each of us would genuinely be happy for whoever played well and earned it that day.

Interestingly, our place in the pack all changed on the very first hole!

The other co-leader tripled while I doubled the first hole and the fourth place player parred and the third place player bogied. So I was now tied with the defending club champion, the other two players were 1-back. But scores widened over the remaining holes on the front nine. The day one co-leader stumbled on several more holes as did the fourth place player. After nine holes, it appeared to be a match between the defending champ and me. I was 1-up after nine.

Steady grinding helped me stay at 2-over through 12 holes, maintaining my 1 stroke lead.

I'd been grinding hard for two days now since my driver was still proving to be unreliable. I'd hit a big booming drive on one hole, then flair one right on another. Then on thirteen, I hooked one hard left. I punched out into a fairway bunker, the barely got my next shot out. I finished this hole with a double bogie. The defending champ 3-putted for bogie so we were now tied for lead. We both bogied 14 to remain tied.

On the back nine, I'd not only become tired from two days of grinding for pars, but I started thinking about my chance to win a Club Championship. I also got caught up in my individual match with the defending champ instead of continuing to just take each shot one at a time and let the results simply happen.

I felt tense on the tee for most of the back nine, still void of any real trust in my driver. It cost me another poor drive on fifteen resulting in another double bogie! I fell 2 behind. I got it back together on the difficult sixteenth. But my par was matched so I remained 2 back. Then on the downhill par 3 seventeenth, the defending champ pushed his tee shot into the trees right of the green, making bogie a likely result. Unfortunately, I hit my 5-iron to the same spot! We both double bogied seventeen!

I'd just shot 7-over on the last 5 holes and my opponent had shot 4-over! We were hoping to redeem ourselves on eighteen.

I managed to par eighteen after hitting a poor drive into a fairway bunker, but finishing with a impressive chip to 1 foot for an easy tap-in par. The defending champ actually bogied, so I finished 1 back. However, both of our hiccups down the stretch apparently allowed the 5th place player, who had played well in the foursome in front, to win the championship by 1 stroke! I therefore fell back to finish 3rd.

I wasn't unhappy about not winning, only with how I played those final holes. It was a huge disappointment, but also proved to be a valuable lesson.

Fortunately, I had another chance to test myself in another Club Championship this past weekend. Given another opportunity, I was determined to remain positive, allow myself to make mistakes, and simply play my best. This Club Championship would also prove to be a better test because of the size and talent of the competition. Any expectations of winning were frankly unrealistic. My goal was to play well. A top five finish would be a very satisfying outcome.

I started off nicely. Although I hit a poor drive on the very first hole, leaving me 200 yards out in the rough, I hit a good second shot just short of the green. Unfortunately, I scalded my chip well past the hole leaving a long putt over a large mound. I accepted my fate, remained calm, and sunk the breaking putt for par!

My ball striking and putting were solid over the next few holes and I remained even through five. I then hit a perfect drive on the par 5 sixth, leaving me only 220 yards from the green. After waiting for the green to clear, I then hit a 4-wood that barely left the ground and failed to carry a lake by about one foot. I finally got on the green, but missed a makeable bogie putt to give me a dreaded double bogie. I was now 2-over. Amazingly, I let it go and didn't let a single thought about the overall outcome enter my mind. I just kept playing one shot at a time. I parred seven and eight and bogied the difficult ninth to finish the front 3-over.

Although I'd hit the one ball in the lake on six, I was very satisfied with how I was playing. I was especially happy with my putting. I was making everything within 5 feet - no 3-putts so far!

My solid ball striking and putting, and attitude, kept up on the back nine. I scored my only birdie of the round on twelve along with 2 bogies to finish the back 1-over and an overall 4-over 75.

I found myself alone in 5th place! Two scratch golfers had shot rounds of even-par and 3-over. Two other golfers were also 3-over. The leader played college golf at Fresno State with Nick Watney and several others who turned pro. As far as I could tell, he could play professionally as well. The rest of us were playing for 2nd place. The leader was much more likely to shoot under par on day two than come back to the field. That turned out to be the case. He shot a second round 68 to win.

