Golf Tenerife

You have all heard it but how many take heed ? Nobody is a naturally good putter, although some get lucky now and again, all the good putters I know practice and practice regularly.

Don’t putt with your wrists or hands, (Oh I do that ! No you bloody don’t) you have to use your shoulders like a pendulum and stand still, dont rock. Only use the big muscles, if your wrists break, you will not hit solid putts. Putts will most likely come up short, but sometimes you’ll blast one by six feet past ….Consistency breeds confidence.

So Tighten up those wrists and putt with your shoulders and I’ll guarantee you will hit more good putts. Now go out there and spend 30 minutes putting once a week and you will lower your scores quicker than wasting money on that new driver, you dont really need. No need to thank me just send cheques to the address listed. Here is the way the Scots do it

Tiger set  to make return at Accenture Match Play, The five-day tournament, which begins Wednesday, Feb. 25, will be Tiger’s first tournament since winning the U.S. Open last June at Torrey Pines. It will be 254 days in between the time Tiger won the U.S. Open in a Monday playoff  and the time he strikes his first tee shot Wednesday and hopefully he puts that special spark back into American golf. I don’t think he has entered this competition to be second, so look out the Tiger is back.

Another $ 1,134,000.00 for the Mickelsons after big Phil wins the Northern Trust Open in California. He nearly blew one of the biggest leads he has had in his career, and  scrambled for par to avoid a playoff, nevertheless show me the money. Well done Phil, looking forward to Tigers return, you will need to play better.

 Danny Lee (U.S. Amateur champion) birdied the final two holes for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke victory over Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita (67), Chile’s Felipe Aguilar (68) and England’s Ross McGowan (70) all tied for second on Sunday in the Johnnie Walker Classic. The 18-year-old New Zealander, set to turn pro after the Masters, had a 17-under 271 total on The Vines Resort’s composite course and would collect no winnings as he was amateur so the prize would be shared between the  second placed guys.

I have introduced this section for Golfers and tourists so they may see and hopefully try some of the Non Tourist restaurants around the Island, the sort of place the locals would frequent. I have enrolled the help of a friend who loves to eat out and we will be giving a fair and unbiased opinion on what to expect in terms of service and quality of food we received. We go to these restaurants incognito so receive no special treatment or free food, I think this is the best way for us to give a fair assessment of the premises visited on that particular day and hopefully you will benefit from our experience.

Sir Old Golfer

 American Anthony Kang sank a birdie putt at the final hole to win the Malaysian Open by one stroke Sunday afterThai Prayad Marksaeng missed a birdie attempt on the last hole.. 

He shot a final-round 67 for a total of 17-under par, clinching his first European Tour title.

Laura Davies (45) has won the Women’s Australian Open on Sunday 15th Feb 2009. She shot a final-round 5-under 68 to go with a 67 on Saturday for a one-stroke victory over Spain’s Tania Elosegui. She finished with a 7-under total of 285 but a nail biting time as she was in the clubhouse and the Spanish player birdied the 17th to go into the lead by one shot, but the Spaniard double bogeyed the 18th making Davis the winner.

Why did I do it, well I am getting older and my swing speed is not as before and I would rather hit one out of the centre than a toe or heel shot. With this in mind “the longer the club, the harder it is to hit solid and on-centre” and with most PGA pros using 44 ins shafts mine was 45 ins, I thought I would try it and I certainly have been hitting the centre  more often and I believe the ball is going as far if not further. How do I know this ?  I put some chalk on the face to see the shot pattern.

Shaft Length is a MAJOR factor affecting distance

Shaft Length is a MAJOR factor affecting Accuracy

Shaft Length is a MAJOR factor affecting Feel

No other golf club specification has three major effects on performance.

The reason that so many golfers do not fit to a driver of 45” and longer is that many golfers swing with an outside-to-in swing path. The more the club is swung on the down-swing from out-side-to-in, the steeper will be the descent of the club and the more difficult it will be to deliver a longer length square at impact. The same is true for swing plane. The more upright the golfer’s swing plane, the steeper the club will be delivered to the ball, and the more difficult it will be to bring the club back to square at impact.

Lastly, the faster the golfer’s tempo, the more difficult it will be to rotate the club face back to square on the down swing with a longer length. The better the athletic ability and hand/eye coordination of the golfer, the longer the club can be.  The belief that so many golfers hold, that the longer the club, the greater the distance of the shot, is only true if the golfer is able to hit a longer club on-centre as high a percentage of the time as they do with a shorter club and achieve a higher club head speed with a longer club. Drivers that are longer than a golfer’s optimum, result in reduced accuracy and/or reduced distance.

If you can hit your 3-wood as far as your driver, that’s a real tell-tale sign that your driver is too long.

This week the tour is in Kuala Lumpur at the Maybank Malaysian Open held at Saujana Golf and Country Club Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 12 Feb 2009 – 15 Feb 2009. Here is the official web site and leader board.

Australian Adam Blyth shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead heading into the final round .

The golf swing, it always amazes me why so many words and articles are written on such a simple maneuver.You basically turn back and then through hitting the ball in the process, and yet millions of words are written every year, year on year, to describe this swing movement and I am sure millions more will be. Some people do go to incredible detail on how to achieve it, I wonder do people actually read and digest 12,000 words about a swing or is this where many go wrong trying to emulate the impossible, by getting too technically involved. I see a similarity to Sex in that many words are written about it but only the lucky few, myself included of course, are actually good at it……

What are the odds of archiving this great feat  ?

In  my golf  career I have had 2 whilst my late father had 14, not fair really as I know people who have golfed all their lives and never managed it, but got dam close on many occasions.

The Golf Digest study provided many great nuggets of information, even breaking the odds down by quality of play:

Tour player making an ace: 3,000 to 1

Low-handicapper making an ace: 5,000 to 1

Average player making an ace: 12,000 to 1

Some other highlights from Scheid’s calculations:

Average player acing a 200-yard hole: 150,000 to 1

Two players from the same foursome acing the same hole: 17 million to 1

One player making two holes-in-one in the same round: 67 million to 1

Source: Primary source is Golf Digest.

Here is another source from a specialist insurance company

So now you know what your chances are but that should never stop you from trying…..

Play Fast……….. Swing Slow !

In this section I have decided to give you an insight into the Pro Golfer scene here in Tenerife. We have many different types and Nationality’s of Pro Golfers here many of whom I call friends.  I start the series off with an interview withFransisco” Paco” Millan the Head Pro at Golf Del Sur for the last 11 years.

Have a look at it here 

This year the 2009 Tenerife Ladies Open  will be held at Golf Costa Adeje ( here) on the  24^th – 27^th September 2009. This years prize money will be some 300.000 Euro. Entry to the event is normally free for spectators and is a great day out,It also allows men to see how to swing a club properly whilst maintaining balance and projecting the ball some 300 metres, and of course some beautiful women into the bargain !

Love your Balls

Stroke your Balls

Show your Balls to close friends and family

Wash your balls regularly and make them shine

If you have really dirty balls, scrub them but not too hard

If you burst one of your balls see a Pro as soon as possible

Never Rack, bounce or crush your balls

Remember always to kiss your balls before driving or putting this is for luck

But remember never, ever Lick them…..