Yesterday, for my internship with www.michiganpreps.com, I went to Ford Field for the high school football state championships. What an experience.
I didn't attend Friday's games (the even divisions) because of work, but I was there all day on Saturday. I got up around 9:30 and left the house just before 11 am. I got there around quarter to noon, over an hour until the Division One Finals bewteen Detroit Catholic Central and Sterling Heights Stevenson.
Being from Sterling Heights but moving to Clarkston, I was torn in this game. While I thought Clarkston got the shaft on a couple of calls in the semifinals against Stevenson, I was rooting for the Titans. Detroit CC beat them pretty handily though with stingy defense and a good run game. I think Clarkston would've fared better with a more two-dimensional offense (SHS had both of its runningbacks injured so they passed the ball about 90% of the time). I went down the field for the post game interviews and wandered with the maze of hallways beneath Ford Field.
The second game was a big blowout between Jackson Lumen Christi over Clare, with a 35-7 halftime score and a 42-7 final. The second half was pretty lackluster with an explosive first half led by their quarterback Conor Sullivan. The guy did everything for that team after the opening kick off return by Rafe Bellers. He got two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns and one touchdown reception. It's believed he's the first to have done that.
The final game was an awesome way to end the tournament. A rematch between Orchard Lake St. Mary's and East Grand Rapids was a close and heartfelt match. The emotion in this game really shown through on every play. In contrast with the previous game, the first half was pretty calm. Save the last 15 seconds. Penn State-bound St. Mary's quarterback Robert Bolden gave that team a chance--and in all honesty is the only reason that team is in the playoff finals and possibly even the playoffs at all. He nailed a 28-yard pass to stop the clock with 8 seconds left on the 1-yard line. Whether it was his call or the coach's call, St. Mary's went for the 1-yard drive two times in a row and were stopped up both times. A field goal here is a safe call and probably one that Coach Porritt would make in hindsight. The second half changed leads back and forth until the 1:14 mark of the game. East Grand Rapids put the ball in the end zone off a 14-yard pass. Bolden made two great passes for 1st downs and stopped the clock each time moving the ball close to midfield. Then a mistake that will probably haunt him for a long time but you can't really fault the guy for everything he's done for the team to this point: he fumbled the ball and Grand Rapids recovered it at their own 44-yard line. The clock would run out and East Grand Rapids won for their fourth straight year.
What was more memorable though for me was being up in that press box. First, it was an extremely nice media area compared to the cramped and crowded press boxes at the actual high schools that I've been accustomed to all season long. But mostly, I liked the recognition that I got. Professional, working jouralists that I've been alongside all season long know me. They know me, talk to me, hopefully root for me a little bit. In no particular order, Keith Dunlop, Pat Caputo, Perry Farrell, Tom Markoswski, Mick McCabe and probably a host of others I'm forgetting all have helped me out in some way. Even without them knowing, I've learned more this semester than I have all four years of education. This truly was the best way to end a great internship and a great college career.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Feet of Putts Holed
This is an interesting statistic that I read about in the December issue of Golf Digest http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2009/12/toc. Peter Sanders, Golf Digest Professional Advisor, wrote an article that used data from about 90,000 amateur rounds of golf to develop a more complex and complete picture about your putting.
The basics of the piece are that when we count all putts equally, we're not really getting an accurate idea of what's going on. You can miss greens all day, but chip to within 3 feet every time, 1 putt and be sitting on 18 putts for a round of golf. You can also hit greens all day, but be 30 feet away and end up with easily 56 or more putts. Simply writing down a 1 or 2 (or 3 for those tricky greens that seem to taunt our scorecards) doesn't cut it. Sanders uses this example: Two-putting from two feet is not the same as two-putting from 50 feet, but they're counted the same using the traditional method.
With Sanders' method, you only count the feet of the putt you made. Say you sink a 10 footer, write down a 10. There are two stipulations to this method to help balance out the numbers. The first is that any putt over 15 feet is recorded as 15 feet to make sure one long putt doesn't throw off a whole round. The second rule is that any putt within 2 feet is considered 2 feet to treat your long lag putts more fairly.
So far my closing round yesterday of 84, I can count up my putts and see that I took 17 putts on the front 9, 20 putts on the back 9, and 37 putts total. But to look at things from Sanders' method, I have this chart.
The quality of the image isn't very good but I'm still working with blogger so I'll try to edit it more clearly later. But at any rate, you can see a very different story from my number of 37.
