A Quick 9

After working all day cleaning out flower beds I decided to play a quick 9 holes at the Rock.  I made some silly mistakes on the first few holes which resulted in a poor round.  The last four holes felt a bit better.  The Greens at The Rock are still a bit on the rough side.  It looks like they punched the greens late last year and they are still growing in.

I also played my first round in my new Golf Shoes, a gift from my Wife.  They are called Dawgs, which are best described as Crocs with cleats.  They are pretty comfy but i quickly found that I will want to wait for the courses to dry up before I wear them on a regular occasion.  Every puddle equals wet feet.

Dawgs Golf

Pease Golf Course

First round out this year.  Only the upper level of Pease and the blue course was open for play.  I did not track my putts with the App but I plan to going forward.  

Date: July 5th

Tee Time: 9:15 pm
Course: The Oaks Golf Links

Holes 18

Par:71

Location: Somersworth, NH

Playing Partners: None - Friend from work

This past Monday I played another 18 holes at The Oaks Golf Links in Somersworth, NH and I am happy to announce that the shanks have left the building.  I cannot say exactly what has changed but I am swinging the club very nicely and making solid contact.  The same cannot be said however for my putting.

We started on the back nine, which at The Oaks is not necessarily a good thing.  The Front nine definitely plays much harder so to have to play it tired and Hot is not best practice. I gave my self 5 chances for birdie from 10 feet or less and missed every single putt on the first nine.  Had I made just a few of them my day would have been dramatically different.  By the second nine I was hot and tired and beginning to get chills and goose bump from over heating.  It was well into the 90's by 12:00.

I cannot and will not complain aboutm y round however.  I shot an 89, marking the first round this year to break 90.  I feel had I only made a few more putts I could easily have broken 80 which would have been the first time ever in the history of my golfing life.  I feel like this is the year though.  It is going to happen.  I have already shot a nine hole round at Rockingham that if I had played another nine in the same fashion would have given me a 78.

There is some great golf on this weekend.  Womens US Open and the John Deer Classic.  I hope to divide my attention between the two this Sunday as it looks like it is going to rain.  There is one thing to be said about The Golf Channel this year, they are replaying a lot of the tournaments in Prime Time. This allows folks like me that like to do things during the day to not miss the days action.

 I am on a Stay-cation this coming week and have some wonderful Golf planned.  Sunday River Golf course on Monday with Golf Grammie and Thursday at Candia Woods.  I will probably fill in any open times with brief 9's at Rockingham as well.  Not to mention that starting bright and early Thursday morning The Open starts.  What a great week to have vacation.

I hope to Post about my Vacation rounds throughout the week so stay tuned. (Maybe that sub 80 round is out there this week)

Cheers To All!

Good round, Bad Golf, the shanks, and Bubba's Emotional Finish

During the 20 minute commute to Pease Golf Course this past Sunday, I played over and over in my mind what my round would look like.  In my head I knew every shot I would need to hit, where I would need to place it in the fairway and I was assuredly going to score somewhere close to par.

Unfortunately my swing did not agree with my imagination.  I knew the shots I wanted to hit but failed in every respect to execute them.  Luckily the day turned out to be quite beautiful weather wise, else it would have been a wasted day.  I cannot quite place where it happened but somewhere in the last two week I have acquired the dreaded shanks.  I simply do not feel confident with any club right now.  I am especially not confident with either of my wedges which used to be my two go to clubs.  Almost every shot was darting straight out to the right.  I would almost be OK if it were instead a slice, but these are just simply mis-hits entirely.  If it were a slice I would at least know where to begin in fixing it.  I see long frustrating hours at the range in my  future.

To cap off my Sunday afternoon I sat down with a frosty beverage and enjoyed the final remaining holes of the Travelers Championship.  Nothing finishes off a dismal day of golf better then a playoff.  Bubba Watson, Corey Pavin and Scott Verplank.  It seemed that Bubba would take it on the first playoff hole after very nearly holing his 124 yd sand wedge to the green, but Verplank made a clutch put to keep him in the game.  Corey Pavin made a either a poor club selection or a mis hit off the tee leaving him too far back to really be a contender in the playoff, although he was very useful in offering advice to Bubba who was a little confused as to whether or not to mark his ball or tap it in once he reached the green.  It goes to show you that there are situations that even tour pros get into where they need advice.

