I tried it....

Well, it was a summer test that revealed that I love Coed-y-Mwstwr golf club.
When I first moved to the UK, I played P & K reasonably regularly and really liked it so I jumped at the chance to play there for a reasonable amount of money. 
I reckon I lost £400 worth of golf balls and was feeling very despondent about my game. It was an experience for the summer and one that I don't think I'll be repeating. 
I'm sure P & K will regain the conditions they are famous for and I'll enjoy playing there in inter-club comps in the future.
Coed-y-Mwstwr golf club is the place for me. I love the course, the people and the club. I can get experience of different golf course settings through open competitions, interclub competitions and golf trips!
Speaking of golf trips ...... I'm off to Newport Links GC in Pembrokeshire this weekend with 23 blokes from the Coed! Should be a blinder!

New piece of golf-nerd kit on its way!!

In my quest to improve my golf I have tried to collect stats using a few different 'systems'. I made my own spreadsheet (last time I entered anything into that was at least 9 months ago!), I've tried to input shots on HowDidIDo after P&K finally upload the rounds and overall, I've failed dismally. I still don't have a good idea of how far I hit each club, what areas of my game are costing me the most shots (I suspect it is my driving and approach shots as I'm the most grumpy with them!) or which parts of my game are the best.

The GAME GOLF system should arrive in the next couple of days and I'm looking forward to using it and getting a proper idea of the stats of my game.

Here is a link to the GAME GOLF website. You can create a user and follow people on there (myself included [Clayton Landells]) and see how they are playing.

Peter Finch and Rick Shiels did a video review at Worsley Park showing how to use it (Playlist below) and you can follow them on GAME GOLF too.



It's a little bit expensive, but nothing compared to a new driver!

I can't wait to give it a go and will let you know how I get on.

Round 3 League to Dubai 2014 (Max Harvey)

My first home game of this season’s singles fixture was against my pairs partner from last year, Max Harvey. The threat of rain and a decent breeze didn’t stop us from heading to the first tee after a customary pint as our warm up (we did actually go to the range first though!) and we both hit nice drives and found the fairway! I got them on video as proof too.

Our second shots were just short of the green and Max got up and down for par and I took three to get in for a bogey.

We both found sand on the second hole which led to neither of us scoring points on that hole after I hit shots 2, 3 and 4 from the bunker and Max hit 2 and 4 with his third being a penalty for Out of Bounds. Back to reality with a thud after a decent start!

I finally managed to hit a draw on the third hole, unfortunately I was aiming up the left expecting either a straight shot or a fade but my ball was safe on the 4^th ‘fairway’ and Max piped his drive down the middle which just ran into the rough on the right. We both misjudged the effect of the wind on our approaches and went long and left getting bogeys each and 2 more points.

The par3 4^th hole was a daunting prospect with a stiff breeze into and off the left into the very well protected hole. Max went long and I found a gorse bush requiring a drop for unplayable.




Max’s short game is getting really good but his attempt to get onto the green from over the back wasn’t his best effort and led to not scoring after losing his ball in the gorse. I hit a safe chip onto the green and holed a 25 – 30 foot putt for a solitary point for yet another bogey. One is better than none though!

I found sand on the fairway again with a wind affected fade and Max pushed straight through the wind and onto the fringe of the second green (a touch left!). I wasn’t getting greedy from the sand this time and punched out to the edge of the fairway and Max found the wispy rough on the right with his second to this par5. My third shot wasn’t very convincing and left me 100 yards from the pin and Max was next to the green in 3. I hit a pretty nice shot with my 52 degree wedge to about 20 feet and dropped the putt for a very scratchy par and 3 more points. Max took 3 more to card a bogey for his 2 points. Here’s video of my gap wedge shot.

Guess what …… I found sand again off the tee! This time on the par3 6^th hole and Max was in a similar position but in the rough. My bunker shot was a little shorter than I wanted but left me with a pretty straight, uphill putt and Max’s pitch left him a tricky downhill one. We both took two putts to get down for a bogey each. Here’s a video of the bunker shot and you can see where Max’s ball finished.

I was aiming for sand on my next shot, the greenside bunker around the dogleg with my driver. I failed dismally and had to go three from the tee. Max chose the safe route and found the rough around the 150 marker which grabbed the hosel and turned the clubface sending his next two shots into neverland on the left (where my drive finished up). My provisional ball found the rough on the right and my next shot found the bunker I was aiming for with my first tee shot. We both ended up not scoring on that hole.

Two quite nice drives on the par4 8th hole with Max just outdriving me but finding the rough. His approach to the green was awesome and led to an easy par after just missing his birdie putt. My approach was short and nearly went in yet another bunker leaving me a pretty long chip leading to two more putts and a bogey.

Two more decent drives on the 9^th hole led to a par for me and no score for Max after the very attractive gorse on the left lured his second shot requiring his 4^th shot to be played from the same spot and a little bit scrappy for his next few shots. I missed the green short with my third but was stoked to get up and down for par.

After 9 holes the scores were 11 to Max and 13 for me. Blistering!

Standing on the 10^th tee I was actually feeling pretty good about my driving and it showed with my drive down the middle followed by Max doing the same. Max pulled his approach to the little swale short and left of the green and I hit a 4 iron up into the wind and off it went to the looong, deep grass on the right of the green. Provisional ball with the same club and a more penetrating flight sent it through the green and into the different deep do-do. A thorough search for my first ball revealed nothing and my provisional was unplayable requiring a drop and a pitch-in for a point. I gave it a go and missed by about 6 feet. Oh well, rack up another blob then. While Max was playing his next three shots for his bogey and two points to sneak in front by one, I had another look for my first ball and found it within 20 seconds….. typical!

Straight into the fresh wind the par5 11^th is a bit of a monster! Max didn’t get his customary fade and found himself playing his 3rd from the tee as we didn’t find his first in the long stuff on the left and I found the fairway! (That was 4 fairways in a row!!) Max was just short of the 60yard bunkers with his second and I laid up into the rough on the right about 120 yards out to find the bunker in front of the green with my third. Yes …… more sand. I had a great sand save though for three points and Max managed to get a point with 7 after his penalty shot.

The par3 12^th hole. Always a toughy at 200 yards into the wind and I slapped my 3 iron into the ‘valley’ on the right and Max tapped his 3wood to the right side of the green, just on top of the hill in the fringe. A tricky two putt from Max would have been a great par and 2 points but he ended up with a bogey and just 1. My pitch was pretty short leaving a difficult right to left putt which also missed. Then I missed the return putt for a single point with a lip-out (I had quite a few of them).

This little clip of video shows the view of the 13^th from the tee and Max’s tee shot which found the fairway in the ideal position on the corner of the dogleg. Sorry about the wind noise, turn the volume down!

My Drive was a little bit straight and went through the fairway into the rough requiring a hack-out to about 50 yards from the pin which I unconvincingly played into the hill short of the green leading to needing a 40 foot putt to drop for a point, which I missed. Max found the same hill with his second shot and played a much better pitch but still took two further putts for a 5 and 2 more points to take the lead by 1 point. (Blob count: 5).

