my obsession with golf

Season on hold...

2009-03-03T12:44:00.002-05:00

Well, as I sit here at my desk, knowing that the outside temps are at about 15 degrees today, I wonder how long it will be before we can get out and play some golf in Western NY?

This has been a long, cold winter and March has come in with some very frigid weather. I guess that the longer spring takes to arrive the better off my elbow(s) and shoulders will be. Platform tennis has taken its toll on me this year. My left elbow and its lovely tendonitus are a problem that I hope will ease up after the paddle season ends on 3/26. We shall see.

Please warm up soon!!

2009 wish list

2009-01-13T12:28:00.002-05:00

1) continued health for me and my family
2) no tragedy in our families
3) getting closer to being debt free
4) a successful start to my son's post graduate career (he needs to look outside of NY for work)
5) the money to fix what is wrong with our house (furnace, AC, doors, light switches, etc)
6) no major car issues (tired of $1000 repair bills)
7) solid golf scores (consistent with past years)
8) the money to play as much golf this summer as I have in the past (50+ rounds)
9) an under-par round of golf (reach for the stars)
10) job retention --- 26 years and counting
11) a return to 401K solvency (we all took a hit in 2008)
12) a president with a brain (he cannot be worse than W)

long time argument about rules and rulings

2009-01-09T12:29:00.004-05:00

For those of you who have never seen this:

This is the infamous moveable object that about 10 people moved for Tiger Woods at the TPC in Scottsdale some years ago. As you can see it is quite a large object, resting ON the ground and seems to have put into in place so as to impede a player's play after missing the fairway. No, it is not half buried in the ground as a natural pebble, I mean rock, might be after millions of years of laying around.

I am the one in the yellow hat. If one's ball were to come to rest at my brother's feet and there were not 1000's of spectators around (there were none around when we played, go figure) to move the impeding pebble, I mean rock, the only shot would be to knock it sideways in either direction in order to avoid the pebble, I mean rock. You could not advance the ball towards the hole if your ball was near where my brother's feet are.

Do I get the same consideration that Tiger did if there is no one around to help me move the pebble, I mean rock? While I agree that the pebble, I mean rock, was not imbedded in the ground and clearly it had been placed there, but so had the nearby cactus, palm tree and water hazard. The water hazard was created to be part of the course as was the placement of the pebble, I mean rock and most of the cactus on a golf course were put there by the designer.

This is me, just griping about a pretty flimsy interpretation of the rules (in my opinion).

belated summer 2007 post

2007-09-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

I have not posted in like forever so after taking this afternoon off to play golf I thought that I would. Fall golf is probably my favorite. It is the end of the season, but the courses are softer than they have been and that is nice. We have had very little rain this summer and most courses are pretty dry.

How's this for my round today? 3 birdies, 4 doubles for a bizarre 83. Not my best effort. I had four sideways pitch outs due to missed fairways. Ugh. This round pushed my handicap to 6.6, which is fine, but I had it down to 4 earlier. I have not been playing much as of late and it shows around the greens. I did hit some pretty nice iron shots, including an 8 iron to about 10 feet on a par 3. Missed the putt, but I hit a good shot in.

I am working at Dick's Sporting Goods in the golf shop 15-20 hours per week. It's pretty cool. I love working with people on the hitting machine. Not so much for lessons per se, but for the ability to offer a tip here and there that the customer might take with them. Some are receptive, some are clueless. I hate the retail aspect of the job, but the golf stuff is cool. Dick's has some pretty weird ideas about moving stuff around the store on a regular basis.

Well, is it finally winter?

2007-01-09T18:42:00.000-05:00

Today, January 9th, I put my clubs in the basement (again). The forcast for the rest of the week is finally winter-like. I cannot image that it's too good for golfclubs to sit in the cold trunk of my car. I did not get to play last week but many of my friends did. I was supposed to play Sunday afternoon but burned out on the couch in stead. A bit too tired to schlepp around the course after two tennis matches and two paddle matches in four days. Man am I old. The weather has been incredibly mild for this time of year. In fact, we have only had 4 inches of snow so far this year and normally we have over 20 inches by this date.

On a good note Joanie and I decided to cut back on our drinking for the new year and so far it has been a good idea for me. I have not had a drink since New Years Day and I have been trying to eat better (less) and drink more water. I also have been utilizing the gym at work in an effort to get a bit more limber and loosen up my back. It seems to be working so far.

Well, I may not get a chance to play again this season (is it this season or last year in January?) but I have to say that I played well this year. My handicap has never been less than 7 at the end of the year and it finished off at just over 5! Yea me!

We are not joining a club this summer for many reasons, one big one is the up front money it takes to do it. The next reason is that there are too many good golf courses nearby to tie yourself down to one place each summer. We are looking forward to playing the field this coming season.

Christmas golf

2006-12-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

While my wife finished her shopping on Christmas Eve day, I took advantage of the almost nice weather and played golf. Last week the weather was in the 50's and nice. The eve before Christmas was a different story.

It was only about 45' and very windy. I had the course to myself again (go figure) but I not get a cart to ride as the course was going to close for the holiday before I got done so I had to walk. Oh, well, some of the golfing experience is to get some exercise, right? Man, my knees were killing me when I got done. Having to walk prevented me from playing two balls as I did last week so I just slugged one ball around this time. And I mean slugged.

Last week I played very well, but this time around I was not quite so "sharp". My back was tight as a spring and I was having a tough time turning. I really did not keep score, but I think I shot about 42. I miss hit a lot of my irons, but did manage to stiff one 7 iron on a par 4. It was uphill, into the wind from about 130 + and I hit it to about 6 feet. It actually landed about 4 feet from the pin, but it spun back to about 6.

The parking lot was empty when I got done except for the guy in the proshop. I would have like to have played better but hey, once again, it is the end of December in western NY, what should I expect?

PS: my wife bought me a new driver for X-mas/my birthday. Its a Taylor Made R5 XD with 10.5 degree loft. The sales guy talked her into the 10.5 stating that I would not be able to get the 9.5 into the air. I have been playing with a 9.5 degree 360-ti for five years and have little trouble getting it into the air. I am trading the 10.5 for the 9.5 and upgrading to the next level of R5 at the same time. I had been watching the price fall on the club as the season wound down. I will be getting a great deal on the new one...$199 marked down from over $300. Is it Spring yet?

December golf

2006-12-17T16:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I have retrieved my clubs from the basement after storing them the other day. I took Friday, 12/15 as a vacation day many weeks ago. As luck would have it it was 55' and nice enought to play golf!!

I had the back nine on the south course to myself and decided to play two balls. A Calloway and a Titliest and have a match between the two.

The course really was mine to explore although I did see one guy on the 8th hole as I moved up my first hole. The Calloway started out par, par and the Titliest went bogie, bogie. I birdied the 3rd hole with the Titliest to cut the lead to one stroke. I really was not trying to favor one ball or the other.

The two traded pars until the 7th hole when I birdied with the Calloway. A fine birdie on a tough hole. I hit an up hill, into the wind, 160 yard 3 iron to about 20 feet and canned the putt to get to one-under with the Calloway.

Through 7 holes the Calloway was one under and the Titliest was one over. Not bad considering how late it is in the season.

In the end, C bogied #8 and parred #9 for a even par 36 and T bogied #9 to get to two over, 38. Nice round. Can I call that a 74?

That sad day has arrived

2006-12-03T10:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I put my clubs in the basement, December 2nd. Although, right up to this past Thursday I could have played any of the past several days. It was nearly 70 on Wed. and Thurs. The courses were pretty busy as one might expect. This late into the year it is a treat to get out that "one last time". I may play yet again this season, but I am not holding my breath.

As it is, my last round was a very solid, two over, 74. I can live with that as a season ending score.

Winter (?) golf?

2006-11-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is the day after Thanksgiving in Western NY and it the sun is shining and the temps have hit the mid 60"s!!!! I played Victor Hills North today with "the boys" and had something to prove. The last time we played I played like a pig and shot 86. Needless to say I was not too pleased with that mess.

Today was a totally different story. After parring the first two holes, I hit three horrible tee shots...a duck slice and a duck hook and another lovely duck slice... in a row. However, I managed to make bogey on the first two and made a 15 footer for par on the third. After a two putt birdie on the 6th hole and bogey on #8 I carded a pretty solid 38 on the front.

I finally got my back to loosen up on the 6th hole and from then on I hit the driver pretty damn well. I don't think that I missed another fairway until our 16th hole.

We were playing for quarters and the 17th was worth a bundle after a bunch of carry overs. I missed the green on the par three but knocked in a 6 footer for par to net a ton of quarters from the boys. I usually do not do very well in the money department, but today I netted $13 from my playing partners. So, the $8 it cost me to play ended up being free plus $5. Nice.

I left two birdie butts right on the edge on the back, made a miraculous par on our 16th hole, and one putted the last three holes for an even par 36 on the back.

A 74 this late in the year is pretty darn good. The greens are beginning to freeze and are pretty hard. I actually slipped hitting my drive on one hole due to the nearly frozen turf on the tee box. Other than that hole however, the course was pretty good and very playable.

If I don't get out again this season I finished with a very strong 74 after that nasty 86 a few weeks ago. My handicap sits at 5.1, the lowest it has ever been. I am pleased.

A fall golf date with my golfer chick

2006-11-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

My wife is my favorite golfing partner. Period. I enjoy her company and her game on the course. I enjoy our handicapped match play contests that amount to nothing more than a source of entertainment during the round. Most often it comes down to the last hole before things are decided however if I play my best she cannot beat me and vice versa. My 5 handicap vs. her 23 gives her the perfect one stroke per hole to keep it close most of the times.

Last Friday we played some late season golf on a Veteran's Day work holiday. This late in the season afternoon rounds are dependent upon how late you tee off and how many people are in front of you holding you up. We play very quickly and this day we ran into the dreaded wall of slow players on the 4th hole of the South Course so we doubled back and played holes 2, 3 and 4 a second time which gave us a cushion again.

We caught the masses again on the 12th hole and decided that the daylight was not going to last if we stayed behind the back up so we skipped to the 4th on the North Course and played #4 and 5 before catching up to another group. We decided to bag it and head on in.

We had fun trying to find a solution to the waning sunlight. In the end we played a full 17 holes after zipping to and fro trying to escape the groups ahead of us. Its too bad because for the official 12 holes that we played I was only 3 over and Joanie, while having not played in about 3 weeks, was also playing well.