On the Second playoff hole, Par 3 154 yds, both Bubba and Scott were off the green with their tee shots, but it was Bubba who was able to get up and down to secure his par and the Win.  What followed was an emotional hug from his girl friend and an awkward interview with David Feherty.  Poor Bubba was still so choked up he could barely answer the commentators questions.  It was evident that a lot of emotion had been building over having not won and finally being in a position where it could and did happen.  Congratulations Bubba on a great win, it could not have gone to a more deserving golfer.

For more details on previous rounds of the tournament and an interesting take on advertising at a golf tournament check out Golf Girls's Diary.

Until the next Round,

Cheers to All!

A tee box to make you smile

The sun shines for Camp Sunshine

Despite a rainy weekend the sun came out over Casco, Maine for the Camp Sunshine Golf Tournament hosted by Point Sebago Golf Club this past Monday, June 7th.  In the late morning, the winds started to pick up but it didn't negatively effect the golf as there were some pretty low scores to be had.

The normal team of myself, my father and Golf Grammie were joined by the Director of Special Events for Camp Sunshine, Mike.  (Sorry Mike if I got your title wrong, I did not take good notes :))  Most every year we play with someone who works for the camp and it is always a great pleasure to hear how the camp is going.

As seems to be the case every year the turn out was very good, filling nearly every hole with two foursomes. Our group started on the 17th hole, which in our case seemed to be just what we needed for we started our round with 3 straight birdies.  On the first hole, Golf Grammie with her first swing of the day hit a fantastic shot up to the green leaving her 6 feet 6 inches and assuring her the closest to the pin for the ladies on that hole.

In the end we bogied the last hole to finish at 6-under, capping off the lowest round we have ever shot in the 6 years we have played in the tournament.  That 6-under snagged us the 2nd overall net score for the tourny and a 4 pack of greens fees with cart to Sunday River Golf Club.  First for overall gross went to the team sent out by the MSGA (Maine State Golf Association) with an astounding 58!

When it comes to prizes given out, the Camp Sunshine Golf Tournament "shines" above most others.  Their goal is to make sure that everyone walks away with something at the end of the day.  They get so many donated rounds of golf that they are able to give away a round to almost every foursome that plays.  On top of that they always have a great goodie bag and this year added a silent auction with some great items

Point Sebago did a wonderful job preparing the course for us.  The area received nearly two inches of rain the day before and yet we were still able to play a 90 degree rule in our carts.  The greens were a bit on the bumpy side due to being plugged not that long ago but I think in some cases that may have been helpful in keeping the ball from running too far on the green.

At the beginning of the awards ceramony we were able to hear from a Camp Sunshine family who came over to speak to us direct from camp.  This week is the single organ transplant session and the little girl that we heard from had had a liver transplant three years prior.  The family was very appreciative of everything that the camp has done for both them and their daughter and gave myself and the rest of the crowd a more personal view of what were really playing for, a great cause.

The Camp Sunshine Golf Tournament will always be one of the things I look forward to every year.  From the wonderful course to the company I get to play with and most importantly the cause it represents, it really is one of the best tournaments is the state, if not the country.

Until the next round...

Cheers To All!

Camp Sunshine Tournament

On the morrow I tee it up with Golf Grammie for a charity golf tournament played at Point Sebago Golf Club on the Shores of Sebago lake in Casco, Maine.  The Tournament benefits Camp Sunshine, a place where family's with children affected by Cancer and other diseases can go and enjoy a great summer vacation, free of any medical expenses during their stay.  We have been playing in this tournament with a Volunteer from Camp Sunshine for the past 5 years.  I look forward to bringing you pictures and outtakes from the tournament as soon as I can.

More Information on Camp Sunshine can be found at: http://www.campsunshine.org/

Cheers To All!