The Titleist MB blade irons from Titleist Golf, maybe the best looking blade on the market. Mark Crossfield hits the irons, see how they perform and how easy or difficult they really are.

Dave Kelly “Three Dot Dave”

Dave on hole 9 at Raintree Country Club,

Charlotte NC

Me congratulating Dave at his 95th birthday

party at Raintree Country Club

Dave’s family at his big party.  Some family

members traveled all the way from Michigan.

Below are remarks I made at Dave’s party.

Dave Kelly, a Great Golfer and Human Being

by

Rev. Dr. Chris Ayers

October 31, 2009

Tiger Woods, Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, Bobby Jones, Amy Alcott, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Judy Rankin, Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw, Byron Nelson, Betsy Rawls, Tom Watson and——-and Dave Kelly.  Yes, Dave Kelly.  If you think Dave Kelly is not one of the all time great golfers, if you think I’m exaggerating, then you obviously haven’t played golf with Dave.

I first played golf with Dave four years ago and I was amazed at his golf skills then and I’m amazed by “Three Dot Dave” every time he tees it up.

We call Dave “Three Dot Dave” because he puts three dots on all his Titleist golf balls for the purpose of being able to identify his ball, but let me tell you, Dave is wasting his time putting three dots on his golf balls because his golf balls aren’t hard to find.  Dave hits the ball in the middle of the fairway—-always, like clockwork, as predictable as the sun coming up every morning.  Dave is what we call a boring golfer.  Most of us play what is called “army golf”—as in marching troops going right, left, right, left, as in we hit our shots way left, we hook them, and then we overcorrect and hit way right, we slice them.  Dave, Mr. Boring Golfer, hits his down the middle all the time.——————–Dave, I repeat, you don’t need three dots to identify your golf balls.  There’s no danger of confusing your great shots with our bad shots.

Three Dot Dave.  I also call him Mr. Raintree because he is the oldest golf playing member at Raintree Country Club.  I think that deserves some applause. 

If Dave wants to hit a mulligan or do a practice shot, I tell him, “Go on, Dave.  You own this club.”

If you want to experience a precious moment I invite you to go down to the tee box on hole number one on the North course. I’ll describe it for you.  Dave steps up the tee, his shoes shiny clean—-get him to tell you about his father getting up early to shine the family’s shoes before going to church—-Mr. GQ Golfer Dave steps up the tee dressed to the nines, dressed to the hilt —–and frequently there is a crowd, a multitude watching him, cheering him on.  Dave is a living legend at Raintree.  The recently retired in the crowd, the 60 year-olds, 70 year-olds, the 80 year-olds gather to watch Dave swing the club, coveting his longevity, coveting his athleticism, coveting his golf swing, coveting his ball which has just landed in the dang middle of the fairway.

Last year Dave’s children bought him a new Ping driver for Christmas.  Dave’s been hitting his tee shots 20 yards longer.  I remember the smile on his face when he got the club and hit it so well.  He looked like somebody that had just won the lottery, like a kid in a candy shop.

Dave loves golf.  He will not play if it’s pouring down rain or if it’s too cold but I’ll have to tell you, there are have been occasions we’ve played and he’s been more enthusiastic than me about  hitting the driver, making approach shots, and chipping and putting in the 40 degree windy conditions.  On one such teeth chattering, body shivering outing, Dave, at the end of the round, said, “Well, it wasn’t bad when we were in the sun.”

Dave loves to play golf so you will understand my surprise when he informed me he didn’t want to play on a certain Friday.  He mentioned something about having to go to a Navajoe meeting, some high school group he had been in.  You can get Dave to tell you why they called it Navajoe, not Navajo.  Anyway, I thought it must be some high school service organization he belonged to in his younger days.  When I inquired, though, Dave informed me the Navajoe’s were a group of guys in high school that rented a house so they would have a place to dance with, as Dave puts it, their honeys.

There’s not a lot that can keep Dave off a golf course, except maybe a Navajoe meeting.

O.K., here are the facts.  Inside 100 yards, Dave Kelly 9 times out of ten is on the green.  I’m serious.

Here are the facts.  Dave Kelly makes most of his five foot putts.  He is a great putter.  He can read greens.  He has an outstanding short game.

Here are the facts.  Last year on the North Course, on the front nine, with its very difficult hole 3 and hole 4, from the senior tees, not the front tees which he should be hitting from, Dave shot a true 47.  That deserves applause.

One comment I make repeatedly to Dave before he hits is “Do your magic, Dave.”  Really, what he does with a golf club is magical.

Two years ago I went on a beach golf trip with Dave, his son, David, and Bill Hartsell.  We let Dave plan the trip, let him decide how many days and how much golf we would play.  We played 3 straight days.  Yep, 54 holes of golf.  Almost killed me.  Dave played every day, playing all 18 holes the first day, 15 holes the second day, and around 14 the last day.  After that last round, I told Dave I was going to have to find some younger friends with whom to hang out because he was wearing me out.

I only have one complaint about Dave when it comes to golf.  I told you Dave typically, predictably hits boring golf shots; he hits his three dotted Titleist golf ball exactly where he wants the ball to be.  My complaint, though, has to do with the 2% of the time he doesn’t and Dave’s habit of going where nobody, not even a teenager, should go to retrieve a lost ball.   I don’t want Dave getting hurt on my watch.  It’s just a golf ball Dave.

Last week on hole number 4 on the North course, Dave went down a red dirt bank that had—-I’m not kidding, at least a ten foot drop off right at the edge of the pond.  I was yelling at Dave—-“Dave, don’t go down there.”  Dave later called that retrieval experience his “Waterloo”.

As it turns out, the retrieved golf ball wasn’t his ball.  Guess where his golf ball was?  He had out hit the fairway and it was in the rough, but it was not to the far right side where he was looking.  It was right smack dab in the middle.  Dave, if you’ve got to guess, guess middle.  Dave, we are thrilled you don’t act your age, but please—– when it comes to your few lost golf balls for once in your life – act your age. 

What I’m trying to say is this:  about four years ago I went on the internet and logged onto the Raintree golf tee time reservation system.  Bill Hartsell and I were going to play together and so I put down 2 players for a nine o’clock tee time on Friday.  We had no idea if we would be paired with anyone else or with whom the pairing might be.  When we showed up we met Dave Kelly.  How lucky can you get!  It turned out to be a serendipitous meeting.  And we’ve been going down fairways and chatting on greens together ever since.

One of my brothers who is a smart aleck says that the reason I play with a soon to be 95 year-old is because he’s the only one I can beat.  And I respond, what’s your point?——–For the record, Dave, from time to time, beats me.

Some people think I play with Dave Kelly because my wife will not complain about me playing too much golf with a senior citizen.  Others may think with me being a preacher I need all the brownie points with God I can get and I play with Dave because I need to do a good deed.——–But I do not play golf with Dave to do a good deed or because I need an out with my beloved to play golf or because I need a “W” in the golf win column.  I play golf with Dave because Dave is Dave, because Dave is a great golfer and an even greater human being.

Happy birthday Dave!  And may you have many more—-and I’m confident you will—may you have many more happy golf shots!

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Titleist Golf Bag Magnetic Golf Marker HAT Clip New Review

Good buy for me and now it’s a “show-off” to friends because no one could find this product in Singapore. Thank you.