If we don't get out together again this year it will be too bad, but we did have fun last week.

Halloween golf, 10/30/06

2006-10-31T11:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday promised 55 degree temps and lots of sunshine. When I got to work I made the decision to take the afternoon off to hit the links for some bonus Fall golf. The weather here has been terrible and this past weekend we had 50 mph winds and lots of rain. I figured that with the wind the leaves would have been taken care of and some of the surface water would be gone as well. The course was quite playable dispite the recent weather.

I met up with a guy named Chris who had the same idea as I did and off we went on the South Course at Victor Hills. I thought that I had hooked up with a solid stick when after the first three holes we were both even. I was putting up a storm, in fact I one putted the first four holes, all for pars, but one putts none the less. I bogied the par 5 sixth hole and then finished birdie, par, birdie to make the turn at 1-under.

I had heard a tip on the TV about keeping good rhythm during all shots to ensure a smooth swing and I was trying to incorporate that in this late season round and it seemed to be working.

I killed my drive on #10 and was just short with my 3 wood and narrowly missed another birdie. Again I nearly birdied the par 3 11th and then made a stupid bogie on both 12 and 13. Solid pars on 14, 15 and 16 left at one over par for the day.

My driver had been very kind to me all day. I had only missed 2 fairways so far. So naturally, I tried to kill my drive on the 17th only to pull it behind a big tree. This left me with a punch out to about 215 from the green on the par 5. I hit five wood and should have hit 3 as I left it short of the green. After a two putt bogie I trudged on to the 203 yard par three 18th.

Lately, I have hit 4 iron, 3 iron, 5 and 3 woods into this down hill finishing hole. I failed to recognize how much wind there was and how mild it was and airmailed the green into the pond behind the green. The shot was a slight draw and was heading right at the pin. When I did not see it land on the green I knew that I had flown the green. Sure enough I could not find the ball and dropped a fresh one and then canned a 6 footer for bogie.

35 / 40 = 75 in my book. That was about the best round I had played all year and certainly the best one as of late. I missed 3 fairways and only had 29 putts.

My playing partner played well on the front, but could not make a putt to save his life. I think he had about 10 three putts. He blew up on the back and probably shot close to 90. He had a great swing but began hitting it way right just about the time that he told me he had been hitting it way right a lot as of late. I think that once he mentioned it and did it the first time he simple forgot how well he hit it for the first several holes.

What a comeback!!

2006-10-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

My buddy Ron and I played last weekend at Victor Hills South course. I have had Ron's number for some time now and while we don't play for any money our matches are always for some sort of bragging rights or something like that.

We both doubled the first hole (nice) and he took a two shot lead after parring the 2nd and 3rd holes. Again we both doubled the 4th hole (things were not going my way) and after a very ugly snowman/8 on the short par five 6th hole, I was in a deep hole at 5 down. We tied the 8 and 9 and headed to the 10th tee.

Ron was pretty high on his current 5 shot lead as we made the turn and rightfully so. I had really done nothing to challenge him so far. I could see it in his body english and hear it in his voice that he was really enjoying the butt kicking he had just laid on me on the front.

It wasn't until #12 that I finally cut into the lead. A nice par from the back of the green cut the lead to 4. Hey I had to start somewhere and after 15 holes I had cut it to down to 3 shots.

I hammered my tee shot down the middle on the par 5 17th and Ron missed the fairway to the left. His second shot hit a tree and his third was hampered by a tree branch. I split the fairway with my second shot and he missed the green short with his 4th. After two putting for par to his double I had gotten the deficit to one stroke with one to go.

I was really just trying to catch and tie him on the last hole and that would have been a moral victory at least.

NOTE: Earlier, as we met up in the parking lot prior to the match, I had decided to walk and took my 3 and 4 irons out of the bag to make it lighter for the long day. However, he said that was going to ride, so I caved and paid for my half of the cart. I also put the 3 and 4 irons back in the bag. And it was a good thing too.

The 18th was playing 203 and without the 3 iron I would have had to bunt a 3 or 5 wood to get to the green. Because of the decision to ride I was able to tee up my 3 iron and proceded to lace it right at the pin. It landed about 3 feet dead short of the pin and ended up about 15 feet or so directly behind the pin. I knew at that point that I had a chance to catch Ron for the tie. Then, to my surprise, Ron totally chunked his tee shot and then left his second shot short of the green. My rally was looking really good at this point. We each two putted and at that point I had completed one hell of a comeback. I finished par/par and he finished double/double.

I had turned five down at the turn into a one shot victory. How? Slow and steady wins the race I guess. I shot 46-39. Somehow I was able to maintain my composure (something I am not very good at) and reel it in on the back to overcome some very ugly golf on the front nine. Ron did give away the last two holes with his collapse, but I was able to par them both myself.

gotta love fall golf

2006-10-11T16:57:00.000-04:00

As I have said in the past, October is one of my favorite times of the year to play golf. The crowds are down, the courses are soft again and the foliage makes the scenery spectacular. With that in mind, the weather has been fabulous since last Thursday. I took both Thursday and Friday afternoons off and hit the links.

On Thursday I played with some guy, I never even got his name, and shot a very fine 77 on the South at Victor Hills. I stuck the ball very well and only missed 2 fairways. If made a few more putts (I missed about 3 inside five feet) I could easily been even par. Oh, well, that is the way that it goes.

Friday's round was only nine holes and was much less attractive. I hit the ball great off the tee once again, but hit my irons rather poorly and made a mess of that nine. Oh, well, it was bonus golf.

Sunday was another disaterous round on the East course. Two triples and a double put me at 83 for the day on the shortest, but tightest of the three courses at Victor Hills.

I had Also taken Monday off (Columbus Day) and played the North course. Again, I hit the tee ball great and made a couple of dumb bogies on the front to shoot 40. I tore up the back and shot one over with two birdies and an unfortunate bogie on the last hole. My approach ended up above the hole, in the fringe about 20 feet away. The pin was set on the edge of a cliff and if my putt roled a foot past the hole it would have tumbled down the hill and maybe off the green again. I lagged my birdie putt from the fringe to about 8 feet (nice) and narrowly missed my par, then kicked it in for a bogie. A very solid 77 in the end.

The weather for those days was brilliantly sunny and between 55 and 75 degrees. Stunning. Unfortunately, the weather this week and towards the weekend is not going to be that good. Maybe even some wet snow (gasp). At this point in the season my handicap according to Yahoo Sports is at 4.5; just up a bit from a career best, 4.0, just a few weeks ago. All in all, it is still lower than it has ever been. Yee Ha!!

what a come back!

2006-09-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

We played the East course at VH yesterday under perfect conditions and I lit it up. From the white tees the course is pretty easy, but you still have to put the ball in play or many "others" will be posted. The pace of play was so slow that we played the back-to-back par threes on the front twice and we still waited to tee off on #6. The putter was working this day and other than a double bogie on #7 caused by an unplayable lie I posted a solid 37 (par is 34 on the front).

After a slight delay in teeing off on the back (we met some friends for the second half of the round) I parred the tough par 4 tenth hole and the very difficult eleventh.

On #12 I left my tee shot in a spot that required a big slicy banana ball around a tree to have any chance at getting home in two. I hit a seven iron but pushed it instead of slicing it. I panicked as I saw my ball headed right at the tree. But, the miracle of miracles happened and somehow the ball managed to fly right through the 6 inch gap in the tree's main branches and end up on the green about 25 feet from the hole. By all rights I should have been in deep doo doo, but I caught a major break and proceded to hole the putt for a birdie!!! All I could do was shrug it off and sheepishly tell my wife that I had birdied the hole.

I also birdied #13 and nearly #14 as well. At two under after 5 holes on the back I was looking pretty good. A poor chip on the par three 15th and a left handed shot on #16 carded two bogies to get back to reality. I parred 17 and rolled in a 4 footer for birdie on 18 and posted an excellent 72 for the day.

For the most part the East course is driver-wedge course but you still have to hit the shots and I did just that yesterday. Playing from the blues on this course is another issue altogether as some of the tee shots are much more difficult. But from any tee box you choose, 2 over is 2 over.

Scratching my head, and blowing my nose

2006-09-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, so today Joan and I took advantage of the end what seems like 3 straight weeks of rain. The weather has just sucked here lately. We woke to find thick fog and very wet grass, but by 9:30 the fog had cleared and it was apparent that it was not going to rain, so off we went.

Joan had not played in two weeks and I have been battling a cold for the past few days.

My round started with a solid triple on the first hole. I can attribute the poor start to distractions on the tee from the tournament crowd milling about behind the tee, stiffness in my back from the cold and various other excuses. I hit two trees on the way to my fine snowman and off we went to the second hole. After a bogie there, I hit two more trees on the next hole and carded my second triple in three holes. Yikes.

I parred #4 and 5 and thought that maybe I had righted the ship, but no way. After snapping my next tee shot down to the bottom of a steep hill I managed to card a solid double and just shook my head. After lipping out for birdie on #7 I limped home with back to back bogies. The number 47 looked pretty ugly on the card as we headed to the 10th tee.

I kind of wrote off the front nine to my cold, the very wet conditions and the horrendously slow pace of play.

After parring 10, 11 and 12, I bladed a wedge over the green on 13 and made a really dumb bogie, oh well my round sucked anyways so no big deal. I nailed my drive on 14 and canned a 10 footer for birdie to wipe out the stupidity on the last hole. Pars on 15 and 16 kept me at even par on the back.

I tried to drive the green on 17 and left if just short and ended up in the wet rough. I chipped to about 10 feet and when Joan had the same putt that I did I got a good read on it and drained my birdie put to get to one under on the back!

A big drive and a five wood to about 20 feet on the par five 18th left me with an eagle putt for a 33 on the back. I hit a good putt, but missed on the high side and kicked it in for a birdie.

A two-under 34 on the back after a really ugly 47 on the front meant an 81 with two triples and a double. In the end not a bad score if you don't look too deep. Go figure: clueless on the front and on fire on the back. My nails are worn down from scratching my head trying to understand this goofy game.

A change is in the air...

2006-08-30T08:31:00.000-04:00

There is some evidence of Fall in the air these days. Some of the trees have a bit of color, and football is on TV and my Cincinnatti Reds are in a tailspin. Once the NFL season starts the golf courses clear out a bit as the Sunday afternoon arm-chair quarterbacks and deer hunters move on to other things. I love Fall golf...cooler temps, smaller crowds, softer course conditions and brilliant foliage to look at.

