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

I did it, I finally broke 70! My goal for this forth year of playing golf and my last year before turning fifty is to shoot my first round in the sixties. It happened this weekend at Glen Annie Golf Club in Goleta, CA. I shot a tidy 3-under 68, recording 4 birdies and only 1 bogie! I didn't even drive the ball well. But I was hitting my irons solid and finally making putts!


Glen Annie #2, by Aidan Bradley

I've flurted with the 60's on many occasions over the past 2 years, once even from the back tees on my home course (6810 yards, 73.0/137). But I've always fallen short down the stretch, usually on the final hole. I do however play very challenging courses nearly every round, where much better golfers than me rarely break 70. It's not like I've been making it easy on myself to reach this goal. I'm confident that I would have broken 70 much earlier if I'd been playing shorter or easier courses. That's what I did this weekend.

We played Glen Annie from the white tees (5945 yards, 68.9/125). Although the course is short, it isn't easy. The course has a ton of elevation changes, just enough trees, and some narly rough. It's short overall length is primary due to a handful of short par 3's and 4's. There's plenty of long holes too. In our group of eight solid golfers, only one other player broke 80 that day. It was especially challenging for me, being my first time playing the course. I usually tack on a few extra strokes the first few times I play a course. But I let go of any expectations of playing well and just played.

I got away with a wayward drive on the 1st hole, then hit my 4-hybrid from 190 yards way uphill to a bunker left of the green. I got up and down for par. I birdied the short par 3 2nd and short par 4 3rd to get to a quick 2-under. My only hiccup on the front nine was when I tried to reach the uphill 504 yard par 5 7th in 2 and hit my long approach into a lake bordering the right-side of the narrow fairway. I dropped 120 yards out, but came up short of the green with my gap wedge. I then rattled the pin with my chip, nearly holing it, leaving me an easy tap-in for bogie. I finished the front nine at 1-under.

I started the back nine with another poor drive that never really got airborne and ran to about 220 yards out, barely reaching the fairway. I then cut the right dogleg with an impressive 2-hybrid over some trees, leaving me about 100 yards out. I tucked a lob wedge to about 10 feet and sunk the putt for birdie. My best shot of the day came on the short downhill 270 yard par 4 12th. I hit my driver right over the pin, landing the back of the green and bounced about 1 foot to the back fringe. I had a testy downhill putt for eagle. I just had to get the ball moving or I'd run down to the front of the green. My speed was good, but my line was just off. I settled for an easy birdie. I made an impressive up-n-down from above the hole in some deep rough on 15. I continued making pars through 17.

On the final hole, I hit the fairway and landed the middle of the green on my approach. I knew I had a good round going. I didn't know I was 3-under. I didn't know I had a chance to break 70. I knew I had choked in similar situations in the past. I decided to let go of the results and stayed calm and relaxed over my lengthy putt. I still came up a little short, leaving a testy 4 footer for par.

All day, I'd avoided 3-putts and managed to 1-putt on 8 holes!. Just the day before, I tried out a new putting stance on the practice green on my home course. I got down low and really put some extra weight on my front foot. For some reason, it helped me not only to make a solid stroke, but to see the line better and get the ball moving along that line. It was obviously working! Standing over my 4-foot putt on 18, I relaxed and decided to keep trusting my new putting stance. I picked the right edge and made a solid stroke. It turned slightly left and dropped! I came in 2-under on the back nine with no bogies. I'd just shot my first round of 68! The next best score from our group was 79.

What surprised me about the round is that I didn't feel like I was playing any better than usual. Like always, I made a couple bad shots. But I got up-n-down when I needed to and didn't miss any putts I felt I should make. And my ball striking with my irons was excellent. Like any round though, I left shots on the course. I lipped out 2 makable birdie putts and never should have hit that ball in the water on 7. Regardless, the experience was very rewarding - especially learning that I could actually putt!

This was truly an artful round. I never felt anxiety over a single shot. I just stood over the ball, picked my target, and swung the club. I trusted my swing, accepted the results and moved on. I let go of the outcome and stayed open to the possibility that this could be an artful round! It really was that simple.

Labels: Glen Annie, Rounds

My wife and I just returned from our first trip to the Big Island! We stayed at Wyndham's Kona Hawaiian Village and enjoyed lots relaxing, sight-seeing and good dining. I also snuck out on my own several mornings for a total of 4 rounds of golf.


Hawaii Golf

I played my first round at the nearby Kona Country Club's Beach Course. I hooked up with Ed, a local from Hilo who moved to the Big Island about 5 years ago from Minnesota after a divorce. He looked to be about 60. He told me he missed being married and just having someone to argue with. He wasn't having a lot of luck finding love on the island, but at least got to enjoy a lot of golf. However, he didn't have any local course knowledge to share here. He'd only played Kona Country Club once, many years ago when visiting the island on vacation with his wife. We played the middle tees which only played to 5976 yards (70.0/130), a very short course by my standards. I found the course easy to play. Fairways were generous, greens receptive. However, the greens were very fast and undulating! I made the mistake of leaving my approach above the hole on too many occasions and paid the price with 3 or 4 3-putts. I was barely off the green above the hole in 2 on one of the par 5's, looking at an easy up-n-down for birdie. I then watched my delicate chip run right past the flag, down and off the green. My return putt from the fairway was pitifully short and I 2-putted from there for bogie. I still managed to come in with a 76, even with some poor putting an OB on 18 to end the round. I enjoyed the course, especially the natural settings along the Pacific Ocean and gorgeous mountain views. Ed gave me a lot of good advice about what to see on the island too.

Next up was Mauna Lani, the recipient of Golf Magazine's Gold Medal Award as one of America's Best Golf Resorts every year since 1988 and host to the nationally televised Senior Skins Golf Game for 11 years. I was planning to play the North Course, but they setup the "Classic" Course the day I arrived. Last month, Mauna Lani began offering golfers its original 18 hole layout on select days. The "Classic Course" is comprised of 9 holes on the South Course and 9 Holes on the North Course, providing the golfer with 2 signature holes! I hooked up with a Japanese couple from Honolulu, who moved to the island several years ago from Orange County. The wife had just competed in a women's golf tournament that was held that week on several courses on the island. This tiny 100-poundish woman won the long-drive contest on the 2nd day. My driver was off this day, costing me several shots in penalties. I ended up using my 2-hybrid off the tee most of the round. Although the couple played from the whites, I moved back to the blue tees (6436 yards, 170.5/128). I really liked this course, chiseled into a vast lava flow and providing breath-taking views along the ocean. Despite more poor putting and an errant driver, I hung in there for a tidy 78.

I then moved inland and up the mountain to Pete Dye's Big Island Country Club. I hooked up with the owner of Sunshine Helicopter Tours, a 35-year island resident who flew helicopters in Vietnam. Big Island CC happens to be his favorite golf course on the island. He was joined by a friend from Virginia who inspects Helicopter Tours around the country. Again, I joined my fellow golfers on the white tees, only 6041 yards (69.0/126). This was your typical Dye course - lots of water, sand, and railroad ties. It also was home to what seemed like thousands of turkeys, pheasants, geese, quail, and other birds! I found I preferred this rural mountain setting to the manicured resort ocean settings. Although I lost 3 balls to its ever-present water hazards, some impressive chipping and putting led to my best round in months - a 1-over 73! I grinded for several pars after landing in lakes and fairway bunkers from the tee. I didn't manage a birdie until 15 and 16, then barely missed another birdie from 10 feet on the island green 17th. I'm usually a risk taker, but I played this course conservatively most of the round, aiming for the middle of greens instead of pins tucked next to lakes and large bunkers. I need to implement this approach to more of my rounds!

I wanted to end with Mauna Kea, but it was closed for a renovation by Rees Jones, son of original architect, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Instead, I played another RTJ design, The Waikoloa Beach Course. I was a little disappointed with this course. It wasn't until late in the round that we even saw the ocean. Condo's lined much of the course, obstructing most views. It really wasn't very challenging, even though I played the back tees (6566 yards, 71.6/134). I wish I'd played the King's Course instead. I joined two sisters about my age who were also on the island to compete in the same women's golf tournament as the Japanese woman I played with days earlier. Interestingly, one of these sisters won the long drive contest on the first day of the competition! All three women were great golfers and could really hit the ball! We played behind a slow foursome made up of older men. They never offered to let us play through even though they saw us wait on practically every shot and the course was pretty open in front of them. Perhaps they didn't want to play behind women, but these gals were much better golfers than they were! I finally got my driver working for my final round in Hawaii, but messed up a couple holes and finished with a 6-over 76.

I had a wonderful time and enjoyed great weather and good company. I played pretty well too. I'm looking forward to a return trip to the Big Island. There's so many more courses I want to play!

Labels: Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Hawaii, Rounds

My golf game of late hasn't been something to write about, thus the lack of blog entries. I've managed to work in a few good rounds each month to keep my handicap in check, but way too many rounds lately have included a bunch of dreaded double, triple and quadruple bogies. My ball striking has simply been weak and inconsistent -- very frustrating!

Fortunately, during a recent round with a regular playing partner, we pinpointed when my swing went south. Since we often play in 2-man best ball events together, he's been motivated to help me figure it out too! He shared that it seemed to start the week I began experimenting with the Stack and Tilt swing, the popular new "Tour Swing" covered last year in an article by Golf Digest Magazine.


Stack and Tilt Swing

I only used the swing for about a week, so I didn't think much of his comment at first. However, after giving it more consideration, I determined it wasn't actually the Stack and Tilt swing that caused the problem, it was an inadvertent lesson I received during that same week.

I had mentioned to our local pro that I was trying out this new swing, then a few days later he saw me on the range while he was waiting for a student to show up for a lesson. While he was waiting, he asked if I'd like him to take a look at my swing. Nearly an hour later, I had three new swing changes to work on, and had abandoned the Stack and Tilt. That's when I began making changes to my swing that gradually led to my poor ball striking. It's not that his instruction or observations were wrong. It just got me focused on technique instead of just swinging the club, and I'm sure I didn't implement the swing changes correctly or thoroughly.

Anyway, it was during our club championship that my frustration reached its peak. I managed to shoot 2 rounds of 79 to finish 4th, even with what seemed like a ton of double bogies and worse. In the first round, I nearly gave up after getting to 10-over after 11, but an incredible lob shot on 12 after scalding my approach way over the green inspired me to hang in there. I finished just 8-over. The second round started off okay, but a quadruple bogie on the 6th led to another bad hole on 7 and another big score. Again, I pulled it together to finish 8-over. But these rounds had become the norm - grinding just to break 80.

I got to play in the final foursome in the final round of the club championship with the golfer who ended up winning in a playoff. Although I was struggling, I enjoyed getting to watch his solid ball striking. He shot 1-over in the final round, scoring only 1 birdie. When I made a comment about his swing, he shared that he's always tried to just keep his left (leading) arm in line with the shaft of the club at address, like Tiger.


The Natural Golf Address

The following week I decided to play less and hit the range instead. I started experimenting with this address position. I lined up the club shaft with my left arm using each of my clubs. I started hitting the ball solid. I was then inpired to strengthen my grip and even changed my hand position so my club shaft lined up with my arms from behind, moving my hands slightly away from my body. My artful ball striking returned! I gained considerable yardage, my ball flight improved, and the ball went where I was aiming. I even incorporated this new address for my chipping and pitching. The resulting swing was very much like the one I had before my unexpected lesson.

During one of my sessions on the range last week, I ran into an x-tour player who frequents our club and I mentioned my new swing change. After observing my swing, he told me I was demonstrating Moe Norman's "Natural Golf" swing. I'd heard of Moe and Natural Golf, but didn't know any specifics. Simply by changing my address position, I'd indirectly discovered "Natural Golf" and the Single Swing Plane all on my own, and I'm here to tell you -- it works!

I played in a Ryder Cup type event over the weekend against another local men's club, then a scramble tournament on Monday and played some of my best golf in months! I nearly won the long drive contest in the Scramble tourney and made some great golf shots throughout the round. I can't wait to get out and play again!



It turns out that Moe Norman won dozens of amateur tournaments in Canada during the late 1950's, including the Canadian Amateur two years in a row. After 1979, Moe won seven straight Canadian PGA senior championships, tied for fifth in the eighth, and won the ninth. He set more than 30 course records, including three shooting 59 and four shooting 61. The Royal Canadian Golf Association inducted him into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 and he was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Many consider Moe the best ball striker of all time.

You can learn more about Moe Norman, Natural Golf, and the Single Plane Swing at swinglikemoe.com, naturalgolf.com and switchtonaturalgolf.com.

There's also some great video to learn from at YouTube.com too. Just search for Moe Norman. Below is one of my favorites - from a series of videos by Mike Maves. Also, make sure to read Mike's (Sevam1) popular thread at GolfWRX.com about Moe Norman and Ben Hogan's move!



What is Happiness?
"Golf is happiness for
Happiness is achievement.
The father of achievement is motivation
The mother is encouragement.
The fine golf swing is truly achievement
Man may lie, cheat, and steal for gain.
But, these will never gain the golf swing
To gain the golf swing man must work.
Yet it is work without toil
It is exercise without the boredom.
It is intoxication without the hangover
It is stimulation without the pills.
It is failure yet its successes shine even more brightly
It is frustration yet it nourishes patience.
It irritates yet its soothing is far greater
It is futility yet it nurtures hope.
It is defeating yet it generates courage
It is humbling yet it ennobles the human spirit.
It is dignity yet it rejects arrogance
Its price is high yet its rewards are richer
Some say it's a boy's pastime yet it builds men
It is a buffer for the stresses of today's living.
It cleanses the mind and rejuvenates the body
It is these things and many more.
For those of us who know it and love it
Golf is truly happiness."
-- Paul Bertholy (golf instructor and friend of Moe Norman)

Labels: Moe Norman, Natural Golf, Rounds, Single Plane

I had the pleasure this week of attending the Grand Opening of "The Challenge Course" at Monarch Dunes. The Challenge Course, designed by Damian Pascuzzo and Steve Pate, is a unique collection of 12 par-3 holes that presents a fun, and very challenging, alternative for players of all abilities. It's a great place to get a little more golf in after 18 or a quick round in when you don't have time for 18. It's also a great place to learn and improve your game! I used just about every club in my bag to reach these 12 large, undulating greens. It was certainly a "challenge."


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The holes range in length from 82 to 242 yards from the back tees. The course is 1858 yards from the back, 1640 from the middle, and 1377 from the front. The tees are arranged on each hole, not only to vary the shot length, but to vary the angle of attack. Players teeing off from the back tees will face the most difficult shot, while those playing from the front tees will have a far easier line to the green. Each hole has at least 5000 square feet of tee space with three sets of tee markers giving players plenty of choice. For opening day, the superintendent presented us with all the toughest pin placements. It was like playing the U.S. Open in miniature. Not one golfer avoided at least a few bogies.


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The greens are what make this golf course so unique and memorable. I challenge anyone to find a course of any length with such large, undulating greens! You'll encounter ridges and swales running through the greens that may change 3-4 feet in elevation. The 12th hole must rise 15-20 feet from left to right! It reminded me of the famous 16th at Pasatiempo, only sideways! To accommodate this type of movement, the greens are about 8000 square feet (or about 30% larger than normal greens). This vast movement in the greens let the designers create some areas on the green that are quite challenging when approached from the back tees. Players will have to think hard about how they want to attack the hole. The challenge isn't just to land the green, but the end up on the tier where the pin is located. Otherwise, 3 (or even 4) putts isn't unlikely. The greens are so large that the superintendent could probably locate pins in a rotation of 8 or 10 instead of the traditional 4 or 6! We found the greens very playable - both receptive and not overly fast.


The Challenge at Monarch Dunes, by Aidan Bradley

The links style golf course has a natural, rugged appearance, which is enhanced by the dunes that were shaped throughout the fairways and around the greens. The golf course was completely constructed by shaping the native sand into the desired features. There are five lakes which come into play. The residential development uses these golf course lakes to handle 100% of the project's storm water. The golf course uses the same turf grass as found on The Old Course, a blend of fescues for the fairways and roughs and velvet bentgrass greens.

It was pretty fun to record a classic like Pasatiempo as my 50th course, then follow that up by making my 51st such a unique new course! In both experiences, the courses won the 1st round. With those tough pins on opening day, I came in with 5 pars and 7 bogies! But I returned the next day and shot 2-over and finally got my first birdie! I'm pretty sure I can shoot an even par round here, but the onshore headwinds on the 5th and 12th require my fairway wood or even driver to hit the green. And they're no easy greens to 2-putt. I'm pretty sure that these 2 holes are tougher par 3's than I've ever encountered on any 18 holer. But I'm up for the challenge!

I encourage you to take "The Challenge" too. In fact, if you're in the area during the week, and my schedule permits, I'll treat you to a round! Afterall, the green fees are only $12 for Royal Rewards members and $18 for non-members. And if you beat me, I'll treat you to a round on the "Old Course" at Monarch Dunes! Just drop me an email.

Labels: Courses, Monarch Dunes, Rounds, The Challenge

After much anticipation, I joined a group of artful golfers yesterday to play Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, CA - in an event hosted by The Shivas Irons Society. The event celebrated the Society's 16th anniversary, with "The Secret to Golf Revealed" by guest speaker, Fred Shoemaker. Having never played Pasatiempo, this historic Alister Mackenzie masterpiece became the 50th golf course added to my career course list. In case you were wondering, it's not my "artful 50th" birthday yet. That's still 5 months away.


Pasatiempo Golf Club - 13th Hole, by Rob Babcock

Pasatiempo, ranked #30 in "Golf Digest's 2008 America's Greatest Public Courses" and #55 in the "Top 100 Public and Private Courses in the U.S." by Golf Magazine, recently completed a 10-year, multi-million dollar restoration effort led by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina of Renaissance Golf. Doak's team overhauled Pasatiempo's 18 holes, relying on hundreds of old photographs and drawings to bring back original MacKenzie bunkering, green complexes and tees that had been lost for decades.

The course was incredible - seemingly short, but hard!

The event was a shotgun start and my foursome was assigned to start on the first hole, playing the middle tees (6125 yards, 70.5/136). I was grouped with Ron (a local retiree who had never played Pasatiempo even though he had a 2nd home in Santa Cruz), Todd (the story-telling owner of The Mackenzie Golf Bag Company in Portland), and Dave (surely the friendliest and most competent caddy at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, who was carrying his own Mackenzie golf bag).

