Cape Kidnappers Courtesy of Joann Dost
New Zealand is an absolutely wonderful golf destination, heretofore
often overlooked. If you want to play the very best courses, the
good news is that all are open to visitor play. Here are ten really
enticing golf challenges. There are about eight layouts that stand
out for me beyond the rest, but trying to decide among the final
two became extremely difficult so while I defend my inclusions, I
apologize for any courses left off. They are listed alphabetically.
Cape Kidnappers - Perhaps the best course in New
Zealand and one of architect, Tom Doak’s top five designs by most
any count. It features a mix of terrific inland holes to combine
with the exhilaratin...
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The Pilgrims called themselves such long before they left for the
New World and settled in Massachusetts. They envisioned life as a
pilgrimage in which there is an eternal, internal journey of
spiritual growth. Golf can be considered a pilgrimage too. It is
more than just a trip from the parking lot and clubhouse around
nine or eighteen holes and back. There are the many challenges,
triumphs, and detours that one encounters along the way that can
also make it a transformational process should you choose to
perceive it that way. Moving back and forth from pride to shame,
from anger to joy, and from depression to elation are just...
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President Barack Obama and Vice-President Biden working on their games. Are they practicing for the Olympics or just clearing their head and getting refreshed?
Regardless of your political views or affiliation, if you are a
golfer or love the game, it is painful to see the attacks on
President Obama simply for the fact that he plays golf. Everyone
needs recreation, especially someone in the super pressure-cooked
environment that is the Presidency. When Republican National
Committee Chairman Michael Steele lambasted the President for
playing golf, it hurt me as a golfer. Democrats have done the
same previously. To me it’s partisan sniping as usual. While
the damage and anger of the BP oil spill is spreading, President
Obama was seen playing golf at Andrews Air Force Base. Maybe his
timing is bad, but everyone has to rest some...
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The following rules apply both to my golf students as well as
life-coaching clients. Stay with these and I guarantee you will
see improvements in your golf and beyond.
Believe in
yourself! What ever you believe is right. If you believe
you can win, you will. If you believe you can’t win or hit a
certain shot, you won’t. While the results may occasionally
vary in the short run, they will match your beliefs in the long
term. So believe you can win. Find a golf coach or swing
instructor who you trust and believes in you and stick with them.
Master the fundamentals. All the greats in any
endeavor do ...
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Pete Dye, the Dean of the Living Golf Course Architects and the Most Influential Since 1965
Recently I received an email asking for
my opinion of whom I considered to be the most over-rated of
today’s golf course architects. Upon reflecting, I thought that
to be an interesting subject to say the least, and fodder for an
article.
Well, if you expect me to spill my guts with details, you will be
disappointed. First, I am friends with several of the architects
and acquainted with many more. I typically don’t share my
opinions on this topic with my best golfing buddies though I do
have acquaintances that are very vocal on the subject. If
anything, I would be more willing to rate the course, rather than
the architect, and there are good reas...
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Sadly, these signs should be posted at all golf competitions!
By King, Emperor, Benevolent
Despot, Czar, and God of Golf - Bob Fagan
If I were to wake up some morning with omnipotent powers and find
myself the Czar or God of Golf (forget that “King” bit), what
would I change about the game? Would it be the complexity of the
Rules, tapping down spike marks, changing the dress code, allowing
more or less than fourteen clubs, or changing some famous
player’s personality? Would I ban cell phones or hazardous
tobacco? No, not even hardly. My first, as well as my second
and third priorities would to make golf a quicker game. For me
nothing comes close to this full blown...
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The Home Hole at the incomparable Pine Valley Golf Club.
Of all the questions I am asked about playing so many golf courses,
more than 2,300 in America alone, the two most common one are:
"What is your favorite?" The other is “Which is the best?”
Here I will address the "Best" question. There is precious little
that I will argue about concerning golf courses; the subject is
akin to whether or not you prefer "chocolate or vanilla".
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and there is neither a
right nor a wrong answer. That said, ask me about the best, the
finest golf course in America, and I will debate long and
vociferously that the Pine Valley Golf Club is the best – in a
class by itself! Locate...
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Not Ireland, but the 10th at Chambers Bay (WA).
I estimate the Pacific Northwest Region golf courses to be the most
under-rated in America. Check out my lists and you will find that
the usually highly regarded California region is given a real run
for the best courses, and in some instances is surpassed. The only
real difference is that the Pacific Northwest does not possess a
region of clustered golf equivalent to the Palm Springs area, but
few regions do. For golfers in the Pacific Northwest, they are
quite reticent of bragging about these golfing treasures as they
likely want to keep them to themselves. Be assured, however,
these layouts are worth the hunt and I have played all but four
listed so far! For every type and flavor ...
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Author Bob Fagan at his "Adopted Home Club" of Ballyneal where conditions are firm, fast, and fun with a bit of brown!
I love the color green and all the implications that the word has
for golf. Indeed, the term “greenkeeper” originally meant
“keeper of the green”. (Notice, greenkeeper does not have an
“s” in it.) The climate of the British Isles is full of
rainfall and hence the color green makes perfectly good sense as to
the natural conditions one discovers on their courses. Here, in
America, “green” is often an artificial color made possible at
considerable expense. How sad! In fact, I hate it when my ball
picks up a big glob of wet mud and stops well short of my intended
target even though there hasn’t been any rainfall, or that I am
constantly reaching for a lob wedg...
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Remember that everything is energy, and energy is always in motion
and flow. Flow might be described as the natural unfolding of our
lives in a natural way. Leveraging the Law of Attraction is all
about being in the flow of our highest self – being in
alignment. This is often trickier than many would assume. So
often, we try so hard and struggle believing that hard laborious
work will reap us what we want – the old Puritan work ethic. To
truly leverage attraction, the secret is more about letting go and
less about struggle and gaining control. When you return to the
genius and the God force that came with you into this world, you
truly come into alignment or flow. So what...
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The beautiful and private Mayacama Golf Club is rated the hardest in all of Northern California!
Want to tackle the toughest area golf courses? Are you ready for
a REAL challenge? Well, here are Northern California’s
twenty-six toughest tracks as defined by their Men’s Slope
Ratings from the back tees by the Northern California Golf
Association. Why choose slope rating for a measure of difficulty?
Well, the United States Golf Association uses slope to define
course difficulty for the average golfer. The slope rating is the
USGA's way of altering a person's handicap index based on the
difficulty of the course on which that person achieves the
handicap. It is based upon the measurement of difficulty f...
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The 16th at the Montgomerie Course of the Papillon Golf Club.
While you may be aware that Turkey was the long-time capital of
both the Roman and Ottoman Empires, did you know that the country
is also the home to some really exciting new golf? Perhaps you
were already aware that it was Turkey, and not Holland, that gave
the world the Tulip, but as I recently discovered, there is so much
more in this country, including golf! In the land where East meets
West, and Europe and Asia co-exist in a single city, Turkey is
certainly a must-visit destination for avid golfers who want to add
some cultural variety to their life. In fact, a golf and cultural
tour of Turkey should be at the top of your “Bucket List!” If
you weren’t aware of g...
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In my coaching, one of the first things that clients ask is what
else can they do to improve their golf other than practice and
improve their swing? I have researched this question and have
come up with this summary of fourteen key things that will renew,
refresh, and enhance your inner game as well as spill over into
your outer game. Because golf so closely mirrors life, each and
every one of them applies to your life as well. 1)
Gratitude – Exercising gratitude is the
quickest, most effective and powerful way to affect mood changes
for the better. Identifying things to appreciate can be done in
an instant at any time and anywhere. Do so has the dual ben...
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TPC Sawgrass - the 18th Hole and Clubhouse Beyond.
Deane Beman today seems an overlooked and forgotten man, but the
PGA TOUR and its players owe much to this golf visionary who came
from the playing ranks to transform the PGA TOUR into the 800-lb.
gorilla it is today. While the rest of American golf has suffered
for more than decade of decline in play and spending, the TOUR and
it’s players continue to play as if the economy was healthy.
Some may say it’s because of Tiger Woods, but it all really goes
back further than that to Deane Beman. I suspect that not many of
today’s players or golfers really understand or appreciate the
genius of Deane Beman. A short man of average build and strength,
Beman was a remarkably talented...
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This lesson will address why it is that when you often
feel great and have really high expectations, you will often
produce a very disappointing performance in golf and in life, and a
different outlook you might embrace. “The
little that is completed, vanishes from the sight of one who looks
forward to what is still to do.” - Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe Ever go to the golf course and can’t wait to play
because you feel so good about your game? Maybe you have had a
terrific warm-up session with all sorts of great expectations, and
then followed it up with a bad score or disappointing play. Maybe
you've had s...
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We’ve all been told how important the skill of listening is and
doubtless we all can improve in this area. Our success in every
area of work and all our relationships will improve if we follow
some of these simple guidelines.
Commit to
improving your listening. Only when the pain of failure
or embarrassment is lurking do we usually make this commitment.
Why not commit right now?
Limit your talking.
You’ve likely already heard that God gave us two ears and one
mouth for a reason. Isn’t obvious that you can’t listen to
anyone else when you’re talking?
Stop worrying about what
you are going to say....
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Author, Coach, and Consultant - Bob Fagan
In both my Executive Coaching and Turnaround Consulting practices,
I invariably work with the loneliest person in the organization,
the Chief Executive Officer. Whether he or she has the title of
CEO, Founder, Division President or something else, the entire
organization watches them like a hawk. No matter how healthy or
successful the organization or the person, there is usually
something I find or they want to improve that rests with the
following twelve key measures. Actually what you think about
yourself in these areas is a good place to start, but more
important as a leader is what do others, your associates, partners,
suppliers, and ...
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Malaysia's Capitol Building
Perhaps you have played golf at all the usual suspects – the
British Isles, Hawaii, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean,
and maybe even New Zealand. Perhaps you want to combine some
terrific new cultural experiences with some great scenic golfing
tests? Well, if so, I have an exciting venue you should consider
– exotic Malaysia! Okay, Malaysia may not have been on your
golfing horizon, but if you have any golfing curiosity and enjoy
savoring the diverse and friendly cultures of Southeast Asia,
Malaysia should jump right into prime consideration. Did you know
that the country boasts over 200 courses in a variety of different
beautiful locations with golf dating back there m...
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Colorado Golf Club's par-3 second hole.
Yes Siree, this list will certainly provoke more arguments! So
get ready to nod your head or--so be it--shake your
fist. Asterisk indicates courses that are public-access (and the
photo is of Ballyneal, in Colorado, with yours truly doing on-site
research.) Alaska – Moose Run Creek Course* - It's also the
toughest, most scenic, despite a couple of terrible golf holes
Arizona – The Rim Golf Club …somewhat atypical, but for me
easily the best. Baltimore - If you like old, it's Baltimore
Country Club's Five Farms. For new, it's Caves Valley. Big Island
of Hawaii – Mauna Kea* still prevails. Boston – The Country
Club Composite Course wins with its history, but the...
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Coming in as a consultant I usually want to quickly assess the
value of a company. Those in charge need to also be able to
quickly measure values of their organization, be it the entire
operation, subsidiary, or other distinct operation. Such enables
you to recognize where you need to improve. Also in mergers and
acquisitions discussions, you must be firmly aware of such values
if you hope to successfully negotiate. Here are ways of
estimating value. Please realize that each has its own
deficiencies, but taken together will provide you with a better
frame of reference.
Capitalize the cash flow.
Probably the best method is to find the present value of the
entity...
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Are you depressed? Is your work and life deteriorating? Are you
always tired? Are you increasingly detached displaying cynicism,
impatience, irritability, anger, and the like? These are red
flags indicating that you are likely approaching a state of
burnout. Particularly in my coaching with busy executives, this
subject invariably comes up. It really applies to all of us.
Here are some tips I have used to help myself and others relieve
stress.
Get a complete physical. Getting an
accurate picture of your health should be your first step.
Weight, cholesterol, blood chemistry, and the like can signal
problems beyond the ordinary, and it is known that many ca...
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It is said that actions speak louder than words, but here are some
phrases that speak volumes. Forget about whether or not your boss
uses these. This is more about you because you can adapt and
adopt them at any time.
“That looks great… job well
done!” Yes, catch someone doing something well and
praise them.
“How am I doing?” Invite people
to give you feedback. This is a question I used in every single
performance review I ever gave. If you take the answer seriously,
you create new channels of communication and respect.
“I
was wrong.” Contrary to some, admitting mistakes is not
sign of weakness, but rather the...
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PGA Tour Members (L to R) Brett Quigley, Charles Warren, and US Open Champ Lucas Glover and their wives join vintner Susan Curtis (center) at the Jocelyn Lonen Winery in Napa's Atlas Peak Appellation.
Did you know that a relatively new Northern California Winery has
had their wine poured for the contestants at the Augusta National
Golf Club during The Masters? Did you know that several PGA Tour
players, also wine aficionados, have traveled to this remote Napa,
California winery to sample and buy its five wines? Did you know
that one of the partners of this Winery absolutely loves golf and
is now conducting wine tastings for the members of some of
America’s most exclusive golf clubs? With an inspiring,
heartwarming background, the Jocelyn Lonen Winery may be one of
Napa’s best-kept secrets. Not for long! Jocelyn Lonen Wines are
golf’s equivalent of a “hidden gem” ...
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Want to really leverage the Law of Attraction? Want to discover the
difference between achievers and non-achievers? Not only in
sports, but also in any aspect of life, a healthy energetic body
puts you in the driver’s seat. No matter what you want in your
life, be it good relationships, finances, or a successful career,
it helps to have a healthy body. Other than looking good, most of
us truly pay little attention to our body’s functioning, but it
is the key to living a happy and fulfilling life. From a more
pessimistic perspective, do you want to be the richest person in
the graveyard? Are you so preoccupied with your work that they
will be carrying y...
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First, I’d recommend packing a few extra golf balls. When you
travel abroad, golf balls can be very expensive and your favorite
may not be available. Secondly, whether abroad or not, not
knowing the courses you will likely lose more balls than usual,
even if you do play well. I’ve often witnessed both experienced
golfers and fellow golf writers frequently run out of balls, which
can ruin the golf experience. Secondly, I always take a couple of
plastic baggies for gloves (have a spare), balls, sun lotion, cap,
band aids, lip gloss, aspirin, band aids, etc. along with a pair of
golf shoes in your carry-on luggage. Whether you rent clubs or in
case your clubs are mis-routed,...
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The 18th at Corales
Christopher Columbus discovered “The New World” now known as
the Dominican Republic in 1492. I discovered it briefly in
1993. In 2010, I rediscovered that premier golf is blooming
there. You should too! In fact, now the golf and accommodations
in the Dominican Republic rivals most anything we enjoy in the
States – the new golfing jewels of Latin America. When I first
visited the Dominican Republic in 1993, there was precious little
in the way of golf courses to choose from other than three very
good layouts in the La Romana area east of the capital of Santa
Domingo. Now the nations boasts approximately thirty golf
courses designed by the likes of Pete and P.B. Dye, ...
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Little Jimmy Kennedy is a winner though he has Cerebral Palsy.
In a golf event there can only be one champion, but we can all be
winners!
The harder we try, the worse we do because our
muscles lock up with tension and we become obsessed with
expectations and effort forgetting to
play. Contrary to
those who preach "mental toughness," there is another very
different attitude that is a much better avenue for success. Don't
worry about "being tough." Rather be yourself and engage with
your surroundings. While a genius may appear to be mentally tough
at whatever they engage in, it is their awareness and ability to
quickly and appropriately respond to their circumstances that
differentiates them. Here are a few quick tips ...
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Seldom do I become so excited with a piece of golf equipment as
with Sun Mountain’s ClubGlider four-wheeled travel golf bag
carrier. Unlike other golf inventions, which may promise to shave
a stroke or two off your game, the ClubGlider actually improves
your life. I often travel by air and have lugged my golf bag to
all points in the US and many abroad. While I love playing new
courses, I dread struggling with transporting my golf clubs on long
walks in and around airports. No matter how lightly I pack my
golf travel bag, the strain on my forearm, shoulders, and back in
bending over, lifting, and dragging my bag and all begins to take
its toll long before I even arrive at my d...
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The 18th at the Temenos Golf Course, Anguilla.
Picture a green golf oasis with bold white bunkering and a backdrop
of the Caribbean with salt air breezes lightly blowing and distant
mountains beyond. Add in charmingly friendly folks, and you will
discover as I have – the tiny island nation of Anguilla in the
British Virgin Islands. The Greg Norman-designed Temenos Golf
Course forms the golfing attraction of what is even a bigger
attraction, Anguilla. If you are yearning for peaceful solitude
for either romance or quiet relaxation, this island is a real find!
Anguilla at only sixteen miles long and barely three miles at its
widest point, and with less than 12,000 inhabitants and only one
golf course, hardly qualifies a...
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The 11th and 12th holes of "Amen Corner."
, Georgia...
Magnolia Drive and Amen
Corner (holes 11, 12, 13). The Masters is gold standard
of tournaments held at the same location. As such, there is a
continuing wealth of history that just continues to build.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, California...
the
ocean holes have a mystical beauty that transcends golf.
Though the experie...
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The 5th green at Kauri Cliffs.
– All
around perhaps the finest golf resort i...
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Those who ponder the Law of Attraction will often get caught up in
a mental tussle between the effects of what we can affect for
ourselves and what life or destiny throws at us. Trying to assign
absolutes takes us out of the very alignment we are trying to
achieve. That tussle is as much the ego’s demand for knowing
and assigning a reason to everything as anything else. While the
Law of Attraction is a valid law of nature, there are many
permutations of it whirling around in so many energy fields that we
can not always assign cause and effect, and blame to our own
vibrations with absolute certainty. For example, your energies
may be less or greater than mine. The lesson is appl...
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Whistling Straits owner Herb Kohler, PGA CEO Joe Steranka, and course architect Pete Dye.
