Tag Archives: golf

Golf: in awe of 59

September 14, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

I awoke this morning and, as is my usual practice, spent the first 5 minutes of my waking moments scrolling through the overnight sport news. That alerted me to the fact that as I awoke American golfer, Jim Furyk, was on the precipice of a historic round in the BMW Championships at Conway Farms. The score of 59 in a round on the PGA Tour had only been done 5 times before Furyk's round and with a tap in round he become the sixth, joining Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos and Stuart Appleby in the 59 club.

 

For the uninitiated this is a round of golf that there are not enough superlatives to describe. On a course where the par (or average) score has been deigned to be 71, Furyk defeated that score by 12 shots. For comparison, scoring 59 in golf akin to the following sport feats (in my unlearned opinion):

 

  • Scoring over 400 runs in one innings of cricket.
  • Taking the fabled “double hatrick” also in the cricket.
  • Scoring 5 tries in a game of rugby league / union.
  • Hitting 4 home runs in a game of baseball.
  • The perfect break in a game of snooker.
  • The 9 darter in a game of darts.
It is a brilliant performance. One which the ordinary hacker like me, who is happy if he shoots in the 80s and the one day he shot 79 had one of the happiest days of his life, can not even countenance it is so far ahead of anything we could ever shoot. The added bonus of a player with Furyk's swing (which is akin to a frog in a blender) doing it is that golfers everywhere will be thinking “if he can do it, why not me”.

Performances like these are one of the things that I love about sport and watching sport. Every so often, even professionals break new ground in their chosen sports as they strive to get better or they get so close to breaking new ground that one can only think that it is only a matter of time before the next record is broken. For professional golfers that number is 58 and one suspects that sooner rather than later we will be awaking in Australia to the news that that number has been scored.

 

Performances like this also have the flow on effect of inspiring the amateur to play more which can only be a positive! I only need to hark back to when Tiger Woods first came to Australia and played in the Masters: the week after I could not get a bay at my local driving range at 8pm on a Wednesday night for all of the hackers inspired by Woods and his performance out having a hit!

 

On that note: kudos to Jim Furyk on a wonderful golf round and hand my 3 wood … It is time to go for a hit!

Shumpty’s Punt: Wednesday Wager

August 21, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks, Shumpty's Punt Tags: , , Leave a comment

It is time for the FedEx Cup portion of the USPGA golf season kicking off with the Barclays Championship. I have a couple of bets that could see a good return for punters. Markets don’t close until tomorrow afternoon but, as always with the golf, it is always a good plan to get on early.

So, here are my thoughts for bets on the Barclays:

Finish in the Top 5: Can’t go past Keegan Bradley here. He has 5 top 5 finishes this year and is 10th in the FedEx Cup points standings. A big tournament player who can get on a roll and post a low number. Paying $8.00 to finish in the top 5.

Finish in the Top 10: I am going to go with a bit of a roughie here and pick 20 year old phenom Jordan Spieth here. Unless you follow golf you probably have not heard of the bloke but with 7 top tens out of 19 starts this year he is certainly a player of the future. Paying $5.50 to finish in the top 10.

There are couple of wagers for this Wednesday that might be enhancing the bulge in one’s wallet by the end of the weekend.

Good luck and good punting.

Time for some new irons: golfers … HELP?!?!

August 3, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , 2 Comments

I have been using the same set of irons since I was 16 and now is definitely time for a change. I have upgraded just about everything else in my golf bag and, indeed do not need a new driver, fairway wood, rescue clubs, wedges or putter. All I need is a new 4 iron through 9 iron.

I am going to start going to test nights at the local driving range but would love to get some recommendations from the golfers that follow this blog, my twitter and tumblr accounts.

Any recommendations? Please feel free to reply on here or email me at shumpty77@mail.com … I would be most appreciative of any advice the golfers out there might have.

Golf Course Review: St Lucia Golf Links

July 27, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

Once again I found myself at this gem of a golf course some 3 kms from the CBD this morning for close to my 30th round of golf there. If you are in Brisbane and, particularly, around the western suburbs and are keen for a round of golf on a public course then St Lucia is the place for you.

Every golf course has its strengths and weaknesses so here are some thoughts on the course if you are weighing up a hit there.

Strengths:

1. The course is in excellent shape and is well looked after. I have read many reviews that bag it on occasion for having the greens cored but when the greens have been maintained which is most of the year they are very true and easy to read.

2. The course does not require you to hit a 270 metre drive off every par 4 hole to be in play. Indeed golfers who hit their 3 wood anything over 190 metres will not need to put the driver in the bag here.

