Half and Half by Karen Wyld
The difference between hoping and knowing can change a golf game. I’ve never had a good feel around the greens. From 100 yards in it’s been a guessing game. What club? How big a swing? How hard a swing? How many more swings before I can go have a glass of wine?
I took some of the guesswork out of the game at a short game clinic taught by Pete Gerard at Mill Road last week. It should take a stroke off my score on the par 4’s and 5’s. All I have to remember is “half and half” - half a backwing and half a followthrough. Easier said than done.
We were pitching from about 45 yards, and I was blowing my shots past the green. Half a backswing is a lot smaller than you think it is. It feels like almost no backswing. And no namby-pamby halfswing either. It’s still a solid swing that accelerates through the ball. As Pete said, there is no shot in golf where you decelerate through the ball.
Now, instead of hitting and hoping, I can stroke it and know where the ball is going. It worked in practice. We’ll see if I can bring it to the course. My league starts next week.
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4/06/09
How do I do this again? Golf season is fast approaching. Time to start getting in shape. Time to get the clubs out of the basement. Time to see if my golf clothes still fit.
This year I have added pressure, or should I say incentive, to get my golf game in shape. My son, TJ, a high school junior, has discovered the Professional Golf Management program at Methodist University. He has his heart set on getting into the program. The PGM Director has invited us down to Fayetteville, NC to visit the campus and play their course. So my goal this year is to play well enough to not embarrass my son.
It snowed last week, but no matter. Time is of the essence. With a few layers of clothing and some dusty clubs I took myself to the Mill Road driving range. I stretched and slowly went through my old routine. Grip, sight line, address, relax hands, straight elbow, easy tempo. Wiff. Okay, relax. Take a few more practice swings and try again. Wiff. Oh my God, I forgot how to play golf!
The third time was the charm. Not a bad shot. Not too far but straight. I hit the whole bucket pretty straight. It took about half the bucket before I was actually taking divots with my clubs. I finished with some muddy clubs and blisters on both hands.
I’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for North Carolina. I can hear my son now. “Pay no attention to the old lady cursing behind the trees. That’s just my mother.”
Note to self: Find Pete Gerard, PGA professional, take a lesson, and read last year’s notes.
Why I Play This Game
Sometimes I don’t know why I play this game. It’s so frustrating to be such an inconsistent golfer. I’m hitting well off the tee, but from 100 yards into the green I fall apart. It’s more my mind game than it is the mechanics of my swing. No confidence.
So I was really dreading playing in my league yesterday. The first rumble of thunder followed by the sideways sheets of monsoon rain really made my day. Not wanting the girls to know what a slouch I am, I made my way from Latham down to Capital Hills. Even though half the streets in Albany were flooded, eight of us still showed up at the course. With the course under a considerable amount of water, all we could do was go into Martels for some drinks and an early dinner.
Our dinner was different than usual. It was early, we weren’t tired, and we didn’t have to rehash our golf game. Sitting there listening to conversations about husbands, jobs, vacation plans and hot flashes, I realized why I play this stupid game. It’s for the social contact and friendship of this intelligent, funny, dynamic bunch of women.
Mark Twain said golf is a good walk spoiled. I agree. It’s also a circle of friends supporting and encouraging each other with a little exercise and laughter thrown in.
Next week I’m going to hit my nine iron like I know I can. I hope it doesn’t rain.
By Karen Wyld
Sweaty and satisfied in the pouring rain
It was one of my better buckets of balls. It was long overdue. I hadn’t touched my clubs in almost two weeks. Not the best way to reinforce what I’d learned in my annual Pete Gerard golf lesson just three weeks before.
So there I was at the Mill Road driving range. It was hot and humid, and the clouds were darkening for the daily afternoon thunderstorm. The range was empty except for one man hitting his driver and a maintenance guy mowing the range on an open tractor, totally unprotected. Not even a hat. Tsk, men!
While I warmed up and stretched I went through the key words and drills Pete had given me in my lesson. Every year I develop some new quirk that messes me up. Pete always fixes my bad habits and sends me off for the season with my key words to fall back on. This year’s words were Tall - Firm - Extend.
