Tags: Golf, Round, Play, Carnoustie, Course, Championship, Scotland, Stableford, Birdie
As I write this edition, my mates & I have just finished booking 3 days play at Carnoustie (Scotland) in May 2008.  This is in the form of a package deal with the Burnside on the 3rd, Buddon Links on the 4th, finishing on the 5th with a round on the Championship course.  Caddies are a must for the whole experience.  (we are also getting older, bag getting heavier).  The cost to each of us is a staggering £145.00 ($299) Cheap as chips! 
I hear tell if you manage to play to your handicap (stroke play) on the Championship course you are presented with a medal in celebration of the achievement.
http://www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk/ind ex.php

A £1 coin & a Pro V1
I played with a friend on Wednesday, he insisted we play Stableford.   He is reluctant to give any shots if he can help it.  It started out as a frosty morning, cold but no breeze.  Wrapped up against the weather, I tee'd up on the first, pulling the shot to the left.  Second shot went straight into the heart of a collection of gorse (ball gone) I was not looking for that one.  From then on it was all good.
My card.
Hole           1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18    Total
Par             4   4   4   4   3   5   3   4   4    5     3     4     4     4     4     4     3     4       70
Score         7   4   4   5   4   5   4   5   3    6     6     5     4     5     5     5     4     3       84
Points        0   4   3   2   2   3   2   2   4    2     0     2     3     2     3     2     2     4       42

To cut a long story short, he won the £1 for overall points (beat me by 1), but I took his Pro v1 with my birdie on the last.

Tags: Bogey, Birdie, Round, Lob wedge, Golf, Putt, Tee, Green.
Yesterday (Sunday) I went down to the club for our weekly dose of self-abuse (was at a football match on Saturday). 
As we walked into the clubhouse to register for the Comp, we spied the notice board. It read "Winter Tees now in Play, Preferred lies on all fairways (mats = horrible immitation grass strips).  We were filled with shock & awe. 
Our Greenkeeping staff have managed the course in a fantastic way this year with one exception (I feel).  They didn't roll the tee boxes during last winter.  Hopefully they will take advantage this year.  They have prepared Teeing areas in front of or beside the normal boxes, but they are still very uneven for the most part. As a result we are either standing above or below the lie of the ball.  We can take great consolation in the fact that we still play the normal greens.
The comp was an "Enter on Arrival" played to "Bogey" format.  Easy enough for the brain cells, it's a + for birdie, 0 for par, and - for bogey.  It dosen't take a lot to keep track of the scores.  My playing partners play off 7 & 16, while I am still off 20 (age & medical condition dictates), they were not very amused with the format, at least in stableford they have a chance to score at every hole even when they aren't playing so well.
I played a steady round, but only managed to return a score of +1, but they were feeling totally dejected after carding - 6 & - 9 respectively. 
Back in the club house we performed our usual autopsy on the round, and much to my delight I found I hit 12 out of 15 fairways from the Tee & 10 greens in regulation.  My Putting was a bit haphazard in places, but my chipping around the green was very good.  I was only in one bunker from which I was up & down.
65nlovenit gave me some great advice for using my lob wedge on this site (big thanks & respect) which has helped me immensely.
All in all it was not a bad day, with the only real downside being having to play off the mats on the fairway.  I do make some poor iron shots from them.  I do play very good F/way woods from them though. 
At least I have gotten over my recent injury (thanks to all who showed concern) and can now fully enjoy the game again.  My days off work fall mid-week so I will be back!

Tags: Instruction, golf, Friend, course, swing, putt, chip, pitch, Glayva
As I post this latest addition to my blog, Vic & I are demolishing a bottle of Glayva (sorry for any future  spelling mistakes).  We are venturing out to the course tomorrow (Saturday) and he is picking elements of my game in need of redevelopment. (all of it he says) 
He has identified several key areas where I could "easily" shave strokes from my handicap.
1) When chipping/pitching, I have a tendancy to be 'handsy' (his words) instead of turning though with my body towards the target, I flick my wrists over causing inconsistancy in my distance/direction control.
2) We agreed I have not been positioning the ball directly below my eyeline at address when putting & am positioning the ball slightly behind centre of my stance. 
3) I am not completing the follow through and am finishing my swing short. This is due to me not turning fully towards the target with my belt buckle facing just to the left. As a result I am pushing the ball to the right.

I have now found that so long as he is keeping the Glayva flowing, I will listen to every word of his advice.
He has just told me it will be evident in my game tomorrow, remembering that the 1st Tee shot is over a burn.

Vic is currently playing off 7 and is a sincere playing partner who would only inpart sound advice if it were truly required to enable me to reduce my current handicap towards its former status. (he is sitting beside me at present)

I will update this blog upon my return.  If he is as wise a sage as his years predict, then I shall be in line for a drastic cut to bring me down to size.  If I remember what he told me!