Golfing Fore Gold The Great Golf Game Course and Club guide

Golf Club benefits and the reasons for becoming a Member

2011-03-02T15:44:00.001Z

You may well be considering joining a golf club as a member - but are unsure of the benefits?

Belonging to a golf club provides many benefits for the golfer. The main part of being a member is the sense of identity gained by supporting both the Course membership base and the course itself. Your involvement and golf activity will help the golf club flourish over time and you will improve your golf dramatically and reduce your golf handicap accordingly....

Read more of this article at Helium

Best Golf balls and why you should always play the same brand

2011-03-01T23:05:00.002Z

The idea of playing with a single brand of golf-ball may seem a bit excessive, however there are reasons and you will discover why choosing what ball to play with is an extremely important decision and I will explain why.

The golf ball has many variants but can be divided between professional and amateur. The amateur ball normally consists of 2 layers and a softer core, giving durability, lowering cost but sacrificing feel and responsiveness. The professional ball (80-mps + club head speed) has 3 layers and a more solid core – with a higher club head speed the ball can still reach incredible distances but has the advantage of being more responsive and softer around the green, especially with a lobbed or wedge club and generates more spin and precision.

Now we have to be focused in golf and why I suggest you only use one brand of golf ball is as follows:

You will take away the chance of inconsistency in the game. There are already too many variations in the game, so why have balls that create another variation? Take for example 10 different balls and they will have varying degrees of different feel and technological innovations. If you use only one type of ball brand you will have produced the sought after keyword = consistency. Each ball will “FEEL” like the last.

Titleist NXT Extreme/Tour

I for example play with Titleist NXT Tour or Extreme, depending on what my American Golf shop can offer. To be honest I prefer the Extreme variation. It is soft for me around the greens and I love putting with this ball. I will not mix up my balls; I only stick to one brand.

Pro V1

I have used Pro V1 before and they handled well but were very fragile. These are Professional balls used the most in Major PGA Tours, but the Urethane Elastomer coating is so soft after a round the ball was in a poor condition. Now if you are a professional this is not a major concern for me the cost outweighs the advantages of this ball.

For the amateur golfer I would recommend staying with one ball that you like the feel of, reduce a variation in your game and learn how the ball reacts over time. The idea of golf is to strive for consistency, so make your ball selection consistent too.

What does GIR Greens in Regulation mean on the Golf Course?

2011-03-01T12:24:00.002Z

GIR or Greens in Regulation is quite simply reaching the putting surface and having two putts left to reach Par.

So for example:

On a Par 3 hole, to get GIR, you must land your first shot on the putting surface. You then have 2 putts left to take to get the par on the hole.
On a Par 5 hole you would need to get onto the green, in 3 shots, leaving you 2 putts for Par again.

Why is this important to me?

Well of course the professionals use this approach as a vital statistic. However for the non-professional golfer it can provide a great opportunity to apply a working strategy on how to get par and therefore reduce your handicap see Golf Course Management and Club Selection.

If you are missing many GIR's on the golf course then you can apply some analysis into why this is happening. Does your short game make you miss GIR? Are your drives from the tee forcing you to have to make impossible shots to reach the green? Are you slicing or drawing from the tee going Out-of-Bounds or into hazards?

Analysis makes improvement in Golf

Once you understand what is going wrong in golf you can make efforts to improve a particular aspect of your game. I work from the principle of resolving the highest error area first. For me at the moment my short game 40-80 yard shots is making me miss many GIR's so this is the area I am currently working on fixing.

Golf Course success with Club Management

2011-02-28T19:29:00.002Z

Many of you may think that when I start talking about Golf Course management that I am discussing office level work or how clubs are run. This however is not what I mean, when I refer to course management what I am talking about is how to negotiate and manage your round of golf. Strategy if prefer.

Break it down

It is most important to remember that you have a long way ahead of you, maybe 4 hours to play your round, depending of course on how many playing partners are with. You will also have to contend with the distance of each hole and how to break this up into manageable "chunks". When I talk about chunks really I mean of course how many shots you will need to get your GIR (Greens in Regulation).

