the GOLF BLOG of HYPE....by one man

As this is my first official "blog entry" I felt I would tell you about my day walking on at one of my favorite golf courses in Northern California, Poppy Ridge. Poppy Ridge is a Rees Jones (redesigned) course in the hills of Livermore, California. It is the home of the Northern California Golf Association or The NCGA. It's sister course is Poppy Hills in Carmel that is used early in the year as one the 3 rotating courses for the AT&T Pro Am, held at Pebble Beach and Spyglass, and of course Poppy Hills. Both Poppy Hills and Poppy Ridge are member courses for the NCGA and offer great price breaks for daily fees.

It was real cold (for the Bay Area) here this morning so I didn't go out early, mistake number 1. I went over to the course about 9:30 and the first tee time available was in 3 hours!. I waited for about 30 minutes, putted a bit, loosened up a little, then found out that there was a tournament in process of going out (the desk jockey didn't tell me) so I left. I knew that I would be able to get on at a course on the way back home, a course called Sunol Valley.

Sunol Valley is two 18 holes courses that are old courses but still in pretty good shape. They get a lot of play and don't cost an arm and a leg, at least for the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a bit cold and breezy when we teed off about 11:15am. I was paired with 3 other guys, from the New York/New Jersey area. We were following 2 groups of 4, half of which were wearing jeans and tennis shoes....it was going to be a long day.

3 hours later I finished the front 9, 2 birdies, a few bogies, a few pars. Not bad but not good. 3 hours is ridiculous for 9 holes. What I remembered about why I don't play there much at all anymore is that you get a lot of "newer" golfers there who don't really know the rules or etiquette and were all over the course in front of you. On one particular par 4 we had to wait while the groups coming at us from the neighboring fairway finished playing from "our" fairway.

Bottom line....golf (almost) always beats sitting at home. The sun did come out, I was on a golf course, and I did hit some great shots. All in all, not a bad day.

http://www.ncga.org
http://www.poppyridgegolf.com
http://www.pebblebeach.com
http://www.sunolvalley.com

I've been thinking about getting a new set of irons and I've been thinking that for the last couple seasons too. There are so many choices out there and they each have their own "thing" that makes them the best to play....Nike, Titleist, Callaway, Ping, Cleveland, Mizuno, TaylorMade, and all the International manufacturers too. The experts say go with what feels good, or go with what looks good to your eye, or go with the most forgiving. All the manufacturers are using the "latest" technology, the "special" mix of graphite, steel, magnesium, titanium, aluminum, or whatever word they develop when they "develop our own special blend" of whatever is right that day.

I've been playing golf for a long time, though more seriously over the last 8-10 years than the 10 or so prior. I started with an old beater set of clubs that I don't even remember where I got them from. I was in sales then and I earned enough points with one of the manufacturers that I was working with (I was in office equipment sales then) and I was able to get a complete set of clubs free. They were made by HEAD and had rubber grips. What I remember was that they were brand new and I was now an "official" member of the sport. I didn't have an official handicap at the time, didn't even know what that was back then but I would go out with my best friend and we'd beat the hell out of the ball and with that one great shot that "you shoulda' seen it" I was hooked and a golfer for life. The clubs had steel shafts, steel heads, and did I say they were brand new?

I played with those for about 5 or 6 years, don't really remember. Then I met someone that made clubs at his house, knock-offs, and I bought a set of irons pretty cheap. They were the Taylor Made Bubble Burner knock-offs with graphite shafts, cool logos, nice grips, and a really cool look. For my woods I bought the Orlimar Tri-Metals, great clubs. The irons played really well and I fell in love with them. I had been starting to play pretty well at that point, that's why I upgraded my set. I also applied for an official handicap because I wanted to see exactly what my game was like. Over the next few months my handicap rounded out at about 15 or so and I played at that level consistently for a couple years. I worked harder and practiced a bit more and in about a year got my handicap down and played to a 6-7 for about 5 years. I didn't play alot though, about once every few weeks or so but I was a good golfer and the sport was now very enjoyable. My irons were dead on for distance and very reliable. My 8 iron was spot on 155 yards, my 4 iron was a perfect 170 yards, I knew exactly what distance each club would deliver when I hit it. I had a very consistent game and now wanted to get a lot better.

So, about 6 years ago, after being a 6-7 for a number of years I thought I would get a "real" set of clubs. I went out and spent about $900 and bought the Titleist DCI-990 irons. They were beautiful and they felt great and they were Titleist. What a great set of clubs and I still love 'em. The biggest difference though is that I went back to a steel shaft because they are supposed to provide a much more consistent shot. My game immediately got worse and my handicap jumped to an 8 then a 9 within a few months. I lost 10-15 yards on each club and seriously had to re-adjust my game. I knew I would get the distance back (and I have) but that it would take time. I continued to use my Orlimar woods, the driver and fairway woods.

