Golf Blog by The Orlando Golf Blogger

Have you ever thought about golf and what it is that draws us like moths to a flame? Really, if you think about it, it’s a pretty tough question to answer.

What makes golf so addicting?

It’s certainly not the insane amounts of money you’ll invest in greens fees, golf equipment you’ll replace annually, gloves that will wear out, golf balls that you’ll dunk into the drink and lessons you’ll never remember, all resulting in virtually no ROI.

Nor is it the countless frustrating moments you’ll encounter during a round due to slices, hooks, pushes, pulls, thins, fats, chunks, blades, shorts, longs, and worst of all, three putts.

Lets not forget the numerous hours logged on the range, putting greens, reading golf publications, golf websites, swing tips, youtube golf videos, rounds of golf, and researching the next big thing guaranteed to fix your game.

Nor the many sleepless nights where you lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, reflecting on your most recent round of golf, breaking your swing down into individual frames, and then in your mind, comparing those frames to the other individual frames you have of a certain #1 golfer in the world with questionable morals..

We do all this for a sport where 90% of all the players will never achieve anything greater than below average.

Why? Why do we dedicate our lives to this entity who seems to delight in our misery and who by all accounts appears to be a very cruel spirit.

I don’t have the answer, but I have a theory.

Golf gives us hope.

I came across a brilliant quote in this book I’m reading called, “The Golf Book: 101 Great Stories from the Course and the Clubhouse.”

Golf at its core might be a vile game, but it is not without its charms, among them the shelf life of hope. It has no expiration date. – John Strege

We’ve all experienced it, that one round where everything was falling apart, and those flaws in your swing that you thought were LONG gone, resurface with a vengeance. Just when you’re about ready to call it quits and donate your clubs to charity, you have that perfect hole, where you crank it down the fairway 300 yards off the tee and you knock your second shot to within two feet for a birdie putt (which of course lips out, golf isn’t that generous ). You walk off the green with your head held high thinking “you know, I think I’m getting the hang of this game.”

Or better yet, you have that amazing round where you shoot well outside of your handicap zone (and it’s usually with strangers who end up labeling you a sandbagger…) and you feel like all that hard work has started paying off.

These moments give us hope for our game and I like to think that we take that with us after we leave the course and at least for a bit, we can look at the world with slightly rose colored lenses.

Or, if nothing else, have something to brag about for a while..

Why do you play golf?

A couple weeks ago, I sent out an email blast to some folks asking for their participation in the create a logo for OGB contest. I wasn’t very specific on what I wanted other than OGB and the url.

Here’s what they came up with, vote for which logo you like the best.

Voting will be open until 11:59pm on March 12th.

Winner gets bragging rights and some financial compensation.

Logo #1

Logo #2

Logo #3

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Many thanks to those who participated!

The Little Linksters is a junior golf program in Orlando, FL (eventually nationwide! ) for children ages three-eight. My good friend PGA Golf Professional and Head Golf Pro out at Winter Park Country Club, Brendon Elliott created the program a couple years back and has made some great progress in developing the curriculum.

Little Linksters Junior Golf Program is a great way to introduce all your aspiring PGA & LPGA junior golfers to the game we all love. The concepts introduced to the children are very simple to learn and it’s delivered in a fun and interactive way combining traditional and non-traditional golf teaching methods where there’s always an emphasis on fun.

Little Linksters – Orlando Junior Golf Program Information

• Program Runs in Five Week Sessions
• Each Session is One Hour
• Two Age Groups: 3-4 Years, 5-8 Years
• Limited to 10 Kids per Age Group

CURRENTLY OFFERED AT:

StarChild Academy (StarChild Students Only) – Lake Mary, FL

City of Deltona (OPEN TO ALL!) – Deltona, FL

Legacy Academy (Legacy Students Only) – Lake Mary, FL

My four year old Aiden, attended a couple sessions last year when they were using the SNAG Golf Clubs and he loved it. You can read about it here.

Little Linksters Weeks One & Two

Little Linksters Weeks Three & Four

We’re going to be attending the new session kicking off March 6th, 2010 out in the City of Deltona.

As part of the new Little Linksters Junior Golf Program, they’re going to begin the program using the US Kids Golf Training Clubs and eventually transition over to the Littlest Golfer Clubs. They’re also going to be using Almost Golf Balls, Almost Golf Targets, The Golfers Footprint, Eyeline Golf Training Aids and few other gadgets thrown in for good measure.