Through the play of Dustin Johnson on the 72nd hole of the 2010 PGA
Championship at Whistling Straits, the subject of bunkering has
again been brought back into the limelight. A few pin head
writers have gone to the extreme of blaming the developer Herb
Kohler and designer Pete Dye for Johnson’s poor fortune.
Overkill or not, bunkers have long been penalizing, aesthetic, and
strategic features that add interest to a golf course. And for
one week every so many years some are going to dictate what the
owner and designer do that affects the rest of us week in, week
out. C’mon now, I am here to stick up for Whistling Straits,
and I fault the PGA of ...
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As both a golf consumer and a writer, I am increasingly tired of
the often used and misused terms used to describe golf courses.
Here is some marketing mumbo jumbo, which is actually a polite
term. When you see such, it is a signal to ignore the message and
discount the spokesperson as they really don’t have a clue about
what they are writing or speaking about. A
“Signature
Course” or “Signature Hole” is a terrible
offender. Penned by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to promote himself
and his courses back in the 1960s, playing a “signature course”
has also been used by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and
a few other near famous personalities to signi...
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No matter your location, state in life, nationality, sex, age,
wealth, or whatever circumstances you can conjure up; every waking
moment of every day you enjoy a choice. That choice is how you
perceive what life delivers you. You can choose love or fear or
one of their cousins, and it’s not anymore complicated than
that. Speaking of those cousins, you can look at life as a
competition for scarce resources or a cooperation or creative
mindset of abundance. So what are these?
The scarcity
mentality advocates holding onto whatever it is you have,
for fear that someone else may take it. It assume...
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Have you lost much of your stock or real estate value in the past
couple of years? Is your job or income in jeopardy? Are your
finances in shreds? If so and you are open to taking action to
recover, I may have the perfect remedy for you! No, this is not a
get-rich-quick deal and candidly there are no “sure things,”
but it is finite 24-month plan to secure your financial future with
a sizable monthly passive income flow. No this is not a
pyramid-scheme, multi-level marketing plan, infomercial offering,
or real estate, stock, currency or commodities promotion. There
are no distributorships. This is an IRP or “Incentived Referral
Plan.” No worry about investment capit...
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As a business executive and a coach to successful individuals and a
consultant to businesses, there are some common themes that I’ve
either utilized or noticed that will elevate you or your business
above the competition. What you think about most you become and
those same things will manifest for you. Here are ten action
strategies you can apply to either your business or yourself.
1.
Act! You are
more than just think about, wish about; you must act! Successful
people are action-oriented. Good grades, great knowledge, and
innovative ideas mean little without pu...
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Would you feel better if your lost golf balls went to a great
cause? Well, I hate to lose a golf ball, but recently the sting
proved not so painful. In a trip to the greater Gulf Shores,
Alabama area, I was introduced to wonderful concept that may not be
completely unique, but might be more vigorously copied. The Lost
Key Golf Club is an honored Audubon Sanctuary golf course designed
by the Arnold Palmer organization where most golfers are apt to
donate a ball or two a round – or more to the ubiquitous wetlands
that line every hole. The facility does something truly useful with
these reclaimed “pearls.” When Director of Golf Michael
Howard, a retired Marine, explained what ...
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The 6th at Lost Key Golf Club.
There are many popular, well-known American golf destinations
worthy of your attention, but I am pleased to highlight a special
one that has previously flown beneath the radar screen of most –
the Gulf Shores, Alabama area. And yes, with the BP oil situation
resolved, that area of the Gulf Coast is open and ready for play,
fishing, boating, swimming, or a host of other activities that you,
your buddies, or family might choose. How many courses do you
typically play in your golf vacations? Well, if it is nine or
less, the greater Gulf Shores, Alabama area will fit you to a
tee. It possesses nine properties (several offering 27 or more
holes) that are conveniently clustered clo...
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When you are spiritually happy, you are closer to your “higher”
or best self. When you deviate, you feel angst and your body may
evidence “dis-ease.” Things may just not seem to be working
for you. Here are five quick questions that may help you regain
your alignment. 1. Am I avoiding people or fellowship?
Often when under what we perceive as stress or duress, we withdraw
or let ourselves dwell with negative self-talk. 2. Am I
forgiving of myself and others? All forgiveness is essentially
self-forgiveness. Am I holding something back or blocking the
flow of love? 3. Am I living in the moment or am I worried
about the future and still p...
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Tierra del Sol Resort, Spa & Country Club
The multi-cultural island of Aruba, only 19 miles from the
Venezuelan coast, is not your stereotypical golf destination, but
it is nonetheless a happy one that you will likely enjoy. Unlike
the rest of the Caribbean, there is a noticeable lack of rich green
vegetation, lush jungles or remote wilderness. And unlike its
neighbors, the twenty mile-long island has lacked war or strife to
mark its historical evolution. What you will discover are
beautiful beaches dotted with divi and palm trees, colorful desert
landscape full of cacti and critters, and stunning rock forms in a
climate that varies little year round. It all makes for a
refreshingly unique, but enjoyable golf offer...
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Pasatiempo's 18th hole canyon "Pre-Goats."
How about this for an environmentally friendly way to clean out the
brush on your golf course? One of Northern California’s golf
course gems, Santa Cruz’s Pasatiempo Golf Club, has just enlisted
the help of nearly 200 bearded goats to help clean out the brush
and debris in their canyon areas as part of their restoration
process. Call the operation “Landscape Goat.” People working
on the steep canyon slopes is a dangerous and cumbersome operation
at best, but an easy day in the park for goats. Instead of
deploying the traditional maintenance techniques of heavy
equipment, noisy chain saws, and chippers, which are irritants to
all, Pasatiempo is using this bearded brigade t...
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Technology is part of the game. Ben Hogan played with better
clubs that Gene Sarazen. Jack Nicklaus played with better clubs
than Hogan and Tiger Woods certainly plays with superior equipment
than Nicklaus. Gone from my bag are the one, two, three, and now
even the four-iron. I have played with persimmon and laminated
woods, aluminum and fiberglass shafts, and balata balls that could
be irrevocably damaged with one mishit. The heads on my wood and
irons, regardless of the materials, were much smaller with no
offset. The club covers were smaller and were either knit or
vinyl. Now they are huge and apt to be personalized in a playful
way as well. Some have magnets while other...
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The out-of-the-way private Kingsley Club is worth a visit if you can wrangle an invitation. Shown here are the 7th and 8th holes.
You might think that trying to pick America’s best state for golf
courses would be really difficult. It is easier for me than you
might imagine. For years, I had read the marketing slogan
proclaiming Michigan and particularly Northern Michigan as
“America’s Summer Golf Capital”. I thought that it was
merely a slick marketing slogan. I was wrong! In 1993 I first
discovered Michigan golf courses for myself and was impressed
beyond expectations. Since then I have revisited the golf-rich
state several times playing more than seventy-five terrific
courses. Considering the interesting terrain, quality
conditioning, and engaging designs, I feel that Michigan offers
more quali...
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Golf Pro Rory Sabbatini applying sun protection.
If you are waiting for a punch line, there isn’t one. Spending
so much time playing golf in the daylight, sunny or not, can be
hazardous not only to your skin, but your health. Skin cancer is
one of the most common as well as deadly cancers, and we golfers
who don’t play “safe golf” are primary candidates Look around
at the men and women in their fifties and older who teach and play
golf for a living and you will likely see an assortment of folks
with extremely damaged, aged skin – far more common than the
average population. That includes me. Growing up not only were
we not aware of the dangers of the sun, we welcomed the tans it
provided us. Unfortunately many of us...
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If you fancy yourself a corporate
marketing "star" or "general," you had better realize that social
media marketing is not just for those under 25 years of age.
Incorporating it into your strategy should not just be an option,
but a keystone. The following highlights a piece by John M. Mann,
Associate Director of The Alexander Group, an Executive Recruiting
firm.
A rec...
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The 7th at ruggedly beautiful Stone Eagle.
A recent trek took me to several either brand new or fairly recent
courses designed by “big name” architects that have popped up
mostly in the Los Angeles – Coachella Valley areas of Southern
California. The quality of those courses really pointed out to me
how blessed we are with the fine selection of both public and
private offerings built in the last decade or so. Most all of the
public course selections have a very upscale flavor to them as the
service as well as the prices are both high. The private
Stone Eagle Golf Club high in the hills
overlooking Palm Desert gets my vote as one of best new courses
within the Southwest area. Entering his third decad...
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The 13th green at the Inwood Country Club in New York.
Let’s face it. The quality of the greens we putt upon really
impact our golf experience. Not only do they enhance or detract
from our score, they convey the value of the green fees. Pay high
fees and you expect good golf greens. Various studies have all
indicated that the quality of the putting greens is the primary
factor that affects our opinion of a golf course.
None other than golfing great Byron Nelson attributed the better
scores of the modern player to the maintenance and the mowers, than
to the golf equipment, skill, or teachings. Maintaining a putting
surface is a far more complex and complicated process than simply
mo...
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Caddyshack's Judge Smails
is not running your club, but be careful someone worse might
be.
Picture this at our mythical private golf club.
(This story
is based upon an actual long-established private country
club.) Our club’s physical plant and membership are both
aging. The facility is located in a local community that is no
longer conducive to an upscale social or golf club as the area has
become increasingly economically challenged. Housing prices have
decreased, incomes are suffering, and the locals don’t play golf,
much less have an interest in joining a private golf club. Our
mythical course is a goo...
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CostaBaja - secluded, yet convenient!
Picture rugged desert mountains with glistening sunsets on one of
the most interesting bodies of water on the planet, and then add
spectacular golf. Calm turquoise waters wash the rugged coastline
while below the surface exotic creatures live. Combine that with
luxurious lodging, and array of delicious food, and friendly, safe
surrounds, and you have the CostaBaja in La Paz, Mexico. This
full-service resort is the epitome of rest and retreat coupled with
warmth and hospitality. La Paz in the southeastern area of the Baja
Peninsula has been long famous for its aquamarine activities.
Termed “The World’s Aquarium,” by Jacques Cou...
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Three guys are working on some scaffolding way up at the top of a
skyscraper. They take a lunch break. The first guy opens his
lunchbox and goes, “Aw, man, meatloaf again.” Second guy
opens his lunchbox and goes, “Aw, man, baloney again.” Third
guy opens his lunchbox and goes, “Aw, man, tuna salad again.”
They eat their lunches. The next day, it’s lunch time again, and
the first guy opens his lunchbox, and goes, “Aw man, meatloaf
again. You know, if I get meatloaf tomorrow, too, I’m going to
jump off this skyscraper!” Second guys opens his lunchbox and
goes, “Aw man, baloney again. You know, if I get baloney
tomorrow, I’m going to jump off this sky...
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Your present really is perfect – especially when we know what to
do with it! The present is perfect for learning to grow. Real
learning occurs through living and doing, not studying, thinking,
and regurgitation. As most teachers or coaches will agree that
there is no better way to refine skills than through hands-on
involvement. That means getting into the game, and being involved
with the perfect present. If you hate your present and are out of
synch with it, what do you think your future will look like? Yes,
you can make a case for acknowledging our past and planning for
your future, but in the realest of terms, the present is all you
have to work with, anything else is si...
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What I would have given for a blanket or sleeping bag!
(Bob Fagan, a Pleasanton resident, is the
Western Vice President for The Callahan Group, Inc. and specializes
in mentoring and personal coaching of CEO’s and top management as
well as golfers. He is about to publish a DVD and audio CD on
applying The Law of Attraction- a sequel to “The Secret”
together with two similar products for golf and business
leaders A former golf prof...
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The par-4 8th hole on the Majlis Course at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.
If visiting Dubai isn’t on your “Bucket List” of things to
accomplish in life, maybe it should be. If Istanbul, Turkey
represents the ancient “East Meets West,” Dubai embodies the
modern version. In a city where a 10 year-old skyscraper is
considered “ancient,” you can bet that you’re in for a number
of other surprises as well. Indeed you are! Dubai is not actually
an oil-rich state; neighboring United Arab Emirate state Abu Dhabi
is. Dubai is becoming the “trading center” of the Middle East
attracting an unusual “melting pot” of folks from all around
the world. Recently I had the opportunity to experience the area
and came back so impressed. Not o...
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You have a well-balanced, low-calorie diet combined with regular
exercise, but still haven’t shed those extra pounds? Feel
frustrated? Here are some “hidden” culprits of weight gain
and some ways to avoid them.
Lack of Sleep Yes,
proper sleep in the amount of 7-8.5 hours a night helps burn
calories. Research has proved that a lack of sleep increases
ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases your appetite
and decreases leptin levels, another hormone that suppresses the
appetite. Upset your sleep and all kinds of things happen, so
make sure you get your proper rest and develop a good daily
practice of sleep.
Eating Too Quickly...
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We all have days where nothing will go right. Your golf swing
seems to belong to someone else and certainly not you, and the ball
is not going into the hole. What do you do? Here are a couple
of suggestions that might work no matter how good or experienced
you are. If the conditions permit, try to play the ball along the
ground as opposed to flying it through the air. That is
accomplished by playing the ball a little further back in your
stance and taking smaller swings. With your swing thoughts, stress
balance with a nice follow-through that you can hold. – finish
your swing. Slow everything down. That is not to mean to play
slow, but rather slow down your swing tempo....
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Author & Performance Coach - Bob Fagan
Yes, that’s correct. Don’t believe a word I say or write
about anything. It’s better to
know from
your
own perspective than to
believe from mine. Deep down
your intuitive self, your genius (yes, you are one) knows what’s
is true. Let go of wanting to believe or searching for that
perfect guru, expert, or authority figure, and giving
your
power away. The more you trust in and honor yourself, the less you
need to believe in others. Beware those who claim to have all the
answers. The true “masters” would never make claims like
that. Does this mean that a coach such as Bob Fagan can’t be of
real value? No, most certainly no...
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"Jason struggling against himself."
Do you want to let go of some angst or ill feelings, or rid
yourself of a bad habit, but haven’t been able to? Here are
some suggestions to consider. So often we get into a “fix it”
or ridding mode, but struggle. Perhaps at a deeper or
subconscious level, we have become comfortable with our “story”
or limitations, and they’ve become like an old ally, though at a
conscious level, we know they don’t serve us. It’s an
uncomfortable situation. What do you do? The first thing you
might want to do is to stop trying to fix or rid yourself of the
situation or circumstances. Yes, quit or give up, or at least
give pause. Often when we stop trying or struggling, l...
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A "young" Johnny Miller and Arnold Palmer both played "in the zone" without trying to be "mentally tough" according to Jack Nicklaus.
Trying to be “mentally tough” may be hazardous to your golfing
health. The best performances in golf, and most sports for that
matter, involve “playing in zone.” When you worry, strain, or
endeavor to be mentally tough, you take yourself to the opposite
end of the spectrum from “the zone.” The zone is a place
where one simply plays in an effortless manner, and things
magically happen – like Tiger Woods’ back nine heroics at
Torrey Pines during their last US Open there. I recently queried a
collection of more than six-dozen coaches, sports psychologists,
and athletes on what they define as “mental toughness” and what
one should do to attain it. I received ...
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Golf Nut Richard Lewis during one of more than 600 rounds walked in 2010!
It was only a few years ago that yours truly was acclaimed by the
Golf Nut’s Society as the “World’s All-Time Golf Nut,” but
there is a “New Nut in Town.” Texan Richard Lewis has already
broken the Guinness Book of Records for the most rounds of golf
played and walked in one year (587 on December 19th) and will
shortly record his 600th on December 26th beginning at 10 a.m.
All of his rounds have been played at his two club’s two courses,
The TPC Las Colinas and the Cottonwood Private Courses that host
the Byron Nelson Classic. What provided me notoriety was for
compressing much golf into short time periods on many different
courses along with my crazy travel,...
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It is generally estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of
corporate change initiatives fail. Leading and managing change
can be daunting in any organization, but it becomes even more so in
large, multi-layered, multi-national ones. Regardless of your
situation, here are a couple of reasons why change initiatives may
fail. People don’t necessary need or want to be sold, energized,
or forced to conform. They want to feel part of the process and
take with them something in return of satisfaction for the
contribution – to feel worthwhile or valuable. This is
especially true as one moves deeper away from top leadership where
the perceived “us vs. them” mentality can quickly ...
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There are “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” so why not “The
Twelve Days of Bob Fagan?” Most of my life for some sage
reasons, I’ve been pretty reluctant to share my golf opinions,
but that doesn’t mean I don’t have them. Now time is running
out for me, and maybe for the game I love as well. For the next
dozen days I will cut loose with 10 opinions daily that previously
I’ve kept mostly to myself. While there will be some
controversial ones that may offend a few, they are based on what I
have observed as a player of nearly fifty years and working in the
business for twenty. Here it goes… 1. Golf is the most
“over-taught” sport in human existence – a...
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11. Half the players on the Champions Tour are truly
grateful they did not receive the scrutiny regarding their personal
life that Tiger Woods has. (And that’s a sentiment directly
told me from several of them.) 12. Pebble Beach has never
been nor will ever be a “links” course. Calling it the
"Pebble Beach Golf Links" is marketing mumbo jumbo. 13. The
best and most honest TV golf announcer for me remains Johnny
Miller. Just wish he was half as good a golf course architect as
he is an announcer. 14. Riding golf carts have made the
game less enjoyable and slower, but easier for the unfit to play.
15. Ricky Fowler’s hats make mo...
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21. Golf is again a game of the affluent. Wherever they
came up with an average U.S. 18-hole $28 green fee is beyond me.
22. If you can’t break 100, what does it matter which
equipment you play? 23. Does anyone really watch the
Champions Tour in person besides the people sitting in the
corporate hospitality tents? 24. Said George Peper, “If
golf’s leading associations had worked as hard at finding a
solution to the problem of slow play as they did getting golf into
the Olympics, they would have done the game far more good.”
