I admit it, I spent the last 3 days watching the Ryder Cup. I finally got out and played 9 holes today once it was over, but prior to that I just sat and watched - and fast-forwarded through all the commercials and interviews. I love watching these guys play with so much emotion, competing for each other and for their country - instead of for themselves and money. I loved Boo working the crowd, JD's monster drives, AK taking it Sergio, AK bringing out the fight in Phil, Mahan's celebration after his putt on 17, Stricker's putt on 18 to scrape out 1/2 point, and so much more! Overall, it was incredible simply to witness so much great golf, competition, and sportsmanship! Congratulations to the U.S. team and to Europe for putting up such a good fight.


2008 Ryder Cup Champions

After winning, Azinger suggested he had a secret strategy, and that he might share it in the coming days - or perhaps years. Well, with a little help from a discussion at GolfClubAtlas, we figured out that Azinger broke his 12-man team into 3 4-man teams, each of which practiced and played only with other members of their sub-team. Each sub-team had its own captain - Michelson, Furyk, and Cink - and teams seemed to be formed based on personality and ability. Michelson appears to have lead the "focused" 'A' team, consisting of Mahan, Leonard, and Kim, which competed in 7 matches. Furyk led the "southern" 'B' team consisting of Perry, Weekly, and Holmes, which competed in 5 matches. And Cink headed up the "introverted" 'C' team, consisting of Stricker, Curtis, and Campbell, who played 4 matches.

I imagine Azinger's philosophy was that a smaller team of golfers with a similar personality would bond more easily than a large 12-man team made up of a big variety of personalities. I'd guess too that his philosophy was inspired by some team building guru that helped coach him on this strategy. Leave a comment if you have any ideas on who that might be.

Whereever he learned it, it seems to have worked. 2 of these 3 sub-teams beat the Euros.

Phil's team scored 6 out of a possible 11 points in their 7 team and 4 individual matches. Furyk's team scored best with 7 out of a possible 9 points in their 5 team and 4 individual matches. Cink's team lost by capturing only 3 1/2 points out of a possible 8 points in their 4 team and 4 individual matches. Cink's team only failed to score a point in one of their 11 matches and scored a full point in 6 of their matches! Team stats are shown below.

Team Michelson (6-5)
1 Kim
.5 Mahan
0 Leonard
0 Mickelson
.5 Mickelson/Mahan
.5 Leonard/Mahan
0 Michelson/Kim
1 Michelson/Kim
1 Leonard/Mahan
.5 Michelson/Kim
1 Leonard/Mahan
-----------------------
6 pts / 11 matches

Team Furyk (7-2)
1 Perry
1 Weekly
1 Holmes
1 Furyk
1 Weekly/Holmes
0 Furyk/Perry
1 Furyk/Perry
.5 Weekly/Holmes
.5 Furyk/Perry
-----------------------
7 pts / 9 matches

Team Cink (3.5-4.5)
0 Cink
0 Stricker
1 Curtis
1 Campbell
.5 Stricker/Curtis
0 Cink/Campbell
0 Stricker/Curtis
1 Cink/Campbell
-----------------------
3.5 pts / 8 matches

==================
16.5 pts / 28 matches

Again, congratulations to the U.S. team!

Labels: Competition, Ryder Cup, Team

The new Shivas Irons Society website is quickly becoming the online hub for Golf Literature, much like Golf Club Atlas is the online hub for Golf Architecture. In addition to publishing The Journal -- a unique, collector-quality publication intended as a vehicle for all of the creative arts inspired by the game of golf -- the society now hosts a variety of ongoing articles and blogs written by several of its members. Their community forums are just getting started and looking for eager participants.


Streamers by Richard Lees, Shivas Irons Society

The most recent publication available on their website is Streamers - a blog authored by board member, Richard Lees. In his initial post, Richard shares his experiences at Pasatiempo as well as his introduction to Fred Shoemaker and the Shivas Irons Society. I learned from Richard's blog that he's not only an artful golfer, but quite an artful writer!