We were among the few who decided to walk the course. I thought I was in for an easy walk since the greens and tees were situated close by. But, not only was it a particularly hot day out, I'm convinced that every hole went uphill! Anyway, after little sleep the night before followed by a 3-hour drive the morning of the event, I was zapped of energy early in the round. Fortunately a breeze helped cool things off later in the round.

Tired or not, I had no excuse for poor play since the round was preceded with Fred Shoemaker telling us all about "The Secret." According to Fred, the secret is that we already know how to make a perfect golf swing. We don't have to read books or hire experts to help us "find" our swing, we simply need to look inward to "discover" what's always been there. Fred shared experiences and stories to provide evidence that by simply being present and aware, that which lies hidden beneath our mental noise and emotional interference awaits our discovery - perhaps at Pasatiempo. I was thinking the course name might even provide a tip to untap this hidden ability - to simply take a "pasa" at the ball with good "tiempo."

Inspired by his talk, my round got off to a good start with solid drives on the 2 opening par 4's and an artful chip to within inches on the challenging long uphill par 3 3rd to save par. But I guess I failed to take a pass at the ball with good tempo with my drive on the 4th. A duck hook put me in long grass under a tree, where I stubbornly tried to reach the green with a punch shot that would have had to go under some branches, over a bunker, then stop quickly on the green. Instead, the ball lunged forward about 10 feet. My next shot didn't fare much better. I then tried to lob the ball over the bunker to a tight pin from a tight lie. I ended up in the bunker. I finally got on and 2-putted for a triple bogie! I think I rediscovered my mental noise and emotional interference.

I quickly let go of any thoughts of self-pity and returned to the present moment, taking in the beautiful setting and artful course design. I went on to play a pretty decent front nine, finishing 4-over, with help from a tap-in birdie on the short downhill par 3 8th.

But the challenging back nine proved tougher.

I failed to get up and down from just off the undulating green on 10, but then hit 2 solid 4-woods on 11, leaving a 6-footer for birdie - which I barely missed. Four consecutive bogies followed and put me 9-over after 15. I was particularly disappointed with my bogies on 13 and 15. On 13, a 280 yard drive left me an easy sand wedge in. Somehow, I ended up well over the green from 115 yards out. On the 120 yard par 3 15th, I choose to take an extra club due to a strong headwind. I hit an excellent 9-iron right at the pin, but landed on the back of the green and rolled into the rough, leaving me with a quick downhill chip.


Pasatiempo Golf Club - 16th Hole, by Rob Babcock

But it came together again on the infamous 16th. I hit a perfect 4-wood off the tee that drew a little left and rolled to the end of the fairway, leaving me 105 yards out. With the pin tucked up on the edge of the upper tier near the left side of the green, I took a little extra club. I'd heard horror stories about balls rolling back down to the front of the green. My shot landed 1 foot from the pin, but bounced well over the green, leaving me nearly out-of-bounds with a testy downhill pitch that could easily roll past the pin and down to the bottom of this severely sloped green. I visualized the shot, let go of any fear or tension, and relaxed my arms and grip. I opened my lob wedge way up, opened my stance, and took a perfect pass at the ball with good tempo. I barely landed the green and rolled downhill to just 4-feet past the pin, barely short of the point where the ball would have rolled over the edge to the lower tier. Making the comeback putt made for a welcome recovery.

I made another bogie on 17 from inside 100 yards after another good drive (where our entire foursome teed up alongside each other and hit our drives at the same time). But I finished with a par, finally choosing the correct club on the downhill 143 yard par 3 finishing hole. My pitching wedge and 2-putts got me in with an 80.

Although I'd like to replay a few holes, I did par each of the 3 hardest, made some remarkable shots, and thoroughly enjoyed my friendly foursome, the clear skies and awesome views of the Monterey Peninsula, the challenging Mackenzie design, and of course, learning "The Secret."

But part of uncovering "The Secret" is looking inward to determine "why" I hooked that drive on 4, "why" I didn't just accept that mistake and punch back out to the fairway, "why" didn't I sleep well the night before, and "why" did I consistently pick too much club on my approaches. The biggest reward from this day will come from finding these answers and learning from them. The answers won't just help my game, they'll tell me more about who I brought to the course that day and where I still need growth, in golf and life.

Following the round, the entire group met for cocktails and dinner and enjoyed discussing the course, their rounds, and their challenge to discover the secret and their perfect swings. I think it's safe to say that a few imperfect swings found their way into everyone's round!

To top things off, I found it particularly rewarding that on this day that I played my 50th career course, I found myself seated next to a participant - Larry Berle - who has played all of the Golf Digest Top 100 courses! During 10 years that spanned from 1992 to 2002, Larry found his way on to 117 top U.S. courses (the list of top 100 courses is a moving target over a 10 year span). Larry was introduced to the game by his wife Annie in 1990. She took him to Pebble Beach for his birthday in 1992, where on the 18th hole his caddy informally told him that "you are standing on the greatest finishing hole in golf!" This is where his dream to play the Golf Digest Top 100 was born. Larry has written a book - A Golfer's Dream - that tells the story of his inspiring quest and what he learned along the way. I'm planning on buying a copy!

It was a pleasure to play such a great course and to meet so many interesting golfers like Larry, Fred, Ron, Todd, Dave, and so many others. I highly recommend attending a The Shivas Irons Society event if you're interested in meeting some truly artful golfers. Thanks Steve and Jo for putting on such extraordinary events!

Labels: Alister Mackenzie, Books, Courses, Fred Shoemaker, Pasatiempo, Rounds, Shivas Irons Society

My wife and I just returned from a 2-week trip in our small motorhome, traveling to one of our favorite destinations - Colorado. Over the years, we've traveled to Colorado several times with our children on summer "hiking" vacations. One vacation was spent in the San Juan Mountains, visiting Ouray, Telluride and Durango. During another trip, we stayed in Glenwood Springs and visited nearby Aspen. Two other trips took us to Rocky Mountain National Park, staying once in Estes Park and the other in Grand Lake. We also spent time in Steamboat Springs during one of those trips. I've also traveled to Colorado on several ski trips with friends, each time staying in Summit County and skiing or boarding Arapaho Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Vail. This was my first trip to Colorado that included golf!


The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, Grand Junction, CO

We spent 2 long days driving there to get through the brutal California, Nevada, and Utah desert heat, stopping in St. George, UT or first night, then in a quiet State Park campground just outside Grand Junction the second night. The following morning, I headed over to The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa, a Jim Engh design incorporating wonderful views of the Grand Mesa, the Bookcliffs and the Colorado National Monument. I got an early start to beat the heat and ended up playing alone. Along the way, three twosomes let me play through and I finished in only 2 1/2 hours. I played from the blue tees (6486 yds, 69.9/133) and found the course relatively easy from that distance, hitting 8 fairways and 12 greens in regulation. My biggest challenge was club selection, not only due to the higher elevation near 4500 feet, but due to so many elevated tees. I managed to par every par 3, and avoided double bogies except for one on the par 4 6th where my drive carried 300 yards into a lake beyond the dogleg. Fortunately, my only birdie of the round came on the prior hole, so I still finished the front with a 39. If it weren't for that double bogie and overall poor putting - 37 putts including 3 3-putts - my round of 79 could have been closer to 75. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, the setting, and my initiation into high desert golf.


Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club, New Castle, CO

After the round, we traveled along I-70 to to Glenwood Springs, where we stayed two nights in a campground along the Colorado River. The first morning, I headed back 15 minutes on I-70 to New Castle to play Lakota Canyon Ranch Golf Club, another Jim Engh design. Like Redlands Mesa, Engh provides the golfer with many elevated tees, with drops up to 100 feet to the fairway below. The setting however, had transitioned from high desert to rugged mountain canyons near 5500 feet. Again, I headed off by myself and played through a couple twosomes, but met up with 3 locals about my age from Eagle on the par 3 9th and finished the round with them. I was having a good round on the front, finishing 1-over with 1 birdie and 2 bogies. The course knowledge shared by these locals helped me keep up the good round and I finished with a 3-over 75 from the blue tees (6369 yards, 69.5/126), despite another 37 putts! I hit 14 greens in regulation this round along with 9 fairways. I found these 2 Engh courses fun to play, but might tire of all the elevation changes if played regularly. Plus, both courses are best played with a cart, and I prefer walking. We finished the day with a drive south of Glenwood Springs, including a nice hike along the Maroon Bells Creek, followed by dinner in the quaint village of Aspen.

The following day we drove east, then headed north to Steamboat Springs. The next morning, I played Haymaker, a challenging links-style course designed by Keith Foster, with sweeping views of Yampa Valley and nearby Mount Werner. I joined a local named Steve (who broke 80 that day for the first time ever) and 2 visitors from Austin, TX, one of which appeared to be quite an accomplished golfer. He was tall and lanky, with a fluid swing providing a long straight drives. It wasn't long before I found myself swinging for the fences from the gold tees (6728 yards, 70.9/129), not only to keep up (and surpass) his drives, but to fully take advantage of the warm air and elevation approaching 7000 feet. I was absolutely clobbering my drives here, with carries around 300 yards rolling out to 315 to 325 yards. I nearly cleared a hazard 260 yards out trying to reach the 280 yard par 4 8th from the tee with a 4-wood. After a long drive on the 525 yard par 5 13th, I hit my 5-iron well over a green from 210 yards out. I cleared most of the lake bordering the 406 yard par 4 10th, leaving me with only 83 yards to the pin. Steve told me he'd never seen anyone that close to the green! Unfortunately, my aggressive play and sometime poor club selection (flying greens from 140 yards out with my PW) led to a slew of double, triple and quadruple bogies! For instance, I tried to drive the 318 yard par 4 11th, but failed to carry the 300+ yards required to get over the lake in front of the green by about 2 feet. I then made a mess of the hole after that. Several wayward shots during the round found the long, dense native grasses lining the fairways, where I failed every time to find my ball. I was also the only golfer walking in my foursome, and it was hot. Anyway, what proved to be my worst round in well over a year, my round of 92 was as much fun as I'd had playing golf in some time. I wish I'd had time to play Haymaker again to redeem myself (and swing a little easier), but next up was 3 golf-free days in Colorado wilderness. I still find it hard to believe that I followed up a round of 75 at Lakota Canyon with a 92 at Haymaker!


Haymaker Golf Course, Steamboat Springs, CO

After enjoying a night dry-camping along a 30-mile stretch of gravel road starting near Rabbit Ears pass and passing through Buffalo Park (and only seeing 4 other vehicles all day), we made our way to a campground near Bear Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness. Here, we found the best campsite we'd ever stayed in, surrounded by pine and aspen, along with a perfect view of Flattop Mountain. We spent 2 nights here and enjoyed an incredible hike up to the Mandall Lakes. This is just what our trip needed. It was very rewarding to get away from towns and people - and golf - for a few days.

On the day we left the Flat Tops, I wanted to get on the private Red Sky Ranch (Norman) course, but failed to do so. Instead, I headed over to Eagle and played Eagle Ranch Golf Club, the course recommended by the 3 locals I played with at Lakota Canyon. This Arnold Palmer design was long and included nice mountain views. I joined a local pro who played the tips (7530 yards, 74.4/138), but I played the gold tees (7151 yards, 72.7/135). Although I was hitting some more long drives, his drives were right next to mine in the fairway even though he was 20-30 yards back on the tee. I got off to a rough start on the front with the long irons in and way too many 3-putts and found myself 9-over after 12. But then the rain started coming down, along with some impressive thunder and lightning. My partner decided to call it quits and headed back to the clubhouse. That's when I started playing some golf! I finished the last 6 holes even par in a pretty good downpour to finish with a respectable 82.


Breckenridge Golf Club, Breckenridge, CO

After spending that night in an RV Park along the Eagle River near Gypsum, we headed to Breckenridge. Here, we stayed 2 nights in an upscale RV Park just north of town, alongside million-dollar Prevost motorhomes. Our little Winnebago View looked like a Mini-Cooper. Before heading into town to finally do some shopping, I played a round at the Jack Nicklaus designed Breckenridge Golf Club (Bear/Elk, 6642 yards, 71.5/132). I joined a single named Greg vacationing from Los Angeles and an older couple in their 80's, Ken and Eleanor, from Kansas City. After Ken parred the opening hole with a strong drive and fairway wood, I asked him if he shot his age on a regular basis. He'd obviously played a lot of golf over the years and didn't seem to loose much distance or talent. He said he didn't, but after watching him make some quality chips and putts too, I think he was just being humble. Greg and I walked the course and I found the Bear nine both easier to walk and easier to score than the Elk nine, however I shot 3-over on Bear thanks to failing to get up and down from 3 bunkers and shot 2-over on the Elk after getting my first and only birdie on its 540 yard par 5 8th. On the uphill 274 yard par 4 6th, I drove the ball over the green and nearly ended up in the forest well above the green. I made a Phil-like lob shot back down to the green and 2-putted for par. I found this to be my most enjoyable round of the trip. My 77 was a satisfying score and the course, setting, and scenery were simply beautiful.

The next morning, I put my clubs on my back and rode my bicycle to the course so my wife could sleep in and stay in the RV Park to read and scrapbook. This time I hooked up with 3 guys about my age from Washington D.C. and played the Elk/Beaver course (6542 yards, 71.1/136). The sloppy drives I experienced at Haymaker returned for this round. Instead of shooting 2-over on Elk like the day before, I shot 9-over. That even included a birdie on Elk's par 4 6th where I landed the green from the tee this time instead of ending over the green. Like Haymaker, errant tee shots at Breckenridge turn into lost balls. The native grasses are just too long and dense to waste anytime looking for your ball. I managed a slightly better back nine on Beaver with a birdie on it's par 5 2nd, but still came in with a disappointing 85. The other three avid golfers in my group struggled even more. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed Breckenridge and mountain golf in general, and look forward to a return visit soon.

I managed to drive home from Breckenridge in 2 days. Then, probably due to exhustion, played one more horrible round a couple days later in my travel league. Fortunately, I quickly regained my form and shot 1-over this week in my Tuesday night 9-hole league, then a 1-over 73 2 days later at Cypress Ridge Golf Course (6443 yards, 71.2/129). I spent a little time on the range after that last poor round and got my driver back under control. Over vacation, I just started swinging too hard to take advantage of the elevation and attempt those 300+ yard drives. I think I've finally learned that straight is better than long!

In response to my prior post on making short putts, everyone's advice really helped and was very appreciated. Even though I had trouble adjusting to new greens while on vacation, my putting began to improve over those 2 weeks and was instrumental in my last 2 rounds of 1-over. A regular playing partner recognized immediately how much better my putting stroke looked. Still holding out hope for a sub-70 round before turning 50 next February!

Labels: Colorado, Courses, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Rounds

Today I played my best round ever, scoring 5 birdies to shoot my first-ever even-par round from the tips at Monarch Dunes (73.0/137). I've scored 1-under and even-par rounds before, but never from the back tees. In fact, my best prior score at this course from the challenging back tees was a 6-over 77! And today's 71 could so easily have been my first sub-70 round.


Monarch Dunes 1st

After playing my last few rounds in unusually cold and blustery winds, today I joined two of my favorite golfers for a round that turned out to be sunny, warm, and breezy. The pace of play was perfect too. We never waited once for players in front of us to clear a fairway or green. Golf on the California Central Coast was at its best today! And so was my game.

My biggest struggle lately has been getting off to a good start. I recently played a round with a triple bogie on the 1st hole, followed soon after by 2 bogies. Instead of giving up though, I fought back from 5-over and finished the round just 3-over par after scoring 3 birdies! Today, things changed. I started right off with a birdie on the 3-handicap par 4 1st from 200 yards out!

This dogleg left tempts you to hit your drive towards the 150 marker, but a slight mishit left or short finds the lake. Instead, I played well right today, leaving a 3-hybrid approach into this well-guarded green. I put my hybrid right on line, landed just short of the green and ran up 8-10 feet past the hole. Using my new Odyssey Black Series i#9 putter, I drained the putt!

I just bought this putter a couple weeks ago at a 70% discount from my x-brother-in-law, who works in the IT department at Callaway. I absolutely love it! I can assure you, that's the first time I've ever said that about a putter! It's made me a good putter.

I gave myself another good birdie attempt on 2, but barely missed and happily tapped in for par. I then got up and down on 3 from just off the green, but missed an easy 2-foot putt on 4 to 3-putt, producing my first bogie. Even with this new putter, those short putts can get me.


Monarch Dunes 6th

I got that stroke right back on the 140 yard par 3 5th, sinking a 20-footer for my 2nd birdie! I parred 6, then made an impressive up and down again on 7 to stay 1-under par. On the 200 yard par 3 8th, I landed the difficult upper-left tier of this green, rolling to about 12 feet from the pin. I made a good putt, but had to settle for par.

I then hit a perfect 6-iron into the 9th green from 190 yards out, landing short of the green as expected, and running onto the green to leave me with another makable 10-12 footer. I took my time reading the putt and decided to aim a ball outside to the left. The downhill putt tracked perfectly and went right in. I was now 2-under on the front nine, hitting every fairway and 7 of 9 greens in regulation while recording only 14 putts!

I was relaxed and enjoying the round. My playing partners, who knew I'd been struggling with my game over the past month, were certainly giving me a hard time for saving my best golf for beating them. I was just grateful for the good company, perfect weather, and speedy pace of play. They figured I'd come back to earth on the back nine. I decided to just keep playing one shot at a time and enjoy myself, detached about whether I could keep it up or not.

The back nine starts off even harder than the front with a 2-handicap par 4 dogleg with a split fairway. I hit a monster drive, but caught a bad lie in the mounds between the two fairways. I had to punch out with a wedge. This shot caught another fescue-covered mound beyond where the fairways meet. I managed to get my 3rd shot up close to the green. I then got up and down from there for a respectable bogie.

The downhill 200 yard par 3 11th is a real test. Others in my group decided to hit 3-irons, but I tried to smash a 5-iron into a mild headwind. Unfortunately, I pushed the shot way right into a ditch that borders the green. I was left with a testy downhill lob shot over a large mound. My lob landed just short of the green as planned and barely rolled off the upper tier to continue down to the lower tier just 8 feet right of the pin. The putt was exactly like the one I had on 9, a downhill putt, breaking right about a cup out. I drained another one for an impressive par.