Amen George! 25. Name a great golf novel. 26. The
golf industry (facilities, equipment, and ...
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Merry Christmas and here are ten more Fagan opinions in your
stocking! 31. Being a sportswriter, and a golf writer in
particular, is one of the best gigs going, providing you have
another source of income and can afford it. 32. The expert
players should play only a “tournament ball” that flies 10-15
percent shorter than the current ones. Having 8,400-yard courses
and 400-yard drives is absurd. 33. The Europeans “get
golf” better than we do. They play quicker, on firm turf, with
match play more often. Their handicapping system tends to root
out sandbaggers better, and they seem to enjoy the simple pleasures
of the game in all conditions more. ...
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41. With golf course architects collaborating more often
these days, one collaboration I’d like to see is with the two
Jones brothers, Bobby and Rees. 42. Many (and I’m tempted
to say “most”) golf writers are not what one would call
especially good or accomplished golfers, though there are some
exceptions. Hopefully, you will never tell which are which from
our writing. 43. No one has yet equaled Arnold Palmer for
his charisma though Greg Norman came closest. And I’m not aware
that Arnie ever demanded an appearance fee or cursed and slammed
clubs during his professional career. 44. I’d much rather
play golf with a 36-handicapper who m...
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51. Far too many men play from tees too far back for their
ability, and then they play too slow. 52. The PGA club pro
today is far better educated than his counterpart of 30-40 years
ago, but on average is a far less accomplished player. With the
Champions Tour and mini-tours, now the good players play.
53. According to most, “Ten yards of distance is better
than five shots off your score.” What about the short game
fellow golfers? 54. From my 18 years experience as a
“Golf Expert Witness” regarding litigation often involving
accidents, very smart and accomplished people can go
“brain-dead” once they step foot on a golf course or prac...
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61. The energy/spiritual side of golf continues to be the
most overlooked and least understood aspect in enhancing golf
performance and enjoyment, though I predict it will begin to be
addressed in the future – abroad if not in the US. 62. In
general terms, American junior golfers are spoiled with a plethora
of tournament opportunities and fawned over with free equipment and
other favors. They don’t work as diligently as their foreign
counterparts. 63. Most men grossly overestimate the length
of how far they hit a golf ball. (Hmmm, I wonder what else we
overestimate?) 64. Attending a meeting of golf course
architects makes for the most fascina...
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71. As in other sports, the old-time golf writers hid a lot
of unsavory behavior about past champions, but that no longer is
the case as technology and coverage have brought our hero’s lives
into our living rooms. 72. What’s really new in iron
designs since Karsten Solheim’s Ping Eye-2s? 73. A good
club fitting is one of the more underrated opportunities for
improvement. 74. The PGA and LPGA members (the service
providers) as a group are the
most giving, least selfish
collection of people I have
ever encountered. 75.
The “Stack & Tilt” golf theory may doom more golfers than
the Square-to-Square Method, David...
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81. Somehow the movie, “Analyze This” doesn’t fit on
The Golf Channel. Have they finally run out of golf re-runs?
82. The best story of golf impacting young people can be
found at the Glen Mills Golf Course, part of The Glen Mills School
in suburban Philadelphia. Young men with troubled pasts maintain
the golf course and golf operations while they go to school. It
is truly an outstanding golf course and experience, and also a
tremendous learning opportunity for the youngsters. 83. The
Champions Tour is the best mulligan not only in sports, but maybe
in life as well. The players get wined and dined, other income
opportunities, virtually no competit...
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91. The golf industry tolerates counter customer service
that the hotel industry never would, though the compensation is
comparable. 92. Thirty years ago, who would have thought
that golf course architects would have “rock star” status in
the game, and then face financial hardships as the demand would
evaporate? 93. I have made more friends playing golf than
any other activity in my life. 94. I have never stuffed a
ball retriever into my golf bag, but considering the economy
(mine), the time may be approaching. 95. The Golf Course
Superintendent is the unsung hero of the golf industry, and it is
the improved maintenance conditions of t...
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101. The older I get, the better I used to play!
102. I am thankful to have been around at a time when golf
was played as a walking game. 103. With regard to the USGA
leadership (not staff): As individuals they are bright,
accomplished, engaged individuals who kindly donate many hours of
their time to the game (for generous perks), but as a group they
come across as arrogant, stuffy, and “not in my backyard” types
with that organization becoming increasingly irrelevant as they
have let the game get out of control, especially with the golf
ball. 104. Name a publicly traded golf company where more
that just a few insiders and founders have ever m...
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111. The First Tee Programs do, indeed, make a difference
in children’s lives. 112. It is a myth that business
deals are done on the golf course; rather the basis for business
relationships are started there. You can build or destroy trust
on the golf course. 113. You know that golf’s
demographics are trending in the wrong direction when you are
inundated with Viagra and Cialis commercials during the golf
telecasts. Pretty soon you can expect Assisted Living Care
commercials. 114. Golf clubhouses should rent out their
excess space to churches, clubs, fast food establishments, service
companies, offices, and others who could use it. Some of ...
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121. Is outsourcing golf course maintenance going to follow
outsourcing golf facility management? 122. Joining a
private golf or country club today warrants much more due diligence
if you care to protect your investment. 123. From all
I’ve heard, Barbara Nicklaus should be nominated for Sainthood
– quite a lady! 124. Size Matters: Is golf finally
going to discover that “More is
NOT more” when it
comes to designing longer courses. Some estimate that it now
costs 50% more to build and maintain a 7,500-yard course than it
does a 6,500 yard one. 125. Bright idea: Santa Cruz’s
Pasatiempo Golf Club hires goats to clean o...
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Great scenery along with
interesting architecture and shot values greet you on each of the
twelve holes at The Challenge at Monarch Dunes.
If you haven’t previously been exactly enthralled to play a
par-three course, The Challenge at Monarch Dunes could quickly
change your mind. It certainly did mine. Typically, par-three
courses have been architectural afterthoughts featuring mundane
challenges and substandard conditioning. The Challenge Course at
the Monarch Dunes Golf Club in Nipomo, close to the Pacific on the
Central California coast is anything but. You will discover an
enter...
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Bring your "A Game" to The Kinloch Club!
Of the well-traveled people I meet, all of them have enjoyed New
Zealand. And furthermore for almost half of them, it is their
favorite country - mine too! While you may only need a few good
reasons to visit there, here are twenty-five. Interestingly, New
Zealand has more golf courses per capita than any country in the
world - about 400! 1. Great golf
vacations begins with GREAT GOLF COURSES …Wairakei International,
Cape Kidnappers, Kauri Cliffs, Paraparaumu Beach, Titirangi, Jacks
Point, Kinloch, The Hills, etc. 2.
FRIENDLY PEOPLE where hospitality, congeniality, and just plain
friendly decency are still in the forefront. ...
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As a Coach I will pursue wherever the journeys my clients may take
me. I’ve interviewed well over 1,500 men and women who happen
to be single and many who are also hoping to meet that “right
person.” Are you one? There is no “silver bullet” to
attracting the person of your dreams, but rather it is the overall
energy you are putting forth and what you are focusing upon that
dictates your progress. In order to meet or keep that special
person, you first should endeavor to become the best person you can
be yourself. In essence, be the person you want to attract. Do
you really think that the 28% version of your best self is going to
attract and retain the 100% person you w...
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Orlando at night.
Sooner or later many of you will venture to Orlando, home to Disney
World and Central Florida’s many other entertainment
attractions. Well, you can add a plethora of fun golf courses to
that offering. It is one area that I am often asked about what
courses one should want to visit. Having played golf in Central
Florida since the late 1960s during my college days at Rollins and
continuing to visit there annually since, I have played nearly all
of the “usual suspects.” Here are some of your best bets
within an easy fifteen-minute drive of Disney World or the Orange
County Convention Center area just southwest of downtown. To be
sure, Orlando offers more than just these co...
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Whether you are already a leader or aspire to be one, here
is a quick checklist that is always helpful no matter your level of
experience. Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good
follower first. The service institutions realize and teach that.
In fact, it may be the major distinction between West Point and the
Harvard Business School, and why West Point has produced more
leaders than the Harvard Business School.
Focus upon what
you DO want and not upon what you DON’T want. This is
the useful leverage of the Law of Attraction, but it is sad how we
focus a...
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Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
I find Robert Trent Jones, II golf courses to usually be a marriage
of artistry and outdoor chess meaning that you will likely
encounter not only an athletic challenge, but also a strategic one
as well, and one distracted by Jones’ ability to artistically
compliment and mesh with whatever environment he encounters.
Occasionally, he will throw in something quirky to keep you
thinking as nothing is “automatic” with his layouts. A
prolific worker like his father, the sun never sets on the
collection of Robert Trent Jones, II golf courses. Unlike many of
today's architects, it is usually more difficult to ascertain a
"signature" or repet...
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Warning: This is not a feel-good story, but rather a
wake-up call for action. Read on at your own risk!
Golf has a ticking time bomb that will begin to affect every
facility with a golf course, the equipment manufacturers, and those
employed or hoping to stay employed in and around the game. This
time bomb begins its devastating effect in about 20 years –
around 2030 by my estimates. Most observers tend to agree that
American golf has lost about 10% of those who call themselves
golfers since 2000, dropping from 30 million down to 27 million or
thereabouts. From 2005 to 2009 despite all the industry
initiatives, rounds, too, have dropped another 3%....
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Your golf professional should be intimately familiar with the Rules
of Golf - so says the PGA. The PGA of America and its
spokespersons have long told its membership that it is their
responsibility to know the rules of golf. They would say, “How
can a golf professional attempt to teach players the game when he
or she have not taken the time to learn its rules?" I would
agree. Let’s face it; the Rules of Golf are complex. I know.
I studied them for thirty minutes a day, five days a week for a
period of more than two years and yet I cannot claim to be an
expert who can deliver an opinion off the top of my head without a
“Decision on the Rules of G...
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April 1955, Clifford Roberts, runner-up Ben Hogan, Cary Middlecoff, and Bobby Jones celebrate Middlecoff's 7-shot victory.
This player was the PGA TOUR’s All-Time Leading Career Money
Winner when he won his last tournament before retiring in front of
his hometown fans in Memphis, Tennessee. The year was 1961 and
the amount he had won was a whopping $285,000 over an entire career
than spanned 41 professional victories, including two US Opens, and
a Masters. (Consider that wouldn’t be a top-three finish in
most any event today, but it was the most lucrative career ever
then.) Do you think that Hogan, Snead or Palmer won the most
tournaments in the 1950s? No this player did. Who was he?
Next to Billy Casper, I consider Dr. Emmett Cary
Middlecoff to be ...
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Do you ever feel that your backswing has gotten too long, but is
not generating enough power? And maybe your hips are turning
almost as much as your shoulders? Here’s a quick tip. Check
your alignment. If you are set up either square or especially to
the right of your target, you may want to consider this slight
adjustment.
Open your feet and hips up about ten yards to the
left of the target. This will produce just enough restriction
in the hips to keep them from rotating too much, thus enabling you
to make a better coil with the shoulders against them. In short,
you will increase your power torque. The move also allows the
lower body to move quicker through the b...
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All chip shots are best struck with a descending blow and played
with a small crisp swing and a still body, but there is still
motion. To properly set yourself up to hit this shot with
machine-like consistency, a useful key is to position your weight
on your left side by leaning slightly left at address and during
the swing. About 85% of your weight will be on your left foot.
Your hands should also be leaning left toward the target,
positioned ahead of the club. By doing so you will create a
steeper arc. This will produce the desired descending, pinching
blow hitting the back of the ball before brushing the turf to pop
the ball running along the ground. Of course, I am describi...
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Author Fagan working on the winter practice tee.
As a once aspiring touring professional and range rat, I became a
creditable ball-striker, but often left my precision on the
practice tee and turned in disappointing scores. Maybe you are
like me and have asked "How come I can hit the ball so well on the
range, but have a difficult time replicating it on the golf
course"? Definitely, something happens during the walk from the
practice and warm-up areas to the first tee in that most valuable
piece of real estate – that six-inch space between your ears. I
will also venture that your on-the-course game demeanor i...
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Negative self-talk or "monkey chatter" has long been
know to destroy not only a round of golf, but many a day and life
as well. So how do you silence it? In fact, you can choose to
make any round a great experience, or any day a great day. Are you
telling yourself what a great player you are, how you seem to
manage a great shot or recovery when the stakes are high or the
chips are down, or how you can hit any shot when called for? Or
are you reminding yourself about how far behind you are from your
golfing dreams, how you seem to always fai...
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Even the very best golfers have their foibles and areas for
improvement. From my years of coaching and observing, here is a
list of the so-called “mistakes” that the pros and best
amateurs make. Interestingly enough, while many of them appear
mental in nature, they actually energy-based in the
emotional/spiritual realm – an area of golf that has been largely
overlooked or not fully comprehended. There are “fixes” for
every one of them, and that’s why athletes, executives, and yes
golf professionals, typically hire me.
Playing from a
fear-based position. Fear, anger, scarcity, blame, shame,
and the like are all fear-based emotions that impede genuine...
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Traveling in my trusty, imaginary time machine, I have just
returned from a quick tour of golf a century from now. Here’s
what I found. First, I discovered a very few people trained to be
professional athletes and they were bigger, faster, and stronger
than most anyone playing sports today – truly something to
behold. They were schooled in the field of entertainment and
adept at pleasing their audience, though they never make any
political or social statements with their play. Thus they
commanded large government fees for sharing their lives with their
fans through sophisticated communication devises – almost
becoming virtual family members with their fans. (They were no
ta...
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Sooner or later in golf, business, or life most all of us will
experience burnout in one form or another. If you feel pressure
mounting, here are some helpful tips you might consider. What are
your expectations? Establish realistic expectations for what you
can and cannot accomplish. If you find that you’re driving
yourself too hard, it may be time to let go of unrealistic
expectations and readjust. Shorten your to-do list. Give yourself
some slack and even shorten your to-do list if you have one. Get
back in touch with the people and things you value. Is your work
fulfilling and meaningful for you? Are you spending time with
people that bother or disappoint you? If not, che...
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An aerial view of the beautiful Chuck Corica Golf Complex in Alameda, CA, just east of San Francisco.
Too often around America, we've tinkered too much with wonderful
golf facilities in the name of progress. Maybe some layouts are a
bit "rough around the edges," but as you will soon learn, often
we've destroyed the very substance of what has made the game of
golf so endearing. At a time when golf needs more affordable,
playable courses, we are destroying them. Below is an article I
have borrowed with the author's permission. I do so in the hope
that uninformed though perhaps well-intended decision-makers will
not make that same mistakes that has spiraled a genuine golfing
treasure, the Chuck Corica Golf Complex of Alameda, California,
into real danger. What you are about to ...
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Demo Day allows golf professional and the reviewing media like me to actually test the equipment.
Attending the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando for me is akin
to waking up on Christmas morning and running down stairs to
discover what Santa has left me. It is always fun and it never
ceases to amaze me about how resourceful and creative people are in
finding new ways to enjoy and improve your golf experience. The
2011 PGA Merchandise Show particularly impressed me in that despite
a very challenging economy and in an industry that is struggling to
grow, innovative entrepreneurs still keeping coming to the
forefront. The second issue is that the constraints imposed by
The Rules of Golf and the governing bodies have slowly begun to
take hold with the g...
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The chip and run shot is best played with the hands and arms
leading the clubhead through the shot. A valuable exercise I've
learned to hit such a shot is what I call the two-club practice
chip. Simply grab whatever club you care to practice with and a
second club. While gripping the intending club on the regular
grip portion of the club where you would normally position it, also
hold the second club gripping about half way down the shaft so that
the grip of the second club rests slightly outside the target side
of your body. Then practice hitting shots in this manner. This
drill will force you to keep your hands moving through the shot
ahead of the clubhead in the proper manner...
Full Story
Touring pro Charles Howell III holding a full finish.
Balance and extension are critical to the golf swing. Here is an
exercise you may want to incorporate into your practice sessions -
particularly with your Driver or power shots. Did you realize that
practicing the follow-through can improve the swing that comes
before it? Try holding your follow-through all the way through
the finish until your shots land on the ground. This allows you to
monitor not only your balance and extension through the ball, but
it reveals whether or not you have properly rotated your hips
through the hitting area. If you have trouble holding the finish,
you are not swinging in balance and your weight should be resting
on your foot closest the target...
Full Story
My friend, the late incomparable Davis Love, Jr.
On the very day I turned professional, I had the very good fortune
to have my very first golf lesson. It was an 18-hole playing
lesson at the Atlanta Country Club with one of America's premier
teachers, Davis Love, Jr. Actually it was not so much a "here's
what you do" lesson as more of an assessment of where my game
was. (Other than Mr. Love suggesting that I might "strengthen my
grip" because I was of small stature and might gain more distance
with a draw, everything seemed to pass muster.) As we were playing
I asked Mr. Love if he had any children. He answered that he had
two, Trip (Davis Love, III) and Mark. He volunteered that both
were very good little players and tha...
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Here is a quick method to see if you are correctly positioning the
ball for your chip and pitch shots. Just close your right eye and
look. (Left-handed players do the opposite.) For a chip shot, if
you close your right eye, you should be able to only see the
leading edge of the ball out of your left eye. That means that
the ball should be back in your stance. If you see any more than
the leading edge, you are playing the ball too far forward for a
chip and run shot. On a pitch shot, the golf ball should be
straight down when you view it - right in the middle of the ball.
That translates to the ball being right in the middle of your
stance. If you are able to see the leading ...
Full Story
What do you believe to be the worst flaw among amateur golfers?
Is it the grip, faulty alignment, bad aim or posture? Here's what
Jack Nicklaus thinks it is based upon his years in the game. "Most
amateurs have an unrealistic evaluation of their talent level, and
as a consequence they attempt to play shots that they can't
execute. A twenty (handicapper) tries to play like a ten, and an
eight tries to hit shots that would be tough for a scratch player."