Regardless of the fact that I didn't have a realistic chance to win, I stuck with my goal on day two to just play my best and let go of the outcome. The four players in front of me, and several behind me, were undoubtedly more talented and experienced. A top 10 finish would be very respectable.

I decided to walk on the second day. It turned out that 3 out of the 4 golfers who walked that day were in my final grouping. We played in front of the top 4 players from day one.

I got off to a rocky start again on the 1st hole, but managed to make a good up and down to save bogie. I was now 5-over for the tournament. But more solid ball striking and putting, and a birdie on the par 5 fourth got me back to even for the round after the front nine. The other players in my group finished the front nine at 2-over, 4-over, and 6-over. My fifth place standing overall was likely still intact.

I stayed even for the round through 13 after scoring a bogie on 11 and birdie on 12, but I was starting to feel tired. The ongoing grind of trying to get up and down and make 4-5 foot putts was draining, and I was even getting tired just from walking. Realizing that I was tired and that I was at the point were my round crumbled in last month's Club Championship, I focused hard over my tee shot on 14. I hit my best drive of the weekend, a 300 yarder that overran the end of the fairway, stopping just short of a bunker in some length fescue. Unfortunately, I took too much grass with my wedge and only advanced the ball half way to the green. I failed to get up and down and bogied.

I then hit my 6-iron fat on the par 3 fifteenth and failed to get up and down again from the hazard to bogie again. I was now 2-over for the round.

I gathered myself and focused even more for the remainder of the round, determined to stay present and just finish the round one shot at a time. I succeeded. I finished with 3 pars and came in with a very satisfying 2-over 73!

I soon learned that I overtook 2 players from the leaders group to finish in third place! The only two players to beat me were scratch golfers in their 20's!

My third place finish in such a talented field was certainly my most successful competitive effort! More importantly, I learned how to play my best golf in a competitive event. It was a very rewarding weekend -- along with getting to watch the President's Cup!

Labels: Club Championship, Rounds

Like many golfers, my dream would be to travel the world and play the world's best golf courses (and break 80 on every one). However, I lack the time, the money, and the connections to realistically pursue this dream (but I could do the break 80 part!). I've happily accepted the fact that I'm fortunate simply to play a few new good courses each year on vacation, along with some pretty nice courses right here on the Central Coast.


Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point

But, it doesn't hurt to dream. And if you're going to dream, you need to know what courses to dream about. Well, I think I've just discovered the best, and perhaps most impartial, list of top courses!

Jim Colton recently launched Golf Blog 100, a new website with its very own Top 100 list, compiled by some very artful golf bloggers who cover golf courses and golf course design. I want their job!

Each selected panelist rated golf courses they've played from a list of 540 eligible courses around the world. There was no set criteria or scale, allowing each panelist to use their expertise in evaluating golf courses and defining what makes a golf course great. The final ranking is the result of a sophisticated modeling technique that ensures that the output is the best representation of the collective view of the panelists.

So far, Jim's released the Top 100 U.S. Courses. Top Public Courses and Top World Courses are coming soon.

Jim plans to profile a few of these courses each week, as well as link to blog posts from its contributors. This should become a valuable resource for anyone interested in playing these top courses and for learning more about golf course design. Jim's goal is to make Golf Blog 100 the first and only stop for golfers looking for comprehensive information of the top golf courses in the world.

The list of panelists include the following golf bloggers:

Jim Colton, Wegoblogger31
Will Smith, Punchbowl Golf
Chip Gaskins, Golf Course Classics
Anonymous, Top 100 Golfer
Anonymous, The Itinerant Golfer
Tom Dunne, Out and Back
Rob Rigg, The Walking Golfer
Gary D'Amato, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Golf Beat
Jim Tang, Vagabond Golfer
Matt Bosela, Now on the Tee
Bill Satterfield, Golf Course Gurus
Mike Sutorius, Golf Course Gurus
Dean Sivara, A Golfer's Quest: A Journey to Play America's Top 100 Golf Courses
Jay Flemma, A Walk In The Park
Anonymous, The London Golfer

Maybe I'll see you on one of these courses one day!

