Sunday 18 January 2009

64 - Need To Enjoy It Or What Is The Point...

At the recent trip to the driving range myself and Lucky were joined by a friend from work who hasn’t played for a year or so. Apparently he used to be ok when he played regularly, had heard me and Lucky going on about our sessions in Aintree and decided to join us for an hour or so.

We were already playing when Jason turned up and it was interesting to see him stood behind us, watching us play. After a while he got into the next bay and started hitting balls up the range. Although he was a better player than me or Lucky the fact he hadn’t played in a year was easy to see. It took him half a basket of balls before he made a clean contact with the ball.

After one peach of a drive with Dougie my Howson hybrid Jason said “you two are quite good aren’t you?” I nearly fell over laughing! Me and Lucky are tryers but we aren’t any good! He went on to explain himself saying that we were a lot better than he expected us to be considering we haven’t actually got a clue what we are doing and have only been playing for a few months. I was chuffed to hear this but it got me thinking about my ability.

Am I as bad as I think I am? My best score around a course is 103 which is rubbish frankly. Or is it? Taking into account the lack of experience, the clubs of questionable origin (if Jason the Pro is correct), the fact I have only picked up the game in my 30’s and my natural un-athleticism (yeah, I have just made that word up) am I about average? Am I progressing in a predictable and acceptable manner? Will it click one day like every golfer tells me?

I think I will invest in some lessons to help me kick on. I have the desire to improve and the stubbornness not to give in along with good mates who play every week who will drag me kicking and screaming into the world of acceptable handicaps and little trophies with the words “Most Improved” scrawled on them. I want to be second last for a change. I want to actually enjoy a game of golf for the first time as it hasn’t happened yet.

When I book a round of golf I’m usually quite excited but when I arrive at the course I’m honestly filled with dread at the thought of another four hours of frustration and disappointment. I hate being rubbish at anything but I detest being rubbish at something I’m trying so hard to get good at.

It irritates the life out of me when I slice a drive, don’t connect with the ball correctly from the rough or chip over a green. I know everyone feels like this but they have the comfort of knowing their next shot will be good unlike me. So far I have hit just TWO good shots out on the course. One was an arrow straight drive with my hybrid from the fairway which rolled up onto the green from miles away and the other was a little chip which finished about 5 inches from the hole. That’s it.

I can see why people smash their clubs to bits or lash them into the nearest lake. In my short career I have been close to turning my back on the game twice but I’ve soldiered on. I think it is time to take the game more seriously, be more focused and strive to make a significant improvement on my current game. The problem with this approach is that I guarantee I’ll enjoy the game even less and if I’m not enjoying it then what is the point in playing?

Thursday 15 January 2009

63 - Advice From The Young At Heart...

I’m surprised at the number of my friends who play golf. Not the friends I see every week but the people who I catch up with every once in a while who I’ve lost touch with slightly. A case in point is one of my oldest mates who, when he isn’t charging around the Iraqi desert with the British Army, is an avid hacker. I wouldn’t have put him down as a golfist but he is mad for the game, apparently driving his lovely wife to distraction in the process.

I was talking to another mate in the pub before the match the other day and it turns out he is another secret golfer too. At his peak he was playing off 6 but admits he doesn’t play as much these days as it is difficult to carry his clubs on his motorbike! Never the less he is going away with a group of mates this spring for a few days of golf and ale. I’m impressed with the pull of the game.

One thing all of them have in common is the ability to reel off a multitude of tips to help me improve from ‘Utter Golf Clown’ to the heady heights of ‘Just Rubbish’. I’ve heard hundreds now with most contradicting another. “You need to buy the best clubs you can to help you improve”, “It doesn’t matter what clubs you use, you need to master what you have”, “Better balls will produce better results”, “Better balls are only good if you have the technique to use them properly” etc. My head is usually spinning after 5 minutes.

What I have started to do is give tips I hear time and time again more credence. Things like “Make sure you buy decent shoes” and “Buy a hybrid instead of struggling with your 3 Iron” are mentioned time and time again so I’ve taken the plunge and haven’t looked back. The one thing that has been mentioned by virtually EVERY golfer I have spoken to is to invest in some lessons now before I get into bad habits which could ruin my game for years to come.

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to get a free lesson from Jason who is the Pro at Widnes Golf Course. He went through my game and changed the majority of it for the better. Although I’m still on the wrong side of awful I could see an improvement almost immediately. With more lessons and some graft he thought I could improve significantly. Now I’ve never been scared to roll my sleeves up when it comes to golf so it might be time to apply some inspiration to my perspiration.

When I started playing golf a whopping 5 months ago I honestly thought that paying for lessons was an admission of failure. If I couldn’t work it out myself I should bother playing. Now I know that I’m not likely to get my PGA Tour Card via raw talent alone it looks like I need to bite the bullet and pay for some professional help. I’m desperate to be a better player and I honestly think it wouldn’t take long for me to start moving in the right direction given some coaching.