Feature

• Titleist
• Titleist markers
• golf marker
• Titleist golf

Overview
MAGNETIC BALL MARKER Golf Ball Marker with HatclipThe marker is just under 1″ (23 mm) in diameter.Beautiful enameled marker features the logo in blue & white. The hatclip features a tournament golfbag. COLOR – white/ Red

Oct 24, 2009 04:03:03

Image Premiums showcases promotional products such as USB drives, pens, t-shirts, fun desk accessories and promotional gifts Image produced for clients such as Google, Virgin Atlantic and MTV via a music video on Youtube, using the music of Blondestreak, featuring Vic from Tom Tom Club: http://tinyurl.com/ImageOnYoutube

TaylorMade

Exhibit 8
The Titleist/FootJoy plant at Laem Chabang Industrial Estate is about 15 miles north of the southeastern Thai city of Pattaya, some 80 miles from Bangkok. Once a sleepy fishing town, Pattaya first boomed as a Vietnam War R&R locale. That got the place trashed, however, and left Pattaya with a lingering “seedy” image. Happily, much is improved, as the city reformed itself into a family-friendly hot spot. These days, there is plenty more to see and do than drink and assess folks with nothing on.

Walter Hagen

Exhibit 7
In 1995, Acushnet, FootJoy’s parent company, established Titleist/FootJoy (Thailand) Ltd. in Laem Chabang Industrial Estate. It’s where they make FootJoy golf gloves. Laem Chabang is a subdistrict municipality (thesaban tambon) in Chonburi Province of Thailand. It covers the tambon Bang Lamung of Bang Lamung district and the complete tambon Bueng, Sura Sak, Thung Su Khla, and parts of Nong Kham of  Sri Racha districts. The area includes the city of Pattaya and Thailand’s largest container port. Since 1991, the Laem Chabang port has become one of the busiest in the world. ExxonMobil has a refinery there. Princess Cruises stop.

you know them. one of them sits on your right shoulder, always urging you to do the right thing.  ” eat less! exercise more! help that old lady across the street”. you know he’s right, so you try to abide by what that angel says, but it’s really difficult because a lot of the time, you just can’t hear him. why can’t you hear him? because on your left shoulder sits his evil counterpart. in latin, left is translated to sinestre or sinister….for a very good reason. you know the other one even better, correct? he’s sittin’ up there playing his vintage pre-cbs strat (unfiltered camel cigarette tucked between the strings, a colt 45 (the malt liquor and as well as the gun) close by his heavily muscled and tattooed black leather clad arm) with the amp cranked up to 12! when he wants to get your attention, he does so right away.   the funny thing is, that during different stages in life, this angel may appear differently to you.  as an freshman in college, away from the prying eyes of his parents for the first time, the angel may appear as the evil biker.  later in life, perhaps while on a road trip as a sales rep, after a drink or 2 in a hotel, the angel may appear as a seductive female.   you know this angel by the philosophy they promote.   back in the day it used to be ” wine, women and song”. nowadays, it’s ” sex and drugs and rock and roll!”.  these are what they  tempt you with to try and get you to make the wrong choices in life, and they are important choices, but it’s the little things that really get under your skin.

new york has a summer program that gives tennis lessons in and around city parks for a very nominal fee.  ana and i signed up for one of these courses in crocheron park, bayside, queens  a while back.  when we arrived for our tennis lesson, there were about 40 prospective roger federers and serena williamses.   when we noticed that there were only 2 instructors, it struck us  quite clearly that it was not going to be one of those one on one, touchy, feely kinds of instruction.  the first thing they tell you is “i’m going to hit some balls to you.  you return them so i can check out  your swing”.  we did as instructed, then came over the net to hear the instructor’s analysis.  we were                          ( individually) told that our swings were very good, but there was a bit of room for improvement; at which point we started feeling pretty good about ourselves .  then they started a very lengthy list that would have (and should have) caused anyone with even a lick of common sense to give up the game then and there.  evidently they told the same thing to just about everybody who attended that day.  that could have been because we all sucked uniformly, or it could have been because they we were getting exactly what we paid for….which wasn’t much.

while playing tennis (or especially golf), the angels accompany you wherever you go.  the two things to remember while playing tennis are “bend your knees” and “follow through”.  the good angel dutifully says this as each ball is hit towards you.  you, of course, cannot hear him, because ole badass is yelling in your left ear at the top of his lungs “kill it! kill the ball!”  who do you think you’re going to hear?  that is why 9 times out of 10, the ball either hits the net or goes over the fence.

while playing golf, it gets even worse.  “keep your head down” is the mantra repeated over and over by the good angel.  “you paid a fortune for those golf balls.  you better watch and see where they go” shouts the evil angel.  so, just having emptied the local atm for a new box of titleist golf balls guaranteed to fly further and straighter than ever, watch them you do.  as you begin your downstroke,  you pick up your head so you can watch to see where the ball goes.  you watch the ball as it slices to the right and lands in a water hazard.  you watch the ball as it hooks to the left and nearly kills a guy on the adjacent fairway.   you watch the ball as it dribbles a few feet away from the tee.  as you bend to pick the ball up, muttering something about a mulligan, you can hear the evil angel snickering.  you swear you are not going to do it on the next shot, you try to listen to the good angel, but with all that yelling, it doesn’t help.  you keep on doing it again and again.  the only time you do not pick up your head is the drive off the 18th tee.  by this time, the evil angel is at the 19th hole, because his work is done for the day.  he is already working on his 4th shot of tequila.  the result…a beautiful straight 250 yard drive down the middle of the fairway.  the evil angel sees this shot, nods to himself and then laughs out loud.  he laughs, because he knows how close you were to just giving up the whole damn sport and picking up stamp collecting, or just about any other hobby that is  less frustrating.  but, oh, that last drive.  that last drive will keep you coming back for more punishment every single time.

one of then advantages of being a resident of new york city is that you can take advantage of the wonderful city golf courses.   for a nominal greens fee, you can call in a tee time, just like the fancy country clubs.  the least expensive way to play is to schlep your own clubs.  this will provide a modicum of exercise, so at least there will be a physiological, as well as a psychological reason for your high blood pressure.  cart rental is inexpensive as well, so if you are going to flagellate yourself every time you play, you can at least do it at your convenience without a side trip to the poorhouse.  douglaston golf course, in queens, has been my favorite.  it is very scenic, with many hills and valleys.  i used to take the kids to play there after they had taken golf lessons for a while.

