1st Golf Lesson

So I had my first golf lesson this morning with Andy at Stone Tree. It was a lot of fun. I was worried about the rain so I got there early and i got a bucket of balls to warm up. He got me to change quite a few things and I think it made a difference.

The first thing he got me to focus on was my stance. He wanted me to have the same stance all the time. Standing almost straight up so the ball would have to be closer. Then on my grip he wanted the end of the club to be out further so i would "choke up" a little bit. He also wanted my hands to be almost like a fist as opposed to holding the whole grip. THe next thing he wanted me to do was make sure I use my legs to turn...keep my left foot down when I swing, but put my right heel up after I swing and hold it until the ball lands. Also I was rotating the club the wrong way...hard to describe but I was twisting it forwards instead of to the side. THe last thing he said was to slow down my backswing, so do the backswing, hold for a count, follow through then hold until the ball lands. I hit some good ones, but there's a lot to remember. The key thing is to make the swing the same every time. It was different but I think it was working.

I asked about the hybrid...he said he had a hybrid...he could never hit with the 3 iron and he thinks the hybrid is great. I had to do the same I was doing except move my legs a little further apart. The shots were quite straight and not curving to the right as usual. I learned a lot, the weather held up and my next lesson is Monday at 5pm.

Probably golfing on Wednesday with work (depending on weather) and Thursday with Janet and Blaine after work so I'll have a couple of cracks at it.

Golfing with dad at the Mix 106 Tour

Went out with Dad tonight to Scenic City. It was a blast. The weather looked like it was gonna be crappy so it wasn't that busy. We got rained on on the 4th hole after I hit a rocket that went like 230 yards (which is good for me) but it was beautiful after that. That was my drive of the night - Pam, Bruno and Steve were playing in front of us and I didn't figure I could hit that far but it didn't come far from Bruno. Me and Dad had a good time. He hurt his elbow a couple of years ago so it doesn't bend all the way so all his curved left, while all mine curved right. He kept one ball the whole round...he thought he lost one on the last hole, but he overshot the 9th (we played the front 9) and went into the carts and we found it after the round. I started off strong with the irons (hit some trees) but ran out of gas near the end. My chipping and putting were terrible. Me and Dad were about the same...i hit the long ones further than him, but he chipped a lot better and had less bad shots. I didn't play as well as I did yesterday, but I can still see some improvement. I even hit a couple good ones with the Hybrid. I'm looking forward to my lesson next Monday (weather permitting). I'm on holidays for the next couple of days so I'll see if I can get Jane or Jane's dad out. I almost had a par...hit it right at the green on 6 but chipped like an idiot...ah well. Nothing to get upset about. One of the guys who were playing behind us got real excited and took a swing at his golf cart like he was trying to chop down a tree. Me and Dad just laughed. We're gonna try and do it again in July or August. I have golfed there so much this year I never noticed that really every hole was 300 yards except the first one and the par 3's. I still enjoyed myself :)

Total Holes : 83
Total Yardage : 26018
Pars : 2
Birdies : 0

Walkerton GCC - Hot but fun

Tonight, me, Brad and Phil went to the Walkerton Golf and Country Club and did 9 holes for the Bull Tour. I wanted to do more but it was hot and humid. We even took a cart. With the Bull Tour it cost us $18 including the cart, but the Monday-Thursday deal (before 3pm) is $20 (including tax) for 9 holes with cart, so I think when I'm off I'm gonna grab Dale or Blaine some morning and go and play. I thought I had never played this course before but I did play it with Dale last year. I had a pretty good round....got a par on a par 3 with a 15 foot putt or so. I only hit about 5 bad shots...I had some pretty good drives, mostly under control. I had easily my best round with my irons. I didn't use my hybrids much (it was a pretty short course) but I did fairly well. Worst was chipping...inconsistent. There was a water hole and I successfully shot over the water. All in all it went pretty good. Phil is a lefty (I had never played with him before) and a big hitter. It's neat playing with all these different people and all their styles. Walkerton was one of my favourite course I've played on this year...I'm definitely going back again (and it's cheap!) Looking forward to tomorrow with Dad. Brad said he called for a tee time and "all he could get was 4:30"...we're teeing off at 4:58 so it sounds like it will be a zoo. We'll see

Total Holes : 74
Total Yardage : 23198
Total Pars : 2
Total Birdies : 0

golf lessons scheduled

I got a call from Andy this morning at Stone Tree and my first lesson is scheduled for Monday, June 29th at 10 am. I told him I wanted to work on irons and chipping. I told him I get the ball up with the irons about 80% of the time (which thinking about it is an outright lie...50% is probably closer). This is my lovely wife's birthday present and man I can't wait. I'm taking dad golfing on Thursday and *maybe* going golfing on Wednesday is I can get back from Walkerton.