I got my handicap back down to a 6 and actually a hair below that over the next year or so. 3 summers ago I wanted to see just how good I could get if I made a concerted effort to improve my game. I've always had a pretty natural swing and knew how far I hit each club so I set out over a 3 month time frame to see what a difference consistent practice would make and what these clubs could really do. I religiously hit balls (4 buckets) 2-3 times each week, and played a round at least once or twice a week. I practiced putting in my garage, though not a lot, that's never been a problem in my game. At the end of 3 months I lowered my handicap to a 2.7. And in that time I broke par for the very first time on one of the more difficult courses that I liked to play, Cinnabar Hills Mountain/Canyon courses. The greatest feat in all of this was that my handicap was built over about 10 different courses. I took pride in that. At that time I knew that I could play any course and break 85 each time I went out. That was a great feeling to have.

Now, 3 years later I'm back up to a 6.9 but not playing hardly at all. Mostly because of time and money. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and it's not the cheapest place to play. During the week it costs on average for a good, challenging course, about $55-75 dollars and usually toward the higher end. On the weekends you can plan on paying on average $85-105 to play.

So now, back to the original decision about getting new clubs. The answer is yes, but sometime over the next 6 months or so. And I'm going to stick with what looks good to me, and what feels good to me, and what offers the "latest and greatest", so I'm going to buy Titleist once again. I bought the Titleist woods 3 years ago and I am very happy. Now I need to look at the various new sets of irons that Titleist offers and make a decision.

Oh yeah, before going on that 3 month "experiment" with my game, I had my irons fitted for my swing, they needed a 2 degree adjustment. After that they fit just right.

What would make my new year right would be if Titleist came to me and offered me a new fitted set of irons FREE in exchange for the prime advertising spot on this site for an entire year!

I love golf and I'm working to make more time in my schedule for it. My next goal is to become a scratch golfer. That always turns peoples heads when you're asked what your handicap is, doesn't it?

http://www.titleist.com
http://www.orlimar.com
http://www.taylormadegolf.com
http://www.cinnabarhills.com
http://www.nikegolf.com
http://www.callawaygolf.com
http://www.mizunousa.com
http://www.clevelandgolf.com
http://www.pinggolf.com

The theory goes that if you've ever parred 2 holes in a row then you should be able to do it 18 times. That of course would have to be taking into consideration the fact that making those 2 pars was on purpose and not one of the best things you've ever done on a golf course.

Let's look at it another way...most of us who have played the same course or courses for a long period of time, have at one time or another parred each hole at least once. All you have to do now is put it all in to a single round and you've got a career round in your pocket. Sounds easy doesn't it?

What usually ends up happening is that we'll par the first couple of holes, then get a bogie, and then we tell ourselves.....ok, I can birdie one of the next 2 holes and get that stroke back. The problem is you then bogie again and completely lose your thought process, or you overthink it, or you try to get too cute with a shot, or you try for the long ball, or the long shot, and then you just get angry. You're now walking off the course with one of your worst rounds in months and you wonder what happened. It started out so good and ended so bad. Oh well, that's golf.

I've thought about my better rounds many times and have tried to evaluate what it was that happened that day that made my round so successful. I've broken 80 quite a number of times. There was a time when I was breaking 80 at least every other round. I've played a lot of rounds where I was only 3 or 4 over par and that felt great. What I've realized that I did so successfully then was that I practiced with a purpose. At the range I knew what I wanted to do, I practiced what I wanted to practice, I looked for the shot that I wanted to hit, and overall I got the result I was looking for with each practice session. On top of all that, I really enjoyed it because I knew that I could take it to the golf course more times than not and get the same results.

I've only broken par once, and on a very tough course. But I've had a lot of real opportunities to repeat it and except for a shot here or there it would have happened. But then I know that those scores will come with more consistent practice and play. Practice is great but don't become a driving range pro, you know the type, great off the tee but can't find the green for your life.

It took me a lot of time and effort (and money, it's not cheap in California) to get my game to a point where I was consistent. I played for a long time with scores above 90 and on a good day breaking 90...and it felt great when I did. But it takes a concerted effort to be good at anything and it takes a want to make that concerted effort a reality. I almost always play as a single and for many years I played in groups where I watched some "guy" crush the ball and play a great round.... and I wanted to be that guy. It took work but I translated my "want" and now I am that guy a lot of the time. It's a good feeling and we all like feeling good. Here's what you should do...practice away from your buddies and then when you go play, no matter what your groups' handicaps are, you can be "that guy" in your group.

Playing to par is not easy to do. Statistics have not changed for many years and they still show that 90% of the people that play golf NEVER break 100. What I would say is that those 90% of the people never practice, even once. And that's ok too. Just don't stand over the shot after it goes WAY off line or only 10 feet in front of you and complain that it didn't go where it should have. It went EXACTLY where it should have, accept it and the rest of your round will be better. If you're a 20+ handicapper add a stroke to each hole and play to that par. Give yourself a reachable target. Golf and Life is about goals and the attainment of those goals. Make them realistic and you've given yourself a chance of reaching them.

Whether in life or on the course, par is a great score. Working consistently towards par is equally just as good. By the way, sub-par is only good on the golf course. The question is....What's your par?