Tag Archives: golf

A Costly Mistake

17 Sep

The Golf Iron Challenge on Saturday morning was quite a fun outing at the Hills course. To my surprise, another girlfriend signed up at the very last minute to make our sole ladies flight a four-ball.

It was delightful indeed as some of the tee boxes were moved up and thus, psychologically it was friendlier because distances were cut short and certain ponds were taken out of play. Hubby, who played too, laughed at our first tee box at Hole 1 being moved forward akin to the Drop Zone, which we discovered was indeed the case for Hole 6’s Par 3. Aligned at the Drop Zone. Hahaha…

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Tee off at the Red or the Drop Zone? Hehehe…

I held up well on the first nine because I took a painkiller prior to tee off to suppress the nagging pain on the left wrist and it helped..

Then upon the cross-over, drama unfolded. Drama always unfolds when the sun comes up and it becomes too hot.

Unlike last year, where fear got the better of me, this time it was just plain silly mistakes. Silly mistakes that became costly mistakes. The first three holes on the cross over, I three-putted, adding strokes unnecessarily in this stroke play tournament.

However, it didn’t bother me too much as I felt I could still recover. After all, the more difficult holes were completed without any problems.

Then came Hole 14. An unsuspecting hole. I never thought I could be bunkered by a sand bunker this time around as I always thought if I overcame the pond fear, I would be okay. Well, there’s alway a first for everything.

The 60 meters approach third shot shanked to the right and landed in the bunker. And what a horrible bunker it was because the sand was so compacted and hard, the setup wasn’t ideal. But somehow I was unperturbed and was very calm; there was no fear in me as I tried to get my ball out and onto the green. Unsuccessful of course…

And I kept trying and trying and trying.

I took nine strokes to come out from the darn bunker! Nine freaking strokes, another record of sorts for me (remember my six balls in the water last year?). A chip-in and a two-putt, I came back with 15 strokes on that Par 4, Hole 14. 15 strokes. Bunkered to the core, you could say.

Amazingly, I could still be jovial about it. Whatever was gained on the front nine especially was lost on this one hole, just like last year with Hole 18 at the Lakes course. But the difference this time, my mental wasn’t beaten to a pulp.

After the game and to my surprise, I was rewarded ‘1st place’ – an improvement from 2nd place last year, for my front nine’s effort of two-under for the nett score with three tubes of ball! I certainly did not expect this, better than all the men. What a morale booster! Now if only this reward could erase the costly mistake of the sand bunker…

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What a lovely surprise!

There’s a lesson to learn from this year’s Iron Challenge – be wary of bunkers too, not just the water. I take pride that I managed to hold up well and did not have my mental strength beaten to a pulp this time. I also did not lose any balls, in fact I gained three new tubes and it’s just most unfortunate that one mistake became such a costly mistake. It’s one of those days I suppose. Sigh…

I certainly look forward to next year’s Challenge again.

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The Day I Feared, Part 3

14 Sep

A few days later after the Iron Challenge tournament last year, I played the Lakes course again and when Hole 18 came around, I crossed on the third stroke (but with my 3-wood of course) and made bogey! Golf is one painful and mentally challenging game.

The day you fear, fear will get the better of you. One should not fear but be fearless then adversity will be overcomed. Having said that, I have been prepping my mind mentally to play the Iron Challenge tournament again this year.

Although the Challenge will be held at the Hills course which has less treacherous water to cross compared to the Lakes course, I must remember that golf is also a game of mental strength regardless of the challenge ahead.

The tournament was initially scheduled for February but was deferred to this coming Saturday and I am certainly looking forward to it without fear. Although my left wrist injury has recurred unfortunately, I am positive and taking extra precautions to deal with it for the tournament.

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The Day I Feared, Part 2

11 Sep

When fear gets the better of you, everything goes awry. On the morning of the Iron Challenge, drama unfolded at Hole 18 of my Club; it definitely wasn’t tiredness that I felt. Hole 18 the Pacific Ocean being so vast visually, played my mind and created doubt.