Monarch Dunes 11th

Three great shots on the par 5 12th led to another par, but my 8-iron approach on 13 drifted left, leaving a difficult pitch to a tight left pin. My shot was near perfect, but I barely missed the return putt, resulting in my 3rd bogie, letting my round get back to even par.

But another huge drive left me just 130 yards out on the par 4 14th. I put my pitching wedge just 6 feet above the hole and made another breaking downhill putt for birdie, getting me back to 1-under!

At this point in the round, I knew I was playing well and was probably under par, but I really had no idea of my exact score. I did know that this was only the second time I had ever scored 4 birdies in a round at this course. I only average about 1.5 birdies per round and depend on pars to keep my scores under control.

I followed my birdie with a poor 5-iron into the 200 yard par 3 15th. The shot was so bad that it didn't even make it to the bunker on the right-front corner of the green. But from the rough, I made another excellent pitch shot to a tight front pin and made the easy 2-footer for another par. Still 1-under.

Another good drive on the par 4 16th left me just over 100 yards out. A strong lob wedge left me with a 12 footer that I misread but left me with an easy tap-in in for par.

Over the past month, in addition to shanking short lobs and chips, it's been these long wedge shots that have given me the most trouble. Just last week on the range, a local pro saw me shanking some shots with my wedge and came over of offer some help. He noticed I was not only swaying too much, but was rerouting my downswing too far inside, bringing that hosel into play. He had me practice hitting balls right up against the 2x4 board separating each practice tee. I tried to keep the club in line with the board on my backswing and downswing. It felt weird at first, but I'm now using this new swing with all my irons. I'm just letting my hands and the clubface fall naturally from the top of my backswing. It's almost effortless.

But as solid as my wedge play was today, this was proving to be one of my best driving rounds ever. Up to this point in the round, every drive had been long and straight. I'd only missed 1 fairway so far, the one that barely missed on 10. I kept my drives going on the 490 yard par 5 17th, leaving me with a 6-iron in from 190 yards! I had to hit my 6-iron uphill and well right of the green to avoid a big eucalyptus tree in the middle of the fairway. The shot ran up the fairway and hooked nicely left as it rolled up onto the green, past the hole. This left me a steep 30 foot downhill putt breaking a few feet to the left. I ran my eagle putt just past the hole, but made the 3 foot comeback putt for my 5th birdie, getting me back to 2-under par!

This was the first round I'd ever scored 5 birdies at Monarch Dunes. I'd shot 5 birdies 3 other times on easier courses, but doing so here was quite an accomplishment for me.


Monarch Dunes 13th

So, I approached 18 knowing I was under par, and had a sense I was on track for my first-ever sub-70 round. I knew I had 5 birdies, but couldn't remember whether I'd bogied 2 or 3 holes. I knew a par on 18 would probably get me under 70. I think it was here that I left the present moment and let myself drift into the future. I knew better, but it had been quite some time since I'd had such an opportunity to make such a breakthough.

I stayed calm and hit a strong drive. But tension must have crept in because I pulled my drive a little left. A subsequent bad bounce to the left then threatened to even put me out-of-bounds. Fortunately, I found the ball near the cart path, just 5-6 feet in bounds. I was about 105 yards out, downhill to the green. My lob wedge came up a little short out of the rough, leaving me with 10 feet of fairway to putt or chip across to reach the green. I decided to putt. I underestimated how hard I needed to stroke the ball to get through the longer grass. I did get on the green, but came up at least 15 feet short, leaving another testy downhill putt with a few feet of break. I was feeling my nerves at this point and could tell I'd lost the relaxed and confident putting stroke I'd enjoyed all day. I putted 3 feet past the hole. 3-footers always give me fits, but other than the single miss on the 4th, I'd avoided any other 3-putts. But frustrated that I'd already let par get away, I lost my relaxed focus and missed the comeback putt. I'd actually 4-putted from just off the green, giving me a disappointing double bogie from only 100 yards out!

But I was quickly lifted from the despair I felt when these good friends reminded me what a great round I'd just played! They didn't let me dwell for a second on how it ended, but helped me celebrate a great accomplishment! After all, I beat my best-ever score from the back tees by 6 entire strokes. I finished the round hitting 11 greens, 11 fairways, and with only 29 putts. With the difficulty of the course, my even-par round added a score of -1.6 to my handicap, which for the first time has now broken through 3, to 2.7!

Although, like every round, there were plenty of opportunities to score even better, I played my best-ever round, stayed present for practically every shot, and was able to share it with good friends on an extraordinary day. For that I am grateful. It was a lot more fun getting 5 birdies than it was hitting 5 shanks a few weeks ago!

So, after 3 years of play, I finally got down to a sub-3 index and shot my first par round from the back tees on a championship-level course, and even flirted with my first 69. Before I turn 50, I'm hoping to break 70 and perhaps get down to a 2-index. Whether I reach that goal or not, I plan to focus entirely on just being present and enjoying the game. It's been an extraordinary journey of growth and learning, a journey that certainly doesn't stop here.

Labels: Monarch Dunes, Rounds

A very frustrating slump that began with the shanks nearly 3 weeks ago may have finally ended. Although I've had a few rounds now where I've avoided hitting the ball with the hosel, my scoring has continued to suffer. After 6 straight rounds over 80, with more double and triple bogies than I care to remember, I finally made a breakthrough yesterday.


Sun setting on my slump, by Claudio Marcon at flickr

But my poor play continued as the windy round began.

After an excellent drive and approach, I 3-putted the 1st for bogie. I came up short on the 2nd and 3rd with wedges and failed to get up and down, adding 2 more bogies, then 3-putted again on the 4th to go 4-over.

My gap wedge from 125 yards on the short par 3 5th drifted left with the strong cross wind and my subsequent chip ran past the hole by 10 feet. I settled down and carefully read the putt, slightly downhill with a small right to left break. I relaxed and made a confident stroke, holing the putt for my first par.

Then I managed another bogie on the following par 5 6th. I pushed my 2nd shot a little right, into a fairway bunker, leaving me with a difficult uphill shot from 110 yards. A poor shot from there was at least followed up by a good lob shot from the rough, ending 15 feet from the pin, barely staying on the top tier of the green. A nice putt nearly saved par, but I tapped for bogie to go 5-over after 6.

An impressive birdie on the difficult par 4 7th followed by a par on the 177 yard par 3 8th got me back to a respectable 4-over.

After playing through a threesome on the 3rd hole (which contributed to that bogie), my friend and I caught up to a twosome waiting for the fairway to clear on the 9th tee. We joined them and played as a foursome for the remainder of the round. Apparently, some friendly chatting with our new playing partners helped me get my mind off my scoring and the success on the past 2 holes continued. I shot a ho-hum par on the par 4 9th, hitting the fairway, landing the green, and making the expected 2 putts. I managed to finish the par 35 front nine with a 4-over 39.

An impressive drive down the left side of the split fairway on the dogleg left par 4 10th left me with 160 yards uphill to this well guarded green. I hit such a good 7-iron into the wind that I landed past the pin and rolled over the green. A very poor chip preceded a 2-putt bogie. Still, as anyone who has played this 2-handicap hole will tell you, walking away with a bogie is nothing to complain about.

I pulled out my 7-iron again for my tee shot into the strong headwind on the 180 yard downhill par 3 11th, overlooking the Guadalupe Dunes and Pacific Ocean. Again, I hit my 7-iron so well, it landed the front of the green and rolled all the way off the back. My return chip to the upper tier of the green ran 10 feet past the pin and I missed the comeback putt for another bogie, putting me 2-over on the back and 6-over for the round.

But a rare birdie on the par 5 12th got me back to 5-over. Then after making a nice par on 13, another 3-putt on 14 put me back to 6-over. I walked up to 18 still 6-over after hitting each fairway and green and 2-putting for pars on 15, 16, and 17.

With a 240 yard carry or so, you can get some impressive distance off the tee on the 387 yard 18th. I ended up about 30-40 yards out. I used a big backstop behind the hole to funnel my chip back to the pin, leaving me with a 4-foot putt for birdie. Staying relaxed, I made another confident stroke, sinking the putt to finish the par 36 back nine just 1-over.

This 76 was my first sub-80 round since shooting a 76 in my first pro-am nearly 3 weeks ago. It was pretty rewarding to finish the last 12 holes in even par, especially in such windy conditions. Getting my attention away from scoring and simply enjoying the company of my friend and the twosome we joined seemed to be the key to rediscovering some artful golf.

This round marked my 40th round of the year, the most golf I've ever played in a 3-month period (averaging 3 rounds/week). I finished with 28 rounds under 80 and 12 at or above 80, with half of those high rounds coming in the past 3 weeks.

Labels: Rounds

I thought I'd share an update to yesterday's post about my recent bout with the shanks. I decided to head out to the range after lunch today to hit a large bucket of balls using only my lob wedge to see if I could just make them go away. My full swings, pitches, and chips we're working fine. The only shot that resulted in shanks was when I opened up the club face to get more loft.


Celebrating no more shanks by 70sgolf7 at flickr

After getting through about half the bucket, a friend walked up who've I've played with quite a bit in the past month who played professionally at one time and currently plays to a 2 handicap. He immediately spotted my problem.

It turns out that the technique I developed on my own to hit a lob shot, thanks to not taking any lessons, required too much precision and increased the odds I'd hit the ball with the hosel instead of the clubface.

When I opened up my clubface to hit a lob shot, instead of opening my stance and aligning the clubface with the target, then swinging the club along the line of my stance, I opened my stance, but aligned my clubface well right of the target, then tried to strike the ball with the open toe of the club while swinging on line with the target. This essentially gave me a clubface that was about 1/2 the width of a full clubface and increased the chance that I'd hit the ball with the leading hosel.

After a few swings along the path of my open stance with the clubface pointing towards the target, the shanks were gone and I was hitting amazing lob shots! I quickly figured out this "intuitively obvious" discovery will help my sand game too. I won't even go into all the trouble I get into in bunkers.

Anyway, my friend was headed out to play nine holes, so I joined him. I shot 3 birdies and 1 bogie to come in 2-under par! You have no idea how relieved I am! Following up 7 straight nines in the mid to high 40's with a 34 made my day. It's actually pretty amazing that I made this dangerous lob technique work for as long as I did.

I guess this is a good example of where I could have pursued lessons and learned how to hit lob and bunker shots much earlier, and avoided this issue altogether. But honestly, I like figuring it out myself and then trusting that the right person will show up at the right time to point me in the right direction when I do need help.

Labels: Rounds

I've apparently hit a wall in my efforts to improve. For the third time now, I've flurted with my goal to break through a 3 index. This time I've been holding steady, breaking 80 in 3 out of 4 rounds, but in my last four rounds I've bounced seriously backwards, shooting anywhere from 41 to 47 for nine holes in each round. I've developed the shanks!


A Wall at St. Andrews by WjButt at flickr

Just a week ago, I played in my first Pro-Am, an annual scratch 2-man best-ball tournament at a local private course I'd never played before. I was invited by a local pro who I've done some volunteer website work for. I was told we had a shotgun start at 10:00 am, so I arrived an hour early to get in a little warm-up. I was the only golfer there when I showed up. Turns out tee times were scheduled for 11:00 am.

I headed over to the range where I found a dozen nicely stacked pyramids of balls. As the first golfer to hit the range, it was my job to begin dismantling the first pyramid. I hit a few pitching wedges, then my 7 iron, then my hybrid. I was hitting the ball okay, but didn't feel comfortable and my swing felt tense. I then picked up my 60-degree lob wedge. After hitting a couple mediocre shots, I began shanking everything to the right! I'd had this happen on the range several other times in the past and learned that when I kept hitting more balls, it just got worse. Instead of giving up immediately, I tried hitting my 7-iron again and even shanked a couple of those shots. I decided to stop hitting balls and just go get some chipping and putting practice in. Later, after everyone else showed up, I went back to the range and hit a few more balls, but avoided my wedges to prevent starting the round with images of shanks in my head.

Amazingly, I got through the entire round without shanking a single shot! My driver was long and straight with the exception of one tee shot. My irons were solid, giving me some great opportunities for birdie. Unfortunately, my putter wasn't as hot. They'd just punched and sanded the greens, so that added to the challenge, but my stroke was timid and I nearly missed every putt for birdie. I missed a 3-foot birdie putt on our very first hole after nailing my gap wedge from 115 yards out, but sank a 40-footer on the following long 215 yard par 3 to record my first and only birdie. My pro partner struggled all day off the tee, but put on a display of recovery shots and managed three birdies. He pulled off some incredible shots from behind trees that I'd never even attempt. I fought for some impressive pars on the holes he didn't recover from and we came in without any bogies, finishing 7th in a field of over 20 teams.

I played well, coming in with an individual score of 76, playing from the tips on a new course without recording anything worse than bogie. but I was especially happy that those early morning shanks were behind me.

The next day was the opening day of our Tuesday night 9-hole men's league. I joined a teammate before our match to play a practice round of 9-holes on the front nine to check out pin positions and get some warm-up. My good play continued. I came in 1-over, shooting all pars and one bogie. Again, no shanks!

My match was against one of the course employees who had a matching index. We started on the par 4 dogleg right 9th. The tee box is located about 100 feet above the fairway which dead ends about 230 yards out into a lake. I hit my 3-hybrid solid, landing the fairway, but rolled into the lake. I dropped and then hit a poor 9-iron short of the green. My opponent landed well over the green on his approach, but pitched to 5 feet and made his putt for par. Down 1.

I hit a good drive on the difficult par 4 1st, but pushed a 5-iron well right of the green on my approach and hit the cart path and nearly bounced to the 2nd tee. My lob shot landed on a downslope and ran across the green, just short of rolling into a greenside bunker. My opponent's par put me down 2. We both hit perfect drives on the par 4 2nd, but my approach barely reached the green, while he had a 6 foot birdie putt. He missed his putt, but I 3-putted! Down 3.

Things went downhill from there when the shanks reappeared on the 120 yard par 3 3rd. My gap wedge tee shot went 45 degrees right, ending up short and right of the green. My opponent came up short of the green so I still had a chance to push the hole. I then shanked my lob wedge directly right, leaving me in the rough, still right, but behind the green. I chipped up well beyond the hole and went down 4 after 4!

I finally parred the par 5 4th hoping to keep the match going, but my opponent got in close and made birdie! He closed me out 5 and 4! I may be the first player in our league to ever to loose a 9-hole match with 4 to go! Our match consists of points for match play and stroke play, so we were still playing for strokes. I was already down considerably, but fought on. Unfortunately, I hit 5 shanks by the time we finished and lost all 9 holes! My opponent came in with a 1-over 36. I shot a 12-over 47! I was numb from the experience, but figured these shanks would quickly pass.

But later in the week, I joined some friends at another local course and the shanks continued. I came in with an incredibly ugly 90! By this time, I was really frustrated. The shots I didn't shank seemed to hook wildly left. One of my playing partners told me he thought my weight was on my toes, so later in the round I focused on weighting my heels. The shanks seemed to pass, but I'd totally lost all confidence and touch by then and barely recorded a single par.

I then played a round over the weekend at San Juan Oaks, a difficult course near San Jose, another course I'd never played before. Not only is this course rated very difficult (7100 yards, 74.6/140), but the winds that day were gusting to at least 40 mph! On one hole, I hit a solid 5-iron into the wind from 155 yards out and came up short. I'd normally have hit 8-iron. I needed 4 more clubs to reach the flag! I had a great day off the tee and again struck my irons well. I made some stupid decisions, getting overly aggresive on a couple holes, and recorded some big numbers, but came in with only a single shank!

The highlight of the day though was that my 22 year old son joined me! He had only played 5 rounds of golf prior to this, his last being over a year ago. I was a little worried that such a difficult course might spoil things for him and prevent him from ever taking up the game, but he wanted to try it. I took him out to the range the day before and was simply amazed by his ball striking ability! He was hitting incredible shots with his 7-iron, 5-iron and 3-hybrid. He even came up with some great shots with his fairway woods and driver. However, we both agreed it might be best to increase his chances of keeping the ball in play on the course by avoiding these clubs. He played the entire round with his hybrid and irons.

On the front nine, I shot a 45 thanks to a quadruple and triple bogie. My son managed bogies on almost every hole and shot a 46! After duffing a few tee shots and recording a few penalty strokes from hazards on the back, he limped in with a 51 on the back nine, but did record a couple pars and came in with an impressive 97 overall! My 41 on the back at least kept me from shooting another 90. We had a fun day and plan to play more this summer after he graduates from college. I have no doubt that he'll be shooting in the 80's within weeks, just swinging naturally, staying relaxed, and focusing on the target.

But this story ends with another disastrous round yesterday in our weekly scratch skins game. I was playing well through 5 holes, although I'd missed 4 easy putts that would have gotten me to 2-under instead of 2-over. I hit a great drive on the par 5 6th, then barely got over the lake on my 2nd shot after hitting a thin 4-wood. I was still in good position to hit a lob wedge on and go for birdie or par. But I shanked my wedge into the trees right of the green, then hit a tree on my attempt to get out. My next shot barely got out of the trees and left me with a downhill lie in the rough with a shot across a ditch to the green. I managed to get on and 2-putt for a triple bogie!

After a week of abuse from the shanks and poor play, I'd had it! Instead of keeping it together and grinding it out, I just gave up. I clobbered my drives for the rest of the round, but just couldn't score. I hobbled in with another 90, swearing I was done with golf. I asked a teammate to sub for me tonight in our Tuesday night league and plan to take at least a week off and regroup.


Handicap History - June 2006 to April 2008

I'm especially disappointed since I was getting so close to breaking through the 3-handicap barrier. But I feel like I've really hit a wall and bounced way off it. My ball striking has been strong. Only putting has held me back. Now I can't even stand over a ball within 100 yards of the green with any confidence that the ball will even go forward! I guess I realize now that I just want to get back to where I'm having fun and forget all about scores and handicaps!

Labels: Rounds

Our early morning Super Bowl Sunday golf tournament was canceled yesterday due to rain, wind and cold. But just after noon, the sun started to peek out. Even though the winds were still howling, I decided to head over to the course to at least hit some balls and see if anyone was in the clubhouse to watch the Super Bowl. I arrived to an empty parking lot.