Top 100 Golf - www.golfblog100.com

Labels: Golf Rated Courses, Top 100

I just redesigned golfslo.com to include Twitter updates from our local golf courses. I'll be adding Twitter updates for our local Wineries, Restaurants, Activities, and Hotels soon.


GOLFSLO - San Luis Obispo County Golf

This is a great place to live or visit! Perfect weather, very affordable golf, growing wine region, great beaches, good hiking, historic missions, and even the Hearst Castle!

If you're ever in the area and need a golf partner, just let me know ;)

Labels: Central Coast, Golf, San Luis Obispo, Wine

This week, I discovered Golf My Way Home, the very artful golf story of John Dunn. John hitchhiked across America with his backpack and golf clubs to help raise money for cancer while on his way home to visit his father, who was dying of pancreatic cancer. John succeeds in raising over $25,000 on an adventure that begins on a Southern California beach, and 125 rides and 37 golf courses later, lands him home in Connecticut.


Golf My Way Home, John Dunn

John had already spent nearly four months at home with his dad the prior summer when he was first diagnosed with cancer. During this visit, they grew close and ironed out the misunderstandings that naturally existed between a free-spirit son and an old-fashioned, responsible father. But when his dad relapsed, he got rattled. The reality of his dad's mortality made John think long and hard about how he could keep living his life and continue the momentum of his own writing career, but somehow include his dad. Then the light bulb went on.

He'd hitchhike home with this golf clubs and write about it, an idea John had actually been toying with for years.

He shares, "the golf course has always been a refuge when the going got tough. I know golf is often considered a game that brings people together and I've got many close friends I met through golf, but it is also a solitary pursuit and in a very real way, many years ago, I golfed my way away from home. It enabled and grounded my personal journey - my search for my own path and my own truth. Of course, the end of the outward journey is often the realization that truth lies in the love and appreciation of home - of family and friends, of shared memories and acts of kindness and love. But that does not diminish the importance of the outward journey. It's as simple as the fact that there can be no light without darkness, no story without conflict. The journey is essential to the return. So now humbly, gratefully and with love I am Golfing My Way Home."

John divides his journey into eighteen "holes" or chapters with the 18th "home" hole being a literal return to his family home in Connecticut. He meets a cast of characters along the way and plays some pretty incredible golf courses. His website is filled with these stories, presented in both words and video. I'd imagine a book or documentary will follow soon!

His adventure proves to be life changing and is filled with many lessons. Mostly, I think, John learns to have faith in life and in each other. This journey reaffirms his faith in people and his country. And he learns that the end of his trip, and the eventual end of his fathers life, are in many ways just the beginning.

Golf My Way Home - www.golfmywayhome.org

Labels: Golf My Way Home, John Dunn

Now 50, I'm making the turn, beginning what's likely the back nine of my life. Regardless of how I scored on the front or what successes and failures I experienced, what I've learned from this journey and how I apply it now is what matters. For many, it's a time to rest on their laurels, for others a time for regret, but for some it's a time for new challenges and discoveries, to perhaps pursue the artful dreams pushed aside by the reality of demands and responsibilities on the front nine.

After years of raising a family and dedication to a career, I've entered this phase of my life by picking up the game of golf. Although I've become a good golfer, my goals have been simple - to enjoy the recreation, community and joy that golf offers; to grow personally from what the game teaches me about myself; and to learn to live and play more creatively, or artfully.

I was reminded of these goals and inspired to pursue them more fully after making the recent acquaintance with another back-niner, Jon Fitzgerald, who upon reaching this milestone, began a journey of his own - to pursue his dream of playing professional golf!

As an average 40 year-old golfer, still meeting the demands of raising a family and running his own business, Jon decided it was time to chase his dream - a dream most would consider impossible! As Jon had done in his career in the film industry, he takes this challenge head-on too. He does his research, assembles an impressive team of golf and fitness instructors such as Zen Golf's Dr. Joe Parent, Yoga for Golfers' Katherine Roberts, and Kinetic Golf Academy's Tim Suzor, then embarks on a journey that includes stops on The Golf Channel's Amateur Tour and even a trip to St. Andrews!