Course strategy for the 14^th hole is definitely needed as the only real option is a lay-up to the corner of the dogleg (easier said than done!) Max hit a beauty and just ran through the corner and I duffed a 3iron into the ferns and gorse then smashed a 3iron to the corner as my third from the tee. I then hoiked my iron approach shot about 10 yards left of where I was aiming to find yet more ferns and lose my second ball for this treacherous hole and record yet another blob (6 so far!). Max hit a great pitching wedge to the back of the green leaving himself a proper slider of a putt which trundled passed the pin by about 6 feet and his par putt peeked in as it went over the lip for a 2 point bogey.

The 15^th plays a lot easier with the wind behind than it does into the breeze but at 200 yards, it still isn't an easy hole. Max hit a great shot that somehow managed to perch on the highest point of the green leaving an almost impossible putt for a birdie. I took some anger out on a 5iron and flew pin high just off the left of the green leaving myself a pretty simple uphill chip and putt for par which I royally messed up leaving the green with yet another blob! (number 7). Max three putted for a bogey and pulled 1 point further away to be 4 points ahead with 3 holes to play. The way I had scored on the back 9, I deserved to be further behind, but I still had a chance to win. I needed to pull my finger out!

The whole back 9 at Pyle and Kenfig is very tough, but the last three holes specifically have the measure of most golfers with the shortest of the par4’s measuring at 426 from the whites and the 458 yard 16^th being the longest par4 on the course. Downwind and downhill for the 16^th though and I was left with 150 to the middle after a decent drive. Max skied his drive leaving a lay up to the fairway and a pitch to the green, nullifying his shot on the hole and giving me a chance to claw some points back. My approach shot with my 8iron found the back tier of the green as did Max’s pitch. I gave my difficult birdie putt a good chance to go in and tapped in the 4 foot return putt for my par and 2 points while Max took three putts for his 6 and 1 point. Gap to only 3! Coming to get you Max!

Both of us hit the fairway with our drives, it was just unfortunate that it was Max’s provisional and not his first which went left and further left into the ferns, brambles and gorse that even dogs are reluctant to enter.

Max’s head had dropped a little now and he struggled up to the edge of the green to blob the 17^th for his 5^th of the round and left the door wide open for me. My approach shot just cleared the massive bunker on the left of the green leaving me with a pretty realistic opportunity to get up and down for par (my first one on 17 since joining in April!). I hit the chip pretty well and allowed too much break leaving an 8 foot putt for par. My putting had been half decent today and I hit a pretty unconvincing putt that just managed to fall in the front of the hole! Back to even points with the 18^th to play! Who’dathunkit?

I had saved some battery power in the video camera for the last hole and a bit of a wrap-up, but forgot to use it, so you’ll just have to imagine it. In Saturday’s comp I hit a belter of a drive which must have kicked left into the rough (never to be seen again) because I hit the exact same drive which was on the fairway with 140 to go. We didn’t see it land though and after Max found the rough on the right in a natural ‘Mortar Hole’ I sliced a provisional ball into the tree on the right of the fairway.
 I thought I had thrown it away and was pretty relieved to have found my ball waiting for me in the fairway!

Max wasn’t overly impressed with his lie in the rough and was almost begging for it to have been caused by a burrowing animal but it wasn’t, and he hit to the rough on the right of the green. I pulled yet another short iron to the left and needed my short game to stand up if I was going to have my best finish around P&K ever. A chip and a putt just scraped the edge of the hole and I tapped in for a bogey, 2 points and the WIN after the pressure got to Max and a couple of poor chips resulted in his 6^th and final blob. The final score was 23 points for me and 21 for Max who probably feels a bit ‘meh’ at having let that one go. 
Par, Par, Bogey for 7 points over the last three holes was a great feeling and my best finish at Pyle and Kenfig ever and makes up for the fact that I scored (or didn’t score) 7 blobs from 18 holes. 23 points after 11 holes would look pretty good normally!

The golf wasn’t inspiring with the back 9 halved in 10 points each, but I don’t think either of us played particularly poorly. When you get punished at P&K, you get properly smashed.

I really enjoyed playing with Max again and we are going to team up for the doubles in the League to Dubai next year as we did last year so look out!

Hope you enjoyed having the little video clips thrown in, I’d love to have a better camera, but that one will have to do! (A new video isn't going to help me improve my golf!) Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the read and if you liked the clips.
Cheers.

Foresight Sports Visit

As I mentioned in my last post, I had organised a visit to Foresight Sports EU (@ForesightEurope) in Guildford for a demonstration of the GC2 and their simulators for a project I am looking at trying to get off the ground in Bridgend.
Wow! What a fantastic bit of kit! I think I need one in my life and my golf game definitely would benefit from the measurements you can get.
As an example, we popped the dots on the face of a couple of my clubs (8iron and driver) so the Head Measurement camera (HMT) could do it's thaang. I was previously under the impression that my swing with the driver was severely over the top creating an out-to-in swing path resulting in a slicey fade or a low straight pull. There was definitely a slight out-to-in path but the revelation for me, and the main reason I don't make the most of my 107mph swing, was my strike. Another contributing factor was a 4 degree descending blow, but I couldn't get over how much effect my strike was having on the flight shape, trajectory and result! Nearly every single shot was from high on the face (right up near the crown!) and towards the heel. I tried teeing it up higher which only resulting in skying the shots into the roof and could not bring myself to lower the tee hight enough to get the centre of the face. I did manage to change my angle of attack to plus 1 degree but was still hitting the same place on the face with 17 degree launch and 45 yard peak hight! I use a 9.5 degree loft driver (Titleist 910 D3).
To get the ball out of the middle of the face I can see two options while using the same not too shabby swing. A: Tee it lower. I wasn't hitting the ground and could still hit up on the ball but not sure if the strike would then still be out of the heel. B: Grip down an inch on the club or cut the shaft down an inch. This should move the strike area into the middle of the face providing I keep the same swing.
I didn't think about option B while I was at Foresight Sports and had already broken 2 unbreakable tees so wasn't feeling inclined to try to tee it really low so I'll try it next time I'm at golf (Saturday's comp and Pyle and Kenfig). 
The data from the 8 iron with the dots was interesting. Not sure what to do with this nugget of info or exactly what it means, but at impact my lie angle was 4 to 6 degrees toe-down. At the moment, I'm going to ignore that one. The shots weren't good shots and I forgot to re-check it later when I was hitting it really well, but it could mean a couple of things. The most obvious being that the lie angle of the club was wrong for me. The less obvious option that I could think of was that it was showing a swing fault such as early extension and the compensations I was making to hit the ball. As I said, they weren't good shots at all.
Anyway, all this info has the potential to blow my mind.......but I loved it.
The simulated holes were also fantastic! We played 3 holes of the Brabazon at the Belfry and the results seemed incredibly realistic and put me in the exact types of trouble I normally end up in! Chipping, pitching and putting was amazing. Other simulators I had tried failed dismally with these shots but the GC2 was awesome! You just had to visualize a shot of the distance and type that you needed to play rather than totally relying on what you could see on the screen. The only putts that were difficult and slightly unrealistic were under 2-3 feet but you can switch gimme's on at any length to deal with that or just hit the short ones harder.
Neal (@nealstock) did a great job of showing me around the GC2 HMT and I am definitely going to organise a few sessions with a PGA Pro to get my distances sorted and also suss out my strike.
If you get a chance, go and find someone with the GC2 HMT, it's amazing!
Now to get back to work on sorting out my other project.

