Play more Golf!

"The greatest challenge in life is to be our person and accept that being different is a blessing and not a curse. A person who knows who they are lives a simply life by eliminating from their orbit anything that does not align with his or her overriding purpose and values. A person must be selective with their time and energy because both elements of life are limited."-Kilroy J. Oldster

Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose- Winston Churchill

Alzheimer's

I peek into your pale-blue windows
See you wondering around inside
I say your name, I want to shout
"It's me your daughter, come on out!"

When I was two and at the fair
You threw me "way up to the sky"
Then caught me in your loving arms
You laughed until you cried

It must be very lonely
When cherished memories fade
Everyone you loved seems gone
You're the only one who stayed

I gaze into your pale-blue eyes
One memory I can still see
You threw me "way up to the sky"
And you said my name to me

Libby Moore

The real test in golf and in life is not in keeping out of the rough, but in getting out after you are in.- Zig Ziglar

Senior Sex Survey

The frequency of sexual activity of senior males between 60 and 80 years of age depends on where they were born. Statistics were just released from the United Nations Board of Health.

They revealed that: North American men will on average have sex two to three times per week, whereas Japanese men in exactly the same age group will have sex only once or twice per year.

This has come as very upsetting news to most of my buddies at the golf club, as none of us had any idea that we were JAPANESE!!

Do old golf balls lose performance?

I just read an interesting article on Flog about performance of new vs old golf balls. New Pro V1's were compared to three levels of wear of older ProV1 balls, which had been bought from an online retailer. More than likely some/most of the old balls had come out of the water.

They tested wedge and driver shots for spin, launch, carry and total distance. The results of the wedge shots surprisingly didn't show much difference except that the more beat up the balls are, the more spin they produced. The worst conditioned balls spun only 90 rpm's more. Launch was 0.4 degree higher for new balls. Driver tests showed a slight progression of spin and decrease in launch for the older balls. 215 more spin and 1.1 degree less launch. Carry and total distance were almost identical in all categories. Maybe extra spin compensated for the loss of launch.

Personally, I don't notice much difference in old balls vs new balls or New Pro V1x vs Top Flight Yellow Gamers. The last big Senior event I played in, I was the only player of the 180 golfers playing a Topflight. I finished 12th and I out drove everyone I was paired with by at least 20 yds!

So don't be so quick to replace that gnarly looking ball, it will perform just as good as a new one. Last year I played 16 straight rounds with the same Gamer until I hit it fat into a pond. It was looking pretty bad by the time I buried it at sea but still flying like a newer one.

"The trouble is, you think you have time."- Buddha

Golf- the classy way to avoid responsibilities.

"The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight."- Ben Hogan

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."- Plato

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."- Confucius

I would change the above quote to "PRACTICE and I understand." I find that most people when they get the golf bug all they want to DO is play. And most of them play very poorly and get frustrated. What I suggest they should be doing is going to the short game practice area and learning how to putt, chip, and pitch from all kinds of lies. Only about 25-30% of their practice time should be spent on the driving range working on their long game, the rest from 100 yds in. If you practice more hours then you play you will become a better player much faster.

Golf is Happiness

"Golf is happiness for

Happiness is achievement.

The father of achievement is motivation

The mother is encouragement.

The fine golf swing is truly achievement

Man may lie, cheat, and steal for gain.

But, these will never gain the golf swing

To gain the golf swing man must work.

Yet it is work without toil

It is exercise without the boredom.

It is intoxication without the hangover

It is stimulation without the pills.

It is failure yet its successes shine even more brightly

It is frustration yet it nourishes patience.

It irritates yet its soothing is far greater

It is futility yet it nurtures hope.

It is defeating yet it generates courage

It is humbling yet it ennobles the human spirit.

It is dignity yet it rejects arrogance

Its price is high yet its rewards are richer

Some say it's a boy's pastime yet it builds men

It is a buffer for the stresses of today's living.

It cleanses the mind and rejuvenates the body

It is these things and many more.

For those of us who know it and love it

Golf is truly happiness."

-- Paul Bertholy 

The current golf ball specifications

The ball weighs only 1.62 ounces and is 1.68 inches in diameter, or 5.275 inches in circumference. A heavier ball as will a smaller ball will travel farther. If you recall there was once a British ball that was smaller and the Americans would use it in The Open many years ago because it was longer. The current ball is restricted to 250 ft/sec. There is a tolerance of up to 2% = 173.86 mph.

When I strike a golf ball it is just under 150 mph but I think I have seen ball speeds higher than the maximum while watching tour events on TV. If you leave a 44 ft putt (100 revs) 3 inches short (1/2 rev) your distance was 99.994 % correct but you will always fail to hole the putt. As Dave Pelz states you will have the best chance of holing a putt if you hit the ball about 16 inches (3 revs) past the hole. Not only will it get there but it will take the donut effect around the cup out of play.

For those golfers that fly to play golf, a dozen balls will weigh about 1 1/4 lbs. Take 4 dozen and you have an extra five pounds. My most recent trip to Panama they charged me $3/lb on my overages. You do the math, is it better to take more balls or buy them at your destination? My answer is- if you are playing $1 Gamers and have to pay $6/per ball at the local pro shop you would be wise to take an extra dozen. If you play $5 ProV1's then you may want to save space and buy them there.

