One of the best Golf Poems ever

Golf Poem 

In My Hand I Hold A Ball,
White And Dimpled, Rather Small.
Oh, How Bland It Does Appear,
This Harmless Looking Little Sphere.

By It's Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I've Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.

My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.

It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.

To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.

It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree Or Take A Swim.

With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.

It's Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows ... I'll Be Back Tomorrow. 


Stand proud you noble swingers of clubs and losers of  balls....  

A recent study found the average golfer  walks about 900 miles a  year.

Another study found golfers drink, on  average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. 

That means, on average, golfers get about  41 miles to the gallon.  

 Kind of makes you proud.    I Almost feel like a hybrid

The ball goes where you hit it

This came to me as an enormous revelation.  

Every time I hit my golf ball, it finishes wherever I have hit it to.  Even if it hits a tree or another object (provided someone doesn't interfere with it) it only lands where it does because of what I have (or haven't done).

Yes, I need to take into account the weather, the lie, the obstructions and everything else - but at the moment of impact, only I determine where it finishes.

It's time for me to stop blaming & start accepting responsibility for where my ball stops.

First round with balanced balls

I bought a Check-Go ball balancer after hearing some positive comments.

It was amazing how the spinning mechanism consistently found the balance point.  I am a believer having seen the Check-Go find the balance point, than after resetting the ball, it finds the same balance point - amazing!

My putts certainly felt better & I only putted once or twice on every green.  Usually I have at least 2 three putts.

Off the tee, my shots were a mixture, but I seemed to shoot far more straight balls than slicing it.

I'm looking forward to my next round to try my balanced balls out again!

I shot a net 66

I was full of anticipation and could hardly sleep, thinking about the round I was about to play.  I stood on the first tee after some putts & warm up, ready for an amazing round.

The first hole was a forgettable double bogey.  The second was better - scoring 3 on a par 3 with a long putt that dropped after I chipped on my second shot.  After 9 holes I felt optimistic with 45.  The back 9 wasn't as good after losing a ball off the tee on along par 4, scoring 47 on the back 9.

I believe the difference in my game was my pre shot routine.

Club - make sure the club is aligned properly

Feet - set up correct

Grip - strong right grip

.. then the practice swing

Half - keep the left arm straight, swinging back so its parallel with the ground

Hold - pause at the top of the swing

Through - smooth swing through the ball towards the target

Although it seems like a lot to think about - its only 1 thing at a time & it seems to be starting to work!

Frustrated low handicapper

I recently played with a golfer who is on a single figure handicap - and he got frustrated with his game.  It struck me that no matter what your handicap is, the enjoyment of a round comes from within, rather than counting the number of times I hit the ball!

Eketahuna Golf Club

On State Highway 2 in New Zealand about 30 minutes north of Masterton (which is 1 hour north of Wellington) is a scenic country course in Eketahuna which is excellent value at only NZ$20 per round.

The course is a par 71, with a total distance of 5,283 metres.

The 14th fairway is stunning and with 225 metres from tee to green, the straight shooter can drive the green.  I don't recommend this for the average golfer - I shot 11 & lost 3 balls.  A 5 iron off the tee would've been smarter!

I did manage a net 71 round though, shooting 47 on the front 9 & 46 on the back 9.

There are flocks of sheep on the course who manage the rough & fertilise the fairways!

Less is more - How I dropped 13 shots in 1 week

I was getting frustrated as my scores started creeping up again.

A week ago I shot 109 & yesterday shot 96.  I know you are wondering how I reduced my score by 13 shots...

I did 2 things:

1. I only had a 1/2 back swing (where my left arm was parallel with the ground - I'm right handed).

2 I slowed down my back swing.  

I dropped a number of shots by allowing for my slice and the ball ended up going straight!

Next time I will aim down the middle!