Sair Heid Bash

2009
Given the weather we have been having, this event has been cancelled. The mixed convenors hope to re-arrange this at a later date.

From a Gent's perspective, I will be reviewing the dates for the Winter KO competitions, if I ever get out the drive!

Have a Guid New Year A'Body.

Winter Golf Tips

2009
  • Improve your strength, endurance, and flexibility. Talk to your local personal trainer.
  • Work on your swing in slow motion in front of a mirror making sure your club is in the proper positions.
  • While in your living room, work on fundamentals such as grip, posture, ball position, and alignment.
  • Work on your putting indoors and focus on the fundamentals such as keeping your head and body still, keeping your eyes over the ball, using a pendulum motion, making sure your back stroke and forward stroke are equidistant, making solid contact, and releasing the putter.
  • Work on your pre-shot and pre-putt routine in your living room.
  • Take winter lessons.
  • Brave the cold and play.
  • Find an indoor range and try to hit balls a few times per week.
  • Find a range with heaters or covered tees and hit a few times per week.
  • Purchase a hitting net for your garage or basement.
  • Take a lesson with video analysis.
  • Get your swing speed checked to make sure you are using the proper shafts.
  • Have a club fitting done to make sure you have the right dimensions on your clubs.
  • Make sure you are stocked up with all the equipment you need for the upcoming season.
  • Read golf instructional books or magazines.
  • Watch the golf channel and the pro tournaments to pick up tips.
  • Set specific goals for the upcoming season.

Happy Holidays!

2009

Tiger wanted to create a "super being"

2009

Golf channel just replayed Tiger's first U.S. amateur win vs. Trip Kuehne.

Woods was down six in the 36 hole final before coming back to win with birdies on the 16th and 17th at Sawgrass. He became the youngest winner ever and went on the win three straight.

During the match, they showed a previously recorded interview with Woods at the age of 18. He was asked who would be the one golfer that he would model his game after.

This is paraphrased but he said "No one. I would take about 50 golfers and take the things that they are best at and combine it with what I already have. All humans make mistakes. I don't want to make mistakes. I would want to create a super being."

This is an interesting quote and it came before he won 3 straight amateurs, 14 majors, and of course the current scandal.

Geese!

2009

The winter time is when the goose population is the highest. We have nearly two hundred this year that try to make The Rim their home. During the afternoon they will make their way to our course for the nice lakes and beautiful grass. With the average goose making about 1.5 pounds of mess a day. That adds up to a lot of clean up.

Our control measures are far and few between. We have our course Border Collie "Chloe". She does a great job chasing them off the course during the day. She keeps the geese from getting a chance to spend too much time on a single hole. We have also tried numerous tactics from spraying the grass around the lake to make it less palatable to setting up fake coyotes to work as a scarecrow to help keep them from feeding in that area.

When I was working at Sun City we had great success with the coyotes, but I also think that the geese also had a lot more options once they left our course. The geese in this area have limited options that are close for them. Green Valley Park and the school fields seem to be a good alternative, but with pedestrian traffic at both places makes them prefer the golf course. Their other option is our storage lakes. The problem with those lakes is the limited food supply. They may not be bothered in the lakes but still prefer the grass on the golf course. I also see them head toward Star Valley but again I don't think there are to many lakes around with green grass bordering them.

We are trying every possible solution other than getting a depridation permit to lethally control the geese. Harrasment is our only option with Chloe and our carts. Just driving up to the hole is enough to scare them into flight. I was looking into other products that will make the grass less deisirable to taste. Grape Kool-aid or the sour ingredient in grape Kool-aid is supposed to work. I did the math to figure out how feesable it would be to apply it on the golf course and so far it would be a ridiculous amount of grape Kool-aid packets. There are products that contain the same active ingredient but are very spendy and require frequent reapplications.

When you're out there enjoying your round of golf and see the reminants of geese we are doing are best to get them off our property, keep them off our property and clean up after them. The recent snow storm left us with restricted access to the golf course and gave the geese more time to feed. This has given us a little extra clean up for the Holidays.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Let it Snow!

2009

Yes we had our first snow storm this year with more in the forecast. The snow started Monday afternoon and continued until dark. We recieved around 4-5 inches of snow. Tuesday morning a little more snow fell but nothing really measurable.

The course is stilling hanging on to quite a bit of snow even though we had some pretty good melt off yesterday. The shaded areas I suspect will be under snow for quite a while while the south facing slope are already clearing quickly. The next storm is expected this weekend but we are still not sure if it will produce snow or rain. So far the call for a wet winter is proving to be true.

A fun fact about snow is the size of a snow flake. The average snow flake is about a half inch in diameter. The largest snowflake recorded was 15 inches in diameter. Try catching that one on your tongue...

We wish you a fun and safe holiday season.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

Boxing Day Scramble

2009
Due to adverse weather conditions and the small entry, this event has been cancelled.
If, by any chance, the weather allows any play to take place, there will be times available!!

Festive Tidings from Golf Support

2009
Here at Golfsupport, we all want to say a big thank you for all the support from our customers over the last 12 months and look forward to another 12 months with you all.