2018 Panama Golf Tour

In January, I traveled to Panama for two weeks and visited four regions of the country on my trip. My initial stop was in Panama City, arriving on the 16th and spending 5 nights.There are 10 championship courses in Panama and the goal was to play and photograph each of those, that are listed below in order of when played:
   Panama City region- Summit GC, Club de Golf Panama, Santa Maria GCC, Tucan CC
   Resort region- Vista Mar GC, Buenaventura GC, Mantarrya GC, Coronado GC, Bijao CC
   Boquete region- Lucero GCC
   Bocas del Toro region- no golf available but great sight seeing the last three days of trip.

1.Summit GC almost every hole was interesting and well designed by Jeff Myers. Very undulating property with nicely contoured FW and green complexes. Conditioning could be improved but a nice variety of holes.
2.Club de Golf Panama, the CC you would want to be a member of in Panama City. Nice amenities for their members that you would see in an upscale private USA club.Web.com pro tour plays here annually. Had a wonderful member play with us to make it a more  enjoyable day.
3.Santa Maria GCC, a recent Nicklaus design that has some really nice green complexes, with great pin positions. Resort FW design with a billion$$ commercial/residential development taking place around them. Currently public until membership reaches 500. Beautiful clubhouse under construction. 
4.Tucan CC, another Jeff Myers design with a few holes getting some redesign work done which detracted from the flow of the round. Routing was disjointed with only one par 4 on the back 9. Will be interested in the final product but this was my least favorite course of the trip and the only one I rated White.

5.Vista Mar GC (9). Only the F9 holes were available for play due to poor conditioning issues on the B9. Overlooking the poor condition this Poellot layout still received a Gold due to it's bunkering, aesthetics, and variety of design.
6.Buenaventura GC. Another recent Nicklaus design at the resort we stayed for the next 5 nights of the trip. Very upscale facilities. Lots of Puma attire throughout Panama but especially nice selection here. The tastiest and largest club sandwich I have ever eaten. Excellent set of par 5's, rest of the course resortsy but nicely conditioned.
7.Mantarrya GC. Really liked this Randy Thompson design, except the short 4's. Great finishing string of holes starting at #13 with #16 maybe my favorite hole of the trip. This par 4 is #1 handicap hole with risk/reward off the tee to an elevated green awaiting your long second shot.
8.Coronado GC. George Fasio design with a very different feel from one nine to the other. F9 much more wide open off the tee.You must now stay a night at the hotel to play here if not a member. Lots of play from local ex-pats.
9.Bijao CC (9). This Ron Garl 9 hole design was the big surprise of the trip. One of the best conditioned courses I have ever played. Fairways were like hitting off your living room carpet. Like ANGC, I never saw one weed on the premises. If this would have been 18 holes it would have been the top course of our trip. Note:Bijao hired the supt away from Vista Mar(see above) a few years ago.

10.Lucero GCC, a Poellot design at 4500' elevation outside of Boquete. Nice cool, less humid climate has drawn my foreigners to this region. By far the most challenging course of the trip. Mens slope=153 at 76.9 from tips of 7294 yds.This is the only course I played twice and probably needed to play a couple more times to figure out where to hit it. Reminds me very much of Greywalls in the U.P. of Michigan. #12 off the tee I hit it on the line I wanted three times and went thru the FW every time into the jungle 270 yds away with a D, 3W, and hybrid. The ball does travel a bit longer at this elevation. I would have given this a BLACK if not for the conditioning from holes 4-12 and the fact I hate to hit a hybrid off the tee of any par 5 let alone two here. This is my favorite course and location to live in Panama.Two of the worst conditioned courses of the trip were designed by Poellot.

My Panama- Top 10
761 -Lucero GCC, Boquete- 2018 B
758 -Mantarrya GC, Rio Hato- 2018 B
753 -Club de Golf de Panama, Panama City- 2018 B
760 -Bijao (9), Rio Hato- 2018 B
757 -Buenaventura GC, Cocle- 2018 B
754 -Santa Maria GCC, Panama City- 2018 B
752 -Summit GC, Panama City- 2018 G
756 -Vista Mar GC (9), San Carlos- 2018 G
759 -Coronado GC, Coronado- 2018 G
755 -Tucan CC, Panama City- 2018 W
I found the quality of golf was above par and very reasonable in Panama. Anywhere from $85 -110 for 18 holes. The people that you do business with are very friendly and helpful, the rest of the Panamanians tolerate Americans but that's about it. A special thank you to Kelly De Caro, at Wanderlust Travel and the Buena Vista restaurant in Bocas del Toro, who put all the pieces together to make this a wonderful experience.

NOTE: after the 2nd round my camera died and I had to use my IPhone. Google has now totally unsupported Picassa which is where all my photo's reside. 3 months later l have bought a new camera and figured out how to transfer and edit photo's on my Iphone. Editing now is not nearly as brilliant as on Piccasa.

Albatross

Noun/ (al-ba-tross) A hole played in three strokes under par. (2 on a par 5 or holing out a drive on a par 4.)

A couple of the things still on my bucket list are shooting my age and making an albatross. I have come close a few times on the albatross. For those who followed my Down Under trip I came within one revolution at Chisholm Links in Dunedin, NZ. Now that I am getting close to 70 yrs old I could move up to the White tees and lower my odds in achieving both of these. What do you think, should someone who hits it around 260 yds move up a tee so they have a better chance?? There are no guarantees in life.

"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life."-Henry David Thoreau

"If ever there was a tournament at midnight, I would win every time, because I know where my ball is going every time."-Moe Norman