Its really good to see so many regulars that come back to play at the country club every year and they show so much appreciation for how we do things which is just fantastic.
This weekend certainly was a great one! We had the Fred Scherer outing which is always an absolute blast. These guys have an outing at this time every single year and always have a lot of fun. They play over the weekend in two different formats for a two man team, the first is a betterball score and the next is a scotch event. The scotch format entails both players hitting their drive, picking the best one and then playing an alternate shot format there on in. It really is a lot of fun and the guys all had a great time.
Its really good to see so many regulars that come back to play at the country club every year and they show so much appreciation for how we do things which is just fantastic. This weeks junior golf was indeed a very good one and I had a great session planned. After a quick warm up session we headed straight over to the putting green to begin the drill. I had bought 3 Hulu hoops and had placed them around 20ft away for each team with 3 range ball baskets in between them at 5ft intervals. Simply, the teams had to putt from he start line and hit the three baskets before then making the 20ft putt inside the Hulu hoop... easy you say, well no, this actually tests the best of us and is something that the kids really enjoyed. They had to wait until the person in front of them was back in their original position before they could go, so it also teaches life skills and general play rather than pure golf (and a little cardio).
Overall, I feel that everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly and is something that we'll do towards then end of the summer again. You all have to know what Wednesday means by now... yes its league night. But first of all I had the opportunity to play with the pocket change guys in the morning. I had a great time and generally played very well. As per usual I drew the last card which meant I was in the last group, however, I did get to play with some great members so I didn't mind as much. I shot a very respectable 69 and enjoyed myself thoroughly!
Really that was all the excitement for the day, league went as smoothly as ever and I fulfilled my daily duties! Looking forward to tomorrow with the juniors as I already have a session planned out.... stay tuned. Tuesday brings about the LGA weekly competition. This weeks was an interesting one in which they played a high-low ball game. This entails a two person team playing against another two person team. The aim of the game is foe either you or your partner to have the low score on the hole and not have the high score. For example, if team A has a 3 and 4 and team B has a 4 and a 5 then team A would earn both points as they had the low ball and didn't have the high ball. So the team really has to work together and cannot simply rely on one person playing well as there is still a point up for grabs for not having the highest score.
This was one of the ladies favourites and they had a great time. This weekend marked the return of the MGA (mens golf association) and the competition was the member-menber. A clear favourite of everyones. They played over both days and on the first day played a scotch format which involved both players hitting their drives, choosing the best one and then playing alternate shot in from there. Then on Sunday they played a more simple better ball format in which they simply choose the best score between the two of them. This really is a fun competition that everyone seems to enjoy. The winners this year were Mr Barnett and Mr Steiner, two very deserving winners who noticeably work very hard on their game!
Well done guys! Yayyyy, junior golf day! This week was particularly fin as we decided to take an array of targets for the kids to hit up to the driving range. We had posts with dart board like targets on, boxes to make bridges and structures, hoops and much more. The kids really did enjoy it and also learned a lot from it. We initially just let them play havoc with the targets and see who many they could get. Our prediction that they would be hitting it too high to hit the targets was indeed correct so up came a great opportunity to teach them how to hit a punch shot. The punch shot keeps the trajectory of the ball as low as possible and is used in a variety of different scenarios during a round of golf, unfortunately for most its used to punch out of the trees..... However, on open championship week it was certainly applicable to teach them how to play this shot during windy conditions.
Overall, a great session and already looking forward to next week. We all know by now that Wednesday means league night and is still by far one of my favourite days to work at the club. The reasons behind this are that I'm pretty much always busy, from the start of my shift I am clearing up the morning tee times and then follow straight on into league preparation. Its a great chance to chat with some of the members that aren't normally there everyday and they often very kindly ask me to play instead of them to rack up some points. If only I was allowed.
Wednesdays also have a big part in my social life which I feel is important to share as its imperative to have a healthy life out of your job so that you can come to work rejuvenated each day. So Wednesdays are Mexican night at el campesino which I enjoy very much. I only started really liking Mexican food after my travels to the US so its something I strongly associate with Wooster. Its always a great way to end the day! Another week and another LGA competition, However, this time I had a front row seat.... It was the inaugural LGA beat the pro shop team competition. This is something that we as pro shop staff look forward to every year as it is indeed a lot of fun! The competition is a scramble and it is quite simply their best net scramble score against our gross scramble score. Iw led like to say that we have not been beaten since I've been working but thats not important....
So we tee'd off and the team was myself, Kelly, Father Gabriel and Anthony. A strong team to say the least, and we were after our record score that we had accomplished two years before at the strong leadership of Gary Welshhans the former head professional. We got off to a not so hot start and parred our first hole the par 3 third. We eventually got going and the putts started to roll in, I was used to bomb it off the tee and get it close to the green and a lot of the time I let the other guys do the rest. We ended up with a 14 under par 58 which was 4 off our record of 18 under par. A record that i think will stand for a very long time. Overall, it was an excellent and enjoyable day for all and the ladies certainly had fun too. This weekend was pretty much back to normal with not a lot of play being posted so not an over zealous amount to report really. However, I did get two really good practice sessions in on both days of the weekend that I can share with you.
The first drill took place on the range and revolved around hitting just my 3 different wedges (which for anyone interested are 52, 56 and 60 degrees). I would start with my 60 and hit a dozen balls at 50%, a dozen at 75% and then a dozen at 100%. This would then be repeated with my other two wedges to really try and dial in my different distances and really helped get a great feel for different flight trajectories due to my length of arc. Next I ventured down to the putting green in which I had to hit 50 putts from various 3ft diameters around the hole and see how many I could get in. My highest score for this is 42 which I would say isn't too bad, but there is clear room for improvement. Sundays session took place again at the driving range and after a brief warmup I concentrated mainly on my mid range irons. I simply played around with different flight paths and trajectories to see if I could do each one on demand. It is definitely important to mix up your practice schedule like this in order to keep it fun, interesting and keep motivation up. I think we all know what Thursday means by now.... its junior golf day!! Obviously one of my most exciting times of the week and this was no exception. We managed to learn all about bunker shots this week as I led the session. I took them through the basic drills of playing out of the bunkers and gave my favourite dollar bill demonstration... to which the kids were very impressed. I then helped them out in plugged lie situations and told them that an evil golf gnome comes over and stands on your ball when its in the bunker so therefore, they needed to know how to play it out of there. At first they were a little dismayed by how hard the shot looked but after w while they certainly got the correct technique and were more than pleased when they could see the ball still flying out of the sand.
Overall, it was a great session and both sets of kids really seemed to enjoy themselves and definitely learned a lot from it. |