Most folks who know me know that I am not a big fan of par 3 holes. That being said, I have also challenged myself a few times here and there to play an entire par 3 course. It might sound contradictory, but you really have to follow the logic on this.
My last golf outing that I posted about a few weeks ago felt like a true dusting, not even the type of play that I would call a comeback from a long lay off. It did prompt me to sure up certain parts of my game which had shown some rust and lackluster maintenance. It got me rethinking about consistency across the board and how much more consistency I needed with some fundamentals like alignment and approach.
I felt like a par 3 course like Singing Hills Pine Glen was just what I needed to get me back on track.
Swinging and Switching Up at Singing Hills Pine Glen
Nestled at the foot of East County foothills of San Diego just a short drive from the Sycuan Casino and Resort, Singing Hills is a golfer’s paradise in Southern California. As opposed to its 2 other 18-hole courses, Oak Glen and Willow Glen, Pine Glen is an 18-hole par 3 course that covers a lot of ground at just over 2,500 yards. This course has a total scorecard of 54, but it offers some challenges to make you knuckle down and choke up to keep your shots on target.
You get the point. I was all in my head the front 9. I shot a 39 and paced myself for another disastrous round, but I was angling in the right direction. My swift swing found the sweet spot on that 7 iron a few times and I felt confident. My main issue was that chipping from greenside or even the fringe left me putting for par or worse. I was not giving myself many birdie opportunities.
So, you see the scorecard. You see those 4 GIRs that rarely ever show up on my pics of scorecards. What that really means is that I had some changes that I had to make and I made them going into the back 9. On the 9th hole I had come up short on the left side of the green after a rocket of a shot with a 6 iron dropped in thick grass. The greenside short shot I tried to tap for a little roll caught too much speed and left me with a long putt for par. Then, after putting it past the hole, it took me 2 more putts to close out the hole. That hole got me psyched on how to conquer future holes, though.
I switched up my swing and alignment to get myself swinging on target again. This is one that you don’t get to on the range much because everything is static and nothing changes up much. That’s why I consider some rounds like this as my best practice rather than swinging away on the range with some soggy mat of artificial turf.
As you can see, I started getting my shots on target and putting myself in position to putt for birdie. That’s your best option if you are going to lower your scores, get in a position where you are putting for birdie or better. Putting to save par is too much work when you’re over 20 feet out and you’ve got bad read on the line. If you are putting for birdie, you can simply putt to the hole and follow that up with a putt in the hole for par. Improving my alignment got me on target with some greens in regulation and a handful of par holes to save my hide. The remainder of the holes on the back 9 were bogeys, but I have to admit that some of those were just errors in my putt reads or short game shots that didn’t pan out as I had planned.
Lesson Learned: Switch Up Where and When You Need To
My game is a testimony to trial and error. It speaks volumes about how much time I spend wondering if I am implementing the right techniques rather than testing out what I am doing and making adjustments from there. I need to trust myself more and make slight adjustments where and when I can in play. My cousin was a wild driver off the tee, ending up in the most peculiar circumstances for an approach shot, but I would always be amazed with his recovery shots that got him in a great position for birdie or par in a lot of circumstances. I don’t want the wild shots off the tee that force me to make amazing recovery shots. I want that consistent play that allows me to evaluate my circumstances at the moment and make a judgment call to switch things up here and there to improve my play.
C’mon man And with the local DDC news, LL Cool J with a triumphant comeback But tonight… Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years I’m rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear
I must have missed the memo, but I certainly can say that my latest outing in golf didn’t get me any closer to breaking 90 or breaking 100. In fact, it simply proved what I know good and well for my own personal golf game. I need more consistency to get better results.
I will even give myself a break. Over the past 2-3 months, I have been heavily into tennis. Playing doubles with co-workers once or twice per week and trying to organize groups of folks to just come out and try it with us for fun and fellowship with a little bit of fitness. And, might I add, I am decent enough to hang even when the temperature tips to about 90 degrees or so.
But this latest golf outing was nowhere near a comeback.
It was like more of a proving ground that what needed work when I left off after Spring Break still needs some work and what I thought I had down and under control still leaves me with drives veering off too far to the right or the left of the fairway.
Venture outside of San Diego proper eastward and you will come across Lakeside, a rural area where the summer weather is unquestionably hot as hell and the scenery is majestic with mountain views and wide open terrain. Nestled in the midst of Lakeside and surrounded by mobile homes, Willowbrook Country Club is a nine hole course designed for you to play twice. While playing with Cousin Robert, we went for the white tees on the first round, and then the blue tees on the second round.