Fortunate for those of us who also dream and can identify with such a pursuit, Jon filmed this journey in a golf documentary - The Back Nine.

His story of personal growth, unexpected obstacles, and surprising progress is touching, inspiring, and certain to make you laugh. It was rewarding, not only to observe Jon's steady improvement as a golfer - quickly shaving 11 strokes off his handicap - but mostly to witness the personal growth and healing Jon experienced along the way.

Jon's story demonstrates that the rewards of pursuing your dream are more about the adventure it takes you on than the final destination. However, you have to see the film to find out if his goal was possible!

Learn more about Jon's film at thebacknine.com.

p.s. I finally finished off a good "back nine" of my own yesterday to shoot my first-ever 69 on my home course (slope 135), finishing with a birdie on 18!

Labels: Jon Fitzgerald, The Back Nine

Tetherow Golf Club 17th, Bend, OR

As you can see from my infrequent posts lately, I haven't been a very artful blogger. My golf game hasn't been very artful either. My putting comes and goes. My driver is costing me more strokes than ever! I seem to have lost that artful swing. But, as it has before, it'll eventually return.

Over the past few months, I was shooting rounds in the 70's about 75% of the time, including a couple rounds under 70. But this month, I'm back to shooting half my rounds in the 80's. However, I continue to sprinkle in a good round or two every 20 rounds to keep my handicap at 3.

Last weekend, after shooting several rounds in the 80's, I then shot a round of 73 that included 3 double bogies! I then followed that with another round of 80 yesterday that included 5 penalty strokes from bad drives. One recent round of 81 included seven 3-putts! It's been very frustrating!

Although I've struggled lately, I did get to enjoy a trip to Bend, Oregon last month. I played Tetherow, Aspen Lakes, Sunriver Meadow and Widgi Creek. I loved playing among the Cascades and put together some good rounds there, but struggled some too. My favorite round took place on my drive home. I stopped at Running Y Ranch, a Palmer course in Klamath Falls. I played well, enjoyed the company of my wife, who rode along in the cart with me, and simply loved the natural setting! I'll definitely plan to get back to Central Oregon in the future for some more great golf.

While back here at home here on the Central Coast, my blogging may continue, but at an infrequent pace. I've found it much easier to simply share artful links and quick updates using Twitter! You can follow me there at twitter.com/artfulgolfer.

Labels: Bend, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Oregon, Twitter

Golf like a Child - Bill Bales at The Next 500 Years decides to play golf like a child. He shares, "Picasso said he spent his whole life learning to paint like a child. I theorize that only kids truly "get" life. The closer you are to your kids, the more this rubs off. That's why we don't want our kids to grow up. Making changes to my grip and swing, back to the way I naturally wanted to do it as a kid, made me FEEL like a kid. I went from a 92 that should have been a 100 the day before to an 80 that should have been a 74. Golf went from being hard work to joyful fun."

p.s. We're now on Twitter! twitter.com/artfulgolfer

Labels: Golf Blogs, Twitter

Grip it and Rip it by jimbeauphoto

Changing Your Grip - One particular day, Marci Diehl's youngest son found her in tears. After learning what was the matter, he told her "You need to change your grip." This inspired Marci, a writer and former PGA Tour wife, to not only make some changes in herself, but to explore other golf experiences, tidbits, analogies, slang, axioms and terms actually apply to life lessons for the rest of us. You'll find from Marci's blog that she learned a lot from life on the PGA Tour, except perhaps how to play.

Labels: Golf Blogs, Marci Diehl

Gain 30 Yards Distance In One Golf Swing! - Nick Bayley at Consistent Golf shares a video of Padraig Harrington gaining 30 yards off the tee using the "Happy Gilmore" drive. I pull out this swing once every few rounds to gain a little distance. It really makes you focus on the ball!



Padraig explains, "The best player in the world always tends to be the longest hitter or close to it - he always has a length advantage. Because I plant a little bit like a javelin thrower in my Happy Gilmore, I get a much better stretch and then my left hip stops much quicker so I get that acceleration."

