« Immigration -- is it a problem? | Main | Tax cuts for "the rich?" No -- they're for you and me »
December 03, 2005
Who needs winter?
If Kafalas.com and its associated personnel eventually succeed in pulling up stakes and moving back east, one thing I'll miss is winter golf in the Verde Valley. I headed down to Beaver Creek this morning for a round in the glorious 65-degree, 360-degree-sunshine conditions.
The more golf I play, though, the less I understand how the things that happen, happen. Today's round of 93 (a mediocre score, but given my lack of play this semester, not bad) featured close encounters with eagle on no fewer than three par-5s (hit the flagstick from 125 yards on #1, stuck one that rolled right by the hole on #12, and hit a pitch-and-run from 40 yards on #15 that almost went in -- I converted for birdies on #12 and #15). But the day's adventures also included a sextuple-bogey 10 on #10 and a 4-putt on #18. Overall, my stats for the day weren't bad -- four greens hit, 31 putts, five up-and-downs, and total length of putts made of 63 feet. But what a schizophrenic round!
One thing that helped was a putting technique I've used a lot in recent months, to stay steady on short putts: after stroking the putt, keep your gaze fixed on the spot where the ball was -- and don't look up until you hear the ball drop into the cup. Don't give in to the temptation to watch it roll; just listen -- hard -- and don't look up until you hear it drop! (Well, or until enough time has gone by that you know it's not going in, obviously -- otherwise you'd be standing there all day, looking like an idiot.) It's the best way I've ever found to stay steady and make a good stroke.
Posted by Urbie at December 3, 2005 03:45 PM
Comments
Maybe when we're surrounded by winter, we'll have an opportunity to chase us some summer. Florida? South Carolina? Bahamas? :-)
Posted by: Meg at December 4, 2005 08:42 AM