Below, I've included Richard's interpretation of Fred's words on "The Mystery of Golf Revealed." This mystery reveals that our golf swing connects us to an inner dialog, or voice. Richard shares...

"This voice" is the voice of our swing. And all we need do is listen to it.

Not dissect it. Not analyze it. Not deconstruct it. But listen to it. Be aware of it. And practice that awareness rather than struggle with the physics of all that goes into its sound.

The implications of this simple statement -- like most simple statements that seem to capture a firefly's light in a bottle -- are enormous. And endless for golfers -- just as a game which is known as "a round" is, by definition, endless.

To tap into what we already know, as opposed to insisting that "knowledge" must be imposed upon us by the world outside.

And without doing anything more than find a way to swing a club in "a plane" that already exists around us.

To be able to duplicate that sound -- of connecting to that plane -- with our own voice, produced not by understanding with the mind all the physics of air being forced across our vocal chords and shaped into groupings of words that we mutually agree to call a "language" -- but rather, by listening to the sound itself, feeling where it comes from inside us, and shaping that sound as we shape notes in air with the musical instrument that is our natural voice.

Our golf clubs striking different notes, like hammers striking different strings inside a piano.

And then to practice our awareness of striking those notes so that we can "hear" or "see" when we're "on" or "off."

Sure, it can help to look at a video of a golf swing. But the swing ultimately isn't in the video. It's in us. Better to be able to produce it from within than without.

More...

Labels: Golf Blogs, Shivas Irons Society

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

Last month I finally achieved my goal of breaking through a 3.0 index after getting stuck here several times before. I'm now down to 2.5! This progress continues a trend of cutting my index by about one half in each of my three years playing. I got down under 9 my first year, 4 my second year, and am now approaching 2. The key has been getting up and down more frequently and making more 4-8 foot putts. I'm now averaging slightly more than 2 birdies per round. But what continues to plague me are 2-3 footers!


Career Handicap Index, March 2005 to June 2008

In the last 5 weeks I've played 15 rounds, breaking 75 in nearly half of those rounds and failing to break 80 only twice. Amazingly, I missed 4 putts within 2-3 feet in 4 of these rounds - and still shot 74 each time! Perhaps I need to copy Phil and sink 100 3-footers on the practice green before each round. I probably won't do that, but I do need to find a way to overcome this ongoing challenge.

On longer putts, I've gotten much better at reading the break and committing to the line I've chosen, then trusting my ability to stroke the ball down that line. There is very little tension in my grip or in my putting stroke. In fact, I feel like I'm barely holding on to the putter. But on short putts, I can't seem to commit. Sometimes I can't decide whether to be bold and ram the ball into the back of the hole or finesse it in with a gentle stroke. Other times I just can't decide where to aim. When I stand over those short putts, I can't seem to see the line like I can on longer putts. Perhaps I miss most of my short putts simply due to peeking early to see if it went in. Whatever the reason, I could use some help.

As I was writing this post, I made my way over to The Wedge Guy blog, and as I expected, I found some great advice on Avoiding Three Putts. Terry suggests the following 3 steps to avoid missing short second putts. I'll certainly give these a try later this week!

1. Lighten your grip - We tend to squeeze the putter too tightly when faced with a short putt. Particularly lighten the pressure in your thumbs and forefingers, as that is where tension sets in first. Feel the putter in the last three fingers of each hand.

2. Slow down - Make your practice strokes very s-l-o-w-l-y. This sets up a good tempo – it’s a stroke, not a hit ! I see golfers make these quick back and forth practice strokes – what kind of tempo is that setting up ?

3. Stare down the hole - Your eyes are the key to putting, so pick a small target at the back of the hole (for a straight putt) or on either side (if a little break is to be allowed) and focus intently on that spot.


