My inital intent was to keep a online log of my progression into the world of golf, but some where along the way I figured nobody really gave a shit what I did on the golf course, so I began to transform this blog into a more golf orenitated type blog, but after realizing that there are about a million of those blogs out there and other priorities that have come up in my own life I decided to put an end to this blog.  Instead I will put my focus on life and family.  I will still contiune to play golf and strive to become a better player but in the end golf is just a game that i enjoy playing.  On september 7th this blog will go silent and presence of it will be removed from the internet.

I don’t profess to be the next Tiger Woods, but since I started playing I have made strides along the way. You play this game for the hope of that one great shot, that’s what keeps you coming back for more time again, This game also has the ability to lull you into a false sense of security when it comes to how you think you have improved.

I was at the point with my game, that I felt comfortable with the progress I have made, and maybe I started getting a little cocky, possibly thinking I was better then I actually was. So when I went out for a round of golf recently, I was feeling  good and honestly expected to go out there and shoot well, I couldn’t have been more wrong, I started off on the 1st hole with a good drive and good second shot that got me on the green, leaving me a 30 foot putt that I knew I could get close to hole and make a birdie, it was at this point that the golf gods stopped smiling down at me.  Instead of having a 3 foot putt for birdie, I blasted the ball right by the hole and was left with a 10 foot putt downhill from the other side of the hole,  ultimately I ended up shooting a bogey on that hole.

After  four-putting the Par 3, 3rd hole, I realized at this point that this day was not going to go the way I thought and it continued that way for the rest of the round. I will forever refer to this day as three-putt Friday, because I don’t think I had a anything less then 3 putts on any hole.

 Golf has a way of humbling you, it’s alot like Baseball in that way, you have good days and you have Bad days, you never quite know when the Bad ones are going to show up and you better enjoy the good ones, because they are few and far between.

 

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This was sent to me the other day by one of my golf buddies, if i’m not mistaken I believe they made a commerical out of this.

 

Just as he was about to tee off an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone.

Not being able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him.

To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn’t hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn’t waste much time.

Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball – and directly between his ball and the green.

After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, “You know, when I was your age I’d hit the ball right over that tree.”

With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay.

The old man offered one more comment, “Of course, when I was your age that pine tree was only 3 feet tall.”

 

 

 

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LAW 1: No matter how bad your last shot was, the worst is yet to come. This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a summer and, eventually, a lifetime.

LAW 2: Your best round of golf will be followed almost immediately by your worst round ever. The probability of the latter increases with the number of people you tell about the former.

LAW 3: Brand new golf balls are water-magnetic. Though this cannot be proven in the lab, it is a known fact that the more expensive the golf ball, the greater its attraction to water.

LAW 4: Golf balls never bounce off of trees back into play. If one does, the tree is breaking a law of the universe and should be cut down.

LAW 5: No matter what causes a golfer to muff a shot, all his playing partners must solemnly chant "You looked up," or invoke the wrath of the universe.

LAW 6: The higher a golfer’s handicap, the more qualified he deems himself as an instructor.

LAW 7: Every par-three hole in the world has a secret desire to humiliate golfers. The shorter the hole, the greater its desire.

LAW 8: Topping a 3-iron is the most painful torture known to man.

LAW 9: Palm trees eat golf balls.

LAW 10: Sand is alive. If it isn’t, how do you explain the way it works against you?

LAW 11: Golf carts always run out of juice at the farthest point from the clubhouse.

LAW 12: A golfer hitting into your group will always be bigger than anyone in your group. Likewise, a group you accidentally hit into will consist of a football player, a professional wrestler, a convicted murderer and an IRS agent — or some similar combination.

LAW 13: All 3-woods are demon-possessed.

LAW 14: Golf balls from the same "sleeve" tend to follow one another, particularly out of bounds or into the water (see Law three)

LAW 15: A severe slice is a thing of awesome power and beauty.

LAW 16: "Nice lag" can usually be translated to "lousy putt." Similarly, "tough break" can usually be translated "way to miss an easy one, sucker."

LAW 17: The person you would most hate to lose to will always be the one who beats you.

LAW 18: The last three holes of a round will automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.

LAW 19: Golf should be given up at least twice per month.

LAW 20: All vows taken on a golf course shall be valid only until the sunset of the same day.

A water hazard on a golf course is a lot like a pothole in the middle of the road. You want to avoid both at all cost, but sometimes that’s easier said then done.

Executing a successful golf shot over a water hazard is a common complaint among golfers. Unless you avoid playing any courses with water hazards, You’re going to be forced to deal with them whether you like it or not.

There are two factors to consider when you are trying to hit over a water hazard.  The first factor is your mental approach. The best advice I ever received was to think positive.  The first thought most golfers have when there faced with a hitting a shot over a pond, lake, etc is there is no way I’m going to hit it over the water. If you think Negative most of the time, The result will not be a good one.

The second factor is actually hitting a good shot. The Natural reaction for most golfers is to try and hit the ball up and over the water, Most golfers try to help the ball up and over by lifting it with the club. 