I had quite a few 2's marked on there, indicating that I made quite a few putts from 2 feet and in. This could mean that I'm lagging well from far away, which was the case most of my round, or that I'm missing makable putts--which also happened on a couple occasions. You can see four three putts as well.
To calculate your peformance, add up all the numbers, multiply your three putts by four (so for me, four times four is 16), and subtract that number from the total. So in total, I had 78, and minus the 16 feet from the three putts, I ended my round with a 62. In the article there's a chart to see how your putting stacks up against an average of players and their handicaps. My putting for this round was the equivalent of a 5-handicap. Impressive. (Scratch is 70' and a 25-handicap hits 40 feet).
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=315054 A golf forum here has a user that posted about the article and other golfer's thoughts about it. Some think it's a good stat, and many even keep it already (perhaps without the formula and data to back up the formula but the stat is not new to most of these golfers). Some think it's rubbish.
TEConnor posts saying that other useful stats to keep track of might be: percent of putts made from 5-10 feet, putts per green in regulation, and three putts per round. I agree with the first, but am not sure what difference it makes whether you've made the green in regulation or not. Two putts are two putts regardless of whether it took you one shot to make it to the green or seven. If it's a pressure thing, you could argue that there is pressure to hit every shot. I will definitely consider marking the percent of putts from inside 10 feet (5-10 is a randon number, as 2 feet on a sidehill lie is trickier than 5 feet straight and uphill).
Final Outing
Well, it's official: golf season in Michigan is coming to a close. The cold rainy days at the end of fall are coming in, soon followed by the colder still days where that rain will turn to snow. I made my last outing this week, and I'm glad to say that it was a great successs. I called Blackheath, my favorite course this year, and made sure they were open.
"We're open until 4:30 and the tee times are 100% available," Tom the pro shop attendee said. When I got there I was the only car in the parking lot. I was pretty shocked to see a 50 degree November afternoon go to waste, especially at this course. Just two weeks ago I went out on a foggy morning with a high of 54 that had the course backed up for hours. http://www.blackheathgolfclub.com/ Blackheath is a Scottish-style course with lots of long grass, fairway bunkers and undulating fairways. For the price, you can't beat playing 18 on this course almost anywhere in Oakland County.
I walked into the empty shop and greeted Tom. He didn't seem surprised I couldn't get anyone to brave the chilly afternoon with me. "Couldn't convince any of your buddies to join you today?"
"No, not today," I answered. "My main playing partner was deer hunting all weekend and couldn't force himself into the cold for the fourth day in a row." Which was true, my friend Brett had decided to pass today, and every day last week that I asked him to go as well. He's kind of a pansy for golf, but ask him to sit up in a tree stand for five hours in 10 degree weather and he'll jump over that. Go figure.
I stepped onto the first tee after the very frustrating realization that I had left my 60-degree wedge at home. I managed to clear my head, took aim and hooked a 3 wood 200 yards and into the rough on the left side of the fairway. My approach was 118 yards according to my GolfLogix GPS, which is just a little less than a full pitching wedge for me. I put the ball on the green about 15 feet past the hole. Starting off the day with a green in regulation was pretty awesome, as I rarely shoot for birdie through 18 holes, let alone the first one. I lined up the downhill putt, and left it just right for an easy tap-in par.
I followed up the next hole with another pitching wedge onto the green--two consecutive GIR! Who knew it was even possible?!? I again missed my putt but lagged it within two feet for an easy par.
I lost the ball out of bounds on the third hole par 3, something that I tend to do with my irons from time to time. I like when my grips have an alignment aid, something like a line or group of lines or arrows or something that let you know your thumbs have the club at its intended loft. My irons don't have such lines, so I tend to grip them too strongly, and because of this I fight a hook. So I aimed at the middle of the green and watched my shot sail off to the left into the woods, but not very far it seemed. I found it, dropped and hit onto the green with two putts for a double bogey 5. There goes the hard work I put in for my first two holes.
My only low of the round came on the fourth hole par 5. It's the first par 5 of the course and ranked as the second most difficult hole on the course, but I normally don't fare too poorly on it. From the white tees it plays 394 yards, and is very reachable in two. I played my drive, again with the 3-wood as I usually do, as a draw and landed the ball safely in the fairway. My approach shot read 165, normally a 6-iron for me, but the wind was coming pretty strong in my face so I opted for a 5-iron.
Commence self-destruct.