Rainbow by adrians_art at flickr

If anyone has some additional advice on how to sink those short ones - which for me would be a little like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - please leave me a comment and enlighten me! I'm pretty confident that I can get down to 2 and finally break through that elusive score of 70 when I start making the 'gimmes'.

Labels: About, Progress, Putting

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'll probably break 70 and may even get down to a 2-index. But I'm letting go of all that now and want 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. For any of you that have stumbled across this journal, I hope you've found some helpful resources that inspire and transform your game as well.

Artfully, Richard

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

While I continue to pursue golf as art, the true artful golfer paints a masterpiece.



The Artful Tiger paints a masterpiece with golf balls.

Labels: Art, Tiger Woods

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

Anyone who teaches golf using a drill that involves hockey skates is certain to get my attention! The Director of the Richmond Hill Golf Learning Centre in Toronto, Shawn Clement, does just that, focusing primarily on momentum in the golf swing. Clement has been teaching and coaching golf since 1987, and is now on the top 25 list of CPGA Teachers in Canada as rated by Score Golf Magazine in September 2007.



Shawn authors an excellent website with links to insightful articles, dozens of his instruction videos on YouTube, and a "Watchdog Blog". Here you'll find great tips and instruction on all aspects of the game. His videos are very easy to follow, light-hearted, and packed with great instruction!

Interestingly, Shawn trains and plays from both the right and left side of the ball and carries a scratch handicap playing from either side. He has qualified and played events in several professional tours, such as the Canadian Tour and US Mini Tours, with a set of clubs consisting of seven right-hand and seven left-handed clubs in the same bag. This is the combination he used to qualify first in the 1999 CPGA Playing Ability Test in Montreal. This experience has been invaluable in teaching his students how to truly maximize their technique and potential on the golf course, whether they play right-handed or left-handed.

In addition to his personal coaching, Shawn also shares his expertise with a wider audience of golfers. Shawn has been a regular contributing instruction editor with Golf Tips Magazine since 2000. He has also contributed to numerous other publications, including Fairways and Score Golf Magazines, and is one of the first Canadian golf teaching professionals to appear on the Golf Channel’s "Academy Live" program.

Shawn has studied nutrition through the "Energy First" program for sustained focus during play, and fitness to make sure his students are in the right fitness program. He has worked with Sports Psychologist Bob Rotella and Peak Performance specialist Bob Palmer to help his students keep the right perspective and the right frame of mind. And of course Shawn has worked alongside some of the very best golf teachers, doctors, and neurologists, to make sure he has a full grasp of the proper fundamentals and teaching techniques available.

Plan to visit www.shawnclementgolf.com for some artful golf instruction.

As a sidenote, with a little help from the Artful Canuck and Artful Aussie (last post), my game is back down to my career low index of 3.3. I've shot rounds of 74 or below 6 times in the past 20 rounds! Yesterday, I shot 74 with 3 3-putts (missing 3 footers on the last 2 holes). The friend I played with noticed I was taking my putter back quickly and peeking after stroking the ball. After the round, I practiced slowing things down and keeping my head "Tiger-like" still. What a difference! That sub-70 round is coming!!

Labels: Golf Instruction, Links, Shawn Clement

Last month, after posting my Artful Golf Links, I started reading one of the golf blogs that I had recommended on a daily basis. I had only recently discovered this blog and quickly learned that this Australian blogger, Cameron Strachan, teaches a very similar approach to the game that I've taken, stepping outside the box and thinking a little differently.


Aussie Golfers by DJ Bass at flickr

Interestingly, Cameron's approach was inspired heavily from instruction he received in Scotland from Kendal McWade, who was taught by none other than Fred Shoemaker! Also interesting is that Cameron worked with another artful Aussie, Aaron Baddeley, before he was a PGA Tour star, on his putting game. Baddeley is well known for his putting skills, which were on display yesterday as he battled Tiger all the way to the 20th hole in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Cameron spoke to Baddeley about keeping the putting technique simple and learning to trust his subconscious to perform the motion. The foundation of Strachan's approach is this learning to trust your subconscious, and to play automatically. This theme of playing automatically is discussed frequently and in depth in his daily blog entries, an approach that first requires that you quit trying to fix your swing!