Labels: Golf Blogs, Happy Gilmore

As of this month, I've now played golf for exactly 4 years. It took me a year to reduce my index to 8, another year to get down to 4, and as of today, another 2 years to get down to 2! I shot my first 4-under 68 today and finally broke through the 2 handicap barrier to a get to a personal best 1.6 index! The key? Lots of golf and making lots of putts!


Desert Willow Golf Resort, Palm Desert

Last week, my wife and I drove to Palm Springs for a small vacation. She spent the mornings at the pool, I headed out for golf. We then enjoyed the afternoons and evenings together. We planned to stay for a week, but after spending four days in 100+ degree heat, we headed home early and continued our vacation at home here on the California Central Coast. I just finished playing my 8th round of golf in 10 days!

While in Palm Springs, I played Tahquitz Creek, Terra Lago, Cimarron, and Desert Willow. Tahquitz Creek's Legend Course provided a nice, affordable warm-up for the following rounds. I shot 78, loosing all my strokes to par in the middle of the round after pushing practically every drive right. I finally found my driver on the 450 yard par 4 18th where I finished with a birdie. Terra Lago's North Course beat me up on the front nine where I found myself in sand on practically every hole! My driver was on all day, but I just couldn't score. I found every possible way to follow up an incredible drive with a bogie! I doubled 18 to finish with a disappointing 83. But the following day, I played the tips at Cimarron and finished just 3-over, even after loosing a ball on the final hole!

But I saved the best for last. I played my final round at Desert Willow's Firecliff Course with a pleasant couple from Vancouver. I was even par on the front nine, but managed to throw in 3 double bogies on the back nine thanks to a few errant drives. With one birdie on the back, I came into the 513 yard par 5 18th at 5-over. I hit a bit of a hook off the tee, leaving a hefty 250 yards to reach the green in two. There was a narrow opening to the green with a lake to the right. After letting my good round get away from me, I decided to go for it.

I hit a 3-wood right where I was aiming, leaving me just short and left of the green. As I walked to my ball, I observed that we had quite a gallery seated outdoors at the restaurant in the clubhouse up on the hill above. I got my focus back on studied my upcoming shot, a 60-70 foot chip breaking hard to the left near the hole. I picked a spot, looked down at my ball, and took the club back slowly. I made crisp contact, but started the ball a little right of my intended line. After watching the ball get started though, the speed looked good. The ball rolled towards the mound located right of the hole, took a hard left as I anticipated, then continued to roll towards the hole and dropped for eagle! An applause erupted from the restaurant! Not only did I eagle the final hole, I had a gallery to enjoy it with me. The couple I played with even treated me to a beer after the round to celebrate!

My wife and I headed home the following day, but I continued my vacation by playing local courses on Wednesday and Thursday, then returned to work on Friday. I planned to just practice and check out a demo day on Saturday, but ran into three friends and joined them for a late afternoon round from the back tees. I shot a solid 4-over 75 and one of my friends shot his career best round, an even par 71 with a birdie, birdie, eagle, par finish!

Today, I finished my golf marathon, playing in our monthly Men's Club tournament. We played the same tees where I shot my 3-under 69 just 2 weeks ago, but I let go of any expectations of repeating this success and decided only to enjoy the round and hit some good shots.

On the first hole, I hit a horrible hook to the left on this par 4 dogleg right, leaving a lengthy approach. My subsequent shot came up short and right of the green with a back-left pin. I hit a perfect lob wedge that stopped pin high and spun left and rolled in for birdie! Another player in the foursome then chipped in from well off the green for another birdie, and another player then chipped from below the green to within 1 foot! We had a nice start to the round!

I managed to par the next 5 holes, then birdied 7 to get to 2-under, but then came the difficult par 4 eighth!

My drive hit the large eucalyptus tree at the inside corner of the dogleg right, leaving a 210 yard approach. Like the first hole, my approach came up short and right. This time though, instead of holing my chip shot, I came up 15-20 feet short. My long putt for par was on line, but also came up short. Somehow, I missed my 2-foot bogie putt and walked way with a discouraging double bogie to get back to even par!