I hooked the 5-iron into the woods on the left side of the hole, just beyond the cart path. After searching for a good five minutes, I couldn't find the ball and dropped. Normally, I would've had an easy time lobbing my 60-degree onto the narrow green and still been putting for par. But since I had to work with my pitching wedge, I was nervous. And I duffed the shot just over the cart path onto a downhill shot in the rough. The green is long and narrow and I have even less area to work with after that duffed shot. I bladed the wedge over the green and into the rough on the other side--at least not on an awkward downhill lie though. I tried to increase the loft of the wedge to land it softer by opening the face of the club and ended up blading it again back to the fringe on the other side of the green! Frustrated I putted from the fringe to about 5 feet away, missed the first putt from the green, and finally tapped in for a painful 9. Those kill scorecards.
"You got a 9?" my girlfriend asked when I tossed the scorecard on the coffee table.
"Yes... but keep going," I replied. And she did. All the way to the final number on the messy scorecard.
84.
My best round ever. By 7 strokes. After my self-destruct on 5, I tightened up and played some excellent golf. I finished the front 9 with a 43, and played on another planet for a back-round 41. I hit the first four greens in regulation, net myself a birdie on the 519-yard par 5 eleventh hole, and made some great putts. For this generally 94-98 shooter, I was extremely pleased with my last round of the year a full 10 strokes better than normal.
"We're open until 4:30 and the tee times are 100% available," Tom the pro shop attendee said. When I got there I was the only car in the parking lot. I was pretty shocked to see a 50 degree November afternoon go to waste, especially at this course. Just two weeks ago I went out on a foggy morning with a high of 54 that had the course backed up for hours. http://www.blackheathgolfclub.com/ Blackheath is a Scottish-style course with lots of long grass, fairway bunkers and undulating fairways. For the price, you can't beat playing 18 on this course almost anywhere in Oakland County.
I walked into the empty shop and greeted Tom. He didn't seem surprised I couldn't get anyone to brave the chilly afternoon with me. "Couldn't convince any of your buddies to join you today?"
"No, not today," I answered. "My main playing partner was deer hunting all weekend and couldn't force himself into the cold for the fourth day in a row." Which was true, my friend Brett had decided to pass today, and every day last week that I asked him to go as well. He's kind of a pansy for golf, but ask him to sit up in a tree stand for five hours in 10 degree weather and he'll jump over that. Go figure.
I stepped onto the first tee after the very frustrating realization that I had left my 60-degree wedge at home. I managed to clear my head, took aim and hooked a 3 wood 200 yards and into the rough on the left side of the fairway. My approach was 118 yards according to my GolfLogix GPS, which is just a little less than a full pitching wedge for me. I put the ball on the green about 15 feet past the hole. Starting off the day with a green in regulation was pretty awesome, as I rarely shoot for birdie through 18 holes, let alone the first one. I lined up the downhill putt, and left it just right for an easy tap-in par.
I followed up the next hole with another pitching wedge onto the green--two consecutive GIR! Who knew it was even possible?!? I again missed my putt but lagged it within two feet for an easy par.
I lost the ball out of bounds on the third hole par 3, something that I tend to do with my irons from time to time. I like when my grips have an alignment aid, something like a line or group of lines or arrows or something that let you know your thumbs have the club at its intended loft. My irons don't have such lines, so I tend to grip them too strongly, and because of this I fight a hook. So I aimed at the middle of the green and watched my shot sail off to the left into the woods, but not very far it seemed. I found it, dropped and hit onto the green with two putts for a double bogey 5. There goes the hard work I put in for my first two holes.
My only low of the round came on the fourth hole par 5. It's the first par 5 of the course and ranked as the second most difficult hole on the course, but I normally don't fare too poorly on it. From the white tees it plays 394 yards, and is very reachable in two. I played my drive, again with the 3-wood as I usually do, as a draw and landed the ball safely in the fairway. My approach shot read 165, normally a 6-iron for me, but the wind was coming pretty strong in my face so I opted for a 5-iron.
Commence self-destruct.
I hooked the 5-iron into the woods on the left side of the hole, just beyond the cart path. After searching for a good five minutes, I couldn't find the ball and dropped. Normally, I would've had an easy time lobbing my 60-degree onto the narrow green and still been putting for par. But since I had to work with my pitching wedge, I was nervous. And I duffed the shot just over the cart path onto a downhill shot in the rough. The green is long and narrow and I have even less area to work with after that duffed shot. I bladed the wedge over the green and into the rough on the other side--at least not on an awkward downhill lie though. I tried to increase the loft of the wedge to land it softer by opening the face of the club and ended up blading it again back to the fringe on the other side of the green! Frustrated I putted from the fringe to about 5 feet away, missed the first putt from the green, and finally tapped in for a painful 9. Those kill scorecards.