Looking forward to next year, we have a great range of 2010 golfing equipment available already including the fabulous 2010 Titleist AP1 golf irons and AP2 golf irons, Galvin Green golf clothing and golf waterproofs and FootJoy Myjoys customisable golf shoes.

We also have out new look website launching in January to make your shopping with us even easier than ever.

So from us all at Golfsupport;

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

The Golfsupport Team

Mucking around with Google Maps

2009
Trial Google Map of Tasmania's Golf Courses


View Golf Courses of Tasmania in a larger map

Tea Tree Golf Club

2009
The course
Tea Tree
Par: 68 (34,34)  Length: 4934m

Tea Tree is out past Brighton in Tasmania’s south. It’s a fairly short course with some reachable par 4’s if the conditions are right. There are creeks winding their way through the course and a few out of bounds come into play. Depending on the time of year there may not be much water, but it pays to stay on or near the fairway wherever possible.


Overview of the course including the 9th

The greens have a fair bit of break on them and you can get caught on the wrong side of pins if you’re not careful. Most of the par 4’s only require a pitch to the green and the two par 5’s are reachable in two. There’s definitely some birdie’s to be made but don’t expect to overpower the course. The par 3’s especially require accuracy and right club selection. There are some difficult up and downs to be found from around the small, sloped greens with water ready to grab any loose shots.

Green fees were $12 whether you play the full eighteen or just nine. There are two sets of tees for most holes (unless you’re off the social tees) while the par 4 sixth and par 5 ninth play as a par 5 and a par 4 respectively on the back nine. The course is well watered and maintained so it’s good value for money as far as I’m concerned.

Tea Tree has a very similar look and feel to Elderslie and they are both better than most of Tasmania’s nine hole courses. It’s worth the short trip to play and visitors are made to feel welcome and can take part on mid week competitions. The club has some quality players in Andrew Phillips and Matthew Blackburn so I wouldn’t expect to win to many gross events out there.

Best hole:
I think the par 4 6th is a good, tough hole. The tee shot demands thought and if you use a fairway wood or hybrid off the tee then you will be left with a 140m or so into the green, which proves difficult to hit. At 390m it is a lot longer than most of the other par 4’s at Tea Tree and is similar to holes you find on metropolitan 18 hole courses.


6th hole (par 4)

Worst Hole:
I’d have to say the 117m par 3 7th was the worst. From the social tees and downwind it’s just not far enough. It’s in between a soft wedge and a hard gap wedge with trouble straight over the back. It reminded me of the little filler holes at Rosny to get you from one spot to another. Seeing as they have plenty of land at Tea Tree I think they should get rid of this one – it’s just a bunch of nothing.


The round
21 December 2009
Score: 74 (34, 40) Greens: 9 Putts: 30

I'd organised a social round with Flog (Andrew Phillips) and we were pretty much the only players on the course. Initially I couldn’t recall if I had played Tea Tree, but once there I remembered a few of the holes. I’m glad Flog was there to guide me as I would have got lost in the same was as I did on the way to the course (note to Committee – buy a bigger sign). I was also impressed with his GPS which he had entered Tea Tree’s major hole features into (note to my wife. Can I have a Sure Shot™ GPS for Christmas?).


3rd hole, par 4

I started off a bit scratchy but made easy birdie on the 3rd to get back to even par. I bogied all the par 3’s on the front nine but birdied the 8th and 9th with nice, fairly short putts to finish even at the halfway mark. I don’t know why I bothered to add up my score at this point. I over analyse things and play so much better when I’m not counting. In part due to being aware of how well I was playing, I hit an atrocious block on the 10th but managed to have a shot on the other side of the creek. I was impressed with my athleticism as I bounded across the creek using a rock as a stepping stone. I was probably more impressed that I didn’t go arse over as it is common for me to over-estimate my abilities. However, I was not impressed with the resultant double bogey.

I played OK for the next few holes, apart from a 3 putt on the 11th, which took me to 3 over after 15. I subsequently bogied the last three holes including another 3 putt to finish with 40 on the back nine. For the day I played the six par threes in 6 over so I’d say this is the key to scoring low at Tea Tree. It also indicates that my iron shots aren’t going that well at the moment. Basically I chipped and putted a bit better than usual on the front nine for 34 and a bit worse than usual on the back for 40. I probably should have had 36, 36 for a 72 the way I hit it but I’m not too unhappy considering I haven’t played there for a long time. I was more disappointed that Flog wasn’t able to recreate his albatross 1 on the par four 3rd which he had only two weeks previously.

Worst shot:
I elected to layup short of the creek on the 9th with my Hogan 1 hybrid instead of my 3 iron. I even stated before I hit it that my worst shot with this club isn’t as bad as with my 3 iron. After near-topping it about 100 metres along the ground and to the right rough, I must rethink this strategy. I’m pretty sure the club will be left out of the bag as punishment for a while.

Best shot:
The build-up - I put my 2nd shot on the 6th over the 7th tee up near the fence. I ran my third over the green from a difficult lie. In the meantime, Flog chipped in from beneath the hole for a birdie and I noted how the ball reacted on the watered green. I flew my lob wedge chip a bit further than normal and it checked nicely and it also popped in the hole for an easy par. Easy hole.