Here's the writeup on my instructor from the Stone Tree website

Andy O'Leary, CPGA
Assistant Professional
andy@stonetree.on.ca

Andy, a long time Stone Tree employee enters his 1st full season as a certified CPGA Golf Professional. Born and raised in Owen Sound, Andy is well known to the numerous golfers that frequent Stone Tree on a regular basis. His likeable and popular personality make him a perfect addition to our professional teaching staff. Andy's qualifications are validated and thorough as a result of his completion of the CPGA Teaching and Coaching Certification Program Levels 1 and 2.

Northern Dunes It Is!

Today, me and Keith went to Northern Dunes in Hepworth. It was a lot of fun. Keith had a hamstring issue so we took a cart and went and tried to do 18 holes (for $60/piece...yikes...a far cry from the $10 golf "tours" i'm used to playing). We played for almost 5 hours...it was slow on the front 9 and faster on the back, but Keith only brought 3 balls so on hole 16 we had to quit because we ran out of balls (!) Of course, we were both zonked...i need to find more balls...off to Walmart I go tomorrow. I was consistently a little better...fewer "worse" shots. I still need to work on my irons and particularly shots from 50 feet and in...so when I get lessons I will ask about that. I drove fairly well but I did duff a couple. We both lost quite a few balls (see above). My shot of the day was on 8 I believe. I hit a 6-iron out of the sand trap at least 150 yars and within 10 feet of the hole. It was a great shot. We had a lot of laughs...I started getting low around hole 10 so I grabbed a sandwich and I was fine. Keith picked up some guy's ball when we were coming down the back 9 and denied it up and down. It was good for a laugh. We decided when we go again it will be to the small golf course on the other side of Sauble Golf and Country Club...I figure it will be cheaper. Note to anyone who goes to Northern Dunes...wait until 1 to start...it cost us more because we started at noon. I relaxed tonight in my parent's hot tub to ease my shoulders and legs. Can't wait until I get out on the course again.


Total Holes : 65
Total Yardage : 20139
Pars : 1
Birdies : 0

Money ball

Just got back from doing 13 holes with Chrystelle and Bruno. Keith said he was going to come but he bailed, but he said he would probably golf on the weekend which was sweet. I did consistently better than I have in the past. Not great, not terrible. I swore a lot at my hybrid but I ended up taking some better shots. Bruno mentioned that maybe the ball was too far away from me, so i moved the ball in a little closer which made me stand up a little bit more and that made a noticeable difference hitting the irons...until i hit it too close in which case it would go the right. i am getting better though. we started at 5 to avoid the rush and it was a beautiful day for golf, and played right through till dark. i found a ball with MONEY ($$$) enscripted on it...will take a picture and post it later. Chrystelle borrowed some of Kathy's clubs including a Taylor Made driver. Man that thing was sweet. I tried it on two holes...Chrystelle asked me if I wanted to shoot more with it, but I told her I only had about 36 holes experience with my clubs so I shouldn't be trying others. It was sweet though. No birdies or pars, but a lot of fun.

Total Holes : 49
Total Yardage : 14958
Pars : 1
Birdies : 0

Happy Birthday To Me!

I was supposed to go golfing with Dale today, but he called me up and he was really sick so we didn't end up going. Kirk and Dana got me Tiger Woods 2009 golf game for the Wii, Mom and Dad got me a gift certificate for Scenic City...jeez I golf so much there I should get a membership :) And Jane got me a couple of lessons at a TBD place. It's all very exciting.

First Bull Tour Round of the Year

Tonight after work me, Chrystelle, Bruno and Pam (whom I had never golfed with before) made the short trek to Scenic City and paid $9.45 for a round of golf. It was absolutely packed. A couple of guys from work had a tee time 35 minutes before us and they were still waiting to tee off by the time we did. I got a chance to try out my new shoes and man are they worth it. My feet feel fine, I was worried my first picture on the blog would be my blistered feet :) I love them. If you removed the first three holes I did not so bad today, but unfortunately you have to count all the holes. The first hole is the longest one on the course and of course you're cold so that was my worst hole. I drove okay, I generally did terrible on the irons but they got better, I used my hybrid on every hole, including off the tee on the par 3s and it was still bad but my best 9 holes with it yet, and the putting was generally bad. I had fun though. It took us 3½ hours to do 9 holes but that was mostly because there were so many people there. I don't remember there being as many last year but I never played at Owen Sound on a Bull night. Highlight was Chrystelle dumping her beer in her golf bag on the third hole :)

Total Holes : 36
Total Yards : 10840
Pars : 1
Birdies : 0