"You got a 9?" my girlfriend asked when I tossed the scorecard on the coffee table.
"Yes... but keep going," I replied. And she did. All the way to the final number on the messy scorecard.
84.
My best round ever. By 7 strokes. After my self-destruct on 5, I tightened up and played some excellent golf. I finished the front 9 with a 43, and played on another planet for a back-round 41. I hit the first four greens in regulation, net myself a birdie on the 519-yard par 5 eleventh hole, and made some great putts. For this generally 94-98 shooter, I was extremely pleased with my last round of the year a full 10 strokes better than normal.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Redemption?!?
Well, I attempetd another round of golf today... "round" still being subjective because I played the exaggerated par 29 executive course at Bald Mountain again. After the beat down the course gave me yesterday I wanted to go back and prove to myself that I was a better golfer than my score indicated.
And I did just that. But nooottttt quite as much as I would've hoped. I started off with a really good warm-up; I had some great flops and great putting alignment. Check yesterday's post for my fun alignment aid using a milk carton ring and a sharpie. And today I tried to focus on a couple of things. The first was putting.
Putting is one of the most complex parts of golf in spite of the simplicity of the putting stroke. If you want to score better, putting is where you should start. I think a big problem that I've seen when I go out with friends and play is that no one really practices putting properly. They just knock balls randomly at the same hole to test for the speed of the greens and go. I like to take my time, make it a contest with myself, focus on my fundamentals and try to key on something simple that will carry over for the next four or five hours for my round.
Today I worked with this thought: http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/2009/05/smith. It's about making sure that on longer putts that you take your time and don't rush. This is espeically important for me because when I started this year my putting was absolutely horrendous. I didn't keep my putter level, I had an awkward path and worst and most difficult for me to break has been that I deccelerate through impact. It should be the very opposite, take it back slow and accelerate through the ball for a smooth motion on the ball.
"You practice that [stuff] more than anyone," my playing partner Mike said. "All I ever hear you doing is putting in the living, reading about golf, chipping out back."
So I went out after my warm up and since I only have nine holes and getting loose is tough, I generally play two or three tee balls to relax my muscles. The first shot was, well, a hook. But it was good distance. The others were mixed results, but I made myself promise to only putt and count my first ball. I parred the 193-yard par 3 for the first time after a 20-yard flop shot that left me three feet from the cup.
The game stayed steady up until my nemesis: the fifth hole. On any regular course golfers would be salivating at a 225-yard par 4... eagles all around! But instead I like to double bogey this hole, and for no reason at all I ALWAYS hook the ball into a group of trees that sit on the right side of the fairway about 100 yards out. Leaving me still with a full pitching wedge out of trees to get to the green. It happens without fail almost every time I play. And today was no exception as I drew a very dark, very angry 6 on the card.
My emotions got the best of me and I lost focus on my putting thought after I had to putt across a green that was completely covered in leaves. I asked a few people their thoughts on whether or not moving the leaves off the line is acceptable and got most of them to say sure. "Yeah I'd do it." Or, "Sure, if you let anyone else do it, too." "I think it's probably okay, I would do it for my putts." And a couple other variations of those replies but the general concensus was it's a greenlight. But most of them were older and casual golfers not young and competitive. I don't think moving leaves is acceptable on the green since you can't do it on a bunker. I'll have to double check the USGA rules and get back to you.
Anyway, I struggled making anything less than a bogey on the final holes, and after a duffed flop on the final hole I spent the next 30 minutes practicing on the lonely ninth flopping shots three at a time. I practiced from the valley leading up to the green, the rough behind and around the green, the tightly mown fringe around the green, and yes, even one from the tee box of the first hole after a bladed shot soared 20 yards past the green. But flopping shots is tough and I'm still a beginner in my mind so I give myself credit for being dedicated and not giving up on the shot.
Back to putting, the focus of today's round. http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/shortgame/putting/ochoa_0709 Here's a few tips from LPGA pro Lorena Ochoa, none of which I learned from this article but all that I've read before. I practice putting in my hallway with my head against the wall to make sure that I keep it steady and centered over the ball and this really helps you to feel your arms move and keeping the rest of your body still. I'm not so sure about the eyes closed thing; I know some people like to putt while looking at the hole but I just can't break away from looking at my ball like I do on every other shot. And the stable lower body is something I focus on a little differently but that seems like a good drill for anyone to try if they're struggling staying balanced and confident over putts. I like to keep the thought of making sure that I put my weight on the insides of my feet, making sure that I'm anchored and balanced.
