Archive for July, 2010

Golf may not be the easiest of sports to learn but there is something about the game that no other sport can offer: The ability to enjoy playing golf well into your golden years.

Think about other sports that you may have been involved in. Most of us stopped playing baseball, soccer, football, rugby etc. after school or college/university. The reasons can vary, but mostly it is those sports became too vigorous and strenuous.

Golf, on the other hand, is a physically passive game. It is the only sport I know where I would be able to play with my 12 year old daughter and my 80 year old year old father.

Golf is a humbling sport, not a macho one. The fact of the matter is that you will never beat the course. It’s not meant to be “won”. Golf is a personal game, one that you simply strive to make fewer mistakes each time you play.

Brute force and aggressiveness has no room on the golf course. Instead, you will learn that humility, grace, and your ability to concentrate are the number one components to the game of golf.

I settled down on Sunday as I normally do to watch the last group complete their final 18 holes with my usual feeling of expectation. We would see some drama on these final 18 holes. Nerves would get the better of Louis Oosthuizen and we would be in for a close and entertaining finish. It was not to be! No challenge was made in the first few holes from Casey or Westwood thus applying pressure and testing Oosthuizen’s nerve. As early as the 5th I felt it was all over. Congratulations to Louis Oosthuizen. Winning The Open is no mean feat. I am particularly impressed that after the first 2 rounds he was able to continue to build on it and win. If you take away McIlroy’s 63 on the first day, Oosthuizen effectively led The Open from start to finish. He has some record now – played 4 missed the cut 3 times, won once.

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Written by Andy Moyes, keen amateur golfer and founder of www.essential-golf.com

I played a round of golf last week and discovered my lob wedge. An ideal club for the flop shot.  It has been sitting in my bag for years after I won it for the longest drive in a competition. I have however, been reluctant to use it but some reason last week decided to give it another go and it worked. The lob wedge is ideal for playing the flop shot.

A flop shot is when the golfer purposely hits the ball high into the air without sending it much distance. Flopping the ball like this became popular with the creation of the 60° wedge and square grooves.

A perfect example of a common scenario on the golf course is when a player misses the green with their approach shot. The ball is sitting right off the green, but buried in medium length grass.

When you assess the situation, you notice that the green is a bit elevated above the ball.  In addition, a bunker stands in the way. You cannot just hit the ball, as it will fly far over the top and you will face a long comeback putt. The chip shot will fly too low, and travel too far. The pitch shot will fly longer, but may still travel too far.

The only answer? The flop shot! The ball will fly for a short distance, and will barely roll after it lands, which is exactly what you are after. It worked for me on a couple of occasions last week and got me out of some tricky situations.