In golf the loft of the clubface does the lifting, anytime we lift on our part totally defeats this purpose. When we lift, we lift all of the club including the clubface and head, which then hits only the upper portion of the ball, that results in a topped shot, as a result the topped shot goes downward and directly into the water.

Remembering that golf is a game of opposites, we want it to feel like we are hitting the ball downwards and into the water. By doing this you are actually driving the club head down under the ball and the lofted club face lifts the ball up and over the water.

So, on your next round of golf try applying these two factors. Once your successful at doing this, you will quickly learn that it works, and you fear of water hazards will stop.  It will also be easier on your wallet in the end, and you won’t be spending money to replace the balls you lost.

Ben Crane shot  7 under, to fire a 65 on the day. He kept the ball on land and only needed 22 putts on the day.  He has a one shot lead over John Mallinger, Richard S. Johnson and Alex Cejka.

Tiger Woods struggled with his putting all day long to shoot  1 under for 71 on the day. He didn’t make a Putt longer then 4 feet.

Defending Champion Sergio Garcia also shot a 71 on the first day of the players championship and is 6 shots back heading into friday.

Phil Mickelson fired three straight birdies, but only hit four greens in regulation the rest of the way to shoot a 73 on the day. This is the first time he failed to break par in the opening round on the TPC Sawgrass in eight years.

Tee times for Round 2 are listed below:

TPC Sawgrass Tee #10
Time	Players
12:20 pm	Wilson, Dean	Mediate, Rocco	Moore, Ryan
12:30 pm	Herron, Tim	O’Hern, Nick	Mallinger, John
12:40 pm	Pavin, Corey	Jacobson, Fredrik	Duke, Ken
12:50 pm	Byrd, Jonathan	Austin, Woody	Curtis, Ben
1:00 pm	Turnesa, Marc	Romero, Andres	Ogilvie, Joe
1:10 pm	Cink, Stewart	Holmes, J.B.	Stenson, Henrik
1:20 pm	Goosen, Retief	Yang, Y.E.	Watney, Nick
1:30 pm	Singh, Vijay	Howell III, Charles	Hoffman, Charley
1:40 pm	Lowery, Steve	Chopra, Daniel	Goydos, Paul
1:50 pm	Senden, John	Donald, Luke	Poulter, Ian
2:00 pm	Armour III, Tommy	Hart, Dudley	Rose, Justin
2:10 pm	Bohn, Jason	Overton, Jeff	McIlroy, Rory

TPC Sawgrass Tee #1
Time	Players
12:20 pm	Allen, Michael	Laird, Martin	Singh, Jeev M.
12:30 pm	Rollins, John	Estes, Bob	McDowell, Graeme
12:40 pm	Lonard, Peter	Wi, Charlie	Kresge, Cliff
12:50 pm	Weekley, Boo	Immelman, Trevor	Funk, Fred
1:00 pm	Johnson, Richard S.	Wagner, Johnson	Verplank, Scott
1:10 pm	Woods, Tiger	Leonard, Justin	Els, Ernie
1:20 pm	Love III, Davis	Weir, Mike	Toms, David
1:30 pm	Johnson, Zach	Garcia, Sergio	Choi, K.J.
1:40 pm	McNeill, George	Flesch, Steve	Appleby, Stuart
1:50 pm	Petrovic, Tim	Van Pelt, Bo
2:00 pm	Mayfair, Billy	Goggin, Mathew	Jaidee, Thongchai
2:10 pm	Elkington, Steve	Thompson, Nicholas	Kjeldsen, Soren

TPC Sawgrass Tee #10
Time	Players
7:20 am	Matteson, Troy	McCarron, Scott	Merrick, John
7:30 am	Henry, J.J.	Sutherland, Kevin	Piercy, Scott
7:40 am	Pernice, Jr., Tom	Quigley, Brett	Davis, Brian
7:50 am	Bradley, Michael	Palmer, Ryan
8:00 am	Beckman, Cameron	MacKenzie, Will	Couples, Fred
8:10 am	Ogilvy, Geoff	Harrington, Padraig	Stricker, Steve
8:20 am	Mickelson, Phil	Johnson, Dustin	Scott, Adam
8:30 am	O’Hair, Sean	Gay, Brian	Perez, Pat
8:40 am	Reavie, Chez	Campbell, Chad	Hamilton, Todd
8:50 am	Kuchar, Matt	Streelman, Kevin	Karlsson, Robert
9:00 am	Taylor, Vaughn	Quinney, Jeff	Kaymer, Martin
9:10 am	Bryant, Bart	Glover, Lucas	Haas, Bill