” they have a great swing and show a lot of potential; they just have to make one or 2 minor changes”.  then the children’s golf instructor rattles off the same 6 page list of changes that they want your kid to accomplish as the adult tennis instructor in crocheron park.  they must have a script.

on one such outing, philip, my younger son, who had never hit a ball further than about a hundred yards, was at the tee for the 5th hole.  this tee sits high on a hill, with a water hazard both in front of and behind the green, which is located far below.  there was a foursome on the green and the hole was about 140 yards, so i did not see any problem with philip hitting before they got off the green.  i doubted that he would even reach the nearer of the water hazards.  of course, at this point, after 4 or 5 beers, the evil angel has fallen off philip’s shoulder, and stumbles off into the woods to relieve himself (but not before talking the girl who sells candy to give him her phone number), so philip can hear the good angel, who evidently is so excited about being heard for the first time all day, he does not notice the four guys on the green.  philip rears back, hits a 125 yard screamer, which bounces and hits one of the guys in the side.  since his head was down, philip doesn’t see the trajectory of the ball at first, but since the ball flies straight and true, he picks it up in mid flight as it zeros in on the hapless guy on the green. just as he realizes that this is the single greatest shot he has ever hit in his entire young life, the guy on the green screams and the ball bounces off him to land a couple of feet from the cup.  philip is jumping up and down now with the prospect of his first eagle (2 under par) when another member of the foursome picks up philip’s ball and throws it into the water hazard.  philip sees this and drops to the ground like he was poleaxed.  he has never been fond of golf since that incident.

it is a rare day when you can actually satisfy both the good and the evil angel.  we had the opportunity to do this recently.  we had visitors from mexico, our friend, midori and 2 of her kids, carlos and marcela.  i thought her name was marcela, i always knew her as marcela, i always called her marcela and she always responded to marcela.  her name, it turns out however, is not marcela.  i found this out this past week. she is a beginning freshman at the school for visual arts in manhattan.  i was supposed to go into the city, pick the 3 of them up and bring them to our house for dinner.  i am supposed to pick them up at the freshman dorm, an old hotel called the george washington.  ana has told me to just go to security in the lobby, ask them to call her room on the intercom and they will come down and meet me.  whenever ana sends me on one of these seemingly simple tasks, there is always some tiny bit of vital information missing.  this was the case.  security in sva is a desk, a guy and a list.  the list of students is organized according to first names, not last names.  there is no computer.  there is no intercom.  i arrive on time at 5:00 pm and walk into the lobby.  as i am a bit older than most of the freshman, the security guy immediately perks up when he sees me, thinking he is about to save some hapless freshman from a dangerous pederast.  when i ask him if he can help me locate a student, he immediately pulls out “the list”.  i give marcela’s first and last names and am immediately told that there is no such student in the school for visual arts.  i ask him again and again to check (which he does, as he seems quite helpful), all to no avail.  i call ana, who swears to me that she had arranged a meeting with midori for this evening.  i ask if she wants me to come home, she says “no, try again”. and so i do . again.  and again.  by now it’s closing on six o’clock and still no sign of the mexicans.  i then ask if there are any students with the last name of ochoa (midori’s married surname).  after a very lengthy perusal of the entire list, i am told there is 1 student in the whole school named ochoa (on the first page), but that the student’s first name is alicia, not marcela. i then ask if someone from security can actually go up to the room of that particular student just to see if there is anyone there.  i am told that someone will go up, but it will take a while.  since 5 o’clock, ana and i have been frantically calling carlos to see if we can find them to no avail.  after a while the guard tells me that someone has gone up to the room of the student named alicia ochoa and reports that there was nobody in the room. i am finally about to leave for home when the elevator opens and midori, carlos and alicia marcela ochoa step out.  carlos’ phone had not been getting a signal in the old, steel reinforced concrete walls of the george wahington hotel.  on the way back to our house, carlos got all 19 voice and text messages we had sent.  that is why we have verizon, not at&t.

midori’s son, carlos, came to new york city a couple of years ago as a freshman student in the school of visual arts. he was in the process of looking for a place to live when we received a call from midori.  she asked us to be the guarantor of the rent for the apartment that carlos had found.  we were warned in advance that the apartment was “on the small side”, but we were not prepared for what we saw when we showed up to see it in person.  evidently, what the landlord of this firetrap had done was to literally split a studio apartment in half.  the result was 300 square feet of  “living ” space divided among 3 students.  2 female, 1 male. a bathroom with a 1 foot by 2 foot window facing an airshaft was the only ventilation in the place.  carlos’ “bedroom” was actually the closet of the original apartment.  the kitchen, living room and bedroom for the two girls was the rest of the “apartment”.  how small was it? i went to see it with toby, my older son, carlos, ana and my mother in law. the problem was that if we all went into the apartment at the same time (with the other 2 roommates) the first person in had to be the last person out because there was not enough room to get around the other people who came in after you.

anyway, we were going to dinner with midori, her 2 kids, ana,  my mother in law and myself.  kosher meals are a necessity when dining with my mother in law, so we have done our homework when it comes to kosher cuisine in the city.  one of our favorites is pongal, on lexington avenue, between 26 th and 27th streets.  the nice thing about “curry hill” is that there are tons of indian restaurants located in a very small geographic area (hence its name).  the odd thing is that you can have 6 restaurants on a block with similar menus and food, but there will be only one of them that has tons of people, the others will be completely empty.  pongal is the crowded one.  we love the samosas, soup and whatever entree they offer.  the main complaint about the place is that you cannot get ice in your water.  if you ask for ice, (and you always have to ask at least twice) they give a plate with 6 cubes on it.  you will not get any more until you ask again (and again).  atmosphere is non existent, as the plates and “glasses” are in the style of  “early alcatraz”.  everything is made of stainless steel.  there is never a problem of breakage in this place.  the food, however, makes up for the (lack of) ambience.  what with the kosher, vegetarian food, the good angel was sitting pretty and i do believe he was even starting to feel a little smug.  the evil angel (who to that point had been absent…..i have no idea what he had been doing but his eyes looked kind of glassy when he finally showed up just as we finished eating).  “dessert, anyone”? he asked “i know just the place”.   “we can even walk there from here”.  as i mentally calculated the odds of him having gone rogue, he sidled up next to my ear and whispered “shake shack!”  i have extolled the virtues of this gift from the culinary gods before, but this would be a challenge.  we had eaten vegetarian for dinner, so the “b line” at the shake shack in madison square park was just the ticket.  if you want hot food at shake shack, especially at dinner time, you are going to have to wait for quite a while, as the line tends to run about a half hour.  we, however, having already eaten were just there for dessert, so the “b line” it was .  this is only for cold food, like the       80 gazillion calorie “concrete” my buddy lucifer was pushing on me.  i took solace in the fact that i was able to share it with family and friends, and so both angels were happy on the ride home.

Info 1:
Ich bin für 4 Turniere gesperrt, weil ich mich für ein Einladungsturnier zu spät abgemeldet habe. Shit happens.

Info2:
Ich habe gestern Abend eine 9-Lochrunde gespielt und dafür 47 Schläge benötigt. Ja, ich bin ohne Einspielen direkt ans Tee 1 und ja, ich war nicht sehr konzentriert. Das sollen aber keine Ausreden sein, denn 47 Schläge sind schlichtweg scheisse für einen Könner wie mich. Wobei, verglichen mit meiner 101 (inoffiziell, denn an der Bahn 1 habe ich einen Ball gespielt, den es eigentlich nicht gab) am Samstag  im GC Sempachersee (Woodside), habe ich mich brutal gesteigert! Positive thinking, leaders do so! Nur musste ich gestern noch arbeiten und konnte mich nicht voller Frust besaufen. An was lag es, also gestern, die Runde mein ich? Das ist einfach: 3 Abschläge landeten im Aus, 2 weitere soweit im Rough, dass ich Rettungschläge machen musste. Wer so vom Tee spielt, hat keine Chance, besser zu spielen. Dass ich ausgerechnet am schwierigsten Loch mein einziges Par gespielt habe, scheint wegweisend. Genau so wie der Fakt, dass ich auch dafür einen super Chip und einen sehr guten Putt benötigt habe, denn nach 4 Schlägen lag ich noch 10 Meter vor dem Green…. Das Fairway traf ich nur einmal, und das am 9. Loch. Wie kam es dazu? Davon handelt eigentlich dieser Blogbeitrag. Denn ich hatte ein spezielles Erlebnis.