Rackham by DaddyNewt at flickr

I went inside and found a couple employees and a handful of patrons in the restaurant, but the golf course was completely empty. One of my friends from the Men's Club was at the bar. I asked if he wanted to go play a few holes, but he wasn't interested in leaving the comfort of the bar for the cold winds outside. I decided I'd carry my bag and play two or three holes, then head back home to watch the game.

With a monster headwind on the par 4 1st, I somehow got on in two with a driver and 4-wood and 2-putted for par. I hit another good drive on the 2nd followed by a 95 yard lob wedge to 15 feet. I then sank the putt for birdie, aiming well outside the hole and letting the wind bring it back! After a ho-hum par on the par 3 3rd, I got into a rhythm and decided to keep playing. I got a few sprinkles on the 4th, but could see blue skies beyond the black clouds moving southeast. With pars on the 4th and 5th, then a bogie on the difficult par 5 6th, I was back to even. The winds were blowing hard from right to left on the 177 yard par 3 8th. I hit a 6-iron over the green and over the backside bunker, leaving a steep downhill pitch out of long fescue. Amazingly, I should have hit 8-iron off the tee! My pitch ran down and across the green and barely stayed on the fringe, keeping it from rolling into lake below. I nearly made the long putt for par, but tapped in for bogie. I got up and down from just off the green on the par 4 9th to finish the front 1-over, and in only 1 hour.

Although I was playing a good round, I was mostly enjoying the pure joy of being out in the weather and having an entire golf course to myself! I also found myself taking note of the birds and my surroundings more than I usually do. Fast moving cumulus, western bluebirds, tule swans, ducks, kestrels, meadowlarks, red-tailed hawks, and even those messy coots added to the experience.

I caught a bad break on my drive into the wind on the par 4 10th, punched back out to the fairway and bogied, then bogied the par 3 11th after watching the wind carry my 180 yard 7-iron 40-50 yards left. I hit a solid drive and 4-wood on the par 5 12th, but came up short with my wedge and failed to get up and down for par. I made a good par on 13, but bogied again on 14. I missed good birdie opportunities on 15 and 16 and stayed 5-over. I 3-putted the huge green on the par 5 17th to go 6-over and salvaged par on 18 to finish with 77.

I felt a little stiff and tired from carrying my bag on the back nine, but finished without any double bogies. Mostly, I just enjoyed the unique opportunity of having a course to myself and finishing in less than 2 1/2 hours. When I arrived at the clubhouse even the restaurant was empty, so I headed home to watch the halftime show and 2nd half of the game. I was treated to one of the best finishes in football I've seen in a long time! Way to go Eli! Then I watched a recording of Tiger's back nine in Dubai and got to witness his long birdie putt on 18 to secure another win. What started off as a nasty day outside turned into a pretty artful day.

Labels: Rounds

During the last month, between December 14th and January 13th, I played 12 rounds of golf and broke 80 in every round. For me, that's quite an accomplishment (and for this time of year, quite a luxury). I usually sprinkle in a couple rounds in the low 80's for every few rounds in the 70's. I never seem to keep my good rounds going. My previous streak in the 70's ended at 7. But something changed in the last month - my short game. I also got back down under 4 and shot my second hole-in-one!


The 12th at Augusta, by winkman at flickr

Last weekend during a Men's Club tournament, I aced the 140 yard par 3 11th at Cypress Ridge Golf Course! Interestingly, my first ace, which occurred just over a year ago on the 5th at Monarch Dunes, was also from exactly 140 yards. And, like my first ace, I had to buy drinks for nearly 30 golfers after the round, which were thankfully funded by my skins winnings. I got to witness my first ace where I hit an 8-iron straight into the wind and watched my ball land on the green, bounce twice, then disappear on the third bounce. On the 11th at Cypress Ridge, the hole was hidden from view by a hill and frontside bunker. After hitting a solid 9-iron right at the pin, we all jumped up to see how close I got. We saw my ball in line with the pin, but with such a momentary peek, we were unable to determine how close it was or even if it was in front of or behind the hole. The next golfer got up and actually hit the pin on the fly! We saw his ball bounce hard off the pin and roll 20-30 feet from the hole. When we got up to the green, we only saw 3 balls. We soon found my ball in the hole! We finally determined that the best explanation was that my ball had rolled up against the pin but didn't drop until the other player's ball hit the pin.

More importantly, the ace got me to 4-under par! We had a shotgun start beginning on the 5th hole. I birdied the par 4 7th and par 5 9th to get to 2-under. The ace on 11 then put me 4-under - after only 7 holes! This was the first time I'd ever gotten to 4-under during a round. The first time I got to 3-under, which was also after 7 holes, I dashed my hopes for a career round with a quadruple bogey on the 8th hole! This time, although I managed one more birdie later in the round, I threw in too many bogies and finished with a 1-over 73, still tying the lowest score for the day.

My 73 finish also gave me back-to-back 73's. Just 2 days earlier I had shot a 2-over 73 at Monarch Dunes after going 3-over after 7 holes. I finished that round a little stronger, finishing the last 11 holes with 1 bogie and 2 birdies. I finished both rounds with 31 putts, hitting 14 greens and 10 fairways in one round and 13 greens and 12 fairways in the other. Amazingly, my 73 at Cypress Ridge included 4 3-putts! So, although my short game improved, my putting, and one or two poor shots, is all that kept me from that elusive round in the 60's.

In my prior 10 rounds I had kept my scores in a small range between 75 and 79. I had 2 rounds of 79, both scored from the back tees at Monarch Dunes (73.0/137) - quite a challenge - where I also shot an 81 just prior to and ending the 12 round streak of 70's. So, although the streak ended on a challenging course, shooting an ace in the round prior certainly softened the blow!

The streak included 3 different golf courses and 6 different tee locations, one on a course I'd never played before. During the holiday while visiting family in San Diego, I played Encinitas Ranch with my brother-in-law, which was highlighted by driving the green on a 285 yard par 4 and hitting 2 lengthy par 5's in 2. I nearly shot even-par for the round, but immaturely slapped at a couple putts after missing easy birdie opportunities and turned them into 3-putt bogies. Argh!

It was quite satisfying to get the new year off to such a great start, and to so easily identify where I still have work to do - putting and patience! Also, I'm making some decisions to stick with my goal to maintain balance. I've decided to keep playing hockey next season even though it interferes with my Tuesday night golf league and I'm passing up a Men's Club tournament next month to go see Wicked in Los Angeles with my wife and daughter - again!

Labels: Ace, Rounds

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

My father-in-law passed away recently after a 15-year battle with Parkinson's disease, a disease that usually compounds its physical challenges with that of depression. However, my father-in-law, who often shared that "attitude is everything", showed us what that meant as he faced this disease. As he gradually lost the ability to do one basic function after another, while becoming more and more dependent on others, he demonstrated utmost dignity. He literally never complained and maintained his positive and humorous attitude to the end. He showed us how an old soul faces one of life's very difficult challenges.


Archie Bunker by Rexton at flickr.com

I think of my father-in-law often, even on the golf course. As trivial as golf's challenges are in comparison to something like Parkinson's, learning to meet them with a constructive attitude can help prepare us for those larger challenges we may eventually face in life. I have a pretty good attitude as far as attitudes go, but am nowhere near the stature of someone like my late father-in-law. I admit it, I catch myself complaining or getting upset about a bad break or a bad shot more often that I like. I try to remind myself that golf doesn't have to be about scoring. At its highest, golf can be about learning and transformation, along with enjoyment and recreation. Most of the time, I remember that.

Nevertheless, I still manage to measure my rounds a little too much by score. If I break 80, I'm happy with the round. If I don't break 80, I feel like I failed somehow. Putting too much importance on my golf game has even made me limit other activities I enjoy. I've avoided hockey and snowboarding over the past couple years, in part because I don't want to hurt my back, more than golf already does, and perhaps limit the number of rounds I'd otherwise play. To a degree, I credit the frequency of my play for my speedy improvement. If I jeopardize my ability to play twice a week, perhaps I'll loose the skills and touch I've worked so hard for.

Over the past couple months, I've become more aware of the over-importance I've placed on the quality of my game. This has become evident partly because my game has slipped recently due to my inability to practice as much, but mostly because I've been more aware of my attitude and have noticed more of those little complaints and frustrations. That's really not who I want to be on the golf course.

A particularly horrible finish to a decent round last week really helped me change my attitude.

I walked up to the 18th tee at 7-over. A simple bogie would insure I break my so-important score of 80 (par 71 course). In the heavy fog, my drive failed to carry a mound that encroaches on the left side of the fairway and I found my ball in a tiny little bunker cut into it's upward face. There was really no option but to punch the shot directly sideways back into the fairway. With my feet about 18 inches above the ball, I scalded it all the way across the fairway into a grove of trees. This time, my only option was to actually punch the ball backwards into the fairway. Now, finally in the fairway, lying 3 well short of my normal drive, I hit an iron slightly right of the green and got stuck in some long fescue on a hill bordering that side of the green. My first attempt at lobbing the ball unto the green succeeded only in moving the ball 1 foot forward. I shanked the next attempt 20 feet to the right, leaving me on the same shaggy hill. I finally put the next shot on the green and 2-putted for a quintruple bogie 9!

Although I've had big blowups before, I decided this time to make a permanent change in attitude. I really wasn't that upset about this finish, but I guess I'd grown tired of placing undue importance on breaking a certain score.

The first thing I did was accept an invitation a few days later to start playing roller hockey again, in a 30-over league with some old friends. I played my first game in nearly 4 years on Tuesday night, and although I could hardly breath - or walk a couple days later - I had a blast. I forgot how much fun it was. Committing to playing hockey has already reduced the amount of golf I can play. I was too sore to consider playing until yesterday, my first round in over a week. However, my attitude was much improved, and my game was just fine.

I got through the first 10 holes at just 2-over, but then bogied 5 out of the next 7 holes. Actually, I was pretty happy with some of those bogies. I made some huge putts to prevent recording a single double bogie all round. Like the prior round, I walked up to the 18th needing just a simple bogie to break 80! However, this time, I didn't pay attention to my score. I just looked up and admired some monsterous cumulus nimbus cloud formations building over the Pacific which were just turning red as the sun began to set.

Perhaps distracted by this beauty, but more likely just stiff and tired, I hit my drive so far left that the ball went out of bounds and hit the roof of a house - the first house I'd ever hit on my millions of rounds here! I teed up my second and managed to keep this one in bounds, but only by a couple feet. Now lying 3, well left of the fairway, I shanked my wedge all the way across the fairway to the rough on the right side! The thought of shooting another 9 definitely entered my mind here. But unshaken, I hit my next shot to the far right side of the green, hoping to catch the slope and run across the green to the pin in the back left. Unfortunately, I caught too much of the slope and watched the ball run left with too much speed to stay on the green. Then, all of a sudden, my ball hit another ball that was already on the green, just 5 feet from the pin. His ball moved a little right and my ball went right in the hole! I got my bogie from 80 yards out and broke 80!!

I had to credit my luck to my newfound artful attitude - thanks Dad ;)

Labels: Attitude, Disciplines, Rounds

My wife and I traded our timeshare to visit Kauai last week. We stayed in Princeville, on the north side of the island. I brought along my golf clubs, hoping to sneak out a few times while my wife enjoyed shopping or sitting by the pool. I was able to get 4 rounds of golf in!


The Prince Course, Princeville Kauai

The first course I played was 5 minutes from our condo - The Prince Course at Princeville. I played with a threesome from Auburn, CA consisting of 3 friends and their wives. The wives each drove a cart, the husbands rode along and played golf. We had 4 carts between us! The group was very friendly and fun and made me feel very welcome joining their group. Two of us started off nicely with birdies on the first hole. I had opportunites for several more birdies on the front, but had difficulty dealing with the slow and grainy bermuda greens and turned a couple opportunities into bogies. Still, I had a good round going into the back nine with just 1 mishap on 8 - a double bogie tallied from the frontside bunker. I figured out then that you had to pick the ball out of these sandless traps.

The back nine is where the challenge began. Somehow, I found a way to par the horseshoe shaped par 5 10th after nearly going OB to the far right off the tee, then barely getting back to the fairway. A landed a long approach from there by hitting across the canyon, found inside the horseshoe shaped fairway. On the short par 3 11th I hit a solid PW into the right to left headwind that carried the ball just enough left to loose it forever in the jungle below. I dropped near the green and chipped up close to save bogie.

The course then presents you with a long drop from the tee on 12 to a narrow jungle and tree-lined sliver of a fairway below. I hit a solid 5-wood, leaving me with an easy 9i in. A par here kept me 5-over.

The trouble began on 13 where the fairway is cut in half about 200 yards out by a ditch lined with dense shrubs. I hooked my hybrid and found the ball directly behind some rocks, forcing me to pitch out to the fairway, still leaving me 185 yards out. From here I pushed a 5i right of the green and never found the ball. When it was all over, I'd quadrupled the hole. I followed this with 2 bogies and a double bogie over the next 4 holes to ballon my round to 13-over. A respectable par on the #1 handicap 18th kept me from scoring over 85.

The next day, eager to master that back nine, I invited my wife to ride along with me after showing up early and finding the parking lot empty. Apparently, The Prince Course is empty on weekends since tourists just assume it'll be too busy to play and locals play elsewhere. For most of the round, my wife walked from each tee to green while I played the hole with the cart. She'd show up at the green about the time I'd hole a putt and I'd then give her a ride to the next teebox. She got some exercise and enjoyed the views. I got to play a much better round.


The Prince Course, Princeville Kauai

I made the turn at just 1-over, a score which would have even been a few strokes lower if I had figured out those greens. I made a mess of 10 again, but chipped in from behind the green to get another par! I made the exact same mistake on 11, taking too little club and letting a slight draw get carried left of the green by the headwind. This time I failed to get up and down and added a double bogie. However, I managed another par on 12 and improved on 13. This time on 13, I hit 5i to the end of the 1st half of the fairway, then hit 6i to the green. I caught a little bit of shrubbery trying to carry the ditch and came up just short and bogied. I parred the remaining holes to finish just 4-over! And I only lost 1 ball, on the 11th!

I had the opportunity to play The Prince Course one more time a few days later and played well. This time, although I finally parred 13 with a 5i followed by another 5i, I blew up on 12. I skied a 5w off the tee, then laid up to 100 yards instead of trying to hit this small green surrounded by jungle from over 200 yards out. Somehow, I then shanked my wedge from there and lost the ball right of the green. I stumbled in with an 81, going 8-over on the back! I got to enjoy this round with 3 other singles, 1 who I learned lives just 30 minutes south of me and plays the same home course.

On the afternoon of our last day, just prior to taking the red-eye home, I played my final round at Poipu Bay Golf Club. My wife did a little sight-seeing and shopping, then enjoyed the pools at the Hyatt while I played with 2 other singles. On my first trip to Kauai 2 years ago, my son and I played this course. I was hoping to play much better this time around, but poor play in the wind on the back nine only allowed for incremental improvement over that initial round. I did manage to finish the front just 3-over, but I 3-putted so many times on both nines, that I decided to just let go of the score and enjoy the setting. The finishing holes with the ocean bordering the left side of 15 to 17 are breathtaking, and challenging! The long drop to the par 3 17th green is quite fun. From 185 yards, I first tried hitting a 7i, but went a little right and long. Just for fun, I hit another ball from the tee with my 8i and put the ball just 10 feet right of the pin, carrying the frontside bunker! I nearly birdied 18 to finish off a fun week in Kauai.

As much as I enjoyed the golf, the highlight of the trip was a helicopter tour of the island. The views of the waterfalls and Napali coastline were beyond spectacular. Of course, we enjoyed the beaches, dining, and hiking as well.

Next trip, I'm planning to play the Kiele Course at Kauai Lagoons, whose back nine was closed for renovation; Puakea, which I'm told provides superb scenery and a just a great stretch of holes from the 11th to 17th; and Kiahuna Plantation, a RTJII course that was recently revitalized into a quite interesting course. Looking forward to that next visit!

Labels: Courses, Golf Destinations, Golf Vacation, Poipu Bay, Prince Course, Princeville, Rounds

Within 21 hours, I experienced my worst and my best golf on the same course. In my Tuesday night 9-hole men's league, I continued a slide in performance over the past 2 weeks with a whopping score of 51 to loose my match! 21 hours later, I shot 34 on the same front nine, followed by a 37 on the back to tie my career best 71 at Monarch Dunes Golf Club (70.7/135).


Monarch Dunes 13th by Aidan Bradley

After a run of scores in the 70's in 11 out of 13 rounds, I'd failed to break 80 in my past 7 rounds! In a few of these rounds I was flairing my drives out of bounds to the right. In other rounds I'd shank or scald my wedges. Failure to get out of sand traps with any success and my common 3-putts plagued me in most of these rounds.

I then decided I needed some practice. I'd gotten back in the habit of playing instead of practicing when some time opened up to head to the course.

On the range, I made some minor adjustments to my posture - butt out and chin up. I had recently purchased a book on golf fitness and got the impression from browsing it's photos that I needed to make this adjustment. It seemed to work on the range, however, I learned after my round of 51 on Tuesday night, that lifting my chin up was probably responsible for all my scalded wedge shots. In yesterday's career round, I kept my butt out, but let my head return to its more comfortable position, more in line with my spine angle. That worked!

More importantly, I made a rather obvious discovery when I was practicing my putting last Sunday. It's something most golfers already do, but I never tried it. I've always tried to keep an image in my mind of the desired path the ball will travel when I putt. I'm a path putter and go by feel once I'm over the ball. But with the hole as the eventual target, I think I unconsciously start the ball on a line more towards the hole instead of the path's apex.

Instead, after reading a putt, I'm now picking a very specific spot on the green or blade of grass that is located in line with the apex and is just before or past the hole based on slope or speed. Now when I putt, I let go entirely of where the hole is and simply maintain an image of that spot in my mind and commit to it when I take the putter back. I then succeed in starting the ball on the correct line, and assuming I read the break correctly, the ball just drops in the hole!

I know what you're thinking, "duh, you could have figured that out a long time ago if you'd just take a lesson!" I guess I'm just stubborn and like to experiment and figure it out the hard way!

Anyway, I really concentrated yesterday on just trusting my ability to putt to a very specific spot on the green and to let go of any attachment to making the putt. On all 18 greens, I putted exactly where I intended to, I just happened to misread a few breaks by a small amount.