The mental approach weakened and fear got the better of me when the planned third shot to cross the water didn’t make it. But I had to cross because the mode of play was stroke play. So when another ball dived, the mental strength started to collapse. Then another sploosh… and another sploosh…

That morning, I dunked an amazing six balls into the Pacific Ocean of the Par 5 Hole 18. It was quite a record for me I must say. All because of fear.

By the time, I finally crossed and got onto the green to hole out, all the progress that I did for the last 17 holes was wiped out with this one hole’s attempt. I took things in stride and even laughed about it.

In honesty, my mental strength was beaten to a pulp.

But like all good stories, there was light at the end of the tunnel. I was pleasantly surprised after the game, I was rewarded for my 2-under effort for the front nine. I certainly did not expect that! The six balls that dived was replaced with two tubes of brand new balls. A sense of positiveness was regained, recovering from the beaten mental experience.

Looking back, the phrase ‘golf without fear’ is so true here for one must never allow fear to get the better of you. I have to learn to master my thoughts better and hone my mental strength to be strong, not just the physical to play well and enjoy a good round of golf.

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The Day I Feared, Part 1

10 Sep

Golf is a painful and mental game I have said before. Days when you think you can play well, you end up with such a horrendous score, you’d want to not just hang up those clubs but throw them away. Then days when you think it’s going to be just a meh game, you play one fantastic game, the results make you want to play another 18. Immediately.

More than anything else, golf is not just a strategy game but also a mental one. And a Science challenge because there’s club loft, course elevation, ball trajectory plus wind and swing speed to consider. Seriously, one has to be sensible, calm and mentally strong to pick up and recover when things don’t always go as planned.

Last year around early February, I participated in an Iron Challenge tournament at my Club. The challenge called for players to play 18 holes using just irons; no driver off the tee and no woods or hybrids on the fairways. Just irons and of course the putter to hole out.

Mentally I knew I could do it because I had a strategy. Physically I knew I wouldn’t have any issues because I didn’t have any injuries then and I could handle my 4-iron well to get the distance off the tee and on the fairways.

The game went smoothly and as planned. There was no pressure and I had a lot of fun until the last hole. Oh my goodness, the last hole… It didn’t go as planned with the tee off, the lay-up and the third shot to cross the water, followed by probably two more shots and a putt to close with a bogey or double at most on the Par 5, Hole 18. It was treacherous.

I call my Club’s Hole 18 the Pacific Ocean because the water to cross is so vast visually, it always, always plays the mind and creates fear unnecessarily.

So maybe fear got the better of me that morning?

Or maybe the thought of crossing an ocean without any woods in hand suddenly felt too enormous a task to execute because visually, the water being so vast played the mind. I should have had more faith in my long irons but I had a major collapse at that moment because I feared.

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A New Club

10 Aug

Several months ago I bought a new club, a 3-iron for a steal of a price! With thoughts of going back to playing more golf, I wanted to expand my iron usage ability.

Now I can handle my irons well, up to a 4-iron and I thought with this new addition, it could give me an edge. I don’t use my woods as much; the only wood I have in the bag is a 3-wood which sometimes can work and sometimes not. In other words, my irons work better.

I just need to build back my strength and regain my confidence if there’s any hope to improve the game a notch higher with this new club.

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A Quick Job

9 Aug

Within less than a week, Monument 11 was completed! I ought to give myself a pat on the shoulder as it took less time than I anticipated with the usual steps (after carving) of sanding down to shape, patching any unwanted gaps, painting the base coat and applying the finishing colors.

I am finalising my thoughts to begin the glued two-piece Meranti. However, with several golf games lined up this month, one being a tournament, I will only begin after all the golf in case I aggravate the tennis elbow whilst carving away on the hard Meranti.

As for the idea, I am actually contemplating something new, a Gnome home! I hope I can pull it off.