Summer of golf

2006-08-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

yeah baby!!!

I have spent the summer playing golf, hosting weddings, playing golf, and travelling to play golf. I have played the following courses outside of NY this summer, in this order:

Cinnamon Hill - Jamaica - 79 (right on the ocean, two putt birdie on 18)
White Witch - Jamaica - 83 and 82 (fabulous course at the Ritz Carlton, had too many "others")
Legend Trail - Scottsdale, AZ - 73 (not in great shape, a nice course)
TPC Desert course - Scottsdale - 76 (the best conditions we played on all summer)
TPC Stadium course - Scottsdale - 82 (too easy for the FBR Open and tour players)
We Ko Pa - Fort McDowell, AZ - 76 (fabulous layout, great views, FBR Open should be here)

These scores and some pretty good ones at home have helped get my handicap down to its lowest ever --- 4.2

Maybe, just maybe...

2006-07-06T07:13:00.000-04:00

The run of positive, good scores continued on the 4th of July. Dave and I played Ravenwood. I took him out for a round as a retirement gift and as a small payback for the many years of his/Jeremiah's paying for tournament golf for me.

After doubling the first hole and bogeying that damn water-lined 3rd hole (dropped yet another tee-shot in the drink there) I reeled it in and shot a respectable 41 on the front which included a kick-in birdie on the par five 6th hole and a really stupid bogey on #9.

We grabbed a dog and a beer at the turn and off we went on the back. I once again bogeyed the par five 12th hole after blowing a 7-iron over the green, the rough and the cart path behind the green. That approach shot kills me. It is such a deceiving distance. You just cannot see the putting surface from the fairway.

The wind grabbed my approach shot on the 13th and I managed to chip close and par that one. I stiffed a 9 iron on the par three 14th over the water and rolled in the 2 footer for another birdie. The 15th is a tough driving hole for me since my natural ball flight is left to right and there is a line of Titliest-swallowing trees to the left, just off the tee box. I kept it in play but down the left side of the hole. My wedge home just missed the putting surface and I chipped close for a nice par.

The uphill 16th was right into the wind but after popping my second shot to about 30 ft, I curled one in for a birdie! The cute beer chick gave me a round of applause as she waited just behind the green and saw me sink the putt.

My tee-shot on the par three 17 th dribbled into the water and after taking a drop, I canned my bogie putt from the fringe.

I pretty much butchered the 18th after hitting my drive into the fairway bunker on the right. One day I will realize that I have to hit 3 wood off that tee to take the bunkers out of play. I narrowly missed dumping my bunker shot into a creek and then missed the green from about 135 yards. I chipped to about 6 feet and proceded to wimp out on my par putt and made bogey. I had not missed anything inside 6 feet all day so that miss was troublesome.

In the end, I shot one over 37 on the back for a pretty fine 78. I made a lot of good chip shots, putted well and carded 3 birdies. The greens were slower than usual and I did not find the fairways to be in very good shape, but Ravenwood is a pretty good test for any golfer. The greens are well guarded and fairly small.

Psycho golf

2006-07-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

The saga continues...

The other day my wife and I hit the links on the North course at Victor Hills. It was pretty windy and made the poor decision to play the back tees. I should have stayed home.

After hitting no fewer than 4 trees (two on one shot) on the first hole, I cruised to a four double-bogey 49 on the front nine. I was clueless. I was pissy and I was not a happy man. Joanie was playing well so there was no way that I could bail out on the back nine. After hitting the bar at the turn I moved up to the white tees and off we went.

Somehow I managed to calm down enough to par a couple of holes and my mind got back into the game. Those couple of pars became several in a row and after a near hole-in-one on #16 (kick-in birdie) I had managed to get around the back in fine, one-over par, fashion. Nice 86 goof-ball.

The very next day, we played just nine holes and I stayed on course (get it?) and shot a one over 35 on the east course. That made it 2 over for my last 18 holes after being 13 over on my previous nine.

Then, just yesterday, we played the South course and the hot streak continued. I bogied 2 of the last three holes to shoot a very solid, 3 over, 75. That was one of the best rounds that I have played this summer. That round finished off a 36 hole total of 5 over par.

I have found that the key is my balance at address. I seemed to have gotten into the bad habit of leaning out over the ball on my toes rather than staying balanced on my feet. This seems to cause either a dead pull/hook or a big ugly slice. Maybe, just maybe, I can carry that thought process into today's round at Ravenwood. That is if it does not rain as predicted.

Nine holes, twice around

2006-06-22T15:38:00.000-04:00

This past Tuesday I played Riverton CC in Scottsville for the first time in a while. This is a semi-private course that has only 9 holes. You play one set of tees on the front and the other on the back. It has some pretty good holes, especially the first, a par five that doglegs left for about 3,000 yards or so. It just keeps bending and bending to the left. For a player like myself, who cuts the ball, this hole can play pretty tough. Oh, yes, then there is the big pond on the right that you cannot see from the tee.

The first time around I sunk a 6 footer for par on #1, a 30 footer on # 2 for par and a 15 footer for birdie on #3. Not a bad start. I doubled #4 and came back to reality after a poor drive and a worse approach from about 60 yards.

The 8th is a tough par 5 with a pond protecting the right side all the way in from about 250 off the tee. I stuffed a wedge to about 18 inches on my approach and birdied that one to get back to one over. A par on #9 ended the front at 37. Very nice.

After a beer at the turn, we hit the return trip around this 9 holer. I made a lucky par on #10 after my second shot hit a tree and bounced into the middle of the fairway instead of dead left into the Genesee River. Bogied #11 and parred 12. I managed to avoid another double on the second time around on #13 but had to settle for a bogey after 3 consectutive swings involving trees. After parring #14 and 15 I birdied #16 and finished up with two more pars for a 39.

That would be 76 on a pretty tough layout. It was about as good a round as I have played this year so far. Even though you play essentially the same 9 twice here it is a pretty good test of golf. They have talked about adding the second nine here for years now, but I guess that has pretty much been discarded.

I never think to play Riverton but when I do make it out there I find it to be in good shape (even though the traps are pretty bad) and fairly priced.

Ahhhhhh....

2006-06-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

Last night I subbed with my brother at Greystone in the league that we were partners in for five years. I was a bit apprehensive about it as I have not been playing that well and my history with that league is such that I have always carried one of the best, if not the best scoring averages in the history of that league.

Dave and his new partner were at 3-0-2 for the season going into last night. They are now 4-0-2 after last night.

I finally played well and shot less than my weight for 9 holes. I made a 6 footer for par on the first hole and my confidence level got a much needed boost. However on #2 I three jacked for bogey after my first putt sputtered dreadfully short of the hole and I then lipped out for par from about 6 feet. Ouch.

On #3 I hit a very good 6 iron to about 20 feet and two putted for par.

#4 is one of the hardest driving holes around and I killed my drive down the left side and had only a wedge into the green and canned about a 12 footer for birdie!!!! (is my putting coming around?).

#5 presented a brutal pin placement and I lipped out from about 8 feet for par after a rather poor chip shot.

On the par three 6th hole I nearly canned my wedge for an ace and proceded to tap in from about 2 feet for birdie (hmmmmm).

The up hill 7th present the option of driver (risky) or 3 wood or less off the tee. It was into the wind so I hit driver and nailed it right down the middle. After a 9 iron to the green I two putted for par.

I made a mess of the drivable 8th after hitting it into the greenside bunker off the tee and failed to get up and down after blasting out. The bogey got me back to one over.

I tapped in for par on the 9th and carded a solid 37. This was the best 9 holes that I have played in several weeks. I hit the ball well and putted far better than I have been. It will be a much needed confidence boost as I go back to Greystone Tuesday for a scramble event. Bring it on!!!

Frustration on the course

2006-06-03T13:52:00.000-04:00

It looks like this is going to be one of those frustrating years on the golf course. One good round followed by a poor one. I am trying to figure out how to get my putting stroke back. I have been having way, way too many three putts as of late. It is so hard to keep from letting the putts woes get to you. I have been playing quite a bit lately and maybe I need to play a little less and re-focus.

I did play pretty well at Ontario last week. I had 81 with 3 three putts (ugh) and a double on the last hole. The par fives have been killing me lately. You just cannot score when you bogey 3 of the 4 par fives and that has been happening too much.

I will be playing in a couple tournaments next week, both scrambles. One at Greystone and the other at Deerfield. I have not played in a scramble at Deerfield in many years, if ever. That is the course that I grew up playing, in fact that is where I had "my ace" on what is now the 12th hole.

Take the good with the bad...

2006-05-19T12:29:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I posted a blog that reviewed one of the finest 9 hole rounds that I have ever played and now it is time to review one of the worst 9 hole rounds that I have played in many years.

Subbing in yet another league at Webster East, I three putted the first hole, after taking relief from a creek, for a solid triple bogie "snow-man". Ok, stuff happens, I did not hit a single good shot all the way from tee to green so I deserved what I got.

On the par 3 second hole I hit a loopy hook and ended up behind a huge tree with no shot at the pin. So, I chipped a 7 iron over a sandtrap and onto the green. I felt pretty good about executing that difficult shot. Well, three putts later I carded a double bogie. Nice choke job.

The next hole is one of the most difficult par 4's around. It demands a tee shot in the fairway and of course I missed left and ended up with a crappy lie in the rough some 200 yards out. Since the lie sucked I opted to lay up for fear of dumping it into the pond in front of the green. A good decision as I then knocked a solid 7 iron onto the green some 20+ feet from the pin. Cool, an easy five on a tough par four. Nope. I three putted yet again for another double. Remarkably I was still sane after three putting the first three holes.

On the par five 4th hole I hammered my tee shot but missed the fairway by inches. No biggie. I had a decent enough lie and blasted a 3 wood to about 60 yards from the green. My pitching wedge from that spot ended up some 25+ feet beyond the green so I had a tough downhill birdie putt which I left short and then missed my 4 footer for par, another 3 putt!!

On #5 I hit a big drive and left my wedge just short, but not in a bad spot. I used a putter to roll it to about 5 ft and calmly missed my par putt. Another three-jam if you count the one from the fringe.

On #6 I told my buddies that I was going to try to drive the green and let out a loud grunt as I hoisted my drive. It was too windy to drive the green but I ended up with about 65 yards to the green. I then knocked a wedge on the green and 3 putted yet again (do you see a pattern here?)