Wir alle wissen es. Seit Wochen trifft Schnidelwoods keinen Drive mehr. Ich habe schon immer relativ hoch gedrivet. Mittlerweile drive ich EXTREM hoch. Neu ist, dass meine Schlägen bzw. Bälle nun auch noch Slicen wie die Sau. Eine Lektion beim Pro hat schnell gezeigt, dass ich die Hände zu wenig rollen lasse bzw. schon fast blockiere. Beheben konnte ich das Problem jedoch nicht, ich war geradezu unfähig, meine Hände zu rollen. Die Handgelenke scheinen blockiert. Was ich durch diese Höhe und den starken Slice an Schlägen verliere weiss ich mittlerweile, was es an Längenverlust bedeutet wollte und konnte ich mir nie vorstellen. Bis zum gestrigen Missgeschick.

Bahn 2: Par5, erhöhter Abschlag, Fairway danach leicht ansteigend, nach ca. 230 Meter eine 20 Meter lange und ca. 10 Meter hohe Kuppe. Ich steh auf der Teebox (leicht schräg, ich stehe unter dem Ball), spreche denn Ball an und nehme mir vor, endlich mehr mit den Händen zu machen. Ich will keinen Slice mehr! Ich bin so fokussiert darauf, dass ich beim Abschwung, unterstützt durch den Stand unter dem Ball und die schlechte Gewichtsverlagerung, den Boden vor dem Ball treffe und diesen dann im Stile eines fussballerischen Tip-Kicks vom Tee befördere. Ich war so genervt, dass ich dem Ball nicht mal nachgeschaut habe. Nachladen, Ball getroffen, hohe Flugbahn, nur leichter Slice, ca. 200 Meter, Mitte Fairway. Immer noch genervt, dass ich mal wieder einen Ball verschlagen hatte, beginne ich 50 Meter vor meinem zweiten Ball, links im Semi-Rough die Suche nach meinem Ball. Meine Flightpartner marschieren strammen Schrittes, die Kollegen aus dem SF DRS Reduit könnten was lernen, an mir vorbei und sprechen ihre Bälle an. So frech, was sind denn das für Manieren?

Ich nehme mir vor, sie gleich nach ihren Schlägen mal so richtig anzufahren, ob es nicht mehr üblich sei, Kollegen bei der Suche nach dem Ball zu helfen. Die Gelegenheit kommt gerade recht, denn der Hass dieses immer wieder beobachteten und selber erlebten Phänomens nervt mich seit Wochen, Tendenz steigend. Aber das ist noch nicht alles, einer nimmt doch glatt meinen provisorischen Ball auf und wirft ihm mir zu. Wollen die mich fertig machen? Haben die was gegen gutaussehende Typen, waren meine Sprüche zu derb oder wollen sie sich einfach mal wieder prügeln? Obwohl mein Ball noch nicht auf dem Green liegt, bin ich bereit, den Handschuh auszuziehen und balle im Geiste meine Faust…. Da sehe ich, dass sich alle 3 versammeln. Sie scheinen zu warten. Gruppenbildung? Einer gegen Drei? Mir war klar, wenn ich siegen will, muss ich zuerst denn Stärksten, den Anführer niederstrecken.  Vertieft in meinen von der Hitze verschwommenen Gedanken werde von einer lauten Stimme wachgerüttelt. „Titleist 3, rote Markierung, oder?“, schreit der Rädelsführer. Ich denke mir und sage kleinlaut ja und begebe mich zur Gruppe. Und was sehe ich? Da liegt mein Ball. Um genauer zu sein, da liegt mein Ball, etwa 5 Meter nach dem Weg, in der beschriebenen Kuppe, nur leicht im Semi-Rough. Ich kann’s nicht glauben, aber es ist meine Markierung drauf. Haben die jetzt nicht nur meinen provisorischen Ball aufgenommen, nein, haben die auch noch meinen ersten Ball nach vorne geworfen, um mich aufzubauen? Nein. Einer im Flight merkt mir die Fragen an und klärt mich auf. Endlich hätte ich den Ball mal mit gerader Schlagfläche getroffen, den Ball flach weggeschlagen und ihm noch den nötigen Spin mitgegeben. Die Flugbahn sei wegen dem Bodenkontakt nur etwas tief, der Draw nur etwas zu stark gewesen, der Roll war so, wie er halt eben sein muss. Ich hätte aber sicher nochmals 20 Meter verschenkt, eben, wegen den Boden. Der Ball lag sicher 40 Meter weiter als mein zweiter, den ich im mir mittlerweile typischen „Pitching Wood“-Style gespielt habe. An Loch 9 habe ich dann übrigens endlich gemerkt, wieso ich seit Wochen keine Hände ins Spiel bringe, und habe den Drive kerzengerade, noch etwas hoch, aber schon wieder ziemlich weit geschlagen. Ich bin zurück. Zieht euch warm an. Es wird bald wieder kühler!

This week will be a very busy one for me. This week I will be donning a variety of hats, and will assume different responsibilities. Let me share with you how my week will be.

On Thursday, I will be wearing my business hat, but also the concerned citizen, husband, friend hat as we launch “Hope for the Flowers” in Mall of Asia Main Atrium at 12noon. “Hope for the Flowers” is a photo exhibit of World class photographer Jun de Leon, and features moving and touching  images of Cervical Cancer survivors, and the recently concluded Tour of Hope, a bike tour from Alabang to Camsur. Guys, we don’t want to lose our wives, moms, female friends to Cervical cancer. Try to pass by the exhibit or go to thetourofhope2009.multiply.com to find out more.

Try to visit the exhibit and learn more about Cervical Cancer.

On Friday (and Saturday),I will be wearing my “showbiz” hat, as well as friends hat. The musical group The Tux will have a concert, “STux on You, You’ve got a Friends’” at the Music Museum .  As most of you may (or may not) know, I have been the Production Assistant / Road Manager for the Tux for over 20 years now. (Wow! Popo, wala bang pension fund)

Tux in the 80's

Tux in the 90's

TUX 2009 version (o ah, d naka-photoshop yan)

2nd Album of TUX, thats me sa pic sa dulo

This concert is a very special one. It not only marks the major return of Tux to the music scene, but is a fund raiser for one of the members. Last March, 2009,Tux was asked by LSGH to perform as part of their  50 year  celebration. The group which has 4 members  from LSGH, gladly obliged. The concert was scheduled for May 15.  It was during preparations and rehearsals for this particular concert that we found out that one member of the group wouldn’t be able to perform. Carlo had gone for a check- up, found a lump in his colon, that had to be removed. The operation was a success in that the lump was successfully removed. But further tests were needed  to see if the tumor removed was benign or malignant. The other 6 members of the group gathered themselves, and, as the saying goes. “The show must go on.” And perform the guys did!!!! Inspired by family and friends, and Carlo who was there, fresh stitches and all, the guys sang their hearts out!!! After almost 5 years of inactivity they performed admirably. Wow, proud ako!!!  After the success of the concert, people were asking for a repeat. We quickly decided to try to put up another show.