The course is in decent shape and the rates are reasonable even with a cart. The staff was friendly and attentive, especially as we awaited teeing off due to the men’s regular Monday tournament in session when we arrived a little early to check in for our tee time. There are plenty of trees and enough water on the course to keep you trying to angle your shots to avoid them. For me, it was like I was on the EPA’s most wanted list and continually hitting anything with bark and leaves on it.
All in all, the course gives you enough of a challenge to keep you working on your game’s necessary tweaks. In my case, I found the types of holes designed on this flat dessert-like oasis to seem more fitting for an early morning tee time with a cool breeze and some June gloom to keep the sun at a distance. But you can only go dogleg left so many times before you have to hit a par 3 over water or decide between trying to drive a short par 4 with the flag behind the brush and sand trap or just lay up in the hopes of getting on in 2 shots.
My Letdowns Left Me Looking for Relief
With Cousin Robert @ Willowbrook Country Club
I spent way too much time with poor shot selections. You know the kind that I mean: chip shots between 2 trees with dangling limbs, approach shots where the alignment is off and you end up in the other fairway, and 3 putts upon 3 putts. man, I really thought I had those 3 putts down.
Despite all of the poor shots and lost balls, I still had my moments out there. My chip shot on the first hole over the trees that I would eventually deflower and damn near destroy on the second round showed promise and left me just off the fringe. My choice to go with a 3 wood when things looked wild off the tee was right on point and gave me a shot at birdie that fast greens do not allow. And of course I had to figure out my hybrid game which offered me some saving grace in a few instances on the course.
Mulligans were being called out countless times. This wasn’t one of those rounds where you felt like tracking any balls into the woods and bushes with the summer heat and any potential disturbance of local critters like reptiles. Like I always say, that’s why they come in packs of 12. Just toss me another one from my bag, bro.
Overwhelmed at Over One Hundred
No matter how bad my scorecard looked, I didn’t expect it to look that bad. But I got to be honest. It was a poor showing of course management and shot selection to go along with just plain gamesmanship. i was basically just out there without any strategy. That’s where I really got overwhelmed, I believe. My entire approach that day was just swinging and seeing where it went rather than trying to navigate the course with strokes in mind.
My first round looked like it might have some promise, but when I look at the scorecard I know that shows signs of an inevitable uphill battle. Throw in that second round and you see nothing but squares and double squares. And yes that is a ten on the 10th hole. I cannot even go into the depths of despair that I went through on the same hole that I had just done okay on in the first round.
Lack of Consistency Without Any Loss of Confidence
I mean I would be a fool if I just said that I am done playing golf due to a poor round. Look at guys like Lefty or Bryson DeChambeau when they miss the cut. They do not run and hide from the golf paparazzi and emerge the next season with a new coach, new caddie and new clubs. They take it on the chin and come back the next time with that prior round off their mind. They come back with a refreshed perspective and a can-do attitude about what is ahead of them. They make a plan to make things work out better than did previously.
Oh, believe me, I am reeling from some of these numbers. I can handle a few double bogeys and an occasional snowman, too. Just let me chip in for par or birdie off the fringe. Let me get a few pars and birdies along the way with those short par 4 and par 5 holes.
Whether you follow golf closely or you just peep in occasionally during the golf season, you have most probably heard of both Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. If you have been keeping up with the latest golf news, you know things have gotten ugly between both golfers, especially if you follow the headlines and digs dished out via social media. In essence, it’s a full blown feud in the eyes of sports media and other media outlets.
What it means so far is that the pair have not been set up to tee off with one another as many had anticipated. What it looks like is that DeChambeau has taken to video to deliver one of his latest blows, and Koepka has utilized the opportunity to shift the focus and spin the narrative in another direction during the U.S. Open Championship. At this point, in the final round, DeChambeau remains 2 strokes off the lead and tied for fourth, while Koepka is stuck somewhere in the middle of the pack tied for fourteenth place. The final numbers have yet to come in, but from the looks of it, DeChambeau appears to be the only one of the two in the running, and the feud can pick up where it left off until the next tourney comes around.
After struggling to scramble for make the cut, Lefty finds himself currently tied for 63rd place at +8 through six holes. That might sound like an issue, but I am sure that he has enough scrambling left in his game to inch up a few spots on the leaderboard before it’s all said and done. After all, he’s one of those players that will let loose like never before on the last day.