#7 is another hole that can be driven, but was into the wind. I killed my drive dead center to about 50 yards from the green. I over hit another wedge well beyond the pin and of course three putted one more time.

As we approached the 8th hole, a par three, I realized that I had 3 putted every hole so far. The wind was blowing pretty hard from right to left so I took dead aim at a target on the right edge thinking that the wind would blow it to the middle of the green. I laced my 7 iron directly at my target and the wind did not move it an inch. It landed on the right fringe and spun left and back to the front of the green. If the wind had pushed it, I think that it would have been pretty tight. Anyhow...guess what happened next? Why, I three jammed again. Eight straight three putts. This was crazy.

The last hole is a great finishing hole and of course I missed the fairway and the green and then chipped to about 15 ft. One last try at that elusive two putt. Hey, it was even a makable one. I somehow managed to roll it to about a foot and after plumb-bobbing the remaining 12 inches to make sure I had the break properly determined I deftly tapped in for a bogie. The one and only two putt in the entire 9 hole round.

My playing partners wanted to give me that last one-footer, but I said that I am going to make that stinking putt if it killed me. I gathered my thoughts and mustered all of my golf experience and sank that last putt with skill and determination. This putting exhibition lead to the worst nine hole score that I have had an many years -- 49. Ouch.

Yes, I am playing again tonight...

Fun? On the golf course?

2006-05-16T14:27:00.000-04:00

Yes, it can be done!

On Mother's Day my wife and I played her favorite course at Victor Hills, the East Course.

I ageed that since it was her day I would play from the ladies tees and leave my woods in the bag. I also agreed that when she hit driver off the tee I would hit 3 iron and no matter what she hit from there on in to the green, I would match clubs with her. This meant that her 6 iron from 120 yards would be a 6 iron (normally a 160+ yard club) for me as well, and so forth.

What great fun we had! I had to manufacture shots on just about every hole: 4 iron from 110 (normally a 175+ plus club), up a steep hill (I hit it 3 feet from the cup and made birdie), 8 iron from 80 yards up a hill, etc.

I accepted my fate and made the round a lesson in love and worked on hitting odd shots from odd places with odd clubs. A good practice session for any golfer. For the most part it worked well. I did manage to have a triple bogie on a par four where I yanked my 3 iron dead left into oblivion and a couple of doubles when I hit very poor chipshots.

In the end I had shot an 80 to her 105. My round was actually three shots more that I had the day before from the blue tees on the same course. More importantly, my wife and I had a great time, laughing at and with each other as we made our way around the course. When all was said and done, I won our handicapped match ended and then we kissed an went home for dinner.

As hard as I try to have fun on the course it is difficult for me as my obsession takes over and I get all serious, but this day was for my wife and I did indeed have a great deal of fun.

PS: don't tell her, but I tried really hard to play well under the rules of the day.

One of those nights...

2006-05-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

Last night my wife and I subbed in a league at Shadow Pines. This is a couples thing and many of the people are tennis friends of ours. Shadow Pines is not the easiest course around and I have to bring my A game in order to play well. Last night I had the A game working until the final hole...one of the toughest par 3's around.

I will now bore you all with the details:

- I narrowly missed birdie on the first hole

- birdied #2

- lipped out for birdie on #3

- rolled an improbable putt from off green from about 50 feet right in the center of the cup for
another birdie on #4

- lipped out again for birdie on the fifth hole

- slipped up a bit and three putted for bogie on #6 (still one under par however)

- parred the 7th

- hit an eight iron from about 145 yards to within 6 inches of the cup for another birdie to get back to -2.

Now for the painful part and why most of us don't play golf on TV.

The 9th is probably one of the hardest par 3's in the area. Its up hill so the 165 yards to the pin and last night played like 180...at least. There is a pond right in front of the tee and some pretty nasty sand traps at the green. No problem. I am swinging well and feel confident and comfortable as I carefully chose my weapon.

Moments later, after pulling my shot way left of the green, between two bunkers, on the wrong side of the green, I had to somehow chip over a mound and get that evil ball to stop on a cool, damp green somewhere near a pin that is cut just about 10 feet from the edge of the green. No problem. My chip missed being a very good one by about 2 feet as it landed just a bit too far beyond my intended landing zone. As it rolled and rolled across the green and on to the fringe on the far side of the green I began to think "just make four, just make four".

Well, I didn't. After I tapped in for a double bogie I kicked myself for finishing like that and then smiled because I had played 8 magnificent holes that night and for one fleeting moment in time I felt like one of those guys on TV whom we watch stick shot after shot close to the hole and roll them in the hole like nobody's business.

And probably the best part about it was that Joanie and I were playing golf together, it was beautiful.

Gotta go now, I have a tee time...thanks for listening.

Golf milestones

2006-02-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

I mentioned earlier that I have now played golf in all 12 months of the calendar year here at home in western NY.

Other golf milestones that I have accomplished:

Met a woman (and married) that loves to play golf as much (almost) as I do.

I had a hole-in-one in 1996.

I have shot even par twice (both times missing putts inside 10 feet to remain at 1 under...damn.

Played golf as an adult at a world class golf course (Oak Hill) and played my best (77). I am probably more proud of that than any other of my golf accomplishments.

I may think of more to add to this list...

Silly golf milestones

2006-02-06T16:30:00.000-05:00

We all have them, yet we hate to admit to some of them. They are golf milestones. I completed one on Saturday. I have now played golf in Rochester in all 12 months of the year. I covered January a year or so ago and as of this past Saturday I have now played in February.

Mind you, we played in the wind and cold rain. But we did it. Saturday morning brought us sun and clouds and nearly 50 degrees. So I called my buddy and agreed to meet at 2 PM to play nine holes. Unfortunately as we started out it started to rain. Now, we could have quit, but we plugged along and made it through a quagmire of mud and rain.

When I played a few weeks ago the ground was dry and the course was very playable. Saturday was another thing all together... a muddy mess. Oh, well, we had a great time. I did not play as well this time around, but had about as much fun.

My guess is that we won't be playing again until April as we are bound to get the winter weather we have missed so far. That being said, we got 3 inches of snow overnight and the golf courses are again unplayable.

Winter golf...a nice treat

2006-01-17T12:37:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday January 11, 2006 the normal temperature for this time of the year in Rochester, NY is about 25-35. Well that day (as well as the 12th and 13th) the temperature was at or around 60 freakin' degrees.

I talked my boss into letting me take off from work at about 1:30 and I headed for the golf course. Yes, the golf course. Remember what I said about the temperature? My course, Victor Hills, was open and I walked on at about 2:30.

Mind you I had not hit a ball since early November so I sat on the tee and hit a few 7 irons down the fairway to aquaint myself with the swing once more. After about 4 decent shots I proceded to grab the big stick and tee one up. I hit a loopy hook down the left side that bounced off of a pine tree and back towards the fairway. Not bad. I hoisted my bag and off I went. I retrieved the 7 iron shots and plodded on the to my "real" drive.

In true obsessive golfer fashion I assessed the remaining 140 or so yards to the green and managed to launch a 7 iron onto the green. I chuckled as I walked: hell, it was the middle of January and on my first hole I am on in regulation. Expecting the greens to be pretty slow and mushy I hammered my 15 footer towards the hole and VIOLA! I canned a birdie putt on my first hole, on January 11th in Rochester, NY. I was all smiles.

Off I went to the next hole, a par 3. I knocked it on the green and proceded to 3-putt from about 30 feet. Oh, well, its January 11th in Rocheser, NY. I was all smiles.

On the third hole my second shot flew the green from a side hill lie and it came to rest on some muddy grass, down a hill about 20 yards beyond the green. There was only about 15 ft. of green to work with so I just tried to run a 7 iron up the hill and hope it would find the green. It ended up about 10 ft. from the hole. I calmly ran in the putt for rather miraculous par. I chuckled, said "nice four" and headed to the next hole.

After hammering my drive down the left side on #13, I left my wedge just short of the green. Oh, well, that is not the first time that had happened here. My chip lipped out and I kicked in my par putt and off I went to the next hole. I was all smiles, it was January 11th in Rochester. (even par after 4 holes...)

I made a terrific two putt on #14 after pulling my approach shot long and left, but on the green. Number 15 is a very reachable par 5 in the summer months, but I did not expect much roll so I just swung away off the tee. I hit a BOMB! I could not reach the green from where I ended up because I was just a bit too far left so I tried to just draw a 3 iron up near the right front of the green. I managed to do just that and after chipping to about 15 ft. I two putted for my par. I smiled and chugged up the hill to the next tee.

I nearly hit it stiff on the par 3, 16th hole. It just did not carry far enough and trickled back down the hill and sat about 15 ft. below the hole. I stubbed my putter on the downswing and 3 putted the second of the two par 3's on the nine. I smiled, bitched about the 3 jamb for about one second and headed to #17. I laughed and said, its January 11th in Rochester, NY.

They were playing the more difficult of the two greens on the next hole and when faced with that, par is a good score. I blasted my drive right at the reachable green, but in January the ball does not really carry all that well and I ended up right under the green, dead short. I chipped up and snaked in a two putt and ran off this dasterdly green.

Number 18 is a par five and is very reachable in two... in the summer. Again, I killed my drive but ended up on a side hill. Now, in the summer, the 200 yard 3 wood from a side hill lie is tough enough, but in January it becomes a hit and hope shot. Well, I hit it, and then I hoped it would at least carry about 50 yards. I took one of those monster divots and the ball just floated just inside the 150 marker. Damn. I smiled. It was January. I was left with an uphill 140 yard shot. Using my golf brain, I chose to hammer a 7 iron, rather than risk flying the green with a 6 and stiffed one about 8 feet from the pin. My birdie putt missed, but after tapping for a par, I smiled and said nice 37!!! I smiled all the way to the car and wished that I had time to play the other nine holes. But it was getting dark.

I went home and calmly put the clubs back in their hole down in the basement. I smiled and said, "I played golf on January 11th in Rochester, NY". What a rush!! By the way, some guy had a hole-in-one the next day at Oak Hill CC. Nice golf story there, huh?

a private treat

2005-08-14T06:38:00.000-04:00

I never had the chance to play Blue Heron Hills before it went private years ago. I finally got out there yesterday and I have to say that I enjoyed the course, the setting and the facility. We were guests of some members and it was a great help to have their course knowledge on some holes.

