My Putting Green in done! It only has one cup right now; I will add one or two more once the weather decides to stay nice for more then 1 day. I am extremely happy with how it turned out. I have been practicing and have noticed that I have a nice slow right to left break from one side, straight slow roller from another, and each is different depending on speed so I can work on touch!

Darci, YOU ROCK!

Good news, I have upgraded my clubs! I am now playing with TaylorMade Tour Burners (4 through 9 with pitching and sand wedge)! They are a standard length and lie, so I am going to need to have them extended by an inch. Mike and Jim have been helping me with my swing; they both can see what issues I have and are trying to straighten me out. My #1 issue is swinging in tempo, getting my swing timing down so that I am striking the ball with the most controlled impact force.

On the lighter side, I need to call a truce with Big Joe! He is killing me with his quick “jabs”. On Sunday I complained about my drive being 30 yards short of what I expect. Joe quickly shot back with “don’t worry, you should get that on you next shot”…BAM! That being said, the “Joe Kintz Callaway Ball Wash Station” is rather catchy…

Golf thoughts from the greats-

Golf is a thinking man's game. You can have all the shots in the bag, but if you don't know what to do with them, you've got troubles. – Chi Chi Rodriguez

The older I get the better I used to be! – Lee Trevino

Golf is the only game I know of that actually becomes harder the longer you play it. - Bobby Jones

Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing. - Ben Hogan

These greens are so fast I have to hold my putter over the ball and hit it with the shadow. - Sam Snead

I know what you are doing wrong – Jim Kelley

Pictures coming soon of my putting green!

Time to hit the range!

FORE!!!

Ok,
I have been giving Joe a bad time lately. Joe is one of the “nicer” golfers in our group (That is not saying a lot), and I apologize. It was mean of me to tell Joe that there is a petition in the club house to re-name the pond that borders the 2nd and 16th greens, and the 3rd fairway. The name you ask? Well it was the “Joe Kintz Memorial Pond”. I know, I know, Joe reminded me that usually “memorial” infers that the person has passed away. Now Joe may look a little frazzled (especially during a round of golf), and he remembers when he used to drink beer from a steel can wile listening to a new country star by the name of Hank Williams…Sr. But I am here to tell you that he is still alive and well. Joe, my deepest apologies for my cold and heartless comments. To show you my sincerity, I am going to push to rename the body water the “Joe Kintz Callaway Ball Wash Station” (See DW course layout at bottom of page). That petition will be in the club house, right next to the petition to rename all the trees that line the course to “The Mike Spangler Throw Back Forest”!

And I would like to welcome Mr. Lehman (and his money) back to the group. He golfed for the 1st time this year. I have to say, he picked right up where he left off last year with his putting. I do believe that he gave up a “Luigi” 7 of 9 holes…WELCOME BACK MATT….CHA CHING!


Fore!

Big thanks to Jim, Mike, and Big Joe for helping with my swing issues. I believe that I have improved my swing. I look forward to actually playing a round Tuesday instead of hitting the range.

I am also going to start heading to the range for 15 to 20 minutes right after finishing our round on Tuesday’s to work out any issues that I might have had while playing. I want to work on it while it is still fresh, not letting me stew on it.

I have started looking to upgrade my clubs. Mike is now playing with TaylorMade 2009 Burner irons. I got to hit with them, and I have to say they are great. They have a great weight transfer when swinging. I have been thinking about getting some quality name brand clubs for a while, but have been making excuses. Mike letting me hit those Burners has made my excuses useless. If I am going to take this seriously, I am going to need to put up or shut up. I am interested in the same models that Mike is playing, or the Tour Burner, or maybe the 2008 R7 CGB. We will see.

Fore!

Some thoughts after reading multiple books on golf, playing many rounds with good friends (and not so good friends), and just general thoughts off the top of my head-

Grip-
Someone once told me that you should grip the club as lightly as you were holding a baby bird in your palm and you were trying to keep it from flying away without crushing it to death; this person is a lunatic. You should hold every club, except the putter, as it were a poisonous rattle snake looking to sink those deadly fangs into you if you relaxed your grip for a second. To practice this grip, get a large carrot and boil it for about 2 minutes. Now grip the carrot just as you would the club, Squeeze as tightly as you can until the carrot oozes through your fingers…that’s the grip.

Swing Speed-
Good golfers may be able to hit the ball far with what looks like a smooth effortless swing, but for a Hack Fest Hacker the secret to getting good distance, especially off the tee, is time warp clubhead speed between set up and impact. Basically, you're not swinging fast enough unless there is a sonic boom, the ball explodes, or your back cracks.

