Let Us Give Thanks for the Game of Golf

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of this blog's death have been greatly exaggerated. This blog was just on a little hiatus, a work hiatus. I've been quite busy at work the past several months, and, unfortunately, my golf game and my son's golf game have suffered. (Read all about my work at my other blog.)

Well, I decided to make amends during the Thanksgiving holiday. During last Thanksgiving, my son and I played 54 holes at Deep Cliff, an executive 18-hole course in Cupertino, California. I didn't quite get in 54 holes this Thanksgiving, but my son and I did get out to the links. After a long day of "swing therapy" on the driving range, we played 18 holes at Moffett Field today. Moffett Field is a US Navy base that is home to a blimp hangar, wind tunnels and a nice 18-hole golf course.

It turned out to be a nice day for golf-- sunny and in the 50's and 60's. My son and I posted some decent scores as well. I was on track to break 100, but I dropped quite a few shots on the last 3 holes. At the end, I posted a 105. My son posted a personal best 120 at Moffett. So, all in all, it was a good day for golf. Now, we're back home playing Call of Duty 4 on the PS3.

Some Fun Games for Practing the Short Game

After watching Tiger collect his fourth PGA championship, my son and I felt inspired and headed to the driving range. We like playing at the Moffett Field Golf Course in Mountain View, California. Moffett Field is no longer an active navy base, but it is still used by the Air Force and the National Guard. It's also home to an 18-hole golf course and excellent practice facility-- driving range, putting green, chipping green and pitching area. The course and practice facilities are never crowded, and there are intermittent take-offs and landings by fighter planes. The blimp hangar and wind tunnels make for pretty cool landmarks. However, the blimp hangar is sans-blimp, and the wind tunnels are seldom used in this age of computer simulation and finite element analysis.

After my son and I have each whacked a large bucket of balls on the driving range, we head over to the pitching green and putting green to practice our short game. The short game has a far greater impact on your overall golf score than the long game, but most people spend more time practicing the long game on the driving range. Whacking golf balls is far more fun (and cathartic), but you are better served by practicing your putting and chipping.

Here are two games that will help make your time practicing the short game more fun and competitive! You can play solo, but you can turn the game into a contest with two or more players.

On the chipping green, start with 5 golf balls each. Every chip within 3 feet of the flag is worth 1 point, and holing a chip is worth 3 points. Take turns chipping, and count your score after you've chipped all 5 golf balls. Try chipping to different flags, and move your position around the chipping green. Try long chips as well as shorter chips. Vary your chips, with some bump-and-runs and some flops. My son and I can spend 30-60 minutes on the chipping green with this game. Today, he was in the zone with his wedge, and he handed me a string of defeats!

Here's a game for the putting green that you can play with 2 or more golfers. Start with three golf balls each. Choose a flag on the putting green. Putt each golf ball into the cup, and count the total number of strokes to hole-out all three golf balls. The golfer with the lowest total wins the round. All golfers need to start from the same location to the chosen flag. For variation, move around to different flags on the putting green. Try uphill putts, downhill putts and even tricky lies for a greater challenge! Today, I was one with my putter, and I had the upper hand!

I've been using these games on the practice facility with both kids for the past few years. My son, daughter and I can all compete at the same time, since the practice facility at Moffett is never crowded. However, my son accompanies me religiously to the driving range. So, he's usually my competitor in these short-game contests. Most of the time, he looks forward to these games, since the short game is a great equalizer. My son has developed a much better short game than I have, and he has quite the arsenal of chips and pitches that he uses around the greens on the course. The next time you visit the driving range, try one or both of these games to help improve your short-game.

Congratulations to Tiger Woods, PGA Champion

Congratulations to Tiger Woods, winner of the 2007 PGA Championship! Although the temperature was 102 degrees at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the event was held, I watched comfortably from my couch, where the temperature was a much cooler 73 degrees. (I can't imagine playing golf in 100 degree weather!) I even dozed off somewhere around the turn, but I did catch the start of the final round and the last few holes of the final round. One thing is for sure, no one can catch Tiger when he's sporting his Sunday red-and-black and has a comfortable lead.

So, Tiger adds another major to his portfolio, bringing his total to 13 majors. Now that Barry Bonds has broken Hank's home-run record, the next record is Jack's 18 majors-- just five more for Tiger. It should be exciting!

Sometimes You Have to Paint the House

Life, like golf, is a game of balance. I've been offline from the blog, but not on the links either. I've been painting my house. It has been nice outside, with our balmy California summers. During the past year-and-a-half, my son and I played over 60 rounds. We even had our own 3-day, 54-hole tournament during Thanksgiving. No Claret Jug to take home, but we did keep a running 3-day score.

Every now and then it's good to take a little break from golf and take care of the other things that need attention. And right now it's the exterior of my house! I hope to be back on the links this weekend-- probably at Moffett Field.

In the next few posts, I'm going to fast-forward a little bit and cover some of my favorite family-friendly courses in the Bay Area. So stay tuned...

The Putting Green Can Be a Magical Place

The first time I took my daughter to the driving range, she was 7 years old. She had her shiny, new set of golf clubs. She was wearing proper golf attire, and she even had a little golf glove for her left hand. I was ready to teach her how to whack balls on the driving range. However, when we arrived at the practice facility at Palo Alto Muni, I was surprised by her amazement and awe. She walked around the putting green and was amazed at how "spongy" the grass was. She didn't even believe it was real grass at first. After all, the only grass she had seen previously was on lawns and parks. Even getting balls from the driving range was a new and somewhat cool experience. I let her put in the tokens and carry her own bucket of balls. And there were occasional squirrels and birds that would watch what we humans were doing. All-in-all, there were lots of amazing things for a young golfer to take in.