Schauffele is another story. He has demonstrated an uncanny ability to stay in the hunt for many tournaments recently. The 27 year old golfer is poised to play a promising round today and just might surprise us all with where he ends finishing this final round. We have yet to see and golf usually rewards its fans with some final round surprises.
No matter how you see it. It is good to see the U.S. Open Championship back in San Diego and at Torrey Pines. All that is left is for us to see who comes out on top and what other thrills we will witness along the way to hoisting of that trophy. Hell, with just a few strokes off the lead, Rory McIlroy might be able to work his way into a fight for the lead throughout the day. That would make for a daring finish right there.
I tend to play golf in the morning a lot. Sometimes, as luck and circumstances would have it, I just get a better deal on that 6:30 AM tee time. That means that I not only find myself getting dressed while it is still dark and downing a hot cup of coffee before hitting the road towards the course but also facing different types of conditions. It’s usually wet with dew still making the fairways and greens play differently. It usually includes some fresh mud and even marsh-like conditions when you find that tee shot has veered to the rough just left of the fairway. And heaven forbid if I find myself in one of those beach-like bunkers with that wet sand like a shoreline.
I have slipped and busted my butt a few times playing early mornings with only the sun peaking through the distant trees, so I know that I need some grip and traction. There’s nothing like having your swing mechanics aligned with all of your swing thoughts, only to result in you swinging and spinning out of control every now and then. That causes you to play too cautious and rob yourself of some yardage on a tee shot. Approach shots, chips, and pitching are not so bad. But I never noticed how much your shoes came into play for putting out on the green until my feet were pulsating and throbbing after tackling the front 9 of a hilly, slightly-sloped course. You don’t have to worry about the yips when you got aching feet halfway through a round. That’s when I vowed to restrict my play to certain predominantly-flat courses until I made some changes with my footwear.
The Choices are Either Spiked or Spikeless
Regardless of how you play or under which conditions you usually play, you got a choice of two options: spiked or spikeless. You can go traditional with spiked golf shoes. Or, you could go with the more trendy option of spikeless golf shoes. My current golf shoes are an early version of spikeless golf shoes and have suffered the inevitable doom of wear and tear. Prior to that, I have had both types of shoes. Since I am walking more, I am leaning toward the comfort and lightweight spikeless versions. Yet, due to playing in the mornings a lot, I recognize the benefits of a good pair of spiked golf shoes.
I will be sure to check back over the next few days to weigh the results. I already have some folks weigh in offline and they are killing me with their rationale. If you believe that you have some sound advice, drop it in the comments and I will be sure to check it out. I usually get some sound advice from the likes of Brian Penn and other golfers who blog on their play and the sport in general, so I am looking forward to getting some ideas on this whole dilemma.
I recently wrote an article about my sports-folio, the portion of my investments that I dedicate to stock in sports and entertainment companies. This was a follow-up to another article I published earlier the same day on Medium. Some of what I own spans the sports world from sports teams like the Atlanta Braves and Manchester United to entertainment and media companies like Disney and Comcast, but owning some of the golf companies is real hoot.
I have been investing for years now and it has saved me from some real low times in my life. My most recent investing has me weighing heavy bets on the dividend-paying stocks of the Dogs of the Dow and a major index -driven ETF position of DIA (Dow 30), SPLG (S&P 500), and QQQ (Nasdaq 100). However, I do get to dabble in what I call my sports-folio. It literally lets me own the course in a few instances with some relevant golf stocks.
While there are plenty of sports-related stocks, I try to manage and hedge my bets. I like owning a piece of the action. I like being able to say that that’s my team and I literally mean that’s my team. I use Robinhood and Stash for these portfolios split almost evenly between both accounts. If you join and add cash to Stash now via my link, you will get $20 sign-up bonus and I will receive a $20 referral bonus. Join Robinhood via my link, and we both get a FREE share of stock.
My sports-folio got a wide array of sports and entertainment stocks that include Disney (DIS) and Comcast (CMCSA) as well as Barclays (BCS), Manchester United (MANU) and Madison Square Garden (MSGS).
