Saturday, June 30, 2012

Don't Miss the 2012 Ryder Cup - It's the Best Theater You'll Watch in Golf

For golf fans who have never watched a Ryder Cup competition I strongly recommend that you watch this year's competition. The Ryder Cup began in 1927 and was created with the intention of being a friendly golf match played between Europe and America with the qualities of sportsmanship, honesty and integrity being upheld throughout the competition.

From 1927 to 1985 the American side dominated the competition. From 1985 to 1995 Europe and America were about equal. While from 1995 forward, Europe has dominated. Europe won the last Ryder Cup in 2010, held at Celtic Manor in Wales. This year the Ryder Cup is being played at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, IL, USA. The Americans will have home field advantage with loyal fans encouraging them on.

I am not partisan to either team but thoroughly enjoy the partiranship demonstrated by members of both sides. The players take a great deal of pride in representing their team and they place a great deal of pressure on themselves to win for their side. Such pride and desire is the foundation that will generate great theater during the competition. Any of the players who have played the Ryder Cup walk away from the competition with life time memories. In later years, many of them captain a Ryder Cup team with the same pride, determination, sportsmanship and dedication that they played with during their playing days. In so doing, the spirit of the Ryder Cup passes from one generation of golfers to another.

This year's European team is captained by Jose Maria Olazabal. His vice captains are: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, and Paul McGinley. No doubt the memories of Seve Ballesteros will influence the passion and be a source of motivation for the European team. Seve loved this competition and was a formidable advocate of its form. With Darren Clarke as a vice captain, can you imagine what the victory party will be like if they win? I bet they will see the sun come up, if they win!

The American team is captained by Davis Love III. His assistants are: Fred Couples, Jeff Sluman, Scott Verplank and Mike Hulbert. The American team, no doubt, are in good hands as well.

The Ryder Cup will be played at the Medinah Country Club, Medinah, IL, USA. I particularly enjoy watching golf played on golf courses from north eastern locations of the USA. The broad leaf trees adds a nice character to TV broadcast. The Medinah Country Club golf holes are well lined with broad leaf trees. So I am positive the event will be visually pleasing to watch.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

How to Survive Your First Round With a New Golf Rangefinder

You've done all your homework and found the best golf GPS for your style of play. It finally arrives, so you charge it up and head out to the course confident that it's going to help you knock the pins out of the hole. You get to the first tee, turn it on and it doesn't find your golf course right away. You press buttons hoping for something, anything. You even turn it off and back on again. Distracted, you rush up and hit your first shot of the day... into the trees.

Here are three keys to surviving your first round of golf with your brand new golf GPS:

    Prepare ahead of time. Whhle the device is charging, look at the instructions. If none came with it, go online to the manufacturer's website and you should find them under the "Support" section. Get familiar with which buttons do what. Turn on the device and see if you can do a demo or preview mode. Make sure you know where to look for the distance to the middle of the green. That's the most important information on any golf GPS. It will really pay off if you know how to navigate from one screen or view to another. Make sure you always know how to get back to the default screen.

    As soon as you arrive at the golf course, power it up and let the satellites get locked in. Sometimes this can take a little while, especially if the last time it was shut down, it was in a different state. On your first day, make sure you get to the course a little early, so that when you get to the firrt tee, it's ready to go. You don't want to be fighting your GPS before you even start your day.

    Don't try to do too much with it during the first round. Stay away from the buttons as much as possible. Most golf GPS rangefinders will auto-advance from hole to hole and you might not even need to touch them during the round. There will be temptation to try all the bells and whistles, but while you're getting used to having it, don't let it distract you from playing your game. Remember, distance to the middle of the green is your friend!

Some golfers like and can handle lots of detailed information during their rounds and others, just want the basics. Know what works best for you and allow your golf GPS to help your game, rather than become a distraction.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Golf Beginner Tips: How and Where to Properly Tee Up a Golf Ball

Being able to place your golf ball on a tee provides a distinct advantage over hitting the ball off the ground. Players new to golf often find it difficult to get the ball airborne. By teeing the ball up and lifting it off the ground, you are able to get the ball airborne much easier. You also are able to greatly reduce the possibility of grass getting between the club face and the ball, promoting more solid contact with the ball, i.e. better ball-striking.

If you're new to golf, here's one of the most simple golf beginner tips you can use: Always use a tee! You should always take advantage of hitting from a tee when you are allowed. To do this, you need to know the "how" and "where" of teeing up a ball.

How to tee up the ball. To tee up a golf ball, start by placing the tee between your index finger and middle finger or between the middle finger and ring finger. Place the ball on the top, or head, of the tee and hold it in place with your palm. Place the pointed end of the tee on the ground and apply pressure with your palm, which will force the tee into the ground. You can use your thumb or fingers to push the tee into the ground, but this is harder to do, especially on ground that is hard and dry, and can hurt your thumb or fingers. Make sure the tee is as straight up and down as possible when it's in the ground, as your ball will need to balance on the head of the tee. Place the ball on the head of the tee and prepare to take your shot.

Where to tee up the ball. Under the rules of golf, the only place on the course where you are allowed to tee up the ball is the tee box. The tee box on each hole is denoted by a set of two markers, one on each side, spread perpendicular to the direction of the fairway and/or green. The tee box is the rpace between the two markers and extends two club lengths back from there, forming an "imaginary" rectangle. You must tee the ball within this rectangle, never in front of our outside of the markers, in order to play your shot within the rules. It is OK for your feet and body to be outside the imaginary rectangle that defines the tee box as long as the ball is within it when you make contact to put it in play.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The Golf Channel and A Country Club's Reputation

The other day, I was watching the golf channel, and I know you are laughing because that's not a very exciting sport to watch, but there is one player who I often like to watch, a well-known golfer and he was doing quite well during this latest championship match. Because there was a drought situation in the area the greens were not exactly as pristine as they should have been. The golfer made a comment about the rough grass, and bad patches. Now mind you they were playing at a very well-known country club, one with a long history and a good reputation.

Of course, if one of the top golfers in the world starts stating matter-of-factly when interviewed about his game, and the course overall and starts stating the reality of the situation in a negative light that has to hurt the country club's reputation. That means it will hurt property values because this country club also had some very exotic looking in fine homes surrounding the fairways. It seems to be a Catch-22 having the golf channel play on all the cable networks for all to see during these championship rounds.

Of course, in this particular case it wasn't the country clubs fault because the weather had been very harsh and dry. These events are scheduled in advance, and no one knows if the weather will be perfect that day, however they do try to schedule them during the best part of the season for that particular region. Even a very harsh windy day, or cold weather where all the golfers are wearing jackets probably doesn't play well for the reputation of the club, or the surrounding real estate values.

Now then, when everything is great, it can provide a major amount of in flowing money to the local economy and increase the status of the course and the club. Perhaps you've seen the great pictures of Pebble Beach, and the golf channel always tries to get in the best shot of the vistas in the background, and the ocean below. Indeed, I live out in a golfing community with over 150 golf courses out here in the California desert. The PGA Tour event comes by each year, and it brings tons of visitors and tourist dollars into our city.

However, I can remember they had to switch golf courses when the wind kicked up in excess of 70 miles per hour, blowing over tables, chairs, and canopies all of which not only made the major media, but it was all over the golf channel that they had to switch courses. That's not very good for business. Do you see my point? Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.