3. It is a forgiving layout and if you are tight with your golf balls you have very limited opportunities to lose them at this place.

Weaknesses:

1. It is a public course and that has with it a lowering of standards when it comes to course etiquette. If that is likely to irritate you do not play there. It is as simple as that.

2. There is a course marshal on weekends but he never seems to find his way past the 10th hole. Many an occasion groups I have been with have been held up on the 14th through 17th holes by slow play.

3. Only one par 5: big hitters will not like the course all that much because it only has one par 5 in the layout and it is reachable in two if you get your drive in play.

4. The Hundred Acre Bar which is the only place to get a feed is more interested in catering to non golfers and lycra wearers than those on the course. See my review here: https://shumpty77.com/2013/07/27/shumpty-eats-hundred-acre-bar/

Signature hole:

The par 4 14th is the signature hole on the course. At 371 metres it is a the longest part 4 on the course and with a creek running through it at 228 metres that is 241 metres to carry. 13 years ago I hit one over the creek but a bigger fence and the trees having grown makes that prospect next to impossible. A hybrid off the tee and then again for the second shot make this a difficult proposition.

Other stuff:

Par: 69
Distance: 5405 metres
Cost: Reasonable given its closeness to the city
Pro Shop: is part of the Golf World chain and is one of the nest stocked in the city.

Final Word:

A round at St Lucia is a must for any golfer in Brisbane in my opinion. It is cheap enough and close to town to be easy to get on. The course is forgiving for the genuine 27 handicapper but challenging enough for someone in single figures to enjoy.

A tale of two golf rounds: Brookwater and St Lucia Golf Courses

February 27, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 1 Comment

Anyone who knows me will know that I love golf. It frustrates me and makes me swear more than a reasonable person ought but I still love. I was privileged over the weekend just gone to get in two rounds of golf at two courses that one could say are diametrically opposed in just about every way from price to clientele. Brookwater Golf and Country Club quite rightly promotes itself as the best golf course in Queensland and, the fact is, it is. St Lucia Golf Course is a public course owned and operated by the Brisbane City Council open to all comers. See what I mean about diametrically opposed?

That said, for the reasons that follow, I enjoyed my round of golf at St Lucia just a little bit more than my round at Brookwater. Then again: there is much to be said for the maxim that there are no unenjoyable rounds of golf because the other option is not playing golf.

Brookwater

I was part of a group that played in the St George Foundation Golf Day at Brookwater on Friday. A four ball ambrose stroke event in the name of charity is a more than passable way to spend a Friday afternoon. We teed off on the 15th hole which is one of the many shortish testing par-4s on this golf course. I started off somewhat less than well with a shank into the bushes in front of the tee box. 6 holes of shanking the ball around the best course in Queensland mixed in with some fairly solid putting which made me wonder if I was in the twilight zone given that normally my putting is atrocious at best. The 4th hole (our 7th) beckoned with me feeling totally lost and embarrassed as to how poorly I was playing given my 13 handicap. After another shank off the tee, one of my playing partners started a conversation with the line “now I don’t normally give advice but …”. Normally this line would have been with a “so don’t” but given that this was golf with a client I let the conversation continue. Good thing I did because I had not realized the obvious: I was still swinging the club like I was 128.3kgs; viz., I was still hitting around my gut. That adjustment (mostly mental) made, our second shot down the 4th hole became the first of my shots we had taken for the round after I smashed a hybrid 2 iron 210 metres into the wind. I was still scratchy as I got used to my newish swing but that was the shot that got me back.

The thing about Brookwater that you fast realize when you are playing is that it is not only the best course in Queensland but it has to be one of, if not the, most difficult. The intellectual and physical challenge of the course makes for an interesting round of golf but it must also be conceded is exhausting. So much so that I commented to my playing companions when we returned to the club house that I could never be a member of the course because it would destroy my golf game and my soul eventually. Loosing 9 balls will do that to you!

Still it was a great day, with some great people and in support of a great charity and as I said straight up: a round of golf is never an unenjoyable experience.