TPC Sawgrass Tee #1
Time	Players
7:20 am	Clark, Tim	Adamonis, Brad
7:30 am	Cejka, Alex	Na, Kevin
7:40 am	Crane, Ben	Wilkinson, Tim	Fisher, Ross
7:50 am	Wilson, Mark	Kraft, Greg	Ames, Stephen
8:00 am	Pettersson, Carl	Mahan, Hunter	Baddeley, Aaron
8:10 am	Villegas, Camilo	Sabbatini, Rory	Allenby, Robert
8:20 am	Cabrera, Angel	Perry, Kenny	Furyk, Jim
8:30 am	Kelly, Jerry	Casey, Paul	Kim, Anthony
8:40 am	McLachlin, Parker	Imada, Ryuji	Trahan, D.J.
8:50 am	Letzig, Michael	Green, Nathan	Marino, Steve
9:00 am	Pampling, Rod	Baird, Briny	Simpson, Webb
9:10 am	Axley, Eric	Slocum, Heath	Watson, Bubba
9:20 am	Dufner, Jason	Klauk, Jeff	Bettencourt, Matt

Did you Know that May is PGA free Lesson month, you can improve your game with a free 10-minute lesson from any PGA/LPGA Professional go to http://www.playgolfamerica.com/index.cfm?action=flm to schedule your free 10 minute lesson during the month of May.

Tiger woods will be heading to TPC Sawgrass to play in the Players Championship(May 7-May10). Tiger’s one and only Players Championship win came in 2001.

Past Champions of the event in the filed are Sergio Garcia, Stephen Ames, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Fred Funk, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott.  Other Notables in the event include Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Stewart Cink,Sean O’Hair And Angel Cabrera.

Television coverage is as follows:

Golf Channel 1pm – 7pm(est)   Thursday 5/7

Golf Channel 1pm-7pm(est) Friday 5/8

NBC 2pm-7pm(est)  Saturday 5/9

NBC 2pm-7pm(est) Sunday 5/10

Purse is $9,500,000

winning Share: $1.71 million

Facts about The Players Championship:

145 players in the field

52 Players are from outside the United States

19 countries are represented

eighteen players are making their first start at The Players.

I took a trip up to the Marjon Golf Course for one final tune up, I usually go there to work out some of the bugs in my game before I start venturing out to some of the the other courses I play.

It was a cool damp day, with a slight breeze. The course was wet and the greens were soaked in  dew. Overall the course wasn’t in bad shape but some of the greens had some brown spots on them, but it is still early in the season up here and the courses are still recovering from the long hard winter we had up here the north east.

On the day, I couldn’t hit my driver for anything, still dealing with a slight slice, It will straigten itself out as the season progresses.  I was hitting my irons very well, particulary my 7 & 9 irons.  Overall on the day I had a lot of two putts, but that was because the greens were very slow and wet, I just wasn’t hitting the ball hard enough to get it the hole, I was struggling mostly with the speed then my line.

I ended up shooting a 43 on the day, which I was pleased with but I know could be better.   Still toying with the idea of playing another round there, but I proably won’t, as I am anxious to get out to some other courses.

How far Am I supposed to hit each club?  What is the golf club distance?   These are the two most asked questions from new golfers.

How far you hit each club depends on a lot of factors:  The clubs you are using, The balls, the conditions in which you play, your gender and age, your physical fitness, coordination, athleticism, your swing speed and how solidly you connect with the ball. 

Each person’s club distance varies from golfer to golfer. One person’s 5-Iron distance may be another person’s 3-Iron distance. The bottom line, There is no wrong golf club distance, There is only your golf club distance. Knowing your distance is far more important, than knowing how far  each club is supposed to go.

The one thing you need to get out of your head is how far the pros’s hit their clubs. The pros’s practice everyday & have swing coaches to help them get the Maximum distance out of each and everyone of their clubs.  This is something I think all beginners go through.  The best thing you can do for yourself is go to the driving range and hit each of your clubs(hit 10 or 15 balls with each club).  For example, Let’s take your 7-Iron, hit 10 balls with that club, remember not to rush through all 10 balls, hit them like you would on the golf course, see how far each of the balls go, then you will have an approximate average distance  for each club.  Continue to do so with every club in your bag, when you all done you’ll have an idea what your distance is for each club.  When you on the course please remember to take in consideration the playing conditions(windy, rain, etc) for that day, as this will affect how far you will be able to hit each club. You will quickly learn weather your a long or short hitter, Regardless of the outcome, Hitting it far doesn’t always guarantee a lower score.

I’ve listed below a yardage chart, but please remember golf club distance varies from person to person based on many different factors that I’ve already highlighted above.

Club Distance Chart

Club	Beginner	Avg	Pro
Woods
1	170+	220+	250+
3	160-170	200-220	220-240
5	150-160	180-200	200-220
Irons
2	160-170	200-220	225-240
3	150-160	190-200	215-225
4	140-150	175-190	200-215
5	125-140	165-175	185-200
6	115-125	155-165	170-185
7	105-115	145-155	155-170
8	90-105	135-145	145-155
9	80-90	125-135	135-145
P-W	60-80	100-125	115-135
S-W	40-60	80-100	90-115

 

One thing you’ll notice is that the numbers rarely ever match up with the chart, because golf club distance depends more on the player and not necessarily the clubs themselves.