I finished each nine with only 12 putts!

This is quite a breakthrough for me since I rarely come in with less than 34 putts. I'm the only 4 handicapper I know who putts more like a beginner! I depend entirely on hitting fairways and greens. If I miss a green, I nearly always 2-putt for bogie. If I hit a green, I usually 2-putt for par, but often 3-putt for bogie. An occasional lucky birdie is required to keep my score under control.

Yesterday, I only hit 6 fairways and 8 greens in regulation and managed 3 birdies with my 24 putts! The last time I shot 71 on this course - nearly 8 months ago - I hit 15 greens and 12 fairways with 4 birdies and a whopping 34 putts!

It was simply an amazing round. I had four quality birdie opportunities inside 10 feet and only missed one. I only failed to get up and down for par on 2 holes. I hit 2 extraordinary lob shots to within tap-in distance. One was a blind shot over a mound to the upper tier of a downhill sloping green. I heard others in my foursome sigh after my ball reached the green. I thought their reaction was because I'd almost succeeded in keeping the ball on the upper tier - a nearly impossible outcome - but that it barely rolled down to the bottom tier, 4 feet below. When I walked towards the green, I learned I'd nearly holed the shot, finding the ball inches from the hole!

After birdies on 5, 6, and 11 and a single bogie on 9, I walked up to the 16th tee only 2-under. One of the guys in my foursome - a major league baseball pitcher who recently retired after returning too quickly to play after elbow surgery - asked me if I knew I was currently 2-under. I did of course know, but had succeeded in paying little attention to my score up to this point. His comment inadvertantly removed me from the "zone" I was in and I double-bogied the easy 16th. I immediately realized what had happened and got back to my detached shot-at-a-time routine and nearly birdied 17, barely misreading the putt. Then on 18 I came up a little short on my approach, but nearly holed my chip. Pars on 17 and 18 gave me my career tying round of 71!

I was seriously close to putting the clubs away for a month or two after Tuesday night, but had already committed to playing the next day. As a friend shared after the round, "the Golf Gods suckered me back in big time."

Labels: Monarch Dunes, Putting, Rounds, Self Coaching

After posting an entry recently about a recent breakthrough and sharing some thoughts on how I picked up the game rather quickly, I discovered a better explanation for my improvement, and found out I have plenty more to learn. This morning, I found my way back over to the The Shivas Irons Society website and ran across a new article by Luke Brosterhaus about ability, effort, and luck. While reading Luke's insights, I realized what an important role a deep belief in my ability and dedicated effort to improve that ability continues to play in my learning experience.


Golf by dskciado at flickr

According to Luke, "you'll really struggle to improve if you do not believe in your ability."

I've always thought that anyone who plays golf can develop the ability to play well, and that our ability to play well has more to do with belief than natural talent. We all know we have the ability to hit a straight drive, hit a green from 150 yards out, pitch or chip close to the pin, or make a short or long putt. We've all done it before, so we know we have the ability. We just have to believe we can do it again, especially over the very next shot we're about to take.

It seems that all my bad shots are a direct result of either a lack of belief in my ability to make the shot (often from a bunker) or a decision to make a shot that I truly don't have the strength or skill to make (perhaps a shot over one branch and under another). All my extraordinary shots were born from a deep belief in my ability to create the shot beforehand.

My steady improvement has been a result of first identifying when a lack of ability exists (golf makes that easy), and then making the required effort to practice those shots until the ability is developed sufficiently. Once I've gained the ability, my success depends on believing in that ability on every shot. That doesn't mean I succeed every time, but the simple fact that I believe I can make a shot increases the odds I will. Letting go and trusting in our ability is surely a better alternative than letting doubt and fear creep in, which are certain to interfere with that ability.

As my abilities and game have developed, I've continued to expose myself to new shots and new situations in order to identify new weaknesses and inability. This has required that I get out of my comfort zone and play new types of courses, play with strangers, play competitively, play from different tee boxes, and take some risk and try new shots.

So, after experiencing a string of great rounds over the past few weeks at familiar courses, I got the opportunity to play out of my comfort zone last weekend in two unique rounds, and discovered I have several new inabilities that need my effort.

Last Saturday, I had the enjoyable experience of attending my first event hosted by The Shivas Irons Society. I signed up to play in a golf and wine tasting event at The Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang, CA. In addition to meeting some very interesting new people, I was introduced to an "old style" golf course - the tee boxes were even right next to the prior greens. I'm used to playing a course with very fast greens, ample fairways, and modest number of bunkers. The Ranch Course quickly taught me that I need to develop my ability to get up and down from bunkers, lag putt on slow greens, and tighten up my drives to avoid shots from behind trees. This new experience quickly ended my streak of rounds in the mid-70's, but succeeded in helping me find new opportunities for growth.

Even though I shot a round in the low 80's, I did make several impressive shots. I had one of my best rounds with my lob wedge. On several occasions, I had the opportunity to open the face way up and take a full swing from short yardage to get to a pin protected by bunkers and mounds. These shots required my full trust, which I mustered on each occasion. Unfortunately, I rarely made the following putt to save par. Two other shots I enjoyed included a sand wedge from a downhill lie next to the back lip in a bunker (followed my a missed putt), and a 3-wood that landed a green from 250 yards out in the fairway (followed by a 3-putt). After what seemed like a very long string of bogies, I finally came up with one birdie during the round.

The following day, I played in a tournament with my Men's Club from the back tees (72.9/134). Having only played from the back tees a few times and never in the past nine months, this was practically a new experience too. The back tees really add difficulty to the par 3's and many par 4's, requiring short-iron-like accuracy from your long irons. I quickly learned from this round that I need to practice my distance control and accuracy with my long irons. I did however beat my prior best round from the back tees by 1 stroke, shooting an 80 with one OB and 1 missed 2 foot putt. The round turned out to be the third best score for the day and I took second place net.

In both rounds, I faced new shots that I rarely experience in my normal rounds. In each of these cases, I lacked belief in my ability to make them. Poor results followed. What I learned was that I need to play a variety of courses on a more frequent basis instead of getting too comfortable at my home course(s).

Believe in your ability to play extraordinary golf.

Labels: Ability, Alisal Ranch, Rounds, Shivas Irons Society

I continued a streak of extraordinary rounds today, shooting a 75 at Monarch Dunes Golf Club (70.7/135) in a Travel League I play in. My score came in good enough to win 1st place net and 2nd place gross. Six of my latest rounds have now come in between 73 and 76! This is a real breakthrough for me. Although I've scored in the low 70's plenty of times before, I've never done so as consistently or with as little effort. I'm really learning to just play and not try so hard anymore! I've even become a good putter, the part of the game that I've struggled with most. In fact, I've been playing so well that several golfers have asked me recently how I got so good so fast!


Tiger celebrates a chip-in birdie on the 16th at the 2005 Masters

My standard answer to this question has always been that I started getting better when I simply began playing more than once a week. But, although more frequent play does help develop and maintain better touch and perhaps even consistency, it doesn't necessarily result in better scoring. I've met plenty of golfers who expected to become better golfers once they retired and finally had the time to work on their game and play more, but who actually got worse.

I've also replied that the game came pretty naturally to me, coming from playing hockey. Hockey has a complimentary swing. I've found that hitting down on the ball is much like taking a slapshot. But again, although my natural ability and a natural swing may have reduced my learning curve, it only took me so far.

Another factor I share is that I learned quickly by coaching myself instead of taking lessons and filling my mind with too many swing thoughts and techniques. I've learned to simply relax, quiet my mind, focus on the target, visualize my shot, and swing. I just trust that my body can do what I visualize it doing. I've never seen my swing or had it analyzed. However, after taking my first and only golf lesson just a couple months ago, I can see where getting help from a pro on occasion could speed up the process of improvement even more. I just wouldn't become dependant on one.

What I realize now is that my improvement really began when I changed who I am on the course. Golf is a great teacher, and I was eager to learn from it.

My biggest breakthoughs came when I let go of scoring and winning and learned to just play and have fun. I learned to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. I learned to enjoy playing with friends and meeting new ones. I learned to be patient when I was struggling. I learned to accept my mistakes. I learned to let go of doubt and fear. I learned to trust myself. I learned that my next shot, my next hole, and my next round could be extraordinary. I learned the "Art of the Possible" from Fred Shoemaker, who shares in his book Extraordinary Golf, to use our time between shots "to put the past in the past, create a future that is powerful and full of possibility, and live into that future."

So, while I take a moment to celebrate my recent breakthrough, I also give thanks to those who have shown me how to play a game, and live a life, that is full of possibility and excitement.

Labels: Disciplines, Extraordinary Golf, Fred Shoemaker, Rounds

I haven't been reading or working on anything new lately and haven't spent any time practicing. But I have been playing, and focusing on some of the methods I've posted recently. I've made a lot of progress in taking each round one shot at a time, with an emphasis on playing instead of scoring, yet remaining expectant of extraordinary results.


Mornington Peninsula in Melborne by alandot at flickr.com

After shooting the 73 a couple weeks ago in match play, I moved on to the next bracket and played one of our club's best players. To my astonishment, I learned his low handicap for the year was one higher than mine, so I had to give him one stroke in our match. He's very capable of breaking par, is known as one of the longest and most accurate drivers in the club, and even won a local pro-am that includes PGA players such as Loren Roberts, Tom Lehman, Aaron Oberholzer, John Daly, Fred Couples, and others. I was up against a real player and was giving him a stroke!

We both made admirable up and downs on the difficult opening hole to get off to a good start. But on the par 3 2nd hole, he hit the green, and I landed a deep greenside bunker. My lie was hardpan wet sand. It took me 2 strokes to get out, then I 3-putted for a triple bogie! Fortunately, it was match play, so I was only down 1. On the par 5 3rd, we both hit long drives. In fact, it was one of several holes where I out drove him, which is no easy feat. He hit his 2nd shot right into a bank with long grass behind a small tree. I was in the middle of the fairway about 50 yards out. I hit the green in regulation, he punched back out to the fairway. I lined up my putt while he hit his 4th shot short of the green unto the fringe. He then chipped in for par! I was sure I had him and would get back to even. Instead, I 3-putted again and lost the hole! I was now down 2. He finally bogied the 4th and I got back to within 1. I was still in it.

I stayed patient and played with an attitude of expectancy. I knew I had a good enough game to at least make it a good match.

I birdied the next hole to get even! Then I chipped in from off the green on the par 4 6th for another birdie and went up 1. His jaw dropped. The par 4 7th is one of my favorite holes. It's an uphill dogleg left which can be driven with a good drive if you're willing to take the risk. You can bail out safely right, but a pulled shot goes out of bounds left. I hit my drive right at the pin, landed the green, and rolled about 15-20 feet past the pin! My opponent tried too but missed right, then pitched up and 2 putted for par. I 2 putted for my 3rd birdie in a row and went up 2!

The par 4 8th is the #1 handicap hole, so I had to give him a stroke. We both made impressive pars, but he took the hole. Still up 1. I hit first on the par 5 9th. I figured with his distance, he'd try to get on in 2, so I decided I'd do the same. I crushed my drive, but pulled it to the left into a dry water collection area with long rough. He hit one just as far to the middle of the fairway. Fortunately, I had a good lie and because the hole was a slight dogleg left, had a shorter distance to the green. I absolutely clobbered a 5-wood and landed just 1 foot short of the green. He laid up, pitched on in regulation, and 2 putted for par. I made an incredible chip to within 1 foot for an easy tap-in birdie! I'd just birdied 4 out of the last 5 holes and went up again by 2!

I was succeeding in staying true to my goal to take the match one shot at a time, let go of the outcome, yet remain expectant for extraordinary shots to come.

However, it turned out my opponent was pretty good at doing the same and he got very focused and hung right in there. He birdied 10 and 12 to get back to even with 6 holes to go! From there he went on to birdie one more hole and I started getting a couple bogies. He took the match on 17 with a par on a very difficult par 3. I still considered the match a success. I'd shot a 76 with a triple bogie and 4 3-putts and he came in with a 2-under 70!

There's no doubt I had no business having to give him a stroke. He's a much more accomplished and experienced golfer whose index has recently been as low as 1. The inaccuracy of handicaps is just a reality of amateur golf that I wasn't going to waste any time dwelling on. I'd played a good match and certainly gained his respect. I had him a little worried after my string of four birdies. In the end, I think he just wanted it more than I did. I just wanted to play and see what an expectant attitude might bring forth! He just wanted to win. We both got what we wanted.

I've now shot a 73 and 76 in my last 2 competitive rounds and shot a 74 yesterday playing recreationally with friends. Just playing golf, instead of trying to score, is paying big dividends!

Labels: Rounds

A golfer who found his way to my website recently directed me towards an inspiring golf story, Golf's Sacred Journey by Dr. David L. Cook, about a rancher with extraordinary insights and a struggling young golf professional. Dr. David L. Cook is an author, peak performance coach and speaker in both the sport and business arenas. Golf Digest recently named him one of the "Top 10 Mental Game Consultants" in the world of golf. The story, available as a free download, shares wisdom that can transform your game, and life.


Bandon Dunes by hole-in-one at flickr.com

In addition to insights about the importance of rhythm, balance, and patience, I was particularly drawn to a chapter describing golf as art, an approach to the game I try to realize. Below, I've included some of my favorite excerpts from the story about golf as art.

"Golf is to art like dance is to music. Dance is a physical expression of the music; a golf shot is a physical expression of art."

"To be a great player, you must be a great shot-maker. To be a great shot-maker, you must become an artist."

"All shots start with a blank canvas. We must paint the shot with our eyes first, before our body can produce it accurately. In essence, the quality of our shot mimics the quality of our painting."

"Your muscles work off of images sent from the eyes. Your muscles will hit the shot, but like a pilot in the fog, they can only respond to the information you send to them. The most powerful information is an image, a picture. A good picture produces feel and feel produces trust."

"First, you must see; second, you feel; third, you trust. Trust is the epitome of golf. It is the freedom to swing and let go. Great athletes compete best when they are free. Trust, you see, is earned. It is earned by feel, and feel is earned by seeing. Therefore, art is the catalyst to a great shot."

"Every time you hit a shot, you are signing a painting. When we fail to engage art, we sign our name to a stick figure outcome. When you engage art, you sign your name to a masterpiece."

At one point during the story, the rancher tells the struggling pro to "be expectant". Although this advice was easy to miss in the story, it really struck me since I've focused so much on not having expectations. But then I realized that "being expectant" isn't about expectations about the outcome, it's about what Fred Shoemaker describes as being open to the art of the possible, being open to and even expectant of extraordinary golf.

Play golf with artful expectancy!

Last week, I had the opportunity to play a competitive round with this newfound attitude of artful expectancy. Our Men's Club Match Play tournament just began and my first match was against a very competitve golfer that I had to give 9 strokes to. Thanks to those strokes, I was quickly behind by 2 holes after 3. Although my opponent's handicap was quite a bit higher than mine, he was striking the ball and putting like a single handicapper. It was looking like I'd have to birdie every hole to stay even.

I decided to be expectant, yet patient. By the end of the front 9, I was up 3! Although I bogied the 1st hole, I shot 6 pars and 2 birdies to finish the front 1-under. My opponent kept it closer on the back, but I closed him out on 15 (4&3). With net pars on the last 3 holes, I recorded my best-ever competitive round with a 1-over 73 (71.2/129).

Labels: Art, Books, David Cook, Expectations, Golf's Sacred Journey, Rounds

"The golf swing, no matter how memorized, is a creative act born out of the conditions of the moment, no two of which are ever the same. Whereas you can reduce the swing to it's individual pieces, you cannot reduce the game to science. It is an art and you are the artist." -- Lynn Molhan

If in fact, there is a secret to playing artful golf, I'd have to say that it's taking the game one creative shot at a time, while letting go of all expectations and judgments before and after each shot. I finally got back in that mindset for a short time this week. After struggling lately to even break 80, I realized I was simply trying too hard to regain my past success. I decided to let go of expectations and just play the game. Better results followed immediately.


Artful shot by konderminator at flickr.com

During my 9-hole Tuesday night league this week, I was matched against a scratch golfer, 20 years younger than me. He had to give me 2 strokes. We both missed the green on the first hole and left our chips too far out to expect par. I 2-putted for bogie. He lipped his second putt and gave me the first hole. The next hole was a long par 5 which I've never seen anyone hit in two. My opponent missed doing so by hitting slightly left of the green with a 3-wood after an absolutely huge drive. I got on in three and 2-putted for par. His chip went a little long and he missed his birdie putt. Still up one. I stroked on the next hole which we both bogied. Up two. We both missed the green on the following par 4, but my pitch from behind the green ran past the pin and went off the green on the other side. He had a slippery downhill putt for par. I chipped in from 15 feet for par! He missed his 10 foot putt and bogied. Up three! We both parred the next par 3. Still up three.

My driver kicked into gear on the following par 4. I hit a 300 yard drive to 60 yards out. He followed with a huge pull left. He got on in three. I put my second shot about 15 feet beyond the pin, leaving me with a difficult breaking putt, but an easy par. He was looking at a makable par putt. I aimed about 3 feet outside the hole and watched the putt trickle in for birdie! I'd closed him out - up four with three to go! We finished the round since we also compete for strokes. We both bogied the next par 5 and parred the following par 4. On our final hole, the course's most difficult, I stroked again. He led off with a monster drive into the wind, leaving himself with a 130 yard approach. Rarely does anyone get inside 160 yards! I surprised all of us with another huge drive and was amazed to find myself only 5 yards behind his ball when we arrived in the fairway. We both made good shots in and 2-putted for par. I won 5 holes to his zero and shot 38 (net 36) to his 42.

The next day, I took the afternoon off to play another local course to practice for an upcoming tournament this weekend. I started off like I left off the night before. I chipped and 1-putted for par on the par 4 1st. I managed a sandy par on the par 3 2nd by sinking a 30 foot putt. My drive on the par 5 3rd went behind a tree. I punched out, but landed a fairway bunker. I left my third shot short and left of the green, but again, I chipped up and made a 10 footer for par. I parred the next 3 holes to remain even par after 6. Then I birdied 7, 8 and 9 to go 3-under on the front, shooting my first-ever 33 for nine holes! I did it with only 12 putts and 5 GIRs.