First, Pete had me stop at the top of my swing and moved the club around to show me how I was losing control. Firm up the club at the top, and you’ll have more control and consistency hitting through the ball. Next, he had me stand tall and just bend at the knees to address the ball. If I’m standing tall to begin with, I can’t lift up any further when I swing through. It felt like I had a stick up my butt. He said he hadn’t heard it described quite like that before, but whatever works!
Lastly, Pete put an old club shaft down in line with my swing path and had me keep my club running down the shaft way after I hit the ball. I had to stop pulling my shoulders in and extend out with my club past the ball. This was the hardest thing for me to do. But when I put all the key words together, the ball flew.
Okay, time to hit these balls. Standing tall at address still felt a little odd, but there was no stress on my back. Coming to a firm stop on my backswing came pretty easily and gave me a comfortable tempo. Two down, one to go. Oops, still hitting off the toe. Sorry, tractor guy! I remembered the other drill Pete showed me and put two tees down about six inches apart. I addressed the tee on the right but had to make sure to extend through the tee to the left. After relaxing my shoulders and making several successful two-tee swings, I hit balls with almost every club in my bag. It felt great. There were only a few miss hits, and reciting “Tall-Firm-Extend” like a mantra brought me right back. I left the range sweaty and satisfied in the pouring rain.
P.S. Tractor guy is alive and well.
Wyld…About Golf (for women)
By Karen Wyld
Hey ladies, want to learn to play golf, improve your game, make lots of friends, network and get ahead in business? You can do it all by joining the Executive Women’s Golf Association. (ewgacapitalregion.com)
I’ve been a member of the capital region chapter of EWG for 13 years. It has grown from 15 members in 1995 to 200 members today. The chapter runs leagues at eight courses from Clifton Park to Albany and out to Altamont. They also run networking luncheons, tournaments and clinics for all skill levels, beginner to advanced, taught by some of the best local PGA and LPGA instructors. There is something for everyone at EWG.
My EWG league is at Capital Hills in Albany on Thursday afternoons. They’re a diverse, dynamic, fun bunch of ladies. There are corporate executives, entrepreneurs, professionals, educators, stay-at-home moms, saleswomen and business owners. Some of us play once a week (actually, that might just be me). Some have the golf bug and play several times a week whenever, wherever they can. I live vicariously through them.
For some reason, women have gotten a reputation for being too slow on the golf course. That didn’t come from our league. We are sticklers about pace of play and ready golf. Any ranger who even thinks of suggesting that we need to speed it up is living dangerously. We hate to wait. We follow a mixed league every week, and we have gleaned this bit of wisdom on the difference between men and women golfers: Women will wait to hit because the group in front of them looks closer than they really are. Men will wait because they think they can hit the ball farther than they really do. In other words, keep it moving, people!
Basketball and golf
By Karen Wyld
There are two sports played in the Wyld house – basketball and golf. Polar opposites in the sports world. Basketball involves a hot, smelly gym full of guys running up and down a court with their sneakers squeaking on the floor and the ref’s whistle piercing my eardrums.
And then there’s golf – played at a leisurely pace on acres of beautifully manicured landscape in congenial groups of four. The sound of chirping birds and rustling trees is only interrupted by the occasional gas-powered golf cart, a sporadic four-letter expletive, someone yelling “FORE”, or the ensuing question, “What the hell was that?”
Obviously, golf is my preferred sport. I first took it up when I met the man who would become my husband. Tim lives for golf. Not wanting to be a golf widow, I went straight to a pro and took some lessons. It was pretty slow going at first, and I’m sure I wore his patience pretty thin. It’s been 20 years now and we enjoy playing together now and then. But we play in separate leagues each with our own circle of friends, and we like it that way.
Golf with the ladies is always followed by drinks and dinner. We talk about anything from scores and handicaps to kids, business, golf vacations, and who needs a fourth player this weekend. If I’ve had a good round, I’ll have a salad and a glass of wine to celebrate, then go home and replay all the good shots for Tim. If it wasn’t a winning round, I’ll have a salad and a glass of wine to console myself, then go home and tell Tim the food was good. Good or bad, it’s always a fun time at the golf course.
I hope you will make it a point to stop by <strong><a href=”http://Capitalareagolf.com”>Capitalareagolf.com</a></strong> to read my vignettes on golf for women. In my next piece I’ll introduce you to a great way to take up golf, improve your game and meet new friends!