I let her rip on the par 5 9th, leaving only 220 in. I hit a 5-wood to just in front of the green, pitched to 2 feet and made my putt for birdie! I finished the front 1-under.

Pars on 10 and 11 kept me 1-under, but a horrible wedge from 80 yards out on 12 put me in a deep greenside bunker. A good bunker shot gave me a shot at par, but I settled for bogie and got back to even par. I had 5 holes left to get back under par!

Another good drive on the par 5 13th gave me a chance to reach in 2, but I missed a little left from 220 yards out. I got up and down for birdie to get back to 1-under!

I had a decent chance at birdie on 14, but read too little break and tapped in for par. But on 15, I made a nice downhill breaking putt from 10-15 feet for another birdie! Back to 2-under.

I gave myself another good chance for birdie on 16 after hitting a pitching wedge to 8-10 feet. My right-to-left putt dropped and I was now 3-under!

I missed the green on the challenging par 3 17th, but chipped to 1 foot and saved par.

I walked up to 18 at 3-under with 6 birdies, 1 bogie, and 1 double bogie. Two weeks earlier, I was also 3-under when I approached 18. I often reach this par 5 in 2, but 2 weeks ago, I 3-putted for par. Today I planned to birdie!

I hit an acceptable drive, leaving a 200+ yard carry over a lake to consider going for the green in two. Instead of protecting a good round, I decided to give it a go. I hit a choked up 5-wood, but pulled it left. It didn't look like the ball would carry the lake, but we didn't see a splash. We also didn't see a bounce. Most likely, the ball had come up short and landed in the lily pads bordering the lake.

The twosome in the other cart rode to the other side of the lake to take a look for me. They found my ball just 2 feet over the lake, in the hazard, but playable! I had a pretty good lie and a clear shot at the flag. I stayed relaxed, looked at the flag, visualized my shot, and made my swing. Like my chip on 17, the ball rolled right towards the hole and stopped just 1 foot short. I walked up and tapped in for my 7th birdie of the round, finishing 4-under! I'd just birdied 4 out of the final 5 holes!

My round beat the next best round for the day by 6 strokes! This was not only my first 4-under round, but my first tournament round under par, and my first first-place finish in a tournament! I posted my score and learned I'd finally reached my goal for this fourth year of golf - to break the 2-handicap barrier! My index is now down to 1.6! In my last 20 rounds, I've shot 2 rounds in the 60's, 15 rounds in the 70's, and only 3 rounds at or above 80!

My game doesn't seem that much better than it did one or two years ago. But one difference is my putting! I'm finally putting with trust, and without an attachment to the outcome. I'm just stroking the ball with trust and accepting what comes. The more detached I become, the more my putts are starting to drop!

Labels: Detachment, Rounds

My normal week of golf consists of 9 holes in my Tuesday night league and another 9 or 18 holes later in the week, then an 18-hole round on the weekend, which is often a tournament. This weekend however, I played two full rounds -- no tournaments, just golf with my friends... and I shot my best back-to-back rounds ever! These rounds also bumped my "under-80" streak to an all time high 13 rounds, a streak which started with my 500th round!


Golf with friends by Michael Vaughan

On Saturday, I played with my regular playing partner on one of the easiest golf courses I've ever played (70.8/112, 6642 yards). It's only about 45 minutes from home, but I've never played it before. It's a links course -- wide open, windy, firm fairways, good greens, and no houses! However, the greens were recently punched, so putting was a challenge. Winds were down though, so hitting fairways and greens was relatively easy. I learned quickly to just hit my putts firm, right at the hole.

I started off with a string of easy pars. I hit the fairway, hit the green, made my 2 putts. I finally got a birdie after 4 or 5 holes, then hit a par 5 in 2 from 200 yards out after a good drive and made the putt for eagle! After a couple more pars, I finished the front nine 3-under -- my best ever nine!