While many instructors might answer this question in technical
mechanical terms, notice that Nicklaus' response came from the
viewpoint as a player. All his life he has focused upon
scoring. Isn't that what the game is all abo...
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"Golf is a game of emotions and adjustments." So said Jack
Nicklaus. He mentioned to me that too many of today's players
have a very mechanical swing, but that mechanics can only take one
so far. You have to feel what's happening to your mind and body
once you are on the golf course. Only then can you make the
necessary adjustments to play the shot that's called for at the
time. This becomes even more critical when we take our game into
competition where frequent adjustments are called for. Some days
we simply don't have our "A-swings" and we have to figure out a way
to play with what we have that moment. Nicklaus told me, "I've
won with a lot of different swings and some...
Full Story
No, I am not suggesting that we play slower, but I am recommending
that in the times we encounter stressful situations on the golf
course that you resist the urge to rush or hurry your shots by
thinking in
slow motion. When you encounter a
crucial shot be it on the first tee, some seemingly make or break
situation during your round or the final putt, try to think of
playing the entire shot in slow motion. That includes the entire
process of selecting the club, getting set over the ball, waggling,
and actually beginning the swing at what seems like half-speed.
Try accompanying this with a slower deeper breath. This need not
translate into slow play, but more about ...
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This happens to be my sister, Jane Fagan. Notice that she is employing the "long thumb" and it is no accident that she enjoys a nice long, full backswing.
Have you ever either felt or been told that your backswing is too
long or too short, but just weren't able to quite figure out how to
change it without risking wrecking everything? Here is a quick
trick that the old swing masters used to employ. When a golfer
grips the club, they have a choice over how far they will extend
the thumb of their upper hand (left one for righties). By
extending your left thumb further down the shaft, you enable
yourself to make a fuller, longer turn than if you retract your
thumb closer to the top of your grip. Try it, you'll see. This
is a natural physical reaction so you won't have to concern
yourself with making any other adjustments. So if ...
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Did you know that identical twins, Dick and Dan Murphy, both
esteemed PGA golf professionals from the Atlanta, GA area both
scored double-eagles in 1980? Dan, the professional at Cherokee
Town and Country Club notched a 2 on his course's 520-yard sixth
hole while brother Dan, the professional at the Peachtree Golf Club
double-eagled its 517-yard second hole. Oddly enough, both were
the first such scores on both holes....
Full Story
My Favorite Statue in Golf - Pinehurst's "Putter Boy"
The following is a poem penned by Johnny Carson, a fine playing
club professional some years ago in the Philadelphia area where I
grew up. Mr. Carson's poem speaks a lot of truth.
"A Hell of a
Putter"
By Johnny Carson, Cedarbrook
Hill Golf Club, Wyncote, Pennsylvania
I was striking my drives with end
over spin,
My irons were crisp to a well-placed
pin.
Yes, my drives were straight and my
irons good;
I was getting it on as a good
winner should.
...
Full Story
Who cares what defines a “Senior” because if you
don’t stop moving, you don’t have to feel like one.
Staying active as you get older cannot only extend your life, but
it can also improve your quality of life, and isn’t the quality
factor what we are all most interested in? According to the
National Institute on Aging, exercise can help you: Have more
energy to do the things you want to do. Keep and improve your
strength so you can stay independent. Prevent or delay some
diseases like heart disease, diabetes, breast and colon cancer, and
osteoporosis. ...
Full Story
There is an old adage that you do business with people you know and
trust. Business is about building, establishing, and maintaining
win-win relationships. That should not come as news to anyone,
but applying Facebook to a B2B relationship might. Facebook has
been acknowledged as a great tool for reaching consumers directly
for many B2C brands. Now companies focused in the B2B industry
can and should use Facebook to enhance their reputation and grow
their business? And if you don’t, your competitor likely will.
Here are six ways your B2B Company might utilize Facebook, and more
specifically a Facebook fan page, in your marketing online strategy
to bette...
Full Story
Yes, you heard me. Let go of wanting to fix things. In trying to
improve we often get so consumed with ridding ourselves of our
perceived faults and letting go that we develop a severe case of
frustration. Improvement is a noble effort and where we
eventually want to end up, but often that can also be a genuine
struggle. Start by recognizing and honoring that fact. Do you
want to let go of something that’s holding you back? If yes,
can you? If the answer is still “yes,” you simply let go of
the thing, habit, feeling, or issue and move on. Sometimes our
answer can be a resounding “No!” and you are stuck. That is
okay. Give yourself permission to hold on to the...
Full Story
A variation on the "Worry Box."
Nothing is worse than being nagged to death by worries! Instead
of letting your worries take over you, create a "Worry Box" to keep
them in. You can use any kind of box, from an empty shoe box to a
decorative wooden or glass box. Write all of your current worries
on a sheet of paper (or you can use a fresh sheet for each
worry). When you can’t think of any other worries, put the
sheet(s) of paper into the box, close it and store it away on a
high shelf nearby. If worries begin to nag at you again while
you’re trying to stay focused, glance at your worry box and
remind yourself that you don’t have to worry about anything right
now because you’ve...
Full Story
The Information Age is dead and you have no further to look than
the bankruptcy of Borders Book Stores or Amazon’s Kindle E-book
downloads outselling paperbacks. The demise of the magazine print
media is collapsing like a house of cards. What has sprung up
from the ashes of the Information Age is “Customized Content
Delivery.” While we have more information than ever, we are also
overwhelmed by it, trying to find the right information in a way
that we can access it in a short period of time, and adequately
consume and digest it. What today’s global consumer wants is
not just information, bu...
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What is this mystery fabulous date course?
Scouring the more than 2,300 courses I’ve played, which one would
be the
very best to take a date to play golf? The course
must be scenic in a romantic location, be challenging, but not
over-the-top difficult. There would be beautiful landscaping, not
of the Augusta National-Japanese garden variety or the minimalist
scruffy links sort I typically enjoy, but rather be peaceful,
colorful with romantic fragrances and a variety of vegetation and
wildlife, perhaps tropical backdrops, and large bodies of
water. The birds would sing and look as beautiful as the
birdies. Well-conditioned ribbons of green fairways would weave
seamlessly over undulating and interesting, but n...
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New technology offers exciting ways to
communicate with your customer and potentially forge new and
exciting alliances with them. However by themselves, the
technology cannot resolve problems. It must be integrated into
the company culture, processes, and total customer experience to
leverage it for benefit. Left unattended or without the proper
support, areas of weakness can quickly escalate into areas of
crisis or downfall. The technology actually quickens the
cycles.
The following are remarks made by entrepreneur Richard
Branson about how he envisions companies staying in touch with
not only their customers, but also their employees and t...
Full Story
Are you pulling or slicing your shots? If
you are pulling or slicing your shots as most golfers do, your club
path is coming across the ball and your target line, from the
outside to the inside. If your target were the second base in a
baseball diamond, your club path is directed toward the shortstop
or maybe even close to where the third baseman is standing. You
lose valuable distance and all the brute strength in the world
won't help you hit it any further or straighter. When this swing
fault becomes a habit, you have to substitute something just as
exaggerated to overcome it. Here is just the drill that will
accomplish that! Take a short iron and ...
Full Story
Where is your mind's eye when you play?
If you are a running back in football, a race
car driver, or a point guard in basketball, a wide range of good
peripheral vision is so key to your success. You simply have to
constantly aware of everything that is happening around you. The
opposite, however, applies to golf. In golf as you approach your
shot it is quite right to take everything into consideration.
That would include the terrain, slope, hazards, and anything that
determines what strategy you want to employ in shaping your shot,
but you must begin to funnel this information into a clearly
defined tunnel vision. Once you have figured you...
Full Story
A Fleeting Golf Message?
I’ve compiled some funny golfing quotes that may or may not
convey some wisdom. 1. Golf is a game in which you yell
"fore," shoot six, and write down five.
Paul Harvey
2. I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone’s
golf game. It’s called an eraser!
Arnold Palmer
3. The best wood in most amateurs' bags is the pencil.
Chi Chi Rodriguez 4.
I owe a lot to my parents,
especially my mother and father. Greg Norman 5.
Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without
being good at...
Full Story
Here is a poem that needs no explanation.
“You Are What You
Think”
Great ideas are put to bed,
Because fears and doubts invade your
head.
Time does fly you wonder why
Those great ideas have passed you
by.
The greatest philosophers, they have
said,
We become what’s in our head.
What we think is how we act,
Thoughts determine our lives
exact.
...
Full Story
He always has a good time on the course, plays without tension, and is fun to play with! (Besides no one else would pose for me.)
It is no joke that golf can be serious business, but get too
serious and you destroy all your chances of success, because
tension is created. (Yes this is just another of golf’s
counter-intuitive ways.) In the golf swing, tension is the great
destroyer and is usually evidenced by too firm a grip. And with
your hands the only connection with your club, you can quickly
appreciate why poor swings result. My friend Annie Loughlin, an
excellent teaching professional based in Missoula, Montana reminds
me of a wonderful way of eliminating or at least minimizing tension
in her book, “The Golf Letters” - SMILE. More to the point,
Annie says to “grin.” She goes on to exp...
Full Story
If you are less than satisfied with your daily accomplishments,
follow these tips to make the most of your time. 1.
Wake up early. Whether you are a “morning
person” or not, you will find getting up earlier is a great way
to start the day. If an hour is too much for you, take baby
steps. Maybe getting up just ten or fifteen minutes earlier is a
good start, and every two weeks you get up fifteen more minutes
earlier. Pretty soon you will be there. 2.
Prioritize your tasks. Be clear about what you
want to achieve each day. If you are too “fuzzy” to think
about that clearly in the morning, jot down t...
Full Story
There is more than one way to putt a really speedy putt such as a
downhill one. One popular method is to “toe-putt” a really
slick putt. – striking the ball off the toe end of the putter
face. While this definitely imparts less energy to the golf ball,
it can also twist the putter face causing the putt to start off
line. When you consider that more putts are missed by a mishit -
the face being open or shut than by the path of the blade, this
makes toe-putting a bit more inexact. The other problem with
toe-putting is that you must tighten your hands on the grip to keep
the putter head from twisting. In doing so, you add tension to an
already scary situation. The key to s...
Full Story
Coach & Author Bob Fagan
So often I see young golfers being counseled about how to get to
“the next level” in their golf games. The advice typically
includes work with a swing instructor, time in the gym exercising
or running on trails, and careful nutrition. It might also
include consulting a sports psychologist and most definitely
competition and practice, lots of it. The same scenario goes on
in other sports and the business world as well. Physical
preparation and mental strategies will only take you so far. When
competitors fall short, the blame story sounds like “you didn’t
want it badly enough or work hard enough.” The translation to
the individual is that they must work harder, pract...
Full Story
Sam Snead's swing was smooth, slow, yet powerful.
While we all want and need clubhead speed to hit it further, you
don’t necessarily swing faster to do so. Sam Snead and Tiger
Woods, both prodigious hitters have swung at 85% of their power for
full-out drives. And when athletes slow things down, they
perform faster. In a study, a group of elite runners were asked
to run all out at “110% of their capacity. A few days later,
the same group was asked to throttle it down to 95%.
Surprisingly, the group recorded faster times running at the 95%
speed. Long driver Steve Thomas was instructed to swing as hard as
he could. His clubhead speed was only 102. Returning to his
normal rhythmic swing he added an amazing 65 mph ...
Full Story
Do you value yourself or not? Are you happy, self-confident, and
comfortable with yourself? Would it surprise you to learn that
many people quietly and privately do not have a high opinion of
themselves? If you feel that you are one of life’s failures or
just not where you want to be, read on. Self-esteem is your opinion
of yourself. It is how you regard yourself in terms of your
accomplishments, your job, your relationships, and how you think
you fit in with the world around you. Having healthy self-esteem
means you value your contribution and have a high regard for
yourself. Conversely, hav...
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Everything that comes to you comes by
the power of your thought. You are the only one who creates your
experience. If there are changes you would like to initiate, it
will be worthwhile to begin telling a different story about them.
This can apply to your health, relationships, career, finances,
golf game, or about anything that’s been troubling you..
As you begin to more positively focus, beginning to feel good about
things, you will begin to feel the power that creates God, source
energy, or power flowing through. Do you think you could change
your non-operating story? Would you? If yes, then when? How
about now?...
Full Story
Did you realize that when you complain you disallow your own
well-being? In focusing upon what you don’t like or want to
get rid of, you bring more energy to it and therefore attract more
of the same to you. This complaining doesn’t have to be about
someone else or external circumstances, but simply your own
well-being. Complaining about disease or your aching body takes
you out of alignment with your highest or best self – and that
DOES cause you pain. The further you venture from your best self,
the more you will experience pain. All this is not to ignore pain,
but rather not turn extra attention toward it. What you resist
persists and what you focus upon you create....
Full Story
"Goldfinger" inspired Sean Connery's lifelong devotion to the game. He's cool, but he's no pro.
Who are the coolest professional golfers? This is not about their
accomplishments, but rather more about demeanor and style. First
you have to define what cool is. Here are my criteria. The
“cool” golfer is not necessarily handsome or beautiful.
Charisma by itself is not enough to qualify. They might exhibit a
hint of 007’s James Bond's timing or appeal, but the emphasis is
on exuding a relaxed "cool," and giving the impression of being
totally at ease with themselves. Their walk is not hurried as
they are apt to determine their own pace and never look rushed or
flustered – and they play as if they almost didn’t care about
their score or who was or wasn’t watc...
Full Story
Isn’t it about time we stopped beating ourselves up over our
mistakes? “Bob, our mistakes are signs of failure and take us
away from our goals” you might say. “We (I) did something
wrong.” Well, let’s first define what a mistake is. Is it
really something wrong or incorrect? First you took action.
Sometimes imperfect action is better than no action at all.
Besides, is doing something wrong our worst outcome? Mistakes can
be a genuine blessing – wise, effective teachers. They can
teach us if we are aware and open ourselves up for the lessons.
They redefine our goals and signal when a change of tact or belief
may be appropriate. If you are acting from...
Full Story
How About A Golf Version?
Observing all the hoopla regarding who is participating in the next
Dancing With The Stars television show, it got me thinking.
Why doesn't The Golf Channel adopt a golf version of
"Dancing With The Stars, but with no instructors - just
couples? Rich Lerner and Carolyn Bivens would host.
Michael Breed would shout; I mean announce, and I would volunteer
to score with two other judges, Condoleezza Rice and David
Feherty. How is this for a line-up?
John Daly and Christina
Kim (You tell me why?)
Elin Nordegren and Greg Norman
(Blonde and single connection)
Gary Player and Anna Rawson and
Beatriz Recari (Gar...
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Annika Sorenstam's preshot routine was always exactly 24 seconds for any shot.
In order to play your best golf, you want to eliminate as much
conscious thought as possible. By developing procedural habits
that we know as routines, we better allow ourselves the opportunity
to play golf with “play” being the operative word. Routines
signal to your body that things are safe. When you deviate from
your routine, that sets off the alarms in your body that something
is wrong. Worse yet, if you don’t have any pre-shot routine,
each swing becomes an adventure. These danger signals set off
alarm of adrenaline, muscle tightening, fear, doubt, etc. - all
things that destroy the body's ability to perform as you had
intended. Routines help you focus upon the...
Full Story
Tin Cup's "Bombs Away!" Model
Did you know that The Rules of Golf require that you positively be
able to identify your golf ball? This is specified under Rule
12-2. Most players including the top professionals as well as
many serious amateur and club players will take a permanent marker
and mark their balls with a unique mark or color before beginning
their round. In that way, they can identify their golf ball as
required. Now here comes the fun. One of the best, most fun
products I’ve seen in a long time is called “Tin Cup.” This
is a 100% Stainless Steel half shell that one places over their
golf ball which allows a golfer to mark their golf ball with a
customized marking template and a permanen...
Full Story
The best putters have exquisite distance control. Their ability
to roll the ball to the hole and a few inches beyond is a key to
their ability to score. Invariably this talent is gleaned from
years of practice. Here is a drill they use and you might too to
develop your putting touch. Practice putting with your eyes
closed. Here’s how you proceed. Place three balls every ten feet
away from the cup. Make your normal putting stroke with your eyes
open being sensitive to the feel of the length and acceleration of
the stroke. Feel the tempo and acceleration of the stroke through
the ball. Hold your finish until the ball stops. Feel just what
happened? With your second ...
Full Story
What's in your bag?
I am now traveling quite regularly to play golf, often abroad.
And traveling for an extended golf trip is much different that
traveling light for shorter business trips as I had often done in
the past. It finally dawned on me that it would be easier to
operate with a check list in order to pack quicker and not worry
that I might have missed something. Traveling abroad, it can be
quite time consuming and expensive to replace something important
that you’ve forgotten. The following is my checklist that might
apply to you men. You might use it as a head start to develop
your own. Passport Tickets Wallet Itinerary & Travel
Confirmation Numbers Luggage Ident...
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When Britain’s legendary leader Winston Churchill was asked what
his country’s greatest weapon had been against the Nazi regime of
Hitler during World War II, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He
promptly replied, “It was what England’s greatest weapon has
always been – hope.” Hope is one of the most energizing and
powerful words in the English language. It took England through
many dark times during World War II and provides us all the power
to keep on going during the most difficult of times. That power
fuels us with excitement and anticipation as we move forward when
before we may have been flat. It’s been said that a person can
live forty days without food, ev...
Full Story
Are you an aggressive listener or do you tend to be a passive
one? Most of us are passive listeners if we listen at all. Good
communications or the lack of it affects every relationship, be it
personal, business, or family situations, and it can also enhance
or destry negotiations of every sort. Aggressive listening does not
mean that you focus only upon what is being said, but also how
things are communicated. Communication is between people.