I made a few rookie mistakes, like hitting driver on a short par 4 that only requires a five iron and wedge, but other than that I played very well. I did have 3 penalty strokes in the first six holes, two of them caused by unfortunate bounces. As for the rest of my round: after bogeying the first six holes, I played the last 12 at two over for a pretty solid 80. In addition to the 3 penalty strokes, I had three 3 putt bogeys. Those can kill ya. I now have the desire to play there again and avenge my freshman mistakes. In fact, we are seriously considering joining the club as members.

The finshing hole is a very difficult par four. I got a bit lucky on my tee shot and landed in a soft spot in the fairway. Had it been dry it would have led to my 4th penalty stroke as this hole features water, water, everywhere. The par 5's are pretty solid and don't really lend themselves to going for the green in two accept for the really big hitters. The greens are slick, soft and somewhat pocked up from ball marks over time, but very puttable. A couple of the greens featured some very severe breaks, one to the point of slightly unfair. The par 3's are pretty good and feature varying lengths from 140-195. We played the blue tees at about 6400 yards. In some spots the houses are pretty close to the course and it was a bit noisy, but not so much that it was a bother.

How's this for a funky round.....subbing in a league

2005-08-05T14:48:00.000-04:00

#1 --- two putt par from 20 feet (nice start)
#2 --- lip out for birdie, tap in par (tough par 3, lookin' good)
#3 --- 2 putt bogie, from the sand (not a good sand shot, but acceptable bogie)
#4 --- 4 putt triple (FROM 15 FEET!!!!!!!!)
#5 --- miss a 3 footer for par (GETTING PISSED)
#6 --- sink 15 foot birdie (some relief)
#7 --- 2 putt par from about 40 feet (nice job, tough par 4)
#8 --- tap in par after cutting 100 yards off the corner (one more to go)
#9 --- kick- in a 2 footer for birdie after stiffing a 7 iron, up hill, into the wind from 145 yards (feeling pretty good now, 4 putt all but forgotten)

Score 39, time to go home. Ho hum. So continues my love/hate relationship with Webster East.

the final word on NJ golf

2005-07-26T12:04:00.000-04:00

On our trip we also played the Bay Course at the Seaview Marriott Resort, the site of the ShopRite Classic tour stop for the LPGA. It was very short, in very good condition, had very small greens and was obnoxiously buggy. We purchased some pretty heavy-duty bug spray at the proshop at everyone's suggestion. It came in handy. We were warned that we must not spray the stuff unless we were on the cartpath or it kills the grass. Nice! What does it do to your body then?

The course was difficult only in that the greens were small and very hard to hit and hold. I found it very short, but in great shape. The 17th was a freakin' dogleg par 3 of about 220 yards. That hole was kind of a joke you could not see the green from the tee and of course I hit my tee shot i n the enormous bunker 30 yards short. On the 18th tee, we saw lightning and unwisely tried to play the hole out. We picked up near the green and took off for safety.

I took a lesson (the first that I have ever paid for) the next day and man it was cool. I focused on the 3 and 4 irons on the range and learned how to get my right hand through better. Also, the pro told me that amatuers should really be pretty happy with a long iron that ends up around the green and safe, rather than complaining about missing the green from 180+. This made a ton of sense. If you hit the green, great. If you miss it, trust your short game to get up and down.

The other part of my lesson was in the greenside bunker. He told me just to hit a few at first to see how I did it naturally. Of course I stiffed two in a row, really close, and he said, "my work is done". However, he gave me some great tips on how to make the proper moves from the bunkers and after hitting about 30 shots, I had improved quite a bit.

The pro gave me a great price to play nine holes on the other course on the property after my lesson. I only had time to play 9, but really liked the layout better than the other one and wished I could have continued on. I had 3 bunker shots in that nine holes (was I aiming for them?) and got up and down from one and blasted out of both of the others with reasonable results. I used the new technique on all three shots and what a difference.

New Jersey golf

2005-07-20T08:07:00.000-04:00

My wife and I just came back from a week in NJ. We played resort golf at 4 different courses.

The first was at Ballyowen in northern NJ. We took advantage of the twilight rates and only paid about $50 rather than the regular day fee of about $125!!!!! Ballyowen was a nice course, not really long from the blues (about 6200 yards), and they enforce the ridiculous rule of all cartpaths all the time. What joke. I like to ride when on vacation (although I ride most of the time anyway), but to be forced to ride on the paths creates times when you might have a 150 yard walk to your ball. Who hits the ball right near the path all of the time? Granted, we could have walked, but "paths only" sucks. Here is an idea, paths on both sides of the fairway!! This course was a nice layout and the fairways were great (no carts), but the greens late in the day were pretty messed up--not worthy of the full price greens fee that is for sure. The coolest part was the bag-piper that played on the patio at 7pm. Very cool. I played fairly well, but again could not break 80. I did par the last 5 holes (17 and 18 played pretty much in the dark as we finished at around 9pm). One hole on the back (12?) was a short dogleg par 4 that featured a large granite out-cropping as a target line and a farmer's field that had a bunch of sheep in it. It was very Scottish looking. The next hole was a par four with a viscious bunker right in front of the elevated green. Of course I hit my approach into that same bunker and took two to get out (instant double). I liked this course quite a bit. The 10th hole was a downhill par 5 that I reached in two with a drive and a 4 iron. I did not hit my drive particularly well, but it cut the corner a bit and made the hole shorter than the card showed. I suspect that with a well struck drive on the same angle you could actually have about 6 or even 7 iron to the green. (Note: I of course 3 putted from about 60 feet for par)

The second course was right down the road from the first. Wild Turkey came highly recommended and right out of the box -- NO CART PATHS ONLY RULE!! This was a great course. The par 3's here were tremendous. One of them was 180 yds. over a huge quarry, all carry. Leave it short, and get wet after it crashed into the 100 foot high granite wall that stares you down from the tee. I cleared it with a 4 iron, and then managed to 3 jam it for a bogie. But, hey, I did not dump it in the quarry. Number 10 was another long par 3 (about 215) straight down hill. I crushed a 3 iron onto the green and two putted for par. The 17th was about 210 over a pond/lake. I hit 5 wood onto the green and made par. The other par 3 was about 180 again and I parred that one too. That is the best I have played the par 3's in a while. This course was longer and tougher than Ballyowen. Several holes wind around a swamp that sometimes allows a bear sighting (there was one in the early morning, but we did not see one). I would play here again in a heartbeat. We paid full price ($125) for this baby, but we were on vacation and we came to play. The clubhouse here was stunning and we had a great lunch when we were done. We went back for dinner the next day and that too was very good, no it was a great meal.

Plugging along

2005-07-05T14:23:00.000-04:00

Well, last Saturday we played a private course that is offering a great deal on memberships right now. I had played there, but it had been years. The course (Country Club of Mendon) was in great shape and it was nice to play on a course the is always in great shape. They only have 225 members right now so it can never be crowded can it?

I cruised around the front (short and tight) with pretty solid 38, but had 3 three putts. I did make two nice birdies, but two of the three putts were for bogey (I HATE 3 PUTT BOGIES).

The back is much longer and has a ton of water. The 11th hole requires a 250 yard carry from the white tees if you want to hit an iron to the green on this par four. I hit 3 wood off the tee and still had an uphill shot of some 220 yards. NICE HOLE. I of course pulled another amazing about face and shot 45 on the back for 83.

We really enjoyed our round at the club. But alas, we have decided not to join (this year). We have a lot of vacation scheduled over the next 6 weeks and won't be able to put the time into the course to justify the $3000 fee for the rest of the season. That price is less than some local semi-private courses are charging for memberships. That alone is enough to make you think twice about joining a private club.

On the 4th of July I played Victor Hills with an old golfing buddy. He talked me into playing at 6 AM!!! So off I went. I shot 76 with 4 three putts and a double. Nothing to complain about except the putting. I did miss two birdie putts from inside 10 feet and 3 putted a par five after getting home in two (I was about 60 feet out for eagle, so the three putt is somewhat less painful). My driver that I spoke so fondly of in the past has been eratic of late. My power fade has crept back to slice status to some extent. I will have to watch that.

Been a while

2005-06-27T15:51:00.000-04:00

Here we are in mid-June and the sweltering heat of summer has come upon us. I have played a fair amount of golf, but not as much as last year. My game is been somewhat psychotic in that I have had a few rounds that look good in the final tally but the front to back scoring looks like this: 46/36 = 82, 45/35 = 80, 46/35= 81. It s kind of frustrating when the end results are ok and you shot like crap for 9 holes and then lights out for the other nine.

On Friday however, I shot a 2 over 72 on a course that I used to belong to. I was so in control over where I wanted to hit the ball, where I hit the ball and what I needed to do if I missed. It was a nice feeling to be there again. I shot 79 on Saturday on a much more difficult course. I birdied the last hole to get there. I had botched #12-15 (double, bogie, bogie, bogie) on the back nine after playing very well on the front.

On Friday, I played with the 15 year old son of a tennis friend ours. She has been asking me to play with him to see if I could help him with his game. Well, this self taught kid birdies the first hole right out of the box and two putted the 7th for birdie to shoot 38 on the front and then he bogied the last 3 holes to end up at 79 for the day. I told his mother that he was fine and did not need my help. He had shot 76 the day before on a much more difficult course. I will play again with him soon, but I will not offer any advise. He does not need it. I asked him if he was going to play golf in high school next year, but he said no because his basketball is more important and the seasons run together.

I have not posted in a while, and hope to get back to this blog more often. We are going to northern NJ in two weeks for golf and tennis, I hope that I can post some good stuff here afterwords.

lost post

2005-05-01T15:18:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was creating and new post for my blog here and when I hit enter, poof, it was gone. It was full of whitty stuff about our trip to FL in late March and full of great descriptive prose about my fabulous rounds. But alas, it is gone. I spend the better part of an hour going on and on about it. If I remember correctly the average for the 4 rounds played was right on 79 where it always is. Some good, some bad.

I played very well except for a couple of uncharacteristic water shots, penalties, and a mystery lost ball. I think I shot 77, 79, 80 and 81. The 79 included the mystery lost ball, a double on the 18th, back-to-back birdies, and a chip-in. Over the course of the four rounds, I was rock solid off the tee with the driver, missing very few fairways.

The driver has become an automatic swing for me since last summer. I have a routine and I stick to it. In one of the rounds back at home after the FL trip, I missed only one fairway with it and that was only by about a foot. I need to figure out how to incorporate the same swing thoughts into my long irons as they have been failing me as of late. Everything under 7 iron has been solid for a while now, but the long irons are hurting me. I will figure it out or else accept missed greens with those clubs and rely on the short game to keep things together.