As you most adult golfers know, the short game in golf can have more impact on your scores as the long game. However, most adults spend most of their time whacking balls on the driving range rather than practicing putts, chips and pitches. So start your young golfer off on the right foot. Start their golf lessons by working on putting first. This has advantages, because most kids have swung a putter on a miniature golf course at a birthday party or two. So they're already familiar with a putter, and the putting grip and swing are much easier than the golf grip and swing. Sinking short putts is also a good way to provide some early positive reinforcement to make the game more enjoyable. Also, if you start with a very young golfer, the putting green is a safer place for your little Tiger-in-the-making. I remember starting my son at the age of four, and he was all too eager to explore on the driving range. So, we spent a lot of time putting early on!

Young Golfers Need a Low-Compression Golf Ball

Getting the ball airborne and hitting the ball straight are the two most important things for a young golfer when they're starting to play golf. Don't worry about distance. Bragging rights aren't important at this stage. And you don't want your young golfer to feel like they have to compete with you on the golf course. You will hit the ball farther than your young golfer, but that's only because you've got physics on your side. You're probably taller and heavier, you have longer arms and your clubs are longer and heavier. You have the advantage from the get-go thanks to Newton's Laws! So don't emphasize distance-- instead, focus on the quality of their shots!

So, what's the compression of a golf ball, you ask? The compression of a golf ball is actually a number that measures the stiffness (or resistance to being compressed). Compression is a number. The lower the number, the softer (and more squeezable) the ball. The higher the number, the stiffer (and more rock-like) the ball. Titleist has some very interesting articles about the history and aerodynamics of the golf ball. If you're an engineer or a golf nut, you should check out their site. Heck, it's kind of cool to be able to talk about a featherie or a gutta percha when you're waiting on the tee box.

A few years ago, Titleist had published their golf ball compressions on their website. I can't find them now, but I do have my notes from my Palm Pilot. Here are the compressions:

• DT Distance: 77-82
• HVC Tour: 80-85
• HVC Distance: 83-88
• HVC Distance-L: 85-90
• NXT Distance: 70-75
• NXT Tour: 80-85
  
• DT Solo: 60's

The Titleist DT Solo is a nice, low-compression golf ball. My son likes Nike golf balls, because he's a huge Tiger fan. Nike has several low-compression varieties marketed under "Soft" and "Soft Distance."

There are also some fun golf balls out there. Both of my kids were into colorful golf balls when they started playing. The Volvik Crystal golf ball comes in a variety of colors, mostly pastel, and it's outer coating is clear and crystal-like. The Maxfli Noodle Ice is a colorful golf ball with a clear cover.

Just remember to chose a low-compression golf ball for your young golfer. Try to get a golf ball with a compression of 70 or lower.

Starting with the Right Golf Clubs

One thing that kids notice right away is that adult golf clubs are heavy, and they're right. Even if you "cut down" the shaft on your old clubs, they will still be too heavy for kids. The club head is large and heavy and the shaft is too stiff and heavy. As a result, modified adult clubs will be more difficult to swing for the beginning child golfer.

These days, you can choose from a variety of golf clubs especially designed for children, and the prices are all very reasonable. When I had started teaching my daughter four years ago, I purchased a starter set of kid's clubs from the local Wal-mart. However, after a few sessions on the range, we both realized that the clubs were a bit heavy. Although they were marked as kids clubs, the club heads were still rather large.

After some research on the web, I found US Kids Golf Clubs. They offer four different sizes of golf clubs, each set designed for a specific age range and height. The club heads are much lighter than adult clubs, and the shafts are very flexible. In fact, you can see them "whip around" on the downswing. The additional shaft flexibility helps younger golfers get the ball airborne. And the lightweight clubs helps with club head speed and good form. Both of my kids play US Kids Golf clubs, and they are easy to "pass down" to the younger child once the older child outgrows her set.

These days, nearly every golf club manufacturer offers children's clubs that you can find at your local pro shop, golf specialty store or sporting goods store. Nike also a complete line of youth clubs, and they have the additional "Tiger" appeal for your young golfer. (As an aside, my son is a huge Tiger fan, and he dresses in Tiger's traditional red and black when we play on a Sunday.) I've also seen youth sets from La Jolla Clubs, Callaway, Ping and Cobra.

Now don't go overboard on the equipment purchases. A starting youth golfer only needs a handful of clubs:

• A putter
• Two short irons: pitching wedge, 8-iron
  
• One mid iron: 6-iron
• A lofted wood, such as a 5-wood
• Make sure that your irons and woods have very flexible graphite shafts.
  

As you can see, I have not included long irons or a driver on the list, because these clubs are harder to hit (even for adults). The shorter, lofted clubs will be easier for your young golfer to swing, and your young golfer will get more enjoyment from hitting a well-struck shot rather than crushing one out to another zip code. At this stage, you should emphasize hitting well-struck shots that get airborne and fly straight-- not distance. You can always purchase additional clubs later once your young golfer has mastered the clubs in this starter set.