I’m seriously considering buying a block of lessons when I find the right person and place. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve had a lesson with Jason at Widnes and it was great. He was professional and patient when required but also had a laugh with me walking up the fairways. I’ve seen lessons advertised at the driving range in Aintree but I would prefer some of the practice to be done actually on a course as there is a world of difference between the two environments.

If anyone out there can recommend a decent coach in the Liverpool area I’d be very interested to hear from you. I might phone Jason and see if he can sort me out although he is the Pro at a private course so I might be out of luck. More news on the lessons when I have it…

Wednesday 14 January 2009

62 - Back From Where I Came...

Right, golf, yeah that is it. It seems SO long since I updated this blog I had to remind myself what it was supposed to be about although regular visitors (yes, the both of you) would argue that there are times where I have wandered onto topics that are anything but golf – Gemma Atkinson anyone?

After a long lay off due to a knackered ankle I finally returned to the driving range to see if I still had the magic. The truth is that I haven’t. I was rustier than the face of a Mizuno Raw Haze wedge (new golf porn added to my list now that I’m boycotting all things Titleist). I thought my right ankle had recovered enough to flex like a pro but all I found was that it hurt like a bastard.

Undeterred I continued practicing, desperately trying to remember everything I learned from my one lesson but it wasn’t to be. Saying that, I was still hitting the ball further than I did before the lessons but my accuracy has gone to pot. I’m now slicing the ball more that I ever did but I’m sure it won’t take much to sort that out with the aid of a Pro and a few more lessons.

There were a couple of good things to come out of the session though. I’m hitting Dougie my Howson hybrid better than ever, it was flying further and more accurately than my driver which kinda freaks me out! When you read reviews about hybrids they gush about how forgiving they are and I can confirm this isn’t just journalists getting a back hander from the golf manufacturers. If you haven’t already, try/buy one and see for yourself.

The highlight of the night was testing one of my almost new Mizuno MP-R wedges. I took the 52* fella to the range to take part in the Yellow Basket Challenge and it didn’t disappoint. The magazines talk about the buttery feel of Mizuno wedges but it isn’t until you have chipped a few balls with them do you really understand what they mean. When you connected cleanly with the ball – which is easy as the head is so large – the ball glides off the clubface into the air. Feels fantastic.

I have fists of ham yet I was able to control the distance the ball travelled relatively easily which was a major surprise to me. With the exception of one shot, every ball I hit landed within a few feet of the target. To anyone passing by it would look like I knew what I was doing!!! The difference between my new wedge and the £10 Mac the Knife was like chalk and cheese.

At the end of the session I reflected on my workout. Overall I have took a step backwards slightly but encouragingly I’m not completely back at where I begun. I’m going to have a serious think about lesson’s…who knows, I might actually pay for them this time!!!

Tuesday 6 January 2009

61 - Desperately Seeking Mizuno's...

Happy New Year Ladies and Germs! I hope you all had a good Christmas and Santa emptied his sack in a satisfactory manner for you. Right, that is enough of that. With the holiday season out of the way and my knackered ankle starting to heal thoughts have again turned to golf.

Not that long ago I decided I was going to buy a set of Mizuno ‘game improvement’ clubs, after a bit of thought I decided on MX-200’s as they were better than the entry model MX-100’s but were still within my budget. Once I decided on what I wanted I just had to choose where I bought them.

Looking online the clubs can be picked up for about £400 with the accompanying hybrid coming in at about £90. Not cheap but I suppose I’m getting good quality bats, incorporating the latest technologies that have only come onto the market in the last few months.

One of the reason’s I want new clubs is so I can have them fitted as I’ve read that getting them ‘made to measure’ helps get the most out of them. With that in mind I am a little reluctant to buy them from an online retailer so I went on a little field trip with Richie and Terry to the wilds of North Wales!

We went to Clays Golf Course as it is a National Fitting Centre for Mizuno and would be guaranteed to sort me out. Oh they can sort me out…for a price, and what a price. For the irons and the hybrid the cost was a whopping £630 but I did get offered a ‘free’ wedge, which was identical to the one I bought recently from eBay. No thank you. Can I get a free putter or driver instead? No chance.

We headed back to Merseyside but stopped off Carden Park Golf Club on the way. This place boasts a course designed by Jack Nicklaus (when he was between films) and a hotel that looks like the one in Dirty Dancing. It was stunning to be honest. I’ve put it on my list of courses to play once I advance up the golfing ladder to ‘just shite’ status.

After that we made one last stop at True Fit Golf near Fiddlers Ferry where I spoke to a nice chap called David. I explained to him what I wanted, explained to him about getting the clubs fitted and explained how expensive Clays were. He smiled and said he could do the same deal for £500. And that is how easy it is to save £130!

Like Clays, David offered me a free wedge identical to the one I recently bought. Unlike Clays, David was willing to give me money off something more useful to me like a putter and not just any putter. As a sweetener I can get a £150 Mizuno Bettinardi putter for £70, which is a bargain in my book. Oh and he can also do a deal on a driver and a bag which is nice.

I think I have found my guy, I’ll be visiting David in the VERY near future.