By BRUCE MEADOWS
JANUARY 2024
2024 . . Bring it on !!!
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The year 2023 had its high and low points, whether that pertains to golf or life in general in these hectic times.
Your golf game no doubt had its share of highs and lows, but there is always the opportunity to improve your game or at least your attitude.
Whether real or imagined, the start of a new year gives hope and varying degrees of optimism about a lot of things, including golf.
Working at Fairgrounds GC, I see a lot of golfers on a regular basis . . . some struggling with their game and a lot of them simply enjoying it.
As I’ve written here before, the most important thing – to me – is to enjoy the game, including getting outdoors and getting some exercise, playing with friends and family and just having a relaxing time.
I hope 2024 is a good year for you in many ways. That you and your family have good health and good times. And that you golfers find new ways to enjoy the sport and all that goes with it.
Looking ahead . . .
Found these New Year’s golf suggestions online:
1. Minimize on-course cussing. We understand some shots make you frustrated, but spewing cuss words aren’t going to make you feel better or improve your game. Try taking some deep breaths instead.
2. Dress the part. Leave the t-shirts, gym shorts and flip flops in the car. Look good, feel good right?
3. Everyone always wants to get healthier and work out more in the New Year, so ditch the cart and walk. If you decide to golf 18 holes, try walking the first 9-holes and if you need to, take a cart on the back 9.
4. Take a beginner under your wing . . your grandkid, your own kid or someone you don’t know. Show them the dos and don’ts of the game.
5. Chances are if you’re teaching someone about golf, you’ll be spending more time on the driving range which ultimately will benefit your game and you will get more practice as well.
6. Create a get-away golf weekend with some friends or family, or simply just play a course you don’t play as often.
7. No gimmes. We’ve all had those mandatory gimme shots that we assume will go in, but when we go to putt the ball has a different idea in mind. Your game will improve dramatically if you make a point to actually focus on drilling those two-footers.
8. Take at least one lesson to improve your greatest weakness.
9. Make the 2024 golf season the year you get your first hole-in-one
10. Focus on lowering your score slowly throughout the season. You might not drop 10 strokes off between your first and second round, but set a goal for yourself of an achievable golf score then set one a little less achievable. It will give you something to focus on throughout the season.
And go golfing more !!!
NorCal Pros capture California Cup . . .
Congratulations to the Northern California PGA on claiming the 2023 California Cup, 6.5-5.5, at The Valley Club of Montecito.
Windson GC Golf Director Jason Schmuhl was part of the NorCal team that prevailed in the competition.
The first day started with Four-Ball matches, as both teams came away, all tied up with two points each.
In the singles matches on day two, the Southern California PGA claimed its first point of the day with Kenny Pigman, PGA, winning 3&1 over Michael Duncan, PGA. SCPGA’s Bruce Nakamura, PGA, and NCPGA’s Steve Watanabe Jr. split a point with a tie. The NCPGA managed to grab two more points, with Ryan Williams, PGA, and Tom Johnson, PGA, winning their matches 2&1 and 4&2, respectively.
SCPGA’s Kyle Mendoza, PGA, grabbed a point in his match over Scott de Borba, PGA, 2&1. NCPGA’s Schmuhl won his match 6&5, and Kyle Hansen, PGA, secured the win with a 3&2 victory. Steve Saunders, PGA, of the SCPGA, recorded the final point of the match with a 1UP to bring the score to 6.5-5.5 in favor of the NCPGA.
This marks the second time the NCPGA has claimed the cup, as both the SCPGA and NCPGA have two wins in the history of the California Cup.
So you want to play in the rain ???
Rain tips from The Golf Channel Academy
1. Cover your clubs
Whether in a cart or walking, be sure to cover your clubs, either with the rain fly on the golf cart or the rain hood that came with your golf bag. You have a fighting chance to score well with dry grips and a dry clubface.
2. Take a free drop
Casual water will eventually pool up around the course. Unless you’re playing in the U.S. Open, feel free to move the ball to dry turf. Don’t get greedy, though, and drop balls sitting in the rough back into the fairway. Nobody wants to be labeled a cheater by their buddies.
3. Avoid taking a divot
Water on your clubface and from the surface of the grass will affect whether you hit a shot with crisp contact. After wiping off your clubface, try to make a shallow swing that doesn’t take much, if any, divot. That should help minimize the water’s effect on the ball.
4. Adjust to wet sand and greens
Obviously, wet greens will roll slower than normal, so hit your putts a little firmer. I haven’t met a single golfer who doesn’t dread wet bunker sand. Michael Breed, host of ‘The Golf Fix’ on The Golf Channel, says to “create some dig” by closing the face and slow the tempo down, so the ball doesn’t fly as far. Shots from wet sand tend to jump off the face,
5. Change your attitude
Ultimately, how your day goes depends entirely upon your attitude. Cranky and dreading the remaining holes? There’s no chance you’ll score well. Once you realize you need to grind out every shot, embrace the challenge and lower your expectations, you’ve got a fighting chance.