The season is here?

2005-05-01T15:10:00.000-04:00

Here it is May 1st and I have played exactly 2 rounds of golf in NY so far. The first two weeks of April were as perfect as they could be, no rain and lots of sun. Well, the last two weeks made up for that little tease. No sun, cold, rain, wind, and no golf. As dry as the courses were early in the month, they are all pretty much swamps now. It is supposed to warm up this week and get sunny again. I am not counting my chickens yet.

In the mean time, my wife and I are doing something totally new and different this coming Friday: we are going to the drag races!! I have never done it, but have always wanted to. A lady from my last class and her family are professional drag racers and she invited us to come and see them this weekend at the local (one hour away) track. I am really looking forward to it. She said that if we seek her out, she will give us a tour of the pit area. Very cool.

Back to golf: we are staying over night near the track and on the way home on Saturday, we are going to play golf at Brockport CC. I have not played there in years and I am looking forward to it.

Still Itching

2005-03-06T14:36:00.000-05:00

My last post was on January 28th and I was complaining about 2 feet of snow on the ground. Well, here it is March 6th and we still have over a foot of snow on the ground. Now I am really getting inchy.

My wife and I are growing impatient with the weather and want to hit some balls at the range, but the only indoor range around is a 1/2 hour drive from here. And because it is the only one around, it is always busy. If the snow ever melts, some of the closer outdoor ranges have heated hitting booths. I guess we will have to wait a bit longer. Hey, it's only March.

As for now, I have suffer a bit longer. One the bright side, Phil Mickelson is going head to head with Tiger this afternoon at Doral. I hope that Phil can stay hot and win outright today. Tiger has to beat him by two to tie and three to win. I want Mickelson to show some moxy and hold him off.

Two feet of snow on the ground and I have the itch

2005-01-28T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is 1/28/05 and we now have been buried with 2 feet of snow since last Saturday. The high temperature yesterday here in chilly Western NY was 9 degrees!!!! On the bright side, I am beginning to get the itch to play again.

This weekend there is a golf show and convention in town. I scored a free ticket from a friend this year. I think that I should be able to get my fix by walking around the displays and talking golf with the vendors.

They have a hitting area where you can demo the newest clubs from various manufacturers. Last year I swung the new Mizuno and McGregor irons...both were very nice.

I get a kick out of people that demo clubs, or simply hit balls with their own sticks, at the local driving range. The range is full of "golfers" with grotesque swings and horrible stances swinging so hard that their shoes come untied. It seems that everyone wants to try the latest, greatest driver right out of the box. Nobody seems to realize that the driver is the hardest club to hit, period, yet they insist on grabbing the closest 550 cc , stiff shafted monster they can find and swatting balls in a gracefully high arcing slice into oblivion. They get angry when they cannot hit it straight, or get it into the air for that matter. They complain that that they don't like the club and grab another turbo-charged behemoth. Whack, slice, bitch, switch. Repeat.

Has anyone EVER seen a pro grab for the driver first at the range? I don't think so. Especially in the middle of the winter in Western NY. You must begin with a wedge or at the most a 7 iron to get some sort of groove working and work you way up to the driver. Then make some smooth swings with the driver without trying to hit it through wall or fence at the other end of the range.

My rant is over...Where is my driver? I have to go hit some balls.

A little job for me

2004-12-30T06:51:00.000-05:00

Check out http://www.rochestergolflinks.com/

As a guest of the site I have added my personal thoughts on a couple of courses on this site.

Recently, the webmaster has asked me to provide him with a review/preview of Wayne Hills CC for the official description on the site. He said that he has played there but not for many years. I get to provide insight to the course for billions of people to read (ok, well thousands any way). It should be fun. I will probably do it by the end of next week.

I had always been told that Wayne Hills was one of the best around and now that I have played it a few times, I have to agree. It is well worth the trip an hour to the east of Rochester.

The annual saddest day of the year

2004-12-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Well, its official, my clubs are no longer in the trunk of my car. I took them out this morning before I left for work. The fact that it was about 20 degrees outside and snowing may have had something to do with it.

I tried to hold out a bit longer, but it looks like that sad day, the day the clubs are bannished to the basement, is finally here. I guess it is for the best. My game seemed to have gone south the last 3 rounds anyway. There are times when I actually could use a break. Not very often but there are times...

is it time to give in?

2004-12-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well, as I looked in my car's trunk yesterday and knew that it was going to snow today, I thought, "should I take my clubs out yet?". It does not look like I am going to get out to play any time too soon. Hell, its almost X-mas. Is this a sad thing or a good thing? The last three rounds (see "road trips and golf outings") were pretty much a waste of time and energy.

Can I get out one more time to redeem myself? Will the ball crack in half from the cold? How bad will it sting if I skull a shot and the vibrations race up my arms? Wool hat or golf hat? Is it time to store the clubs if you have to wear long undies to stay warm on the course? If a water hazard is frozen and it is solid enough to support my weight, can I ground my club if I choose to hit it off of the ice? And what about Naomi?

I probably ought to take the clubs out and put them in the house. The cold probably is not very good for them.

......The clubs are still in the trunk at 4PM on 12/6/04.

Holiday roadtrips and golf-a-thons

2004-11-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but we took a long roadtrip from western NY to Rock Hill, SC for the Thanksgiving holiday. My wife and I left Tuesday afternoon and drove down to see her brother. And oh yes, we played golf---sort of.....

Let me clarify a few things first and foremost: The first round on Thursday was played on a course that was underwater from the day long drenching it got on Wednesday, the second round on Friday was delayed about 45 minutes due to frost (it was 38 degrees in SC!!!). Although, once the frost delay was over it turned out to be a bright sunny 55 degrees. Finally, third round was delayed one hour and ten minutes by frost once again, it was a mere 34 degrees when we teed off and never got above 45 or so.

Ok here goes........

Round one at Waterford Golf Club (Inverness tees, 6513 yards) featured 4 penalty strokes and three 3-putts!!!!!!!! Ouch. I rarely have penalty strokes and I lost 4 balls in various places due to poor shots, club selection and a lack of local knowledge. All and all, after all of that mess, I shot 84. Not bad. I did birdie one par three (a 2 always makes a score card look better) This was a very good course. Too bad it was very wet due to quite a bit of rain the day before, and unfortunately I posted poor numbers.

Round two was the pits. Tega Cay Golf Course (Carolina Pines and Grande View nines, blue tees, 6500+ yards). Again, I loved the course but my game that day did not. My wife will not tell me what I shot. It had to be close to 90 or even worse. I don't want to know. This course was a good one. Excellent lay-out and fast greens. The one and only highlight was the 3 iron on the number 3 handicap hole from 195 that hit the pin and stopped about 6 feet from the pin. (of course, that was one highlight that could have been even better if I had nailed the birdie, but alas I did not). The second shot on that par four hole was all carry over a deep valley and a very shallow green. It was one of very few highlights on a very bad round of golf.

The last round (Highland Creek, blue tees, 6520 yards) started out bad and did not get much better. I had a bad case of the "lefts" with just about every second shot I had. I was coming over the top of everything and trapping it and that swing always produces a yank. I swung so poorly with a 3 wood on one hole that I hurt both of my wrists as my club gouged out a rather hefty divot. This is another fine golf course and I would play it again in a minute, hopefully with better results. This too is a round that I really don't want to know what I shot. It had to be close to 90 again. The 18th hole was a par five with a huge lake all the way from tee to green and the entire fairway sloped rather severely towards the water. I bit off a bit more than I should have and dumped my tee shot in the water (why not). At this point I just dropped in the fairway and went for the green from about 210 over the rest of the lake and of course dumped that one in the drink as well. I pretty much did not care at that point, however and picked up.

On the bright side of all of this I have to say that I pretty much put on a clinic with my driver. There are 42 fairways to hit in 54 holes of golf, excluding par 3's. I don't think that I missed more than 10 or so. I have developed a routine with my driver that gives me great confidence on the tee. I have to apply that same deliberate approach to my second and third shots and for some reason I don't. I will for next season however. I am hitting the driver too will to shoot as poorly as I did last week.

Well, I know that I probably bore you all with my blow by blow discriptions of my rounds, both good and bad. But here I can rant and rave, toot my own horn and get it off my chest without any rolling eyes (that I can see) to make me feel like a braggert. I should have been a TV golf analyst I think. I like to talk about shots that I have made and some that other people have made.

Fall golf = bonus golf

2004-11-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

I killed myself in my yard on Saturday 11/13, raking leaves and cutting the grass one last time, knowing full well that Sunday was going to be a beautiful day, sunny and 48 degrees for the high. Not bad for mid-November. Remember, I live in Western NY and winter is just down the street. So this is our silly-season, bonus golf as I like to call it.

I met my buddy, Ron (he is a fall golf junkie like me) at 10 AM, but we had a frost delay, go figure. We did get on the tee at about 10:30....it was still only about 38 degrees. With winter gloves and woolen hats we headed out. I managed a solid triple bogey on the par five first hole, it came complete with two tree shots and a three putt. I fell behind to Ron by three when he parred the hole. I managed to three putt the next hole for bogey, and it was on baby!

I just could not get anything going. I did manage to par two holes and after three great shots on the eighth, a tough par five, I blasted my 15 foot birdie put about 10 feet past and three putted for a really bad bogey. After yet another bogey on the ninth, I carded a poorly crafted 45 to Ron's 46....up by one at the turn.

I realized that I had been gripping the club way too tightly and made a conscious effort to lighten up on the grip. It worked. I just missed my par putt on the par five 10th and grumbled a bit, but it was not the putt, but the yanked 7 iron that hit another tree that led to the bogey. Then things got interesting.........

I nearly aced the 11th from about 140 yards and made a four footer for bird. I actually thought that the tee shot was going in, it did not miss by more than a foot or so as it rolled by the hole. I then parred the next four in a row and bogied the 16th go to one over on the back. Our seventeenth hole was a par 3 playing uphill to a three tiered green. The pin was in the back right and it was playing about 210 to the pin as best as we could tell. Ron hits a five wood with a big hook and it landed on the edge of the green and stopped about 15 feet from the hole, GREAT SHOT on that hole. I hit a 3 wood to the middle of the green, about 60 feet away. No problem, up and over a ridge and if it goes too far by it is off the back of the green. Hit it and hope.............