Creating Your own FootJoy Myjoys

2009
MyJoys are customizable golf shoes from top golf shoe and glove manufacturer FootJoy. We’ve mentioned before in one of our blog articles and we like them so much (and have such a huge demand for them) that we thought we’d talk about them some more; we especially wanted to cover how to create and order your FootJoy MyJoys from Golf Support.

MyJoys are created using one of several available base golf shoe styles from FootJoy; the FJ Icon range, FJ Professional range, FJ DryJoy range, FJ Contour series and FJ LoPros. The styles available within each range also vary such as spiked and spikeless.

To start your customization you have to head over to the official MyJoys page here, there you can choose your base style (first chose men’s or women’s) and move onto the next stage.

We’re going to choose some traditional FootJoy Dryjoys for our custom pair of shoes to demonstrate.

Once you’ve chosen your desired base shoe style you then are loaded onto a screen with a slection of colours for the shoe, but if you click the button marked “customise you own” then you are take to your shoe as a blank canvas.

It is here you can alter the colouring of your shoes to suit your tastes and add extra personalisation.

I’ve gone with white as my base colour, though I could have chosen black or brown for this shoe style. Next up is the saddle colour and a play around with this has me leaning to a red, though there are over 30 to choose from, including a few special colours such as metallic silver and gold. Finally my lace colour where I’ve chosen black to accent the sole of the shoes.

After clicking OK on each of these you can click the “Next Step” button.

Here you can add a little personalisation in the form of either a logo from some pre-approved designs, or a monogram up to 6 characters (letters, numbers, etc) in various colours.

Logos include flags, designs and images, but be aware not all shoes can have logos. If the option is greyed out, then unfortunately a monogram is all you can have for this specific style. As the DryJoy shoe style can have a logo, I’ve opted for a snazzy deck of cards and set of dice to help me with lady luck somewhat.

Next up choose your shoe size, your fit (Narrow, wide, extra wide and so on) and quantity (you can also choose if each shoe is the same size or not, if your fit differs for each foot this is a great option.
Finally you get a summary of you completed MyJoys with the option to print and/or email your summary. You must use the email option, printing is optional.

This is the important bit, to have your order placed and processed with Golfsupport, you need to add in Golfsupport as in the Friends Name option on the email form, and then sales@golfsupport in the Friends Email option. This allows us to access your shoe specifications.

Then all you do is select your base style from our website (in this case FootJoy Dryjoys) and purchase them as usual using our shopping cart. We will then get your design submitted to FootJoy and send them out to you once they are ready.

Of course if you have any problems please do contact us on our freephone help line on 0800 4320171.

And there you go, how to order your own custom FootJoy MyJoy golf shoes from Golf Support.

Until next time!

The Golfsupport Team

A look back on the major stories of 2009

2009
Tiger Woods - AP / Charlie Riedel

Golf was certainly interesting in 2009 with some great play, great tournaments, several near misses by big name players, and some minor scandal that you probably haven't heard of.

Here is a look back on some of the top moments and tournaments of 2009.

Majors:

Masters: Angel Cabrera
Kenny Perry had tournament locked up until bogeying the final two holes and losing in a playoff.

U.S. Open: Lucas Glover
Former #1 David Duval came out of nowhere to contend but a triple bogey on the final day cost him.

British: Stewart Cink
Tom Watson, 59, almost became the oldest player to win a major. The five time champion bogeyed the final hole in regulation, and then lost in a playoff.

PGA: YE Yang
Yang held off Tiger Woods and became the first player ever to defeat Woods when he led going into the final round of a major.

  • Tiger came back from knee surgery and an eight month layoff to win seven times worldwide. Woods won the Fed Ex Cup for the second time, won PGA player of the year, the money title, the scoring title, and was named AP athlete of the decade.
  • Phil Mickelson won four times in 2009, defeated Tiger at the HSBC, and finished second in the Fed Ex Cup race despite his wife and mother being diagnosed with breast cancer.
  • Rory Mcllroy, Danny Lee, Ryo Ishikawa, and Rickie Fowler all jumped onto the scene as the top young golfers in the world
  • The United States defeated the International team 19 1/2 to 14 1/2 at the Presidents Cup
World Rankings

1 Tiger Woods USA
2 Phil Mickelson USA
3 Steve Stricker USA
4 Lee Westwood England
5 Padraig Harrington Ireland
Complete list

Obviously, the biggest story of the year in golf is the saga of Tiger Woods, which we have all heard more than enough of. Who knows when this will ever calm down and who knows if Tiger will ever be the same on the course if and when he returns.

For those of you of want more Tiger, click here for a variety of articles about his 2009 season, including his tournament play, awards, and the ongoing scandal.

Golf Course Industry Magazine Cover Photo Shoot

2009
I spent some of the early morning getting picture taken for the Golf Course Industry Magazine cover for January. I had never been asked to do a cover for a magazine so you can imagine it was exciting. Justine Miller was asked to photograph the cover. Since I was a newbie at the whole camera friendly posing she helped me out quite a bit.