I started the back nine trying to stay present in the moment and not start thinking about the potential outcome. I missed a 10 footer for birdie on 10 and a 15 footer for birdie on 11. Still 3-under after 11. I hit a good drive on 12, then hit a wedge quite a bit left of the pin to avoid going right over a deep bunker guarding the right-side pin. My long lag putt stayed right on line, but went past the hole about 4 feet. On the front nine and during my round the night before, I sunk every putt within 5 feet. That streak ended on 12 when I 3-putted for my first bogie of the round. Still 2-under.

I got greedy on the following par 5 and tried to get on in 2 with a 3-wood after hitting a long drive. I landed the frontside bunker. The pin was back, so I took a big swing from the bunker, but didn't take enough sand and ended up well past the steep sloping green. I pitched on and barely missed my 15 foot putt for par. Another bogie and back to 1-under. I pulled out a par on the par 4 14th after missing my first fairway on the back. On 15, I hit an incredible drive, leaving me with a short pitch to the green. The pin was back behind a mound which I barely failed to carry. My ball ended up near the top of the mound, leaving me a pretty good chance for a 2-putt par. But while I was walking up to remove the pin, my ball rolled back down the hill about 10 feet! Still, I made a good putt over the breaking mound, leaving another 4 footer for par. I missed. Now back to even par!

With 3 holes to go, I started thinking a little more about what I needed to do to come in even or better. The par 4 16th is the hardest hole on the course, but 17 always proves to have the highest scoring average during tournaments. However, I can usually reach the par 5 18th in 2, providing a nice birdie opportunity. So, I guess I let my mind start getting ahead of the shot at hand and began to focus on the desired outcome. Regardless, I parred 16, then landed the par 3 17th with a nice tee shot. However, I left my 1st putt short and gave myself yet another 4 footer for par. I missed one more time and went to 1-over. I still had my birdie opportunity at 18! I hit another great drive and landed the green in 2 as planned. But again, I was left with a difficult putt over a huge mound. I picked a good line, but came up 3 feet short. I lipped out my birdie putt and 3-putted for the fourth time in last seven holes!

I'd ended the front nine 3-under with 12 putts and 5 GIRs, but managed to go 4-over on the back with a whopping 22 putts after hitting 8 GIRs! Nevertheless, I really had fun during my last two rounds and am excited that my game is going back in the right direction!

One artful shot at a time! One artful shot at a time! One artful shot at a time! Okay, I think I got it.

Stay centered in the current moment with the current shot. The past has slipped away, the future will take care of itself. Remain centered in the artful now.

Labels: Centeredness, Disciplines, Rounds

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

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

Ever since my little mishap a couple weeks ago with the lake where I splashed 2 balls from 95 yards out to quadruple bogie the last hole after getting to even par, I seem to be having issues with water.


17th at Big Island CC by Achrisvet at flickr.com

A couple days later, I played a 9-hole event and skipped a 5-wood across the lake on the par 4 1st, but still got up and down for par. But I put another ball in the lake on the par 3 8th and double bogied. In a best-ball tournament last weekend, I hit a 5-iron into a lake on my 2nd shot on 9 after playing 8 really good holes, and tallied another double. And this week, I hit a drive that rolled into a lake on the first hole. I did manage to make a pretty nice up and down for bogie though.

I've played with many golfers who seem to think they'll always hit the ball in the water or who have a certain hole that always plaques them, where they consistently hit a horrible shot. But I've never experienced this before. I nearly always avoid water hazards, and give them little attention. I've always had pretty good success in focusing on where I'm trying to hit the ball instead of all the hazards lying in front or to the side.

I'm playing again today and I'm eager to see if I can face this apparent new fear and regain my fearless focus on the target! Golf provides so many opportunities to face small fears and to learn to rise above them by trusting in that higher artful self of ours.

Labels: Disciplines, Fear, Rounds

I pulled a Phil today. I'm such an idiot! Yes, I learned what it feels like to totally choke on the 18th coming in with an easy win.

Okay, this was just a men's club tournament, not a U.S. Open., nothing really on the line but some script money, but I still feel like an idiot!


Cypress Ridge Golf Course, 15th hole

I started today's round a little more tense that usual. I got paired with some good golfers that I haven't played with in over a year. Last time I played with any of these guys, I was about a 10-12 handicap at this course. These golfers are all long-time low handicappers. Now that my handicap is down under 4 and I'm currently leading the men's club in point standings, I feel like the "real" players who haven't seen me play in a while are watching me closely to see if I can really play, or if my index and standings are just a fluke.

So, a little tense, I was happy when I at least hit a decent drive off the first tee, but I came up short on my approach shot. I then hit a poor lob wedge over the green to the back fringe, and 3-putted from there for double bogie. I took a deep breath on the next tee and was rewarded with a perfect 7-iron right at the pin, but I hit it so well that it bounced off the back of the green. I couldn't imagine that an 8-iron was the right club for this 163-yard downhill hole, but apparently is was. Still feeling my nerves, my first thought was to just forget scoring well today and enjoy the round. But the guy with me in the cart then gave me a smile and reminded me there's a lot of golf left. I needed the reminder. I then hit a lob wedge to just 4 feet past the hole and made the return putt for par. Whew! Just hang in there.

I then hit 3 great shots into the par 5 third and 2-putted for par, but I still felt tense. I then hit an 8-iron over the green on the uphill par 3 fourth and chunked the resulting chip back, but managed to roll up to the fringe. I then smashed my putt from the fringe 6 feet past the hole. The putt was so bad, one guy asked me what I was thinking! Good question. I collected myself, focused, and sunk the return putt for a much needed bogie. Now 3-over after 4, I just made myself settle down. I just reminded myself to get back to playing my game, one shot at a time. Forget the outcome, have fun.

I succeeded. I went on to shoot 2 birdies to finish the front just 1-over, then birdied again on 15 to get back to even! I started crushing my drives and hitting quality irons into the greens. My putting just kept improving too. I sank some pretty impressive par and birdie putts. I then parred the difficult 16th and 17th and walked up to 18 still even par, 4 strokes ahead of anyone else in the group! I felt pretty confident at this point. I was striking the ball well and can often give myself a decent chance to hit a fairway wood into this par 5 to get on in two and get an easy birdie.

Again, I crushed another good drive, but pulled the shot slightly left and landed a deep fairway bunker. No problem, I can still layup and play for par. I picked the ball out perfectly with an 8-iron, probably one of my best-ever shots out of a deep bunker, leaving me only 95 yards in to the green, and over a lake. Oh, did I mention the lake? Yes, I did. Splash! I dropped next to the lake. Splash again! Jeez, I now was sitting 6 and not on yet.

Still a little rattled, I got the third one over, but nowhere near the pin. I really wanted to make this long putt for triple bogie, but missed by a fraction of an inch to the left and left the ball above and past the hole. I didn't even leave myself with an easy putt for a quadruple bogie! I took another deep breath. Thank God! I made the slippery putt and ended with a 4-over 76!

Turns out, three golfers including myself shot 76 today to tie for the lead, but our club uses the score on your back nine to break ties. My 39 was the highest. I went from 1st to 3rd simply by getting a quadruple bogie on the last hole when all I needed was a triple! I hope Phil feels better now. One guy tried to make me feel better by telling me Tiger shot 76 today too, landing a lake on 17 AND 18. Funny, that did make me feel better.

Oh well, I'll chalk it up as another learning experience. It appears that Phil has begun to recover from his mishap and I will too. But to be honest, I sure would have loved to shoot my first par in a tournament round! I'll get more chances though. I played extraordinary golf today for 16 holes, going 2-under between the first and last holes. Hard to believe I went 6-over on the other 2, but I'm not going to wine about a 76. I played some good golf today! And I'm pretty sure my playing partners now know my game is no fluke. They were even routing for me!

Labels: Cypress Ridge, Rounds

I am now a member of three men's clubs at two different local golf courses. Last year I joined my first men's club to get some experience playing competitively. I quickly got down to a 10 handicap and progressively improved all year, getting down to a 4.2 towards the end of the year. I even won the Net Club Championship!


Cypress Ridge 8th Green

This year I became a charter member of another men's club at a new local course that just opened last year. Both of these men's clubs play monthly tournaments on the weekend and fortunately don't have any conflicting dates. I also just put together a team for a third men's club that plays 9 hole stroke and match play tournaments every Tuesday night at our new course.

Things are off to a great start. I'm currently ranked first in points in the first men's club after playing 5 tournaments and just won the gross competition in our first Tuesday night event. I tied for 3rd gross in the first event of the season at our new course.

We have our sixth tournament at the first course on Sunday. I haven't played this course but once since last month's tournament and it's greens are significantly slower than the new course I now play more often, so I headed out today for a practice round to get the feel for the greens. Boy, did that turn out to be a good idea!

I 3-putted the 1st 2 greens and again on the 5th! My lag putts were just coming up way too short. However, the rest of my game was incredible. I hit a personal record 15 greens in regulation, hitting every green on the front nine, and hit a respectable 12 fairways, barely missing the other 2.

After getting to a quick 3-over after those 3-putts in the first 5 holes, I then recorded 10 pars, 2 birdies, and 1 double bogie to end with a 3-over 75. I nearly eagled 2 holes. I drove the par 4 7th green and came up a few inches short on my 10 foot eagle putt. I then hit the long par 5 13th in 2 with a 3-wood (which I've only done once before), and missed that 15 foot eagle putt by an inch. Those were my 2 birdies. I missed an easy 6 foot birdie putt on the par 5 9th and another on the par 3 11th.

I only had one bad hole. I hit a good drive on 15, but plugged my ball in a green-side bunker on my 9-iron approach. I got the ball out with a sand wedge, but it ran across the green into a bunker on the other side. I then got on and nearly made my bogie putt. I almost got another eagle opportunity on 18, hitting a 5-wood over a lake onto the green from 210 yards out, but barely bounced over the green into another bunker. I got out and 2 putted for par, ending the round 38/37/75 with a whopping 37 putts! If I'd 2 putted those first 3 greens and made just one of the eagle putts or easy birdie putts on 9 or 11, I could have easily gone under par.

Regardless, I had more fun playing this round than I have in a while. I played aggressively and gave myself a lot of quality eagle and birdie chances. I really only hit one bad shot all day, the one which ended up being plugged in the bunker on 15. That wasn't even that bad a shot. It was a very rewarding and fun round which I hope prepared me for a great round on Sunday with better putting.

What I learned today is how well I play when I don't over emphasize scoring. I truly enjoyed my company today, playing with a friend and a couple we hooked with from Southern California, and simply took pleasure in making good shots. I didn't even react one bit to any of my 3-putts. I just picked up my ball and walked to the next tee, happy to be playing golf!

Labels: Cypress Ridge, Rounds

I've had a few bad starts in recent rounds, but kept the faith that better holes were coming. I remained patient and refused to give up. I was rewarded each time.


Golfers Don't Give Up by lolla_sig at flickr.com

I played in a men's tournament last Sunday on a blustery day and struggled to hit many greens in regulation. I only hit six greens! I missed a few too many fairways too. Just to make the day even more challenging, the greenskeeper gave us some pretty nasty pin placements too.

On the par 4 seventh, a golfer in my foursome with a 3 handicap got on in 2, then 5-putted! Any missed putt just wouldn't stay near the hole. On the following hole, the pin was placed on the upslope in the back-left corner of the green. I missed my 8 foot birdie putt by inches and rolled down the bank 4 feet from the hole. I barely missed my return putt, and rolled back to the same spot. I made my third putt for bogie. I added one more 3-putt on the ninth for a double bogie after getting my first birdie on the par 3 eighth.

For a stretch of seven holes in the middle of the round, I went 7-over. I went into fifteen 9 over par - not the kind of round I was hoping for, and certainly not in the running for a top-three finish. Still, I was pretty sure, the majority of the field was struggling for pars right along with me, thanks to the wind and challenging pin placements. I hung in there and pared the long par 3 fifteenth from off the green.

But I hit a horrible drive on sixteen, landing way right near some bushes, just a couple feet from a small shed. I managed to move the ball forward about 20 yards with a pitching wedge and ended up on the upslope of a huge mound in long fescue. The mound was so large that it obscured my view of the flag. I was only about 85 yards out, but knew I'd need a huge swing with a sand wedge to get the ball loose. I picked a spot on the top of the mound to fly over and let it rip. The ball flew so high up in the air, I knew I'd hit it pure. I ran up to the top of the mound to watch. It finally landed on the back fringe above the hole and rolled back to the middle of the green to within 4 feet of the pin. I made the putt for par! I made another par on seventeen. At least I was keeping the round under control.

Then I hit a bomb on eighteen, carrying a ridge about 240 yards out in the fairway with plenty of room to spare, allowing the ball to catch the downslope to run towards the green. I'd hit good drives here before, but this was among the best I'd seen. I got to my ball and found it about 20 yards short of the center of the green. I'd hit a 365 yard drive on this 385 yard par 4! I pitched up and made another 4-footer for birdie!

I came in with a respectable 8-over 79. Only 3 golfers in a field of 40 shot lower rounds that day.

Tuesday, I played the course again with my regular foursome. I started off worse than Sunday. The winds were even stronger and it was noticeably colder. My score reflected it. I finished the front nine 6-over after shooting 2 bogies and 2 double bogies. I failed to tally a birdie.

I made a good par on ten, one of the hardest par 4's I've ever played, hitting a good drive and approach into a strong headwind. I decided right there to keep at it. If I finished the back at 2-over, I'd still be able to break 80.

I followed with another par on the par 3 eleventh, another difficult hole with a strong headwind off the ocean, and one more on the twelfth.

I finally landed an approach close to the pin on thirteen and made the 5-footer for my first birdie. I followed that with great recoveries on fourteen and fifteen for pars. My first bogie on the back then came on sixteen after failing to hit the green from a fairway bunker. So far, I'd kept the back nine to even par.

After finally learning to finish strong in the past month, I knew I had it in me to come in with a good score, but I surprised myself on the next 2 holes.

I nearly hit a 300 yard drive on the par 5 seventeenth and hit the green in two with my 5-wood. Two putts later I had another birdie. I then hit another extraordinary drive on eighteen, just 10 yards short of the drive I hit on Sunday! I pitched this approach to 2 feet and made my second birdie in a row and third birdie in the last 6 holes, finishing the back 2-under!

This became my fourth-ever 75 at Monarch Dunes, second only to my one and only par round, which I shot just last week. I'm especially happy about this round because I didn't give up after such a poor start and after only hitting 8 greens and 8 fairways all day. The round also lowered my index to an all-time low 3.4!

Labels: Disciplines, Monarch Dunes, Rounds

My perseverance with putting paid off yesterday. I shot my first par round ever at Monarch Dunes Golf Course!


Monarch Dunes 15th by Aidan Bradley

As I shared last week, I've struggled with my putting over the past few weeks and have felt that my putting really hasn't improved since I started playing golf. I decided it was time to take action.

I spent time putting in my living room last week and immediately became aware that I was thinking too much. Instead of focusing only on the target and intended path, as I do before striking the ball, I realized I was thinking about things like taking the putter back slowly, taking the putter back on a straight line, and following through down the line I'd chosen. I also noticed that I decelerated through the ball when I was indecisive about the break, or when I lost my focus on the hole due to letting my mind think about the mechanics of the putting stroke.

It occurred to me then that I should try putting the way I take a snapshot in hockey, taking the club or stick back a short distance and then accelerating through the shot. I gave it a try. I focused on the hole, took the putter back slowly, then confidently stroked the ball down the line towards the hole. Right away I noticed a difference. Everything about my stroke felt better. I became confident with this putting stroke after only a little practice.

As if life was confirming my newfound (and rather obvious) discovery, I then received a comment to my recent post about my putting struggles from a reader, Alexis, who shared what she had learned in a lesson that helped her improve. She was instructed to "make sure your backswing is shorter than the follow-through. You should tell the ball where to go, by hitting it, instead of letting the putter head fall on the ball."

I got a chance to try out her advice over the weekend in my monthly Men's Club tournament. I noticed a vast improvement. Although I made a couple poor lag putts down the stretch due to some competitive pressure, I didn't miss a single short putt. I even made a 40-foot putt for eagle on the par 5 ninth! I finished with a respectable 5-over 77.

Yesterday, I got another chance to try out my new "snapshot" putt. My weekend golf partner had the day off work and asked if I'd play. I invited another friend who I play with during the week to join us. This was the first time I'd played a round with both my weekend and weekday partners, and the first time they'd met.

The windy round got off to a good start with 4 straight pars and a birdie on the par 3 fifth. My ball striking and putting felt solid. On the par 5 sixth, I missed my only fairway of the round, landing in a eucalyptus grove along the right side of the fairway. My only feasible shot was to aim between two large trees and try to carry a large lake to get back to the fairway. This would leave me an easy approach to get on in three. I hit a perfect 5-wood through the trees and carried the lake with 10 yards to spare. My wedge from 105 yards in landed about 15 feet past the hole. I made the putt for my second birdie in a row.

My good fortune ended on the par 4 seventh. I hit a good drive, but it faded slightly and a strong crosswind carried the ball over the fairway into a large tree. The ball luckily bounced 90 degrees left back into the fairway, loosing only distance. My approach from there landed the green about 15 feet from the pin, leaving me a decent chance for my third birdie in a row. I got the putt to the hole, but it ran about 2-3 feet past. I was left with a breaking downhill putt for par. I hit it firm to take out the break, but lipped out and ended up 4 feet below the hole. I missed the return putt and ended up 4-putting for double bogie. Instead of getting to 3-under, I was back to even. I learned a valuable lesson though - to aim inside the cup on a firm putt within 3 feet. I had aimed right at the edge of the cup, thinking it would at least break a fraction of an inch. A costly lesson.

I put it behind me and made a good par on eight and bogied nine to end the front 1-over. Even though I recorded 18 putts on the front, I putted well other than the 4-putt on seven. The ninth was the first green I missed in regulation. I landed the front of the green from 175 yards out, but it still rolled off the back.

I saved par on the long par 4 tenth, playing especially hard yesterday into a strong wind off the coast. I then parred the next 4 holes as well. On fourteen, I duffed my 3-wood off the tee, but hit it far enough to land the beginning of the fairway, leaving me 200 yards out. I hit my hybrid to about 12 feet and sunk the putt for my first birdie on the back. I was back to even!

