Still Golfing and Offseason Tips

Its often rare to have 50 to 60 degree weather a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Please keep it coming Mother Nature. Remember, we patiently waited for you to give us sun after a month full of rain in June!

I played yesterday, 11/7, with my Dad and Mike 'the Irishman' Murphy at Lexington. We cruised around the course in less than 4 hours. I take November rounds as 'bonus' days in New England, adding to my appreciation of the game. I can honestly say my game has held up well this deep into the season. I played a stretch of 8 holes at 2 under par and 12 holes at 1 under par. The other six holes pushed me back the relative to par, so I closed with a 77. My Dad's sand play was picturesque with deft touch on #8, #10, and #14, each settling close for pars. The Murph man drove it well and scored around par on the final 9.

How do I think my game has stayed consistent this late in the season? Couple things: 1) I highly recommend serious golfers or non-serious golfers looking for a new workout program to pick up Mark Verstegen's 'Core Performance Golf' golf book. I picked it up for less than $20 on Ebay and its become my off-season bible (and likely year-round for the foreseeable future). The front cover says it will increase your drive 25 yars, lower your score, and play pain-free. Within a matter of a month, I feel like I've gotten to a higher level with my understanding of golfing energy. By focusing on the right muscles and movements of the golf swing, I feel like I have total control of my game. In the past, I've struggled this time of year and felt like I couldn't coordinate a golf swing, i.e. "no feel" for club position, transition, etc. Using this program, I've opened up my golfing muscles and have come to the course with the most important tool in fine shape, THE BODY. The book includes nutrition tips, at home workout options, on the road workout options, and easy to understand workout descriptions. Verstegen is known to be one of the top trainers in the country and works with several professional athletes.

I must warn you that you might feel uncomfortable doing some of these workout moves at the gym or find it tough to pull off (such as medicine ball throws). There is also some equipment worth buying. The cost of investment is covered multiple times over by the benefits, yielding a strong NPV for those investment saavy people. I'd be happy to pass along tips to anyone interested. Even if you are scared off by the workout routines, you can still pick up great on-course nutrition tips, daily nutrition tips, and simply adopt the pre-round stretching routine. You will walk to the first tee feeling fully warmed up and stripe your first tee shot down the middle. Non-golfers or non-serious golfers will gain more flexibility and more functionality, improving everyday living.

This is a big part of my offseason plans. More to come on my plans this winter and some tips on how to improve your game during the winter blues in New England.

Keep on golfing!!
KF

Oh yeah, #2 thing for consistency this late in the season is practice putting at home. My routine is to take at least 10 practice putting strokes per day against a straight line, such as the the edge of a rug or the base of a wall. I do it before work or before bed. Only takes a 1 minute. You don't even need to hit a ball, but pretend its there. Focus on maintaining a steady head and keep the putter on a straight line, internalizing the feeling of a straight backstroke and making a confident stroke THROUGH the ball at a pace that matches the pace of your backstroke. Take notice how it feels to make a good putting stroke down the line. When you get to the course, even if you haven't played in weeks, you won't be pulling back the putter like an intoxicated human, but more like a sharp precision machine with confidence to make any putt.

Day 2 at the Mass Mid Amateur

What a difference a day makes on the golf course - today, the weather was in the high 50s, winds were up to 15mph, and scores were rising. In round 1, the average score was roughly 75. In round 2, the average score rose 2 shots to 77.

My tee time was in the morning wave at 8:45am. Mr. Drama (Russ), my playing competitor from yesterday, decided to no show..a no no at these events and blatant disrespect to the Massachusetts Golf Association. Marcus (other playing competitor) and myself tee'd it up on 1, facing heavy winds. On the first hole, I got under my 3-wood, leaving myself 230 yards to the par-4 compared to 110-yards yesterday. What a difference! And I hit hybrid off the tee yesterday. Believe it or not I made par in this round and bogey yesterday.

Prior to the round, my swing felt terrible on the range. I worked through my mind different solutions and assumed certain problems. This is not how you want to start your preparation for a tournament round. I beat up my swing for 30 minutes and then decided to go with what I had for the day. This played out as one might expect...no consistency in ball striking and direction. I played from everywhere and I made up and down from everywhere.

I must say Haverhill CC has greens that are close to the best, if not the best, I've ever played on. They run as true as any greens you will putt on and they are consistent. Every putt I looked at I thought I could make and it showed. I had 11 putts on the front nine and 27 putts in total. I had 8 one-putts and a chip in. After the round, I was kicking myself that I didn't make more. Trust me, I needed every one of them.

Through nine holes, I was Even par. My best shots on the front nine were a chip in for birdie at the par 4 5th and a 140-yard approach on the par 5 8th that set up an easy birdie. Also, making up and down on 1 from 60 yards was a great way to start the day. My back nine did not create any necessary sparks to post a great score. I missed good birdie opportunities on 12, 13, and 14. I finished with 4 bogeys and 5 pars to shoot 39 in. Total score was 74 (+4). Two day total was 152, 5 shots over the cut line.

My Dad did an excellent job caddying for me, steering me to good decisions on many shots that put me in position to save pars when I could have easily turn those into doubles w/ one mistake. We both wish we put more focus on shooting a number on the back nine. After my front nine, I was in good position to make the cut if i posted -1 or better on the back. We didn't know what I needed to shoot at the time, but it was clear that my front nine score was ahead of the field and I needed to go low on the back too.