The magazine designer asked for both indoor and outdoor photos. Our first line of business was to find a couple locations on the golf course to complete the outdoor pictures. With the temperatures in the high twenties we found some good views to take the pictures. Both Justine and I were frozen trying to get the perfect shot.


We then made our way inside the clubhouse for some warmer photographs. I found that being a model is very hard. I am very one dimensional when it comes to getting my picture taken. The extent of my modeling career has been at the family get together with a count down to saying "cheese". With the help of Justine maybe I will get some calls from GQ magazine next?

The January issue of Golf Course Industry Magazine will be coming out soon. I am excited to see the selection and what I look like. Hopefully I am not as goofy as I think I am. With that being said I felt like I was going to get some pretty good shots from Justine. I can't say enough about her professionalism and making a tense situation a little easier. Follow her on twitter @JustineMiller, Facebook or look her up on the web http://www.justinemillerphotography.com/.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

Tiger breaks another record

2009
The scandal has lead to another record for Tiger. He was on the cover of the New York Post 19 consecutive days, breaking the record for the 9/11 coverage.

Rosny Park Public Golf Course

2009
The Course
Rosny Park Public Golf Course
Par: 66, Length: 4454m

Preview
Rosny Park Public Golf Course is situated a power fade away from Eastlands shopping centre (depending which direction you fade the ball in). It used to be an 18 hole golf course and was the former site for Royal Hobart Golf Club, I believe.

I first became familiar with “Royal Rosny” when I was starting out in golf during the mid-eighties. From 1986-89 I headed over there for after school golf representing New Town High School. Our school won this trophy for each of these four years but always tussled with the Clarence High boys comprising Andrew Wiggins, Nathan Gatehouse and Grant Dale, among others. New Town High were represented throughout by myself, Peter Johns, Scott Cowen, Michael McGeary and in later years Royce Brougham and Andrew Bonsey. We all used to pile into the school minibus or Mr Andy Wilson’s camper van after school on a Wednesday I think. Johnsy always seemed to win the year long consistency award because he didn’t seem to muck around as much. A common trick we used to play on other groups was to “relocate” the flag on the original 6th hole to the other side of the green after playing the hole. From the fairway down below you didn’t know that the hole wasn’t near the flag until you got up to the green. By this time the offenders were on their way up the 7th hole and retribution had to wait until the following week.

The course is only nine holes now and you don’t have to cross any of the roads. Previously the course was in three parts with holes 1-5 and 17-18 on the first part, holes 6-9 in the 2nd part and 10-16 on the 3rd part. Healthy walks were required to travel in between each section of the course. See the attached old scorecard and map. They’ve now managed to fit all nine holes in the area that holes 1-5 and 17-18 were located. Prior to heading back there, I’m unsure how they could achieve this. I can only assume that they have put in some short par 3’s.


Review
17/12/2009
I went and played nine holes last night and now I know how they put nine holes into the space of seven. The course is essentially same as before except they have slotted in two very short par 3’s into the mix. In order to achieve this they have shortened the 1st and the old 17th.

The 1st is a reachable version of its former self and the 2nd is a new short par 3 playing up behind where the old 1st green was (or maybe it is the old 1st green?). Holes 3, 4, 5 & 6 are the same as the old 2nd through to 5th holes, taking you to the far side of the course. The 7th is another reachable par 4 and is a shortened version of the old par 5 17th. The 8th is another new short par 3 playing to the old 17th green while the 9th is the old 18th. The 18th used to be a par 4, so I’m not sure why it’s now been designated a par 5. I assume that Rosny just wanted to artificailly increase their par a little bit (par 32 is pretty embarrassing) and make people feel good about themselves on the last hole, hoping that this would bring them back the next week.

It only cost me $5 to play late in the afternoon which I happily paid to the man sitting in the car near the 1st tee (a variation on the honesty box). For this I would have been entitled to play a full eighteen, but I only had time for nine. There are two different sets of men’s tees with the white front tees for the first nine and the longer blue markers for the back nine. Strangely the hole measurements on the card are identical for both nines and it made it difficult to know how far the holes really were. I wasn’t real confident in the hole measurements and it wasn’t clear where they were taken from. I don’t feel I’d get any benefit of playing the 2nd nine off the back markers – it’s essentially the same course with an extra club here and there.
The first hole
















I’d forgotten how much of a slope the land is on at Rosny. The ball rolls across the fairways on many of the holes, but most noticeably on the 3rd, 5th and 9th. The greens were not fast, but I found that chip shots seemed to roll on quite a bit. It took me a while to get the speed of the greens. There are quite a few contours in the greens which need to be considered when putting and chipping. There aren’t many easy putts on the course.

All in all the course is fairly well looked after, considering. There are 100m markers on all holes (except par 3’s) but given how short they play, they are pretty much irrelevant for the longer golfer. I wouldn’t seek this course out to play at, but if asked to play there I wouldn’t baulk at it either. It’s a nice enough course and really accessible for the public golfer. I would have thought that Rosny wouldn’t attract as many players as it used to now that many other golf courses let non members play, but I’ve been told that this isn’t the case. It used to be that if you weren’t a member of a golf club then Rosny was your only option. Now you can pretty much play at any of the country courses and even at places like Kingston and Claremont on the appropriate days. I think the days of the public golf course are gone in Hobart. Still, if you don’t want all the pomp and ceremony of most golf clubs and you want to be able to play in your Steve Irwin khakis, then head out to Rosny.


