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Ahh Sweet Spring

The robins are back, but man , they are pissed.  It snowed this morning in Des Moines.  The sun is out now though, and I, Pollyanna Tom, believe golf weather is just around the corner.  The City courses were slated to open last Friday, but it snowed Thursday.  Geez.
  PGA executive office candidates are in town today.  Our good friend Ted O'Rourke, head professional at Morris County Golf Club, is a candidate for Secretary.  Green grass pros, as well as those who work at driving ranges and other facilities know that the golf industry is changing.  Supply and demand is an issue:  there are too many golf courses in Iowa for all of them to prosper; especially if the operators keep doing things the same way.  Hell, doing the dame thing over and over again, but expecting a different result is a good definition of Insanity.  Pros need to focus on delivering EXCELLENT customer experience.  They should read Tom Peters and Guy Kawasaki about making meaning and serving their clientele, and about focusing on WOMEN.  Ted gets it.

Tour Links Putting Greens

I've searched high and low for many many years for a practice solution for working on the putting stroke.  I know several people who had an artificial putting green installed in their backyard.  At first they were happy, but as time went on, the green required just as much maintenance as a real green!  And the quality of the artificial green deterioated significantly.

Well, we found the best solution out there when it comes to putting greens.  SwingStation Systems is a registered dealer of Tour Links Putting Greens. 

The patented technology makes for easy assembly and is extremely durable.  Basically the base of the green is snapped together with several interlocking, jigsaw puzzle-like, hard plastic pieces (see picture at right) and the turf is pre-cut and laid over the base for a true rolling, tour-like putting speed. 

We use them in our schools and clinics.  Also, if you don't like the pre-designed pre-packaged greens you can see on the web site, we can custom design and build a green to fit anywhere you want.  Poolside, on the patio, in the office or in the basement...you can have a real putting green experience anywhere you want! 

These easy to assemble greens can be moved from place to place and you can roll up the turf to store it away if you know you won't be using the green for a while.  For more information call Ted directly at (908) 507-7870.  Call him today and become the envy of all your golfing buddies!  Makes a great Christmas or birthday gift!

US Kids Local Golf Tours

This past summer my son was afforded a wonderful opportunity thanks to US Kids Golf and Chris Hunt who is the Assistant Executive Director of the New Jersey PGA.  Chris and his staff worked with US Kids and ran the local golf tour for kids ages 6-12.  The courses the kids competed on were located around the state and ranged from upscale private courses to high end daily fee courses.

Chris and the rest of his gang did an unbelievable job running each event.  Often dealing with well over 200 participants, each player was treated like a Tour player.  Some of the events, thanks to the generosity of the host course Head Golf Professional (Dan Pasternack and Brent Studer), there was a delicious lunch free for all participants.  After the completion of play at each event, there was a short awards ceremony.

US Kids "encourages" and "allows" parents to caddy for their children.  My wife who is more of a tennis player if you get my drift did it for one tournament and she had a ball!  Although the folks at US Kids are well intended, they might want to rethink that parent-caddy thing or at least tweak it a little.  Don't get me wrong, many parents thoroughly enjoyed watching their son or daughter compete, learn and make new friends.  However, many parents were way over the top, yelling at their children, admonishing them for a poor shot and teaching them to play slower than a tour player.  I witnessed several youngsters who wouldn't take the club back until they got the approval from their dad.

So youth golf (different from junior golf) is going to thrive thanks to people like Chris Hunt and US Kids.  My prediction is youth golf will go the way of Little League Baseball unfortunately (it may already have) because golf dads will want to live vicariously through their more talented and more exposed children.  In any event, my son made friends from across the state that he wouldn't otherwise have met.  I thank Chris and US Kids for that.  I look forward to next year as does my son. 

John Daly...Good for Golf?

After the 1st day of this year's last major golf championship otherwise known as the PGA Championship, an unlikely candidate to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy is lurking.  It is known that at least half of this blog's authoriship is a big fan of John Daly.  I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like JD (setting aside his multiple ex-wives).  Sure you'd find people who thinks he wasted some serious talent and some who find him to be a pathetic figure...but you gotta like him and pull for him. 

