Monday, October 27, 2008

A day with the bombers

Had the privilege of being in a flight of bombers, Covette, Huat Siong and Chong Win (me excluded). These 3 guys are constantly bombing 20-30m past me, sometimes even 40m, especially Huat Siong.

What makes them drive so far? They are not much bigger than me. So it must be the technique. This gives me more motivation to continue to work on my swing, just to keep up.

Having played 80 today with the swing change is very encouraging. I tot I will be making a mess at NSRCC. But I guess the key to a good score is still short game, chipping and putting, which helped me tremendously today.

Deepavali Open Results

Goofy Golf Deepavali Open was successfully held today, a day of beautiful weather. A total of 24 golfers participated in this event, 19 Goofy members and 5 guests. All of us had a really good time and enjoyed ourselves tremedously.

The results are:

1 Covette 9.4 / 22 /18/ 40 ( $50 proshop voucher )
2 Chee Hoo 17.9 /17/ 22/ 39 ($30 proshop voucher )
3 Robert 22.8/ 23 /15/ 38 ($20 proshop voucher )
4 Gerald 6.5 /20 /15/ 35
5 Huat Siong 12.8/ 20/ 14 /34
6 Dick 20.8 /14/ 19 /33 ocb
7 Lee Heng 23.0 /17 /16/ 33 ocb
8 Billy 20.5 /18 /15/ 33 ocb
9 Peter 21.5 /20/ 13/ 33
10 Phillip 20.5/ 20/ 12/ 32
11 Albert Tay 28.0 /14 /16/ 30
12 Jonas 14.7 /16/ 12 /28
13 Quek 28.0 /14/ 13/ 27 ocb
14 Albert Teo 20.7 /15/ 12 /27
15 CYM 28.0/ 8/ 18/ 26 ocb
16 Bobby 16.2 /13/ 13/ 26
17 Chi Keen 22.5/ 13 /11 /24
18 KP 23.8/ 13 /11/ 24
19 Charles 26.9 /14/ 9/ 23

Note : Hdp / Front9 /Back9/ Total ( Prize)

Congratulations to Covette, Chee Hoo and Robert.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Deepavali Open


Goofy Golf will be holding our first Deepavali Open on 27th Oct 2008. 22 golfers have already confirmed their participation. They are:

1. Kheng Poh
2. Robert
3. Peter
4. Philip
5. Albert Teo
6. Bobby
7. Chee Hoo
8. Billy
9. Quek
10. CYM
11. Charles
12. Albert Tay
13. Jonas
14. Gerald
15. Covette
16. Huat Siong
17. Lee Heng
18. Dick
19. Chi Keen
20. Daniel
21. Roy
22. Chong Win

We still have 2 more slots. Hurry and register if you have not.

Update : Sam is joining the event and now we have only 1 vacancy. Note that the competition is for Goofy members only. Non members are joining for social game only.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Moment of Truth


Played today at SCC with Siew, Meng Wee and Chiang and it is the first game with my swing change. Still struggling with the swing and I am not getting the distance I use to have. Other than my tee shot at 13 which was thin and found water, I think the rest of the shots were pretty ok. Fat shots at holes 1, 7, 8A and 10.

The main problem now is how to adapt the new swing for uphill and downhill lies which are the characteristics of the Commando Course.

The thing about SCC is that the course is short and it does not really punish you when you lack a little distance. The short game can still pull you up.

Lost to MW (gave 12) by 1 hole overall, halved Chiang (gave 4), lost 2 sixes.

I still need to work on the ball striking, leverage and the follow-thru. Overall, I am quite pleased with my first game. NSRCC will be a more stringent test.

Above is a picture of the right-sided swing that I am trying to adopt. Notice how the left hip is straight and quiet on the back swing?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

2nd lesson

I have been practising the new swing for a week, trying to get the hang of it. Decided to go back to Paul for some pointers, just in case I got it wrong and I can get it corrected before it becomes ingrained. Well, I was right, and wrong.

Right to have gone back for the follow-up. Wrong in that I got some of the technique still incorrect.

I was still swaying my hip, although to a lesser extent than last week. We did some more work on keeping the hip quiet, the leverage and the follow through.

I finally grasp the concept of keeping the hip still, ie. by putting more weight on the left.

Tomorrow will be the moment of truth. I will be playing at Sembawang with my SCC kakis. I've got to give Meng Wee 12 strokes, I think. Chances of winning is not very high, even with my old swing. There is really nothing much to lose with my new swing.

Really missed playing with the guys at NSRCC today, but got to accompany gal to the NJC Open Day. So I am looking forward to Deepavali. I think Cheong (YM) will be very happy to play with me!!!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Work-in-progress

Went back to the range today to try to practise the new swing. I must admit, it is damn hard to unlearn 10 years of muscle memories, all due to the tens of thousands of golf balls I have hit over the years. I still feel so uncomfortable adopting the new setup and swing.

It has been quite a while I shanked so many times on the range with a 7 iron. But this new swing has certain advantages. I am hitting it pretty straight although I am still new at it. It is still somewhat lacking in power as the swing speed is still not there.

Nonetheless, I will still perservere.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Overhauling the swing

I am embarking on something of a gamble, something crazy.... I am going to overhaul my swing.

Took up a lesson with Gary Edwin and Peter Senior Golf Academy at OCC and today was the first lesson. They charged $120 per hour (one to one)and if I would like to continue, the $120 can be offsetted against the package price.