So, today we learned a few things. Flopping shots is a tricky skill but definitely worthwhile if you can pull it off. Putting is frustrating because it seems so simple that it bugs me more when I miss that instead of an errant tee shot when a million and one things can go wrong. Emotions that keep you from focusing on your mental game are tougher than any course condition you come across. Play more with old people, I think they'll let me get away with stuff!
And I did just that. But nooottttt quite as much as I would've hoped. I started off with a really good warm-up; I had some great flops and great putting alignment. Check yesterday's post for my fun alignment aid using a milk carton ring and a sharpie. And today I tried to focus on a couple of things. The first was putting.
Putting is one of the most complex parts of golf in spite of the simplicity of the putting stroke. If you want to score better, putting is where you should start. I think a big problem that I've seen when I go out with friends and play is that no one really practices putting properly. They just knock balls randomly at the same hole to test for the speed of the greens and go. I like to take my time, make it a contest with myself, focus on my fundamentals and try to key on something simple that will carry over for the next four or five hours for my round.
Today I worked with this thought: http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/2009/05/smith. It's about making sure that on longer putts that you take your time and don't rush. This is espeically important for me because when I started this year my putting was absolutely horrendous. I didn't keep my putter level, I had an awkward path and worst and most difficult for me to break has been that I deccelerate through impact. It should be the very opposite, take it back slow and accelerate through the ball for a smooth motion on the ball.
"You practice that [stuff] more than anyone," my playing partner Mike said. "All I ever hear you doing is putting in the living, reading about golf, chipping out back."
So I went out after my warm up and since I only have nine holes and getting loose is tough, I generally play two or three tee balls to relax my muscles. The first shot was, well, a hook. But it was good distance. The others were mixed results, but I made myself promise to only putt and count my first ball. I parred the 193-yard par 3 for the first time after a 20-yard flop shot that left me three feet from the cup.
The game stayed steady up until my nemesis: the fifth hole. On any regular course golfers would be salivating at a 225-yard par 4... eagles all around! But instead I like to double bogey this hole, and for no reason at all I ALWAYS hook the ball into a group of trees that sit on the right side of the fairway about 100 yards out. Leaving me still with a full pitching wedge out of trees to get to the green. It happens without fail almost every time I play. And today was no exception as I drew a very dark, very angry 6 on the card.
My emotions got the best of me and I lost focus on my putting thought after I had to putt across a green that was completely covered in leaves. I asked a few people their thoughts on whether or not moving the leaves off the line is acceptable and got most of them to say sure. "Yeah I'd do it." Or, "Sure, if you let anyone else do it, too." "I think it's probably okay, I would do it for my putts." And a couple other variations of those replies but the general concensus was it's a greenlight. But most of them were older and casual golfers not young and competitive. I don't think moving leaves is acceptable on the green since you can't do it on a bunker. I'll have to double check the USGA rules and get back to you.
Anyway, I struggled making anything less than a bogey on the final holes, and after a duffed flop on the final hole I spent the next 30 minutes practicing on the lonely ninth flopping shots three at a time. I practiced from the valley leading up to the green, the rough behind and around the green, the tightly mown fringe around the green, and yes, even one from the tee box of the first hole after a bladed shot soared 20 yards past the green. But flopping shots is tough and I'm still a beginner in my mind so I give myself credit for being dedicated and not giving up on the shot.
Back to putting, the focus of today's round. http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/shortgame/putting/ochoa_0709 Here's a few tips from LPGA pro Lorena Ochoa, none of which I learned from this article but all that I've read before. I practice putting in my hallway with my head against the wall to make sure that I keep it steady and centered over the ball and this really helps you to feel your arms move and keeping the rest of your body still. I'm not so sure about the eyes closed thing; I know some people like to putt while looking at the hole but I just can't break away from looking at my ball like I do on every other shot. And the stable lower body is something I focus on a little differently but that seems like a good drill for anyone to try if they're struggling staying balanced and confident over putts. I like to keep the thought of making sure that I put my weight on the insides of my feet, making sure that I'm anchored and balanced.
So, today we learned a few things. Flopping shots is a tricky skill but definitely worthwhile if you can pull it off. Putting is frustrating because it seems so simple that it bugs me more when I miss that instead of an errant tee shot when a million and one things can go wrong. Emotions that keep you from focusing on your mental game are tougher than any course condition you come across. Play more with old people, I think they'll let me get away with stuff!
Today's Twittering
Well today was actually very boring on twitter. There were a few little tidbits that I saw on the news and don't get me wrong the articles themselves were actually pretty good. There was one not on my twitter that I saw about Michigan's economy that was particularly interesting: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20091112/NEWS04/911120324/1002/NEWS01. Read that for a mood booster!
