Dubai World Championships

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The golfing year has come to an end for the European Tour and the year end Dubai World Championship gets started at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.

Round 1 was a thriller with some fantastic pairs to be watched.  The number one pairing was that of the world number one Luke Donald and world number two  Rory McIlroy. Both players got off to a bad start with Luke Donald dropping a shot on the 1st hole and Rory McIlroy making a double on the 2nd hole. But both players would recover and make the turn at 3 under and even par respectively. The back nine told a very different story with Luke Donald dropping three strokes in succession and having to watch Rory McIlroy find some form with the flat stick and knock in 4 putts over 25ft to come home in 30 and finish at six under par made it that much harder for Luke Donald.

But it was Peter Hanson who would take the glory for Day1 with a low round of 64 to tie the course record held by Lee Westwood. Peter Hanson went out in 34 and then screamed home in just 30 to take the top position on the Leaderboard and give himself a great chance to finaly get in to the top 15 of the European Tour Race to Dubai and get a share of the Bonus Pool after missing out the last three years by just two spots.

Enjoy the tournament on your pc free through my link at the top of this article.

Nedbank Golf Challenge 2011

As always another exciting field at this years 2011 Nedbank Golf Challenge. The battle of this years world number one between Luke Donald ,Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer  shows for some great action as well as having The 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke and not to mention,  South Africa's own super star and current European Tour Race to Dubai number 4, Scharl Schwartzel.

Lee Westwood and Scharl Schwartzel set the tone for the week after their opening round of 4 under par 68.Day two saw a low round of the day being shared by Martin Kaymer  and Jason Dufner also with a 4 under par 68 and keeping a nice tight group at the top of the Leaderboard going into the weekend.

However,  it would be Lee Westwood who blows the feild away on Saterday as he cruised round the The Gary Player Country Club in style,  firing a 10 under par 62 and taking a 4 shot lead going into Sunday. With hopeful challenges trying to attack the best was made by that of Swedens Robert Karlsson who, after posting 3 consecutive rounds of 3 under par 69, would shoot the low round of the day, 4 under par 68 and take sole possession of 2nd place on 13 under par leaving  Lee Westwood at the top of the leaderboard, inspite of him shooting 73, with a 2 shot victory.

Well done to all the competitors of the 2011 Nedbank Golf Challenge and an extra special congratulations to  Lee Westwood on his victory.

SA OPEN 2011 ROUND 4

Well a very disappointing day for a lot of players and spectators alike. There were not many attempts to put Henni Otto under much pressure through out the day. The only great effort was that of  Austrian,  Bernd Weisberger who fired a tie low round of the day, 68 to post a clubhouse lead of 13 under par which would eventualy put him at 2nd alone. One of the other low rounds of the day came from Trevor Fisher Jnr to move him from 26th place to 6th.

Henni Otto had a simple 2 putt finish on the 18th hole  for an even par round to claim his 2nd European Tour Title to go with the Italian Open. A much deserved victory for Henni Otto to be the 101st SA vicotory on the European Tour at the 101st SA OPEN!!!!

This puts him in the top 60 for the The Race to Dubai and I wish him good luck for the rest of the year and future tournaments to come!!!

SA OPEN 2011 ROUND 3

Day 3, also known as "MOVING DAY" saw a huge rattle in the scoreboard with some serious charges being made by Henni Otto and Jaco Ahlers sharing the low round of the day with a 7 under par 65. This moved Jaco Ahlers into a tie for 8th giving him a chance to go for gold on the final day.

 Henni Otto had a thrilling end to his third round as he closed out his final 9 in just 30 strokes. This gives him a 3 shot lead going into the final round and a serious chance at claiming a life altering victory in the 2011 SA Open.

The stage is set for a super sunday and i look forward to what the day holds.......

SA OPEN 2011 ROUND 2

Day 2 of the SA Open 2011 saw few changes to the leader board with Steven O'Hara taking sole posession of 1st place with a round of 68 and Retief Goosen and Merrick Bremner remaining in tied fore second place. The biggest move of the day came from Lyle Rowe moving from 24th to tied 4th with a shared best round of the day 66.

We all know that day two sees the fall of some and rise of others as we have a cut heading into the weekend. The cut was posted at 2 under par and saw the likes of Martin Maritz, George Coetzee, Simon Dyson and Soren Hansen bouble out and be forced to take a very un-wanted weekend off.

SA OPEN 2011 ROUND 1

It has been an exciting Start at the SA Open 2011 with a great deal of changes being made to the leaderboard during and after each round.

Day 1 started out with some good low rounds to see, yet again, Jbe' Kruger at the top together with Steven O'Hara with 65, -7. One behind were also well known names Retief Goosen , David Hewan, Merrick Bremner and Tyrone Mordt . I have had the privelage of playing and trainig with Tyrone Mordt at the Gavin Levinson Golf  Accademy in Glendower, South Africa for 2 years before he took up a college offer and went to America and it is nice to see him back and retaining his card for the past few years on the Sunshine Tour as well as threatening the top of the leaderboard as he should be doing. He has had a great season this year with a fantastic 2nd place finish at the Nashua Masters and hopefully one better this week.

But there is still a lot of golf to come and I look forward to the week.......

WELCOME BACK SERGIO GARCIA !!!

With his last victory being in 2009 at the HSBC World Championships and dropping out of the world top 20 ranking it has been an uphill battle for the once " Pride of spain " to reclaim some of that winning passion.