Example on a Par 5

Let's say for example we have a fairly modest 486 yard par 5. On the left is a bunker at about 230 yards and a pond to the right at about 220-250 yards. What club would you take from the tee? Most people will of course reach for their driver, either out of habit or thinking that a long hole requires long hits. Now of course they are bringing two potential hazards into their play.

The best strategy here would be to hit a club with a maximum distance of 200 yards, therefore removing the chance that the hazards will steal your strokes. Let’s say you hit 190 yards with your 6 iron. This is good because you now have only 300 yards to the centre of the green, so that is two 8 iron shots and you have you GIR (2 putts to make par).

Example on a long par 3

Now we have a long par 3 at 190 yards over a river at about 150-170 yards. Slicer Simon steps up to the tee with a 5 iron, does he know that he has a tendency to slice these shots and the maximum he can hit on a good day with this club is 180 yards, let’s say this is a 20% chance. He is introducing here a massive 80% room for error. Slicer Simon however is very good at 40-50 yard pitch shots, so it is a better idea to play short say 140-150 yards sacrificing GIR but giving him a chance to pitch on and putt for Par.

Understanding your limitations

Golf course management in essence is understanding your limitations and a key here is understanding the distance each of your clubs can achieve. It still surprises me when I see people over-shooting greens by at least 2 clubs (30-40 yards in some instances). You have to understand what distance each club can carry. Yes it is dependent on weather, summer and hard ground will mean your clubs have more carry or bounce whereas winter and wet conditions the balls will stop shorter.

In summary then course management or strategy is:

Breaking the hole played into manageable chunks of distance to get GIR

Understanding the distance you can hit each club.

Understanding your weaknesses and of course on a positive front your strengths.

Focusing your concentration when necessary – switch it on and off as required, it is impossible to concentrate solidly for 4 hours.

Remove obstacles by playing short.

Getting away from the habit of using your driver when it is not really necessary

Good luck and may your fairways be wide!

The Golf Clubs I carry and why... an insight into my bag selection

2011-02-27T17:57:00.002Z

Here are the clubs I currently carry and my reasons for doing so:

3 Wood - Wilson Staff Fybrid

4 Iron to Sand-Wedge Jack Nicklaus HiCT

60 degree PING Lob Wedge

White Hot Odyssey Putter

Rescue Club - Taylor Made R7 CGB Max Distance 3

Surely a driver?

What no driver? Well for me I have dropped the driver for the moment as my swing tends to cause punishment if I miss-hit. Nothing is worse than hitting a long ball along way out-of-bounds or into some wooded area, and I have found that the 3 Wood can give me the same distance but with a-lot more accuracy. I am surprised sometimes when people take drivers for holes which don't necessarily need a big hit to get the GIR (greens in regulation leaving 2 putts for par) GIR explained.

What about those Irons?

My irons are a newish addition, having replaced some early Slazengers and I am very confident with what these clubs can do. From the tee they create a big distance with great accuracy and at times my 4 Iron will replace my 3-wood for maximum distance and accuracy. Now there is a slight problem in terms of distances between my pitching-wedge and my sand-wedge and this is making me consider a gap-wedge to fill in the missing yardage between the two clubs.

So what is the point of carrying a lob-wedge if you have a sand wedge?

I purely use my 60 degree lob wedge for very gentle pitches around 50 yards or less and where I want to create maximum stopping power. Often it is necessary to say go over a bunker or another obstacle, and so I want to avoid unnecessary run on the ball and will instead focus my flop as close to the target as possible.

And your putter?

My putter is getting old now but we bonded well. This is the most important club in your whole arsenal, and the one you should feel connected with. Why? Well that's easy - this is the club you will hit the ball with the most in any round.

Take a driver, or in my case a 3 Wood - say I would hot that 6 or 7 times a round. Most of my other clubs the same in differing ratios. HOWEVER my putter I will hit say on average 2 strokes every hole - that's an incredible 36 strokes with one club!

