Fun Afternoon Playing with Pro Jocks

On Sunday I got paired up at my course with Joe and Pat, a couple of professional caddies. What made this such a fun afternoon was watching their antics, swapping stories, and taking a jog down memory lane. They were in their mid to late twenties, were good players, and were clearly living the life. It sounded like they had very few commitments or responsibilities other than to make enough money to support their eating, drinking, and golfing habits. When you think of golf bums, Joe and Pat personified.

Turns out they caddied at McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida for the winter and were making their way up north for the summer season.  Pat had a job at the TPC of Boston and Joe at a country club on Long Island.  Each day they drove a leg and played golf at some nice public course.  I was happy they ended up at Blue Mash with me. 

Pro Jock. Photo courtesy of areadinglife.com

As we worked our way through the round, they reminded me of my time in the business and how I was totally consumed by the game.  Work-play-work-play-work-play.  I ultimately exited the industry because of burn out and these guys were crushing my level of addiction.  They were rippin’ it from the tips, had some kind of money match going with automatic two down presses that got expensive on the back nine and may have run over several days.  They were drinking who knows what all day but seemed to be in control and proved to be excellent company.  I was a most interested spectator but was also trying to focus on my game.  I was playing the blue tees, which was a stern test for me because of the heat and wind.  Even playing from the tips, they were not phased, and I could tell had played a lot of golf.  I asked Pat if he had playing privileges at the TPC and he said he teed it up every day at 3:30 p.m.  Caddy in the morning, play in the afternoon, get up and do it again every day.  I recounted a story I learned from Julia Galac, the Story Teller I met at TPC of Sawgrass, and how she volunteered three days per month and received playing privileges at the Stadium Course.  Pat said that if he had that kind of deal, he’d work his three shifts and play the other 27 days of the month – whew!

We shook hands on the 18^th green and they invited me into the clubhouse to watch the end of the PGA Championship and have a few drinks.  I could see myself pounding enough drinks with these guys to inebriate myself into an undrivable condition and politely declined.  This was a fun day on the golf course, but I left wondering if that lifestyle was too much of a good thing.  Do you think it is?

Play well. 

When The Average Feels Like Luxury

One of the small prices to pay when you play Covid-19 golf in Montgomery County, MD is that golf courses removed rakes from their bunkers.  The expectation was that you smooth the footprints with your foot or a club.  We now know that the virus is not transmitted on inanimate objects like rakes, golf holes, and flag sticks, but the regulations were implemented out of an abundance of caution.  Well, I chuckled last weekend as I sat in my cart next to the 5^th tee, removed my left shoe, and dumped a small load of sand that I picked up from smoothing bunkers on holes 2, 3, and 4.

Fast forward to yesterday where I played nine holes at my local muni after work.  Bam!  No masks in the clubhouse.  No pool noodles in the holes.  Rakes in the bunkers.  Imagine being confronted with all this luxury.  We pulled flag sticks, smoothed our footprints, and shook hands with our playing partners.  It was like watching the pros on TV and was just awesome.

I realize the pandemic is not over, especially in countries outside the United States.  The status of the Olympics in Japan is in doubt and many of the colleagues I work with in India, on a daily basis, have been severely affected.  Thanks to the vaccines, we are starting to reopen and my little sojourn into golf course normalcy was a pleasant surprise.

When the average feels like luxury.  Hope you are getting back to normal wherever you are.

Play well!

Better Golf Through Better Simulation

Perusing the shops in downtown St. Augustine, FL

Regular readers know that I’m a big fan of simulation during practice.  Exercises using this technique have been a great stroke saver because it preps your mind for real course action, gets you out of mechanical thinking mode, focuses you on shot making, and is an exceptional time saver.  Either full round simulation or short game simulation is beneficial. 

This morning, I had two hours to practice and devoted most of my time to a simulated 18-hole round at my home course of Blue Mash.  The whole exercise took about an hour and that included time warming up with about 20 balls.  The best simulations are when you are focusing intently on each shot and do not rush.  Today, I took 30-60 seconds between swings, wiped down the club head and grip after every shot, took an occasional sip of water, and chatted up my neighbor a little.  We were hitting from the absolute front tee on our large grass range and weren’t allowed to use drivers since the last target flag was only 230 yards out.  I resorted to using 3WD on all the tee shots where I’d normally use driver and may have stumbled upon something.