Acushnet Holdings (GOLF) gives me a piece of the action with some highly recognized names in golf today. Considering that GOLF is associated with some of the biggest names in the sport like Titleist, Vokey and Scotty Cameron, I have to admit that it seems like the Amazon of golf stocks to me. It just has everything in its wheelhouse. Wedges, putters, and all of the equipment and one of the most popular balls on the PGA Tour and among weekend golfers with the Titleist ProV1. This one is just a winner all around.
VIVI Properties (VICI) is a diversified real estate company formed as a REIT with a handful own golf properties in its portfolio that are featured on the PGA Tour. The company is truly engaged in entertainment, hospitality and more, including Caesars Palace. VICI owns four championship golf courses among its portfolio of properties and stands to keep investors happy with its consistent dividend payments going forward.
Nike (NKE) and Callaway (ELY) are still involved in the golf equipment and apparel markets. Why not NKE, a major leader among sports retailers on a global scale? Why not ELY which represents one of the most popular brands of golf equipment and apparel on the market today? because I am looking at the stock and not for a new driver. I have a different strategy for evaluating stock ever since I started reading and listening to Gerald Peters. Those stocks do not fit my plan right now. And, to be truthful, they may never fit and I can live with that. Investing should not be based on emotions and sentiments. It should make sense for making you wealthier day by day with increased valuations and price as well as dividends or other perks.
At the end of the day, I feel good of where I am with this sports-folio. I am hedged my risk. I am positioned to say I own a piece of the action in both sports and entertainment. And I know that may not say something to someone else, but it makes me feel like I am really owning the course. And in some cases, I am really owning the course.
My Final Round for the Week and My Winter Break at Enagic Country Club
I planned my final round according to my Golf Planning Resources and still felt as if I had left something to chance. Playing Enagic Country Club in Eastlake was a familiar layout that takes you in and out of street traffic on a course interwoven into the Eastlake residential community. The course is laced with some challenging holes such as its signature usage of waterways on hole #9 and #12. In particular these two holes are guarded by water and bunkers, making accuracy a key factor in approaching the green.
My goal was simple: finish the week and winter break on a high note and possibly take note of where I leave off to take my game to a higher level upon my return to regular play.
I found things different at the course since I last graced its tee boxes. As I sought to keep up with the long-driving and power-hitting younger trio of my foursome, I felt like the odd man out. In some cases, I knew what I was doing wrong and I was just struggling to get out of my own head with weak tee shots forcing long distance recovery and scrambling for a shot at par. Even saving bogey was tricky at times. My best play came using my putter off the green to trail my Callaway Super Soft along a prickly fringe to bend onto the green and end up within an inch from the hole. Close but no cigar, just another bogey. Beyond that my short game research came into play and helped me save some strokes within 50 yards and at times within 100 yards. One key to my play was fatigue. I played myself out. I played a lot of golf and by the time that I got to this course I was not having as much fun and I felt the physical strain of it as I struggled in various parts of my game.
My struggles did not translate to the scorecard as much as I felt. My mulligans had to come in to use on a few holes, but I can live with that. I was not playing for any type of wager and I certainly was not going for the club record, so I can roll with it. After all, I was having a good time and I was feeling those good vibes like when you are first introduced to Bob Marley or Steel Pulse.
I felt like my prior score on a par 3 was a more productive round, but I can still recall some highlights of this round making me realize why I come out to play. That feeling of punching a stinger across the fairway and getting that favorable bounce at the edge of a bunker that sends your ball swirling around the green to leave you with a four to five foot putt is hard to recreate on one’s own. Those types of shots keep you coming back for more and eagerly seeking out almost any opportunity to work in some new technique that the club pro or a golf buddy has shown you to give your game an edge.
If you visit Colina Park Golf Course, you will come face to face with a sculpted bust of Ernest H. Wright, Sr., the founder and chairman of Pro Kids Golf Academy & Learning Center. Pro Kids was founded in 1994 by former AFL/NFL player Ernest H. Wright, Sr. and a group of community leaders, who saw the game of golf as a way to help underserved youth develop the character and life skills required to find success in school and in life. In addition to the course and training center in central San Diego, there is a Pro Kids-First Tee center in Oceanside in North San Diego County.
Scorecards at Colina have 1 of the 9 healthy habits of Pro Kids-First Tee on each hole
Have you ever overpacked for a trip? Or, you have at least traveled with someone else who does it? That’s how I felt armed with 3 wedges and a putter on a par 3 course the other day. It was like I had overpacked and I was toting an extra load.