Though that may sound like an obvious statement, how often do you
carefully read the feelings of the other person communicating?
Quiet your own mind. Cease considering what or how you will
reply. Instead, really go beyond the sounds a...
Full Story
Don't feel bad if you don't believe this! There is another way.
Positive thinking works, that is if you are already a positive
person and view the world in an optimistic way. The trouble is
that it is estimated that 80% of the world see life through
negative lens. Perhaps that includes you. This is not a right or
wrong thing, but simply indicates that everyone is wired
differently. The self-help movement has promoted the hoax that a
strong-willed individual who follows the “right instructions”
can succeed in any endeavor. Those seduced by the quick-fix
mentality are likely to be disillusioned, badly and quickly. So if
you’re part of the disenfranchised majority, what do you do?
First, you forget about positive thinking. Wha...
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Just a little bit a day adds up!
What are YOU looking forward to? If you struggle to answer this
simple question, are looking in the rearview mirror at the past, or
are focused upon others, your growth may be at a standstill. Many
people lose focus of personal growth once they finish their formal
education. Albert Schweitzer believed that “the greatest secret
of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used
up.” When you realize this and look to continually grow, learn,
and enlarge yourself, you never get used up. Personal growth
spells passion and enthusiasm, which is the fuel of life. It
matters not what you choose, just as long as it’s something… a
piece of new information, an add...
Full Story
Wouldn't you like to be like Freddie Couples? Surprisingly he still gets nervous butterflies when he plays.
Ever experience those first tee butterflies? We all do. The old
expression the pros use is that over time, they’ve learned to get
those butterflies to “fly in formation.” For example, observe
Tiger Woods, Greg Norman or any of the leading women golf
professionals at any point in their career and you will see that
when the tension creeps into their game they are apt not to release
the clubhead – be it a tee shot or a putt. The better we can
manage our tension, the better decisions we make and the better we
will swing. So how do you tame your tension? When things go wrong
in our game or particularly with a shot or series of shots, most
people are quick to focus upon t...
Full Story
It seems that today we’ve become a society of having and
accumulation – an American nation of shoppers. Why even our
last two Presidents Bush and Obama have implored us to keep
shopping and buying so that we could continue feed all the
industries built on our consumerism. “There is enough in this
world for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s
greed” said Ghandi. Having becomes a distraction, a way to
avoid being. And you can thank our Puritan forbearers who taught
that prosperity was a sign one was predestined to go to the
promised land. Of course, this also got people to work hard,
which has become the legacy of the Puritans. Now many of us go
into sh...
Full Story
If you want to help a non-profit, it helps to know the inside
challenges that they operate under and just maybe you can be of
even greater service to them! It has been my experience that
relatively few people including non-profit Board members themselves
truly understand the special circumstances under which their
non-profits operate. A better appreciation of them can go a
long way toward making your participation more enjoyable and your
contributions more meaningful. I know. In 1991, I made the
crossover from the corporate world. Even though I had served for
some non-profit groups, taking on my new role as the CEO of a high
profile non-profit was a real eye-opener - easily as ...
Full Story
Magnificent Thai Gardens
The par-5 fourth at Muang Kaew
Golf Club near Bangkok.
Thailand makes for a great golf destination and provided
you avail yourself to the many other attractions – an
unforgettable travel experience! 1. Friendly
peaceful people. This often over-used description really applies
to the Thai folks. 2. Great prices. Once you arrive in
Thailand, your purchasing power for golf and everything else goes
incredibly far. (Golf balls are the exception so bring plenty.)
3. 280 golf courses in a variety of locales including many
exemplary ones designed by the likes of Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus,
Robert Tren...
Full Story
Riding elephants and golf in Thailand are awesome!
Gorgeous views abound from the
luxurious clubhouse at Siam Country Club's Plantation
Course.
If you are searching for a golf Mecca with lots more to offer,
Thailand should be right at the top of your list! You will
discover Thailand to be one of the most unique golf destinations in
the world, not just because of the golf courses themselves, but
because of the fascinating life around them. The term
“experience” would better describe what you encounter in
Thailand. As this story’s title suggests, you will find much,
much more than mere golf fare there to interest you. If, however,
you are a golf junkie that only travels to play ...
Full Story
The gates of Augusta National Golf Club will open to the public during the summer months!
April 1, 2001 - Augusta, GA In a totally unexpected pre-Masters
announcement, the Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Chairman
Billy Payne declared that the revered course will open to public
play from June 1 through September 30 of this year in what is a
pilot program to further integrate the very private club with its
community and the greater golfing community at large. This elite
course normally closes from May through October, but this year will
be open to the public so more people can enjoy the facility and the
Club can contribute more back to the community. All of the
proceeds from the $225 green fees will be distributed to Augusta,
Georgia area charities and the course w...
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Is Augusta National really a blessing or an unsustainable curse to the future of golf?
The Sad Legacy of the
Augusta National Golf Club
There was a time in American golf before aerial golf when golf when
the ball was played along the ground with the contours adding so
much variation and spice to strategy and shot making. Then in the
1960s along came a a new strain of golf disease called
“Augusta-itis.” As telecasts annually conveyed the special
preparation afforded the popular Masters Golf Tournament at the
Augusta National Golf Club, everywhere around the country club
memberships and developers demanded similar conditions. The
ground game was lost. Soon the American game went aerial. While I
lo...
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Just because you can't match Graeme McDowell shot for shot doesn't mean that you can't have just as much fun!
The one aspect about golf that no matter what your age, we always
seems to have that “if only” moment that we can actually do
better. I’ve been teased by this as I imagine you have. Nearing
my 50th birthday I was easily beating most every club pro at the
courses I was traveling to. For the umpteenth time in my life I
was becoming full of myself. My handicap had moved to a plus 4
which is pretty fair and I shot a record 61 at my home course of
Saddle Creek in California. Several of my scratch playing friends
encouraged me to resume competition and even go for the Champions
Tour. I knew better. I couldn’t beat those guys before and
with all their practice...
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Did you know that the original 16th greensite was right where those people on the right are sitting? Bobby Jones sketched the idea of the new hole and then turned the project over to Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to build in 1947. Between 1943 and 1945, 200 cattle and more than
1,400 turkeys, as well as 42 German prisoners of war occupied the
fairways of the closed down Augusta National fairways. The cattle
ate a large number of valuable azalea and camellia plants as well
as some of the bark of the trees and ended up costing the Club
money. Fortunately the Club made up the loss through the sale of
the turkeys. The POWs were hired from Camp Gordon and worked
mostly on the golf course. Obviously the t...
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Golfasian's Mark
Sigel
If you were coming to Northern California and called me, I might be
able to suggest the exact mix of golf courses, sights, restaurants,
and places to stay. And of course, with your GPS or maps you
wouldn’t have any trouble navigating around on your own. In
essence, you could call me as your friend or someone like me if you
want to really nail a great time and get the most for your time and
money. Now picture going to exotic Southeast Asia, to a place like
Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia. You want to play golf, you don’t
want any hassles...
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Do you think this guy kissing the Augusta turf disagrees with me?
Augusta National is the best, strongest brand in golf. Augusta
National is the best theater for golf. Augusta National is one of
the most beautiful courses in the Southeastern United States.
Augusta National is easily the most influential private golf club
in the world. Playing Augusta National is one of, if not the
premier experience in American golf. An Augusta National membership
is the most valuable sports club membership on the planet. When
they set the back nine hole locations in the collection areas and
allow the players to make birdies, the back nine is the most
exciting climax in championship golf. During Masters week, no
course’s c...
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The conditions and the chorus of
praise in golf reaches its crescendo each year at Augusta in
April.
It is not politically correct to criticize the Augusta National
Golf Club. They don’t like or appreciate criticism. In
contrast to the other three majors, The Masters is a beautiful
celebration. Like opening day baseball, it signals the rebirth
exhibited by spring of every year, and it not the ugly
pressure-cooking crucible that the other three are. It is picture
perfect with all of the Augusta National Golf Club’s many
resources focused like a peacoc...
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One of America's best par-fives, the 13th at The Dunes.
The venerable Pine Lakes
Country Club started golf in the Myrtle Beach area in
1927.
I’ve enjoyed quite a love affair with the game of golf, but it
really blossomed in March of 1965 when I got to take my first golf
vacation. This vacation was to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I
was just fourteen at the time and my parents along with a spry
78-year old friend of the family, George Thorpe, and I embarked to
this South Carolina coastal town that had but three golf courses at
the time. My parents took advantage of one of those early package
deals where you could play golf and stay fairly inexpensively as
well as pla...
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The iconic lighthouse is
known through golf as the backdrop for Harbour Town's 18th
hole.
Do you have a special place that you enjoy so much that you don’t
want to tell everyone else lest they all converge on the place and
spoil its ambiance. Well I do, and that place is Hilton Head
Island, South Carolina. My parents and I first visited there in
1965 just a few years after the Sea Pines Company started the first
significant development there and I have enjoyed the place ever
since. While golf was and continues to be the main attraction,
there is so much more to enjoy there. We continued visiting
there, buying property...
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Do you wear gloves every time you want to touch something? Probably
not, yet figuratively we often do. We avoid direct touch by
emotionally dressing and primping, adding clothes, putting on
gloves if you will. It's as if we cover up who we really are. When
we knowingly or unknowingly add layers of clothes, we add layers
that keep us from really feeling or experiencing the world around
us. It may start with a thin layer of protection, but quickly
becomes many layers that begin a state of loneliness reducing our
joy. Equate this to putting on a pair of gloves every time we touch
something...
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Courtesy of The Associated Press
One Superman’s Cape has been reported missing with the Tiger
Woods camp inquiring if anyone can find it to save their client’s
erratic short game. Neither Tiger Woods nor Jack Nicklaus ever
made every putt or hit every shot perfectly in a 72-hole major
championship. Tiger triple-bogeyed the easy third hole when he
lapped the field by 15-shots at Pebble Beach and he started with a
near disastrous 40 on the front nine in his record-setting first
Masters victory. Nicklaus admitted that he played a patient
calculated game and had many major championships handed to him.
The
old Tiger Woods would have won this year’s Masters
by two-three shots over Charl Schwartzel. ...
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The Royal Calcutta Golf Club dates back to 1829!
Exciting golf awaits you
in the Delhi area. This is the par-three third at the DLF Golf
and Country Club.
Yes, there most certainly is golf in India. What's more, it’s
the kind of quality golf that mixes with India’s other many
alluring attractions to make for a most memorable vacation. Take
your pick. There are a host of cultural, historical, outdoor
sports and adventures, nature, shopping, spa, and general
sightseeing to combine with golf. And if you have never been to
India like me, you will be well advised to follow my footsteps to
the Delhi area. Okay, golf is probably the last thing you may have
associated...
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Note the power positioning
of Greg Norman for all his stances. He is securely connected to
Mother Earth to swing with power!
The ancients believed that mankind derived power and energy from
the earth and modern power hitters in golf (and other sports) have
returned to their ancestral roots. Whether you subscribe to the
theories that you generate power through the knees, hips, core,
arms, or even the hands, your foundation with the ground is your
power fulcrum upon which you leverage this power. If you examine
today's power players or even those of thirty or forty years ago,
you will notice that they sunk their spikes securely...
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An aerial view of the Payne Stewart Golf Club
The spectacular 16th at
the LedgeStone Golf Course provides a glimpse of why Branson,
Missouri qualifies as a "must-play" golf
destination.
What do you get when you combine good old fashion genuine
hospitality and tons of fun options, and throw in great golf for
good measure? The answer is Branson, Missouri. If you are like
me, you may have known Branson to be a vacation destination, but
did you also realize that it has also developed into a bonafide
golf destination as well? I've witnessed more than my fair share
of proud inhabitants who love their towns as well as their golf
courses, and I can't fault them in the least,...
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Branson Landing at night.
Many people have heard of Branson, Missouri, but I'll bet that
closer to the two coasts relatively few people have visited
there. If you are like me, maybe you had envisioned a few bus
loads of old folks converging upon some out-of-the-way rural place
somewhere in Missouri called the Ozark Mountains to watch a couple
of worn out entertainers perform. Wow, was I wrong; it is more,
much more. In fact, Branson rocks! Here is a town with a
population of almost 7,500 people that is a fun magnet for more
than ten million visitors a year. And there most definitely is a
discovery process to the Branson experience. It goes something
like this. First, you have already or will hear ...
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Branson Landing on the
waterfront.
1. Branson features a great variety of
entertainment. While you can expect to enjoy country
music, that genre represents less than half of Branson’s show
offerings. You can also enjoy Comedy, Acrobatics, Tributes,
Broadway, Dance, Irish, and Patriotic themes. Additionally, you
will also discover many interesting museums and exhibits.
2. Branson caters to a wide variety of
ages. While it remains a popular destination for seniors,
the wide range of opportunities has been just as attractive as a
family destination.
...
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When I meet people for the first time and the subject of what I do
comes up, inevitably so does my coaching which includes, but is not
limited to The Law of Attraction. Many also associate this
concept with the cult hit movie, “The Secret.” Nearly half
the time the other person hasn’t heard of it, but for those who
have, the response is split in slightly in favor of those who like
it versus those who discount it. Recently, I was speaking with a
very well educated teacher who quickly blurted out, “It’s
complete rubbish, and the people who were on it are just a bunch of
the biggest losers.” Our time was brief and I wanted to know
more, but there has indeed been a backlash ...
Full Story
Tiger Woods aggravating a knee and achilles heel injury on the first hole.
Tiger Woods has never really been tested or challenged in his life
until recently. While some may argue that every round of golf he
plays is or has been a test, he has rode the wave of success in his
life’s passion – golf – since he was a toddler. He was
extended special treatment through college and the day he turned
pro, he became a very wealthy man with some of the largest
endorsement contracts ever. It has been sad to see one of my
young heroes turn into what some may term a “chump” right
before my eyes, and I am not referring to his incredible golf
accomplishments. Witnessing his exit interview from the 2011
Players Championship, I saw an embarrassed, confused, a...
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Davis Love, III and good friend Freddie Couples are still both immensely long hitters, the epitome of "Effortless Power."
If you observe any of the men’s or women’s touring
professionals, you will quickly observe how they seem to generate
immense power with seemingly little effort. Take Davis Love, III
for example. He was so long that he had to throttle back his
power in order to compete on the PGA Tour. Not a powerful looking
man with small shoulders, he nonetheless is still one of the longer
hitters as he approaches fifty. Or take his good buddy, Freddie
Couples. Couples has such a smooth tempo, yet he too remains
long. And yard per pound, few in the game could consistently hit
it as far as Lorena Ochoa. All exhibit what I term effortless
power. In contrast, with powerful effort the ...
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While most golfers might choose a lofted club in this situation, you do have another option.
You find your ball in some nasty deep rough around the green, but
you have a lot of room between you and the hole with no bunkers or
anything else to carry. What might you do? Here's a shot I
haven't seen lately, but can prove useful particularly for the
average golfer. I call it a "Putter Punch" and I first heard
about it from Senior Tour veteran Doug Dalziel. Instead of taking
out your heavy sand wedge and hacking at the grass hoping to
extricate the ball, all you need is your putter. Here's how you do
it. Take your stance with your putter so the ball is back 6-12
inches behind your rear foot (right foot for right-handers).
Swing your putter back up to waist high (depen...
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This golfer has already set his grip and appears to be following a pre-shot routine in addressing the ball.
Watch any accomplished professional golfers and you will quickly
notice that each one has their own pre-shot routine. Time them
with a stopwatch, and most will repeat their routine to the
second. Why? The whole purpose of having such a routine is to
complete all of the conscious preparation prior to executing the
swing, or
playing the shot. Knowing that they have
accomplished all the details, these good players are then able to
clear their head and can allow their minds to go blank, and simply
play. All that is left to do is to waggle the club, start the
swing, and bingo, let her fly! When a player deviates from their
routine it signals "Danger" to their golfing ps...
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Christina Kim can celebrate with the best of them and then get right back to business.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, I got to play junior golf with some
pretty fair players, which included a very competitive group at my
club. One of my good buddies was a very talented golfer, a big
guy with a sweet touch who would often be mistaken for a Penn State
linebacker. He played to about a two-handicap, but probably
should have been even better. Whenever we played each other and
he started out really well going under-par early, I knew I would
beat him every single time provided I could stay reasonably
close. Why? He couldn’t control his golfing arousal. My buddy
would make a couple of birdies early on, and his entire demeanor
would change. He’d start bounding down the...
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The attractive lobby of the elite Ashok Hotel in the Embassy area of Delhi.
India is a fascinating
land of contrasts and diversity. Shown above is the market area
of Old Delhi.
No one ever plans to be seduced do they? It's something that
just happens to you though some maintain you have to be open to the
experience. I don't know, but there is something about being the
innocent party that takes you pleasantly by surprise. Make no
mistake, India seduced me. And to imagine that my trip to India
came literally within moments of never happening. Anyway, life
has a funny way of presenting special gifts to us when we least
expect them. It was only a couple of days from my scheduled
departure to...
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For many years I've been on the lookout for North America's finest
golf resort hotel. Now I'm ready to bestow that honored
designation and it goes to
The St. Regis Hotel at Punta
Mita. Located just a 45-minute drive north from the
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico airport to a peninsula virtually surrounded
by the warm Pacific waters, you might as well be in golfing heaven,
or just heaven for that matter. Just to be clear, this award is
about hotels that are located immediately next to and operate with
golf courses. The honor is not about the golf courses themselves,
but having an outstanding adjoining course is a contributing
factor, and The St. Regis has two superbly s...
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I was the first on the Punta Mita practice tee and got to enjoy a fantastic sunrise. It doesn't get much better than that!
What's better than
combining exquisite food, wine, tequila, and golf together at one
of North America's finest resorts?
NOTHING!