Something of interest is the local rules. Usually these have things like “The screens on the 1st and 3rd tees are immovable obstructions …” or “relief must be taken from Ground Under Repair ….”. Not at Rosny. Their scorecard has a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo and refers to players as plaintiffs and defendants! I can only assume that the Clarence City Council has resorted to this in an effort to better defend themselves in court.

Best Hole:
Rosny doesn’t really have a lot of holes to write home about. They are nice enough, but none really jump out. I guess the par 3 fourth and sixth holes challenge you in the conventional sense and require a good tee shot to ensure a par. The 4th is especially punishing if your tee shot ends up at the bottom of the hill to the right of the green.

Worst Hole:
I think the two new short par 3’s are just too short and are obviously afterthoughts. While the 9th is not a bad hole, there is no way it should be a par 5. I think for this reason it is the poorest hole on the course. However if it were a par 4 then it would be the best.

The round
16 December 2009
Score: 35 (+2), Greens Hit: 6/9, Putts: 16, Fairways Hit: 4/5

I was to be playing in a three day golf competition which starts off with a qualifying nine holes at Rosny (the Sunday Sprint). Because I haven’t played there for almost twenty years, I thought I’d better go familiarise myself and headed off there after work on a Wednesday. NOTE: Since then I have found out that the Mat Goggin All City Golf Championship has been cancelled due to lack of trying on the organisers behalf participants. Anyway, that’s a different story – back to me.

I made a regulation par 4 on the first by sinking a rather large 2nd putt after busting the first one about 5m past the hole – apparently my memories of slow greens weren’t accurate. I air-mailed the short par 3 2nd with a wedge (which I did later on the 8th as well) and didn’t manage to get up and down. Damn these new holes are short!

I recalled the best strategy to tackle the par 4 third from when I used to play there in the eighties. It didn’t occur to me that I hit the ball about 50 metres further now and was lucky to find it in US Open style rough on the line I took. The ball was closer to the edge of the Tasman Highway than the edge of the fairway. Still I managed to thrash it out next to the green but again didn’t anticipate the amount of run I would get on the chip shot. Bogey number 2. I quickly followed this up with another failed up and down on the par 3 4th. After cracking a drive down the 5th and pitching on, I three-putted for four straight bogies. Not good. But if I was familiar with the course I figure I would have been even par as I’d had really easy chips and putts, so I wasn’t overly concerned.

I turned it around on the downhill par 3 6th where I hit 8 iron into about 10 feet. My second putt from about 8 feet went in the middle of the hole for par (note to self – “The greens still aren’t as slow as you think”). A good bloke called Martin and his mate called me up on the 7th and I didn’t take the time to look at the card for the hole measurements. I just saw a flag off in the distance and pulled driver. I didn’t catch it very well (bit out of the heel with a weak fade) but it was up the guts. When I got to the crest of the hill, I realised that a well hit driver isn’t the correct club choice. However, my mis-hit was on the edge of the green and chipped to a foot for an easy birdie.

Using my improved chipping I also got up and down on the next from just off the back. I thought I’d sent my drive on the 9th too far out to the right onto the adjacent 3rd fairway, but was happy to see it come rolling back down the slope to be 100 metres out. Played for and got. I was a bit surprised to see that this hole is now listed as a par 5 at only 390 metres. I hit wedge just over the flag but missed the “eagle” putt. Tapped it in for another birdie and a round of 35 (+2).

Worst Shots:
My drive up the third drawing on experiences as a fourteen year old was not very smart. I drove it through the fairway by a good 50 metres. When I thought about it I should have been aiming a good 45 degrees left of where I was.


Best shots:
The 53 degree wedge I hit from the resultant poor drive (described above) was out of thick hay. I aimed well right of the hole to compensate for the ball being above my feet and the fact the rough would wrap around the club. I got a fair bit of club on it and ended up only a couple of feet off the green. Before I hit it I was thinking that the ball might not actually get out of the bad lie, so for degree of difficulty this shot wins.

2010 Titleist AP1 and AP2 Golf Irons at Golf Support

2009
The Advanced Performance (AP) golf irons from Titleist were originally designed with the concept that golfers wanted performance and feel from their irons, not performance at the expense of feel.

This led to the creation of the Tuned Feel System being developed by Titleist’s research and development team. After extensive sound and vibration analysis it was found that harsh low frequency vibration caused poor feel in golf irons and it was this that needed to be addressed.
The combination of several technologies and materials resulted in the Tuned Feel System. This system is comprised of a co-moulded medallion of soft elatsomer and aluminium. This provides an insert that is placed into the back cavity of the golf iron that improves the feel, sound and vibration of each club that utilises it.

The new 2010 AP irons to arrive from Titleist, the AP1 Irons and AP2 irons, both utilise this technology but it provides a different outcome for each club.