At least 2 holes I shorted the shot. I don’t have any other excuse except that I can barely guess the yardage of my gap wedge in the middle of my stance when using a half swing.
I overshot the green 4 times as I toyed with somehow controlling my pitching wedge on 3 holes on the front and my gap wedge on the 12th hole. My pitching wedge was dead weight after the front nine.
Switching back to the Callaway Super Soft was beneficial for my putting in general. My major issues with putting tended to stem from fast greens on the front nine which would have saved me at least 3 strokes.
Tee boxes are turfed mats so there were no divots as I chipped and pitched my way from hole to hole.
Upon check-in, they provide you with a divot tool to repair the ball marks on the greens.
Can I squeeze in a weekend round before everything officially starts back? I am hopeful, but I am not banking on it. I realize that I can stretch my frugal dollars a little further if I simply take the time to plan out my play in advance and find some of the hot deals and the bargain discount tee time available out there. Some sites and courses allow you to book up to a week in advance, so if the price is right, then the early bird might just get the biggest worm in the bunch.
I learned some real valuable lessons on my first round of golf since the pandemic hit our nation and the entire world. I wouldn’t really consider the golf tournament that I participated in this fall as a round of golf nor anything that contributes to my goal of breaking 90 consistently. It definitely helped to boost my confidence, but it was just not one for the record books. I felt that this was my first outing and I learned plenty along the way.
My outing included some lessons learned on two different courses positioned at opposites sides of East County San Diego and at opposite ends of the day. Morning started with me walking the back nine at Carltons Oaks Golf Course in Santee as clouds of mist began to subside to the rising sun. That afternoon had me facing the par 3 18-hole Pine Glen course at Singing Hills Golf Course (Sycuan Resort) in the middle of threats of rain and mild Santa Ana winds. Both courses offered me some extremely timely and useful lessons on engaging in golf since the pandemic as I walked each round with my golf bag slung across my back.
1. Walking the Course Has Advantages Over Riding
I find that walking a course toting your bag on your back can give you all sorts of lessons alone, especially when you consider issues such as lower back pain and overall fitness. The game of golf has its own lessons and walking the course teaches us plenty, too.
Much like running or jogging, walking the golf course during a round allows you to listen to your body.
You try to keep your shot selections more selective and strategic when walking more than while riding in the cart
Downsizing is a practical pathway, whether it be the number of clubs or other items in your bag.
You feel a bit closer to nature while walking the course during your round of golf. It can be the ducks by the water hazards or the rising mist from the grassy fairways in the morning, but it is definitely a sense of serenity that comes over you as you take it all in step by step.
2. Technology Helps Track Stats More & More
I used to keep scorecards stuffed and tucked away in my golf bag’s pockets. They would come straight from the back pocket after the final hole and into a hidden place in that bag and remain there until they slip or drop out by mistake. That’s not what I am doing now.
I used Garmin’s mobile golf app on both my smart phone and my Garmin Vivoactive 3 watch. My preference is the mobile phone app for just tracking strokes, but the watch allows you to track distance to the pin as well as the distance of your last shot. Course information can be downloaded in advance for usage on the watch during a round. Another option is MyScorecard and its mobile app. The technology kept me on track as I improved my score hole by hole.
3. Muscle Memory Works Most of the Time
I hate to admit it but it’s true that muscle memory is not an absolute. It tends to fail when your nerves get the better of you and those first tee jitters get to jumping around like nervous butterflies in your belly. Yips can override any personal yearning for swinging for big yards and open fairways as I realized the reality that played out before my eyes unlike some things I read when I browse the blogs and sports articles. I definitely learned that some things are slower to change as it initially took me 3 holes to warm up at Carlton Oaks.
4. Every Round of Golf Offers Surprises
It almost goes without saying that nearly every single time I play golf that I am provided some kind of surprise. Previously playing Oak Glen at Sycuan, I learned how a wayward duck can disrupt the perfect flight of a line drive from a hooded 6 iron. While playing at Chula Vista Golf Course, I discovered how a fairway wood recovery shot could simply be shortened and cutoff by low-hanging electrical wires threaded across the otherwise wide open fairway.
This time around did not displease. Hole #16 at Carlton Oaks gave me an unjust and cruel fate handed down when my approach shot was cut short by grazing the peak of a jutting mound of earth, forcing me to chip as close as possible to the green with an explosion of sand in my face upon impact. Faced with a par shot off the fringe of the hole, I elected to use my putter as opposed to any wedge play and struck paydirt for par even to my own surprise. Like I said, I’ll take that all day long.