But I actually really enjoyed the piece that Pat Caputo and Jeff Kuehn made about Steve Yzerman prior to his induction into the Hall of Fame ceremony at the Joe Louis Arena. (http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/11/13/sports/doc4afce25f4d01e812958190.txt)
I really liked the piece, I thought Pat and Jeff did a real nice job on that. The video editing at the beginning drug on a little bit, but the content was excellent. Pat's a really laid back, tell-it-how-it-is kind of guy and I really like that in this video. He comes across as a normal, everyday person that I think people will relate to and won't mind the awkward background or anything else distracting in the video.
And I agree with a lot of what he said, too. Yzerman is the most likable athlete Detroit's ever had and he is just a real leader. Coming back from knee surgery and working hard and wincing through the pain, the man just exuded class and excellence. I'm so glad the Illitch family has given him a position and that he's going to stay on with the franchise for a long, long time.
But I actually really enjoyed the piece that Pat Caputo and Jeff Kuehn made about Steve Yzerman prior to his induction into the Hall of Fame ceremony at the Joe Louis Arena. (http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/11/13/sports/doc4afce25f4d01e812958190.txt)
I really liked the piece, I thought Pat and Jeff did a real nice job on that. The video editing at the beginning drug on a little bit, but the content was excellent. Pat's a really laid back, tell-it-how-it-is kind of guy and I really like that in this video. He comes across as a normal, everyday person that I think people will relate to and won't mind the awkward background or anything else distracting in the video.
And I agree with a lot of what he said, too. Yzerman is the most likable athlete Detroit's ever had and he is just a real leader. Coming back from knee surgery and working hard and wincing through the pain, the man just exuded class and excellence. I'm so glad the Illitch family has given him a position and that he's going to stay on with the franchise for a long, long time.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Golf Today
Yes, that's right. I played a round of golf today. Well, half a round. Ok, it was only an executive course with a generous par of 29. I took my girlfriend today out to the par 3 course at Bald Mountain (http://www.baldmountaingolf.com/score_card.htm). As a course, it's decent. For the price, it's excellent. For $7 each, I'll play that course all day. And for a few reasons.
First, the course is hazard free. But that doesn't make it any less challenging. The opening hole is a pretty long par 3, measuring just shy of 200 yards from the general tee placement. The second is a longer "par 4" that measures around 220, which is no where near what an actual par 4 would play. The yardages on the markers are all way off, even from the "back of the tee boxes." The course is pretty open, with the only threats being woods along the left side of the third hole, and someone's backyard about 10 yards beyond the fourth green. The yardage on the fourth hole is off by around 15 yards, which is clearly some sort of ploy to collect golf balls and sell them back to Bald Mountain for customers to buy.
I played the course pretty often on Mondays and Wendesdays after class before heading to work and shot as low as a 35, 6 over par. Considering that I normally shoot in the 90s, 6 over is pretty good. Today, on a day when the wind was calm and the sun was shining, I played the worst round I've played on the little, hazard-less monster.
"If I shot some of the shots that you were shooting you would've put me on your back and carried me to the green," my girlfriend Kelsey said after the round. And she was right, I really would've if she had managed to cut 10 yards off her pitching wedge to get on the green in one on the final hole, or if she had chipped to inside 2 feet from the tricky sidehill on the seventh hole.
But I expect myself to shoot those shots. Perhaps unfairly, but I do. I watch a lot of golf, I read about it a lot, and I play it a lot. This is my first season golfing seriously, so I can't say that starting off at a 123 and finishing at a 95 is terrible. But it's a little par 3 course! And today, that little par 3 course showed me what was what on my way to a stellar 49. The very first time I played the course I shot a 45 to give you some idea of what a huge setback it was.
"I hate that course, too," my friend and occasional playing partner Brett said. "That course is impossible." Brett doesn't like the course because the par 3 course at Bald Mountain is actually in my opinion tougher than a regular course when it comes to scoring. Length-wise, it's a joke to call the 210 yard second hole and 225 yard fifth hole par 4s. But, the greens are about half the size of greens on a typical course, meaning you have to be more accurate with your irons. Without a lot of spin, the ball really has a tough time staying on the greens. And at this time of year, the amount of leaves that scatter the greens can make putting especially difficult.