I don't know John personally.  Like most people, I only know what the media reports.  So here is what I know of JD: he likes to gamble (often excessively), he likes Hooters (the restaurant silly!!), he chain smokes, he drinks Diet Coke like it's water, he's never seen a donut with or without a hole in it he doesn't like, he's walked off golf courses in the middle of the round, he hits the you-know-what out of the ball, he has incredible touch around the greens, he's over weight (duhhhh), he travels in an RV and parks it somewhere near the tournament site to be with the fans and hawk his gaudy "stuff", oh yeah...and he's won the Wanamaker Trophy already and he won the oldest golf championship on the oldest golf course in the world...the British Open.

What does all that mean?  I think it means he isn't the greatest role model but if you take away the excessive gambling, the chain smoking and if he lost a few pounds...he might not be too far away.  Okay, if he didn't have all those ex-wives too.  Also, I'd ground my 10 year old son for months if he walked off a golf course in the middle of a round.  But, I think JD is what he is.  He does what he wants and says what he says and basically lives his life.  I think he has regrets, but he doesn't look back.  I like that and it's not easy to live your life that way.  Too often people look back or are busy comparing themselves to someone else and they stall.  Not JD.  He plods forward no matter what. 

John Daly is good for golf.  Whether you agree or not, he is like more people in America than he is not.  He works hard to make a living and not necessarily on his golf game.  I'd even go so far as to say golf has become more of a hobby for John.  He's got faults.  So he's fat.  So he smokes.  So he loses it emotionally every once in a while.  Hey, I think he gave up drinking booze...that's good. 

JD, I'm rooting for you.  Whether you shoot 81 or 67, I'm rooting for you.  You're real.  You're good for golf.

There are more than 80 golf courses within 50 miles of Des Moines. There is at least one muni in every county (and we have 99 counties). Public courses range from rough tracts that Ol' Tom might have played to beautiful new layouts that would cost 100s of dollars in any major market. Instead, we can play them all for less than $75 dollars and many for a lot less; have lunch for less than $10, and be back at work by noon. The season goes well into the fall; I've played Thanksgiving weekend, and some of the local public courses are open year round. (One of my favorite fundraisers, for Children and Families of Iowa, is played at Terrace Hills east of Des Moines in December, and my other favorite, A Shot in the Dark for Prevent Blindness Iowa is played after dark at Willow Creek Golf Course.) We'll be posting reviews of these and other Iowa and New Jersey courses, as well as any resort courses we get to play, regulalrly.  We have golfers of all shapes and sizes, young and old. And now we have Zach Johnson. See you on the links.

Aerated Greens

Played a round at one of my favorite munis yesterday, Waveland Golf Course.  $15; no tee time; just walked up and was partnered with Chris, a young lawyer, and Keith and Sean,a father-son twosome who love golf.  Despite a a hellacious rain storm Friday, and humid weather all weekend the course was in fine shape.  It ought to be as it was the host for the Des Moines City Men's tournament last weekend and the Women's Tournament this past weekend.  The winners, of course, played really well:  Jon Brown, the Men's champion, won his third straight title with a 6 under score of 210, and Fiona Watson picked up the Women's title with a 2-under 142.  Great golf.  I played the course both Sundays after the tournaments were held. 
I am no champion golfer, and my putting is still a work in progress, but I noticed that  Waveland had recently aerated the greens and the furrows made a difference.  Now they weren't like the furrows Jack wanted in the traps for the Open, God forfend! But, lag a downhill putt and the aeration furrows really channeled the ball; hitting cross-furrow required a youthful approach to short putts.  Maybe they rolled them for the tourneys; maybe those guys and gals are just that much better; but I have to wonder why they couldn't have waited a couple of weeks.

Still, for only $15 after 4 pm, it is a great course.

BTW, this is the only competitive golf event Watson plays in; good for her.