My birdie putt rolled in the heart of the hole and I could not believe it. Ron just shook his head. His fifteen footer just got a lot longer. He calmly rolled his in to cancel out my birdie. We looked at each other and thought that it is a rare feat the both players in a group birdie that tough, tough hole. I was back to even par on the back and parred the 18th to shoot 36 on the back.

After a pretty poor front nine, I hit the ball very well on the back and ended up with a respectable 81 in the cold sun. By the way, I kept my winning streak alive against Ron.

In all honesty....

2004-11-08T13:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as I played golf with my buddy (and former boss) Ron, we were tied neck and neck at the turn with a pair of 43's. He was psyched that he tied me on the front nine because I have had his number for a couple of years now. Then came the back nine.

I pulled ahead by three after parring the first three holes on the back nine. Then came #13. I hit my drive down the right side of the fairway and from experience know the it was either under, behind, or right in front of one of several pine trees. Ron hit his drive in perfect position right in the middle of the fairway.

Of course, my drive ended up on the green side of the last pine tree in question and I had a limited (no) backswing. I did not panic, however, and while waiting for the green to clear I weighed my options.....chip out with a 7 iron (smart play) , try to hit a screaming chop shot with a 4 iron (less smart play) or try to actually reach the green from just about 100 yards by running a 5 wood along the ground (really risky play). Well. after several practice swings with all three clubs, I chose the dumbest one. "Let's try flatten our swing with a 5 wood and run one onto the green from under a tree, off a down hill lie, off dirt. Yeah, that ought to work", I said to myself.

It didn't.

In fact, I actually whiffed. Not once, oh no, I had to try that high percentage shot twice. So, not only did I whiff the first time, I actually ran the count to 0-2 and I had to call time out. I ended up switching to the 4 iron and chopping it out. I managed to card a smooth 7 on the very short par four. Damn.

There went my lead as my buddy made par. Back to all even.

Here is where the honesty part kicks in.....Ron did not know that I had whiffed, he thought that I was just making a practice swing. I informed him on the green that I had in fact whiffed twice and had seven not five as he thought I had. Now I could have kept those two special swings all to myself and carded a bogey. But my honesty and the integrity of this great game shone through and I posted a solid triple bogey on my card.

I went on to par the rest of the holes for a pretty good 39 with a two-whiff triple bogey and kept my winning streak over Ron in tact. More importantly, I kept my integrity in tact as well.

A cool golf story

2004-11-05T15:27:00.000-05:00

Several years ago we were playing the second round of the first and only Crosby, Crosby, Crosby, Crosby Open up in the middle of nowhere in NH. We were cruising along, waiting for no one in front of us and not being rushed by anyone behind us. When suddenly a foursome came flying up behind us and caught us on what I remember was the 16th hole. Would you believe one of the group was none other than Gene Sarazen!!!

We later found out that he had a home up there at the time and was doing some consulting work at this particular golf course. We decided that since they came out of nowhere, that we should probably let them play through. And we did just that. All four of their group knocked it on the green on the par 3. We walked to the green with them as we had already hit our tee-shots.

Gene Sarazen calmly rolled in about a 30 footer for his birdie and my father canned his from about 15 ft and proudly proclaimed that he and Gene always birdie that hole when they play together!!!!!

I will always remember that moment on the golf course.

Another funny (to me) story about that round was that one of my brothers found out on the first tee that the epoxy on every one of his clubs had come undone and the heads were spinning freely on the shaft. He was understandably very angry. He had to use rental clubs and never calmed down after finding his clubs were unusable and played very poorly that day. I will have to remember that tactic for the next Open.

Oh, by the way: I won the Open with back to back 80's. (Why do I remember that?)

Memories of my Dad

2004-10-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered what your life would have turned out to be if you were born of different parents? Or if they themselves had chosen different career paths?

Who knows if I would ever have gotten into the great game of golf if it were not for my father. As far back as I can remember, he played golf. When I was a little kid he coached the high school golf team. When I was in high school I was on the team as were all six of my brothers as they came of age. He taught adult education classes at night in the winter. Golf was the topic, what else? He was an English teacher by trade as well as the audio video director at school. He was a tremendously gifted carpenter. If you could see the kitchen he designed and built in the house that I grew up in you would know what I mean. I have got very little of the carpenter gene programmed in me. Good or bad? I don't know.

But golf was the true, deep passion in this man. To a fault. It was what he ate, drank, slept and talked about. Somehow he always managed to turn a conversation in the direction of the game that he loved (I have that same strange, probably annoying, ability). He remembers most, if not all, of the shots that he hit in his hundreds of rounds during his life (again, I have that same strange, probably annoying, ability). That shot off of hard pan on the local course with the sandy greens back in 1952....the curling putt that was up over a hill and down through a swail to a cup located in the far rear corner of the green while on leave in Germany.....the tee-shot he snap hooked into a pond back in '67. I hope the most important shot he remembers is when he finally got HIS hole-in-one.

What else did he pass on to me? My deep passion for the game is identical to his. To a fault. I am way too much of a perfectionist on the course. Yes, I realize that I will never be on the Tour. But, I still want to play as well, if not better, than the last round that I played. I get way too bothered with myself for miss hitting a shot. I make the same comments he did to anyone within earshot after almost every shot I take. I even make those stupid comments when I am playing alone. They still apply, even though no one is there to hear them.

Neither one of my kids have gotten the bug for this game, although my 14 year old seems to be interested in learning the game. She has a very nice swing, but forgets that you actually have to hit the ball to make it move.

I wonder if I ever would have picked up this great game if I had been born to a different set of parents or if my mother had married a man that did not have this passion? Who knows. I do know this: I love this game and I loved my father, he passed away 4/10/03 just days after his 78 birthday.

The week of the funeral, my family all gathered together in Phoenix and had a round of golf in his memory. There were 11 of us all together. There were some sweaty palms and tear filled eyes as each of us teed it up on the first tee. Later in the round we all teed up a second ball, turned 90 degrees to the left and fired it directly into a huge pond, one by one, in salute to our dad. With tear-filled eyes each we hit a driver as far and as well as we could and hoped that he was watching over us as we did it. I don't think that I would have much liked being born to a father that was as dedicated to the game of chess.....................

Fall Golf

2004-10-24T13:19:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday we ventured out to play a little fall golf. After suffering through 12 straight days of gloomy, rainy, 45' weather, we finally had a sunny day. So off we went. My wife and my buddies Ron and Pat. We played Victor Hills' North course which the best course to play at the club in the fall. It is shorter and plays out of the wind on more than half of the course.

I played very well for the first 8 holes on the front then snap hooked my tee shot on the 9th behind a group of trees. I had a shot to play very safe over into the 18th fairway but attempted to carry a couple of trees and get it back into my own fairway. Well, that was all well and good until I hit the tree and the ball came bounding back to within about 10 ft of where I originally hit it. Then it was time to play safe and chip out to the 18th fairway. It did not quite get into the fairway but I had a shot from about 220, over another hill and some trees to the green. I hit it pretty well, but hit it well right of the green by about 60 yards. I then chipped up and two putted for a 7.

Damn, 41 on the front. But I played well and got one bad break...... onward.........

The back was a different story. I nearly aced the 11th hole, but missed my 5 foot birdie (smooth). I was cruising along at one over on the back though 14 and then nearly canned a 5 wood from about 210 on a par five. I had about 10 feet for eagle, but missed and made a tap in birdie. I just missed a 10 footer for birdie on the par 3 16th and dropped a 10 footer for par on 17. That left me with a par five finishing hole, which is very much a birdie or even an eagle hole. I left my second shot about 10 ft short of the green and chipped to 2 feet and finished with a birdie, for a solid one under 35 on the back.

I am pretty happy with my score of 76 yesterday. The ball does not carry anywhere in the cool weather (55') and it was damp so there was very little roll. I hit 10 of 14 fairways and played the par fives even par with a double on #9. I did three putt one hole and got robbed on a 4 footer for par when the ball hit an old aeration hole, took a sharp left and missed the hole by a good 6 inches. That miss did not make me very happy, but what are you gonna do.

Will we get in any more rounds? We will have to wait and see..................

Famous quotes, well, some of the things I often mutter on the course.

2004-10-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

Over the course of any given round, I may utter some phrases that drive my wife nuts. I will list them with their true meanings and the reasons my wife can't stand it when I say it.

1) "Heads up"
Actual meaning: pay attention to this shot, you might be in the line of flight if I miss hit it.
Her interpretation: Hey, watch me, for I am about to hit a great shot.

2) "This could go anywhere"
Actual meaning: Just exactly that, the shot could go just about anywhere since the ball is sitting on hard pan, there is an embedded rock right in front of the ball, I am behind a tree, the ball has mud on it and I have to carry the pond in front of me.
Her interpretation: Yeah right, you will probably make a miracle shot. Just hit it.

3) "This shot is no picnic"
Actual meaning: It is a very difficult shot and will be no fun to execute.
Her interpretation: Yeah right, you will probably makea miracle shot. Just hit it.

4) "This is a great hole"
Actual meaning: It is a well designed hole.
Her interpretation: You mean its hard, right?

5) "How can they put this pin here? This pin placement must be illegal"
Actual meaning: it is placed on the edge of a 3 ft. ridge and it you miss long it will role off the front of the green, leave it short and it comes right back to you.
Her interpretation: Just putt the thing, that is where they put it today.

A public apology, long over due.

2004-10-17T13:35:00.000-04:00

When I was in high school I was playing golf with my brother and two other kids that happened to be brothers. The younger of the two other kids was sitting about 30 feet in front of me and to the side of the tee when I swung. I nearly whiffed and toed it right at him. It smashed into his face just below his eye and broke his cheek bone. It was the scariest, grossest thing that I have ever seen on a golf course. To this day I wish that I could take that shot back.

He was knocked over backwards by the impact and probably came pretty close to being killed by the errant shot. The ball ended up 30 yards behind me in the bushes. (I think that it was probably out of bounds, come to think of it) My brother and I tried to ignore it and the other two brothers limped all the way to the club house. We did not walk in with them and I could kick myself for not going in. My parents were furious that we did not tell them. We were scared to death to tell them. The studid thing about it is it was totally an accident. How could I possibly have gotten into trouble for this mistake?

Anyway, after all of these years I ran into the older of the two brothers on a local course last summer and it all came racing back to me. I still feel badly about having hit his brother, not having walked in to the clubhouse after it happened, and not telling my parents about it immediately.

Bill Grimes, where ever you are, I am sorry.