Wedge Dilemma and a day trip to Simulator and measurement heaven!

I have been playing 3 MD forged wedges since starting at Coed-y-Mwswr golf club (60, 56 and 52) and when I moved to Pyle and Kenfig I found that I needed to keep both my 2-hybrid and the 3-iron so one of the wedges had to go. The wedge that I got along with the least was the 52 degree gap wedge so it went into the garage (rapidly becoming the retired club storage unit!). Just before my birthday this year I had been finding myself around 100 yards from the pin way too often to not have a club suited to that distance and I wasn't confident standing over an easy pitching wedge because it often induced a shank! So after some deliberation I chose to purchase 2 Titleist Voket SM5 wedges. I wanted the 58.04 with T grind and the 52.08 with the F grind. Titleist didn't offer the T grind with the 58 (only available on the 62) so I went for the L grind which is similar although doesn't lay as flat.
They are really nice wedges and I hit them really well, I just miss being able to play a flop shot from the tight lies around the edges of our greens over the nasty bunkers. I couldn't really do that shot with the MD wedges as the bounce was a bit chunky but I have a cheapo 60degree wedge that I use  for practice in the yard that I can flop all over the place.
So today I decided to take to my MD wedges with a sanding belt using the cheapo 60 as a bit of a guide. After testing for feel and playability in the backyard I think I might have cracked it and will give it a go next time I play.
I also attacked the 56 sandwedge as I don't have any trouble playing the 58 from the bunkers and modelled the bounce and grind on the Vokey. It plays really nicely from the grass and dirt in my backyard and hopefully performs in the sand well too.
I have been loathed to hit my Mizuno MP650 3-wood lately so I might just drop that from the bag and play 4 wedges (including the PW). 3 wood for sale, hardly used!
I'm not stressing about the wedges, but hopefully I can figure out a solution soon. At least I've got choices now.
Tomorrow I am heading to Foresight sports, the home of GC2 launch monitors in the UK. I am looking at their simulators for another project I am trying to get going. Really looking forward to seeing them first hand and testing them out. I wonder if knowing my carry distances will have a big effect on my game? DUH!

Round 2; League to Dubai 2014

Back to the old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr for the second instalment of the 2014 League to Dubai group games. I wasn’t feeling too bad about my game and was pretty happy to be back at the Coed on a beautiful Summer day. The course looked fantastic even though the greens had been scarified that morning. The rough was very healthy!

Dayne Bossano was my opponent for this game and he had won his first two games by pretty healthy margins and we were both playing off ¾’s of twelve receiving 9 shots which meant that the first hole was a ‘no-shot’ hole. Dayne was away first and split the fairway with a nice drive. I hit quite a nice drive slightly left that bounded into the deep rough just left of the fairway never to be seen again resulting in no score (Blob count #1). Dayne hit the greenside bunker and managed to get out and 2-putt for an opening point. 1 behind, not too bad.

The 212 yard par3 was next and Dayne’s trusty 7-wood came up just short of the green and I chose to hit my hybrid with short being the preferred miss to being long. I scuffed it straight and just about made it half way. Bum. Easy pitching wedge was the order for the next shot aimed directly at the flag. Hit it slightly less easy than I wanted and went through the green and got hung up on the bank leaving a difficult chip with up and down required for a point. Dayne fluffed his first chip and then stiffed his second leaving a tap-in for a point. My chip was short and the tricky downhill putt missed. (Blob count #2)

The 3^rd hole can almost be driven with a really good whack over the deep rough across the dogleg and over 2 bunkers. I decided to leave my driver in my bag and walked to the tee with my 3iron. Dayne and I both decided to aim for the plateau on the corner of the dogleg and Dayne’s shot just leaked right into the rough behind a tree and I finally hit a solid tee shot and found position A 150 yards from the centre of the green. Dayne’s ball had buried itself in the grass and left a glimmer of hope for Dayne to advance it to the fairway which Mr Magician duly obliged and popped it out just running through the fairway into the semi. I aimed at the centre of the green with my 9iron and hit a nice shot that just got pushed by the breeze to the back right corner of the green. A GREEN IN REGULATION! Dayne just went through the green on the left but at least he was on the right side of the tiered green. My first putt had to climb it’s way up and across a steep tier while also needing to stay up on top. The pin was right on the edge of the cliff and I made it to the top tier but was 5 feet away from the hole. I took 2 more putts to find the bottom of the hole but still I HAD MY FIRST POINTS! With 2 points for the bogey on our first ‘shot hole’. Dayne hit a nice chip from the back and his putting let him down giving him a single point for his 6^th shot.

150 yards over a small lake for the downhill par3 4^th hole and it was my honour. 9 iron again as I would rather be long than short and I left the face slightly open through impact fading off to the right of the green which increased the carry distance to clear the water. Just made it over and the little bugger scurried back into the hazard. Dayne hit the green on a similar line to my shot and left himself a long putt for his second shot which was a lot better than my penalty drop for my second shot leaving me a difficult flop to a small target carrying almost the entire water hazard. I played it pretty well although a little right (must have been scared of the water) and was left with a 15 foot putt for a point. Good putt. Just missed. (Blob count #3). Dayne managed to 3 putt for another point and our scores where an almighty 4 vs 2! Inspired golf!

Dayne hit a great shot just right of the fairway on the par4 5^th which turns left around the ancient walled garden and my first drive was a snap-hook left into the tree/wall/rough never to be seen again. My second tee shot was a stonker that just ran through the fairway at the dogleg and hid behind a tree. Dayne’s approach was on the dance floor leaving himself 2 putts for 3 more points which he gathered up and popped in his piggy-bank. I chipped a 5iron from 110 yards hoping to run the ball onto the green and just fell off the left edge towards the back of the green and still had a chance to get up and down for a point. I hit a nice chip the right distance but ended up 6 feet from the pin to the side and just missed the putt. Sigh (Blob count #4).

The 6^th hole is driveable but requires a draw. I wasn’t feeling a draw today so chose to poke a 3 iron to the corner. Dayne went with the big stick and pushed it a little to be on the corner as well. I chose my sand wedge for the 100 yard flick to the centre of the green and left myself pin high with about 30 feet for birdie and Dayne had about 31 feet. 6 feet left for Dayne and my birdie attempt just missed leaving me a simple tap in for par and doubled my points tally to a mahoosive 4! Dayne rolled his par putt in and we were 1/3 of the way through with 4 points to me and Dayne had 9.