Have you ever thought how much better you’d score if you left your driver in the bag most of the time?  I found this out after only missing one tee shot with the 3WD, and not badly enough so that the ball went into trouble.  Upon reflection, I normally hit driver on 11 of our 18 holes but only need to on five.  You can certainly leave driver in the bag on the par-5s unless you think you can reach the green in two.  I’m not long enough to hit any of our par-5s in two and driver only serves to occasionally get you in trouble.  Just put a 3WD in play and hit one more club on the layup shot and you alleviate a lot of risk.  Anyway, I hit all these 3WDs and shot a solid simulated 2-over round with 13 GIR.  Very encouraging.   

Tomorrow, I’m playing the course for real and am thinking of only hitting driver on the five necessary holes.  This is very important because when you keep the ball in play, your mind remains engaged at a much higher level than when you fight wildness.  The last two times I employed this 3WD strategy in competition, I met with very successful outcomes.  I think I’ll give it a try.

Tee shot on #17 at TPC Sawgrass. Pretty tight!

On a side note, in my recent jaunt to St. Augustine, FL and TPC Sawgrass, I sampled some Jambalaya at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille in downtown St. Augustine.  It has vaulted up our Jambalaya rankings into the #2 position!  (Rankings are in the left margin of the All About Golf home page).  Harry’s is a New Orleans Cajun style seafood restaurant and is excellent.  If you’re ever in St. Augustine, stop by for a heaping plate of this goodness!

Play well.

Touring TPC Sawgrass

Greetings from St. Augustine, Florida! 

My wife and I are in town checking out possible retirement properties, and yesterday I took a sojourn to TPC Sawgrass, the home of The Players Championship (up the coast in Ponte Vedra Beach.)  I have written about this course, watched every tournament contested at this course, but never visited until yesterday.  What a treat! 

As I walked in from the parking lot, I noticed the venue was buzzing with practice round activity for the upcoming PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship.  This is a 54-hole stroke play event contested on The Stadium and Valley courses over the next three days.  I figured this was perfect to see this fabulous operation in action.

The expansiveness and grandeur of the clubhouse can be overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure where to start, so I filmed the following short video and headed to the driving range.

There were dozens of players, coaches, and a few parents working and watching at this extensive facility and I observed for about 10 minutes until I felt the urge to offer swing advice.  Then it was time to move along. 😊

The driving range

Next, I completely encircled the 77,000 square foot clubhouse after first stopping on a practice green and watching some of the women contestants rolling putts.  I noticed how shaved down and beautifully manicured the surface was and how quickly the balls were rolling.  I started to get the yips just watching.

The Clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass

On my self-guided tour, I was looking for the 18^th green but couldn’t orient myself among the maze of cart paths and signs and figured I needed help.  Inside the pro-shop, after picking up some souvenirs, I asked if I could tour the course and they said that course Story Tellers were starting clubhouse and course tours at the top of every hour – perfect!  That’s when I met Julia Galac.  Julia is a volunteer Story Teller and gave me a history of the clubhouse, The Players Championship, and talked about the artwork adorning the main lobby.  Next, we jumped in a cart and headed out to the back nine.  Julia was full of amazing facts about the course, and as we stood on a hill overlooking the par-5 16^th, noted that many tons of earth had been trucked in during construction and that a large piece of equipment had gotten stuck that the crew couldn’t move, so they built it into the hillside.  Amazing!

On #17 tee with Julia Galac – TPC Story Teller

We toured the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th holes, and I became fully oriented from having watched over the years on television.  The iconic 17^th green seemed smaller in person than on TV.  What do you think?

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  Par-5 16th hole

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  #17 green

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  Next to #17

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  Tee shot on #18

On the way in, I asked if Julia had visited the World Golf Hall of Fame, and she replied that she had and that it was, “okay.”  I was planning to add that to the day’s itinerary, but it didn’t feel like a “must see” and I was getting hungry.  So, I returned to the clubhouse and sat down for a delicious lunch of Crab Benedict and afterwards called it a day.  The only thing that would have completed my journey would have been a round on the Stadium Course, but I didn’t have my clubs.  You’re probably wondering what a tee time costs here.  Well, open your checkbook, it’s a cool $600. 

A big “Thank You” goes out to the staff at Sawgrass and to Julia for an awesome day.  You do a great job!

Play well!