Finaly ,after some three years, he has not only made it back into the top 20 and the winners circle, he did it with back to back victories by winning the Castello Masters and being the first Spanish player ever to win at Valderrama at the Andalucia Masters

Sergio Garcia is hoping to keep his impressive run of form going into the end of the season. The Spaniard's back-to-back victory helped move him from 11th place to seventh in The Race to Dubai . Now the 31 year old is eyeing more success when he concludes his 2011 season at the third edition of the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World over the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates from December 8-11.

Sergio Garcia , who currently leads the European Ryder Cup points list , can attribute his fine form this season to keeping him firmly on course to finish in the top 15 which will earn him a share of the US$ 7.5 million Bonus Pool at the conclusion of the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World.

Sergio Garcia said: “It’s great to have made such a big move in The Race to Dubai over the last two weeks. It’s amazing what two victories can do for you and to move from 23rd into the top ten in the space of seven days is very satisfying.
“I am playing well at the moment and it feels great to be back winning at the top level again. Hopefully I can keep this form going until the Dubai World Championship because that is a very important week for every European Tour player and it would be great to go there and try to win again.”

I wish Sergio Garcia all the best for the ending seasons events and look forward to watching my IDOL light up the golf course again next season and put an end to the Brittish Domination on the top of the World Golf Rankings

Taylormade Reveiw

TaylorMade has, what i beleive to be,  the best equipement in golf!!!

The R11 driver is a phenom..... It became the worlds best selling driver over night!!!

The Taylormade R11 driver is the number 1 driver on tour and i beleive it to be the number 1 driver of all time!!!

Taylormade just launched the R11 irons to go with the R11 Driver and Hybrids

Watch this video and be amazed by Taylormade R11 series!!!
just click on the video link at the R11 Iron picture 

Brittish Open

The Brittish Open

Day 1

Ernie Else, Rory McIlraoy and Ricky Fowler teeing off as i write this............
 Followed by the current world number one, Luke Donald with playing partners Sergio Garcia and R. Ishikawa

These are my two suggestions to watch for the day as im sure they will produce some fireworks for day one.
Just like Fowler making a 60 footer on the first green to open with a birdie.....

Currently Marc Calcavecchia leading the field at 2 under par and ill be back with the stats and results for the weekends play.....

Leaderboard

So top of the leaderboard after day one is Thomas Bjorn and an amatuer Tom Lewis on 5 under par. If we look back to 2003 we can only remember that Thomas Bjorn was leading by three and then got stuck in a bunker and ended up losing to Ben Curtis...... Thomas got into this weeks tournament as a reserve when Vijay Singh pulled out. So Bjorn feeling lucky to be in and in very good spirits for the week and wanting to get revenge  read more.
 Hopefuly the young Tom Lewis can continue his form from day one as it is always nice for new youngsters to get motivation and inspiration........

A terreble day three for all except Darren Clarke!!!!!

Well done to Darren Clarke on winning the 2011 Brittish Open and getting back in the winners circle

Golfer's Elbow

Golfer's Elbow , Medicaly known as Medial Epicondylitis, is similar to tennis elbow but instead of affecting the outer elbow it affects the inner elbow. It is pain and inflamation on the inner elbow where the tendons join your forearm muscles to your upper arm and could also possibly spread to your forearm and wrist.

Normal Pains for golfer's elbow include tendernous on the inner side of the elbow, Stiffness in the elbow making it uncomfortable to creat a fist, Weakness in your hands and wrists and also the feeling of numbness and tingleling extending through the entire arm.

There are a great number of Causes for golfer's elbow and the only way to recover from it is rest. Do not be tempted, like me, to start playing again as soon as it feels okay, give it another week or so and only then start otherwise it will persist and eventualy never go away.

Hope you never have to deal with Golfer's Elbow but if you do i hope this articel helps.

McIlroy Dominates the US OPEN

McIllroy blazed through the US Open setting a number of records and most overwhelming is that he is the 1st professional golfer ever to go lower than 16 under par in a US OPEN ever.

McIlroy took the experience from the MASTERS last month with great maturity and turned it into a possitive rather than a negative. I beleive this is what was holding him back from being a super star. With this, his first Major, win I see him rising up through the ranks and being the number one golfer in the world befor the end of the year.

I am excited for him and cant wait to see his new found and reconfirmed confidance start to dominate the professional golfing world

US OPEN ROUND 1

An exciting opening to the US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP as McIlroy blazes to a bogey free 6 under par to take the lead yet again in a major this year.

McIlroy  coming into form yet again at the right time and hoping to finish it off a little better than how he ended the Masters just 2 months ago. I am sure that this time things will be a bit easier for the youngster coming down to the wire and hope he pulls it off. I know it is just the first day but i feel that this kid is the next super star to hit the golfing world and all it is gonna take is one break through.

I wish him luck and look forward to the next round of the 2011 US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

THE US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

After a thrilling start to the Major Championships with all the young guns taking the spotlight at the MASTERS, we come to the second major of the year, the US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP.

Defending champion GRAEME McDOWELL feels great coming into the week as does the first Major Champion for 2011 Charl Schwartzel

"Coming to this golf course this week, it's another one that feels good to me. It's all in front of me, and I'm actually quite excited about this week" said Charl in his interview earlier today.

With the strongest field in a few years and the fact that any PLAYER could win the 2011 US OPEN it makes for a great weekends golfing action. The updates and scores will be posted every hour so be sure to return here to keep up to date with the golfing action!