7wood down the left of the fairway for Dayne and a 3iron in the left semi for me on the difficult par4 7^th hole. I had never seen anyone hit their approach shot short into the steep bank and bound up the hill and onto the green before........ until today as that is what Dayne did. Golf is a funny game. I hit a really nice 9 iron to the left of the pin which bounded through the green and perched on the steep bank at the back leaving a difficult chip to a tight pin. Dayne putted all the way across the green and a couple of nervy putts later had a point for his double bogey 6. My third shot was a duffed chip which fell down the bank. 4^th was a reasonable putt leaving about 2 feet for a tap in bogey. I missed that one and the next one for yet another blob. Grrrr. (Blob count #5).

150 yards again on the tricky par3 8^th hole and Dayne used the members route to the putting surface up the left and down the bank. I slid under a 9iron and missed the green short and right (don’t do that yourself when you play there!) and had to chip onto the small green perched on the second storey roof. I managed to get up and just rolled off the back of the green leaving a simple 2-putt for a point. I missed the 2 footer back towards the hole after just missing the par put and Dayne made simple work of his 2-putt for par. (Blob count #6)

Another tricky dogleg par4 with danger every where is the 9^th hole. You don’t want to out of bounds left down the entire length of the hole. You don’t want to hit it in the pond on the corner. You don’t want to go through the fairway passed the pond, more out of bounds and thick rough under the trees. It is almost easier to have a go at driving the green except the green staff are very good at growing extremely looong rough and it isn’t far from the fairway or green. Discretion rather than valour for both of us and we flirted with the corner a little bit but found the fairway (me with a drawing 6iron) and semi (Dayne with his trusty 7 wood). Dayne was hoping to run his ball down the slope in front of the green and just came up short and my easy pitching wedge came off the hosel and shot into the tiger rough on the right of the green. We were being called through so the boys watching were able to point out my ball in the 4 foot high grass. I’d have rathered not be able to find it. I wasn’t within 2 club lengths for an unplayable drop and I’d have had to have gone 250 yards to the 14^th fairway for a line of sight drop so I had two swings at the ball and picked it up. Unplayable drop twice might have been an option, but I didn’t think of that at the time (Blob count #7 from 9 holes!!!!! O.M.F.G.Y.H.T.B.K.M!) Dayne collected 2 more points to get his total for the front nine to 14 points compared to my 4. Surprisingly, I wasn’t actually that angry and just nonchalantly carried on.

RESET.

A new 9 starts on the long 10^th hole into the breeze. Dayne hit a great drive to the fairway and I unleashed a pearler of a drive 300 yards down the middle leaving myself 135 yards to the green. Dayne’s approach with his 7 wood was a little right and my pitching wedge was pin high and just rolled off the green leaving a makeable birdie putt. That putt just missed but an easy 3 point par and I had nearly doubled my points tally! I also got 2 points from my 10 point deficit as Dayne could only manage a 6 from the tricky spot his 7 wood left him.

I finally had the honour again on the long par3 11^th hole and squiffed a 5iron into the greenside bunker. Dayne’s 7 wood must be wearing out because he hits it everywhere! He followed me right and just missed the bunker leaving one of those pitches we all need Phil or Seve for. I left myself a bit too much on the putt from my bunker shot to get up and down but 2 points for the bogey was gratefully received. Dayne made it over the bunker and had a difficult 2-putt for the same points and made it.

Still into the little breeze for the par4 12^th hole and I hit a slightly toey drive straight up the middle leaving 135 yards uphill and into the breeze for my second. Dayne’s 7 wood went just through the green and I was short and in the greenside bunker. No sand save for me on this hole either as I left myself 15 feet for par and just missed. Dayne gifted me a points gap reduction by missing a short bogey putt and only collecting 1 point to take his total to 18 and mine had shot to 11. 3 down, 7 to go.

Back down breeze for the 525 yard par5 13^th hole and parched in the middle of the fairway 246 yards from the pin was my drive while Dayne found the right semi. 7wood to the left of the massive tree for Dayne and an ‘almost topped’ hybrid to the base of the same tree for me. I should have hit the 3iron. Dayne squeezed his shot under the tree to the front of the green and I was ready to chip out with my 7 iron. I walked up to the ball and my inner Seve convinced me that I could punch and slice the ball around the tree to the green. I saw the shot vividly in my head and had a crack. It cracked just off the edge of the tree and into the Tiger rough to my left never to be seen again. No shot received on the 13^th so replacing the ball and chipping out with my 5^th shot would have been a waste of time. (Blob count #8). Dayne must have been feeling some tension now as it took him 3 shots to get down from the edge of the green and he only clawed one point back. Disappointing hole and back to an 8 point gap.

The par4 14^th hole has often been a card wrecker for me but I didn’t have a card to wreck to I followed Dayne’s fairway finder with a nice drive into the left semi-rough 110 yards from the raised green. Dayne hit the green with his approach and bounded through into the rough leaving a tricky chip. I just missed the green to the right and had a simple chip for an up and down par and 2 more points compared to Dayne’s single point after a not-so-special chip and two putts.

I must have hit my drive on the par5 15^th hole right out of the bottom of the face as the ball just sort of tumbled onto and up the centre of the fairway while Dayne hit his worst drive of the round with a slice near the 16^th green. A bit of rough hopping for Dayne resulted in a hard-fought 7 for a single point. I hit the green in regulation after a really nice 3 iron followed by a pretty good sand wedge which then rolled back off the green to un-hit it still leaving me with a birdie chance for 4 points. I had a good go at it and just missed. Par (Nett birdie) for 3 points was not to be sneezed at though, I just needed more if I was to have any chance of getting back to Dubai this year. Still there were 3 holes to go and I was now only 5 points behind.

The 16^th is driveable on a really good day with a decent tailwind and I chose to hit a 3iron to the fairway and leave myself a full shot to the green. Dayne missed the fairway but still had a decent shot at the green and rolled through with his approach but stayed in the fringe grass. My approach was beautiful. PW straight at the pin, pitched on the green and ran through, up the green and through the fringe into the light rough. A tentative chip left me a very tricky downhill/sidehill putt for par which just burned the edge leaving me a tap in for bogey and 1 point. Same result for Dayne after his second putt also burned the edge of the hole. I now needed 2 birdies and for Dayne to not score for me to win the game. Not likely, but you have to keep trying!

My 7iron from 152 yards uphill and into the slight breeze came up just short (surprise!) and Dayne leaked his shot right and into the rough followed by a lovely chip to 5 feet. I had to chip in. It was close but not to be and a tap in par for 2 points was all I could do. Dayne’s bogey for 1 point left me needing an eagle to win and a birdie to tie providing the man who had not blobbed a single hole all day, blobbed the last.