St Lucia

As I noted above, St Lucia Golf Links is right at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to golf courses given its public ownership, relaxed dress standards and low prices. That does not make it any less of a golf experience however because the course is in a fabulous state that belies its cost and despite being on the short side has a number of holes that test the mind and the golf swing. Again I started with a shank, indeed I embarrassed myself in front of my social golf club by not making the ladies tees down the first. I was again swinging like a 128.3 kg hacker rather than one with my current lighter frame. Fortunately it only took my 3 holes to get my thought process and swing into some shape. Golfers talk about the hole that keeps them coming back and mine across in this round deceptively early. The par 5 6th at St Lucia is the only par 5 on the course and at 476 metres is still moderately short. It is has a sweeping left turning dog leg however and a gully that runs across at about the 130 metre mark. It was here that I had my hole that will get me back the golf course the next time. Off the tee I took driver and hit it over the cover of the dog leg leaving me 192 to the flag (thank goodness for GPS in the phone). I originally wanted to lay up short but I struck my hybrid 3 iron sweetly and ended up on the fringe of the green on the right hand side of the flag. A chip and a putt and there all of a sudden a red number on my score card.

I may not have set the course alight with low scoring for the rest of the round however I still had a great day walking around the course with the added bonus of great conversation and not loosing a ball all round making this golf experience more enjoyable and less tiresome mentally than my round the previous day.

St Lucia is absolutely a course I could play every week: it is short yes but it presents an enjoyable challenge for the mid handicapped golfer. I reckon Brookwater is a place I could only submit my golf game to a couple of times a year though because it would break down any confidence I had in my game raising a “Bradman” (100) every game and loosing nearly a box of balls at the same time.

Still, any weekend with only one round of golf it in is a good weekend so having played two rounds my weekend certainly was a good one. Anyone for a round this weekend?

A morning of golf: the good, the bad, the ugly

December 23, 2012 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , Leave a comment

Followers of my twitter feed (@shumpty77) will be aware of my plan to play golf every morning over my holiday break both from the perspective of improving my fitness and to improve my short game.

This morning was my first round on my proposed two week golf odyssey so at 5:30am I stepped onto the first hole of Victoria Park Golf Course. 79 off the stick my score card read by the end of my round but as is always the case there were good parts of my round mixed with bad parts and some down right ugly moments.

First the good: have I mentioned that I love golf? It has all of the elements of an outing that appeals to me and this morning was nothing different: the sun was shinning, the birds were chirping and my swing was smooth.  My best hole of the day was the short par 4 12th hole.  A 3 wood down the middle, chip with my 60 degree wedge and one putt and a birdie was mine.  It is holes like those that keep hacks like me coming back to the game most weekends.

Also good this morning was a renewed appreciation for the set up at Victoria Park.  For readers that do not know it, Victoria Park is 3 kilometres away from the centre of Brisbane and has, obviously, very limited space.  To counter balance this the course designer has used the many hills and valleys around the course to make holes much longer than their yardage.  The 289 metre par 4 13th is a great example of this: it is straight up hill and I needed every bit of my driver to get within 60 metres of the hole for my second which was a blind shot to a smallish green.  If I had to be critical the closing 4 holes are all short par 3s which left me a little bit flat so play the front 9 if you have the option.

Now for the bad: setting aside the foibles of a golf course that finishes with 4 Par 3s and the fact that I had at least four 3 putts (which are always bad) the main bad part of my game today was the lack of courtesy shown by other golfers on the course.  This started on the first hole as I was putting when the second shot of a player behind me whizzed past my left ankle and continued with three near misses from nearby fairways during my round without the usual call of “four”.  I love golf but this lack of courtesy is more than an irritation: it is down right dangerous.  To be clear: I am 6ft 4in, 120kgs and was in clear site of the hitter of the ball: they had to have seen me and simply deign it necessary to warm me of the incoming danger.

Finally the ugly: I concede that point that Victoria Park is a public golf course without members and I concede that I have been spoilt with some of the course I have played on in the past.  That said, seeing a group of six run around the course in their golf carts trying to play “dodgem cars” and generally being unruly at 6am in the morning is not my idea of fun and certainly put more than just me out.  I know I might sound like the Christmas grinch with this but for me to play more regularly (aside from the next two weeks) at Victoria Park they will need to improve on stuff like this.  Having four guys in the pro shop and no one monitoring the course is a farce and it will push golfers away whilst encouraging the hooligan set. I did note when I saw them that they were trying to emulate Ricky Fowler with their flat brimmed hats (assuming they know who Ricky Fowler is) and that should have been enough of an indication of the douchbaggery that was going to follow.

But for all of the bad and the ugly, I still enjoyed my morning and now as I sit here watching one of my favourite TV shows “the Newsroom” and I am already getting ready to hit the course again tomorrow.  That is the fun thing about golf: there is always tomorrow, there is always a golf club open and there is always the prospect of a birdie or two to get the hacks like me back again for another round!