Have you ever had so much fun that you just felt you had to tell
everyone? Maybe it was a concert, a thrilling sporting event, or
a fantastic vacation. Well right now I'm pinching myself. I
just participated in a fun golf tournament called "The Punta Mita
Gourmet & Golf Classic" held at the two spectacularly scenic
oceanside Punta Mita Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses just
forty-five minutes north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Whi...
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“Perfect” sounds good, maybe great, but it’s highly
overrated. In fact, it actually keeps us from realizing the peace
and happiness we want in life. Here are five tips that you might
consider to free yourself from the self-criticism and frustration
that accompanies perfectionism and instead lead you to confidence,
creativity, and greater satisfaction.
Understand what
perfection is. In a sense, everything is perfect as it is,
and at the same time, nothing in the Universe or life is perfect
from our ego’s standpoint. Once you internalize this
difference, you can relax and embark on a journey of improvement
and progress. Life, after al...
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There are many books on business, but if are able to understand,
implement, and maintain these six principles in your business, you
will be a solid footing with your business today.
Ready,
Fire, Aim. Today speed is as important as anything.
Striving for a perfect service, product, or introduction may have
worked thirty years ago, but you will be lost in the dust today.
That doesn’t mean that one should be careless, but it is more
about adapting and recovering, and realizing that the business
landscape is constantly and quickly changing, and the best laid
plans can be obsolete by the time they are perfected.
Unfortunately, today even the big...
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Mancil Davis, "King of Aces."
I was speaking to Mancil Davis, the self-proclaimed the “King of
Aces.” Davis has the most hole-in-ones of any golfer ever – 51
at last count including none in an eleven year drought, and that
doesn’t count another ten he has made while performing on one
par-three hole during corporate outings. Most exceptional touring
professionals have only a fraction of the hole-in-ones compared to
Davis’. I asked Davis what his secret was. He didn’t
hesitate in his reply, “I try to hole out my shot.” Sounds
obvious right? Maybe, but the strategy works. Besides being a
very good iron player, Davis' mindset is different when he stands
on a par-three tee. Yes, he tries to ...
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Larry Nelson
Want to know what the key to consistently hitting great golf shots
is? The answer is BALANCE. Balance is the key to having a great
golf swing that you can consistently repeat time and again. One of
golf’s great ball-strikers Larry Nelson would tell of his time as
an Assistant Golf Professional where he would get a twenty-minute
break to hit balls. He would run to the practice tee in his
street shoes to practice. In doing so, he did not enjoy having
the golf shoe spikes grasping the ground while swinging that might
provide him with a false sense of balance. Rather Nelson learned
to maintain proper balance by moving his body correctly and with a
smooth tempo throughout his ...
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Tom Watson & Jack Nicklaus successfully handled great pressure on tough courses.
Celebrity golfers face
real pressure as they attempt the Bethpage Black Course before a
U.S. Open there.
There are times when you face a really tough golf course and some
really fierce competition – akin to playing in a US or British
Open championship. Here are a few tips on how you might handle
it, especially under stroke play competition.
Limit your
swing thought to a single one. Maybe it’s tempo or
balance. Hopefully it’s a thought that helps your entire golf
swing.
Keep the ball in play. Especially on a
demanding course, it’s always easier to score from the short
gra...
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The Hill School's Headmaster David Dougherty
David R. Dougherty, Headmaster of The Hill School, one of
America’s truly elite preparatory schools in Pottstown,
Pennsylvania addressed the 159th commencement class in 2010 with
just this phrase. “Be Nice.” Dougherty went on to say,
“It’s the simplest social stance, the way you should greet the
world. It requires little thought, only the decision to be nice
and not mean. It’s the way you treat everyone, no matter what,
without thought, plan, design. Just be nice.” Beyond all our
differences of opinion on so many things, Mr. Dougherty’s simple
statement is so exquisite, makes so much sense, and is still so
very timely. Mr. ...
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Teeing grounds come in
all varieties as evidenced by the man-made affair on the 7th hole
at Dubai Creek.
The teeing area is one of the most overlooked portions of the game
and the golf course in my opinion, yet everything starts there.
Along with the putting surfaces, the teeing grounds are the most
used and visited areas on the golf course. Don’t worry though,
for I am not going to add to the clutter of swing thoughts that you
might have there. That said, a better awareness of the teeing
ground might add to your enjoyment as well as help you manage your
game better.
First, which tees do you cho...
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Have you ever felt unpleasantly surprised by those “daily resort
fees” so popular now at some golf resorts. I know that I have
and it can be quite a jolt, particularly when checking out. The
practice certainly makes you want to avoid revisiting them. For
years now, the PGA National Resort & Spa of Palm Beach Gardens,
Florida has allegedly been hiding the fact that it charges its
guests a mandatory $25 per day resort fee and now it just got
slapped with a $25 million lawsuit. The resort apparently did not
disclose in advance to customers who booked golf vacations over the
Internet or by phone that they would also be charged an add...
Full Story
Some golfers dread the three-foot putt while others
relish them. If you are in the former group, here are a variety
of tips that regular golfers offered that you might consider.
(Some of them are pretty good!) 1. Tension
ruins golf shots including putts, so take a few extra deep breaths,
shake your arms, set up and hit the putt without delay - just like
Aaron Baddeley or Davis Love III. 2. Practice putting "looking
at the hole" for 2-3 putts, then back to looking at the ball.
Alternate this for a few times when practicing. 3. Get
comfortable and relax the shoulders and forearms and look for a
consistent speed of th...
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Men don't have to be "Super-Heroes!"
What does it mean to be a man today? How can men consciously
express their masculinity without becoming cold or closed-hearted
on the one hand… or wimpy and emasculated on the other?
What’s the most loving way for a conscious man to express
himself? Following my one and only divorce nearly fifteen years
ago, it was time for self-analysis. No divorce is so completely
one-sided that both parties don’t have something to do with the
demise. I considered myself a good husband and father, and my
ex-wife was no monster, so there obviously had to be areas for me
to grow. Here was a rare opportunity to examine myself while
always askin...
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Dr. Alister Mackenzie
The sublime uphill par-3
third hole at Pasatiempo. It is a difficult hole from any tee.
(Courtesy of Rob Babcock/Pasatiempo Golf Club)
Pasatiempo Golf Club in the mighty redwoods and
canyons overlooking the beach town of Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay
remains the best example of the genius of architect Alister
Mackenzie that is open to the public today. The dream of Marion
Hollins, a leading woman amateur player of her day, who was born
into wealth and whose personal fortune was made in the oil
business, Pasatiem...
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Did Congressional make
the list?
Here are what I consider the "Best Five" golf courses to host a US
Open Championship. Everyone has an opinion of great courses so
here's mine. Yes, it’s subjective, but it may prove interesting
as I've played every course that has hosted the tournament with the
only exceptions of Glen View (1904), Englewood (1909), Midlothian
(1914), and and Fresh Meadow (1932). And you know what, this was
one list that actually wasn't as difficult as many I've had to
pick, though I am certain it will still elicit som...
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The beautiful sandy beaches of Okanagan Lake.
"Wow! Golf" describes the
Kelowna, British Columbia area. Shown here is the par-4 sixth
hole on The Ridge Course at Predator Ridge. (Courtesy of
Tourism Kelowna and Predator Ridge.)
As an inveterate golf explorer, I live to discover great courses
and exciting new golf destinations. While I still find many
interesting golf courses, very seldom am I been surprised by
finding a really “overlooked” worthwhile “golf
destination.” Surprise! You must come to the Kelowna in
British Columbia. Kelowna (meaning "Grizzly Bear") is a beautiful
modern lakeside...
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Hoisting trophies is becoming a habit for Yani Tseng.
If you are anxious to utter Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood,
Martin Kaymer, or Luke Donald as the world’s most dominant
golfer, I’d offer you one better. How about Taiwan’s Yani
Tseng of the LPGA? My argument becomes even stronger if you
measure greatness by "dominance." At the tender age of
twenty-two, this woman has amassed more majors at such an early age
than anyone in the modern era of golf. Yani worked alongside
fellow fourteen-year old Rory McIlroy as a classmate in the Faldo
Golf Academy. Since then Rory has awed the world with his first
major championship and his third professional victory. Like her
friend McIlroy, Tseng h...
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A younger, slimmer Billy Casper dusted off Arnold Palmer in dramatic fashion at the 1966 US Open at San Francisco's Olympic Club.
Billy Casper accepted the
PGA Distinguished Service Award from PGA President Jim Remy in
2010.
If I were going to choose the most under-rated professional golfer
of the 20th Century, one names stands well above the rest… No,
its not Paul Runyon, Cary Middlecoff, Julius Boros, Horton Smith,
or MacDonald Smith though many would not have a clue of their
excellent playing records.
It’s San Diego’s Billy
Casper who has recently turned eighty. When twenty career
wins seems like an automatic Hall of Fame entry today, Casper’s
t...
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What are some of the best
courses in America that anyone can play?
The following is my listing of the
"Baker’s Dozen’
Best American Courses Anyone Can Play" in the United
States. If you want to develop a “bucket list” of great spots
to play, here is a good place to start. Rating the Top Public
Courses in America or the Top 100 Public Courses is really tough
– I believe even more difficult than ranking the Top 100 Golf
Courses (overall). Do you rank by most famous, most popular, best
known, most lavish, resort, municipal, notable for hosting the PGA
TOUR, or conversely by best val...
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Would you consider being more accepting of others, to let go? How
about becoming more accepting of you? The quality of your life
depends on it. It’s really not all that complicated or
difficult, though we may constantly tell ourselves otherwise. I
continue to run into so many people who refuse to embrace
forgiveness and acceptance whether in their personal or
professional lives, or even their general outlook on the world and
life. When you come right down to it, acceptance is really a gift
to yourself.
It seems that many folks would rather wallow in the stress,
disease, and pain that judgment causes, and then complain about
it. They s...
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Call it “monkey talk,” negative self-talk, or whatever.
Unless you are some enlightened master who meditates fourteen hours
a day, you have an inner critic who is producing and directing a
multlitiude of self-limiting messages. In that you are the CEO of
your life, it might be time to consider a termination or
reassignment. Why not fire this Inner Critic? This inner critic
or little voice works hard. A tireless worker, it produces about
50,000 messages a day. These messages are highlighting your
doubts, cross-examining your decisions, belittling your abilities,
and telling you are not worthy of your dreams. Once upon a time,
you ...
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“I’ll be dead soon…” No these are not my words, but the
essence of a graduation speech that Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs
delivered to a 2005 Stanford University commencement – less than
a year after he first learned he had cancer. Steve Jobs said,
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool
that I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in
life. Because almost everything-all external expectations all
pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure-these things just fall
away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know
t...
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Scott McNealy introduces Flogton at the 2011 PGA Merchandise Show.
As I travel around visiting golf facilities, I am dismayed by
the growing lack of enthusiasm for the game – even among my
formerly avid golfing friends. To those who believe that we’ve
got an economic storm that will eventually pass, I don’t think
that the weather report is for sunny skies. The game has been on
a steady decline well before the current economic problems. Like
skiing, bowling, and other sports that experienced decline, golf is
too. Unlike skiing, for example, golf has yet to do anything
meaningful. Skiing had to depart from its traditional roots and
golf might be well advised to become more adaptable and
customer-focused. Snow boarding wi...
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Buying organic fruits and vegetables can be very expensive, but a
report issued by the President’s Cancer Panel in 2010 recommended
eating produce without pesticides to reduce the risk of cancer and
other diseases. What do you do? According to the Environmental
Working Group (a consortium of policymakers, scientists, and
researchers), certain types of organic produce can reduce the
amount of toxins you consume by as much as 80%. So which fruits
and veggies are the most important ones to buy organic. The
following is a recommendation made by Christa Orecchio, a Clinical
Nutritionist and Holistic Health Counselor. She refers to the
choices as ...
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Holes 11, 12, 13, and 16
at Tobiano convey the rugged high desert ranch lands and gorgeous
views.
There are really very few courses that qualify as a destination
golf course. By “destination” I mean that a course is so
attractive that by its own force, it causes people to want to visit
the area just to play that course. Tobiano is one such course.
Named for the famous painted horses of the American south west, you
would be correct if you conjured up images of sagebrush, arroyos,
and fenceless rolling hills. Add in mountains, a gorgeous lake,
and the tussled high desert terrain and you have Tobiano. ...
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Looking back down the
eight hole at the fantastic Carne Golf Links - in my opinion it's
the "World's Best Unknown Golf Course."
Recently I was asked by one of my compatriots on The A Position
to submit my favorite golf course in the British Isles for our
monthly A-List. It didn’t take me long to pick one, and write
and submit my favorite in just a couple of hours. I was tardy.
Seems one of my other fellow writers had already beat me – we had
both submitted the
Carne Golf Links. I have
played fifty Irish courses including the consensus the “Forty
Best,” but it was Carne that immediately c...
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What would Buddha or
Jesus do?
What would Jack Welch do before a board meeting? How would Jerry
Rice prepare for a football season? What would Jesus, Mohammed,
or Buddha do in a particularly challenging or stressful
situation? How would Donald Trump recover from bankruptcy? (He
has.) Life presents us with unpleasant, unintended difficult
situations no matter who you are - a difficult job or business
challenge, a tough choice, a relationship issue, an accident, or
maybe even the loss of a loved one. Ever want to just crawl in a
hole and avoid the whol...
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Perhaps the toughest
drive at Dancing Rabbit - the gorgeous par-four 9th on the Azalea
Course.
Have you ever dreamed about playing one of American golf's top
36-hole resorts or testing your game at an elite golf club that has
often been given ‘Top 100’ status? Are you game for a 3-5 day
getaway to also experience some wonderful Southern hospitality and
gourmet Southern food? I just discovered exactly where you could
accomplish this. What’s more, it’s a most worthwhile and
affordable golf getaway. The place is Mississippi and the golf
courses are the exciting Danci...
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I’ve made all the mistakes myself investing in or working for
start-ups. Fortunately I’ve preserved time and capital by the
‘opportunities’ I’ve walked away from. Here are ten
questions that if you don’t get absolutely great answers to each
and every one, play smart and choose another situation for your
time and money. 1. What is the company’s unique competitive
advantage? Life is short in the start-up world, and even more so
without a superior product, service, delivery system, etc. What
can this company do that others can’t? Can it become
‘special’ soon? 2. How does the company figure its burn
rate or net ...
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Remember him?
“You’re still away” is not the only bad three-word phrase in
golf. There are plenty more. Read ‘em and weep! 1. Pick
it up! 2. Where’s my wedge? (Headcover, cell phone, camera,
wallet, etc.) 3. It's behind you! 4. You’re still
away. 5. How much longer? 6. Not this again! 7. See
the ripples? (See that splash?) 8. Hit a house. 9. I hurt
myself. (Are you hurt?) 10. It’s in deeper! 11. Still your
turn. 12. Is that lightning? 13. Where’d that go? 14.
Forgot my putter!...
Full Story
We all are in relationships whether we realize that or not.
They need not be marital or romantic, but may include co-workers,
neighbors, and family members. Relationships are dynamic. In
their constant state of change, sometimes things go bad and then
get worse. Before you know it, a little issue can become a
relation-threatening issue. Here is my secret tool and you will
quickly note that it's based for couples, but it doesn't have to
be. Better yet, it has always worked. It’s called the
Two-Party Daily Gratitude Journal
(TPDGJ). The Two-Party Daily Gratitude Journal is just what its
name implies. You and the othe...
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Do you think you can name America's Most Recognizable
Golf Landmark? Actually it's not even on a golf
course. It's located on the eastern seaboard and is estimated to
be the second most photographed attraction on the East Coast after
the Statue of Liberty. If you offered the red-and-white Harbour
Town Lighthouse in Hilton Head, we would be in agreement. The
lighthouse attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually and is
located in a shopping/restaruant area actually across a boat harbor
channel from the 18th green at the Harbour Town Golf Links. It
was completed in 1970 at a cost of $150,000 and is etched in golf
viewers memories during the an...
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Robert A. Hudson - The
Ryder Cup's Angel
No Seve didn’t save the Ryder Cup though he singlehandedly did
much to revive it. The man who actually, in fact, saved the Ryder
Cup was Robert A. Hudson of Portland, Oregon. The year was 1947
and the Ryder Cup had not been played in ten years! The United
Kingdom had been devastated by WWII. Golf was very low on the
United Kingdom’s priorities compared to rebuilding their
infrastructure and regaining economic and social stability. No
one on either side of the Atlantic knew if there would ever ...
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Did you ever realize that you are like a giant satellite dish
receiving all the energy and vibrations around you? You have been
like this since the very day you were born. Of course, you
received mega-doses from family members like your mother, father,
siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and later teachers and
friends. You went from a place of perfect love into being
bombarded with some love, and all the hurt, judgment, anger, pain,
and fears that they had accumulated and been handed to them by
generations as well. Sound pretty cruddy? Yes, hopefully there
was love included in what was passed along to you. For some,
probably relativ...
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Do you constantly worry? Are you feeling drained of your precious
energy? Depressed? Perhaps something about your relationships,
finances, career, health, or maybe even the world at large grips
you with worry. Maybe you are an athlete who worries. Don't
fret. Here’s an exercise you might consider whenever your
worries invade you. There are only fundamentally two human
emotions – Love and Fear. Everyone would pretty much agree that
“Worry” is a first-cousin of Fear. By the nature of these two
diametrically opposed emotions, one cannot possess them both at the
same time. Therefore, when you are worrying, you cannot be in a
state of love. Yes, you...
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In golf, it is easy to fall out of alignment, even for the
expert players; and more so for novice. If you don’t understand
what I mean, it’s the aiming of the body when standing to hit a
shot. Even the very best players can be amazed how they might
fall out of alignment – one detail that they are quick to check.
One of the most common errors practiced by the novice player is
to change their alignment to correct errant shots. Slicers will
often aim further to the left while hookers will aim further right,
further compounding their problems. The closer you align yourself
to square or parallel to your target line, the better your body is
positione...