In a recent blog post, Cameron shares, "I think improving at golf can be difficult because the path to do so is not always obvious. In fact, I believe if you want to reach a higher level of play you need to take counter intuitive steps. These steps are not obvious and actually go against traditional concepts. This approach can feel uncomfortable and requires a shift in mindset. Uncomfortable - yes. Beneficial - YES!"

He then lists some of his "counter intuitive" steps, most of which I'd already incorporated into my own approach to learning and playing the game. Among my favorites of his suggestions are to try less, think less, and practice less, and instead play more and most importantly, leave your swing alone - quit trying to fix it.

After initiating some dialog with Cameron via email and sharing a little of my own story with him, he sent me a copy of his ebook which includes unique instruction on basic golf mechanics and on how to find your natural game. He also sent me his ebook on putting.

The vast majority of swing instruction assumes that if you can groove your swing it will naturally give you a better golf game. Cameron believes, "that improving at golf can never be as simple as changing your swing or thinking positively." He says that the first step in learning how to go automatic and play naturally "is to stop fixing your swing. At least for the moment (you may find out down the track you may need some adjustments). Continual fixing does not allow for one to get into the automatic phase, at least not consistently."

He teaches his students to accept their swings and imperfections and to learn to appreciate and score with their own unique abilities and limitations.

"When you swing naturally and automatically", Cameron says, "the golfer's mind is not filled with irrelevant details about the technique, but rather, where do I want the ball to go? He then allows his automatic process to do it. He simply repeats this process until the final putt is home... This does not mean that every shot is perfect. The bad shots remind us that we are human, the game is an art and even good shots can get a bad bounce... The beauty of golf is that it can be played and played well by many different types of people. There are short hitters, long hitters, fast and slow swingers just to mention a few. All of these people can play the game to their own high standard if they allow it."

"Golf is a magnificent game as it allows the cat to be skinned many ways, no one is disadvantaged if they learn to play their game and not someone else's."

"If you want to play your best golf all of the time, then you must learn to trust your swing. And the only way to do that is to commit to the automatic process... The best time to think about your shot is behind the ball. This is the time to work out what club to hit, the wind or whatever else you need to know. Imagine this process is like using a road map to figure out where you're going. Once you know where to go, you jump in your car and drive there, you don't worry about how to drive. Once you have made your mind up it is time to go completely automatic and hit the ball. This is when your subconscious will deliver your own natural swing... I call this playing with your heart! You give up full control... what you get back in return is YOUR own swing."

"The beauty of learning to automate your skills is that your subconscious will do the hard work for you. There's no need to worry about every small detail. Your subconscious mind is suited perfectly to putting or swinging well... you just have to let it!"

Plan to start visiting Cameron's Artful Golf Blog regularly and consider purchasing his ebook, Golf Instruction 2.0. Cameron is now offering his Perfect Putting ebook for free. You can find Cameron on YouTube too!

Labels: Books, Cameron Strachan, Golf Instruction, Links

In a recent article at Golf Today Magazine, Bob Fagan contemplates the influence of Golf's Higher Plane. Fagan maintains that although the mental and physical sides of your game are necessary to excel at golf, they are not the only keys to success - you also need a solid spiritual side.


Photo by lesleemitchell at flickr

Fagan believes we continually attract either positive or negative energy to us. Those who truly excel in any endeavor somehow attract the positive energy more often. He goes on to define this Law of Nature as The Law of Attraction. Simply stated, you attract everything into your life - eagles, double bogeys, friends, accidents, teachers, life lessons, money, health, you name it... We are all nothing more than energy, and our thoughts create feelings, which emanate energy into the universe. That energy attracts like energy back to us.