5. Your Game is Usually Better Than You Expect
Put all of the b.s. aside for a moment. I am not always walking the course, and I am most certainly not always one who undergoes a regimented routine of arriving at the course early and ensuring that I have things in order to have a productive and positive round of golf. Maybe that is a profound lesson learned for me, too. Things can be more productive and more positive when you decide to do more preparation for your round than just popping up and playing without a plan.
My results speak for themselves. I was +13 on 18 holes of par 3? Anyone who has played with me over the years know that I dread almost any par 3 hole. For me to make multiple pars on that course, I knew that my morning round had helped me build some confidence and recognize where I lacked strength. Prior to teeing off at Singing Hills that afternoon, I smashed range balls with my 6 and 8 irons as a warmup and a reinforcement of my own potential with my irons.
You have to understand that despite being +9 on the back nine at Carlton Oaks those irons were not my saving grace that morning. Every time I pulled them out of my bag it seemed to my detriment. I even went so far as to using my hybrid to work anything between 150 to 100 yards out and my pitching wedge for anything within 100 yards of the pin.
Knowing that I was facing 18 holes of par 3 challenges, I knew that I needed those two clubs to get my scores down and conquer those par 3s. And they delivered well and allowed me to keep pushing even when I had to use the same club where I had just flubbed a tee shot to pull off a high risk recovery shot. I learned that my application of hooded tee and approach shots with a 6 iron and sharply-chopped 8 iron rolls were enough to keep me in contention for par at nearly every turn.
I value all of the lessons that I learned playing golf again since the pandemic arose. I am eagerly awaiting my next outing this week most probably on New Year’s Eve. I am going to reference my notes and try to compensate for where I allowed my game to lack focus and get sloppy. I mean what do you call it when your second shot on a par 5 places you squarely 155 yards from the pin and your 6 iron sends a rocketed misaligned third shot approximately 25 to 30 yards off target to the left of the green? I think sloppy is a euphemism for such a thing, but it all taught me a clear lesson on the power of consistency making things easier for myself than forcing risky and remarkable recovery shots. Thank God for walking the course, bitterly condemning myself as I walked from one shot to another to regain my composure and play it strategically to keep things under a double bogey.
In Part 1 of this posting, I focused I on the things that you needed to do in order to secure a tee time reservations. Technically, I would have shared the FREE Golf Planning Resource Sheet within that first post, but here’s the link for you to download your copy right now. Think about this as not so much a continuation of the same post but an additional phase of preparation when we talk about tips for planning your next golf round. With the rise of swift changes to many course policies and practices due to the widespread pandemic, being prepared is going to take you a long way and limit the amount of frustration that you may have to endure upon arriving at the golf course.
Check Your Equipment
You cannot show up for a round of golf and you haven’t checked your equipment since your last round or visit to the driving range. Like Winston Churchill said in his famous address to the House of Commons in 1916,”You have to succeed in doing what’s necessary.” Take the time to simply do a brief equipment check and ready yourself for your upcoming round of golf.
EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST
Golf Bag (overall function) If it has a stand, is it still popping out and stable?Plan on walking, do you need all of those clubs and balls in your bag?
Clubs Check to make sure that your golf clubs are in order and clean. Wipe them down the night before as you get into the right mental state to head to the course for your next round of golf.
Additional Equipment Do you carry your bag or use a walking cart? What condition is the cart in right now? Have you checked your inventory of golf tees and golf balls? Make sure to ensure that you a divot tool and ball marker, even if it’s a lucky dime.
Golf Gear & Clothing This includes everything from what you wear and what extras you carry. Rainy weather might require a rain poncho and an umbrella. Golf shoes always seem to be a good asset, especially when playing some of these less-maintained municipal courses.
I would suggest yoga or some deep stretching exercises that involve engaging your core and your lower back. Use an early morning warm-up of full-body exercises such jumping jacks and squats topped off with planks. Look into golf fitness programs and regimens that might fit your style.
Rise up early the day of your round. Get your cup of coffee or tea. Stretch your muscles and open your eyes with some early morning of CNN, Fox Business or BBC News Worldwide. Or, you could always read an article or a blog post on tips for planning your next round of golf to see if you have done everything as planned.
