Willow Valley

Played 18 holes last evening with cousin Rolly. I was a guest in his golf league. A good price, with meal included, I could not refuse. This is an interesting course with lots of bunkers and water. A fair challenge. Cousin Rolly had an earth shattering front 9 of golf. He parred 7 holes birdied 1 and bogeyed 1 for a spectacular score of 36. He played lights out golf and I congratulate this wiry Swede. He proved that you do not have to be long to score well. Dead straight fairway shots, good positioning and steady focused putting attributed to this awesome golfing effort. The wheels partially fell off the back 9 as the Karma of the evening shifted. We teamed up with Doug and Stu. a couple of golfing fiends from the Niagara area for the back. Rolly shot a respectable 46. which I believed I matched. I played to a respectable 91....5 pars, a few nightmares along the way, some good long drives, a few good approaches, and my usual stabbing putting techniques that eliminated any chance for a good golf score. A nice evening for golf, on a great course in great condition

Savannah Links

On Tuesday we played Savannah Links golf course outside Cambridge Ontario. A hazy kind of day that brought forth total joy in what a reasonably priced golf course could be. This course was tight and not too long. It offered challenges of water and bush. A straight hitter would do well. (are there any out there) I enjoyed using my long hybrid clubs and irons, but again my putter was a real problem. Brenda mentioned I tend to over compensate for breaks in the green, I left the putt many feet short on many occasions and would 3 putt, a problem that reflected a 95 on the score card. A decent day on the greens would have granted me a game in the 80's, which would make my proud. As usual Brenda the journeyman hacked and worked her way along each hole and on the 12th took out her flat blade and jammed in a 60' putt. This lady always manages something amazing on each hole. A great attitude about the game, and a pleasure to play with.
We finished up on the deck of Savannah's club house overlooking the 9th green and 11 tee off area to the tune of Philly Steak sandwiches and ice cold Coor's beer!

Beddoe at Chedoke

A great warm September afternoon for a game that winds up the niagara escarpment. I have had some disasters on this Beddoe course in the past which poses some interesting challenges. Some tight areas, creeks and hills make this a good challenge. Rick the security guy and I teed off at 4:12 for a fun time into the warm sun next to the slipstream of highway 403....I shot a remarkable 88 and Rick a 92.
We had many opportunities on some of the shorter par 5's to grab pars and birdies, only to bugger up with lousy putting, however in saying that the greens were tricky and hard to read
I was very pleased with my result but realized I could have done so much better had I not been such a wimp with the flat stick...I was within 4' on many par putts and could not deliver the goods. Rick a normally very good putter had his problems as well. He was off his game and I think he did very well with a 92 not ever playing the Beddoe. Rick mentioned we did reasonably well because we both managed to get out of any trouble pretty consistently. We finished the 18th in a veil of semi darkness. My driver issues sorted out around the 16th ...long and straight, which gives me hope and inspiration for my next game...

stay tuned golf fans

chilly practices at Family golf practice facility

Hit a large bucket of balls at a local golf facility. Instead of an open field to fire aimlessly at, this place was carpeted with fake water and greens everywhere. The ball bounced a lot because the underneath was likely concrete, unlike some of the local fairways in the midst of a hot summer dry spell. I was joined by my lovely daughter Angeline who attempted to smack a few out there. With a lot of practice she may get onto hitting that white ball with authority. Maybe become obsessed and addicted like the rest of us. Joining us was Alex, her rangy bud. Alex is a naturally athletic and I could see him pounding out some balls with an aging set of Pings. He would be no slump on the golf course. Okay Alex lemme see yer touch around the green dude!

I was hitting off the mat this time and again focusing on the driver. I hit some real straight ones, but the slice began to creep in to my dismay. My final ball in the bucket zoomed out straight as an arrow, which left me with good thoughts for my next round

Wednesday night golf

I shot a 45 at Tyandaga Wednesday evening. An interesting round with 2 bush cutters from the Brantford area,Herb and Joe. These guys I think came right from the set of "The trailer Park Boys" Nice guys that did not play too badly. As long as there were plenty of smokes and beer on hand. I seemed to have a good touch around the greens and managed a chip in on the 4th hole, only after 2 attempts to get out of the sand. I scored a bogey. My drives finally straightened out, but the mid irons seemed to have gone south. I was not making good clean contact with my irons which was quite baffling. However I managed to keep my emotions in check and simply enjoy the antics of my chainsaw redneck pals, as there voices got louder with each beer consumed. It is now Friday. The skies are dark and the possibility of another 9 hole game with Brenda tonight seems slim

tuesday night at the Range

tonight I had to drive a ways to a different golf range because my local one was too full. Why would so many people be out tonight working on their golf games? what's with that?
I brought my driver a couple of hybrids and some irons to work on my inglorius swing once again. I wonder about the yardage markers at these places. Sometimes it appears I am hitting my irons way longer than I would think according to the yardages marked. The wind was not a huge factor tonight. I think I need new grips on my Tommy Armours....however if I get new ones I can not use this as an excuse for lousy play. Same with the new shoe idea. At any rate I was working on my slice, and at first realized I have it perfected. The ball starts out in the centre and ends up in downtown Hamilton eventually. I try different things and realized that If I focus on keeping both arms incredibly straight at impact the ball will in fact track pretty straight. that is what I will bring with me to my next round. should be tomorrow with Jimmy the Chef....another of my excellent golfing pals.

Tyandaga 9 holes

Brenda and I played the front 9 of a hilly local course here in Burlington last night. A warm breezy affair among the ups and downs of this hilly locale. I had a goal in mind and that was to attempt to "not knock the cover off of each and every ball I tried to hit" I found this trick worked out great and I had far better success with control and consistency in my ball striking. A nice smooth swing. I was not concerned so much with distance as I was with good solid contact. I made 2 pars and pretty much bogeyed the rest of the holes with a double bogey thrown in for frustration purposes. Final score 46.

Brenda had trouble making solid contact with the ball and destroyed many worms out there with here low flying grass skirting efforts. She had just arrived home from work and rushed over to the course.....so not that many expectations. As usual with Brenda she managed her standard chip in from just off the green. a nice 25 footer on the par 4 4th hole.....

I am questioning my nike 3 wood with the small head. This club has a small sweet spot and I think a replacement club is in order. Until next time.