One More Mulligan

Like any other golf fan I get really excited for that Masters but it isn’t just because I can’t wait to watch the first major of the year. The Masters always signals the unofficial start of the golf season in the northern US. Being from New York it is pretty unusual if we can get a round in before mid April at the earliest. From mid November to around this time every year I have to fill my golf craving watching the winter PGA tour, playing a little Tiger Woods on the PS3 and the occasional golf trip if I can get away. This year I have gotten two rounds in during March but they weren’t very comfortable. The wind was blowing really hard and the temps kept a heavy sweat shirt on me most of the time which didn’t make for a smooth swing.

That being said the courses were in really good shape and I didn’t play too badly so hopefully I’ll break 90 this year and get the monkey off my back. Last year was difficult because unlike my previous, and first, year playing I barely had a lesson and didn’t play nearly as much. I guess getting married, buying a house and starting a new business will do that. I did get some cool trips in thanks to some work “vacations” but that was about it. This year I plan to keep a much stricter practice schedule as I did during the previous season. I will be hitting balls at the range at least once a week and then at least one other day I’ll be putting and working on my short game. It seems like late in the season when I start to chip and putt well my scores start to get respectable so I’d like that to happen sooner rather than later.

I also vow that I will conquer my driver this year. I have improved but there is no reason that I should slice the ball any more.  I understand what I’m doing wrong and will go several rounds driving the ball very well and out of no where I’m back to square one like I’ve never played before. The sand is another area I need to build confidence. Right now it’s 50/50. Sometimes I do very well and other times I’m hacking at the ball like a cartoon. Just like anything else, the couple of times a round that it happens is not enough practice to get this confidence.

I also hope to get back to playing 2 full rounds a week. Practice is really important but it is also important to evaluate how the practice is helping and the only way that I can do that is to get out on the course. One without the other just isn’t going to cut it. I’ll play at off times like twilight hours to try and keep the cost down. If one thing helps keep the wife happy about you playing golf it’s definitely discount golf. I’m very lucky that my wife let’s me play as much as much as I want so I feel like keeping the cost down is the least I can do.

I’ll try to update the blog with my progress especially if I take some fun trips or play some good rounds.

Oh yea, my Masters prediction – Go Phil!

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On a recent business trip to the Carolinas I drove past so many golf courses it made me wish that I had time to play a quick nine. Even the smaller municipal courses looked very inviting. I decided that I needed a quick golf fix even without my clubs. I decided to drive past some courses on the way to and from clients to check out what I was missing. After looking at the courses from my car I decided that when I got back I needed to see if I could carve away some time to get back down here and play.

Hilton Head golf is famous and I am no stranger to the images of the ocean side courses from television and magazines. The Ocean Course at the Sea Pines Resort is every bit as beautiful as any of those images. Open year round and built in 1962 it offers tees that range from 125 to 133 in slope which will offer any foursome a challenge for each level golfer.

Thankfully I was unaware that they even offer rental clubs. I may have been late for some of my meetings.
George Fazio designed the self named course at the Palmetto Dunes Resort in 1974 and it’s 132 slope from the tips has been a challenge to golfers ever since. After the renovation in 1994 it has been consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top 100 courses by Golf Digest and known as one of the biggest challenges in the Hilton Head area. It may be a par 70 but the 6,873 yards on the card will let you know that it is no joke.

If you are as interested as I am in getting Hilton Head tee times you can check out these courses or the many others that are available. Just don’t go down there without your clubs, it’s torture!

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I have a close friend with a family vacation home in Arizona and he is always telling me that the courses in Arizona are amazing. So this afternoon I started looking around on the internet to see if all his hype was just hot air or if I needed to see if I could stow away with his family for a few days. I started with the area near where the family stays, Scottsdale.

The Scottsdale golf scene does offer many course options including the Champions Course at TPC Scottsdale. Any golfer knows that any course with TPC in the name is a rare opportunity to play one of the nicest courses available to a golfer. This TPC course has a player friendly slope rating of 112 that will allow anyone traveling with you, no matter how new to the game, the chance to experience golf at it’s finest.

I have always wanted to play a course designed by the great Arnold Palmer. While searching Tucson golf courses I came across Palmer Course at the Wildfire Golf Club. This course is quote the opposite of TPC Scottsdale. Posting a slope of 135 from the tips with a distance over 7000 yards this looks like a true test for any golfer. From the pictures the scenery doesn’t look like a let down either.

Hopefully I can remember the lesson I learned in Vegas and I schedule early morning rounds to stay out of the heat. The sun here is supposed to be at least as bad if not worse with temperatures reach over 100 in the shade during the Summer. If anyone out there is planning on playing in this region you have been warned, it is really, really, really HOT!!

I’m going to go call my buddy and see if his parents are using the place. If not, next stop Arizona!

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Sometimes I think I live a charmed life. It just so happens that an upcoming conference for my day job is going to take me to Hawaii. Since my new wife and I decided not to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon this will give me a chance to golf there without any guilt. This site that I recently came across, Hawaii golf made creating my golfing itinerary really easy.

One of the interesting things that I have found is the diverse types of courses that are available in Hawaii. Many are in the vain of Scottish links while others are carved into the forest giving it a totally different feel. It appears that even the “lower” end course have scenery that will not disappoint.

I used the Hawaii golf course search to find the Arnold Palmer gem at the Turtle Bay Resort near where my conference is. From the pictures and the description on the site it is a seamless cross of Saint Andrews and Bethpage Black placed right in the middle of the beautiful blue Pacific. This resort is also home to a Fazio course that has hosted the LPGA Tour’s Hawaii Open. This course will give even seasoned pros a challenge if you play it from the tips.

The site even allows you to search for packages, hotels and restaurants so you don’t have to go from site to site trying to find all the parts of your vacation. I have found that package search particularly handy to see if there are any deals to be had by booking everything together. It also allows me to compare the resorts where the courses are located so I can see the details side by side.

With a chance to play both of these courses I’ll be looking into my stay here and booking Hawaii tee times. If I can work out the time off after the conference this might just be a homerun. Besides, time away from the new wife will be made easier if I can occupy my time.

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