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Stuck Yet Again

3 Aug

After that creative run to carve up 36 Citizens of Gigglesville, I now find myself suddenly stuck for ideas. I have been staring at this two-piece glued Meranti block for some time already but just cannot figure out what to carve. Another Gandalf-like Gnome? Or perhaps a Gnome abode, something totally different? Hmm…

Actually I am caught in between wanting to start a new piece on a Meranti and wanting to play more golf. Knowing that working on big Meranti pieces will aggravate my tennis elbow will inadvertently affect my golf, the balance is tough.

Then again the itch to carve is strong. That’s why I have continued with more Citizens on soft balsa to preserve the elbow after the 36 Citizens was done.

The block beckoned again. In the end, I opted for a one piece Meranti and started on Monument 11. The block would have to wait.

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Weekend of Champions

30 Jul

I have amazing girlfriends and they inspire me with their grit, mental strength and focus. Over the weekend, three amazing women came out tops in their respective activities, two in golf and one in an ultra-trail race.

Girlfriend #1 defended her Champion title in the Women’s category in her golf club’s Annual Championship, Girlfriend #2 was the Nett Champion amongst men in a golf Invitational tournament while Girlfriend #3 romped to fourth placing in her category in the 100km race. A weekend of champions indeed! Well done, girlfriends, you ladies are simply amazing.

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Bedrock Bottom

16 Jul

I have said many times golf is a funny game. I thought I had hit rock bottom several weeks ago with my inability to play despite all these years at it. Then I managed to bounce back soon after and I thought from there on, it can’t get any worse and I should be on the upwards trend but guess what? I was wrong!

There is an even lower level than rock bottom and it’s called bedrock bottom…

Over the weekend, I participated in my club’s Annual Championship, a two-day tournament. And there’s just no words to describe the performance especially on Day One. Put it this way, it was as though I just picked up the game a month ago and bravely played in a crucial tournament that really tested one’s ability and mental capabilities.

Although there was only one OB’ed shot, one obvious shank that resulted in a lost ball, six dunked balls into the ponds, several duffs and mis-hits, these costly mistakes were enough to do me in.

The weather was perfect, the shoes were comfortable, the tennis elbow wasn’t even acting up so there’s really no reason to do all those that I did. Sigh… I am at a loss for words on this.

Thankfully on Day Two, I played better and restored some confidence. Maybe I am not quite ready yet to play competitive golf? After this experience, I hope there won’t be another undiscovered level beyond bedrock bottom to my golfing ability, that’s all I can say!

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What Can I Eat? Part 3

5 Jul

I have never in my wildest dreams thought I would be in a coffee- and alcohol-free situation. I used to live on Coke and Oreos for the caffeine and sugar kick in college and later, thrived on coffee in my professional working life. Then there’s alcohol, a totally different story but not now.

It’s been three months since my laparoscopic surgery and five months since the colonoscopy. Life has resumed with normal activities and recently, I have even gone back to an occasional alcoholic drink or two but not as much as before. Moderation is the key.

Somehow for coffee, I just can’t get back to drinking it on a regular basis. I am not complaining though, I am happy with my decaf Earl Grey.

Health wise, I have maintained my weight which is good but I find I have lost some core strength. Lack of gym sessions to build this back? This is especially very obvious when I play golf because all my distances are off by 10 meters! To compensate this, I have to use a club stronger. Oh well, as long as I can still play golf, I should be thankful.

Initially, within a month from the laparoscopy, I felt fine and pain free. But now, three months later, my pain problems have returned.

One is never cured from Endometriosis unfortunately. I suspect it could be a new round of build up because I have been careful with what I eat. I guess I need to be even more careful all over again if I don’t want to suffer.

The immediate thing to do is to manage the diet by eliminating food that will imbalance the oestrogen. And when the chemical reactions are reduced with a controlled diet, it curtails the Endometriosis the chance to grow and reduces the many symptoms linked to it.

Also I checked again on the list of food to avoid and found out I got my info incorrect on soy products the last time. It’s unfermented soy based foods (like soy milk and soy cheese) that are not good for me, so actually tofu, miso and soy sauce are okay. Thank goodness.

Don’t be surprised if I lose another kilo or two the next few months because it looks like I  shouldn’t be on an in-moderation diet but a restrictive one all over again to manage the pain levels. Sigh…

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