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Not a Good Driver?
The problem with most people who have trouble driving well off the tee is the fact that they haven’t mastered their swing before using a driver.
If you are having trouble with your driver a good way to get back on track is to leave it at home and tee off with a 3-iron instead.
While you won’t get the same distance initially you will have more room for error and you will have a better chance of hitting the ball a lot straighter.
The idea is to swing your 3-iron in the same manner, as you would do with the 7-iron.
When you have the right control with this club you will begin to get more distance and you will be swinging in a slower more controlled manner.
Once this is translated to the driver you will realize that you don’t have to ‘hit’ the ball.
You will focus more on control with a slower swing and let the club do the work that you might have been expecting your body to do.
Now taking this one step further, you could substitute the 3-iron for your 7-iron.
As strange as this might seem it was the fastest way that one woman I was playing golf with learnt to master her drive.
She played the 7-iron off the tee until she was consistently getting straight shots and reasonable distance.
Her second shot was generally a 7-iron as well, so she was getting a lot of practice with that club.
While the initial shot wasn’t going anywhere near as far as a 3- iron, they were straight and on many holes the combination of two 7-iron shots gave the same result for her as a 3-iron and a 9-iron.
After gaining consistency with the 7 she move to the 3-iron off the tee and eventually the driver.
Sometimes it is faster to take a few steps back to progress sooner.
Golf – A Good Walk Spoiled
When one looks at the history and public awareness of golf, it is easy to see how this supposedly most relaxing of games has received attention from wits through the ages. The trend for humorous golf quotations was arguably lead by writer and traveller Mark Twain, who when asked to define the sport quipped it was: “a good walk spoiled”. The phrase has since become synonymous with golf itself, even leading to a Mark Twain Golf Course being opened.
However, Twain is not the only historical or cultural figure to make a lasting comment about golf. Some of the mutterings from notable – and occasionally not-so-notable – individuals have gone down in golfing folklore, providing plenty of opportunity for both fans of the game and fans of clever wit to enjoy.
A favourite for those who subscribe to the popular notion of golf as a game for gentlemen are often found to quote American journalist Art Spander. Spander himself must agree with this idea, as he once said: “golf is a game not just of manners, but of morals.” Lovers of the sport will also find great resonance with the following words, said by American – now retired – golfer Arnold Palmer: “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening and it is without doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.” Both quotes, from Spander and Palmer, are often repeated by modern golfing enthusiasts.
However, those in possession of drier wit – and arguably a less worshipful opinion of the game – have turned their attentions to golf also. American writer and humorist Dave Barry once famously said: “for me, the worst part of playing golf, by far, has always been hitting the ball. Barry is not alone in lamenting the difficulties of the game; another famous quote is “many a golfer prefers a golf cart to a caddy because the car cannot count, criticize or laugh.”
However, the true stars of golfing quotations of the unknowns, whose words have passed through generations purely due to their dryness and intelligent. Perhaps the best known is: “when I die, I want to be buried on a golf course because at least my husband might visit then.” An equally dark and equally amusing quote is as follows: “Golf can be described as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.”
We shall conclude, as we began, with writer Mark Twain. As well as the most famous golfing quote of all time, he also spoke of the sport with the following: “It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”
Interpreting Golf Terminology – A Thankless Task
If someone came back from the golf course and told you that they had “chunked an approach that left them having to take a Mulligan, and then ended up on the apron, before lipping out and relying on a come-backer to save par”, you would be entirely within your rights to assume that they had spent too long at the 19th Hole. But the actual fact is that they would be describing something that happens every so often to most golfers. They would be couching it in dense terminology and making it almost impossible to understand for anyone but other golfers, but they would not be lying or, necessarily, drunk.
To “chunk” a shot is to drive your club into the ground before, or in (accidental) lieu of hitting the ball. Coming from the sound that such an impact makes, it is something horribly familiar to a great many golfers. And it could lead to a Mulligan, which is a replay of the shot without any stroke being counted. This is not allowed in competition golf, but is allowed to pass in most casual rounds. From your Mulligan, could you end up on an apron? You certainly could. Assuming you were aiming for the green, if you ended up on the slightly rougher patch of grass around it, that’s exactly where you would have ended up.
From such a position there would be two options. Firstly your sober friend could try to chip the ball from the “apron” towards the hole, or secondly they could attempt a putt. If the ball rolled around the outside of the hole and stayed out, this is described as “lipping out” – from where the ball can go anywhere, sometimes heart breakingly a few feet past. When the ball rolls past the hole, you must rely on a putt coming back the other way – or, as the terminology has it, a “comebacker”.
There are a great many other golf terms which may be considered impenetrable and arcane to the uninitiated. The best advice that one could possibly pass on to a novice trying to get a handle on the terminology for the sake of a relationship is to watch with a notepad and learn as you go along with some help from the Internet.
Why Put Things Off When You Can Go Off Putting?
For many of us, a holiday is an opportunity to get away from things and sit by a pool, catching some sun and having a quiet period of relaxation and contemplation. Some of us do not deal so well with staying still all the time and need to have a bit more to do with our time. These are the people who benefit most from golfing holidays. You still get the time away from things – perhaps more so, because there are few places more suited to splendid isolation than the far end of a golf course – but you also get to have a bit of gentle exercise rather than getting bored on a sun lounger.
There are some great destinations for a golfing holiday in the US. Florida in itself is home to several fabulous courses, with very limited prospects of having to cut short your game due to rain if you go at the right time. Check with your travel agent to see where and when you could go and play a few rounds, and especially ask them about Naples – the famed golfer’s paradise – and the world renowned Doral golfing resort. Arizona, too, is home to some great courses, and both of the above states have a lot more going for them than just (!) golf, so the whole family can come along.
If you fancy stretching your search a bit further than US courses, there are some excellent golfing holidays to be had further afield. In Europe, there is a love for golf that challenges that of the American golfing fraternity. Britain, for example, is home to some of the most famous old courses in the world, including the Belfry (four time host of the Ryder Cup) and St Andrews, while Ireland has the legendary K Club. Meanwhile, if you want to get a bit more sunshine while you play, the Portuguese Algarve is dotted with excellent courses. Further afield again, you might consider Dubai for a golfing break. There are courses springing up all the time there, while the hotels simply have to be seen to be believed.