Yeah man..........

Don't tell my ......

It was a great performance!!!! Praise God!!! D sila hinimatay or tumirik!!!

After a couple of weeks, we received a text from Carlo’s wife Marika. Carlo was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. She asked for info if we knew anyone from pharma companies to get discounts from Carlo’s meds and chemo treatments. The members of the group met with Direk Freddie Santos and decided to put up a concert to help in Carlo’s medical bills. So this Friday and Saturday, Tux will take to the stage, along with friends ,Zsa Zsa Padilla, John Lesaca, Nanette Inventor, Regine Velasquez, Gary Valenciano, Kuh Ledesma, as well as ex-Tux members, and members of the group Opera Manolo Tanquilot, and  Zeb Zuniga, and  tenor Nolyn Cabahug who will take time out from their busy skeds  to help out. If you guys want to enjoy good music, and have a laugh or two along the way, please try to watch our show this weekend.

Regine Velasquez will be one of the guests

Good music and good friends. Perfect combination. See You!!!

On Saturday, I will be donning my business hat , as well as my Dad hat, as the very very first ever, EXPO DAD is held at the Rockwell tent. This event comes from the heels of two very successful  Expo Mom events. I decided, “Sandali lang, paano naman kami? Aba kami yata ang nag da-drive sa inyo sa mga event na iyan. Equal rights naman….” Well not exactly that way but, Dads it’s our turn.

See You July 18!!!!

The event will have booths to cater to every dads taste.  Aloha Boardsports, Dynamic Sports ,(distributor of Titleist, King Cobra,Head),Spoofs, Clever Cats, Coach E Basketball school, and Mobile 1 are just some of the booths that will be part of Expo Dad. Interesting demos/talks  like “Aikido and Time mangement”, Fencing from SEA Games medalist Walter Torres,a talk from Anton Diaz on Daddy Blogging, even a fashion show for dads, will spice up the Expo. Raffle draws every hour will add excitement. So new dads, old dads, groovy dads, tekkie dads, sporting dads,BASTA dad ka, please make your way to Rockwell Tent this Saturday, July 18. By the way, Moms, there will be booths also that we are sure you will also enjoy. See you!!!!

Spoofs, King Cobra, and Titleist will be some of the names you will see in Expo Dad

Coach Wawit Torres will be doing a fencing demo

A Coach E Basketball booth will also be there

And finally my busy week will be capped off by my donning my coaching hat. The 4th MPG Invitational Basketball Tournament kicks off this weekend. My team, Team Africa, named because of our captain Noy Africa is in it’s 3rd year of existence. The first year we joined, we reached the finals, and last year, we reached the semis. This year, we hope to go all the way and win it all. But it will be a really difficult task as all the other teams improved by stocking up on youn talent, while we pretty much just gained weight:) Positive thinking dapat. So, I cap off my week, by bringing out my inner Sonny Jaworski. BTW, the Big J, and I have another thing in common, I am also the elder statesman of the team. HAH!!! This is you…………

Chot Camacho (trailing in the back #6) will be one of our key players.

Joey Puno brings versatility to the team as he can play 3 positions

While I provide 41 years of......... experience!!!! Mwahaha!!!

I hope to see you in my events, especially during the weekend!!!!

ONE BIG FIGHT BLUE EAGLES!!!! DEFEND THE CROWN!!!! ANG POGI NI SALVA at ANG TAPANG NI MONFORT!!!!!

Wambigfayt!!!

Im introducing personalised photo improvements for my friends which is a cheap attempt to get hits on my blog and besides is a rest from the US Open washout!??

I have been giving one particular friend some 1-on-1 tuition at the local range. Andy, plays from a respectable 16 handicap and is a fine striker of the ball. Being 16st and 6ft 3 he is a big block and a player you’d expect to tonk it 320 yards with ease.

So I turn up to the range with only my 7 iron and surprised Andy with, right you are getting a lesson camera in hand….

ok, so Picture 1 here we have the initial take-away position, which is spot on! Look from the hip height position, the club shaft point at the target – perfect parallel.

However as we progress through Andy’s swing we can see where the slice comes from.

Picture 2 where the club is at the top of the swing it reveals a cub position pointing considerably left of the target, compare this with the aiming of his feet.
 

 3 things to look for when analysing a slice, fade or cut.

1.  Hand position.  Hand position here is weakened from picture 1, where it was near perfect.  notice from Andy’s left arm, his wrist has collapsed and thus is pointing the club left of the target your feet.  It also loses masses amounts of energy.

2.  Weight Distribution.  Notice Andy’s Right leg has not fully taken the weight of his swing to his right.  This on the downswing contributes of being ahead of the ball at impact and therefore added slice spin (see the blog entry about “patience! hit it later!”.  

This is seen even more clearly when you see the finish position and the left elbow pointing out.

Its all about the belt buckle for Andy.

If you imagine, all through your own swing where your belt buckle starts, moves and ends its generally a sign of where the ball will end up.

For example, take picture 1.  This reveals a straight to target club at hip height, however, look where the belt buckle is.  Its pointing right of the target, an indicator the hips are active, which potentially means at impact the belt buckle is reversed and pointing left thus slice spin is created (see picture 3)

Now im going to change tact a little bit and suggest that this swing isnt actually all that bad in fact there are some good positives.  The things I’d like fix in this swing are;

1.  Posture.  Andy is a big block and standing taller (and closer) to the ball will give him a better drive through impact position and therefore straighter and longer drives.

2.  Weight Distribution.  Andy’s weight distribution is all to muck.  However, we must give him a little grace, a considerable time repairing a very nasty ankle injury has this to blame.

This said, balance and weight distribution is locked with posture.  Bad posture will throw your swing out of kilter in no time at all and Andy’s injury has given him some tuff range work to face.

3.  Hand position.  All through Andy’s swing the position of his hands does the chance or ability to draw the ball no justice.  In fact, a self professed “If you can put a draw on my drives, the bar is on me!” will hopefully start to realise what I am teaching?!

I have given Andy 3 lessons so far this summer.  1 on putting – would you believe when addressing the ball he actually forgot to think about holing it!….tut tut!  Anyways, the next 2 have been on weight distribution – the evidence I will blog soon!

4.  Timing.  The key for Andy is timing.  Knowing when to put that 16st, 6ft 3 into action for maximum drive length and I suspect personal sanity!

This is a classic Rugby players swing.  Big hands, wide shoulders and plenty of leg action.  All the wrong timing components for hitting a golf ball straight (with a bit of draw).

His timing will improve with better posture, weight distribution, hand positioning.

The main complaint is that of the “big dog”, this is mudded by good ones that are 260 yards middle right of the fairway but all too many leak big right.  I think there is 30-50 yards to gain here and a beach full of consistency with some range work.

Andy text me this morning with a “dismal” score of 84 (par 72) and was choked by not breaking 80 due to 2 triple bogeys and a couple of 3 putts….40 points stableford ….?

