It’s a long Par 4 and the average golfer finds his or her ball 40 yards from the pin. The golfer who has mastered the pitch shot will settle the ball on the green, and then take two putts for a 5 - on the way to a round in the high 80’s or low 90’s. But for the golfer whose pitch shots ricochet around the course like a wayward pinball, a different outcome may be experienced. Using too much wrist, … [Read more...]

  (Ed. Note: I played two rounds last weekend and hit the ball decently, but I couldn’t putt for – well, you know what. So I dug this old article out of the archives to re-read and hopefully apply to my putting game. I hope it helps. I need it.)   Will miracles never cease? You’re on the green in regulation with a five-foot putt left to win the hole and take the match. There’s a … [Read more...]

  These have been around for a while, but they are classics and describe the game of golf pretty well. - Eighteen holes of match play will teach you more about your foe than 18 years of dealing with him across a desk: Grantland Rice - Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child. Just how childlike golf players become is proven by their frequent inability to count past five: … [Read more...]

The state bird of Hawaii, at least on the island of Kauai, is the chicken. So it was no surprise when I was greeted on the driving range with a Rhode Island Red Rooster. This chicken could talk. He asked me if I had ever played the course before and I sad “No, my first time.” The chicken then clucked about while he watched me hit a few balls. He asked me how many balls I had brought with me. I … [Read more...]

Kevin Mann and I took advantage of a 76 degree February afternoon this week to shake off a little golf rust and get in a round at Lake Monticello. The pro, Mark Marshall, gave us the bad news right away – Cart Paths Only – because of all the rain recently. It’s a good thing we didn’t try to get on some of the fairways or we would have sunk the cart. Boy, is it wet out there. But other being … [Read more...]

Thousands of Virginia golfers pack their sticks and golf shoes and head south to Myrtle Beach. The weather is more congenial, there are hundreds of courses and great incentives each March. But there is another option – where the weather is even nicer, the courses plentiful and great deals abound. That would be Hilton Head, home of over 30 magnificent courses designed by famous names such as … [Read more...]

  Another golf year is in the rear view mirror as cold weather settles in for a few months. But it sure would be nice to practice up for next spring – correct that ugly slice, work on your lob wedge and other clubs. This is all possible at the Highlands Practice Facility in Ruckersville. Highlands offers a great place to practice even in winter. The tee stations are covered and … [Read more...]

We generally play our family reunion golf tournament at Mallard Head Country Club in Mooresville, NC, just outside of Charlotte. But last June, the course was closed. They were re-doing all their greens. I figured they had lost some to hot weather or had used the wrong chemicals, but they were putting in all new greens with a grass called Diamond Zoysia. Old Trail in Crozet and one of the Stony … [Read more...]