Tags: Round, Golf, Handicap, Course, Prizes, Committee.
It has been some time since my last edition, and there have been some advances in my game.
I played in a club comp on Saturday gone and managed to finish in 4th position.  The Handicap Committee made a reduction to my handicap of 3.5 strokes.  This is a reflection on how my game has progressed over the past mnth or so.  I played again on Sunday, the end result was a 7th place finish which showed the reduction was correct.  Our H/C committee are very astute in their approach and can be heard sharpening their knives on a Friday night in anticipation of the coming weekend.
While I constantly strive towards a lower score, there are those who will do anything to protect their handicap.  These are the fellows who usually play within their own circle of friends and play for small purses.  They know who they are, every club has them in their ranks.  They then come out and play in tournaments where there are big prizes.  I think the term is "Sand-bagging".  Deservidly, this is frowned upon by decent golfers.

I believe a TRUE golfer is one who aims to perfect his game and acheive all he can by regularly entering the weekly comps & monthly medals.

In all I am well pleased with myself and my game. 

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: 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!

Tags: Medal, Round, Tourny, Comp, Golf, Score, Course, Prize, Partner
After playing golf every day last week, and very well I might add, THE GOLF GODS took their pound of flesh.
On Saturday gone, I played in the Major Club Medal.  There was £500.00 worth of prizes up for grabs, with the main prize being a Flat Screen TV.  I won't go into each hole but will say I returned a net 72 after recording 2 x 8's & a 9 on my card.  I cannot blame the weather, I cannot blame the course even though they have top-dressed them.  It was the same for everyone.  I just blew out on three holes.  The only consolation was that my usual playing partner Vic, won the TV with a net score of  67.  I was still  on the prize table in the end. 
I did predict they would take it back but in the middle of the major competition, so malicous.

Tags: Stableford, Par, Birdie, Bogey, Golf, Course, Card, Round, Score, Points
Today I arranged to play with a couple of friends who had time off work.  We made the 1st Tee at 09.00am with great weather, no wind, none of the predicted rain, broken sunshine.  We decided to play Stableford format.  Now this is something to my advantage as I am currently playing off 20 while they are off 10 & 16 respectively.
My drive off the 1st was ugly, in the light rough to the left of the Fairway.  I thought the Golf Gods were going to take their revenge for my previous outing, but I managed to scrape a bogey for it.  From then on all went well and I finished with a very impressive 44 points.  However, we were all square on points on the 17th when John pulled off an incredible Chip-in for Birdie.  I thought OKay, I am the only one of the group to have a shot on the 18th and usually not far away, so might pull off the draw.  Sadly it was not to be as John again pulled out another Birdie.  I ended up losing a £1 coin & my Pro V1 to him as did Gary our other companion.  John carded 47 points & Gary had 39.  All in all, it was a very good mornings golf.

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         5   4   5   5   3   5   3   5   3    6     4     5     6     4     5     6     4     5       83
Points         2   3   2   2   3   3   3   2   4    3     2     2     1     3     3     1     3     2       44

Tags: Round, Score, Shot, Par, Bogie, Birdie, Course, Golf
Well here it is, Todays round.  The weather was very good, sunny with no wind.
I played with 2 other guys one of whom brought a new twist to the game.  He explained that when he plays with his usual squad, they play for the ball on the 18th.  I had never heard of this before, it was either beers, coffee, or lunch, even a quid.  I noticed he teed up with a different ball when we got there.  But he won the lot any way.

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   6  5  5  5  3  5  4  5  4   7    3    4    5    6    4    5    3    6     85

It's a strange game!

Tags: Round, Result, Score, Course, Card, Golf
Looking back on the weekend, it has been a time of mixed fortunes. 
On Saturday, with the exception of the the 1st hole, I had a great round.  Playing off the yellows, I carded a round total of 81.  It seemed I was able to see all the shots in my mind before I played them.  My club selection was very accurate for a change.  My putting was good also.  So finished in a very happy mood.
Then along came Sunday.  We played in a Stableford comp.  All seemed well going along scoring on all holes (either 1, 2, or 3 points) to have 21 at the turn.  Then the course took its revenge for the day before.  I carded 10 points on the back nine for a total of 31.  My companions were 43 & 45 respectively.  needless to say I was very quiet over my Pie & Pint.  It's is a cunning game we play.  We have high expectations of how our game is developing only to be brought back to earth with a resounding crash.  The plus side was the weather, Dry Warm & light cloud.