This past Friday was our Zappos.com Golf Event. Our sponsor for the month was Oakley and we played at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas.
Last week I got my new irons (Mizuno MP57) and the event last Friday was the first time I had a chance to use them. It was kind of funny. Every time I had an iron shot during the event, I would determine what iron I would need to use, then peel the plastic wrap off the head of the new iron, and hit the ball. This has got to be the biggest no-no in golf... LOL. New swing, new clubs, new bag, new ball (I was testing out the Top Flite Gamers based on reviews I read online), and all of this at a golf tournament.
Things didn't go as bad as I thought. I didn't particularly play that great, but I didn't play that bad as well considering the circumstances. I'm really feeling more consistency in my swing, particularly with keeping my shoulders level. This is great!
Today, I went out to the range for about 45mins to practice on my swing some more. I struggled a little at the start since I hadn't swung a club since Friday. After 5 mins though, I was back in the groove of things. I was striking the ball really well. I felt my shoulders staying level and in sync with my hips. The only time I didn't strike the ball well was when I tried to crush the ball because I was using my arms and hands to do it. I have to keep reminding myself to just SWING THE FRIGGIN' CLUB and not to KILL THE BALL!
By the way, yes... I do love my new irons. They feel great when I make good contact and they make sure to let me know when I don't.
Oh yeah... I just got my new Scotty Cameron putter in yesterday. I practiced with it today for a few minutes too. It's not quite as soft as my Odyssey Black Series, but it does have a nice feel. I found that I had to make sure to keep the face of the club more upright with the Scotty than with my Odyssey. If I didn't, impact wasn't very soft. I'm going to keep practicing with it. On a side note, I think I'm going to send it to Scotty Cameron Custom Shop to make it a little more... me.
Showing posts with label Reflection Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflection Bay. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Summer Golf is Here!
While playing golf today, i was twittering out pictures of various holes at the Reflection Bay Golf Club. Instead of getting comments on the course, I was getting slammed with tweets about how crazy I was for playing in the 115 degree temperature. This got me thinking... "I know I'm not crazy, but why does everyone else think I am?"
Summer golf in Las Vegas (or any other desert city) is brutal. One has to be able to deal with the heat, keep cool under pressure, and play golf. Here are some tips if you are up to the challenge:
1. Stay hydrated. I mean seriously hydrated. I drink about 1 bottle of cold water or Gatorade on almost every hole. The crazy thing about drinking this much water is that I never have to use the restroom. I swear, the fluids seem to come right out in the form of sweat as fast as you take it down.
2. Carry a clean small towel. I carry a towel in my golf bag every time I golf during the summer. I constantly dip it in the cold water from the ice in the cooler and put it on the back of my neck or over my head. This REALLY helps to cool me down. Also, if my face gets hot, I'll just tip my head back and put the towel over my face.
3. Wear sunscreen. I use Neutrogena SPF 45 spray-on sunscreen. This doesn't help to keep you cool, but it protects your skin from burning. After all, you're going to be on the golf course for 4+ hours in the sun and you don't want to develop skin cancer in the future. I may even upgrade to the new SPF 70.
4. Wear a hat. I always wear a hat when I golf. During summer, this is even more important. It will help keeping your head from frying - always a good thing.
5. Park in the shade. Whenever possible, always park your cart in the shade. This will keep the seats cool and prevents you from burning yourself when you get in
6. Most importantly, enjoy yourself. Don't complain about the heat, it won't help.
Anyway, the above is all pretty obvious, but I've seen people come back from a round of golf just toasted and bright red.
Good luck! One of the great benefits to summer golf is the pace of play is usually pretty fast since there aren't as many people playing and the ball rolls a lot since the ground is dried out.
Summer golf in Las Vegas (or any other desert city) is brutal. One has to be able to deal with the heat, keep cool under pressure, and play golf. Here are some tips if you are up to the challenge:
1. Stay hydrated. I mean seriously hydrated. I drink about 1 bottle of cold water or Gatorade on almost every hole. The crazy thing about drinking this much water is that I never have to use the restroom. I swear, the fluids seem to come right out in the form of sweat as fast as you take it down.