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The O'Hurley's
Love him or hate him, Tiger Woods moves the golfing needle.
Today, still a day away from his next comeback round at Firestone,
I am getting emails announcing that on the Internet that they will
provide live coverage of his round. Whoopee! Well, we've been
crying "Whoopee!" for a long time about Tiger Woods. I just came
across a clipping that I've saved regarding a five-year old Tiger
Woods. It was published nearly thirty years ago in the "People in
Golf" segment of the November, 1981 edition of "Golf Digest." The
following was written by Lyla Dusing and shows a toothy smiling
Tiger Woods.
"5-year-old Tiger - he
...
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"Always see some break." That is the advice from
Tom Watson and others. Great putters always want to see some
break even on a three-footers. The putts that others might see as
straight, they want to aim at the minute area of left or right
center. The best putters don't pick out the side of cups for
aiming they aim at blades or tufts of grass. Watson said, "I'll
pick anything I can find to aim at. There's always something if
you look closely." He continued, "I want some kind of break in
every putt - so I concentrate more closely and give myself more
margin for error." Here are some other factors you may want to
consider on breaking putts. S...
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There are at least fifteen courses that have hosted the PGA
Championship that are open to the public. Here is my list of the
ten best. 10.
Shawnee Inn & Resort
Golf Course, Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA, This flat riverbed
layout is well-bunkered in the Tillinghast style and has 24 of its
27 holes situated on an island on the Delaware River. Hosted the
PGA Championship in: 1938 Architect: A.W. Tillinghast Green Fee:
$65-$90
...
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Taking short game lessons from a qualified golf instructor is a
great way to learn new shots, but here is another practice that
many accomplished players have used. Go out onto the golf course
or short game area if one is available and practice hitting shots
from all varieties of lies. Use your imagination. Experienced
players realize that sooner or later they will face all kinds of
shots and their advanced preparation can spell the difference
between victory and golfing disaster. That might include ones out
of the water, different slopes, grasses, lies, bank shots,
left-handed ones, one-legged and everything you can imagine. By
practicing these shot...
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How many American professional tournaments have Rickie Fowler
and Natalie Gulbis won between the two of them? NONE. Gulbis
has won once in nine years as professional with her victory coming
in the Evian Masters in France. She hasn’t even finished in the
Top 10 once in thirteen events this year, yet if you watch The Golf
Channel you might think she is a far better player than that.
While Fowler is regularly in contention, he has won nothing as a
professional golfer. Yet due to the immensely interconnected
communications world, branding has made them both multi-millionaire
winless golf professionals. Each has created the illusion of
creditable winning proving...
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PGA Member & Honored Club-Fitter Matt Flenniken
If I could impart any piece of advice to a fellow golfer who is
experienced enough playing to have developed any sort of golf
swing, the next step they should definitely take is to get a
“dynamic fitting” – preferably an outdoor one where they can
see the actual flight of their shots and not hit into a net a few
yards away. Having properly fit golf clubs is paramount to
continued progress even if you are investing in lessons and
practice. Could you benefit from such a fitting? Well, yes,
just as everyone can benefit with an eye examination and possibly
eyeglasses or contact lenses, a full-blown club-fitting will help
you too regardless of y...
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The 18th at the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic
Club - site of Jerry Pate's famous 5-iron shot to two feet in
1976. The look has changed, but the challenge is just as
great! The Atlanta Athletic Club was Bobby Jones’
home club though it has moved from its former East Lake location.
It can thank its championship heritage to the lobbying Jones did to
bring the 1976 US Open to the deep South. It was an infant of a
course at that time, but the respect for Jones paved way for the
event to visit Atlanta. Now the Highlands Course has matured into
rather demanding test that is about to host its fourth major (3rd
PGA Champions...
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One of golf's greatest
short game and fastest players - Doug Ford
It was the 1955 PGA Championship in 1955 at the steamy
Meadowbrook Country Club near Detroit and the tournament was still
held at match play. The finals featured the hottest player of the
year, Cary Middlecoff. Then at the peak of a magnificent career
he was coming off a victory in the Masters and the Western Open
then considered “the fifth major.” He was facing the feisty
33-year old Doug Ford, the hottest player in the field.
...
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In business, should you inform your current employer that you have
been offered a job elsewhere and they make an attractive counter
offer to keep you, don’t accept it!. Documented history over
the last forty years indicates that within six months, nine times
out of ten you will be gone, unhappily and maybe involuntarily
so. The same goes for reuniting with an old romantic flame once
you have broken up. Be it hopeful, naïve, or just plain stupid,
the odds toward successfully rekindling and developing a better
relationship and also improving it enough to make it worthwhile and
lasting, the odds are less than one in ten that it will be
successful. So you met up with th...
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"Coach" Flenniken's Los Lagos Golf Course Office
In a previous story, I discussed
an upcoming Henry-Griffitts club-fitting with Master Club-Fitter
Matt Flenniken at the Los Lagos Golf Course in San Jose,
California. Here is Part Two of what I hope is a three-part
story.
One of the World's premier
instructor/club-fitters, Matt Flenniken of San Jose,
California.
Meeting back up with Master Club-Fitter Matt Flenniken is such a
fascinating experience. You see, Matt is not only a PGA golf
professional and club-fitter, he is a prolific coach and
instructor, very much a st...
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May, 1929 - One of golf's greatest women players, Joyce Wethered, leads her great American challenger, Glenna Collett Vare, across the Swilican Burn Bridge in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship. Wethered won.
“One Golfer At a Time”
- The Old Course's Humble Swilcan
Bridge
This short, sturdy little stone bridge might be overlooked anywhere
else, but because it's at St. Andrews and the funnel which every
golfing pilgrim or gladiator must pass, I call it “Golf’s
Holiest Place.” It’s weather worn stones and gentle arch that
were erected some 700-800 years ago (no one knows exactly when) has
been
the touchstone for every golfer fortunate enough to
experience the Old Course. As such it has ca...
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PGA's Joe Steranka
A friend of mine with the PGA reported this to me last week. The
information came from a PGA-sponsored market research project and
was discussed at a US Golf Manufacturers Council meeting on
Wednesday, August 10, 2011. “There are about 24M golfers in the
US. The American market lost 4.5 million golfers last year.”
I knew things were bad, but not that bad! (Golf participation in
the US has been declining since 2000.) While it is estimated that
the American real estate market has retreated to approximately 2000
price levels giving up huge amounts of equity, the American golf
market has fared far worse, likely retracting to early 1990s levels
and continues to trend lower....
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How effective are you at
"making time?"
What differentiates us from each other is how each of us uses are
time and what energy we bring to it. It's as simple as that.
Then our choices do the rest. Finding more time during a day is
actually more simple than you might think. Here are a few ways
you might do it. You can find the time by: 1. Starting your day
thirty minutes earlier. I like to use the mornings as my personal
development time. 2. Ending your day thirty minutes later.
3. Using half of your lunch hour as personal development time.
4. Taking thirty minutes before you go to b...
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Tennis' John McEnroe
Longer golf courses will
no longer be economically sustainable!
I recently heard a sports program on tennis discuss the
development of the tennis game and its growth challenges. John
McEnroe was discussing how the technology in tennis rackets
increased power between 20 and 40 percent. The tennis industry
then responded by slowing down both the court surfaces and the ball
to retain the integrity of the game and bring back the rallies, the
footwork, movements, and skills back into the game. As we look
around to baseball, we see where professionals play with wooden
bats whereas lower ...
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The uphill approach to
the 11th green at the Azalea Course at Dancing Rabbit in
Mississippi features a hole tucked far to the right-hand side of
the green just beyond the bunker. Would you attack this flag?
Find out what you might want to consider below.
When should you aim for the hole or flagstick, and when shouldn't
you? Three factors determine when you become aggressive and fire
directly at the hole and when you don't. The first thing to
consider is
your ability. The better player you
have already demonstrated yourself to be, the further away from the
flagstick you can be. For e...
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Professional Golfer Lee
Westwood finishes every swing in balance. Do you? Here's a tip
that can help you.
Finishing your swing in balance is not only the effect of a good
swing, but many instructors feel that it also relates to making a
sound, consistent swing. Here's a quick tip to easily check whether
or not the finish of your swing is in good balance. At the finish
of your golf swing, quickly close your eyes and hold your finish.
If you have trouble doing so, keep practicing until you can hold
your finish pose with your eyes closed. This exercise will also
make you more aware of how your body perf...
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When you have the course to yourself, here is an experiment you
might want to try. In observing golfers for fifty years and giving
many playing lessons, I quickly realized that golfers and
particularly men waste far more shots because of hitting errand
shots to the sides or topping shots than they do because they
simply lack distance. Try hitting your driver off the tee when you
usually would and then with a second ball hit it with a fairway
metal or a hybrid. Play each ball out and see how your scores
compare. You just might be surprised how they compare. Your tee
shots may not be all that shorter and you may more often have a
better shot than you might have imagined. You ca...
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While there are scientists who maintain that some folks are
predisposed to be happier than others, I believe that even with our
differences we can choose to be happy. While that may take some
time and re-programming, anyone can acquire the state of
happiness. Here are ten traits of happy people that once you
imitate them, you may find yourself becoming happier as well.
1. Happy people look for the good in life including the
blessings in the unintended. 2. Happy people are comfortable in
their own skin and look for the best in others, finding creative
ways to love everything including themselves. 3. Happy people
appreciate ...
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Justin Rose prepares to play a shot.
As you build or develop your golf game, it pays dividends to start
as or revert to being a "low-maintenance" player. One key way to
do that is to
have a short preshot
routine. Players like Fred Couples, Davis Love III,
Aaron Baddeley, Rickie Fowler, and in the past Lanny Watkins, Craig
Stadler, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Doug Ford, and Julius Boros all
didn't take much time once they got over the ball. If you have
prepared for your game and your shot, don't repeat the procedure by
running through a long list of preshot mental checks before
swinging. This takes you out of the "play mode" and interferes
with your innate ability to simply swing the clu...
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Salish Cliff's Clubhouse
The par-four 15th is just
one of many gorgeous holes to greet you at the brand new Salish
Cliffs Golf Club in Shelton, Washington!
In an era when American golf is closing golf courses far more
quickly than it is adding them, Salish Cliffs provides an exciting
departure from the trend. “Exciting” is a good adjective
because it also describes this new golf course located just west of
Olympia, Washington - an easy 75-minute drive from the
Seattle/Tacoma airport or even an smooth trek up I-5 from
Portland. In fact, Salish Cliffs is a jewel with many facets that
adorns the rich array of golf that awaits one in the gre...
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The gorgeous Henry-Griffitts fairway woods are adjusted for lie too!
(This is Part Three of My
Three-Part Club-Fitting Adventure with Master Club-Fitter Matt
Flenniken of San Jose, California and Henry-Griffitts Golf
Clubs.)
Eureka, my new Henry-Griffitts golf clubs have arrived! I am now
busy enjoying and testing out my new sticks. Yes, while it is
true that your woods and irons don’t complete the picture to
total scoring, the right ones can definitely put a swagger back
into your step as improved ball-striking really sets you up for
better scoring opportunities – not to mention less frustrat shots
or time-consuming ball searches...
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Imagination rules! Keep your imagination on a success track of
what you want (not don't want). Strengthen your relationship with
your imagination and your capacity to image new results will
increase....
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Life is about choices. Everywhere. The inability to exercise
our power of choice can and will affect every fabric of our
lives. Every day and every situation presents us with a series of
choices. How we respond to any situation sets up our body and
mind to interact. It can start chemical reactions in the body and
brain that work for or against us. It also establishes the manner
in which people and the world will respond to us. When things get
tough, do you control the situation or does the situation control
you? Are you actually asleep while you think you are awake? If
you react from a litany of old stories or tapes you keep repeating
o...
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The Confederation Bridge - one of the World's longest!
The Links at Crowbush
Cove is but one of many outstanding golf experiences that await at
Prince Edward Island!
Imagine
a relatively tiny island landmass of 134,000 inhabitants with
thirty-three golf courses with as many ten that have graced the
country's Top 100 Best. Relish a safe, scenic, friendly place where
great service is the standard not the exception, and there are even
more fun things to do there besides great golf. What I have just
described for you is Prince Edward Island, Canada. I scour the
world hop...
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American Golf's First
Golf-Themed Cemetery - Sunset Hills
Excuse the pun, but this idea may really resonate with those of us
who are diehard golfers - dedicated golfer cemeteries. The name
is Sunset Hills Memorial Golf Park and the place is Bellevue,
Washington and it is a new golf-themed memorial site that allows
golf enthusiasts a unique option for their final resting place Are
you a golfer who understands the simple joys that accompany a day
on the course: the smell of a freshly-cut green, the sound of a
well-hit drive and the satisfaction of watching a long putt fall
into the hole? If you are, your body or ashes can be ...
Full Story
Do you ever find yourself nervous with tension and flinching on
your short chip shots? If you do, here are a couple of quick
checkpoints you may want to remind yourself of. First relax your
grip pressure. “Firm” is alright, but tight and tense is
not. Gripping the club too tightly makes you lose the feel of the
clubhead and takes away any opportunity to make a nice rhythmic
stroke. It also causes the little muscles in you forearms and
hands to twitch and become overactive. Watch the professionals
and you will find that they are balanced, firm, but soft and
steady, and they also allow their bodies to move toward their
targets – like the mini-swing that...
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Zack Johnson and most all the pros employ the 85% solution.
Hitting great approach shots with your irons produces birdies,
which allows you to play great golf. Your irons are the precision
tools in your golf bag; they are not the clubs that provide
bragging rights of how far you can hit a golf ball. Only under the
most unusual circumstances will you ever see a touring professional
hit an iron shot approach with 100 percent of their power. On the
other hand, most amateurs swing full out on a majority of the same
shots. The professionals all know precisely how far they hit each
iron and they also have a very good vision of the trajectory that
each one has. If you watch them, they accomplish this consistency
n...
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Green Gables Golf Club
Prince Edward Island -
"the perfect option for those who want to minimize travel and
maximize the destination experience.” - Barry
McLeod
Recently I had the good fortune to visit Prince Edward Island to
explore the golf opportunities there. Yes, I quickly discovered
world-class golf, but also so much more. Here are fifteen great
reasons you might want to join me as I hope to soon return to this
uniquely special place. –
Bob Fagan Prince Edward
Island (PEI) is the smallest province in Canada and known as the
“Birthplace of Canada.” Located ...
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Do you find yourself preoccupied with the past and worried
about the future? For many, it’s how they encounter every
waking moment. That leaves one glaring question: “What about
right now?” Whatever you're doing right now will dictate the
results you gain in the moments ahead. Right now is the only time
you can actually control; the past is over and the future will be
dictated by your “now.” Today, try something different.
Focus on the power of now. Don't let the now miss
you. Forgive whatever bad happened in your past and stop
obsessing about the future. Rememb...
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I encounter many businesses and sole proprietors that ponder what
they should outsource. While there are many considerations, there
is also a quick financial one to include. If you want to earn
$100,000, then any internal task where the investment is $50 an
hour or less should be outsourced. (2,000 annual hours divided by
$50 per hour) For most small business owners, their focus is to
increase sales. Time away from this activity negatively impacts the
bottom line. So, outsourcing data entry, human resources, direct
mail, and even social media at rates between $5.00 per item to $30
per hour is truly a No Brainer. For ...
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I used to until... Do you consider yourself a rational, logical
thinker as opposed to someone who operates from his or her heart or
gut? If you do, it’s an illusion. Despite the fact that we
like to think of ourselves as intelligent rational beings, the
truth is that we don’t really make decisions based on rationality
at all – and what’s more, you probably react more like a
five-year old. I was recently having a conversation with a highly
educated friend (in fact a professor) and we were discussing what
approaches we typically take to respond to choices or problems.
For many years, I would have claimed that I was brain over he...
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The Law of Attraction is a law of Nature and is working 24/7
whether or not you know, believe in or care about it. It is
shaping our lives all the time. While there are other forces also
influencing us as well as other people exercising the Law of
Attraction. Sometimes they do so in competing and sometimes
conflicting ways with more energy or force than we have, but we all
have the capability to harness this Law to operate more often for
us rather than against. No, it will not always give us what we
want in the form we want or when we expect it, but it inevitably
can work for us if we know how to leverage it. There are only two
energy forces or feelings we...
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Are you hoping to meet a wonderful man or woman, but you keep
attracting the wrong type of person? Do you constantly meet men
or women who are emotionally unavailable? This issue keeps coming
up with many who are seeking new relationships. Perhaps you have
finished a relationship through divorce, death, or a simple
parting. You may have even done a lot of introspective work
identifying the characteristics you want in a partner. Yet you
wonder why you keep meeting exciting people or good matches, but
they are simply not available for a variety of reasons. You may
be getting frustrated. What’s up? We attract that which we
ourselves put out...
Full Story
This is a stupid list
only a leader like North Korea's Kim Jong-il would love, though
apparently he's not the only one.
There is a “serious golf list” that I find to be the most
stupid, absurd one going. It’s called
“The Most
Powerful People in Golf.” It is not a joke nor am I
joking. In fact, it is one publication’s signature article
according to one of its former senior editors, Jim Dunlap. While
it may make for interesting reading, it’s akin to identifying the
captains, directors, navigators, and engineers on the
Titanic. This former editor disclosed...
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The ambiance and views of
the Trinitas Golf Club are sublime as shown by the par-four
13th.
“Build it and they will come” was at the heart of entrepreneur
and olive farmer, Mike Nemee's golf course dream. His operating
golf course called “Trinitas” has received many honors with
some even likening it to some special places such as Augusta and
other famous golf venues. Be that as it may, he and his course
are under attack – a mean, vicious attack; one apparently not
based upon either fact or truth. Nemee like some before him
decided to design and build his ...