I walked to the 18^th tee with my driver and only 1 ball. There was no need to take a second ball as this drive needed to be my best and it was! Over the tree on the corner and sitting proudly on the fairway 135 yards from the centre of the green. I loved that drive! Dayne also found the fairway and left himself 7wood distance from the green. He hit a lovely shot which just went left and short while my attempt at an eagle was on the green, but not in the hole, about 20 feet away. Dayne almost got up and down for a par and tapped in for a 2point bogey. My birdie attempt was close again but in the end I had to settle for a 3 point par and my second loss. 4 on the front and 18 on the back left my 22 points floundering (8 BLOBS!!!) against Dayne’s 14 out and 11 back 25 point tally and the win. 

You can’t really expect to win after a front nine like I played today and a massive congrats to Dayne who is now well on his way to the regional finals in Newbury at the MacDonald Donnington Grove. Although both Paul and Wayne can still get there with wins in their final games providing Dayne loses his last. That is one of the best things about this competition, you just don’t know until the league is complete!

I’ve got two home games at Pyle and Kenfig coming up next. Hopefully I can restore some pride after only playing half of each of my two first games.

Welsh Mid Amateur Golf at Machynys Golf Club

What a beautiful course!

I had a practice round on Wednesday and although I lost 7 balls, I really enjoyed the course. I had been told it was a 'bombers course' but found out that anything crooked was very costly. It was a beautiful day and I had great company playing with Nathan Hill-Haimes who was booked as Nathan Hines so I was half expecting a former Scottish International from Wagga Wagga to trundle onto the first tee! It was also very nice to be able to jump in the car after the round and be home in my own bed 45 minutes later!

The competition format was 36 holes to play on Thursday with a cut enabling 30-odd players to play a further 18 holes on Friday. I wasn't really expecting to qualify for Friday, but I was going to try my darndest! My group for Thursday consisted of Me, Colin Hogg from Machynys and Willem Van der Waal from Holland. Two top blokes who played in great spirit and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic conditions and top notch course.

Round 1 and I found the fairway on the first tee!! I made a few mistakes around the course but ended up carding a pretty respectable (in my eyes) score of 88 for a nett score of 76 against a CSS of 75. I was actually in the running for getting one of the Nett score places in the final round!

Round 2 was a very different story. 7 more lost balls and a score of 101 with 50 out and 51 back in. I actually started the second round with a par and was thinking it was going to be a great afternoon, then I started getting fast. I didn't notice it, but Willem pointed it out to me towards the end of the first round and I just kept getting faster and faster. I think my swing/arms were getting so fast that I was almost in the finish position as the club was getting to the ball (or the ground, or the rough, or nearly missing the ball!). In a nutshell, my timing was waaaay off and the pink mist well and truly set in.
In all this my bunker play and my putting helped me to keep things relatively 'together' as a humungous score was possibly on the cards (yes, worse than 101!).

I really did have a fantastic day and want to say a massive thanks to Jason Morris for setting up the Mid Amateur Golf Tour. Also huge thanks to Machynys for the outstanding facilities and for the effort they put into the course, it really was outstanding. I wish I had taken some pictures. I carried the video camera around with me for 36 holes and didn't touch it.



I got beaten to a pulp on Saturday by P & K and it's ridiculous rough. I know it was my fault for going in it, but the tension crept back in (only took two holes!) and the speedy Gonzales swing was back with mis-hits galore, more lost balls and 99 shots for 21 stableford points. 

I have GOT to figure out a way to keep my relaxed range swing all the way through a round. Something to concentrate on next time I'm out.

I've got my first Nike Matchplay (Formerly Volvo Matchplay) game on Sunday at home followed by my second League to Dubai game on Monday at my old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr. Hope I can figure it out by then because my good swing is pretty bloody good!

Ganton Mid Amateur Golf. With a couple of vids!

I’ve been struggling with how to go about writing about my experience of the Mid Amateur tour at Ganton. I started writing about 36 individual holes and thought you might struggle to read it all so here is a truncated version!

It was an epic day. I had planned on doing a bit of a video log of the day but only managed to get a tiny bit of footage and then I ran out of steam, it was a long day.

I left the house at 8pm Thursday and got back home at midnight on Friday. Scarborough is quite a long way away from Bridgend in Wales.

The course was awesome! It can bite you pretty hard though and the rough was very long and luscious. If you don’t like bunkers, you might be a bit intimidated. They had been breeding them on the course. Even if you do like bunkers, these ones would test your sand-play ability to its limit! They were seriously deep and very well placed around the course. The killer for me was the rough and the gorse. I drove the ball very well by my standards on the whole for the 36 hole competition, but when I was off line, I was severely punished! I ruined what would have been a belter of a round in round 2 with 8 on the 7^th and 9 on the 9^th! I followed them up with 41 on the tougher back 9 to finish the round.

I was pretty pleased with how I played overall. Round 1 I shot 44 out and 46 back for 90 gross and 78 nett and after a pretty yummy lunch in the quite spectacular clubhouse, I shot 51 out and 41 back for 92 gross and 80 nett with a grand total 182 gross, 158 nett.

I had the pleasure of Stuart Basford and Brendan Sparks company for the two rounds and had a fantastic day. Stuarts ability to get up and down from short of the green was something to behold.

Things that stand out from the fantastic day for me were the amazing bunkers, the linksyness of the course and the general condition. It was a fantastic course and well worth the 11 hours drive and the entry fee.

Here are the very short videos I took from the day. I’ll try to do a better video log in the future.

Next up is the Welsh Mid Amateur at Machynys golf club near Llanelli. Can’t wait for that one!! 

League to Dubai 2014. The Vale Resort. my first league game.

My first game in my attempt to get to Dubai in the League to Dubai for 2014 was against Wayne Pearce at the Vale resort near Cardiff on the Lakes course. I had played there once before, probably in 2009 or thereabouts and had a vague recollection of the finishing hole, but that was all. I definitely did not remember all the ‘out of bounds’ areas. Nor did I remember the ‘slight’ undulations, I could have done with some mountaineering practice for the front nine!

I was feeling pretty reasonable about my game having just completed 54 holes in the previous two days (Ganton Mid Amateur and PandK Saturday medal).

I met Wayne on the first tee and we were away. Quite a seriously sloping downhill par 3 to start and we both scrambled a bogey to get the nerves out of our systems. A dogleg par 5 right was second up with a deep, deep rough/water hazard in your face on the tee shot. I actually didn’t know it was there as I was concerned about the very real possibility of going through the dogleg if I was left at all. That was until I squiffed my drive straight into the long grass in front, never to be seen again. 3 from the tee against Wayne (never in trouble) Pearce wouldn’t win in a match and a blob against his ‘nearly a birdie’ par wasn’t the start I was after.

The par3 third saw me get a point back as Wayne found his nemesis, the sand, and allowed me to scrape a point from a bogey 4. The 440 yard par4 4^th looked really narrow from the tee with the corner of the dogleg looking like the safe option. I hit my hybrid there and watched as Wayne went left with his first and his provisional. Sweet, things were looking up! Got to the dogleg and saw acres of space to have launched a drive over the corner and be in a position to have a go at the very well protected green raised above a hazard. We also got there to see Wayne’s first ball sitting in the semi-rough, back to reality. At 240 yards to go, I had no option other than laying up so aimed for a spot about half way with the goal of going close with my third shot. Wayne had the same plan and we played very social golf for our approaches. Wayne hit a great shot to get on the green and in for a bogey and I was just over the hazard and short of the green needing some good short game to match him. Missed a chance with the putter and a double bogey for a point would have to do. 4 points verses 6 after 4 holes.