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PLAY GOLF FULL TIME

This is a wide open question and I am sure we all want to know the exact number. I have been doing some homework to get funding for my Professional Tournaments and have come up with these results:

Practice facilities and coaching are between $1200 and $10 000  per month depending on how your game is. Obviously if you working hard at it and need to spend more time with your swing coach and sports phsycologist then you are closer to the $10 000 mark and if you in great form then you can get by for $1200 a month.

On average there is a Professional Tournament to play every second weak and is most likely for full time professional golfers to play a golf tournament every second week. The entry fees are between $250 and $500 with the average travel and hotel coming to a nice number of $1000 for local golf Tournaments and $2000 for international Golf Tournaments. I know that most players travel routines are different but we like to play 1 in 3 Professional Golf Events internationally so this averages the travel and hotel fees to some $1666.66. 

When we add this all up it costs us a small fortune at around $7966.66  a month to be a very competitive full time playing professional. Those of us who can't afford that number and try scrape through with the minimum amount by not traveling too far from home, Not playing enough international golf tournaments, not spending time with a sports guru and swing coach and teaching to pay for the golf tournaments really have no realistic chance of making it in the big leagues by only being able to do what we can for some $1000 a month.


The only way we make it is if the timing is perfect. If we get a golf tournament that is in the right place at the right time to offer us the opportunity after to get into the $7966.66. I still love what i do and will keep doing it as long as i can and just hope that that timing comes soon.

HOW I GET MENTALLY READY FOR A TOURNAMENT

Obviously practicing and working out is vital to preparing ones self for a golf tournament but i believe, like most gurus, that the most important part of success is belief!!!
If there is one thing that brings belief in my ability it is pictures, videos and visions of success. No matter what is happening in my life or what is going on around me i can always find inspiration and a positive outlook if i take a look at my past success's on the golf course.

I have made a dvd of some of the greatest golf shots i have played in tournaments that i have won. I also have the score cards of my four lowest golf rounds including my card where i shot 29 on the back nine at Kyalami CC to finish with a 9 under par 63. I watch the interviews and the final highlites of the PGA and European Golf Tours current tournaments and seek inspiration from these professional golfers and their results.

The week before i play a golf tournament i watch these golf video's every day at least once to get the goose bumps and hair raising feeling of pressure and success back into my system. This gives me a greater self belief and a more honest reason for being so confidant. It reinforces the fact that i have the ability to succeed and to win golf tournaments. I take these feelings in to a golf tournament and with each passing hole i feel better and more comfortable making me believe that i will be finishing the tournament strongly and have a great chance to win.

I look forward to my up and coming two golf tournaments and will keep the blog updated with my daily results however will not be writing any new blogs for two weeks. Wish me luck and check each day how i am doing!!!!

Lower Your Score

I have had a number of questions from weekend golfers about how they can lower their scores and and what percentage of amateur golfers break 90. The truth to the question is that there are not enough amateurs that break 90 and it is easily possible for all golfers to lower their scores with a simple strategy around the golf course.Click Here!
So many times have i watched golfers take on outrageous golf shots and then complain after that they made a number above a double bogey and that they then continued to produce bad golf shots till the end of the round and signed the score card for a figure way above their handicap. All this is from taking in that one golf shot that didn't have enough reward for the risk.

For those average golfers ( handicap 16-22) scoring an under par gross round may not be easy but to break par by nett is not a tough ask at all. For argument sake i will use a 20 handicap. If this golfer plays to their handicap they should score 24 over par, 96 on a par 72. This means that they can bogey every hole on the golf course and actually double bogey 6 of them. So with this in mind if you went on to the golf course and played all par 3's as par 4's, all par 4's as par 5's and all par 5's as par 6's it should take a great deal of stress out of the round of golf.
If you play with this thought in mind it means that when you have a difficult par 4 to play you do not even need to concern yourself with getting to the green in 2 shots because you no longer need to as it is a par 5 and this means that green in regulation is now 3 shots. You can hit the driver off the tee and then simply play two 7 Irons from there to get onto the green. This will stop you from trying to force that three wood which goes offline and in the woods or sand causing you to take a double or triple bogey. If you play each hole like this you will see that you end up making far less mistakes, enjoying your round more and the score card telling a story of glory.

I am sure that if you just stop trying to be a hero on the golf course and play within yourself using the tip i just gave you, you will be on your way to being one of the small percentage of amateurs who break 90.

URBAN GOLF !!!

I just saw an article in an in-flight magazine for URBAN GOLF. It was great to see that people are taking an interest in the sport and if they can’t get access to a real golf course or feel that some golf clubs are too snobby they just create an urban golf course through old warehouses and abandoned city areas.

They create a golf course out of tires and rubble through these deserted areas and carry just one golf club, a few squash balls and a matt or piece of astroturf from which to hit each golf shot. The squash ball can be hit with a full golf swing and also holds the same kind of performance with respect to spin and ball flights as the real golf ball without being to dangerous or traveling to far.


There are also a few clubs, World domination, Nineteenth Hole and Urban Online that people have created and the largest urban golf membership is already 170,000 registered active members belonging to World Domination. It brings new scope and prospective to the game of golf as well as giving the sport more popularity and a new design and style of play. I think it is a fantastic idea and a nice escape from the day to day golf game for me. I am looking forward to playing URBAN GOLF and to let you know how it goes.