Michael Murphy in his 1972 classic, "Golf in the Kingdom" writes glowingly about the joys of playing golf through the spirit and the effects of doing so. Fagan states that the secret to Shivas Irons' and Tiger Woods' success is The Law of Attraction.

Printer Bowler studies these laws in depth in his book, The Cosmic Laws of Golf. As Bowler began to observe life through the lens of these laws, he could see how their use or abuse determines the relationships we have with ideas, each other, and all the games we play. Outside the law, golf becomes a renegade that steals our dreams and buries them in the wilderness of anxiety. Within the law, it's a fascinating course that can lead to self-realization - as it turns us inside out, it reveals what we really believe about ourselves and shows us where we need to make peace in our world.

Bowler proposes for your consideration and discovery some proven and useful answers on how to apply the fruits of Self-discovery to the playing fields of golf. He shares, "the journey to self-mastery is mysterious, rampant with the hazards and bunkers of our own demons - a thrilling challenge to the sincere seeker, a confounding maze of obstacles and torment for the idly curious... Trust that you are creating your experiences - as a way your soul has chosen to teach you about your choices and beliefs. If you aren't getting the results you expect, take a gut-check to see if you truly want it because: You always get what you accept and believe you are."

Bowler states, "If you really want to get better, accept your present golf game for what it is here and now, then consider what you want to do about it and make a serious commitment, stop reacting and start creating the game you're dreaming about." He advises that, "all we need to do is trust the quiet, powerful voice of our own heart over all others. And be willing to act it out without doubt or hesitation. This willingness triggers an immense array of abilities that have been waiting ages for the call - that is, trust and believe in oneself - to come forth."

Fagan closes by saying, "we have only been scratching the surface of human performance and golfing excellence. Those who specialize in swing mechanics and mental coaching will continue to be integral to our success and enjoyment of golf. Add to that, however, a third area, the platform that enhances the first two, the spiritual side through The Law of Attraction, and you will find your life and your golf elevated to a position you may have never realized possible."

Labels: Articles, Attraction, Bob Fagan, Books, Cosmic Laws of Golf, Golf in the Kingdom, Printer Bowler

My golf game is very influenced by hockey. I'm often told that it looks like I'm taking a slap shot when I drive the ball. There's no doubt that my natural ability to hit down on the ball with my irons comes from my artful slap shot. I'm even known for bringing out my Happy Gilmore swing every few rounds when faced with a wide range-like fairway. I like to end my practice sessions on the range hitting drives like Happy. I make good contact just about every time, but unlike Adam Sandler in the movie, the ball really doesn't go any further! Anyway, when I recently learned about a new Hockey Stick Putter designed by David Graham, I spent my birthday money and bought one.



In 2003, Graham wanted to get his dad and brother a hockey stick putter for Christmas. He searched the Internet for days and couldn't find anything close to what he wanted. Christmas that year came and went but he couldn't get the concept out of his head. It was at that time that he started to carve a putter out of a hunk of wood in my brother's basement that resembled a hockey stick. After finishing the wooden Hockey Stick Putter, he found that although it looked like a Hockey Stick Putter, it wasn't functional.

He then began designing the Hockey Stick Putter that's now available - a real precision weighted putter. He took no short cuts, wanting the putter to be something you could actually use on the golf course. The putter has a compression molded graphite shaft with a cast aluminum head. The weight and balance is that of a real golf putter.

Although the putter is not USGA approved due to it's wide shaft, it's really easy to putt with. I took it out and played 9 holes yesterday right after it arrived from UPS. I found it very easy to line up short putts and even found myself lagging long putts to tap-in range.

Part of my reason for buying this putter was to remind myself to just have fun playing golf. It's hard to take yourself too seriously when you're putting with an Anaheim Ducks hockey stick! However, I'm thinking my opponents won't take me seriously either, until I take their money on the 18th.

Labels: Hockey, Hockey Stick Putter, Putting

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