A new golfing buddy

Just a quick intro to Kirsten Mortensen author of the coolly named Golfolicious blog.  Self described as "a writer, a mom, and nearly always in a good mood" she is also a golf fanatic.  She posted her 2007 resolutions for golf.  A fine writer and a golfer with a fine attitude.  We wish her well as she promotes the game we love.  Also check out Scot Duke's suite of sweet golf and business sites: Business Golf. He offers a unique approach to business consulting and a keen eye to the business of golf as well, something we appreciate.  He also plays great music via Sonific's widget.  Check it out. 

Tour Links and Us

We love the Tour Links putting greens we use in our clinics, and so do our clients.  Easy to assemble, rugged and good looking (kind of like me) they are great for practice and entertainment.  The one we use fits nicely in a spare room or an office (what a great way to spice up the reception area!).  We use them in our junior clinics at the end of the putting section.   If you do not want to buy one (they are available in a range of sizes and prices) we can provide one for your special event.  We have set them up at corporate events where the hosts have offered prizes for sinking a putt or just wanted to entertain the troops on a Friday afternoon. They are great for graduation parties (I have attended 12 so far this year) and open houses.

Because a number of clients asked us where they could get one we have arranged to offer them for sale to clients and visitors.  Email or call and we will help you pick one out.  We plan to offer sales on line soon.

Charge by the hour

Brandon Tucker, staff writer at WorldGolf.com suggests, tongue-in-cheek, that golf courses should charge by the stroke.  He makes a lot of sense but recognizes the real problem of enforcement.  After writhing through Sean O'Hair's excruciatingly slow pace of play and being stick behind a foursome that was clearly clueless about pace of play (why was the same guy always looking for his tee shot (from the blues no less) in the gorse about 50 yds off the tee box hole after hole? Even the 11-year old in his group that Saturday morning was out-driving him. And what is an 11-year old doing in a Saturday morning group anyway?)  I say charge them by the hour.  All it takes is a swipe of their credit card and an easy hook-up to a digital timer.  My comment to Tucker's article follows:

Courses could charge by the hour (or the quarter hour) with the rate per fraction of hour increasing, a lot, after four hours, and going through the roof after 4 1/2 hours.  On the flip side courses could offer discounts to players who finish or promise to finish in less than 4 1/2 hours.  Sheesh, when I was a young caddy, good players routinely finished 18 holes, with a snack and a roll of the dice at the turn in four hours--walking, no yardage markers (except a few buses at 150 yds out, no GPS or range finders.  Caddies helped but those guys knew how to play along.  Heck even the giggle golfers in the afternoons finished in well under 5 hours.  Charge by the hour and offer incentives for fast play.

Are you fit? Do your pants still fit?

I love a couple beers and a couple cigars when playing golf, but I have come to realize that I play better and enjoy my rounds more with a little fitness prep.  It's not enough anymore for me to chug a couple tabs of Vitamin A (Advil) and grip it and rip it.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that we can use our golf game as a barometer of our health.  In addition to the not-surprising news that most golfers are overweight, many suffer from back pain, and a significant percentage have played hung over (there is no greater sin than missing your tee time because you were over-served the night before), the article contains an excellent tip:  stretch before you play.  Link to www.mayoclinic.com, plug "golf stretches" into the search box and watch the slide show for 18 easy-to-do stretches designed to improve your flexibility for golf.  I am a big fan of Miranda Esmond-White's Classical Stretch program (I watch her on Iowa Public TV every Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning at 6:00 am.)  A former Ballet Canada dancer  she trains a number of Olympic and professional athletes.  I used her stretches before every round (10-15 minutes) during my mid-January golf trip this year and I swear they helped.  Not only did I feel good on the course without having picked up the sticks for a few months, I felt better afterward as well.  She is perky and has that cute Canadian accent; her web site does not offer much free info, but she does offer golf-specific tips during her program.  BTW, the current Golf Digest also has an article on biomechanics and the importance of stretching and strengthening the hips, some Miranda focuses on as well. We feature fitness tips in our youth clinics also.