The entire five week session only costs $60 per child at the City of Deltona location and the other locations are $75 per child.

If you have a child who has shown some interest in the game, or if you are looking for a way to introduce your child to golf, the Little Linksters Junior Golf Program is a great way to do so.

Let me know if you’re going to be out there Saturday, I’d love to meet you!

Our good friend John Duval from over at IntoTheGrain.com created a 4 minute video on Regripping Golf Clubs.

Check it out.

Regripping Golf Clubs

How often you should regrip your golf clubs depends on how often you play and the type of grips you use. Golf Pride recommends once a year or every 40 rounds.  The price for per club is $7 for labor plus the grip, so if you do all your clubs every year, you’re looking at around $100 bucks per year.

That’s a couple rounds of golf, a new club, a new bag, some new digs, golf balls, etc..

I’m not a very big DIY guy, but John makes it look easy enough, that I think even I could do it without screwing it up. Of Course, if you watch any master of a particular craft, they ALWAYS make it look easy. I was obsessed with those wood carving shows for a while, the guys would build an entire entertainment center in an hour and NEVER make a mistake and I have trouble putting together a book case using the instructions without screwing up!

If you don’t have any of the supplies for regripping golf clubs, Golfsmith will sell the entire kit (minus the vice) for $39.99.

GOLFSMITH Regripping Supply Kit Golfsmith Regripping Supply Kit : The Golfsmith Regripping Supply Kit has all of the essential tools and supplies you need to regrip your clubs. Kit Includes: Golfsmith All In One Gauge (#8989) Golfsmith Grip Solvent 1 Quart (#916A) Golfsmith 2 Grip Tape (#902B) Golfsmith Utility Knife (#853) Golfsmith Grip Installer Tool (#1819) Golfsmith Manual Grip Tape Remover (#8228)

I can’t confirm this, but one of the reviews on the website said the kit also comes with a vice clamp, which isn’t listed in the description.

Do you regrip your own clubs? If so, what other tips or pointers do you have?

What other “do it yourself” golf activities do you engage in?

Religious Golf Battle

The Pope met with the Cardinals to discuss a challenge from Shimon Peres, the former leader of Israel.

“Your holiness,” said one of the Cardinals, “Shimon Peres wants to challenge you to a golf match to determine whether Catholics or Jews are superior.” The Pope was greatly disturbed, in all his years on the earth he had never picked up a golf club.

“Not to worry,” said the Cardinal, “we’ll call the U.S and talk to Jack Nicklaus. We’ll make him a Cardinal, he can play Shimon Peres… We can’t lose!” Everyone agreed it was a good idea. The call was made and, of course, Jack was honored and agreed to play.

The day after the match, Nicklaus reported to the Vatican to inform the Pope of his success in the match. “I came in second, your Holiness,” said Nicklaus.

“Second?!!” exclaimed the surprised Pope. “You came in second to Shimon Peres?!!”

“No,” said Nicklaus, “second to Rabbi Woods.”

Last month the 2010 Golf Digest Hot List was released and not at all surprising the 2009 TaylorMade Burner Irons took home a gold rating.

TECH TALK: Dropping overall club weight to increase swing speed was the design goal with this iron. To achieve that, TaylorMade employed lightweight (yet longer) shafts and grips. Progressive-thickness faces (thinner in the long irons, thicker in short irons) provide more springlike effect on longer shots.

PLAYER COMMENTS:
(L) “The pure feeling channels through the grip to your hands and on up into your arms and elbows. This one exudes power.”
(M) “More fun than recess at school. These are ridiculously long.”
(M) “I wouldn’t be afraid to call these clubs ‘honey’ because they are so sweet. If I missed the sweet spot, I couldn’t tell.”

HOT: The real highlight of this club is the sole, which is beveled in the back to give it the workability of a much thinner design. Also, the recessed heel and toe areas will help prevent less-skilled players from laying the sod over the ball.
NOT: The lack of a hybrid doesn’t help hackers. For a company that was at the forefront of the movement, that’s totally mystifying.

I’ve been playing the TaylorMade Burner Irons for about six months now and I’ve been very satisfied with their performance.