My view has always been when buying a putter, that you should never economise. The price tag is not relevant only how you feel with the club. How well will you bond? Good shops often have sample clubs for you to try on the course or at the driving range which is always a good idea to take advantage of.

Bundsay Downs Golf Course - Rain Play and What NOT to Do

2011-02-26T20:28:00.001Z

My fellow golfers looked at the forecast without trying to turn to religion to increase our chances of holding the rain at bay. I checked the Met Forecast, the BBC both TV and Web - and local regional weather. The rain was due from late morning till late morning. What should we do?

Well we already had tee-times booked in advance for 10am and 10.12am, and I thought if I could drag my heels a little, it would be possible to avoid the worse of the english weather - well at least the early morning part.

After the soaking I got at the Stonebridge society bash on Wednesday, and the fact that my wet-weather gear had only just got dry - I loaded up the car and set off towards ever-growing dark clouds adamant that it would rain early and leave us 3/4 of the round with sun and rainbows.

Alas my golfing optimisim today was my downfall, and that of my playing partners too.

It rained pretty much the whole round with solitary moments of respite adding to the frustration. Michael Schumacher was and for that matter probably still is a master in the rain. I however am not a master at all, and here are my reasons why rain and golf do not mix:

Wet-weather equipment - trousers, jacket, and hat restrict my swing, too many layers makes me feel like an onion.
An Umbrella is an uneccesary distraction.
Rain effects ball flight reducing wind-resistance and forciing me to step-up a club for normal yardage. Where I would hot 7 iron say 170 yards, I now have to adapt and use a 6 iron for the same distance.
My bag is not waterproof and neither is my mobile-phone.
My scorecard is also not waterproof and neither is my scoring pencil.
Putting on water-logged greens is like putting through treacle.
Water dripping from my hat distracts my putting focus.
Once my grips on my clubs get wet, my hands loss position forcing me to hold tighter and therfore swing less freely.
Similarily once my golf-glove gets wet I lose traction and grip harder still.

There tips here:

VideoJug - How to Play Golf in the rain

... however the smiling part I can't agree with

Or you could do as Sandy Lyle did in the 2008 Open at Royal Birkdale

Sandy Lyle walks off the Open due to Rain

There's hope for me yet then and I hear no rain next week

Stableford Scoring System - How it works

2011-02-25T18:45:00.001Z

The Stableford Scoring System – What is it?

Stableford scoring, works in combination with your handicap (whether it is a club handicap or an assumed handicap amoungst a group of friends) awards golfers points for their score on each hole providing the NETT outcome is one over par or better. If not it is considered a BLOB (i.e. no points can be awarded and normally to speed up play a player will pick their ball up as they can’t score on that particular hole).

Stableford has the advantage of ensuring one bad hole does not ruin an entire round of golf. Try this the next time you play it will move you away from the negativity that Stroke-Play can create in your mind and encourage your playing partners to adopt this type of scoring and you will take on a different more positive approach to golf!

How The Stableford Scoring system Works

The Stableford Scoring System works against the par of each hole and points are awarded for any score one over par or better – once handicap deductions have been made.

It connects to the Stroke Index, or SI, of a hole being played. For example the SI indicates how hard a hole is considered to be – so an 18 hole course will have each hole rated from SI 1 to 18, with SI 1 being the hardest hole to play and SI 18 being the easiest. Look for this next on your scorecard, it WILL BE clearly labeled.

Whereas in a medal or strokeplay competition you need to complete every hole, in Stableford you can knock a poor hole off the card and move onto the next one – particularly if you are two over par or more. This is already mentioned as a BLOB and you can’t score any points.

The Points Table

The scoring system is simple with the following NETT scores resulting in the following points:

Two over par or more 0 points – the dreaded BLOB – pick up your ball please

One over par = 1 point

Level par = 2 points

One under par = 3 points

Two under par = 4 points

Three under par = 5 points

The handicap of a player will determine how many shots he/she receives on each hole, with the shots received starting with the hardest hole on the course (SI 1) and working upwards from there. For example, an 18-handicap golfer would get a shot off his/her score on every hole whilst a 10-handicap golfer will get a shot off every hole starting from Stroke Index 1 to Stroke Index 10. Your scorecard given to you at the start of a round of golf will indicate the SI for each and every hole.