FINISHING STRONG

One of the worst things that can happen to golfers is that they can start the round on such a high but then loose it toward the end of the game. They get to the last seven or eight holes and look at their score card.......... think of how they would like to finish and try protect this fantastic start.

This is what causes the melt down. This makes golfers lose focus of the present and causes serious problems when trying to visualize a golf shot or focus on the task at hand.  If you refer to a previous article " HOW AND WHY TO VISUALIZE" you will have seen the importance of visualizing each golf shot before executing it and how to visualize it. If you use these visual aids in the correct way you will find that this melt down will not occur and you will never think of the next few holes or what your score could be if you kept it together. Instead you will be focused on the task at hand with the feeling that the best is still to come.

If you can get your hands on the book PLAY TO PLAY GREAT by Doc Bob Rottella and refer to the section of staying in the present you will see that many great golfers and legends of the game start their round with no expectations but have a belief that by the end of the round they will be playing better than the start and with more freedom and belief. This is how you too need to think about your round of golf and when everything is going well, stick to your routine, visualize each golf shot before you hit it and believe that the round of golf will only get better. If you find yourself in unfamiliar territory coming down the stretch.....take a few deep breaths and know that you will finish stronger than you started.

PUTTING WITH CONFIDENCE

When most golfers think about putting they do not have very positive thoughts going through their minds. They are normally trying to make the easiest two put possible. Yes most of the time a two putt is good but this is only if you are outside 15ft. When inside 15ft you should always believe that you can make the putt and never even think of the next one because there is no next one when you roll it in.

The reason you are worried or not thinking of making this putt is because you don’t see the golf ball going in the hole. You doubt whether the read you made was correct or even if you are going to hit the golf ball on the line you choose. But if you go into this golf shot with this attitude it will most certainly be more luck than skill if you hole out. What you should be thinking or doing over the shot is believing that you read it right and if your visualization (refer to HOW AND WHY TO VISUALIZE EVERY SHOT) is good and you sea the golf ball doing what you want in your minds eye, your result will most certainly be one of skill and confidence. This will help you hole out a great deal more often from inside 15ft.

When you have putts that are longer than 15ft all the same applies as for the shorter putts except that you need to divide the putt into sections and read each section individually. When you have a 30ft putt and it has breaks and 2 ridges to go through you need to read each part separately. Read the first parts break before the ridge, then read the ridge, then the next part, then the next ridge or part and eventually you put all these parts together and get your over all read. Remember that when putting these putts that the pace is always more important than the break. If you are out on the break by a foot and your pace is perfect, then you will only have a foot to tap in for that 2 putt. But if your pace and line are out by a foot or two each then you have a 4ft or 5ft put left.

Prior to the round you need to spend at least 20 mins on the practice green to gauge the speed of the greens for the day. Putt some short, medium and long putts with three balls and just repeat this 5 or so times and then finish off with a 3ft putt that you knock into the back of the cup so that you can use this image to help visualize your putts going in for the round.You should not worry about your putting stroke on the golf course because if all your pre-shot thought processes are right on the course you will have picked a target 1-3ft in front of you to roll the ball over and the rest of the putt will just happen.

WEEKEND RECAP

PGA VALERO TEXAS OPEN:
 
Brendan Steele, a rookie on the PGA Tour, shot a one under par round,  71 on Sunday to win the Valero Texas Open by one stroke. Leading by just one stroke going into the final round, Steele stayed steady throughout the day to finish on an eight under par total to celebrate his first TOUR victory.

"I was a lot more calm today," said Steele. "When you've got a one shot lead it's not even your tournament. There's so many guys that could still win with a good round, without you even doing anything wrong, that I didn't feel as much pressure."

Steele birdied the 2nd hole buy knocking his approach shot to within 10ft from a bunker. He then bogeyed the the 5th by leaving a 12ft putt off the fringe, short. But on the par three 7th he hit his tee shot to 2ft to get back to 8 under par where he would finish after making 12 straight pars to hold off Chappell.

The tournament posted this years TOUR HIGH scoring average of 73.6! Steele's 280 overall score was the highest winning score at the Valero Texas Open since 1934 when a 283 total claimed the title. It was also the first time since the 2006 Phoenix Open that two TOUR rookies finished 1-2 in a tournament. Another rookie, Charl Schwartzel , who won The Masters Tournament last week, making this the first time that rookies have won back-to-back on TOUR since 2002.



MAYBANK MALAYSIAN OPEN:

Matteo Manassero had a closing round 68 on the weekend to see off challenges from both Gregory Bourdy and Rory McIlroy to earn himself a cool €288,465 and his 2nd European Tour Title at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

"It feels amazing - it's a a great achievement," said Manassero. "As i always say i could never have expected it at all to have a win before i was 18 and now I've got two. I had a really good weak from the beginning. I didn't miss many shots apart form the second round when i didn't play great but i was still able to finish well and get in contention. I had a really good weekend and managed to get the win".

"It's a great achievement for myself and gets me into the Majors. I just missed Augusta but playing the other three will be fantastic. I'm really proud of that and the next target will be winning another tournament and keeping the momentum going. It's going well and we will see what happens.

Having become the European Tours youngest ever winner in Spain last year, Manassero now holds the top two positions on the list taking it from Danny Lee who was just seven months older when he won the Johnnie Walker Classic. He also becomes the second teenager to win in a row as Noh Seung-yul won last year.