I obviously hadn’t had enough of the 4^th fairway, so I went down it instead of the 5^th while Wayne took the traditional route. I was too close to the tall trees that divide the fairways to have a go at getting to the proper fairway so I revisited the corner of the dogleg on the 4th hoping to get up and down from 100 yards over a massive tree. I opened up my 9iron a bit and unleashed. The shot was perfect and left me with about 30 feet downhill on a very tricky green for my par. This green was also guarded by water, glad I didn’t really know! Wayne had layed up short of the green and was also on the green in three. He won the putting contest with 2 putts compared to my 3. Wasted a point putting again. The par5 6^th hole was uphill and the green was 483 yards away with a very narrow landing area for the drive. I bounced off the right of the fairway and nestled near a tree leaving myself a tricky chip-out which I put into the rough on the other side of the fairway. I was pining for the right rough, so I went back into it with a sliced lay-up shot for my 4^th and was short of the green with my 5^th shot. Starting to steam up now. Finished the hole with 7 shots while Wayne parred it to power away with 10 points compared to my measly 5 after 6 holes.

“Don’t go right” were the wise words spoken by Mr Consistant while standing on the tee of the treacherous 7^th hole. The fairway was slanting on what felt like a 30 degree squint from right to left, Out of Bounds on the right and horrible options to the left. I went right and had to play a provisional. Wayne found the fairway and I managed to not quite reach the out of bounds with my first ball but had the ball about 2 feet above my feet nestled down in some pretty thick grass. We both layed up with our second shots which found the light rough on the left and gave us a view of what I can only describe as the approach shot from hell. Standing over (below really) my ball I had to aim way out of bounds as I felt like I was playing ‘TeeBall’ and knew the ball would go left. Left of the green was not an option, water, sand, rough and jungle all waiting to gobble up the ball down there. My options were reduced to just one, which may have actually helped me, as I hit the only shot I could to reach the green and pulled it off! Wayne went slightly left and long and found his old enemy again and did battle with the bunker ending in a bunker win and no points for Wayne. I had a putt for a birdie and only just missed it leaving an easy par and 2 points. Couldn’t believe we didn’t get a shot on that brute of a hole!

The 8th hole was a 200yard par3, launched of the hillside down into the valley below. I guessed that a 4 iron would do the trick and pulled it long left and couldn’t see where it went so I sprayed a provisional ball out of bounds just for the fun of it and to keep me in a good mood (NOT). Wayne was short left with a shot at par with an up and down from a pretty good spot. I found my ball buried in the lip of a bunker, summoned my inner Seve and smashed it out and over the green. I hung onto my inner Seve and stirred in some Luke Donald for my next chip and nearly holed that one! Pretty chuffed with a bogey on that hole. I think it is one of the only par3’s I’ve played recently that I had a shot on! Wayne matched my bogey for his 2 points. Standing on the 9^th tee I wasn’t ready for the comedy of errors that followed and wish I had taken my video camera to catch it. While Wayne went down the fairway and onto the green in 3 shots, my ball decided to try bumper golf. Pulled straight left into the trees and bounced out across the fairway into the rough on the right. Attempted to lay up into the middle of the fairway for my second to spray it right into the rough behind a medium sized tree. Over the tree, over the lake and onto the green was the plan…….. Into the tree, into the rough just next to the path at the waters edge was the result. Knifed my pitch over the lake and into the deep grass behind the green with my 4^th shot and took 3 more for a blob and threw away the shots I had clawed back to leave us 14 points to 9 points after 9 holes (3/4 handicap).

A quick regroup on the 10^th tee was required. It was only a shorty but it was pretty well guarded by out of bounds, water and sand. I managed to hit the green and pop my putt in for my first 2 in absolutely ages! Stoked to say the least! And I managed to claw back 2 points as Wayne could only manage a 4. The 11^th was a pretty straight forward par4 of only 340 yards. It had a big cross bunker about 120 out from the green so we both chose to lay up short of the bunker. I found the trees on the right and Wayne must have been feeling a bit lonely because he followed me in. We both chipped out to where we were aiming to lay up to and it was then an up and down comp from 120ish. We both came up just short and Wayne managed to get up and down for a point while I failed to score.

The 12^th was a pretty tricky, short par 4. It was only 240 to go through the dogleg so I hit a really nice 2 hybrid to the fairway in the lay up area. Wayne pulled left of the tee and got an amazing bounce to a spot he could see the green from and ended up in the perfect position for this narrow green. His approach was along the green, while mine was across it. We both had to cross water as the green was an island. Wayne hit a fantastic shot to about 12 feet and the pressure was on. I needed to start getting points back! My approach was about 80 yards over water, then sand, then a narrow strip of green then water behind. I had to ‘just’ clear the bunker to have any chance of staying on the green let alone getting near the pin! I had a really clear picture of what I wanted to do and went for it. It was less than a foot from being perfect and fell back into the bunker. Such a nice shot though. A sand save was required as Wayne wasn’t going to take more than 2 putts from where he was and a birdie was likely. I quite like playing from the sand and fancied my chances of a sand save but just ran on too far and missed the return putt for a 5. Wayne missed his birdie putt and we went to the 13^th tee 14 to 19 points.

A downhill par3 of 130-odd yards with out of bounds through and right, water waaaaay left and there was a bunker short across the whole green. Short was better than long and I couldn’t feel the wind so I aimed for the front of the green and hoped I could 2 putt. I love it when a plan actually works and that’s what I did! Wayne was closer to the pin and also took 2 putts. The 14^th was a chance to open the shoulders and belt the bejeezerz out of the ball. It was a long par5 of 608 yards with all the danger up near the green and lay up area. We both hit the fairway and chose to lay up (couldn’t have reached anyway!) on the fairway. We missed the fairway right as the fairway slopes severely left to right and Wayne had a shot at the green and made it on in 3 with an awesome approach shot. I was blocked out by a tree and could only chip out to 168 yards from the green. To see the green I had to walk about 140 yards as it was up hill all the way to a steep drop-off to the green nestled in a deep swale. It was worth the walk though as I found out that the pin was on the left and had something definite to aim at. I launched an 8iron downwind over the hill and hit the green leaving myself an outside chance at getting par. Wayne’s fantastic putt all the way across the huge green was excellent and left himself a short putt for par which he just missed. My putt was pretty good and just missed too with both of us carding 2 more points for our bogeys.