Tomorrow when I replay the deviled course, I'll work on some specific practice techniques and report back to give you the hopefully improved scores. I will have to spend some time marking up some new golf balls before I go though as I only have one left after today's loss of three! (One into the woods on 3, one hits the side of the house at 4 after a bladed 60-degree wedge, followed by another into the woods on 4). For anyone struggling making putts that wants to try their hand at some easy alignment improvements, this blog has a great little tip. http://www.grouchygolf.com/2005/06/line-up-your-golf-ball.html. However, the new Gatorade rings don't fit on golfballs like they did when this was published, so I use a the same idea but with the ring from a milk carton.
First, the course is hazard free. But that doesn't make it any less challenging. The opening hole is a pretty long par 3, measuring just shy of 200 yards from the general tee placement. The second is a longer "par 4" that measures around 220, which is no where near what an actual par 4 would play. The yardages on the markers are all way off, even from the "back of the tee boxes." The course is pretty open, with the only threats being woods along the left side of the third hole, and someone's backyard about 10 yards beyond the fourth green. The yardage on the fourth hole is off by around 15 yards, which is clearly some sort of ploy to collect golf balls and sell them back to Bald Mountain for customers to buy.
I played the course pretty often on Mondays and Wendesdays after class before heading to work and shot as low as a 35, 6 over par. Considering that I normally shoot in the 90s, 6 over is pretty good. Today, on a day when the wind was calm and the sun was shining, I played the worst round I've played on the little, hazard-less monster.
"If I shot some of the shots that you were shooting you would've put me on your back and carried me to the green," my girlfriend Kelsey said after the round. And she was right, I really would've if she had managed to cut 10 yards off her pitching wedge to get on the green in one on the final hole, or if she had chipped to inside 2 feet from the tricky sidehill on the seventh hole.
But I expect myself to shoot those shots. Perhaps unfairly, but I do. I watch a lot of golf, I read about it a lot, and I play it a lot. This is my first season golfing seriously, so I can't say that starting off at a 123 and finishing at a 95 is terrible. But it's a little par 3 course! And today, that little par 3 course showed me what was what on my way to a stellar 49. The very first time I played the course I shot a 45 to give you some idea of what a huge setback it was.
"I hate that course, too," my friend and occasional playing partner Brett said. "That course is impossible." Brett doesn't like the course because the par 3 course at Bald Mountain is actually in my opinion tougher than a regular course when it comes to scoring. Length-wise, it's a joke to call the 210 yard second hole and 225 yard fifth hole par 4s. But, the greens are about half the size of greens on a typical course, meaning you have to be more accurate with your irons. Without a lot of spin, the ball really has a tough time staying on the greens. And at this time of year, the amount of leaves that scatter the greens can make putting especially difficult.
Tomorrow when I replay the deviled course, I'll work on some specific practice techniques and report back to give you the hopefully improved scores. I will have to spend some time marking up some new golf balls before I go though as I only have one left after today's loss of three! (One into the woods on 3, one hits the side of the house at 4 after a bladed 60-degree wedge, followed by another into the woods on 4). For anyone struggling making putts that wants to try their hand at some easy alignment improvements, this blog has a great little tip. http://www.grouchygolf.com/2005/06/line-up-your-golf-ball.html. However, the new Gatorade rings don't fit on golfballs like they did when this was published, so I use a the same idea but with the ring from a milk carton.
Onto Something Interesting!
Okay now that the introductory post has been christened for about five minutes, the blogging begins!
I've got a handful of local reporters (the Oakland Press, Free Press and Detroit News) that I'm following on Twitter. First, the Freepress loves to spam up my wall with a million stories. But at least they're getting the news out for those that are interested in seeing it.
I found several posts pretty interesting. Not bad for a first day on twitter, right? The first one I want to talk about I actually heard on the radio this morning but see again on Larry King's twitter page is about the interview with Carrie Prejean--the Miss California girl that was kicked out of the pageant--and oh man this girl... I can't believe she is writing a book. The motives behind why you would want to settle the lawsuit you filed, which they countered, is not something that is included in the discussions between the two parties. You can give your reasoning behind not going to court to argue about the subject you care so much about! She does not seem very intelligent in this interview and I cracked up hearing it this morning and all over again watching it this evening.
Secondly, not nearly as much to say but still interesting to me, is what's going on with Chris Osgood? I haven't read anything and I check a couple sites daily to read about the Wings--maybe I need new sites? He was playing great, had some stellar numbers for his last couple games, and Howard jumps in to play Columbus. No problems by me, I think Howard has to prove himself and Columbus is a good test. Now Howard is starting again tonight, not positive but I don't think he's ever played back-to-back in the NHL, against Vancouver. And his backup goalie will be Daniel Larsson from Grand Rapids. Who the hell is that? And what's wrong with Ozzie?