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Golf has called by some an "old man's sport," but
increasingly people of all ages should be exploring this great game
much as we do "eating an apple a day to keep the doctor away."
Currently as Americans are becoming more fit with their thumbs than
their legs or heart, the many benefits of golf include better
health - so say our Doctors. Okay, maybe golfers don't run, throw
or catch, but playing a round of golf can be very good exercise.
One of the primary benefits of golf is the fact that if you forego
the golf cart to travel from hole to hole, you're actually walking
several miles around the course. Playing 18 holes of golf c...
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Great golf courses like the DFL Golf Resort near
Delhi awaits you in India.
Is there golf in India? You bet! I visited India and found
outstanding golf courses. Thanks to the preoccupation of the
British, golf was introduced long ago. In fact, India was the
first country outside of the British Isles to take up the game of
golf. The Royal Calcutta Golf Club, established in 1829, is the
oldest golf club in India, and the first outside Great Britain.
Golf had already been played in India for 59 years before the first
maj...
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I spent most of my working life turning around troubled
operations and companies either as a leader or a consultant and a
recurring theme was that company officials were reluctant to
acknowledge that their company was in serious trouble. Sadly, the
corporate graveyard and bankruptcy courts are filled with
executives who wondered, “What happened?” Is doesn’t have
to turn out this way. Here are a dozen indicators that predict
trouble and action steps to take in most any turnaround.
Indicators: 1. Loss of key customers and
employees 2. Decreasing sales and gross margins 3.
Ca...
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What makes your product
or service stand apart?
Your competitive advantage is what sets your business apart from
others and provides you with viability. Today in order to compete
and survive, you need to exploit your competitive advantage, but
first you had better identify it. Here are fifteen areas that may
apply to your business: Your offering allows your customer to
customize their product, service, or experience. Your advantage
could be free delivery. The cost may be outweighed by the added
revenue. Your product may be hand-made or come with some spe...
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With the holidays upon us comes extra stress with work plus
parties, buying, hosting, travel, and company among the non-usual
activities. Even if you can manage to sleep in heavenly peace,
eat sensibly, breathe deeply, and practice gratitude, there are
still so many demands on us that the stress continues to build.
Here are ten tips to help you cope.
Don’t
over-do. It easy to eat and drink too much. Food and
drink will not really help you escape stress or sadness. In fact,
they will only build to stress and unhealthy weight gain.
Allow your feelings. There may be times when you
don’t feel part...
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The key to consistent ball-striking rests with good balance
throughout the swing. You'll rarely see a good player who is off
balance during their swing and you seldom find a poor ball-striker
who is well-balanced. A most common fault is that players slide
they weight onto the outside of the back foot on the backswing and
too far to the outside of their target foot at impact. Actually
your weight should never get to the outside either of either foot
during the swing until the very finish. Also, you should balance
your weight slightly toward the balls of your feet as opposed to
your heels or toes. Whenever you sense that you are losing
balance,
try hitting balls in your practi...
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The water and attractive
stylized bunkering featured at the 162-yard 12th at The Classic
Club are often repeated themes found on courses in the greater Palm
Springs region.
For the umpteenth time I was recently asked where to play in the
Greater Palm Springs area and what are the best courses. You
can’t go wrong picking any golf courses in this part of the
world. While some of the private golf courses are really special,
there are many other options that are often just as good and
sometimes better! The interesting thing for me is that no single
public-access golf course really stands head-and-shoulders...
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Those little dryer sheets can be used for more than just softening
or eliminating static cling with your clothes in your dryer.
"Static builds up when fabrics rub together and exchange
electrons,” says Behnam Pourdeyhimi, director of the Nonwovens
Cooperative Research Center at North Carolina State University, in
Raleigh. “Dryer sheets contain positively charged ingredients
that are released by heat and movement, such as the tumbling motion
of the dryer. These ingredients bond loosely to any negatively
charged fabric surface, such as a piece of clothing with static
cling, neutralizing the charge and acting a...
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Ziploc and plastic bogs bags are just as versatile and can even be
used to keep in many ways to improve your travel experience. Use
them on your next trip to... 1.
Keep your important
documents together and safe from moisture --
your
passport and boarding pass while you’re hanging around
the airport, for example. 2.
Keep your
receipts all in one organized place. 3.
Sort
your currencies -- dollars in one bag, another in another,
etc... 4.
Make a “kit” of all the things
you want to bring on your trip but don’t need until your trip
home: return trip itinerary, cab ...
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You may think that this is a golf lesson, but it’s not - it's
really much more than that. What you choose to believe for
whatever your reasons really determines your life’s quality,
direction, and outcome. If you are struggling in some area of
your life, rejoice. Rejoice because it is a signal that you can
ALWAYS modify your beliefs and your feelings will signal you where
to begin. Do you want to know a secret? Most of your beliefs
are truly not your own. You bought into your parent’s beliefs
and their parents as well as your and their teachers and
authority figures. Chances are that only 5% of your beliefs are
truly entirely yours (yes, there ...
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A couple of years ago I had a friend who was depressed, angry,
and life was spiraling away from her. For purposes of this story,
let's call her Susan. Susan was a successful executive and a
breast cancer survivor, but she suffered a divorce and since had
little success keeping men in her life. She could manage to keep
a client happy and impressed, but her personal life was crumbling
all around her. She imagined stress everywhere and would create
it to prove herself right. Pretty soon she began to lose friends
and as you can imagine, her sleeping and health despite exercising
daily and good eating habits began to deteriorate. Could I help
she asked? &nb...
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The roar of the surf far
below is ever present all around Old Macdonald, but here at the
elevated 7th green is the closest you get to it.
In considering this title, I almost put a question mark at the
end of “Course,” but what the heck, let’s call a spade a
spade. The Old Macdonald Course at Bandon Dunes IS “America’s
Most Fun Golf Course.” How could I make such a claim? It’s
easy, I’ve been fortunate enough to have actually played more of
the best American golf courses than anyone else, but enough of
that. Yes, I have my favorite courses and count the Pine Valley
Golf Club as t...
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David Breslow
You might think it unusual for me as a performance coach to plug
another coach, but that is exactly what I am about to do. As a
performance coach myself, it is always refreshing to discover
someone else in my field doing exciting work – work that gets
great results. David Breslow is one such individual. Calling
Dave a sports psychologist is not really appropriate, but like me,
he deals with the mental aspects of the game in an effective
“outside-the box” holistic kind of fashion resulting in more
pleasing results. There are precious few actually accomplishing
significant real results in the golf industry. Even most of the
well-known sports psychologists spec...
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The first hole of the
Bandon Preserve Course at the Bandon Dunes Resort lets you know
that you are in for a short-game and par-three
treat!
Want to know what might be the best 13-hole par-3 course on the
planet? I propose that it is the new Bandon Preserve course that
officially in 2012 becomes the fifth course at the esteemed Bandon
Dunes Golf Resort. Owner Mike Keiser saw a need for a shorter,
but fun and demanding layout in which perhaps weary golfers who may
want something a little less physically strenuous, but as gamey.
He hired the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw who already
designed the won...
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David Pursell sends a powerful drive down the middle.
Wonderful golf and
hospitality await as you enter FarmLinks.
Imagine yourself on an expansive hunting and fishing preserve and
passing longhorn cattle grazing as you head to a clubhouse that is
peacefully out in the middle of a God’s Country. You have just
entered the private domain that is a wonderful family-owned Alabama
golf course called FarmLinks at Pursell Farms. Situated on 3,500
acres, you will experience rolling countryside once inhabited by
several plantations and dotted with pine and oak forests, and
adorned with native grasses. Wildlife abounds and you might
jus...
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Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? I say, "Neither." Don't forget how valuable the air and space are too!
A few years I had a friend and client I shall call "Gloomy
Glenda." She could manufacture the worst out of any situation.
Miserable would not be strong a word to describe this woman.
Always worrying, her children, neighbors, ex-husband, parents,
co-workers, boss, etc. always were problems. She seldom had a
positive word or outlook to express about anything. Glenda never
enjoyed her vacations and seldom did she ever enjoy a meal, music,
or nature. And laughter? Forget it. It was always too hot,
too cold, or too rainy. Of course, this gloomy perspective
extended to her view of herself as well. A very attractive woman,
she never acknowledged the fact ...
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Great public-access golf
like here on the par-three 5th hole at FarmLinks awaits in the
greater Birmingham area.
If you think that Alabama is one of those “fly-over” states
as far as golf is concerned, you would be sadly mistaken. And if
you assume that I am referring only to the Robert Trent Jones
Trail, you would be missing some of the best public-access golf in
America. I will use the greater Birmingham area to prove my
point. Birmingham is one of those areas that quietly offers very
interesting terrain. Give a golf course designer a variety of
elevations and you can expect a pretty good golf co...
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Every Polar Bear Has Its
Own "Journey."
Are you in a rush to relax or improve?
If you are interested in self-improvement or
development, you can easily get caught up in a race to fix
yourself. You hang onto teaching points (perhaps
mine) and work hard trying to "get it." The reality is that we
may be like parched earth and the truth is like rain. It is
natural and acceptable that we like the earth may not be ready or
prepared to accept and retain the rain (or truths). We can all
soften up and become receptive to the rain on our ow...
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Patience is quite easy
when life is good and the sun is shining, but...
Patience is an often-celebrated virtue, but sometimes we really
deify it as opposed to practice it. Patience means to allow
things to unfold at their own pace as opposed to jumping in with
your habitual response. It is not developed in good or safe
times, but rather in times of uncertainty, frustration, and fear.
When everything is honky dory, patience is easily and rather
unnecessary. So how do you stack up? Pema Chodron in "Start
Where You Are" relays this story: "A hermit well known for his
austerity had been practic...
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For many reading this, expressing a loud belch during or after
eating is a sign of extreme rudeness. Did you know that in some
cultures a hearty belch signifies that you enjoyed your meal?
As much as we are similar, we as people do indeed have our
differences, and our ability to communicate (voice, listen, AND
understand) can resolve so many problems such as war and hunger.
When we begin to focus on the process of better communications, I
believe that we will open ourselves up to many new opportunities.
The old competition model is badly outdated. In its place are
collaboration, communication, and cooperation. As we evolve as a
species, thi...
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The Quintero Golf Club featuring dramatic terrain and
challenge is now one of two prestigious private clubs now open for
public play. The Greater Phoenix area has a wealth
of entertaining golf open to the public and that offering has just
been enriched. In what is and will continue to be a trend as
younger golfers eschew the private club model, Southern Dunes and
Quintero have both opened their doors to public play. Both
courses opened in 2002 as golf participation in America was just
beginning to decline. Both are far better than average layouts
that spared little in the way of expenses and now can be
experienced by anyone. The Mari...
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Are you still playing
Musical Chairs in your life by subscribing to belligerence, fear,
and scarcity?
This is a totally serious commentary for which I will volunteer
that the childhood game of "Musical Chairs" may be the game that
maybe best typifies that which is broken and sets a pattern of fear
and scarcity that haunts many to their deathbeds. Think I am
off-base? Here is my case. In the game of "Musical Chairs" there
is one less chair than there are children circling them. Music
plays and when it stops everyone scramble for an available chair.
The person that doesn't find a chair to sit on loses an...
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As our technology changes, so does our workforce. Today it pays
for management to be observant, nimble, and quick. And it matters
little whether or not you welcome or accept these trends. And
workers might take heed in how to prepare. The question becomes
how might you capitalize upon them?
Temps are more
prevalent. Since the recession, businesses have been
reluctant to hire back full-time permanent employees. They don't
want to saddle themselves with heavy fixed costs and prefer the
flexibility that a temporary worker allows. As a result, the
temporary status portion of the workforce has generated more jobs
and many believe that this will become...
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Ben Crenshaw was famous
for his fantastic putting and his super light grip pressure. Here
he is as an amazing amateur.
On a scale of 1-10 (firmest), touring players grip their putters
around a 3-4 while amateurs are around a 7-9. Too much grip
pressure inhibits you feeling the weight of the putter head and
making a smooth accelerating stroke. Some studies suggest that
the pros grip with between 12-25% of their maximum power. If most
amateurs halved their grip pressure, it would still exceed the
maximum the pros exert! Undoubtedy amateurs feel more fear and that
translates to f...
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You say, "Bob, that's too simple an answer. Surely there must be
something better to do when you're stuck than simply doing
something different." Let's look at the basic issue behind your
blockage. It's likely been formed by the the beliefs you've had,
the decisions you've made, and the actions you've taken - nothing
more complicated than that. So the solution need not be
complicated either though our ego would often like us to think so.
We all encounter blockages, detours, plateaus, and challenges.
There is the often used saying that employing the same thinking to
resolve a problem that created it is is the definition of
insanity. That said, it is amazing how so many intell...
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If you are one of those who wait until January 1st to enact
changes in your life, here are six you might consider. If not,
why not start today with your own. Better yet
Don't
Resolve, But Intend and Act! Eat
Better. As you approach the Holidays, don't skip your
favorite treats, but rather watch your portions and skip the
between-meals snacking. And minimize also your alcohol
consumption.
Exercise more. Take a brisk walk or
fashion an in-home workout. Don't allow dropping temperatures to
be an excuse for not exercising.
Volunteer. The
best prescription for curing...
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Your negative thoughts can wage an internal war within your head in
life, sports, and business. We've been programmed to fear them as
bad and immediately try to rid ourselves of them. Here is a
somewhat different tactic you might take when you encounter a
negative thought. First cup your head with your hands and bless
that thought and ask yourself if there is anything whatsoever in
that thought that I can use? You can say, "Bless my thoughts."
Resisting the thought backfires for what you resist persists and
you still have it. Don't get mad at that thought because that just
makes it stronger and takes you out of alignment with your best or
highest self. Treat that negative th...
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Need a few suggestions on New Year's Resolutions? Better yet,
why not commit to making them daily intentions? Here are a few to
get you started, but I'm sure you can add or modify many more to
fit you. Then again, why wait for January 1st? Give up TV. Tape
all your favorite shows and save them. Then go back through them
and see how many were that necessary. Give up online forums,
especially if you feel you’re becoming forum addicted. This will
help break the addiction and give you a clearer sense of how
participation actually benefits you (if at all). Make a new friend
a day. Meet someone new every day. Start up a conversati...
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Architect Damian Pascuzzo details his work at La Costa.
An early morning frost
casts the par-three 16th at La Costa's Champions Course in a
different light.
The La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California has a rich
history in Southern California golf extending well onto the
national stage. In 1965, it's Dick Wilson-design 18 holes opened
and soon the PGA TOUR's Tournament of Champions and the popular CBS
Golf Classic brought the facility into the homes of millions.
Next the two original nines split and a new nine for each was added
by Wilson-protege Joe Lee to make up the North and South Courses.
The golf was good, but no...
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There's Kidtopia for children.
Imposing bunkers adorn
the newly renovated Champions Course at the La Costa Resort and
Spa. Shown above is the par-four 4th hole.
One of the more refreshing trends in American golf is how many
old and sometimes rundown courses have been reborn into exciting
"new" layouts that both honor their traditional roots, but now also
inspire and appeal to today's golfer. Such is exactly what I
discovered when I revisited the venerable La Costa Resort and Spa
conveniently located just thirty minutes drive north of San Diego
in Carlsbad, California. Opening in 1965, La Costa was for many
years the cream of the crop ...
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All of our energy whether it be our thoughts, feelings, or
resulting emotions occurs either by choice or default. When we
are truly awake, our responses to any situation are the result of
conscious choices, and conversely when we are asleep in a
figurative sense, they are more like reflex actions or habits.
When we wake up and become conscious of our feelings and array of
choices, we can then realize that we have an infinite variety of
responses to any situation. Being awake is another way to
describe being aware. By becoming increasingly aware of our
energy, both good and bad, we can consciously make awake conscious
decisions that work better for us. ...
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In the coming years,
private clubs in general face increasing risks and may not be a
sustainable model. It pays to be careful.
Since 2000, golf in America have been steadily declining by most
all measures and with that many people have been exiting the
private golf clubs. Increasingly many private clubs have been
forced to close or restructure, often allowing the public to share
the facilities. There has been new unexpected fallout – fights
between the clubs and their departing members. Clubs are now
seeking to recapture unpaid dues, and fees and assessments while
members are seeking to recover initi...
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Are you stuck in your dating life? Are you having trouble
attracting the right person or even anybody at all? You are not
alone. Recently I was coaching a twenty-something who was stuck not
being able to attract anyone into their dating life. They had not
had any success in nearly 18 months, but in less than a week were
able to attract three very interesting attractive folks. It may
not happen as quickly for you, but the choices are so simple and
they work. The following is what we covered and it’s about
everyday choices we can all make.
Are you focused on love
or fear? Do you criticize, judge, or envy others? Are
you afraid of not having e...
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There are a host of devices that claim to enhance your strength
and energy. You can even wear bracelets and necklaces that
promise to help you. So far I have only heard of one piece of
clothing that does this and that's the Energy Athletic Golf shirt
powered by IonX. Perhaps you have seen former PGA Champ and Ryder
Cup Captain Paul Azinger touting these (shown above). The secret
behind the new technology with the Energy Athletic shirt is that
negative ions are embedded in the fabric of the apparel. If you
happen to have a Rothschild Static-Volmeter you can actually see
for yourself the much elevated level of these negative ions.
(Regular shirts don't register any....
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This golfer has properly
kept his head and attention focused on where the ball WAS well
after his putter struck the ball.
If you continue to pull your putts to the left of the hole
(right-handed golfers), the culprit may be that you are looking up
to follow the path of the ball. "How's that?" you ask. As you
watch the path of your putt with your eyes, your head moves and
this motion causes your shoulders to turn, which may cause your
putter face to close resulting in a missed putt to the left. The
quick and easy remedies are two-fold. First, start the habit of
focusing up...
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Are You A Pilgrim Golfer?