Winding up and around the hill to a very slippery green was the short par4 15^th hole. 7 iron lay up left me an 8iron to the green over a water hazard and Wayne cut the corner to have a pitch to the green also over the lake. I knifed my first attempt straight into the hazard. Fuming. Drop in line with where it went in and my pitching wedge was a good one to the middle tier of the green. Wayne had stayed just short of the green and left himself in prime position for a par which he just missed. My putt was awesome. I played it nearly perfectly and it just rolled passed the hole and then kept rolling off the green!!! More fuming. Missed the putt coming back and picked up for zilch points. That debacle left the points tally at 24 for Wayne and 18 for me. I had to get that gap down as much as I could over the closing three holes!

With shots on 16 and 18, there was a good chance at getting a couple of 3 pointers although the long 16^th hole was ranked the 2^nd hardest hole on the index for a good reason. It was a monster 457 yard dogleg right and although it was downhill, it was into the wind. I smashed my drive 300-ish yards down the left of the fairway and just ran through the dogleg. Wayne found the fairway but was a bit shorter and chose to lay up short of the large bunkers in front of the green. My ball was sitting nicely in the rough, raised above my feet a bit and was 178 yards from the middle of the green. I chose my 5iron and played for a raking draw into the wind and pulled it off! I was super pleased with that shot, the ball held the green and left me with a monster birdie attempt. Wayne chipped on and three-putted for a double bogey and I managed to get in the hole in 2 putts for a hard earned par and 3 points. 

Gap reduced to 4! 

17 is a short par 4 at 270 yards with a sea of bunkers (should that be a beach?) to carry if you want to go for the green. Wayne and I both chose to lay up short and try to get a birdie the conventional way. My approach left me about 8 feet from the pin with a really good chance to make my birdie and Wayne was short of the green. His chip was a bit short too but he nailed an awesome putt to get down for a par. My birdie putt burnt the edge of the hole and I got the return putt for my par.  

Gap still 4.

The final hole at the Vale Resort Lakes course is a par5 dogleg left with a green protected by the same lake that protected the 9^th. I hit another awesome drive that went just through the dogleg but left me a decent shot at laying up on the fairway which I successfully did, finally! Wayne went into the trees on the inside of the dogleg and found a line to the fairway at the same distance as my lay up and hit a great shot. I can’t remember where my approach shot ended up, but I know I got a par and I also know that Wayne got a birdie for 4 points and increased his lead to 5 points with the final Stableford scores off ¾ of our handicap 26 to me and Wayne won with 31 points.

I had a great day. Wayne is a Gent and a pleasure to play golf with and against (although he makes far too few mistakes!). We had a lovely drink outside the clubhouse and reflected on our game, talked about stuff and then I went home exhausted after a mammoth weekend of golf and travel.

Next up is Dayne Bossano at Coed-y-Mwstwr golf club. I know that course pretty well having just moved from there to P &K in April. Hoping for a good one there!

Ganton MidAm tomorrow.

Early night tonight, 0743 tee-off tomorrow morning. I was planning on heading off after the kids go to bed tonight and kipping in the car near the course ...... revised plan is to get to bed at the same time as the kids, get some shut-eye til midnight and hit the road by 0100 for the 5 hour drive to Ganton waaaaay up north.

I'm going to try to get some video from my experiences of the day and will pop it on here hopefully shortly after I get back. I'll still do a written account of the day as I enjoy writing about my escapades and I'm sure some of you enjoy reading it too.
I'm a little bit nervous about the day. The three-ball in front of mine has two players off -1 and one off -2! Hoping I can learn something by being on the same fairways as them. I'm also a teeny bit concerned about my left index finger after stupidly sawing into it with a tenon saw on Monday, requiring 4 stitches.

Bit of skin glue, steristrips and elastoplast should hold it together I reckon (hopefully!).
Anyway, wish me luck!
See you in a bit.

Club Championships qualifying weekend, P&K

I arrived at Pyle and Kenfig just after a torrential downpour of biblical proportions to see rivers and lakes where rivers and lakes weren't supposed to be.
That delayed my start for an hour or so as we waited for the water to drain (which it does exceptionally well!) and we were off for the first of two qualifying rounds this weekend.
I normally try to have a warm up hit on the range before I head out for a comp round and didn't get to the range because I chose to help out with some water clearing. Bit of an error on my behalf as my first tee shot went way left into the gorse bushes, followed by my second which ended just short of the gorse.
It was still raining so I was wearing my rain jacket (which I bought when I was 4 stone heavier!) and I duly blamed my poor start of a quadruple bogey 8 on the big, baggy beasty and stuffed in my golf bag.
It must have worked, because I completed the front nine at a very respectable 5-over 41 with 2 birdies and a number of quality shots and par saves.
I was playing with our club Captain Paul Lewis and along with Tony they made a really pleasurable 3-ball. I continued to play really well and ended the round with 88 shots for a nett 76 and 9th place in the nett competition. This resulted in a drop in my handicap from 12.4 to 11.8 and a pretty good feeling about my golf.
Sunday started wet too, but I managed to have a warm up and didn't have to play any provisional balls from the first tee. What a relief. I had another fantastic front 9 holes ending up with 42 strokes and was in a really good position and on track for possibly qualifying for the plate section of the gross club championship and in a really strong position for the nett competition.
The front nine I was playing with Keith Halley and John (6? times club champion) Savile. John hurt his shoulder early on in our round and had to withdraw after 9 holes. I think John was my lucky charm for the day because his departure signalled the start of my 'issues'. Either that or he is a form thief.
I got a bit quick on my first drive from the 11th tee and donated a ball to the farm on the left of the course. I got a bit quicker on my second drive from the 11th and sliced the ball massively, cleared the deep rough and perched nicely on the practice fairway. A nice 3-iron to the proper fairway was what was needed and after carving 2 more balls into the thick, thick, thick, thick rough I managed to get my 8th shot to the fairway about 150 yards from the pin. I was feeling a bit 'tense' by now and 5 more strokes to get the ball in the hole for a very messy 13 didn't help me to relax much.
That was the beginning of the end for me. I managed to get a bit calmer and hit a few more good shots but I still carded a 61 stroke back 9 for a crappy total of 103.
I'm not sure where I finished or who won as the results aren't out yet but I took some massive steps back into some sort of form this weekend and am actually feeling pretty good about my game heading into the Mid-Amateur golf competition coming up this Friday at Ganton. 5 hour drive, quick nap in the car, 36 holes of golf followed by the return 5 hour drive. I might be a bit tired after that effort.

meh.... golf. And League to Dubai entries close tonight!

Yesterday was a bit breezy. It was blowing about 25mph which is a bit stiff, but that wasn't totally what caused me to shoot 105!!!! 59 shots on the back 9 started on the 10th after a gorgeous drive which left me a flip with a sand iron to go. I managed to shack it into the massive gorse bushes and then duff my next shot to chip my fifth shot through the green and detatch my head from my body. There was also a 10 or 11 on my card on the 16th. Sooo many lost balls. I still love golf, although it has tested my resolve and our relationship a bit.
Speaking of detatched, today I figured out why I was so poor yesterday. I had reverted to my armsy and tense-handed swing and forgotten everything Paul Thomas had taught me. I was feeling pretty good about my game leading in to yesterdays round at Pyle and Kenfig and am still a bit flummoxed by how I ended up playing so poorly.
Anyway, onwards and upwards.
The entries for the League to Dubai close in 3 hours. Looking forward to trying to get back to Dubai and Abu Dhabi this December. Have you got your entry in? I'd really like there to be more Welsh entries so that I don't have to travel into England too far!