I’ll blog next week on swing progress, hopefully some comments from the student himself?

Hello everyone, thanks for stopping by my blog again.

I stumbled on a great little web based music application called musicovery…so impressed at something free could be so good I thought I would share it with my readers.

If you love your music and love variety – combine this with your mood – musicovery

Click here to select music to your mood!

Enjoy

David

I read this book  a couple of years ago and still refer to it often, for me it removes those nasty little bogey reminders on the following holes and gives you an excellent base to understand your game for improved focus.

Worth £6 of anyone’s money and Bob is an excellent Author.

Golf is a Game of Confidence By Bob Rotella List Price: £7.99 Price: £5.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery on orders over £5. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 25 new or used available from £2.92 Average customer review:

Editorial Reviews

I thought I would drop everyone a note about “Powerballs” or “Hand Gyro’s” and how they will help your golf game. These devices are great fun, they basically improve your wrist and hand strength.

In golf our wrists are key to impact, with a limp wrist you lose distance and control. I personally got up to 21,315 revvs, which is a household record! The kids obviously love playing against each other.

You basically grab the Powerball and start rotating your wrist to gain some momentum, the ball records your maximum speed so there are no arguments! The heavier ball spinning in the middle makes its own gravity and eventually if you slow down you can feel it fight the forces of nature against your wrist.

Its a kids toy at the end of the day, but they are great fun and a side effect, you get longer drives! (and you score points with the Mrs for entertaining the kids!)

See the store for your selection of colors and weights.

This is a very nice 2 minute video on swing plane through impact which follows nicely to my “patience! hit the ball later” article.As my article explains about inertia, the best angle is from above. When on impact your body returns back to address or setup position and should hit the middle plane described above.To draw or fade the ball i personally like the feel of using less or more hand action as opposed to changing the club angle and attacking the ball along a straight path.But both techniques are good and this is great video to demonstrate sing path.

I played this weekend, off 5.2 and shot 86, 27 points. very very disappointing and in-front of people that know I used to be able to play a lot better!

Im trying to make a play for amateur champs later this season and starting the season from 5 is tough with a family and busy job, I need to lose at least 2 or 3 shots from my handicap by August and scoring to it regularly.  

Its all about dealing with pressure on these competitions and im not close enough to rival the social golfer with these scores let alone the polished amateur

So why did I have a howler without making excuses and teach as a golf coach?  Well for me, from the start of my game it was tough.  It was an early rise at 6.15am followed by a quick drive to the course for 7am and planned tee off, which ordinarily is ok.

This particular course (mention no names) is in my opinion one of the worst locally to me and most of my playing colleagues agreed after the 18 holes, So I knew scoring would be tough (greens unevenly cut etc).   I particularly have an issue with this course and have a history of walking away disgusted.

I agreed only to play it as it was a friends stag doo and according to the stag it had been late being organised.

On arrival I discovered to my horror the driving range was shut due to assistant not having safety cage on the ball collecting tractor! later discovered another excuse of ball machine not working SO, I had not practised or played for a month!

To  make the best of a bad situation, I thought I would practice the short game…so over to the chipping hole followed by some putting.  Positive chipping and was happy pre-play with this part of my game.

I had left the house and checked on the weather to see a clear sky and some high cloud – as it has been all week – lovelly!  Took my Mizuno Aerolite bag, no umbrella or waterproofs expecting a nice morning…1st Tee to 6th green heavy rain!!!

Grips and “Dave” now thoroughly wet and no dry towel to dry me or clubs!  My hands by now are nice and cold for my first tee shot, which was topped a complete head up moment and very embarrassing after assuring the starter that I could hit the people 320 yards away on the green and having at least 40 people at the tee watch me top the ball and it trickle over a bridge of a ditch (ironically, my only good luck of the day!).  

Amongst this several leaked (slipped) shots right and hard to recover from positions lead to high scores.

Anyway, on reflection I was not fully prepared for the weather and had all the bad luck in the world, from plugged sand shots having seen them trickle into the sand, to sprinkler heads mid fairway and the following “overshot” having landed 5 yards before the green and see it bounce like a rubber ball! then the embarrasing walk past the green to locate your ball (yet again OOB!)

Unrepaired pitch marks on solid made putting strokes and unbelievable bounces to OOB from landing on the middle of the fairway.

Here’s the facts, by the nice we were all in t-shirts and loving the weather – really really nice! I shot 48 (+13)  front 9 and 38 (+2) on the back 9 once I had warmed up.  I had 7 birdie chances in all, 31 putts, 2 sand saves (1 plugged) only 1 person from 14 scored A birdie all day due to the greens being terrible!  I am convinced I could have putt 3 or maybe 4 of the birdies to make a respectable 81.

My first 6 holes were absolute howlers losing my 5 handicap shots after 3 holes.  Double, Single, Double bogeys on the first 3 holes.  I steadied the ship with a par from a plugged bunker shot and a 9 footer uphill on the 6th.

So what did I learn from Saturday?  Wet grips don’t improve your game! several caridinal sins that I am kicking myself for was choice of shot in bad situations and of course I do take some blame for badly struck shots.

Although, I am happy with 90% of my escapes, I shouldn’t have been escaping in the first place!  But sometimes, luck puts you there!  Im still trying to decide if my mood made my luck and expecting the course to be rubbish or that simply I just didnt play well.

One escape I was proud of, following a slightly pushed 10th Tee shot which hit top of the biggest tree and fell 20ft directly behind it!…to its right (4ft away) another substantially sized tree.  Wind from the right and a gap through the trees, a bank to the right of the green.  approx 185 yards to pin-high slight breeze in face, 5 iron.  Hit 5 iron and found the gap between the tree’s, low penetrating flight, hit the bank and landed 6ft from hole, missed birdie!

On the 11th, Stroke Index 1.  Dogleg right by 30 degrees, tee shot downhill.  280 yards a 9ft ditch across and up the right hand side of the fairway and back up hill to the green, OOB left, right 18th fairway.

Hit driver into the wind, cleared ditch middle of the fairway (slight slope right to left (down)) big bounce to the left of 40 yards with some roll and OOB!.  3 off the tee, toed driver short of ditch by 3 yards.  180 yards to hit directly into the wind and 80ft trees directly at flag.  Decided to cut a 4 iron left of tree’s using the wind in the face to assist, landed 15 ft from hole, 2 putts for a rescued 6 and 1 point (having lipped out for 2 points).

I played some majestic irons in the 2nd half of my game and was delighted with this, my chipping was excellent but with greens that didn’t react at all it was difficult to hold for easier putts, but thankfully some good putts were sunk too.

I parred from the 12th home with the ambition of 30 points with a couple of potential birdies but it was the front 9 that killed my score.  I will put the score into golfshake and see what my handicap is next week.

What can I teach you?  Well, despite my 86 (+14) or 9 over my handicap it could have been a lot worse.  Imagine a double 48 from a 5 handicap?!

I think the best thing I can teach you is temperance, I guess without wishing to sound hipocritical.  I knew I was going to score badly from 3 holes in, I really remained on the course to enjoy the company and to try and practice once I knew I couldn’t win or score that well I re-adjusted my goals in terms of hitting 30 points and finishing with some dignity or respect of some shots I could play.

I tried to play each shot with the mind of “just keep scoring”. 

