Kenny Chen, Kevin Lee, He, me and David Jin
After I took home the X'mas ham last year the Narrows golf club chopped my handicap down to 22. I now play mostly in the mid 90's. I have played over 70 rounds since the end of last September. Today, my official golf handicap from Narrows is 20.
I am at present sharpening my skills with the long irons. The driver and fairway woods are all ok after 3 years slogging away at the driving range. (For my workout to keep fit during the cold winter months in NZ, I hit 100 balls daily at the range.) My short irons are also doing just fine. I practised those at the lake side for an hour every day. Some times I use my 60 degree chipper to hit balls into a basket at my back yard at home. My Taiwanese golfing partners did not realize how much work exactly I had put into my golf swing before I met them at the Narrows. I must have hit more than 40,000 balls at the Ulster Street driving range. I chipped two balls into the cup last week!
I have practised my 7, 8, 9, P and S daily at the lake side (ex-mini golf site) for a few years. The council has recently put more sand into the 11 bunkers. I am now also getting a lot of practice with my sand wedge. I regard this place as my private golf course because I seldom meet any one else playing there in the morning. Some times I practise a 4 iron there because the par 3 first hole at the Narrows is 161 metres. I need that 4 iron for the tee shot. The 10th hole is also par 3 at 195 metres. Initially I used my driver for that hole because that was exactly the length of my drives! Nowadays I usually hit them 210/220M. I am now using a 3 wood for that hole. (I found out that I am not allowed to tee up more than two club lengths behind the blue markers!)
I found an excellent new way to wait for my golfing partners in the morning. I tee off alone when I am ready, playing hole No 1 and 18; carrying only one or two clubs plus a putter with me. I repeat this process until I see my friends arriving. Then we tee off together at hole No 1. Guess who birdied the first hole?! Too bad Wayne, the club manager has banned me from doing this. He said that I was leaving too many pitch marks on the 18th green. Now for my warming up I play 4 holes alone: No 10, 11, 8 and 9. That usually takes about 30 minutes. Other times I went to practise an hour at the lake side to warm up before I play 18 holes at the Narrows. Kenny and Uncle Jin were very surprised at my elaborate preparations for playing the game.
One day a young Chinese golfer, Orrin talked to me at the driving range. He said that he has mentioned the way I practiced to his sifu, uncle Jin. I was hitting my buckets of golf balls like machine gun fire, taking very little time to set up and aim the balls. Yet he noticed that I hit 30% straight through the goal posts at 180M with my driver. I told him that I could hit 50% through the goal posts with my 3 wood and about 75% with my 5 wood. He asked me what was my secret. I showed him a blue card which I bought regularly from Brian Boys for $90 (for 2000 balls). Every visit Brian punched a hole and gave me 2 tokens for the machine which dispensed 100 balls. I used about 8 blue cards a year for 3 years. This does not include those balls I hit using my own practice balls at the lake side.
I told Orrin that there was no secret. All he needed to do was hit 100 balls daily together with me for 3 years!! Orrin arranged for me to meet his coach, David Jin (uncle). Although he did not have an official handicap uncle played in the mid 80's. Later Kenny Chen (handicap 16) joined us and we formed a threesome. We played 4 rounds a week at the Narrows from September last year until February this year when these two golfers went home to Taiwan. I have now joined other Taiwanese golfers. Many of them played golf daily for the exercise to keep fit. They did not bother much about etiquette or getting a playing handicap. Some times there were 6 people in their group. Can you imagine getting stuck behind them! They give slow play a new meaning!!
I have practised my 7, 8, 9, P and S daily at the lake side (ex-mini golf site) for a few years. The council has recently put more sand into the 11 bunkers. I am now also getting a lot of practice with my sand wedge. I regard this place as my private golf course because I seldom meet any one else playing there in the morning. Some times I practise a 4 iron there because the par 3 first hole at the Narrows is 161 metres. I need that 4 iron for the tee shot. The 10th hole is also par 3 at 195 metres. Initially I used my driver for that hole because that was exactly the length of my drives! Nowadays I usually hit them 210/220M. I am now using a 3 wood for that hole. (I found out that I am not allowed to tee up more than two club lengths behind the blue markers!)I found an excellent new way to wait for my golfing partners in the morning. I tee off alone when I am ready, playing hole No 1 and 18; carrying only one or two clubs plus a putter with me. I repeat this process until I see my friends arriving. Then we tee off together at hole No 1. Guess who birdied the first hole?! Too bad Wayne, the club manager has banned me from doing this. He said that I was leaving too many pitch marks on the 18th green. Now for my warming up I play 4 holes alone: No 10, 11, 8 and 9. That usually takes about 30 minutes. Other times I went to practise an hour at the lake side to warm up before I play 18 holes at the Narrows. Kenny and Uncle Jin were very surprised at my elaborate preparations for playing the game.
One day a young Chinese golfer, Orrin talked to me at the driving range. He said that he has mentioned the way I practiced to his sifu, uncle Jin. I was hitting my buckets of golf balls like machine gun fire, taking very little time to set up and aim the balls. Yet he noticed that I hit 30% straight through the goal posts at 180M with my driver. I told him that I could hit 50% through the goal posts with my 3 wood and about 75% with my 5 wood. He asked me what was my secret. I showed him a blue card which I bought regularly from Brian Boys for $90 (for 2000 balls). Every visit Brian punched a hole and gave me 2 tokens for the machine which dispensed 100 balls. I used about 8 blue cards a year for 3 years. This does not include those balls I hit using my own practice balls at the lake side.I told Orrin that there was no secret. All he needed to do was hit 100 balls daily together with me for 3 years!! Orrin arranged for me to meet his coach, David Jin (uncle). Although he did not have an official handicap uncle played in the mid 80's. Later Kenny Chen (handicap 16) joined us and we formed a threesome. We played 4 rounds a week at the Narrows from September last year until February this year when these two golfers went home to Taiwan. I have now joined other Taiwanese golfers. Many of them played golf daily for the exercise to keep fit. They did not bother much about etiquette or getting a playing handicap. Some times there were 6 people in their group. Can you imagine getting stuck behind them! They give slow play a new meaning!!
No comments:
Post a Comment