CHIPPING IN MORE OFTEN

Chipping is a part of the game that players simply can't ignore. It would be nice to hit every green in regulation but due to all the different factors in the game of golf, this is not likely to happen. So we have to learn to accept it and develop some ninja skills around the greens.
The biggest mistake i see players make is that, no matter what, when they are with in 30 yards of the green they take out their lob wedge and use as much air time as possible. This causes the most inconsistent chipping results. What they should be doing is trying to use as much of the green as possible. The more roll you can put on a golf ball the better and more consistent the results will be.

I am going to share a few tips with you in this article that will help improve your chances of not only getting up and down more often but chipping the golf ball in every now and then. I refer to "STEPS" in the next section as it is far easier for you to count consistently when you walk normally. Its harder when trying to pace in meters or yards as this is not the natural way of walking for you. So when i say "STEPS" I mean your natural walking motion.

A 10 step chip shot with 2 steps of fringe is a great example of how most players worry about getting up and down because its a delicate shot with a LW. So you end up decelerating into the golf ball and not executing the golf shot like you want to.This golf shot should actually be thought of as an opportunity to knock it in the hole. If a golf ball is rolling it has a far greater chance of going in the hole than if it is in the air. This means you need to use a golf club and stroke that allows the golf ball to roll. The putting stroke is the best stroke for producing roll and a lower lofted golf club is a better club for allowing less air time. If you use a 9I or PW for this shot and use a putting stroke to carry the golf ball in the air some 2 or 3 steps it will  roll out the next 7 or 8 steps giving you your total 10 steps. I know this from practice and experience and have put together a reference table. This reference table is for green speeds of 10 on the stimpmeter and so you need to use it a few times in practice to see the difference on the greens you normally play on and adjust it accordingly.

CLUB	FLIGHTED STEPS	ROLL STEPS	TOTAL STEPS	BEST RESULTS
7I	2	12	14	30-40 STEPS
8I	2	10	12	25-35 STEPS
9I	2	8	10	20-30 STEPS
PW	2	6	8	15-28 STEPS
GW,52DEG	2	4	6	12-25 STEPS
SW,56DEG	2	2	4	8-20 STEPS
LW,60DEG	2	1	3	6-15 STEPS

Refer to the table for this example and picture a completely level surface:

You are 18 steps away from the hole with 4 steps of rough and fringe before the start of the green. You need to pick a golf club that will give you enough air time for the golf ball to land at least 2 steps onto the putting green but roll out no more or less than the remaining steps to the hole. This means that you need a total air time of 6 steps (4 steps for rough and fringe, and 2 steps on the putting green) and roll length of 14 paces (total distance of 20 steps minus the 6 steps air time). So if we look at the chart above and we use a GW,52deg and fly the golf ball 6 steps it will roll out another12 steps (Simple multiple of three. 2 steps flight now became 6 steps so there for 4 steps roll becomes 12steps ) for a total distance of 18 steps.

Similarly if you are 12 steps away from the hole with 4 steps of fringe and rough, you need to fly the golf ball two steps on to the green, so need a total flight of 6 steps. This means you need a roll of 6 steps to make up the total 12 steps. Looking at the chart a SW,56deg would be perfect as it offers 6 steps of flight and 6 steps of roll. So you use the SW,56deg pick out a landing spot on the green 6 steps from your golf ball, make a putting stroke and get the ball to fly to this. You can admire it as it goes in the hole!!!

Copy down this table and practice your chipping with it. Try out all the different golf clubs and distance variations with these clubs. You will soon get a feeling for yourself of which clubs are more comfortable and suited for which chip shots. Remember that the reference table is only a guide and can be modified to how you feel or chip. You might find a difference in one or two steps. This is certainly not an issue and instead of trying to practice to get the same results as my chart, change it and make your own. But remember that it is important to find a landing area after looking at the slope of the green and then making the club decision. When down hill obviously the golf ball rolls out further and when going up hill the golf ball will not roll out as much.

If you need further help or demonstration just leave a post and ill get back to you ASAP.

Aim Small, Miss Small

LONG DRIVE INSPIRATION

Before coming over to Europe i had the privileged opportunity of playing with Dewald Gouws, Article, the runner up in the 2008 world long drive championship and Rynard Combrinck previous holder of the South African long drive record. I am an average to long hitter in the professional golf world and am not used to having players blow it fifty to one hundred yards by me. However it is spectacular to watch and one of the most unbelievable things i have seen. Both Dewald Gouws and Rynard Combrinck are tall, strong, athletic guys but once you get to meet them and play with them they are the complete opposite to what you would expect.

I always watch the remax long drive championships and see these guys as aggresive gorillas. Rynard Combrinck and Dewald Gouws are the furthest from this stereotype both on and off the course. I have played numerous rounds with both of them and watch in amazement how they deal with both great shots and horrible shots. When they not playing well and its going all over the place they still happy and friendly on the course, unlike 90% of players who would have broken clubs or walked off the course.

They are a great inspiration to me and especially for the mental side of the game. Sure they can hit almost every green in one stroke but don't due to conforming to the social guidelines of the greatest game ever played. It is a belief that when you come to a tough hole you need to play safe but i believe it to come more from how you are feeling on the tee at the time. Sometimes on a wide open hole one just does not feel good to hit driver and so should end up hitting the three wood. And sometimes you come to a short, tight par four and really feel great with the driver but because you have this stigma of society in your brain you take out the four iron or the hybrid and baby it down the fairway to guarantee a par .