2. Carry a clean small towel. I carry a towel in my golf bag every time I golf during the summer. I constantly dip it in the cold water from the ice in the cooler and put it on the back of my neck or over my head. This REALLY helps to cool me down. Also, if my face gets hot, I'll just tip my head back and put the towel over my face.
3. Wear sunscreen. I use Neutrogena SPF 45 spray-on sunscreen. This doesn't help to keep you cool, but it protects your skin from burning. After all, you're going to be on the golf course for 4+ hours in the sun and you don't want to develop skin cancer in the future. I may even upgrade to the new SPF 70.
4. Wear a hat. I always wear a hat when I golf. During summer, this is even more important. It will help keeping your head from frying - always a good thing.
5. Park in the shade. Whenever possible, always park your cart in the shade. This will keep the seats cool and prevents you from burning yourself when you get in
6. Most importantly, enjoy yourself. Don't complain about the heat, it won't help.
Anyway, the above is all pretty obvious, but I've seen people come back from a round of golf just toasted and bright red.
Good luck! One of the great benefits to summer golf is the pace of play is usually pretty fast since there aren't as many people playing and the ball rolls a lot since the ground is dried out.
18 + 9 = 27
Today was the first day since my last lesson playing on a golf course. I played with fellow Zapponians Charles and Rob at the Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. This is my favorite golf club in Las Vegas - it's challenging and the scenary is awesome!
On Friday, I went to a practice session at GolfTEC to work on my swing while utilizing the video to make sure that I was keeping my shoulders level in my backswing. But, since my last lesson, I haven't seen my ball flight. Needless to say, it was a rough start this morning. I showed up a little more than an hour before tee time to warm-up and work on my shoulder turn at the range and I wasn't hitting very well. I was really concerned that I was going to have a miserable golf day. However, once we got on the course, things slowly started turning around for the better.
Once again I chose to look at today as practice and focused on working on the new changes in my swing. I'll tell you, I had some bad shots and I had some GREAT shots. When I set-up properly, kept my hands and arms loose, and kept my shoulders level in my backswing, I made great contact and really hit the ball long and accurately. When I didn't, well.... "not so much"
We played 18 holes, came in, and went right back out for another 18 holes. Unfortunately, the course started to get backed up and we decided to call it quits after 9. Not bad, 27 holes in 115 degree temperature.
I love my instructor, Tim Sam, at GolfTEC. Through his instruction, I can really feel my swing come together and when I do things right, I really launch the ball. My average yardage on my 6-iron was about 165 yards before. Today, i was hitting it about 175 yards! The best part, i wasn't even swinging that hard. This newly found power is definitely from the changes Tim made in my hip turn. The good contact and accuracy comes from a level shoulder turn. I'm excited to see how my game is going to further improve. After all, we haven't even worked on my downswing and follow through yet.
On Friday, I went to a practice session at GolfTEC to work on my swing while utilizing the video to make sure that I was keeping my shoulders level in my backswing. But, since my last lesson, I haven't seen my ball flight. Needless to say, it was a rough start this morning. I showed up a little more than an hour before tee time to warm-up and work on my shoulder turn at the range and I wasn't hitting very well. I was really concerned that I was going to have a miserable golf day. However, once we got on the course, things slowly started turning around for the better.
Once again I chose to look at today as practice and focused on working on the new changes in my swing. I'll tell you, I had some bad shots and I had some GREAT shots. When I set-up properly, kept my hands and arms loose, and kept my shoulders level in my backswing, I made great contact and really hit the ball long and accurately. When I didn't, well.... "not so much"
We played 18 holes, came in, and went right back out for another 18 holes. Unfortunately, the course started to get backed up and we decided to call it quits after 9. Not bad, 27 holes in 115 degree temperature.
I love my instructor, Tim Sam, at GolfTEC. Through his instruction, I can really feel my swing come together and when I do things right, I really launch the ball. My average yardage on my 6-iron was about 165 yards before. Today, i was hitting it about 175 yards! The best part, i wasn't even swinging that hard. This newly found power is definitely from the changes Tim made in my hip turn. The good contact and accuracy comes from a level shoulder turn. I'm excited to see how my game is going to further improve. After all, we haven't even worked on my downswing and follow through yet.
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