With the RTJ course in Mobile, I have reached 17 courses…

Well, I finally made it to the Pines in Millbrook.  We haven’t played a lot of golf lately, so I was a bit rusty.  To top that off, the course doesn’t have a driving range.  So, I started the round with a nice shank and finished the hole with a nice 8.  The second hole was equally sucky.  I started to loosen up on the 6th hole, hitting 3 nice, straight drives in the center of the fairways.  Bogey, bogey, par.  The Par was awesome… the ball never hit the fairway of the ninth hole, and some how from the woods on the right, over the water on the 10th, and the fairway of 18; I was able to hit a beautiful chip shot from the 10th fairway onto the green 18 inches out.  It was nice work if I do say so my self.

On the back side, Larry R. and I tied the first 4 holes with bogeys.  I was able to to stick with him most of the back side and we each shot a 51.  Not too bad.  Over all I shot a 107 to really feel bad about my 3 bad holes on the front side.

The course it self was decent, many of the holes were straight, but the hills made seeing your destination tough.  Not knowing what is ahead made the course a challenge, but the wide open fairways made the bad shots forgivable.  The ground was very hard and rollers were aplenty.  No sand bunkers, few water hazards, and not many trees made the course laughable.

Overall, I’d give the course a 6 on the 1 to 10 Yoko-Golf-O-Meter.

Price: 3
Difficulty: 3
Scenery: 4
Club House: 3
Practice Facilities: 4

Not only have I not posted in a while; we haven’t played golf in a while.  Thanksgiving until New Years is hectic… hopefully we can play in the coming weeks.  Anyways, I was reading an article about curing a slice or hook and wondered; “What is a slice versus a hook?”  Ty Daniels has the answer on his website in plain english.  Very nice description of all the bad shots we hit.  He even made a graphic to show you what you hit.

Right Hander’s View

We finally played a round.  We were on VayKay at dauphin Island, AL; so we played the Ocean course there.  The Isle of Dauphine.  It was pretty decent.  This course plays right alongside the Gulf of Mexico, so the terrain is basically flat and easy to walk, but the fairways are narrow. Water hazards come into play on five holes, and the wind can be a major factor. Some greens are protected with very hard sand bunkers - *irony* the rough is full of soft fluffy sand. The course rates a 66.4 and a slope of 114.  I shot a normal for me 110 and Rodney shot more than that.  I win again.  Victory!  Randy played 9 and with drew due to an undisclosed injury.

Overall, I give the course a 5 on my scale of 1 to 10.

Price: 6
Difficulty: 6
Scenery: 8
Club House: 5
Practice Facilities: 1

I noticed that from the last time I played Cottonwood to the time I played two weeks ago that I took 8 strokes off my score.  That’s not bad.  In my last 5 rounds, I have a 31 handicap… Woohoo….

Check your at about.com  LINK

I saw this video and was amazed that Phil looked so young; and thin; and he was the man. I will be practicing this shot later today. Watch out windows.

 VIDEO LINK

I bought my first golf bag last week and it was worth the wait.  I got the 2006 model of the Ogio Atlas Cart Bag.  Don’t settle for less.  I now know why the Atlas is ranked as a player’s favorite bag.  Some of my favorite features include the individual full length club dividers, the zipperless ball pocket, the neoprene ball silo, the valuable pocket, and the drink pocket.  The best feature may be the rain hood; with its really cool velcro and fast access design it is definitely going to be used.  It is very heavy, 9.5 lbs empty and a lot more with everything that you can shove into the caverness pockets.  I am very happy with the purchase.

Hands down, the best golf course I’ve played to date.  It was everything you could expect from a golf course.  The drive into the course alone let’s you know that the place was high class.  As soon as you pull up to the club house, a team of ‘valets’ take your clubs and put them on a cart while you park your car.  Very friendly staff and great food at the bar and lounge.  We had a church tournament there on a Friday and the staff was super helpful and accommodating.  Definitely worth the money to play at the course.

It was a scramble, so my individual score was not on trial,but I’m sure it wouldn’t be as good as our team 79 and fourth place finish.  Randy and I were joined by our friend Ben in a laugh filled best ball round that included a cart incident.  For legal reasons. let’s not discuss any further of that.  There were about 18 holes that I loved on the course and about 36 more at the Capital Hill in Prattville that I will also love.

Overall, I give the course a 8.5 on my scale of 1 to 10.

Price: 6
Difficulty: 8
Scenery: 9
Club House: 9
Practice Facilities: 10

Golf gloves are more important than you think… if your glove doesn’t fit properly, it could be affecting your game. What started my research on this topic was trying to find a black glove. This is nearly impossible for some reason; however, I found one in Cadet size. What is Cadet size? Is that Youth? No, youth is Youth. So I did a search and found some information on this at Footjoy.com.

Golf gloves are offered in numerous sizes and two distinctly different shapes: regular and cadet. The regular size fits players with palms and fingers that are proportional. Cadet size fits players with shorter fingers and wider palms.

They also had a method of finding a glove that fits properly.

To improve your feel for the game, spend more time in the Pro Shop. If you’re in the market for a new glove, approach your purchase carefully. Work the fingers in first. Gently depress the leather around each finger until you’ve achieved a snug fit. (Only then is your thumb allowed entry.) Your glove should fit tightly, taut across the palm as well as the back of your hand. To adjust, never pull on the cuff (the part of the glove around your wrist.) Just smooth the glove out with your other hand. If the glove fits like a “second skin,” it’s most assuredly a Footjoy.

So, I’ll buy my black Nike glove and think about how nice it would be if Footjoy had a black one.