If there is one thing i have learned from these two long drive champions it is to stick to what you feel comfortable with and not doubt how you feel. If you play this way you will have far better results and belief over the ball.

Article
Please feel free to ask for any advice on how to gain a few more yards and ill be more than happy to help you TRUST YOURSELF.

CUSTOM FIT YOUR GOLF CLUBS

Do you ever feel like one or more of your golf clubs are just impossible to hit? Do one or more of your golf clubs feel completely alien to the rest? The reason could be explained by the manufacturing assembly imperfections of the golf clubs that you have. When manufacturers produce golf clubs there is a large range of forgiveness in the quality control. This is due to the vast volumes of production needed. The properties of the equipment can differ from club to club and thus produce an incorrect difference needed between each golf club. A must for all players is having their lie angle, loft, swing weight and shaft settings checked.
Video Demo on why not to purchase golf clubs from whole sale companies

LIE ANGLE:
Video Demo
The lie angle of the golf club head is the most crucial factor in deadly accuracy. If your lie angle at impact is not correct with each club it causes poor direction and in turn this can cause negative thoughts and lack of confidence and commitment to making the golf shot you want.

LOFT:
Video Demo
The loft and shaft length between each golf clubs is what determines produces the distance difference between each golf club. In a perfect setting ( you strike the golf ball out the middle of the club with a straight ball flight )all your irons should have a distance difference of between 8 and 12 meters/yards. Normally this requires the loft to differ by about 4 degrees and the shaft length to differ by about 1/2 an inch per club. So if your 8 iron has a loft of 40 deg & length of 36 inches, then your 9 iron should have loft of 44 deg & a length of 35&1/2 inches. Similarly your 7 iron should have a loft of 36 deg & a length of 37&1/2 inches. This will create the correct distance difference between each club. If your golf clubs lofts are not correct, you may find that certain golf clubs go the same distance or only have a difference of a few meters/yards

SWING WEIGHT:
Video Demo explaining importance of swing weight
The swing weight is important to help improve control of the golf club in your golf swing. The stronger and faster you are, the heavier your swing weight needs to be. The weaker and slower your swing, the lighter your swing weight needs to be. When you purchase a set of golf clubs from a wholesaler these swing weights are not consistent through the set. This can cause some clubs to feel alien and difficult to hit and some that are just perfect. These perfect feeling golf clubs probably have the correct swing weight specifications for you and the rest of your set does not mach these clubs.

SHAFT SETTINGS:
Video Demo on a Club Fitting
The golf shaft is the connection from the body to the golf club head. This is your link to hitting a golf ball and is the most important feature of a golf club. You can take the worst golf club heads in the world, match them up with the correct shafts and produce flawless golf club capability. If you watch the club fitting video demo (click the link under "SHAFT SETTINGS")you will see exactly what even tour professionals receive from the "TOUR DEPARTMENT". If the TOUR DEPARTMENT gets it wrong i can promise you that the factories are miles out when assembling golf club sets together for the public.

 I received a new set of golf clubs from a "TOUR DEPARTMENT" once and hated them. They felt different and inconsistent so i took them to my club maker Bary. Club Masters. He checked my golf clubs for me and they were all completely different. Unfortunately he had to replace nearly every shaft and i had to pay a small fortune for the costs. This is what you too risk doing when purchasing a set of clubs from a discount wholesaler.

I hope that after reading this post you have a better understanding of why not to purchase golf clubs from wholesalers and why you will enjoy your game far more if you see a certified club master when thinking of purchasing golf equipment. If you have a set of clubs and would like to get them custom fit just speak to your local golf professional or club master to see what they can do for you. If you need any info on how to locate a certified club master in your area don't hesitate to ask and i will be more than happy to provide the relative information.

Stay Custom Fit!!!

PRACTICE WITH A PURPOSE

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!!!!

So the saying goes. However this is true if you practice properly. There are so many times when i go to the driving range, chipping green or putting green when i just see golfers hitting golf balls with no purpose. It is as if they feel that the more golf balls they hit the better impact their practice session has. This is not how practicing works. You can not think that you need an hour and a half to practice and so devote half an hour to long game, half and hour to chipping and the last half an hour to putting and then just hit as many shots as possible in each area with out a purpose and just trying a bunch of different feelings or swing thoughts untill you get a few good results.

Practicing like this is dangerous and inconsistent for your game. I recommend that every player who does not have much knowledge on the golf swing see a golf instructor at least once in every four practice sessions and those who know and understand the swing should see an instructor at least once in every ten sessions just to get an outsiders point of view. I understand that most time people leave an instructor, they have no idea what they are doing and can not trust their game at all.
It feels completely alien to you and always feels that it would be easier/comfortable to go back to the old you.

This is an absolute waist of time, energy and most of all, PURPOSE. If you just stick to the drills and exercises your instructor gave you then you will have a purpose with which to practice as well as having improved results in a shorter time frame. You might also find that when doing these drills something just clicks and your practice time is even shortened.
For me the most beneficial practice you can do if you have a limited amount of practice time is to practice with visualization. I mentioned in a previous blog how visualization is best achieved. When you are practicing you should use this visualization and take a look at yourself in the third person before you hit each shot. This will mean you hit fewer balls but it guarantees that you make each stroke with a committed purpose.

If you change your practicing strategy a little from quantity to quality it will help in reaching your expectations of your ability much faster. So go out there and practice less to play more!!