Arrive at the Course Early
Provide yourself enough time to check in and conduct whatever pre-round ritual you need to do in order to get into a good head space before teeing off for your round. If you use the range or putting surface, allow time for it and whatever pandemic changes that might have transpired since your last golf outing.
If you are organizing a foursome or group for golf that day, be sure to text and call your fellow players to ensure that all parties arrive early, check in and are in the ready position for when the start calls your group name over the intercom system. Nothing worst than that late-comer member of your foursome running to catch up with your group at the first tee out of breath and barefoot on one foot with his other golf shoe and sock in hand. That makes for a good impression regarding that golf etiquette.
Have Fun and Keep Swinging
The great thing about golf is being out there. You hit the fairway and feel at one with the environment. Whether you enjoy just a good time with some friends and a few brews or you truly embrace the challenge of competing against the course, golf is the type of thing that can consume four hours of your day with one round and leave you feeling like you truly got to know the other person in the cart (well, at least pre-pandemic) and you learned something new about yourself and your golf game or at least about the golf course and its layout and design.
Just be sure to have you some fun out there after all of the planning that you did for your next golf round and keep swinging.
While playing golf can be fun, I have to admit that it takes some planning to get onto the course. For those whimsical and impulsive folks who like to just pop up, show up and do things on the fly, a golf outing might either require a high degree of patience mixed with free time or a load of luck. For the rest of us, a well-planned golf outing is based on some simple tips on how to plan for a round of golf.
I broke this into a 2-part posting because I wanted to make sure that you grasp the tips offered here on how to plan and prepare for your next round of golf. Although these are not an end-all of tips available on preparation for a round of golf, these tips on how to plan for your next round of golf are a look into my own process as well as ideas on how to save money and eliminate frustration when trying to prepare for a round of golf in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
I am a planner. I like to plan my practice days and I like to plan my playing days. That just works for me and it helps me with my schedule and calendar. I tend to start my planning with 3 major factors in mind:
Time: How much time do I have available to play and when is that available time (morning or afternoon)?
Distance: How far am I willing to travel to play? Am I staying nearby at a local municipal course in my area? Or, am I thinking of hitting the road and bracing traffic for something beyond my immediate 10-20 mile radius?
Budget: How much am I willing to spend for a round? Is there FREE or discounted replay?
I might not write it all down, but I have it all in mind. I use this as my starting point to know what I am looking for versus what is not on my radar for this particular golf outing. This keeps my frustration level low when it comes to identifying available tee times and particular courses in my area.
Time Window for Play
When it comes to winter vacation, spring break or even a summer vacation, I find that I can play more weekdays at a cheaper rate than my regular weekend golf rounds. So, for someone like me, my planning might look different at different times of the year, but I try to stick to the same process most of the time.
You might have more free time on the weekends, for instance, but that leaves you at the mercy of the pro shop’s higher rates. You may prefer the early to mid-morning tee times, but those tend to come at a premium price compared to playing later in the day during what is called twilight. Twilight rates come a discount and leave you in a hurried pace of play to finish before the sun goes down. Based upon your available time to play, you can identify a window of time that both fits your schedule and your budget for your next golf outing.
Travel Distance
During my extended periods of time off like winter break, I like to mix in a few course that I might not travel to on the weekends. I feel free to hit the road and go beyond my immediate circuit of regular golf course selections in my area. During this winter break, I have already spied out some deals for play at Pala Mesa Resort on a weekday soon and I potentially want to play at Oceanside Golf Course when I visit the Linksoul Lab in the same area. Otherwise, I manage to keep my travel distance down to about 20 miles maximum to play local courses not far from my home and with no stress on my gas tank.
Golf Budget
No matter how you slice it, playing golf can be considered expensive by many outsiders. For the frugal golfer, I am always putting out some tips and how-to information as it comes my way. You can enjoy the sport without having to pay wildly high prices as if you only had country club and resort course options. If you do not approach your planning with a budget, you might need some assistance picking your jaw up off the ground for how much a single round comes out to at a luxury golf resort and spa. (They always have a spa as if that justifies the additional hike in tee time rates.)
Please note that I would approach planning a destination golf trip or stay-and-play golf weekend a whole different way than just the above-mentioned factors. Lengthy trips include a lot more considerations than just an afternoon outing to a local course. When you involve travel beyond a single day, you need to expand or enhance your criteria as well as engage others in the process if you are planning for a small group and overnight accommodations.