I knew my playing partner was miles ahead and tracking to 36-38 points playing from 11, but equally if he is my marker as the “front runner”, I may only need a couple of birdies and he a couple of miss-shots or suffer the same course conditions as I for the game to change and it nearly paid off.

The point is, “just keep scoring”.  Even if the game is a complete right off its good to relax and sometimes just enjoy the game and who knows your score may improve the next time you play.

All I did to improve my score was 2 things.

1.  ”Take some speed off” – slow the swing down either imagine a timer of 1-2-3-4 (3 being strike of ball) in your head on-course or practise the heavy duty broom tip on “lose 5 shots this summer”

2.  Keep the head still and watch the ball impacted by the club on the downswing and through the ball.

Its range work for me and I will be working on my driving and my long irons.  It was really good at times and others I pulled, due to gripping too hard when having wet grips to loosening the grip and getting slappy forged blade sounds!

Then off to play the PGA Course at the Belfry mid-week on business – no course excuses there!

I’d like to introduce the “left side” of your swing and most professionals will teach this key fundamental at some point so you may as well get used to the idea now!

This is golf, not cricket and not Tennis although you can akin many sports to having similar traits too the golf swing.   For example, Tennis.

When you see Andy Murray or Pete Sampras smash a tennis ball down the line at 140 mph think of their technique (in slow mo!). 

First start with the swing of the arm as they serve, watch the poised position of the players legs, hips and shoulders as they “swipe” the ball, followed by 100% commitment as their bodies catch up, the shoulders, hips and legs power through after the ball has gone – “The uncoil”.

Essentially, like golf.  We try and emulate this tennis swing but with both arms and one needing to be straight it means the shoulders play big part our “coil” and because the ball is stationary we address it psychologically different.

I mean it cant be that hard…stand here and hit this stationary ball, sometimes even prepared nicely to your choice once every  hole!

Well the natural instinct is to smash the living daylights out of it! and yes we have, and continue to be in this place sometimes many times per round.  Even the top pro’s still suffer from the odd “grip it and rip it” mentality often with negative commentary.

The facts are this, timing is essential.  See broom or 3 club practise technique earlier in the blog.  Without timing the ball isn’t going straight.  With out a good left side (at impact) the results are loss of direction and 70% loss of power.

Let me explain.  So you’ve read a couple of  books and practised at the range and things might be getting better, which is great. 

But at some point the psychology of your game becomes pressured to score or continue hitting fairways or greens or holing putts and sometimes a good round is the killer the next time round.

To maintain balance, control and power we need timing and a good left side.  Most amateurs swing to hit the ball from the top position and in doing so HIT AT THE BALL moving their bodies into the hitting zone – remember Happy Gilmore!

In the process it generally results in swing plane changes and thus creating cut or hook spin on the ball.  I think its a well known fact the beginning amateur applies naturally cutting/fading/slicing the ball, occasionally a direct pull left and for the apparently better player a hook/draw/smother and occasional push shot.

This is normally a result of a weak left side.  If you can stop for a minute and imagine your swing at the very top position.

You should have a nice relaxed left leg with a very slight kink (or weight transference to your left) and a braced right leg with the knee pointing over your right toes (opposite for left hander’s!).

You should have completed a 90 degree turn of the shoulder and hips approx 10-20% – this is your “coiled position”.  You should feel a tightening sensation around your lower spine.

I can bet most people will have (with some knowledge)  have a rough swing position as described.  The trouble is from here.  I see many golfers from this position HITTING AT the ball.

A sudden loss of power from left leg movement that doesn’t need to happen!  A “collapse” of leg position before the ball is truck is not going to hit the ball straight or long.

In simple terms,

1.  You setup to the ball

2.  Take your swing to the top

3. Your address position is the same as your impact position!

Start your downswing only with your arms and continue down and through until impact at which point YOU NEED TO BE back to setup position as the ball is struck (legs, shoulders, hips exactly the same way as you setup but obviously you have inertia hitting the ball)

By doing this, you are hitting through the ball and keeping your body “coiled” and releasing through impact.  Once the ball has been struck the inertia should automatically push your hands, shoulders, hips and legs into motion to complete your swing where your hands finish nice and high.

If you want to draw the ball, you simply add more right hand around 2-3 inches from club to ball impact and include a release of grip for added measure.

In the same way the Tennis player sets up to smash their 140 mph aces by coiling their bodies, you need to apply the same to your golf swing the key bit is timing.  They hit and then uncoil or “release” through the shot.

The above can only be applied if your mind is set properly that after all your effort to create your coil you need to be in a position to strike the ball well by thinking “back to the start position”.  Any body movement (especially hips and legs) that isn’t your arms and hands will reduce power and accuracy.

A reminder to keep your left eye on the ball all the way through impact where you should see the ball fly off the clubface and wait for your right shoulder to hit your chin before starting to look up.

The inertia you have created in your backswing and by positioning of the hands, arms, shoulders back to impact position on the downswing, generally  means you will gain control over direction and power.

A great practise routine at home or on the range is to put your feet together so they touch and swing away.  If you lose balance, you are swinging to fast.  The fast bit is the final 12 inches of the club meeting the ball, not how much body movement you apply to your swing.

I would reduce your swing to 2/3rds to ensure you can keep your balance better to start with.  As you practise, rather than speed up your whole swing to get more distance just speed up the middle (on the downswing club is hip height) or just as you impact the ball.

A word on inertia.  The club you hold is heavy one end, normally between 200 grams to 340 grams in total weight (depending on the club). 

In the example of a Driver – your arm is perhaps 21”, plus a club length of 36” = 47” (1.5m) being swung towards a hard faced ball at 140-190 mph the club head will move approximately 16m in distance (circumference of your swing).

There is no need to put extra bodily effort into your swing – let nature work a little harder for you, so you can keep your concentration!

Look at Paul Casey’s post impact position – full release shown by arms being extended through shot, Paul’s head nicely still looking at where the ball used to be!

look at Paul’s right leg (left as we see it) it is braced for impact but the impact has already happened.  The commitment to the shot is shown in this picture perfectly, with many other professionals modelling the same position.

Hopefully before you got here you read Part 1. If you haven’t please do; there is a reason this is Part 2.

So, are you shocked to find out that sellers of new balls say that  the characteristics of new balls are better than new ones?  Hah! Paul Lovelace (Golf Ball Paul) has a retail store in Kansas City, KS, and he says that the new generation of balls, covered as they are with “polymers and polybutadeine”,  deteriorate at the same rate whether they are on a store shelf or at the bottom of a pond.

An unnamed top company executive, after asserting that the performance difference between a ball straight from the factory and a ball that had been at the mercy of the elements is big.  He was quoted as saying, “…we don’t think that consumers who want  quality and consistency are well served with re-used balls.”  Ahem.  Oh, sorry, I had to clear my throat.

Steve Ogg, Callaway Golf V.P. of golf ball R&D, said that golfers using any ball that was previously submerged for months will experience less distance than they are used to, and that there will be a loss of spin, too, although to a lesser degrees. And, he says, that the aerodynamics of a repainted ball “may be significantly degraded”.

You, as the consumer, don’t know where these used balls came from.  Even if you find one in the water yourself, do you know how long it has been there?  Hey, if it’s right there, easy to see from where you are, then it couldn’t have been there long, right?  