HOW AND WHY TO VISUALIZE EVERY GOLF SHOT

Have you ever had the feeling, just before you hit a golf shot, that it is going to be absolutely perfect? Whether it be a drive, an iron shot or a putt. Every now and then you get this absolute clarity of mind and belief. Then with out regard to anything you step up to take the shot.......It is picture perfect. The golf ball comes off the face of the golf club exactly how you want it to. The ball flight or roll is consummately exactly what you wanted or needed. This pre-shot feeling is how those golfers feel every time they are in the "zone". When you see an amateur going seven or eight shots below his handicap or a professional golfer shooting 62, this is how they feel almost every single time before they make those many perfect golf shots in that sublime round.

This is what every professional and amateur golfer wants to have when they play golf. This feeling and belief can in-fact be worked on and achieved more and more over time. It is possible to train the mind to attain a detailed visual picture of what you want to happen on the golf course. If you can get this right through practice, you will find that the game of golf gets a great deal easier. Not only will it help you to stay in the present but also to forget that bad shot and embrace the next one. You will find that when you look back on the round it will be like a dream. As if you have just come off a cloud.

In order to practice visualization one needs to find a nice quite place, close their eyes and focus completely on one thing. In order to make the mind focus on just one thing at a time you need to focus entirely on every separate and self-contained entity of this thing. A great object for this is your breathing. To focus on your breathing you need to get comfortable, close your eyes and feel and hear every little thing that is happening while you are breathing. For ten to fifteen breaths you need to feel your chest rise with every inhale and feel it sink and your shoulders drop with every inhale. As you move from breath to breath so the falling of the chest and shoulders becomes more and more heavy. Once this starts to happen try and picture your breath like steam or smoke. With every inhale you feel your chest and stomach expanding, a little cloud being sucked in past your lips and down into your lungs. Then when you exhale you feel your lungs closing, your shoulders getting heavy and this little cloud coming up from your lungs and out past your lips for about one or two feet. By now you should feel completely relaxed and free from any distracting thoughts. If however it is your first time doing this then you might not be completely clear and should just try again tomorrow and the next day and repeat this until you can get these three key elements right.

Once you can get this right you need to picture yourself walking down some steps. It could be five, twelve or even fifty steps. The number is yours. These steps take you to your favorite place on the golf course. It might be the putting green, it might be a particular tee shot, or it could just be a pitch shot. Which ever it is it is perfect for you. Now notice everything around you. Are there other people? What color is the grass? How is the weather? What does the current shot present with regard to the layout of the course? You need to try and notice as much as possible as a superficial and casual visual will not help you. Now picture yourself executing the golf shot. Notice if the shot is in real time or slow motion. Notice the movement of your body as you take the club away from the ball. On the return to the ball notice how your body is rotating and where the ball hits the club face at impact. Notice your follow through and the ball doing exactly what you want....... This is the " MENTAL ZONE".

When u can achieve this extremely vivid imagination of a golf shot you can place yourself in position on the golf course far more often to execute great golf shots. Yes i am sure you think that it is hard at the beginning to let go of all the things in your mind and focus, but with more practice it will get better over time. It is this visualization that needs to be performed before you make every stroke on the golf course. Remember that the breathing calms and relaxes you. Being calm and relaxed helps for better visualization. So before each shot on the golf course, take two deep breaths and visualize the up coming shot. Make it a slow, graphic visualization and once you have seen it in your minds eye, execute it. I understand that not every golf shot is going to come out perfect. However with practice over time you are going to execute more great golf shots per round and your misses will be much better.

Aim small, Miss small.

PROFESSIONAL GOLF TOURS AND THEIR HISTORY

The International Federation of PGA Tours is an organization founded in 1996 to enable the world's leading tours to discuss common and global issues in professional golf. The founding members were the United States based PGA Tour, the European PGA Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and the Southern African based Sunshine Tour. In 1999 they were joined by the Asian Tour and a year later the Canadian Tour became an associate member. The South and Central America based Tour de las Americas became the federation's second associate member in 2007.
In 2009 the federation announced a major expansion, as the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour became full members alongside nine new members. They were the China Golf Association, the Korea Professional Golfers Association and the Professional Golf Tour of India as well as the organizers of the six major Ladies tours, the LPGA Tour, the Ladies European Tour, the Australian LPGA Tour, the Japan LPGA, the Korean LPGA, and the Ladies Asian Golf Tour.
The International Federation of PGA Tours founded the World Golf Championships in 1999 and sanction the Official World Golf Rankings
Other Professional Golf Tours
World ranking points are also awarded for good placings in events on two developmental tours. These are the Challenge Tour (second-tier tour to the European Tour) and the Nationwide Tour(second-tier tour to the PGA Tour).