Bacchus Marsh Golf Club

Last week I had a whirlwind trip back home and thought I would take the opportunity to test out my little brother's work at Bacchus Marsh golf club as he is the course superintendent there. Bacchus Marsh is one of the drier places in Victoria but you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at the course! It looked really lush and had some pretty spectacular views of the surrounding area including the Lerdederg State Park.
Terry, Josh and I teed up on the first hole and chopped and hacked our way around the course in true Landells style. It was awesome to be playing in and around Gum trees again with a few Gallahs, Cockies and Rosellas squawking away. 
There were some surprising elevation changes overall and on the beautifully kept greens. It took me a while to get used to playing on Couch Grass (Bermuda) again and playing with borrowed clubs is never easy but I did manage to get a couple of birdies on my way to shooting 85 around the par 72 course.
Josh was showing me the changes he has made and the future changes he has planned and I will definitely be back to sample it again in the future! I really enjoyed the round and if you find yourself in the area, have a hit! You'll love it and be tested in all aspects of your game too.
Here are a few photos from our round, but to get a proper feel, go and check it out. It's only 45 minutes from Melbourne out the Western Freeway.

New Putter.

I was searching for a trolley with a seat attachment to help out with taking Adam around the golf course the other day and found one from Clikgear which I might grab at a later date. But I stupidly picked up a few putters and started having a play around with them.
I have had my Odyssey Whitehot Rossie for years and felt pretty good with it although always seemed to miss at least my fair share of edge burners. The Rossie mallet is face balanced so that the face is parallel to the ground when balanced by the shaft on your finger. I learned not long ago that this is a design feature aimed at those who putt straight back and straight through. I have a definite arc.
I picked up an Odyssey whiteIce no9 (small mallet) with the face hanging to what has been described as suitable for a medium to strong arc and tried a few putts. I was astounded at how I didn't need to consider the face at all. I was able to just swing the putter without the need to aim the face. It felt amazing ...... and I left it in the shop.
I had a quick 9 holes before work the other day and found that this new test of a putter had ruined my ability to putt with Rossie! Grrr.
I went back to the shop today with the intention of buying the WhiteIce no9 and as I was walking in I asked the bloke if they do putter fitting to which they said "Yep" while looking at me as though I had asked the stupidest question in the world.
A quick static fit with an adjustable gizmo and I discovered that 33" length and a slightly upright lie were the fit for me and a selection of milled and insert putters were given to me to test.

I ended up with a 33" classic shape putter from Cleveland golf with a milled face and the correct face balance. I love the way it feels and can't wait to get used to it on the treacherous greens of Pyle and Kenfig.

Goodbye Coed-y-Mwstwr! Hello Pyle and Kenfig!

When I first moved to the UK I was just getting excited about golf and was stunned by the quality of the golf courses in and around the Bridgend area. I spent quite a bit of time on those courses with Uncle Tony and thought that one day I would love to join at P&K where he is a member and where I spent many a pound on green fees.
The two nines are very different with the back nine being a very tough links loop set through the dunes of the Kenfig Nature reserve and the front nine playing exposed playing across the prevailing ‘breeze’. Well as of last week I’m taking up a trial membership at that great golf course!
I’ve loved my time at Coed-y-Mwstwr and am still a member there until July and if I could afford to be a member at both, I would. I will miss the boys and the banter along with the friendly atmosphere in the clubhouse and the fantastic bar staff. I will also miss the excitement of the Coed’s Ryder Cup, although I don’t think I was going to make the team this year anyway.
I have already been using the practice facilities at P&K and am enjoying being able to practice from the grass rather than a mat and the pitching area will be a great help as that part of my game is really letting me down at the moment.
My first competition was last Saturday and I only just shot under 100 (99). I lost heaps of golf balls and was pretty frustrated overall. I tried not to expect to shoot under 80, but my expectations are still pretty high. I hope I can get a few rounds in before the first game in the League to Dubai so that I can make the most of the home advantage that I should have around this tough course and use my new skill set (yet to be developed!) to play well on my away games.
This Saturday is a Stableford comp and I’m hoping that a few hours kip after a night shift will be enough to let me swing the club and concentrate for 18 holes. Looking forward to getting to know the members at P&K and possibly playing for the Wayfarers against the Coed.
Thanks again to all the members and Staff at Coed-y-Mwstwr golf club for making my first experience of a golf club a memorable, fantastic experience.

51 days to go!

Amazing Decadence..... Golf provided as a service..... Delicious food...... good laugh with new friends...... my golf trip of a lifetime was the League to Dubai finals at the end of last year.

There are 51 days to go until entries close and the competition starts.

Get your entries in and try and stop me from taking your place at the finals again this year. I've had a taste and I NEED more!
The League to Dubai website is where you can find out more.

Some progress ....... finally!

I had another lesson with Paul Thomas during the week where we worked on improving my posture allowing me to stay connected and reducing my tendency to 'come over the top'. I also discovered while I was at the range on Thursday,  that locking my left arm straight helps too.
It's always a bit difficult to implement changes on the course but I manged to do a fairly good job of it today.

After a par/par start, I carded an 8 (!@#@!!) On the par 4 3rd hole! Not happy Jan!

I managed to get my head sorted by the next hole and carded a par on the downhill par3 over the pond.

My round did require quite a bit of scrambling which overall I did pretty well and I was very pleased with my putting.
I hit 12 pars, 4 doubles or worse and 2 bogeys.
I had a few squiffy shots and a couple of severe 'pulls' but overall I was quite chuffed to have signed my scorecard for a very respectable 81 (nett 69)
Less mistakes and more birdies next time!

Highlights footage from the League to Dubai finals

Arabian Golf TV has published a highlights package from our Grand Final Experience in Dubai. Enjoy!

Plateau

I had heard about 'the plateau' with regards to your golf improvement and initially thought "a couple of weeks without improvement won't be too hard to deal with".....

Well it's been since November now and I'm starting to get a bit desperate!

I bought a series of six lessons from Paul Thomas at the start of winter with the intention of having one lesson each month and continuing my improvement towards single figures. Fail!
I've worked every second weekend, had only two lessons (the last was this week), failed to improve my handicap (gone from 11.3 to 11.9) and have still only shot under 80 once.

I'm still super excited about golf, I still believe I can reach the level of golf I have set for myself and I'm still aiming for and working towards the same goals. No significant improvement over the last 3-4 months is just a touch frustrating.

The last lesson I had felt like a bit of a breakthrough. My hunched posture had been making it very hard for my arms to stay connected to my body. We worked on fixing that and the results right through the bag are very encouraging! My over-the-top pull isn't as severe and the new posture will give us the foundation to shape way shots the way I want them.

I'm looking forward to reporting some positive progress in the not too distant future!