After another par on fifteen, I hit a 300 yard drive on the short sixteenth to 50 yards out and made par. I followed that with my best drive of the day on the 480 yard par 5 seventeenth to 170 yards out - a 310 yard drive! I then struck a 6-iron to the edge of the green and rolled up left of the pin and 2-putted for birdie. Now 2-under on the back, I teed up on eighteen at 1-under for the round, my best ever round after seventeen.

I hit decent drive and left myself inside a full sand wedge to the green. But I duffed the approach shot so badly, the ball only traveled about 10 yards! I got on with one more try and nearly sank a 15 footer for par, but ended with bogie. I had shot my first-ever even par round at Monarch Dunes, lowering my index to an all-time low of 3.7!

This was not only one of my best ever rounds striking the ball, it was without doubt one of my strongest rounds putting. I made 4 birdie putts and only missed one short putt, which lipped out. For the first time I can remember, I felt relaxed and confident over every putt. What a breakthrough!

Thanks again to those of you who shared your valuable putting tips in my previous post!

Labels: Awareness, Disciplines, Monarch Dunes, Perseverance, Putting, Rounds

Some of my best shots come immediately after duffing the previous shot or blowing the previous hole. I've learned to put bad shots and bad holes behind me, refocus, and move on. Dealing positively with negative events is key to playing artful golf.

But more importantly, I've learned to enjoy my good shots. Celebrating your good shots and letting yourself truly feel happy about making them reinforces that behavior and helps harnesses that energy. I'm not suggesting you go around doing fist pumps and high fives all day, using up valuable energy and irritating your playing partners, but that you acknowledge the great shot with some form of internal self-congratulation. Be grateful that your focus on learning and enjoyment is improving your shots and your game.


Cypress Ridge Golf Course by golfslo at flickr.com

Just over year ago, I had the privilege of playing a round of golf with PGA golf instructor, Jim DeLaby, awarded two-time Teacher and Club Fitter of the Year by the PGA of Southern California Northern Chapter. Jim stressed to not only to enjoy your good shots, but to imprint those good shots into your mind, helping to reproduce them more consistently.

Replay it again and again so you can see, hear and feel it. Maintain this simple routine until you can relive the whole sensation of the shot and all the senses it unleashed at the flick of a mental switch. DeLaby suggested that I hold my finish just a second longer on those good shots to help anchor and reinforce the shot in my memory.

He even suggested I replay one of those good shots in my memory immediately after making a poor shot, to help flush the bad shot from my memory and replace it with a successful one. When you are faced with a similar shot in the future, you can rewind to that great moment and ask yourself to do it again.

I had this opportunity yesterday in a round at Cypress Ridge Golf Course using my 3-wood from the fairway. I've only recently begun hitting this club well with any consistency on the range. I had the chance to try it out on the course on two par 5's yesterday.

On the 516 yard third hole, I hit an average drive into the wind, leaving myself with a long shot to carry three fairway bunkers and leave myself with a wedge in. Most players would have chosen to lay up in front of the bunkers, but I felt confident I could get everything out of my 3-wood. I visualized the swing path and ball flight I'd executed on the range and let her rip. I killed it, landing in the fairway, just carrying the bunkers. Nice shot!

Then on the 531 yard par 5 thirteenth, I hit one of my best drives (second only to a 325 yard drive on six where you get a nice downhill roll if you carry the top of the hill), leaving myself with 245 yards to the center of the green. In all the many times I've played this course, I've never reached this green in two. I've only seen one other player do it. Even from this distance, it is wise to lay up since the green is so well guarded with bunkers. There's no room to run up to the green, you have to carry the entire distance. I decided I'd try to reproduce the shot I made on the third and go for it with my 3-wood. I visualized the shot again, and let her go. My ball landed on the left edge of the green and rolled to the back, pin high! What a shot!

Even though I didn't record a very good round, I walked away satisfied. I hit some great shots, and celebrated in doing so.

Labels: Cypress Ridge, Jim DeLaby, Rounds

I was planning to take this weekend off from golf because rain was forecast, but a friend called this morning when the weather appeared to be clearing, so I agreed to join him. It turned out to be a perfect day - blue skies with big cumulus clouds and mild winds. If anyone spent the day watching the AT&T at Pebble Beach today, you got a glimpse of how nice it was here on the Central Coast. I live about two and half hours south of Pebble Beach. The recent storm passed and left us with a gorgeous day.


Monarch Dunes 9th, photo by Aidan Bradley

We played Monarch Dunes Golf Club in Nipomo which is located just 4 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and Guadalupe Dunes, south of Pismo Beach. The eleventh tee provided incredible views of the dunes and ocean today.

I was especially excited about playing today too after getting some good suggestions from a couple golfers who posted comments on yesterday's blog entry. I've been collapsing at the end of some great rounds lately, and I was eager to try out their advice to finish strong.

I started with a good drive on the challenging first hole, followed by a 5-iron in which landed on the right edge of the green, 50 feet from the pin. I made a great lag putt, leaving me with an easy 2-footer. I missed it to start off with a 3-putt bogie.

My drive on 2 ended up just right of the fairway, behind a tree. I cut a wedge around the tree from 120 yards out and landed short of the green. I pitched up to about 3 feet, but followed with another missed putt for bogie #2.

I didn't get discouraged and focused instead on how great it was to be out with a good friend on an empty course and on such a beautiful day. I decided right there to let go of any concerns about score and to just enjoy the round. I knew a great round would eventually come, I just needed to stay patient.

I parred the next 4 holes, then birdied seven after sinking a 25-foot putt. I parred eight and nine, and finished the front just 1-over!

I hit a pretty poor drive on the par 4 tenth, leaving me about 230 yards out with an uphill approach into the wind. I hit a great 3-wood, but came up short of the green. I pitched my third shot over a bunker to about 4 feet and made the putt for par.

I hit a 6-iron into the wind on the downhill 180 yard par 3 eleventh overlooking the ocean, to about 6 feet from the pin. I made the putt for another birdie, getting me to even par.

At this point in the round, I didn't know my score. I took the advice of one of my readers and didn't tally my score until the end of the round and just kept taking things one shot at a time. I usually don't record my score on a scorecard, but keep track in my head of how many strokes I am above par. Today I decided to write down my scores on each hole, but not keep track of the total. This seemed to help me remain unattached and unaware of my score throughout the round.

I shot another par on twelve, but managed another 3-putt on thirteen for bogie, missing another 2-foot putt. I came through and followed up the bogie with pars on fourteen and fifteen.

So, I walked up to 16 just 1-over par, but at the time unaware of my actual score. I knew I had a good round going, but didn't focus on that. I actually didn't realize I was scoring this well, since all I remembered was all the missed short putts. On the sixteenth green, I remembered the advice from another reader who suggested I treat the last 3 holes like a new round. I did just that. I made a mental note that I'd just finished a good 15 hole round and was starting a new 3-hole round. I wasn't feeling any pressure to score.

I shot a par on both sixteen and seventeen. I'd now played the last 15 holes in 1-under par and was 1-over for the round! I walked up to eighteen unaware that I was shooting my best-ever round. Although I shot a 1-under 71 a couple months ago at another local course, it was from the white tees with a slope of only 124. Today, I was playing the gold tees on a harder course, with a slope of 135. Being 1-over after 17 at Monarch Dunes is quite an accomplishment.

My drive on 18 faded a little too far right, but stayed out of the eucalyptus grove bordering the fairway. I hit a sand wedge from 106 yards out just a little too strong and ended up on the upper tier of the green, above the pin. I made a pretty nice downhill sloping putt from 30-40 feet, leaving my ball just 3 feet below the hole for par. Unfortunately, I missed the putt slightly right and ended with bogie and my third 3-putt for the round.

I then tallied my score and learned I'd shot 1-over on both nines to end with a 2-over 73, beating my previous 3 best rounds of 75 at this course! The score was rated with an index of 1.9, beating my previous best 2.1 from the 1-under round just mentioned. I can't help but consider what could have been if I hadn't missed 4 putts from within 3 feet. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled!

My index has now trended down to an all-time low of 4.1. Thank you to Nolan and Greg, whose responses to my last post helped make this career round possible!

Labels: Courses, Monarch Dunes, Rounds

We've all heard of the 80/20 Rule, also known as the Parento Principle. Dr. Joseph Juran, the total quality management guru, developed the Pareto Principle after studying the work of Wilfredo Pareto, the Italian nineteenth century economist who observed that in most countries eighty percent of the wealth was controlled by twenty percent of the people. The Pareto Principle states that a small percentage of your efforts (typically around 20 percent) will create a large majority of your results (usually around 80 percent).

Today, the rule appears everywhere. Sales people will tell you that eighty percent of the sales are made by twenty percent of the sales force. Artists say that eighty percent of their productivity comes from short bursts of intense inspiration which happen about twenty percent of the time. Managers point out that eighty percent of the work is done by twenty percent of the employees.


Natural Swing by rgusick at flickr.com

In golf, it has been said that twenty percent of the game is physical and eighty percent is mental; twenty percent of players are avid golfers, and they play eighty percent of the rounds; twenty percent of golfers break 100 on a regular basis, while eighty percent do not; the average golfer spends about twenty percent of his time at address looking at the target, and eighty percent of that time staring at the ball (pros do the opposite); and that golfers spend twenty percent of their practice time on the putting green and eighty percent of that time on the driving range.

It's no surprise then that eighty percent of golfers don't break 100 on a regular basis if their efforts to improve are focused on twenty percent of the game.

Using the Parento Principle, it follows that the golfer should instead spent less time working on his swing and more time on those activities that improve scoring.

There is no prize for the prettiest swing. We've all seen golfers with some very unique swings, score well. Just look to the Champions Tour. I learned this for myself when I played a round last year with an 80 year old golfer with a short little swing that hit the ball about 180 yards off the tee - into every fairway. He outscored me that round with an incredible attitude and short game.

The artful golfer learns to appreciate his unique and natural swing, and uses his limited practice time working on the parts of the game that make the most difference in scoring - the mental and short game.

I've also found that the Parento Principle can be applied to the overall score I shoot for a round. I usually score well on eighty perfect of the holes (14-15 holes) and loose my round on the other twenty percent (3-4 holes), usually towards the end of the round.

Many years ago, I failed to get selected for a job managing a software team that develops a very popular financial program. I shared during the interview that my greatest strength lies is getting new projects off the ground, building teams, and doing the initial product research, specification, architecture and design - the first eighty percent of the project. And although I had prior success in seeing projects through to the end, I found the last twenty percent of the project to be less rewarding. I didn't enjoy the grind involved towards the end of projects. The company selected someone else, perhaps someone less frank.

Interestingly, I seem to carry this personality trait over to golf. I'm usually a good starter. I find myself shooting good rounds through the first eighty percent of the round, but seem to fail in the last twenty percent, when the need to grind it out is most important.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to play with three employees at my local course who are all good golfers and who play from the back tees. I'd played the back tees only two other times, never breaking 80, but still got off to my usual good start. I only had one bad hole through 15, and tallied 4 birdies. I missed a 2-footer on 16, putting me at a respectable 4-over going into 17. I can remember about a dozen rounds over the past few months where I had a great round going into 17, but only finished well on 2 of those occasions. I added to the number of failed rounds yesterday by finishing with a triple bogie on 17 and 3-putt bogie on 18. I did however break 80 by one stroke.

I think the reason for my failures lies deeper than a simple inability to focus for an entire round or from getting overly concerned about the outcome. Golf, which we all know reflects our personality, is perhaps exposing an internal issue I have with success, causing me to break down on the last holes, ruining good rounds. I can think of other examples of this in my life.

It appears I better take a closer look at what golf is trying to teach me here. My golf game - and life - may be better for it.

Labels: Disciplines, Failure, Parento Principle, Practice, Rounds, Success

Even though I've recognized that one of the obstacles that stops me from scoring lower is the over-emphasis on doing so, I keep doing it. Even though I've determined that staying focused and finding joy in each shot is a solution, I keep putting pressure on myself to score lower.


Photo by Hans van Reenen at flickr.com

I've been starting my rounds successfully, creatively executing one shot at a time, taking in and appreciating the beauty around me between shots. But as soon as I see a good round developing, my focus changes. I loose my detachment about my score.

I did it again yesterday.

I had another great start. I shot 2 birdies and 1 par through 7. I missed a 2-foot putt for par on eight to go back to even par, and bogied nine to finish the front 1-over. I was pretty happy with how I was playing.

I got off to a good start on the back too with pars on 10 and 11. But then something changed. I missed another 2-foot putt on 12, then another on 13! I 3-putted again on 14 and missed another par putt on 15. I managed one more par on 16, but missed my forth 2-foot putt for par on 17. Just to finish in style, I missed another easy par putt on 18 to finish 6-over on the back.

I finished with an amazing 21 putts on the back nine - 18 of them on the final 7 holes! Even though I tallied 12 GIRs and 12 Fairways during the round, I also came in with 5 3-putts.

I realize now I'm simply putting too much pressure on myself to break 75. I've broken 75 three times, and each time I did so I just went out to play golf and enjoy it with no emphasis on scoring well.

That's what I need to return to. Playing for the pure enjoyment of the game and opportunity to learn and grow. Good results will naturally follow.

As Fred Shoemaker reminds us, the more you focus on learning and enjoyment, the better you perform, yet the more you focus on performance, the less you perform, learn, and enjoy.

Find out for yourself why you play golf and play for that reason only. And don't make it about your score or handicap. That will take care of itself.

Labels: Fred Shoemaker, Rounds

As I've shared previously, one of my goals this year is to cut my index in half for the third time and to shoot my first round under 70. These are appropriate and realistic goals to set for the year, but goals that should not influence my goals for individual rounds.

Ironically, I've finding that the biggest stumbling block to going low and shooting extraordinary rounds is putting any emphasis on doing so. If during any round, I try to make this round the round that helps lower my index or sets a personal record, the round is doomed and destined to be ordinary.

In golf, it appears that you can't try to achieve your goals, you have to learn to remain open to the possibility of achieving them naturally, through effective physical and mental preparation.

I've experienced three breakthrough rounds in my two years of play, and each one took place naturally, with little effort, and little emphasis on score. This happened the first time I broke 80 on a difficult course, the first time I broke 75, and the first time I shot under par.

However, I've played dozens of rounds that could have been extraordinary, where I started off without an emphasis on score. But after finding myself below par early in the round or at or near par towards the end of the round, I experienced a breakdown after trying to reach a goal or benchmark.

My most memorable examples are shooting a quadruple bogie on the eighth hole after getting to 3-under, ending with a double and triple bogie after entering 17 at 1-over, and shooting a double bogie on 18 after entering the last hole at even-par for the first time ever.

In each of these rounds, and many others, I got caught up with my score and let my mind race away from the present moment into the future. Instead of continuing to enjoy the process of taking each shot one at a time, the very process which setup the chance for another great round, I let my focus change to the outcome.

I did it again yesterday at Dairy Creek Golf Course. I played this course for the first time yesterday from the back tees and surprisingly found myself even after 10 holes. I was striking the ball well and sinking critical putts for par.


Dairy Creek Golf Course

I managed to bogie 2 out of the next 3 holes, then made a disastrous decision to make up for a poor drive on the par 5 14th, which led to a triple bogie. Instead of laying up in front of a creek crossing the fairway on my second shot, I tried to bend a shot around a large eucalyptus tree to get across, closer to the green. I hit the tree and couldn't see where the ball came out. I hit a provisional, and hit the tree again. This time I saw where I came out - an unplayable lie next to the fence bordering the creek. I never found the first ball.

I shook it off and finished the round okay, but missed a great birdie opportunity on 17 after reaching the green in 2 but 3-putted, then bogied 18 to finish 6-over. It was a good score overall, but a disappointing finish after such a good start.

As most golfers are aware, as soon as you place emphasis on your score during a round, you place unnecessary pressure on yourself, which adds tension and stress, and makes you more error prone.

This has become my biggest obstacle to breaking through 75 and reaching another round of par, and thus, my biggest opportunity for growth.

I think the solution has to do with finding joy in the process of creating and executing each shot, not in the outcome of each shot or round.

Labels: Attention, Courses, Dairy Creek, Disciplines, Joy, Rounds

A good practice session yesterday paid dividends today. I worked on becoming aware of the errors I've been making in my swing and putting stroke in order to improve them.

A large component of my goal to shoot scratch golf is to do so without instruction, in order to prevent the endless cycle of depending on others to find and fix my problems. This goal requires that I develop a keen sense of awareness.

Many golfers resist awareness since no one really likes to look at his weaknesses. In fact, the more you develop your awareness, the more weaknesses you find and the more it appears that you're getting worse instead of better. But awareness also highlights and develops your strengths, resulting in increased confidence, inspiration, motivation, and satisfaction.

Dan Millman explains in Body Mind Mastery that "life is a great school, and nature is the ultimate teacher - but without awareness you can't hear the "teacher." Awareness transforms life's lessons into wisdom; it can translate confusing circumstances and events into useful knowledge. Awareness, then, is the beginning of all learning.

So I headed out today to my great school, Monarch Dunes Golf Club, and joined up with a threesome including a father and son. I was eager to try out a few things I discovered during my practice yesterday that I hoped would improve my putting.


Monarch Dunes Golf Club 9th

I started strong with a par on the very difficult opening hole, another par on 2, and birdie on 3 with a nice 10-foot putt. I hit a wayward wedge on the approach to the par 5 4th and recorded my first bogie. Another par on 5 kept me at even par. I hit a fairway bunker on 6, then mishit a 170 yard approach shot and bogied.

Now 1-over, I parred 7, then put a 6-iron on the par 3 8th to 5 feet for a great birdie attempt to get back to even, but left it short dangling on the lip of the cup. However, the tap-in par began a streak of 9 pars in a row. I made several key putts to save par during this streak.

I stepped up to the par 4 16th still 1-over for the round and cut the dogleg with a great drive to 65 yards out. I began to consider that this might be the round that I beat my best-ever round of 75 at this 135-slope course. I'd had one other opportunity not long ago when I got to 17 at 1-over, but choked with a triple bogie on 17 and double bogie on 18 to finish with a 6-over 77!

Letting myself leave the present moment cost me again. I scalded my sand wedge to the back of the green and failed to get up and down for par.