In addition, the OneAsia Tour founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA, offers world ranking points
The richest tour that does not offer ranking points is the Korean Tour. Below this level, the tours do not offer ranking points, and the prize money on offer will be at a level that allows only a few of the members, or perhaps none of them at all, to make their main income from playing on that tour alone. Some of the players will also play on other tours when they are able to, and others will be club or teaching professionals who play tournament golf part time.
The official development tour in Japan is the Japan Challenge Tour. Other regional tours include the Professional Golf Tour of India and the China Golf Tour
The United States and Europe have additional tours for players who haven't made it onto the Nationwide Tour or the Challenge Tour. At this level the prize money is partly funded by entrance fees and only the most successful players will win enough to do more than cover their expenses: the emphasis is very much on moving up to a higher tour.
In Europe there is a well-defined third tier of golf tours which are independently operated but offer promotion to the Challenge Tour for the most successful players. The four third level tours, collectively known as the Satellite Tour, are the PGA EuroPro Tour, the Alps Tour, the EPD Tour and the Nordic League. Below this level there are various minor professional tournaments, some of which are organized into series by national golf associations, for example the men's leg of the Swedish Golf Association's SAS Masters Tour, which is now a part of the Nordic League competition.
In the United States the lower-level tours do not offer direct promotion to the Nationwide Tour so there is not a well defined third tier. The larger regional tours include the eGolf Professional Tour, the Gateway Tour, the NGA Hooters Tour and a constantly changing roster of small "mini-tours". The term mini-tour is colloquial and not easy to define with the larger regional tours carefully avoiding applying the term to themselves. Some of the smaller and lower cost tours prefer the term "developmental tour" asserting that real pro golf with large audiences and great financial opportunities for its players starts at the Nationwide Tour level. Either way, below Nationwide Tour level there is little possibility of earning a living from the prize money alone and players compete to gain competitive experience. Some are employed as club or teaching professionals and play tournaments part time, while some may have sponsors or family backing.

Men's senior tours

Upon reaching age 50, male golfers are eligible to compete in senior tournaments. Golf is unique among sports in having high profile and lucrative competitions for players of this age group. Nearly all of the famous golfers who are eligible to compete in these events choose to do so, unless they are unable to for health reasons. A number of players win more than a million dollars in prize money each season, and once endorsements and other business activities are taken into account, a few of the "legends of golf" in this age group earn as much as any of the younger PGA Tour pros, other than Tiger Woods. The two main senior tours are:
The Champions Tour (based in the United States)
The European Seniors Tour

GETTING MENTALLY STRONG FOR GOLF

After all the years i have been trying to make it as a professional golfer i have had many ups and also many downs. When i look back on the start of my career in 2000 i have such positive emotions and feelings as it was a very quick and successful start to my golfing career. I played for just one year as a serious amateur and in this year came second on the order of merit on the then Dinners Club Tour.  I won the first event of the year and remained on top of the order of merit for the entire season but was pipped at the last event to come second by just R100.   After my results and seeing that i could beat the current professional golfers playing along side me turned professional and played on the mini tours for a year in order to get ready for tour school. I worked hard on the course, on the practice tee and in the gym to maximize my playing skills. I won my first professional golf event at an Assoupol Pro-Am and was steaming with confidence toward the Sunshine Tour School. Unfortunately i broke my neck the day before the Tour School and was in bed for 14 months.

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This was a let down of course but not for me as much as for my family. I stayed confidant and up beat and took these months to work on something i had never worked on before.

"THE MIND".

I used the works of Dr. Bob Rotella and started to build on all the fundamentals in his works. The one book in particular "THE GOLFERS MIND, Play to Play Great" was a great help in staying in the present and trusting every shot i play. I recommend buying a copy of this book and keeping it as a bible for your own golf game whether you are a

One other great tool i acquired whilst in bed was a sublime patience. This is a must for every professional player that wants to improve their game. Patience gives you a clear mind and purpose for each shot. It also helps you to forgive yourself and not dwindle to long on the bad shots. I brains are programmed in a way as to remember repetition. when something is repeated enough in our minds we can eventually never forget it even if we wanted to. This is the same for all golfers, both Professionals and amateurs. I am sure that after a round of golf one can sit in the pub and hear more disappointing stories than great stories about the days round of golf. This is because humans have been programmed from a young age to remember what they did wrong and to make sure they never do it again.
For example, when we were in school and wrote a test our teachers used a red and green pen to mark it. A green tick for correct answers and a red tick for incorrect answers. When we got our test papers back we never looked for the green ticks but looked for the red X to see what we did wrong and then made sure to find the right answer and then to never forget it again.
Unfortunately this methodology is terrible for the game of golf and building a confident self image. Instead of dwelling on all the bad shots and talking about them one should accept that they happen and never talk of them again. You should rather focus on the good shots you had and celebrate them and talk about them. I understand that talking about success to other golfers can often come across as arrogant and pompous but if all golfers starting sharing only ups instead of downs it would make for a far greater level of success for all golfers. I am pretty sure that if the media ONLY focused on the professional golf winners each week, they too would shoot in the low 60's more often.

So by always focusing on the good things and repeating them in ones mind it creates more confidence and a superior self image which in turn helps us to believe in our ability and trust every golf shot we make. So whether you are a playing professional, a great amateur or a weekend golfer, i am pretty sure that this blog  will help you improve your game even if you don't have the time to get to the golf course or the practice tee.

And remember to TRUST YOURSELF

THE MASTERS CHAMPION 2011

Well yet another South African to add his name to the already ever growing list of non-American players to win the Masters. Charl Schwartzel had an amazing final round 66 to take a two shot victory in the 2011 Masters and secure a Major Championship Title. This young Playing professional from Johannesburg South Africa has amazing talent and a zest for wanting to win Professional Golf Tournaments. I believe this is the beginning of a new era for Professional Golf and at the same time whilst congratulating Charl, my heart sinks at the break down of Rory Mcilroy and how he slept last night.

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I am sure that Rory will be back up and pushing even harder for the next major at the US OPEN.

Well done Charl!!!