Spend 1 hour with Paul Tudor, who asked me to hit a few shots with my 7 iron and videotaped me. The next 30 minutes was spend in the aircon room, analysing on the the computer and working in front of mirrors.

Running my video next to PGA pros such as Rod Pampling, the difference was very obvious. I was swaying my body too much, to the right during the backswing and to the left on the downswing. Now this was exactly what I learned from my first coach, David Jest at Green Fairway, ie. weight transfer.

I am not sure if it was a compliment or not, Paul said I swing like Jack Nicklaus :). OUTDATED!!! OLD SCHOOL OF THOUGHT!!!. He said that this swing has to rely on perfect timing to execute correctly.

What the academy teaches is "The Right Handed Swing". A teaching by Gary Edwin and Peter Senior and is adopted by a lot of Aussie pros such as Peter Lonard and Rod Pampling.

So the next few minutes was spend in front of the mirror trying to emulate the setup
(reverse K), which was totally different from my usual setup. The fundamental difference is to fixed your left side and swing with the right. They say this is a more efficient swing without the swaying.

After working on the mirror and the impact bag, it was back to the range. After hitting a few balls with the new swing, he taped me again. And this time, back to the computer, hey presto, against Pampling, the swing was quite similar. But of course, the result is not.

I am still working on the setup and will see how I progress. I think its pointless to go back every week. My intention is to work on what I have learned and to go back every 2 weeks to work with Paul again.

Of course, in the mean time, I will avoid the buayas who might be taking advantage of my...er...work-in-progress. :)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Why do you like golf?

What is it about golf that is so addictive? Whether you had a good game or a bad game, you always want to go back for more.

There is this popular saying "The worst day in golf is still better than the best day in the office".

For me, golf is my way of destressing, when I am out on the course, I am in my own world. You get the feeling that you are trouble-free. Perhaps it is a form of escapism. The other reason is the comradeship. I get to mix with my kakis who are so much fun to be around with. No barriers, no air, no nothing. Just golf.

Let's hear from you guys.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sam and I lost 1 down in 4BBB

Came back to NSRCC for the 2nd round of 4BBB. To our dismay, we found out that we will be playing scratch ie. no handicapping. Our opponents were Michael and Jack, so we called them Michael Jackson!

We started off very well in Army with a win on hole 1 and maintained the lead til hole 4 which we lost. Both teams have chances to win subsequent holes but either did not capitalise or the opponent made excellent putts.

It was all-square all the way till Airforce 2 which we lost but we promptly level the score at Airforce 3.

Sam and I both teed into the water on hole 5 but we lost to a birdie on that hole, so that was a consolation.

We lost hole 6 and found ourselves 2 down with 3 to go. The match can end on Airforce 7, if we lost. But we managed to halve 7 and won 8, so the match went down the wire to the last hole.

Sam bogeyed the hole 9 and halve our opponent but it was not enough. We needed to win the last hole. The match was lost.

Michael Jackson managed to win because they were more complementary to each other. When one screwed up, the other save the team. They also sank about 3 crucial putts from a long distance, otherwise we would have won those 3 holes. I think they were also more experience in matchplay than us.

Overall, it was an exciting game. I made a couple of nerve-wrecking putts to halve the holes. Sam had a better game than me, putting in from the fringe twice. I did one round better than last year, so next year, the goal is to make it to the 3rd round.

Enough of competition for me. Lately, I have been playing in quite a few events. Time for some rest.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

From 4BBB to Saddam

I partnered Sam for the 4BBB (4-balls better ball) competition in which today was the qualifying round.

As usual, Sam, Hong Pew and Roy were so enthusiastic in wanting to Saddam me. At face value, I thought it was a bad deal, Hong Pew is now playing at 16. But for the fun of it, I took the challenge.

So the 4BBB competition kinda took a back seat to Saddam.

Straight away after the first 3 holes in Navy, I was already 3 down, eventhough I was only 1 over. Sam birdied the 2nd hole and Hong Pew birdied the 3rd. I sort of accepted my fate that Saddam will be killed. I even had a horrendous double par when I hit the roof of the Army halfway house (eventhough I was playing on Navy :))and the ball went OB.

Nonetheless, I just focussed on my game and narrow down to 2 down at crossover. My back 9 was more solid. Started off with par-par-birdie, to narrow down to 1-down. After the 6th hole, I was 2-down again. On the 7th hole, I teed into the bunker whereas Roy was already at the greenside putting for birdie. I hit out from the bunker to about 4 feet. Roy missed his birdie and I sank my par. I was still 2 down going to the last 2 holes.

I was regulation on at 8th green and Hong Pew hit his 3rd out from the bunker to about 6 feet. I made par and he bogeyed. So I was 1-down going to the last hole.

I teed-off into the hazard but luckily I found my ball in the thick vegetation. Sam was nicely on the fairway. I chopped my ball out with my 60 deg wedge to about 140m and put my ball on the green with my next shot. Sam hit his 2nd shot into the water and played his 4th to about 5 feet from the hole. I 2-putted for bogey but Sam missed his bogey putt. Phew!! Saddam survived the attack by United Nations!! I was never in the lead at all throughout the whole game!

For the 4BBB, me and Sam came in 5th overall with 62 and made it to the 2nd round. Roy and Hong Pew came in 30th with 69, they missed the cut.

Sam and I will be back tomorrow for the 2nd round which will be a matchplay format. Lets see whether we can make it to the 3rd round.