The Golfchick

That chick blabbing about anything golf related.

Month: August 2005 (page 2 of 2)

Fill in the Blank (Iowa: Check)

August 13, 2005 / / 2 Comments

They seem to have almost everything at the Iowa State Fair. It’s so enormous, they might even have a golf course hidden in there somewhere, but since I was only there for a few hours, I didn’t even come close to seeing everything. Fortunately, I made my way to a golf course directly from the airport the day I arrived and can now officially add Iowa to my list of states played.

I walked onto a course called A.H. Blank around 4:00 P.M. It wasn’t very busy, but there were only foursomes on the schedule so I went out by myself. It’s a municipal course and priced accordingly — I played for 20 bucks including the cart and I brought my clubs, so no rental fees applied. Actually, I don’t think I’ve played any 18-hole course in California for that low of a cost. It was well maintained, well staffed with friendly folks, and had nice facilities. The carts were gas powered, but were in good condition and were equipped with sophisticated GPS monitors. The system had a main controller at the pro shop up on a plasma screen for all to see. From there, one could see the entire course layout and all the carts on it. I’ve never seen anything like it. I imagine most control systems are viewed from some tucked away 17″ desktop monitors in back offices.

Here’s how hole 12 looked from the tee box (wide open)…

…and from the GPS (not). All courses should have GPS.
How I played this hole: Perfect drive about 250 right in the middle of the fairway. 4 iron chunk (time for those rescue clubs!), 9 iron into the greenside bunker, sand wedge just over the green on the other side, sand wedge chipped in for par!

As for the course itself, if I had played it before, I would probably rate its difficulty just slightly above Westlake. Somehow, it seemed like more of a “real” course than Westlake, which is my local executive jobbie. It has been awhile since I’ve played Westlake, so maybe that’s not a fair comparison. I don’t know if I’m underestimating it or overestimating my progress. A.H. Blank is longer and par is 5 strokes higher but aside from the strokes I always add by playing my usual game, I really only put on strokes due to the unfamiliarity factor, not the challenges of the course. I lost two balls on the same hole into the driving range on the right. The GPS warned me of this and still I went for it. I thought the first one might have stayed in, but no. I wasn’t sure about the other one either because it hit a tree as I was trying to play out of the trouble where I dropped, but I guess it ricocheted back into the range as well. There was a sign that cautioned “Enter at your own risk.” Not worth it. I didn’t like those balls anyway. I count the first of those lost strokes to the course, the other to my game. Not that the score card cares.

My handicap index is now a 24.9 (down from 28.8 not long ago) so that made my course handicap here a 26, which made my “target score” a 96 and I shot 101 — 5 over my handicap. I enclosed target score in quotation marks because that’s only the official target to play to my handicap. My own target or goal is to break 90. Boy, I couldn’t even break 100 and it didn’t feel like I played that badly! I guess it’s time to start beating myself up over double bogeys and not just triples. I need to adjust mentally to keep up with my changing handicap.

“A.H. Blank,” though? I wonder why they call the place Blank. Are we to fill in our own descriptors? I’m sure golfers would vary their choices depending on how they play. It could go from Actually Hit Par to AH F*** in the same cart.

All in all, I played in just over 3 hours and even though it was really hot, it was relaxing and fun.

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Viewing Problems

August 12, 2005 / / 3 Comments

It has been brought to my attention that some people are having troubles with the display of my site on their computers. I don’t really know what I’m doing here and I’m trusting blogger.com to get this right with their templates. However, I have messed with the code a little which might be effecting the overall display. I have tested it using all different resolution settings on my monitor and it looks fine to me.

I wonder if the problem is browser related. I use Firefox, which I really like so I put a link to it in case anyone wants to switch. I have been using it for awhile now and really enjoy the lack of popups and other internet annoyances.

If that doesn’t solve the problem, I don’t know what else to do! If you other, more experienced and technology-savvy bloggers want to share any tips with me, I’m all ears, er, eyes.

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Tiger Woods, Like Buttah

August 12, 2005 / / 1 Comment

Butter Putter

 

If you were a butter sculptor and you had already done a barn and a cow, what would your next piece be? The obvious answer is Tiger Woods. If you don’t see the natural progression, you must not be a real butter sculptor.

What’s that under the bench? Did the butter go to Tiger’s

head and cause him to not only eat a Big Mac, but litter, too?

This week I found myself in Des Moines, Iowa, where I was fortunate to find the Iowa State Fair poised to open its ten day run. The fair actually started the day I left, but the night before there was a free preview to anyone wanting to roam the fairgrounds.

A lot of the features and shows were open and running as well as restaurants and assorted deep fried foods-on-sticks stands. Some of the rides were even running. Most of the animals were there, though “Champions Row” was empty so I didn’t get to see the prize hogs which are reportedly a sight to behold. However, I did see a lot of cattle, swine and other animals I’ve never been so close to before. It was kind of thrilling.


Here is Scooter, the flirting Ostrich. He was into me. I could tell by the
way he kept batting those long eyelashes and leaning in for the photos.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to make your way into the Agriculture building. That’s where you will find the amazing butter sculptures.

I looked up the artist on the internet so I could give her credit since I’m putting her artwork on my site without permission. Her name is Norma “Duffy” Lyon and here is her website. It lists a few of her other subjects and has a picture of another of her sculptures – The Last Supper!

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Does the Gear Make the Golfer?

August 4, 2005 / / 6 Comments

Does it even make a difference?

Do I strike the ball any better with a TaylorMade club? Do I sink more putts with a Titleist putter? Do I even hit the ball any farther with a ProV1? A big resounding NO.

At home, as I’ve mentioned, I play with all TaylorMade equipment. On the road, if I haven’t brought my clubs, I play with whatever rentals are available. At the nicer courses, I can sometimes get newer sets and the latest drivers and the big name brands. Most of the time, I get haphazardly assembled “sets” that look like they’ve seen more action than Paris Hilton. Often, they don’t have any kind of recognizable brand name on them if any at all. Yesterday, I even got a putter that appeared to be “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts” brand. I still played right to my handicap.

I’m a fool, though. People told me I should just start with a cheaper set while I was learning the game. I was so immediately obsessed that I figured I’d invest in the better stuff right from the get go. Well, as I whittle away at my handicap, I’m whittling away my clubs and for all the difference it makes, they might as well have been from Target. They probably have some kind of replica driver with a head and face similar to my R580XD that I’d be just as happy using. Would I hit the ball any better or worse with it? NO.

Maybe it makes more of a difference to better players. You tell me. I’m guessing that by the time I get my handicap down to a single digit, my clubs will be ready for replacement. I’m already starting to rationalize the purchase of the latest and greatest and most hyped equipment when that day comes. I still haven’t learned my lesson as a beginner, though. I’m going to add some hybrids to my set soon, and I’m sure I won’t even consider going to Big5 to get them. I’ll be back down at GolfSmith or some proshop shelling out buckets of clams for the TaylorMades or Pings. Probably the TaylorMades just for aesthetics and continuity in my bag. Will they make me perform any better on the course? Well, better than my long irons I hope, but better than other hybrids? NO.

Speaking of bags, I “need” a couple new ones. A nice cart bag and a new stand bag because I’m not happy with mine. I think I want ones with a separate slot for each club, and I definitely want the ones with the protected slot for the putter. They need to have lots of pockets, maybe a designated umbrella holder and other fancy accessories.

Will any of this make me a better golfer? Say it with me… maybe.

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