The Titileist AP1 Irons feel hotter and livelier; this is due to the thinner face of the iron and the larger cavity. The improvements to the latest AP1 irons construction include reducing the face thickness to provide enhanced heel, toe, and deep weighting to the frame and moving the tungsten nickel material to the sole resulting in increased stability and forgiveness.

The Titleist AP2 Irons on the other hand feel softer and much more solid as a result of how the tuned Feel System is integrated into them. This, along with other refinements to the 2010 design for the AP2 means increased performance gains in feel, sound, and turf interaction.

This has led to the Titleist AP1 and AP2 irons being some of the most advanced and best performing golf irons on the market today. So if you fancy getting your hands on one, or more, of these impressive golf irons, visit our online store www.golfsupport.co.uk or just click here.

Until next time!

The Golfsupport Team

Trust Galvin Green Golf Clothing to Keep You Warm and Dry

2009
Well it seems so far we are in for a typical British winter, cold and lots of rain; there have been a few whispers of snow, but let’s see how that goes, after all last year we got snow in February, a bit late for Christmas really.

With this very wet, windy and wild weather, life on the golf course is pretty hard going. Most will have packed up their clubs for the winter, but there are courses still open when the weather permits here in Blighty.

The reason many courses choose to allow play even in the winter months is simple, revenue; that and demand. After all we get some very bright days while it is light in the winter here, and though that puts anyone who works out of the running at least during the week, there are plenty of retired ladies and gents who wouldn’t mind the opportunity for a few holes when they can, and at weekends there are several good hours to get a few rounds in too.

So if you are planning on taking on Mother Nature for a round of 18 (hopefully), then you need to make sure you keep warm and dry, and Galvin Green golf clothing is probably one of the best ways to go. Galvin Green use the newest clothing technology to keep you warm and dry, including Gore-Tex® and their new Skintight™ Compression Technology

Let’s start with keeping dry. Well Galvin Green waterproofs are some of the best on the market and an all weather golfers best friend. Here at Golf Support we stock a huge range of Galvin Green golf waterproofs including men’s water proofs, ladies waterproofs and junior waterproofs.
With rainproof jackets, waterproof trousers and rain hats in a big range of styles and sizes, you’ll be glad of the quality water resistance Galvin Green waterproofs offer when you are our on the course and the ran comes down (assuming you didn’t choose to simply brave the weather from the offset, in which case you’ll be glad you were prepared in the first place). Oh and there is always a trust golf umbrella, but you already thought of that didn’t you?

It’s not just about keeping dry though and keeping warm is just as important (even more so if it’s not raining). Once again Galvin Green has you covered, literally, when it comes to keeping the chilly wind off your back (and everywhere else).

Our range of Galvin Green golf clothing includes base layers to keep you warm under your clothes, as well as increases the blood flow and oxygen levels to help your muscles perform. Then there are the outer layers with Galvin Green fleeces, golf jackets and trousers all designed to keep the wind out and the warmth in. These garments, like the golf waterproofs are designed to feel light but be hard wearing and tough.

Then there are the accessories and along with umbrellas and waterproof hats there are a whole range of gloves, mitts, scarves, caps, hats, beanies and socks to keep you as snug ad warm as possible.

To view our complete range of Galvin Green golf clothing visit our website www.golfsupport.co.uk or just click here, and best of all we have some great bargains on this Christmas to help you prepare for next year.

Until next time!

The Golfsupport Team

The Hardest Course to Get On

2009
My learned readers have spoken and agree that Augusta National is the hardest course in the United States to get on because you have to play with member and only fifteen or so live locally. Also, a member can only have three guests on the property at one time. For added difficulty, take a look at the list of members, half are CEOs or ex-CEOs and it's not particularly easy to wiggle an invite from the likes of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates or Lou Gerstner, Jr. 61% voted Augusta National as the most difficult course to get on.

I'm still trying to get on Augusta and have two leads I am pursuing. A friend recently played and send me a long email about the experience, which sounds better everytime I hear a new story. "My bed in the Berckman's Cabin was merely a place to lay down, the ability to sleep was impossible," pretty much sums up the experience.

Cypress Point came in as the second most difficult at 15%. Again, a small membership of 250 members, only 75 of whom live locally. Chicago Golf Club came in third at 8%, because there are only 125 total members. Fishers Island came in 4th at 7%, Seminole at 4% and Shinnecock at 1%. Let's keep the list in perspective, though, all six courses are exceedingly difficult to get access to.

Thank you for all those that took the time to vote. A new poll question regarding the best architect of all time has just been launched.


My next post is my ever popular year and review with reader comments, followed by Camargo.

The Rim Golf Club Internship Program

2009

Each year at The Rim Golf Club we advertise for interns. On my way to becoming a superintendent I too did an internship. I graduated from Oregon State University and did my internship at Waverley Country Club in Oregon. An internship’s purpose is to close the gap between academic skills and in the field experience. I feel like I can teach students things that I was not taught during my internship and schooling. The Rim Golf Club is a great place to learn with many issues that are uncommon to the average facility.