Regarding the 2010 Golf Digest Hot List, I’ve read a few different sources who like to kick dirt on it and accuse it of favoring certain manufacturers based on their affiliation with the publication. This may or may not be true, but speaking from my own experiences, the Golf Digest Hot List has been pretty accurate with it’s recommendations.

If you’re in the market for some new golf clubs, I think checking out the Golf Digest Hot List would be a great place to start, it’ll help narrow down the selections. This year they began with 403 and narrowed it down to 94 golf products that they assigned either a gold or silver rating to.

The 2010 Golf Digest Hot List panel consists of 32 judges from various backgrounds and handicaps who give their unbiased opinion of the products they’re testing.

I wouldn’t recommend basing your purchasing decision solely on the Hot List, but get a couple of recommendations from the site and then follow up that up with some online reviews of the products and finally, head to your local golf retailer and knock em around and see what feels best for you.

What’s your opinion on the Golf Digest Hot List? Do you go there for club recommendations?

David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer for the Nintendo Wii was unveiled in the U.S. at the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show.

It looks like a very cool and very useful tool for golfers who are looking to improve their game without having to brave the elements or find time to head to the range.

Incorporating David Leadbetter’s Seven Steps to a Better Golf Swing, “My Personal Golf Trainer” analyzes: grip, posture, alignment, ball position, coil, swing shape, and tempo. Offering instructional videos and drills within each of these seven basics, players can improve their swing step-by-step and then graduate from training mode to the practice range and onto a full 18-hole game where after each shot the golfer has the option to get feedback from David Leadbetter and suggested drills for improvement.

Taking advantage of the new gyroscopically controlled MotionPlus controller, introduced in June 2009, David Leadbetter’s “My Personal Golf Trainer” is the first home golf product to record and analyze a full golf swing from address to backswing, impact to follow through, in three dimensions and over time. It then offers the opportunity to compare the users own swing with an ideal swing to identify areas for improvement. Swings can then be replayed in 3D so the user can view his/her swing from any angle for detailed analysis.

This trainer then goes further and provides step by step corrective drills which it guides you through in an interactive process. To date, a few golf training devices have been available for the home, but have only given basic feedback limited to just the impact portion of a swing. “My Personal Golf Trainer” is comparable with professional golf trainers costing thousands of dollars and similarly provides complete analysis of clubhead speed, angle and force through the entire swing process, and includes weight transfer, swing plane and tempo.

My Personal Golf Trainer features an hour worth of golf video featuring David Leadbetter demonstrating a series of swing drills and fourteen interactive drills designed to correct various aspects of your golf swing.

Every swing you take is analyzed and gives you immediate feedback on what you’re doing wrong and how to improve it. Once swing faults are identified, David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer suggests drills that will improve the particular fault that’s been identified in your golf swing.

According to the gents at the booth, it is incredibly accurate, the Wii Motion Plus is a gyroscope designed to give you one to one feedback capturing a detailed swing that some of the big dogs in the space cannot duplicate.

As you play and get some swings logged, the software will customize for you a series of golf drills for you to follow to aid in improvement.

Presently the software only offers full swing golf tips, evaluation and drills and no short game or shot shaping drills or training are included.

That is something that they’re going to be implementing in the next iteration of the software.

Something else that broke my heart, this release of the David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer is for right handed golfers only, there’s been no functionality built into it for us southpaws.. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? First club manufacturers and now software companies! Curses on you all!

David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer release date is sometime in March, 2010 with a suggested retail price of $99 and they’ll be available in golf shops and sporting goods retailers throughout the country.

Something that shocked me and something, from a business standpoint, I disagree with, they’re not going to be selling them in electronic retailer or gaming stores. They’re very adamant that David Leadbetter’s My Personal Golf Trainer is NOT a game, but a training tool for golfers who are looking to improve their game.

Does this look like something you’d be interested in using and if so, do you think it’s worth the $99 SRP?

Here’s more 2010 PGA Merchandise Show posts.

Golf Tips – Curing a Golf Slice

The most dreaded part of my game has always been hitting a golf slice. Seems like no matter what I do, it always rears it’s ugly head. I’ve tried just about every swing tip possible and after a little time it always creeps back in.

Are you a fellow slicer?

One of those kindred spirits who stands on the tee box, takes about two seemingly perfect practice golf swings, line up to the ball, swing back and knock it down the perfect line.. at first.