Now that you ae armed with your preliminary planning items like available time and budget, you can start searching for for open tee times and deals. You save a lot of time using online resources rather than calling pro shops. (You’ll be lucky if you get any on the phone when it’s great weather = they’re busy checking in other golfers!)
My Golf Now profile page
Get on the Email List (Worth It!)
If you haven’t done so already, definitely sign up for emails from Golf Advisor and GolfNow even TeeOff. A recent newbie for me has been Rockbottom Golf. For me, these tend to be my go-to sites for comparison pricing on tee times. There are others such as Golfzing and even sites like JC Golf that have memberships tied to specific courses of play. I think American Golf used to be my favorite back in the day, but changes in ownership, management and course offerings and packages just left me at the point where I let that go.
Search by Your Criteria (Based on Your 3 Major Factors)
Don’t waste your time. That can get frustrating or take you down a rabbit hole. Focus on your goal of finding a tee time that fits for you and how you want to play. Most sites like Golf Now and Tee Off have filters that allow you to set everything from numbers of players, cart or walking, price range, distance from your location, and of course, time window. They will spit out some tee times and locations for you to browse and select from as you review the available deals and rates.
Be aware that there are always some Hot Deals as Golf Now likes to call them and featured courses. These may not match your criteria specifically or entirely, but occasionally they’re worth a look and the possibility of altering your plans slightly. Keep in mind that every deal is not a fit for you. Take it like shopping for anything: just because it is on sale doesn’t mean that you have to buy it.
Review & Research the Courses
Know what is under the hood per se. Get to know a little something about the course, especially if you have not played that specific course since the pandemic hit the nation. Keep in mind that local health guidelines impact golf course facilities and their procedures and policies like many other businesses. Beyond face coverings and social distancing, you might be required to ride in separate carts and that could impact fees and rates. This is all part of planning for your next round out golf.
GET TO KNOW THE LAYOUT
Is this the course where your buddy talked about that severe dogleg or the tee shot over the canyon?
Are there areas where there is water in play?
Do you see a trend of sand surrounding the greens?
What in the devil was the designer thinking when he laid this out?
Will this provide a fund, challenging time on the course?
READ THE REVIEWS
Numerous golfers have cited course changes in policies and procedures, but also some course layouts and maintenance has been altered. When the grounds crew feels the need to move the entire green to the fairway and you can hardly tell the moss of the fringe from that stuff that is growing near the newly-identified hole, you might want to have some advance notice, especially when they’re hitting you up at premium rates. Get some insights from course reviews on sites like Supreme Golf or Greenskeeper. Even course reviews by golf pros and golf instructors can provide some gems. Taking the time to take in the reviews of potential golf courses on your list will give you an idea of what to expect when you arrive at a new course and what has or hasn’t changed at an old familiar course. Your planning for your next round of golf should involve taking the time to read some of the latest reviews.
Supreme Golf Course Review
READ & REVIEW THE SCORECARD
This might seem like a given, but the first tee is no place for surprises as you discover that there are four different tee boxes, not including the ladies box, and that the course has the traditional black, blue, and white tees along with gold and green. So, where are we hitting from?
You need to spend some time ahead of your time at the course getting to know the course that you have your game up against. In essence, this helps you prepare for a better outing. If you are facing a series of narrow, tree-lined fairways with little to no forgiveness and you have been hooking and slicing those fairway woods since you got them for Father’s Day, then you you might want to leave them at home or in the trunk and show up with your best iron game off the tee if that’s your selected course of play. Like they say on social media: #IJS.
BOOK YOUR TEE TIME
What I like about using sites like Golf Now or Tee Off is that you can book and secure your tee time online. Oftentimes, you can do this with little to no money down, depending the course and its relationship with the site. I find that convenient when I am booking a tee time 3 to 4 days in advance, especially when I am hitting the road or its between paydays between today and then. I am not the type of guy to use the funds that I might have used for a bag of groceries on a round of golf. (Well, at least not any longer since quite a long time ago) Needless to say, the setup with these online tee time reservations is simple, easy and convenient. And, as part of the new normal, contactless.
Once you have this under way, your next move will be to contact your foursome or playing buddies if you are not playing as a single. Otherwise, I always like the added convenience of adding the event to my calendar, in particular my personal Google Calendar. That allows me to set alerts and keeps me focused as I schedule my days ahead. By doing this, I keep myself organized and balanced when it comes to managing my time and preparing for my next round of golf.
Next in Part 2: We get to preparation for your next golf round
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