For an 18-handicap golfer, shooting a five on a par four hole would result in a nett four with the allocated shot deducted. Therefore, that would earn him or her two points under the Stableford Rules for a nett par. Similarly, a par four would result in a birdie three with the one shot deduction and therefore a Stableford points score of three.

GROSS and NETT

Do not get confused with GROSS and NET.

A Gross score is your score BEFORE your handicap is applied. Once your handicap has been applied it will then be NETT and you can then take Stableford Points..

My example and my handicap

I play off of an 18-handicap, I shoot 5 on a par 4 hole (5 is my GROSS score BUT my handicap awards me 1 stroke which gives me a NETT of 4) therefore I am awarded 2 Stableford Points.

Braintree Golf Club - Stonebridge Society competition

2011-02-25T08:48:00.002Z

Well the first competition got under way for the Stonebridge society at Braintree Golf Club near Stisted in Essex. There were 20 players and although this was a non-scoring events in terms of the Grand Prix, prizes were given for 1st 2nd and closest-to-the-pin which I managed to win!

One problem which was expected was rain. And rain it did over the whole round.

I discovered my play is effected massively by wet-weather equipment and once my club grips get wet my confidence plummits. The greens in particuliar were effected with water not soaking away and leaving the greens in a very poor condition to get those important 2 putts.

The course itself was close to being shut for play, but considering the event had been booked for 3 weeks before had, us hardened 20 souls ventured out.

The point scoring reflected the bad conditions with the winner coming in with 30 Stableford points followed by second on 24. I felt an odd pang of dissapointment and only managed to get into double figure (14 points) with more blobs than I dare to think about.

For more information about this fantastic course see the link below

Braintree Golf Club, Essex, England

Short Game PW SW and a Lob Wedge from 35 yards to 150 yards

2011-02-20T12:59:00.002Z

Well I went to the range and discovered some interesting factors - I try to concentrate on my short game at the moment, because as I see it this part of the game costs me so many shots. Now I can drive very well from the tee, mostly using a 4 or 5 iron to take me 190-220 yards, HOWEVER my problem is taking fat-shots into the green when I have only 100 to 60 yards to go.

So now I purely focus on improving the short pitch or chip shot into the green to get my GIR and allow me to 2 putt.

OF course from the Driving Range mat I think there is some forgiveness becuase the material (Astroturf) does not allow for the club to dig in like it might in winter - so it has some forgiveness. I thought abotu this today. But still my shots were generally strong because of 2 reasons:

1) I put 60% weight onto my front foot and accentuated my stance to be more forward than normal, this included tilting my hands forwards until they sit over my left thigh, then I openend my club-face about 10 degrees.

2) During the backswing I kept arms straighter than normal with no wrist-snap.

3) Forward swing really only got me back to my original position, making sure my hands were in front of the ball during contact

4) Forcefully stopped the swing early about waist height - to prevent wrist-snap

With my 60 degree Lob Wedge I was hitting upto 50 yards, SW was upto 80 yards, PW 80 to 120 yards, then a 9 or 8 iron as required upto 150

All from the mat!

How I like to Putt... my golfing technique and focus

2011-02-19T14:55:00.002Z

For some putting is the hardest part of the game but for me it is the most gentle part. Of course technique is key here, but so is a good mental view-point. Often I will visualise the putt in my mind, seeking the line in my mind's-eye.

The set-up I use is 2 practice warm-up swings getting the feel for how the ball will travel from the putter. This helps me ascertain distance. Next is a good-read looking at how the slopes will effect the ball direction, left, right or up or down.

I keep an eye out for any impediment that will slow the ball, be it a leaf, piece of dirt or a small stone for example. Then of course remove the obstacle!

Next I breathe deep to calm myself and then prepare the shot in my mind again.

The success will come from firstly getting GIR and then ALWAYS 2 putting, never 3 putt :)

There is always the chance that your first putt will sink..