Our past interns have included Adam Troyer, from Ohio State University. He went on from our facility to become and assistant superintendent at New Albany Country Club. William Bosland, from New Mexico State University, went on to become an intern at the #1 course in America, Pine Valley. He is now an assistant superintendent at the Olympic Club in California. Eric Scharf from State University New York Delhi, he became our second assistant superintendent and now resides at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale. Matt Ruth from North Carolina was hired onto our crew for a while and then took an assistant position in Virginia. Andrew Fortin was our most recent intern from Walla Walla Community College. He has proven his work ethic and is considering coming back to be my assistant next season. These are a few great interns that have worked with me over the past three years and have gone on to become successful in the industry.


We are going to advertise for interns for this next season. They have a great opportunity to learn about water management, Integrated Plant Management and personnel management on a high maintenance property. These young individuals are the future of our industry and are eager to learn and work hard. They are highly motivated students and are great crew members.

I usually advertise nationally and then select certain schools to send a more descriptive notification too. I usually target Oregon State University, my Alma mater. We also send information out to Walla Walla Community College, because of our recent networking with Andrew Fortin, and University of Arizona.

The benefits of having interns during the season are having knowledgeable crew members that have the common goal of becoming a manager in the industry. In most cases they have been trained on a majority of the equipment and have the “eye for detail”. These individuals are always well motivated and are here to impress. They help keep the quality of the golf course elevated during the season.

If you would like to know more about our internship program or have any questions regarding our interns please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Dangerous Liaisons

2009

Dangerous Liaisons by Norman Chad of the Washington Post:

It's every man's nightmare: Pulling out of your own driveway, you hit a fire hydrant and 37 mistresses drop out of the sky. Tiger Woods's private flings have become public fodder. He is taking an "indefinite break" from golf, but he carries on. Here now, "A Day in the Life of Tiger Woods":

6:10 a.m.: Wakes up, gets dressed and goes home.

6:45: Breakfast at Perkins Restaurant. Tips waitress $250 on a $16.75 bill.

8:13: Calls Las Vegas banks, sees if anyone has tried to cash one of those oversize golf checks.

8:52: Five-year supply of Gillette razors mysteriously has been dumped into guest bathroom.

9:07: Cancels lunch date with David Duchovny.

10:28: Switches cellphone service from "family plan" to "unlimited night and weekend mistress minutes."

11:14: Takes Jesper Parnevik off Christmas card list.

11:56: Finishes monthly column for Golf Digest on unplayable lies.

12:03 p.m.: Picks up rental tux for "Cablinasian Father of the Year" banquet.

1:43: Sees if Hank Haney's got any bright ideas.

2:38: Nike calls back, tells him it will not replace the golf club.

3:00: Oprah!

4:02: On off chance he has no other plans, books New Year's Eve trip to Caesars Palace.

4:18: Faxes Dick Ebersol questions NBC can ask him during February's WGC-Match Play Championship.

4:37: Denies published report that he cheated on AT&T with T-Mobile.

5:05: Leaves Post-it note on refrigerator, asking Elin to still pick up Sunday golf shirts at cleaners.

5:22: What's a good texting translation for "prophylactics"?

5:30: Watches "Around the Horn" on mute.

6:06: Picks up snacks for book club.

6:22: Sets up TiVo to record Dr. Drew on VH1.

6:28: Orders "Porn Star Brides" from Netflix.

7:13: Shoots 61 on Wii golf.

8:44: Barkley and MJ won't answer their pagers.

9:19: Just for the heck of it, googles "sex in a church parking lot."

10:31: Sends flowers to Rachel.

10:32: Sends flowers to Jamiee.

10:33: Sends flowers to Kalika.

10:34: Sends flowers to Jamie.

10:35: Sends flowers to Mindy.

10:36: Sends flowers to Cori.

10:37: Sends flowers to Holly.

10:38: Sends flowers to Joslyn.

10:39: Buys 25,000 shares of FTD stock on Ameritrade.

11:26: Notices that Elin has "Tiger-proofed" master bedroom.

11:58: Double-checks prenup to see if it has "lothario loophole."

2:25 a.m.: E-mails Windermere Public Works and asks if it can remove that hydrant.

Playboy Hefner weighs in on Tiger

2009
Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy magazine has now spoken up in the wake of Tiger Wood's extra-marital activities.

Hefner spoke with Fox News and had the following comments.

"I don't approve of it. I just was not surprised by it," Hefner said. "The reason that I wasn't surprised is that he’s traveling the world. He's a handsome, young guy and beautiful ladies are throwing themselves at him. You never know the circumstances of a personal relationship or a marriage and how well it worked and I think that the immorality of infidelity is the lie. It isn't really the sex. It's the cheating."

On whether or not athletes such as Woods should stay single?

"It's an individual decision, it works for some people," he responded. “I was married for eight years and was faithful to it the entire time. And, I certainly had plenty of temptations. But, was I happier then? No," he said laughing, "I wasn't."

Hefner, now 83, made the comments while at a book signing with his three girlfriends.

Crazy world we live in for some people:

Hugh Hefner: age 83, three girlfriends about 6 decades younger than him.