PS- if anyone has other local reporters, or you are a local reporter, please feel free to comment with a link to your page so I can follow your updates, too.
I've got a handful of local reporters (the Oakland Press, Free Press and Detroit News) that I'm following on Twitter. First, the Freepress loves to spam up my wall with a million stories. But at least they're getting the news out for those that are interested in seeing it.
I found several posts pretty interesting. Not bad for a first day on twitter, right? The first one I want to talk about I actually heard on the radio this morning but see again on Larry King's twitter page is about the interview with Carrie Prejean--the Miss California girl that was kicked out of the pageant--and oh man this girl... I can't believe she is writing a book. The motives behind why you would want to settle the lawsuit you filed, which they countered, is not something that is included in the discussions between the two parties. You can give your reasoning behind not going to court to argue about the subject you care so much about! She does not seem very intelligent in this interview and I cracked up hearing it this morning and all over again watching it this evening.
Secondly, not nearly as much to say but still interesting to me, is what's going on with Chris Osgood? I haven't read anything and I check a couple sites daily to read about the Wings--maybe I need new sites? He was playing great, had some stellar numbers for his last couple games, and Howard jumps in to play Columbus. No problems by me, I think Howard has to prove himself and Columbus is a good test. Now Howard is starting again tonight, not positive but I don't think he's ever played back-to-back in the NHL, against Vancouver. And his backup goalie will be Daniel Larsson from Grand Rapids. Who the hell is that? And what's wrong with Ozzie?
PS- if anyone has other local reporters, or you are a local reporter, please feel free to comment with a link to your page so I can follow your updates, too.
First Post
Here is my first post for my Journalism 411 Reporting with the Internet blogging assignment. I suppose first an introduction of sorts is in order. My name is Adam Ming and I'm a journalism major on the verge of graduating from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. I'm 22 years old. And no one really cares anything else about me personally, they care what I have to say--if that at this blog's youthful beginning. But eventually they will care, because eventually I'll be writing important and interesting things that stir discussion and spawn ideas and I'll be the rave of the community!
Or something like that.
Moving on though, this blog will focus on topics that interest me that I can write about and talk to people about. For the next several days, that will likely include golf and the last few nice days of the year that I'll abuse to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible. I'll probably dabble in some other "lifetime leisure activities" as they were described in a high school gym class of mine, mainly bowling, since it's cheap, fun to play in groups, and is something that those less passionate friends can still enjoy because they can drink themselves silly (and improve ironically enough).
I'll probably harp on other sports things as well. My internship this semester is with Michiganpreps.rivals.com, where I cover high school football games and do featurey stories about promising young players and teams.
I'll probably complain about professional sports because I'm such a stellar athlete that I would never make the kinds of mistakes they make and I hope they take notice and execute better! I do love watching hockey, basketball, football and golf, as much as possible. It drives my girlfriend nuts but it's a test of the relationship, right?
And aside from that, I'll be commenting on things that other journalists are talking about, too. This twitter nonsense is not going away apparently, so I've collapsed and befriended some journalists and I will see how the big boys play this game.
I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of my labor here and I, in turn, will enjoy yours as well... so long as it's interesting, funny and insightful. And not boring. I'm kidding of course. Well, kind of.
Or something like that.
Moving on though, this blog will focus on topics that interest me that I can write about and talk to people about. For the next several days, that will likely include golf and the last few nice days of the year that I'll abuse to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible. I'll probably dabble in some other "lifetime leisure activities" as they were described in a high school gym class of mine, mainly bowling, since it's cheap, fun to play in groups, and is something that those less passionate friends can still enjoy because they can drink themselves silly (and improve ironically enough).
I'll probably harp on other sports things as well. My internship this semester is with Michiganpreps.rivals.com, where I cover high school football games and do featurey stories about promising young players and teams.
I'll probably complain about professional sports because I'm such a stellar athlete that I would never make the kinds of mistakes they make and I hope they take notice and execute better! I do love watching hockey, basketball, football and golf, as much as possible. It drives my girlfriend nuts but it's a test of the relationship, right?
And aside from that, I'll be commenting on things that other journalists are talking about, too. This twitter nonsense is not going away apparently, so I've collapsed and befriended some journalists and I will see how the big boys play this game.
I hope everyone enjoys the fruits of my labor here and I, in turn, will enjoy yours as well... so long as it's interesting, funny and insightful. And not boring. I'm kidding of course. Well, kind of.
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