Then inevitably, as you knew it would, it starts bleeding, slightly at first eventually evolving into a full 90 degree flight path ending up somewhere that will take a scuba mask or hiking boots to locate..

If you’re like me, than this isn’t a problem that’s isolated to the driver, just about every club in your bag, with the exception of the putter and wedges.

It’s important to identify what causes a golf slice because if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing wrong than all the golf tips in the world won’t help you out much. Simply put, as far as I understand it, there are two main causes of a golf slice. Either you swing from over the top, creating an out to in swing path so the clubface cuts across the ball creating side spin or you’re leaving the clubface open at impact, again creating side spin on the ball.

In my case, it’s the latter, I tend to keep the clubface open at impact. I’m presently using a Nike Str8-Fit Driver that I’ve closed two degrees to help offset the natural tendencies of my swing, but on a bad day, it doesn’t help all that much.

The primary reason that I have a slice is that instead of turning my hips, I tend to slide my hips forward preventing my body from turning the hips out.

If you’ve done any research online, you know that there’s about a million different golf tips out there on fixing a golf slice.

Here’s a couple golf tips I’ve tried and haven’t had much luck with..

• Tee the ball higher and move it forward more in your stance, giving the clubface more time to finish closing.

• Concentrate on trying to hit a hook. The emphasis on closing the clubface will help negate the slice.

• Take a more powerful grip on the club by rotating your hands to the right more (if you’re a righty, left if you’re a lefty). This will cause your clubface to close earlier in the swing, giving you a greater chance of hitting a straight shot.

There’s many more, but off the top of my head, these are some of the quick fixes I’ve tried that have been marginally successful.

I was playing a round of golf the other day and as I feared it would happen, the golf slice reared it’s ugly head on me. After a couple holes of unsuccessfully trying to get it under control,  one of my playing partners (been playing for 30+ years and is a +1) gave me a real quick fix that completely blew my mind, not to mention, totally cured my slice.

I mentioned earlier that I have a tendency to slide my hips forward and his simple solution was to take a wider stance. He said just stand with your feet about another six inches apart and give it a go.

The very next shot was straight as an arrow and after a couple holes, I had to change the angle of my driver from two degrees closed to flush because I started blocking my drives.

That advice completely fixed my golf slice (for the round anyway). As golf tips go, it’s probably the best I’ve ever received. It’s simple to do, takes no practice and there’s virtually no margin for error..

If your symptoms are similar to mine, try spreading your feet apart more and let me know if it helps.

If you’re interested, here’s some other golf tips that might help your game.

A little over a month ago, I wrote about the Mojo 6 Golf Tournament which is taking place in Montego Bay, Jamaica at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course on April 15th & 16th, 2010.

It’s a new raceway golf format that preserves the fundamentals of golf, while adding cumulative scoring and the opportunity to choose your opponent. Played over two days, it includes more than 30 six hole matches in 30 hours. If the traditional 18-hole tournament is a marathon, Raceway Golf is a sprint.

It pits 16 golfers against one another in a series of six-hole matches, competing on the same six holes throughout the tournament. After each round, the hole setups are changed, giving players new challenges and new opponents each time they play.

It’s going to be broadcast by CBS on May 1st & May 2nd.

There’s a $1 million purse on the line with the 1st place winner taking hope $300,000, runner up receiving $110,000 and the other $590,000 is distributed to the remaining 14 places. So everyone participating is guaranteed a payout.

The first 15 players have already been selected and they’re allowing us to vote on the 16th player.

Mojo 6 Golf Tournament Vote for the 16th player

You can vote once a day for your favorite LPGA player, provided she’s on the list..

Who are you voting for?

Golf Humor – Lying about your age

Thomas, a 70 year old, extremely wealthy widower shows up at the country club with an absolutely gorgeous, breathtakingly beautiful and very sexy 25 year old brunette.

She hangs onto his arm and listens intently to his every word.

His usual playing partners and fellow members of the club are baffled and shocked.

At the very first chance, they corner him and ask, “Thomas, how did you get the amazing trophy girlfriend?”

To which he replies, “Girlfriend? Hell, she’s not my girlfriend, she’s my wife!”

Disbelieving Thomas, they ask, “So, how did you persuade her to marry you?”

“I lied about my age”, he replies.

“What, did you tell her you were only 50?”

Thomas smiles and says, “Nope, I told her I was 90.”

Here’s some other golf humor posts for ya!