That incident left such an impression on me that I cringe every time I see someone standing in front of someone about to hit a shot. I relay this story and they move back behind the person taking the shot.

Additional courses that I have played.....

2004-10-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I grew up playing Durand Eastman Golf Course in Rochester, NY. It is part of the local municipal chain of four courses and by far and away the best of the four. While it is unfortunately pretty wet most of the summer, it is truly a great layout. No sand, an annoying creek and relatively small greens. It is nestled in a county park and sits very close to Lake Ontario. You can actually see the lake from the 8th tee. The nines were switched two seasons ago to accommodate the gorgeous new club house. The new 18th green is directly below the clubhouse patio and from that perch you can see players finish on a very tough par 4 with a creek that runs all the way down the right side until it dumps into a pond short and right of the green.

Many people don't like to play here due to the length of time it can take to play a round. When we were kids it could take 6 + hours to get around the course. It is much better now that they require tee times for the weekends. That aside, the course is a true test of golf. It is only a par 70 as there are only two par fives.

I challenge anyone to get home in two on the very short par five 9th hole. You must hook your teeshot down what appears to be a vee-shaped, serpentine bowling alley of a fairway, then hit a second shot (as little as a 5 iron) to an shallow, elevated green that will probably not hold that long of a shot. The better way to play it is with a 4 iron off the tee, then about a 7 iron to the 100 yard area and hit wedge home. The 11th hole is one of the finest par 4's that I have ever played. Again, a creek guards the left side all the way down from the the elevated tee to about the 300 yard mark, then it ducks under the fairway only to re-appear on the right side for the rest of the hole. A good tee shot will leave about 180 home and it has to be a slight hook unless you leave your drive to the right center of the fairway.

The other course that I grew up playing was called Craig Hill CC way back when and is now called Deerfield CC. This is the course that Jeff Sluman grew up playing. It is too bad that it has been poorly managed over the years as it is one of the longest, most difficult courses in the area. Huge undulating greens will render many a three putt if you cannot read the breaks and apply a deft touch with the flat stick. I wish that someone would invest the money it would take to make this course the track that it could be. I was surprised when Sluman and Dudley Hart bought Lake Shore CC a few miles away and not this mismanaged facility. It sure could use some TLC and the money it needs to fix what is broke. There are a some of the most difficult par 4's around on this course, they play well over 400 yards from the regular tees. The course can be stretched to nearly 7200 yards from the tips and it is very scary from back there.

Deerfield is the course that I was playing when I was lucky enough to card my hole-in-one. Back then it was the third hole on the south course, which was re-assigned as the 12th hole when they reversed the nines. That shot is the source of my screen name "myace188" as the hole was measuring 188 yards that day. I have come close to holing another one many times since that day over nine years ago. Maybe one day another one will fall in.

Curses, humbed again

2004-10-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I have been on a roll lately. My last five rounds have been as follows: 77, 76, 77, 82 or so (I stopped counting) and 77. The 82 was the day after I played Oak Hill (77) and I could have cared less what I shot and it showed. I was pretty useless. That round aside, I have played very well in the past few weeks.

Sunday I shot 77 with a really dumb double bogey on an easy par 5 finishing hole.

We headed out to play Ontario Golf Club on Monday with some old family friends. This course has some of the most evil greens around. They roll at about 75 on the old stimp meter and are severly slanted front to back to the point of ridiculous on some holes. Never, I mean NEVER be above the hole on this course. My old family friend is a guy that is 76 years old, shot his age twice this summer and still carries about a 10 handicap, he chuckles quietly as people fumble their way around these greens. Anyways, the rating and slope from the blue tees at Ontario is higher than Oak Hill from the whites and it is clear as to why. Miss the fairway, make bogey or worse. And I missed a lot of fairways.

After hitting trees on my first three shots on the very first hole and carding a solid triple bogey eight I moved on to lick my wounds on the rest of the front nine. I parred the ninth for a very mediocre 46 on the front. I finally got it together and was one over on the back after three whacking the 17th hole. I hit another tree on my second shot on 18 and proceded to card another triple for a 40 on the back. I was not too happy about that. I had almost been able to salvage my dignity on the back and post a respectable score.

As of late, I have been having trouble finishing rounds. I must get complacent. Unfortunately, I am totally aware of what I am shooting and somehow manage to come unglued and have a blowup hole down the stretch. This is something I have to work on next season.

As for the rest of this season, I will play as much as mother nature will allow. I have played a lot of golf over the years in the late fall as temperatures drop. I can dress warm, but not dry enough. So, if the weather is decent and it is not raining off I go. There comes a time when I have to stash the clubs and wait until Spring, but hopefully I will get out a few more times.

have you ever wondered....

2004-10-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered:

Why people that can't get a $50 driver into the air always seem to eventually show up with a $500 driver and they still can't into the air? Proving once again that it is not the club, but the player and their swing that causes things to happen the way that they do.

Why a perfect practice swing is nearly impossible to apply to the actual shot?

Why the person that asks what they are doing wrong never wants to hear the answer? "Your hips and shoulders are wide open at address and take away, Bob, and you are coming over the top". "I don't do that, Jim." Bob, "ok, what ever Jim. That is why every ball you hit goes dead right with this mysteriously unpredictable slice."

Why people with odd swings and set-ups always say that is what their pro told them to do? What pro would tell someone to swing like Chi-Chi Rodriquez or Jim Furyk?

Why that shot that you flubbed into the drink is much easier when you execute the provisional ball? The same rings true for tee shots hit out of bounds....the provisional tee shot is most often rifled right down the middle about 300 yards.

Why people that are not as good a player as you are ask you how you played today and then give you grief when you tell them you slugged it around the course for a 81 and had 3 double bogies? They react by saying that 81 is a great score. It isn't when you were even par after 12 holes!!!!

Why you find so many Titliest Pro V's in the weeds, water, and woods on public courses? And why they are quickly replacing TopFlights as the ball I find most frequently in those places? An awful lot of bad golfers are playing very expensive throw away balls, no?

Why I always justify a score that is not to my liking by singling out the one or two holes that cost me a good round? "I shot 79 but I had 4 three putt greens!"

Why three putt bogeys comes in droves?

Courses I have played

2004-10-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

I have played a lot of golf on a lot of golf courses. Most have been in NY but I have played many in AZ, NC, FL, NH, OH, MI, Niagara Falls, Ontario and England.

The most famous course I have played on is Oak Hill CC in Rochester, NY last weekend. (see prior blog posting for a review of that round) I have played the TPC Desert course in Scottsdale, AZ. That is not much to speak of as it is pretty burned out most of the time. I will probably pass if given the chance to play there again.

In March 2004, my wife and played the course that Jim and Tammy Faye Backker lost in their backrupcy way back when. It is now called the Regent Park Golf Course. Wow. That was a beautiful layout and was in fantastic condition. I would play there again in a second. It was the last day of our vacation and we teed off in the first group of the day and hit the road for home when we were done. It was very peaceful an serene.

I think that the worst course that I have ever played is the "resort" course at The Lodge at Woodcliff hotel right here in town. There are three holes in a row that offer no place to hit a tee shot but into the trees. For some reason people like to play there. This is another course that if i never play there again it will be too soon.

I visited London, England in 2000. I played golf at a local muny course that was not much to speak of. It was in March and the course was very wet. The greens were so slow it felt like putting in mud. I three putted from inside 10 feet at least twice. I could not get the ball to the hole. Regardless of the conditions, I can say the I have played golf in England. I used rental clubs that were pretty ratty. The front nine I posted a "solid" 48 and the back a very much better 38. Same clubs, same course. Better golf.

I will list some more courses that I have played in another post, another day.

Hit 'em straight.....................

A golf highlight

2004-10-07T06:32:00.000-04:00

I want to extend a cyber thanks to my generous brother, Dave. He recently attended a charity auction for the Red Cross and outbid everyone for a pass for three to play golf with a member at none other than Oak Hill CC. He offered one spot to me and he and his son, Chris, took the other two. I am sure that the Red Cross thanks him for his monetary gesture, and I want to let all of you know that I thank him for the invitation to join him.

What a fantastic experience! We played the famous East course on Saturday 10/2. It was cool and blustery but we did not care. Just to be able to play on those hallowed grounds made the elements fade just a bit. We did get drenched in a 10 minute downpour, but again, we were being treated to a world class golf course by our host. We had lunch in the grill room, hit Titlest golf balls on the range, practiced missing putts on the fastest greens I have ever played on ( later found out that they were nearly 13 on the stimp meter) and then hit the links. I have to say that while I knew full well where we were playing, I focused on mechanics and kept it in play. I tried not to think about shooting about a million due to weak nerves. After blasting my first drive into perfect position, I/we were off.

Our forecaddy, Brian Funk, was up ahead flagging down any errant shots and offering tremendous insight as to distances and green undulations. Boy, he was good. He spent 5 years caddying on the LPGA before settling here in Rochester.

The sun finally came out on the 15th green and we headed into the final 3 holes in much needed warmth. As I stood over my final drive on the 18th hole I remembered the thrilling end to that PGA Championship last summer. My drive actually ended up about 6 feet from where Shaun Micheel's did on the last day of the tourney. (of course he hit from the tees about 50 yrds behind ours) Our pin placement was on the right side of the green and as I stood over my final approach shot, I envisioned his 7 iron (from 175 yards) soaring to the left side of the green and landing just inches from the cup. I was scared to death, standing there with my measley 4 iron in hand, from the very same spot. Just one more decent shot and I was home free. It ended up on the green about 30 feet from the pin. While I did not hit mine quite as close to the hole has he did, I was no less proud of my shot. Any of you that have played there can attest that the approach shot on 18 is a bit nerve wracking. I managed to curl in my third putt to end my round with a bogey. But I did not care.

I had shot 77 on a course the brought the best to its knees last summer. I had survived. My aim was to keep it under 85 and I certainly did that. This may sound very strange, but that round is probably my finest moment on any golf course at any time in my life. I have shot even par twice and this tops those two rounds. I applied my gift and skills (thanks Dad) of golf to that course and I posted a 77, which is exactly what my handicap says I should have shot. Thanks Dave for the oportunity, and thanks Dad for this game.

here we go

2004-09-10T16:42:00.000-04:00

This is my first post on a brand new blog. I see great things in the future here.....maybe.

I will get things going in shortly. I hope that my obsession with the great game of golf translates well to this blog.

Anyways, hello to all you golfers out there. I look forward to e-meeting all of you.

Dan Crosby