And you think your green fees are high !!!
There are some things that money can’t buy, like, for instance, a tee time at Augusta National. But access to other courses on GOLF’s latest list of Top 100 Courses in the World is a simple matter of economics. Pay, and you can play. Here are the 10 that charge the most. (Note: All prices are peak-season rates.)
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach
World rank: 14 / $625
In 2012, a seaside mansion behind the 10th green that once belonged to Gene Hackman went on the market for $79 million. For that kind of scratch, you could play 126,400 rounds at the country’s most fabled public course, unless you want a caddie, which costs $155 and would cut into your budget and reduce your allotment 101,282 rounds. Loopers are helpful, and probably worth the sacrifice.
Ardfin, Isle of Jura, Scotland
World rank: 65 / £500 (roughly $608)
It’s not an easy trip to Ardfin, on the southern tip of an island off the western coast of Scotland, and for most wage-earners, it’s not an easy bill to foot. To play the course, you must stay at the hotel, where rooms command £1,600 (roughly $1,900), minimum two-night stay required.
Kingsbarns, St. Andrews, Scotland
World rank: 86 / £418 (roughly $508)
Just up the road from the Home of Golf, this artful Kyle Phillips-designed course conjures the spirit of Scottish golf, but the club operates on an American model, in the sense that it’s not shy with its fees.
Casa de Campo, Teeth of the Dog, La Romana, D.R.
World rank: 75 / $500
You can pull up on a cruise ship, as many people do, and drop by for a round on this dramatic Pete Dye-design, which has stretches of holes so close to the coast that you dip your driver in the water for good luck. But you might as well book a room and stay the night as greens fees drop to $275 for resort guests.
New Zealand GC
World rank: 55 / $849 NZ (roughly $495)
On a craggy peninsula overlooking Hawke’s Bay, this stunning Tom Doak design curls along the bluffs, giving way to million-dollar views. Or at least vistas so precious that the greens fees seem like a small price to pay.
Whistling Straits, Straits Course, Sheboygan, Wis.
World rank: 91 / $485
Whistling Straits prefers not to publicize its rates, which are tough to pinpoint, anyway, since you need to book a room at the resort to play this dramatic Pete Dye design, and most greens fees are part of a package. But we’re confident we’ve come up with a reasonable number, and we also can say this about a property that was founded by the late Herb Kohler of Kohler faucet-making fame: Compared to the price of a bathroom remodel, golf here comes relatively cheap.
Pinehurst No. 2, Pinehurst, N.C.
World rank: 21 / $470
Already a host of more big-time tournaments than we can tick off here, this Donald Ross mastepiece has been chosen as a U.S. Open site, meaning it will stage multiple iterations of the national championship in the decades ahead. Under a policy change from a couple years back, you must stay at the resort to play No. 2, so greens fees are often bundled into packages, but the figure we cite here comes close to the rack rate.
Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland
World rank: 12 / £325 (roughly $395)
At a club that serves as home to a society known as The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, you would not expect the culture to be relaxed. And you’d be right. Yet Muirfield is laid back enough to welcome outside play on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Royal County Down, New Castle, Northern Ireland
World rank: 6 / £325 (roughly $395)
In this majestic setting, with the Mountains of Mourne brooding in the backdrop, wind-whipped Dundrum Bay flows toward the Irish Sea, and a large volume of your earnings spill across the pro shop counter. Not to worry. You won’t regret a cent.
Te Arai, South, Tomarata, New Zealand
World rank: 85 / $650NZ (roughly $380)
Imagine a coastal picture worthy of a postcard, a surfer’s paradise on the North Island of New Zealand where the ocean washes against alabaster beaches in a magical palette of blue and white. For the chance to play a great links in this setting, you’d be silly not to part with a bit of green.
Coming up . . .
At Bennett Valley . . .
Call 707-528-3673
At Ukiah GC . . .
Love afternoon golf? Wanna save a bundle?
Then the Sunset Membership is perfect for you. Here’s how it works –
Purchase your Sunset Membership online, or in the Pro Shop
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Let’s hear from you . . .
Thanks for your comments, questions and suggestions. I appreciate them and would like to get as many as possible.
If you have information about anything golf-related, including upcoming clinics, activities, tournaments or sales, let me know.
And if you have questions, complaints or compliments about golf in our area, let me know and I’ll make some inquiries. Email me at bmeadows4sports@aol.com