Now 2-over, I launched a drive on 17, but pulled it and rolled across the fairway into a lake bordering the left-side of the fairway. I nailed a 5-wood after taking a drop, but landed the huge bunker guarding the green. I got on from there, but lipped out my short 2nd putt, resulting in my first 3-putt and first double bogie for the round.

Refusing to finish with another 5-over on the last few holes, I buckled down on 18 and finished with a par to get in with a 4-over 75 round, tying my best round at Monarch Dunes.

Letting my mind leave the present moment cost me a stroke on 16, and letting myself try to make up for it on 17 by over-swinging cost me another stroke and poor putt on 17.

At least I got another glimpse of the kind of round that's possible if I can learn to stay present and finish strong. Most importantly, I met my immediate goal of improving my putting. I only missed one putt that I should have made, and that was due to my mind lapse at the end of the round when I got preoccupied with the outcome.

Labels: Awareness, Body Mind Mastery, Books, Dan Millman, Disciplines, Monarch Dunes, Rounds

What we have to do as golfers committed to improvement is believe in the possibility of our potential and challenge ourselves to reach it.

Regardless of our skill level, every once in a while we all experience a round where we get a glimpse of our potential. On these rare occasions, it seems that with little effort, the ball goes were we want, we hit more fairways and greens, and sink more putts. We're calm and relaxed and the game just comes to us.

It's during all the other rounds that we must remain open to the possibility of our potential and remain focused on our intention for each and every shot. It's during these rounds that we must make a choice to be confident, fearless - and artful.

Instead of letting our mind naturally wander towards thoughts of past or desired results, we must keep focused on the specific requirements of each shot. It's a simple choice, but requires our discipline and will.

Dr. Gio Valiante shares in his book, Fearless Golf, that "the opportunity to be a fearless golfer isn't dependent on anything other than our will to do everything possible to execute golf swings at precise targets, and to believe in the possibility that by controlling our interpretation of events and our approach to hitting a particular shot we have the opportunity to maximize our potential. Playing with confidence ultimately is not an after-affect; it is a choice. The power lies solely within us."

I had an opportunity to apply these disciplines in a round yesterday, coming off some very poor rounds in my recent outings and learning that my physical, emotional and mental biorhythm cycles are all at or near the bottom.

Nothing has been easy lately. I've been duffing chips, scalding pitches, and 3-putting greens. I've had more than my normal share of double and triple bogies, even a quintuple bogie! However, my commitment to focusing solely on each shot, one at a time, has lacked the necessary effort and concentration.

It appears that the confidence I gained by improving my game through these very principles, made me feel as if golf was now easy, and I could shot good rounds at will. Instead of striving towards even more improvement, I'd become self-satisfied and perhaps complacent. And now, far from being "in the zone", my scores and shot-making began to slip.

So yesterday, while playing with a couple scratch golfers, I made the choice to really focus, to remain open to the possibility of a great round, and to play artful golf. The worst thing that could happen is that I record another poor round, but it was also possible that I open myself up to playing closer to my potential, and even keep up with these better golfers. I did just that.

Even though I let my focus falter on a few occasions, resulting in horrific shots, I followed through with total concentration on the rest of my shots, yet remained detached about their outcome. Although nothing came easily, and a few shots were just plain horrible, I managed to score one of my best rounds ever at this difficult course, coming in with a 37-39-76. More importantly, I'd learned a valuable lesson.

The highlight of the round came on the par 3 5th hole. I topped my 9-iron off the tee and landed on the top of a mound of long fescue about half way to the green. It was one of my worst shots ever. Amazingly, I didn't let the shot phase me in the least. I didn't get mad at myself. I wasn't even feel embarrased in front these 2 scratch golfers, one of which I'd never played with, the other I'd played with only once. Instead, I took out my sand wedge and hit the next shot to within 2 feet of the pin and tapped it in for par! I stayed open to the possibility that my next shot could be extraordinary.

I can't wait to see what's possible when I make the choice to play artful golf during a round when shots are coming more easily!

Labels: Books, Concentration, Disciplines, Dr. Gio Valiante, Fearless Golf, Rounds

After a lot of inconsistent play during my last 2 rounds and feeling like I was swinging a foreign object, I decided to check out a biorhythm chart for the dates I recently played. I figure if Tiger Woods referenced biorhythms in an article for Golf Digest, it can't hurt to check them out.

Tiger shared, "I don't know whether our biorhythms get out of sync, some muscle memory is depleted or that computer between our ears suddenly crashes, but every player has days when consistent ball-striking is a foreign concept. I know I've had my share."

Biorhythm charts illustrate the principle that we are influenced by physical, emotional, and intellectual cycles. Many people report that they can improve the quality of their lives by monitoring the highs and lows of these cycles and acting accordingly. For example, you might try to schedule important exams during your intellectual highs, avoid talking to your significant other during your emotional lows, or arranging the lineup of your baseball team around their physical highs.

The Emotional cycle tracks the stability and positive energy of your psyche and outlook on life, as well as your capacity to empathize with and build rapport with other people. The Intellectual cycle tracks your verbal, mathematical, symbolic, and creative abilities, as well as your capacity to apply reason and analysis to the world around you. The Physical cycle tracks your strength, health, and raw physical vitality.

Combined, these attributes help determine your ability to succeed at tasks and to obtain what you desire, your motivation to act, and the drive that allows you to continue a difficult pursuit, and your presence of mind that you need to make crucial decisions.

In golf, these 3 attributes come into play on every shot. Your intellect helps in choosing the right club and target and taking wind and terrain into account. Your emotions influence your ability to react constructively to bad shots or bad luck. Your physical ability affects your strength and proper swing technique. In theory, if all your cycles are peaking, you're "in the zone."



Well, maybe there something to this theory. My chart for yesterday shows all three cycles at or near the bottom. Most importantly, it shows a negative and descending emotional cycle, an unfavorable condition for golf according to a biorhythm study of tournament winners by Biosoft Sports.

Maybe it explains my 4-putt on 2, followed by my chip and 3-putt on 3 from 1 foot off the green, followed by another 3-putt on 5 and a triple bogie on 6 after landing in a lake and then a grove of eucalyptus trees. All this on the day after shooting my first double-digit score on a hole in nearly 2 years.

I've checked my biorhythm charts only a couple other times in the past, after extraordinary rounds when everything seemed effortless. In both of those circumstances, I learned that my physical, emotional and mental states were near or at the top of their cycles.

True or not, it at least helps me accept the ups and downs in my score, ability, and enjoyment when playing golf to think that my body undergoes natural cycles much like nature itself.

Labels: Biorhythms, Rounds

Watching the enthusiastic Tadd Fujikawa steal the limelight at the Sony Open in Hawaii last weekend, with his innocence, humility and infectious smile, has inspired me to try to have more fun and play with more enthusiasm.


Tadd Fujikawa

I found out in a round yesterday that it's not quite that easy. I'm already pretty upbeat when I play, but I have to work hard at staying that way when shots and holes get away from me. But upbeat isn't necessarily enthusiastic. There is definitely room for more fun in my game!

Yesterday, in an attempt at being more enthusiastic and fun, I made the mistake of treating the game like it is easy and fun. Looking back, I appears that my ego took over early in the round, letting me think I was good enough to just go out and have a good time hitting good shots, as if it didn't take any effort.

I made an impressive par on the difficult opening hole, but followed that with a 3-putt from 8 feet on the next hole for bogie. I gathered my wits and parred the third, then hit a perfect drive and layup on the long par 4 fourth, leaving me 90 yards out for my approach - my best position on this hole ever.

That all ended when I scalded my next shot with a sand wedge, sending the ball over the green and down the hill into a lake. I then dropped and swung my lob wedge right under the ball moving it a couple feet. My next shot was slightly better, but landed on the uphill short of the green. I finally chipped up and 2 putted for a 5-over 10… a quintruple bogie from 90 yards out!

I managed to put this fiasco behind me and play an average round afterwards, but I knew there was a lesson hidden in that - not so fun - experience.

I've been playing pretty well and consistently of late and I think I got a little cocky, treating the game with a little less respect, as if I can now score well no matter what. As I've learned many times, golf, like life, has a way of keeping you humble when you get complacent - or impressed with yourself.

Tadd's enthusiasm while playing great golf last weekend was balanced with a high degree of focus, concentration, and most importantly - humility. Thanks for the lesson Tadd.

Labels: Disciplines, Humility, Rounds, Tadd Fujikawa

The primary motivation for many golfers is to earn recognition from others. For these golfers, what others say about them is more important to them than improving and developing their game. Rather than being lost in the thought of hitting the precise shot they want, these golfers often become indecisive and uncertain with the club in their hands - a quick way to unravel a golf swing.

In contrast, some golfers have as their primary incentive a desire to learn, improve and excel. A focus on learning and personal development is inconsistent with worries about how our results will be viewed by others.

In both these cases, a golfer's attention is on things related to hitting better golf shots - strategy, course conditions, tempo, and location of hazards. But the golfer intent on learning and improving is better able to stay focused and remain composed during their round.

And it's a pretty good bet that they're enjoying themselves a good deal more and worrying a lot less than their self-obsessed and self-conscious counterparts.

According to Dr. Gio Valiante in Fearless Golf, "these Mastery golfers get lost in the details, puzzles, and mysteries of the game, and they see their task as mastering those details and understanding the game's mysteries. Because they view mastering golf as a constant challenge, they find it easy to become fully involved in what they are doing, whether practicing chip shots or putting in competition. Their motivation for playing is not for awards or approval from others. For mastery-oriented golfers, the shot matters much more than the consequences. Awards, trophies, and public recognition are seen as natural consequences to excellence, not the primary motive for achieving that excellence."

Today I had the unique experience of playing a round with a local golfer who I just met last week online on a new golf community website. It turns out we both spend most of our time playing Monarch Dunes Golf Club - a new golf course designed by Damian Pascuzzo which was recently rated the top new course in California by Fairways & Greens magazine and among the top 10 new courses in the country by Golf Magazine. So, after a introducing ourselves via email, we decided to meet and play a round at our favorite course.


6th Tee at Monarch Dunes Golf Club, Nipomo

He had read my profile online which included information about my relative success in lowering my handicap from 16 to 4 in my 21 months of play, so I was a little concerned that I might feel a little pressure to live up to that level of play - and instead choke.

Instead, I stayed focused and relaxed, committed to play for my own enjoyment instead of impressing him or anyone else. I played well, hitting only a few poor shots.

However, going into the last hole with a chance to shoot a 76 with a par, I saw a couple course employees by the clubhouse, watching groups come in on the last hole. I had 180 yards in and thought to myself that it would be nice to give them a nice approach shot to admire on this hard-to-hit green. With that grand thought in my mind, I hit my 6-iron right into the lake well in front of the green. In all my many previous rounds, I'd never hit a ball into this lake! I dropped at 160 yards, hit a nice 7-iron to about 15 feet, but barely missed my bogie putt to end the round with a double-bogie 78. Argh.

Seems every round I play presents me with a new little opportunity to grow! I guess that's one of the reasons I play.

A funny side note is that when I finally met this new online friend face-to-face today before the round, I immediately recognized him. Someone in my group had rudely, but accidentally, hit into his foursome that was ahead of us a couple weeks earlier. He recognized me as well.

Labels: Books, Courses, Disciplines, Dr. Gio Valiante, Fearless Golf, Monarch Dunes, Motivation, Rounds

The California Central Coast has a beautiful golf course located in Morro Bay. Although not as challenging as the local courses I play more frequently, what sets Morro Bay Golf Course apart from the others is its scenic setting on Morro Bay Estuary adjoining the Pacific Ocean.


2nd Green at Morro Bay Golf Course

Morro Bay Golf Course is often referred to as the "Poor Man's Pebble Beach" and is especially rewarding to play in winter when the clear skies provide incredible views of the bay and ocean from tree-lined fairways, and many species of birds can be seen who find sanctuary in Morro Bay during their migration south.

Interestingly, of all the courses that I've played in our county, Morro Bay is the only course where I've failed to break 80 - even though it's rated among the easiest. However, the last time I played Morro Bay was one year ago, back when my index was about twice what it is now.

So, now a better player, with an opportunity to play Morro Bay yesterday with a friend, I decided it was time to finally shoot a round at this course in the 70's. With 9 out of my last 10 rounds in the 70's at more difficult courses, this seemed like a pretty realistic goal.

I started the round with a nice run of pars. But midway through the front nine, I started a run of bogies that lasted 7 straight holes. I was driving well and putting okay, but I kept coming up short on my approaches. I just wasn't hitting many greens in regulation.

I finally broke my run of bogies with an awesome birdie putt on 12. The putt was easily one of my best ever - a 40-50 footer with a horseshoe-shaped downsloping break. It looked like the horseshoe chip shot Tiger made a couple years back when his ball went into the hole with the Nike logo captured nicely on the edge before dropping.

I followed that only birdie for the round with a great drive and long approach to 13 for an easy tap-in par. Breaking 80 was still achievable.

Approaching 16, all I needed was one more par to break 80. On the long par 5 16th, I killed my drive, but duffed 2 shots in a row from the fairway. However, I hit a perfect wedge on my 4th shot to within 2 feet of the pin for a great opportunity to save par. I missed the putt!

I still had 2 more holes to get one more par.

I missed the green on the long 240 yard par 3 17th, but lobbed my 2nd shot to within 5 feet for a makeable par. Another missed putt put me on 18 with my last chance for par.

I continued my streak of great tee shots on 18, but again came up short on my approach. My chip went right by the hole, but a little too far past to expect to make the return putt for par. I missed the putt and ended the round with an even 80.

On the bright side, I did achieve a round free of double or triple bogies - something I've only accomplished now about 6 times! But I failed to set appropriate goals for the round. I started the round with a "result-oriented" goal for breaking 80, and then even expected to do it.

When setting goals for a round, I've learned repeatedly now to avoid making goals tied to results or score. Our goals should be more about how we want to think and how we want to manage the course.

Decide before the round starts how you're going to think, and do it on every shot. When you add up your score at the end of the round, use it as an indicator of how well you achieved your goal for consistent thinking. Your state of mind is a matter of choice. Make a choice to think well and you'll score well.

Labels: Courses, Disciplines, Goals, Morro Bay Golf Course, Rounds

Most people who succeed in their various professions each describes being fully immersed in the moment during performance, with little or no thought of technique or results of their efforts. They lose themselves in their own creative process.

In my experience, no other discipline in golf has proved more important than being creatively immersed or centered in the present moment.

Artful golf appears when the mind is centered. When you find your inner center, creativity shows up. Your mind becomes free from the anxiety and interference introduced by judgment of a shot just taken in the past and fear or hope of executing a shot in the near future.

Fred Shoemaker shares in Extraordinary Golf, "when you disappear - the thoughts, worries, and judgments you have about yourself - Golf as Art shows up… Golf as Art recognizes the enormity of the potential of the moment. This can also be called creativity. It is the realization that what could exist greatly exceeds what does exist, and it keeps each moment vibrant, alive, and full of possibility. When a person plays golf in this way - fully absorbed, full committed, merging with the game - it is a marvelous thing. It is extraordinary golf."

Many of us experience this immersion in the moment when we start playing golf, while our expectations are realistic and golf is still a game to us. However, for various reasons, we eventually begin putting pressure on ourselves to perform.

We begin to expect results and we get consumed by outcome. The joy of the game gives way to frustration as we obsess over making perfect shots, winning holes, and shooting lower scores.

I'm personally making progress staying centered during shots, and even at letting go of judgment and reaction immediately following a shot. However, I still struggle to stay in the present towards the end of good rounds. I begin thinking about results and trying to achieve an outcome.

My biggest lesson, among many, came last month when I was playing a round with a friend that promised to be my best ever.

I shot a personal best 2-under on the front nine with 3 birdies and a bogie. On the back, I managed to shoot more pars than bogies by the time I walked up to the par 5 17th tee. I was only 1-over for the round. My best round at this course up until then had been a 4-over 75. Even with a bogie on 17 and 18, I'd beat that score!

On 17, I drove the ball into a lake on the right, which I had succeeded in carrying in all my dozens of rounds prior. I followed that with a couple more poor shots and a 3-putt for a triple bogie. I then drove the ball into a grove of trees on the par 4 18th, and 3-putted again for a double bogie.

The golfer I was playing with was also shooting his personal best round. Entering 17, he was 4-over, only 3 shots behind me. Unlike me, he shot pars on both 17 and 18, succeeding to shoot his best-ever round, not to mention beating me by 2 strokes!

His ability to stay centered through the end of the round made a huge impression on me.

Find your inner center, swing freely, and trust that the outcome will take care of itself. Great shots always follow and Artful Golf shows up.

Labels: Books, Centeredness, Disciplines, Extraordinary Golf, Fred Shoemaker, Rounds

A lesson golf continues to teach me is to let go of expectations. I struggle with this more often than I like to admit. It seems each time I shoot a good round, I expect to follow it up with another good one. If I hit a par 5 in 2 one day, I expect to do it again every time afterwards. The list goes on. As anyone who plays golf knows, it doesn't work that way.

Bob Rotella shares in his book, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, that "the first thing to do is to throw away your expectations as soon as you step onto the golf course, and just play."

Rotella goes on to say that, "expectations are great if you confine them to long-range considerations. It's fine, for example to expect that if you work at your game intelligently for an extended period of time, you will improve. But expectations can hurt you if they are narrowly focused on the results of a particular stroke, hole, or round."

This doesn't mean you can't believe you'll play well or hole a putt, just that you can't expect it. You need to replace expectation on desired results with goals of having fun and staying focused on every shot. Then the desired results just happen.

A round that stands out for me in bringing this lesson home occurred very recently. The prior day, I had played the first 6 holes with a young scratch golfer who works at the course. Amazingly, I found myself keeping right up with him, parring each hole. When we reached the 7th tee, we saw that the course was very backed up ahead of us with foursomes and that we were in for a long round as a twosome. Since he plays for free, he decided to quit. I decided to join him.

I came back out the next day, expecting to follow up where I left off - hitting fairways and greens, making 2 putts for pars. Instead, over the same 6 holes I parred the day before, I scored a quadruple bogie, triple bogie, double bogie and bogie. I was 10-over after 6 holes!

Fortunately, I realized what I had done - starting the round off expecting good results. On the 7th tee, I decided right then and there to let go of those expectations and just play. I played the final 12 holes 2-over!

Labels: Bob Rotella, Books, Disciplines, Expectations, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, Rounds