Golfers giving tips-
No offense, but if I gave a penny for your swing thoughts, I would be over paying. “Keep you elbow in”, “keep your elbow out”, “don’t look up”, “swing smooth” (WOW, I never thought of that!). The only tip I listen to is “you need a beer”.

Talking to your ball-
Some people do and some don’t. I do. That being said, I talk to a ball differently depending on its quality, such as-

• Titlesiest PRoV1 heading for a hazard – I might say forcefully (but not yelling) “be nice and turn, turn, be a good ball”
• Pinnacle heading for a hazard – I might say sharply (may be yelling) “Get down, baby get down!”
• An X-Out or range ball heading for a hazard – I will Yell “SEE YA SUCKER!”

Playing badly and speed-
Hack Fest Hacker may play badly, but that is not an excuse to play slow. After all if I have a 9 and you and 8, spending time worrying about who has the “honor” on the next tee is a farce, it is first come first serve. And does it really matter if we are both in the trees, who should drop (throw) their ball out first. I am the first to say, if you are more likely to shoot your weight instead of your age, you don’t want to take all day doing it.

Being polite to the group pushing you-
Yeah….umm…I am really not the guy to give advice on this subject. I have a tendency to say what is on my mind (especially if the course is backed up ahead of our group). I do believe I threatened one or two (okay, maybe more), and used “colorful” language to get my point across. I would have to defer to Jim and John on this subject… they are the nice guys.

Praising a shot-
Wait for a ball to land before saying “nice shot”. There is nothing worse then saying “nice shot” right after someone hit the ball, only to have it go into trees, a trap, water, or just plain out of bounds. If you say nice shot to me, and my ball lands in one of the mentions hazards, you will hear me say “No, no it was not a nice shot”. The only thing worse then saying "nice shot" and having the ball land in a hazard, is following it up with “it’s ok, your safe, you can hit it from there”….I will kill you with the club I just hit with so that I can say it did me some good on that hole.


FORE!

So I have asked Jim for some help with my swing and he gave me some good advice and let me know what he went through when he worked on his swing. He gave me some really good drills to practice such as a half swing, left hand push, and body turn. I worked on them in the yard and went to the range to continue the drills. I got a large range bucket (about 100) and started hitting. I hit the first 10 pretty good...then the wheels fell off, WAY off, they rolled into the next county, state, country. I proceeded to shank, blade, and cut the next 45 straight golf balls. I tried slowing down…shank…I concentrated on staying down…blade…I made sure to transfer my weight…cut…damn. I was so frustrated that I walked off the range leaving the remaining balls to anyone who wanted to “improve” their game. I just left mumbling to myself, sat in the truck and called Jim (had to leave a message!), and Mike, who laughed because he has gone through the same thing.

I am going to meet with Jim, John, and Mike soon at the range and get this straighten out. Or Jim shall pay!!!!! Ok, so maybe he won’t, he is only trying to help…OR is he?

Until I fix this, if you see me on the range, give me room.

FORE!!!!

Frank’s top ten reasons he plays golf
1. Playing with good friends.
2. Hitting that “one” GREAT shot.
3. That nice cold frosty beverage (before, during, and after).
4. The unlimited sarcasm (and support?) between brothers and friends.
5. Luigi’s!
6. The post round review (especially TACO Tuesday!).
7. Tips from John & Jim just before they change their swings and implode.
8. Mikey shots!
9. Joe’s love of trees.
10. Clearing the canyon on the par 3 hole # 3, Diamond Woods.

Ten things to say when you hit a bad shot
1. I wasn’t loose.
2. I looked up, again.
3. I just had a lesson, and Jim/John screwed me up.
4. My clubs hate me and quit.
5. I had a bad lie, I was in the fairway.
6. I thought it broke the other way.
7. I can’t play well when the dew point is this low.
8. HANG ON, TURN, TURN!
9. GET DOWN, GET DOWN, GET DOWN!
10. Suck…

Ten things to say when your partner/opponent hits a bad shot
1. At least you are dressing better.
2. Wait for it, wait for it (followed by a splash or hit tree).
3. You’ll get better on the back 9…too bad we are just playing 9.
4. That’s one technique.
5. Cha Ching!
6. I never play well on weekends either.
7. Smooth…..
8. You should have warmed up more.
9. That’s a hard shot with the dew point this low.
10. At least you’re looking up fast enough to track your shank.


FORE!