I missed a 4 foot birdie putt on 10 to get to 4-under, but a punch mark veered the ball away from the hole with 6 inches to go. I kept my string of pars going until the middle of the back nine, where I failed to get up and down for par on a 220 yard par 3. I then bogied the following par 5 with a poor drive, poor second shot, too much club on the approach, and a poor chip shot. Pars on the final two holes limited the damage on the back nine and got me in with a 1-under 71.

This was my second time ever breaking par on a course I'd never played before!

The next day, I joined some buddies from my hockey team for a round at one of my two home courses. We played the "combo" tees - half white, half blue tees (70.0/126, 6140 yards). It's still a challenging course from these tees, but moving up to the white tees on some of the harder holes certainly makes the course more scorable.

I started the round with a bogie on one (3-putt) and bogie on 2 (chip and 2 putts). On the par 5 3rd, I hit my drive right into some trees, clipped another tree trying to punch out, then clobbered a 3-wood from the rough to get within 40 yards of the green. A perfect shot from a hilly lie in the rough with my lob wedge put me 4 feet from the hole. I made the putt for par. After a poor lag putt, I made a 6 foot putt for par on four to stay 2-over.

Then things got going.

I birdied five by sinking a 20 foot putt, barely missed an 8 footer for birdie on six, but tapped in for birdie on seven after driving the par 4 green and barely missing my eagle putt. My two birdies got me back to even, but a plugged lie in a greenside bunker on the difficult par 4 eighth and failing to get up and down after my next shot resulted in my first double bogie. I then hit an errant drive on the par 5 ninth but recovered nicely with a strong 3-wood from the rough. My following approach came up just short of the fringe in front of the green, but close enough to putt. I drained the 15 footer from off the green for birdie to finish the front with 3 birdies and a 1-over 37.

I parred ten and eleven, then birdied again on twelve from about 12 feet to get to even par. I missed a 4 foot birdie putt on thirteen, but then birdied fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen! Now 4-under on the back nine and 3-under for the round, I hit my 7-iron into the trees on the long downhill par 3 17th. Fortunately, I had an opening to the pin and pitched to about 10 feet where I then made a slippery breaking putt for par!

So I walk up to the par 5 eighteenth 3-under for the round with a career high 7 birdies (I average about 1.5 birdies per round), and I often birdie this finishing hole! I hit my drive 285 yards leaving about 200 yards to the back left pin over a large lake. I decide to go for it. But I bailed right during my downswing with my 4-hybrid to avoid the long carry over the lake, leaving a long 60-70 foot putt from the right fringe. From here my lag putt came up short of the hole, leaving me with a left-to-right breaking 6-foot putt for my 8th birdie and career round of 4-under! I made a good stroke but read too little break and had to settle for a tap-in par.

I finished the back nine with a 4-under 32 and the round with a 3-under 69!

My artful weekend included 36 holes at 4-under par with 10 birdies, 7 birdies in a single round to beat my prior record of 5, my first 3-under 33 for nine holes followed by my first 4-under 32 for nine, and my second-ever round under 70! These two scores also got my index back down to my career best 2.4! A couple more good rounds and I may finally break the 2.0 barrier!

Going back over my Sunday round, I found that I only hit 7 fairways and 13 greens in regulation, but I 1-putted 8 greens! I 3-putted the first and last holes and missed a very makeable birdie putt on thirteen.

An artful round is rarely a perfect round.

Labels: Rounds

Golf Lesson in Kabul by after alex

The Perfect Swing - Dave Korba from the Shivas Irons Society believes "self-awareness is essential in maximizing performance in golf and in living life. All good golfers are not necessarily self-aware, nor are all self-aware individuals necessarily good golfers... yet. Shivas Irons talks about True Gravity. Bagger Vance encourages us to seek our authentic swing. Both are attempts to have us find our True Selves in and through our golf games."

When Dave gives a golf lesson, he gives the same instructions he offers for enjoying life:

1. Have an intended result in mind.
2. Give up the need to control the result.
3. Execute.
4. Observe the result while staying unattached.
5. Learn.
6. Stay true to your inner self.
7. Have fun.
8. Repeat the process.

Labels: Awareness, Golf Blogs, Golf Lessons