Can you tell the difference between a recycled and a refinished ball besides the fact that refinished ones are more expensive?  Would it shock you to discover that there are ”shady people” that might lie to you about the quality and/or condition of their used golf balls?  

Have you ever thought about how many golf balls are sold each year?  I never had until I started this research, but you can bet Steve Ogg and Golf Ball Paul have.  I had a reaction to discovering that an estimated 500 million balls are purchased in the U.S. every year! I’m still trying to analyze the reaction – is it amusement, surprise or indifference?  

Am I consistent enough with my drives that I can tell if I would lose ten, twenty, or thirty yards off the tee?  Can I tell if I would lose backspin on an approach shot that would cause my ball to roll off the green?  Or whether a loss of spin would affect my draw shots or fade shots?  Can I hit a draw shot or a fade shot on purpose anyway?  Is the difference going to show up on my scorecard?

I would have play a lot more golf than I do now to tell the difference.  I would have to make my golf games into laboratory experiments, which I think would diminish my enjoyment of the game.

But, of course, I could be wrong about that, too.

I wrote a blog called “What kind of golf balls should I buy?” a few weeks ago and I addressed the use of used balls. Since then I have stumbled into a few articles that made me curious enough to do some more research, and here’s what I found.

Adam Barr of the Golf Channel

Adam Barr of the Golf Channel gives a statement that is totally predictable.  He says that used (or recovered) golf balls sell better during recessions.  Wow!  Who could have seen that coming?  It’s no surprise that the subject gets extra attention at this time, as the Tournament Players Championship is currently taking place at Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, just south of Jacksonville.  The 17th hole there is famous for its green, which is almost totally surrounded by water.

Used golf balls are a big business.  With many premium balls costing in the area of $4.00 apiece, it seems that many golfers, if not the majority, are spending a little more time and effort looking for the ones that go into the brush or woods.  I always hesitate to look in dense brush or the abundant palmettos here in Florida having heard many stories about encounters with snakes.  I hate snakes and in that respect I am by no means unique.  I have seen skin divers in many of the water hazards here in Florida.  One of these days I’ll talk to somebody that does this, because alligators are an issue here. Now, I like alligators just fine – from a distance. At one of my favorite courses gator sightings are, if not commonplace, certainly not unusual.  

Barr recounts a conversation with Jim Best, who says he pulls 120,000 balls per year out of the water at that 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.  Best says he’s been doing this for 10 years, and it took time to develop a successful technique.  Not something I ever thought about.  The silt at the pond bottom is very fine, and it has a tendency to rise up and destroy visibility.  He’s also had some close encounters of the first kind with gators.  Some start getting aggressive when they reach eight to nine feet in length.  A fourteen footer came with in four feet of him, but that wasn’t at TPC Sawgrass.

I saw an episode of “How It’s Made” about golf ball manufacturing.  It came as a surprise to me that golf balls are painted.  I guess I has always assumed that the color came from the suryln or composite material itself.  The show was pretty interesting, but then I like that show.

And, who knew, there are specific differences in used balls.  Recycled or refinished?  (Tastes great or less filling?)  Patrick Daniels of Second Chance Golf Balls says that recycled means that a “lake ball” has been fished out and allowed or encouraged to dry.  Refinished balls, though, are sometimes sold by companies that buy these recovered balls, repaint them and put somebody else’s name on them.  So mavbe you bought a used ball that says Titleist on it, but it actually was originally manufactured as a Pinnacle.  And the ratio for sale is roughly 10 recycled balls to 1 refinished.

Stay tuned for More about Golf Balls Part 2, folks!

If you can copy or replicate the core dynamics of Tiger’s swing, you are bound to play better golf.  Here’s a company selling their swing analysis software, which looks good.  The video will show you a dynamic but consistent golf swing in Tiger Woods and I think its worth a closer look.

You have to admire this bit of kit from David Leadbetter…the swing setter pro. See advice on “lose 5 shots this summer” and replace “Heavy Duty broomstick” timing to this and you will immediately benefit from better timing.

 Also a great little product I use to teach the grip basic’s which can be added and removed from any golf club.  The Longridge Removable Training Grip.  Buy this essential for under £10.

This is a huge question, isn’t it?  It’s kind of like which car should I buy.  The point is to get from point A to point B, or in this case get the ball from tee to cup.

The clubs have to be affordable, but that means something different to me than it would to Donald Trump. Do I really think that the more I spend the better the clubs?  How much money am I willing to spend (or as in the case of some of us, how much will she let me spend)?  They have to be reliable, because I can’t fix them, and I really don’t want to pay somebody else to fix them. Do I need it to be custom-made or do I need to get it fitted to me?  Am I average height?  If so, I probably don’t need custom made clubs, but if the difference in price between custom made or fitted clubs is small, I might consider that.

Maybe the first step is to accurately evaluate my golfing ability and why I play.  If I rarely break 100, or only play occasionally for fun, do I really want to spend more than (fill in the blank)?  Am I so concerned with impressing the people I play with that it is important to me that my clubs, bag, shirt and cap have the name of a big time golf manufacturer, like Callaway,  PING, Taylor Made or Titleist on it?  What do I need to know?  How well do I swing?  How well do I strike the ball?  Do I need super flexible shafts?  Can I do as well with a set of clones, or do I have to have the real thing?

You’ve got to know your swing.  Years ago the big thing was graphite shafts; they’re not so new anymore.  But the big thing was that they flex more than metal shafts, allowing me to whip that club head into the ball.  That’s fine if my hands are where they are supposed to be – but if my hands are leading or trailing where they should be I could find myself out of bounds to either side.  What’s better, a long drive that’s in the rough or worse, or a shorter straighter drive that stays in the fairway?  If I can’t control graphite shafts I should use metal ones.  Less flex also means less twist, so I should have a better chance of getting the club face square to the ball.

Another characteristic of clubs is the offset, meaning the amount the club face sits back from the hosel and shaft.  If you’re not a good ball striker you want offset. You need offset.

Some of the golf publications have buyers guides; you would do well to look at them.  As stated on the GOLF.com web site, which Golf Magazine owns and runs, manufacturers make different product lines based on the ability of their “target markets”.  High handicap players, into which category most of us fall, are usually concerned with the capability of the clubs to forgive us our trangressions.  Low handicappers are often more interested in the ability of their clubs to maximize their strengths.  Buyers guides are often broken down by manufacturer, player type or club type.  And mostly only the top club makers are included.  (Even employees of Golf Magazine only have so much time.)  I wonder why they don’t evaluate the brands that can be found in the sports department at WalMart?  Chuckle.

Seems like it could be an awful lot of work to figure this out.  A recent poll indicated that only 19% of golfers have a driver that is four or more years old, so the research just might be worth it. Another thing to consider of course, is the reason that golfers buy new clubs.  Did the clubs I inherited from Uncle John do the job well enough, even if he bought them in 1975, or do I think that the latest and greatest are going to turn me into Kenny Perry or Jim Furyk?

Maybe I just got tired of them and want some new ones.  That’s OK too, as long as she agrees.

A great post for those needing a better grip!

http://golfcrispyshot.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/the-all-important-golf-grip/