Tiger Woods: age 33, married, approximately 16 girlfriends

Lyle & Scott Golf Clothing at Golf Support

2009
With Christmas fast approaching we thought we’d let our readers know about some of the great Lyle & Scott clothing we have at Golf Support at some amazing prices.

The Lyle & Scott brand are one of our favourites when it comes to golf clothing, with a heritage that shows when you look at the quality of their ranges. Offering clothing for men and women, Lyle & Scott specialise in tops, such as shirts, polo shirts, jackets, fleeces, ‘hoodies’ and knitwear including jumpers and sweatshirts.

There are a few accessories in the Lyle & Scott range as well including gloves, hats, bags, scarves and plimsolls.

For those looking for some stylish and top quality golf clothing for a husband, dad or brother (to name a few) here are our picks of the Lyle & Scott “Green Eagle” range of menswear at Golf Support.

Lyle & Scott "Green Eagle" Club Jacket

First up is this very stylish lightweight zip front jacket, part of the Green Eagle Club range from Lyle & Scott. With stripe detailing on the right shoulder, it features contrasting colouring on the zip and inside the collar; as with all garments from this range it features the iconic Lyle & Scott eagle on the breast area, in the club green colouring.

The jacket looks great and is very comfortable, just what you’d expect from Lyle & Scott, it keeps you nice and warm too, good news with this cold weather. Unfortunately with the Christmas rush we are down to only Navy colours left though we still stock several sizes. With our price at £59.99 – down from the RRP of £75.00, it’s a great bargain!

Lyle & Scott "Green Eagle" Club Sweater

Another ideal gift for the winter, but just as good in summer is this very cool and comfy v-neck golf sweater; available in several colours including black, white, grey, green and blue and several sizes from small to XXL. Made from 100% cotton, this range of simple yet stylish sweaters are warm, comfortable and practical and with our price of £49.99 beating the RRP by over £25.00, you can’t go wrong really.

For more great Lyle & Scott golf clothing visit our online shop at www.golfsupport.co.uk and keep your eyes peeled for the 2010 range coming soon.

Until next time!

The Golfsupport Team

Watch South African Open Championships | Live Stream US PGA Tour On PC |

2009

Watch Live Golf

Thursday 17th December 2009
11:30 - 15:30 European Tour Live -
South African Open Championships Live

Friday 18th December 2009
11:30 - 15:30 European Tour Live -
South African Open Championships Live




Watch live golf online with your subscription to http://livegofltv.blogspot.com, the premier site on the net for golf live streaming. As a member, you will enjoy instant access to golf channel live streams of all the major men’s and women’s golf tournaments around the globe. Whether you follow the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour or the Grand Slams, you will be able to watch golf live on your PC or laptop. This means you will be able to follow the likes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Annika Sorenstam live all season long. All the top golfers will be featured in all the top tournaments throughout the year.

Match scheduled:
Date: 17-12-2009
Timefrom 11:30 until 15:30(GMT)
Day 1 :: European Tour 2009 - Pearl Valley Golf Estates
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa

US PGA Tour
South African Open Championships Live Stream Golf On PC




European Union

The European Tour of Golf is Europes tournament besides the US PGA tour.

South African Open Championships


South African Open Championships golf | Live Stram Golf On PC|

2009


European Tour
European Union

The European Tour of Golf is Europes tournament besides the US PGA tour.

South African Open Championships


Match scheduled:
Date: 17-12-2009
Timefrom 11:30 until 15:30(GMT)
Day 1 :: European Tour 2009 - Pearl Valley Golf Estates
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa



Steve Williams calls out ESPN's Reilly

2009

Tiger Wood's long-time caddie Steve Williams has vehemently denied any knowledge of Wood's extra marital activities and infidelity.

"I had no knowledge of what Tiger's indiscretion was," Williams said. "What people fail to realize is I just work for Tiger Woods. I live in New Zealand, I travel to and from New Zealand to caddie for Tiger Woods. Whilst I am a very good friend of his, I don't know what he does off the course.

"When he is not competing, I am back in New Zealand. I have no knowledge of what he is doing. Yes, I talk to him on the phone, ask him how his practice is going, how he is hitting the ball, how his family is, but I don't know what he is doing, just like he doesn't know what I am doing."

Rick Reilly, ESPN writer, recently wrote an article stating that Woods needs to fire everyone around him, including caddie Williams, because he had to of known Woods was having affairs.

“I am a straight-up sort of person," Williams said. I tell it like it is. Last year, at the same particular point of time, is when I had the confrontation with Phil Mickleson. I didn’t lie about it. I called the guy a prick. I never said I didn’t call him a prick. I never denied one word of what I said. I had no knowledge of what Tiger’s indiscretion was. And for Rick Reilly to turn around and say that I am a liar and there is no way I couldn’t know – and that I should be fired – that is sensational journalism at its height right there. I am an honest person. I had no knowledge of what was going on with Tiger. If I did, I would say I did.”

Williams has been on the bag for 13 out of his 14 major championships and has stated that Woods would be the last player that he will ever caddie for.

I tend to believe Williams. He doesn't seem like a guy that would lie.

Although I did think the same thing about Tiger, so who knows?

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