Overall, I am very happy with my short game and I feel like this experience will only make me better. I walk away learning from mental mistakes (swing fixes on the range, not using basic techniques like 1,99 and 4 (tempo and grip pressure relaxation techniques) to relax myself, and not stating specific goals). Remember when you get to tournament day, the warmup is a chance to get your muscles loose, see how the ball is flying in the weather conditions, and focus in on your goals for the day. Its good to check for basics, such as alignment, tempo techniques, and routine. Don't go crazy on backswing positions, follow through positions, transition, etc. Once you get to a tournament, your swing is not going to completely change...its simply a matter of calming your nerves, focusing on your basic swing checks, and setting your sights on the big picture. I got too caught up in the details of my swing this week and it caused me to lose my confidence over the ball.

I feel good about my resolve to score well on Day 2 despite many bad shots. Good players know how to score even when the swing goes bad. I'll be back stronger next year and will keep improving.

No tournaments scheduled for the near future. I will be posting something in the near future related to offseason plans.

Mass Mid Amateur: Day 1

August 15th - The first day of the Massachusetts Mid-Amateur Championship kicked off at Haverhill Country Club. The field was 120. The format was 54 hole stroke play with a cut down to the Top 30 after 36 holes.

I drew an afternoon tee time on Day 1 at 1:21pm. What do you do before an afternoon tee time? Do you squeeze in some practice, go to the gym, watch a movie, sleep, do errands?? One thing for sure is you get to sleep in. I chose to eat a nice breakfast at the Spot Cafe in Watertown with my brother and my friend Samuel. After gathering my golf equipment and attire and driving to my parent's house, I was left with less than an hour to stretch and eat some more food. We departed for Haverhill at 11:30am. All in all, if you like to arrive at least an hour prior to your tee time and have to travel many miles to get there, the amount of morning time goes quickly.

The weather conditions were close to perfect - temperatures in mid 70s and mild winds in the afternoon. The morning conditions were slightly better because of less wind. Overall, it was a fair comparison of playing conditions between morning and afternoon groups. The course conditions were excellent. Greens were in perfect shape and running around 10.5 on the stimpmeter. I started on the 10th tee, a 181-yard downhill par-3. My 9-iron missed short right and I failed to get up and down for par. Off with a bogey on 10 and then doubled 11. Its painful to start like that!

My brother was caddying for me and my Dad was spectating. It was awesome! After a tough start, I missed an easy birdie on 12 and then hit a towering 3-wood in front of the 300 yard par 4 13th. I pitched it to 20 feet and drained the birdie putt. After parring 14, I made bogey on 15 and missed a short birdie putt (10 feet) on 16, bogeyed 17, and parred 18 for a front nine 39.

On the back side, I started poorly by hitting my second shot into a hazard on 1 (my 10th hole). I made a great pitch shot from 60 yards to save bogey. On the par-4 3rd, I hit the shot of my tournament. My drive went way right into fescue. I was lucky enough to draw a good lie. However, I had a slightly sidehill lie (ball above my feet) and a huge maple tree 10 yards in front of me. The yardage to the green was roughly 135. My brother and I discussed the options. I felt it was best to try to go over the tree. My brother said you can do it no problem. I slightly opened up from pitching wedge and put a full swing on it. The ball launched straight up and barely over the tree, landing on the front of the green, rolling to 15 feet below the pin. It was Tiger-esque. Unfortunately, I missed the putt, but par was still exceptional from that position.

I birdied that par 3 4th, making a slippery 25 footer down the hill. My brother called me making this shot too! The rest of the round included many bunker shots and a great up and down on the par-3 7th (from a downhill lie with patchy grass and mud on my ball). I doubled my last hole to shoot 78, three strokes above the field average on Day 1. My round included 2 birdies, 8 pars, 2 doubles, and 6 bogeys. Total putts were 33.

Looking back on this round, I did not capitalize on the good playing conditions and put myself in a tough position to make the cut.

Thanks to my brother for being a great caddy. He gave me confidence in a lot of my decisions and kept me well energized throughout the round.

Additional Notes:

-My Dad took notes on all my shots and was having a good time, even took a beer to go after nine holes

-Playing partner Russ forgot to bring his driver to the tournament and left ALL his wedges in the car (he figured this out on our 2nd hole and drove his golf cart off the course to get them)...the drama continued with Russ having a ruling issue on the par 3 7th hole...his ball rested on an abandoned, embedded ball in the woods, the ruling did not go his way and he made 7

-Bob 'PGA' Green fired 75, a good start to the tournament

-Defending champ Brian Higgins shot 66 and held a one-shot lead

Dennis Four Ball Tradition

Mike Murphy and I finished T6 out of 80 teams at the Dennis Four Ball this past weekend. The event took place at Dennis Highlands GC and the format was best-ball gross over 36 holes. We shot 69-68 = 137 (-5). The winners were -9.

The field was strong including many of the top amateurs in the state (e.g. Mike and I, as well the 2006 Massachusetts Amateur Champion and 2009 Massachusetts Public Links Champion).

Highlights included making up and down off of a tree root, rimming the cup on my tee shot on the 222 yard par 3 sixteenth, and making bird on the final hole of the tournament (it was a 6 footer downhill with a 1 foot break). Mike was hitting crafty shots throughout the weekend, including a 20-yard hook shot around trees to approach the par-4 14th. His shot landed on the green and he made par. Also, Mike reached the par 5 8th in two after hitting a spectacular 3-wood from 250 yards+ off a downhill lie. He missed the 15 foot eagle try, but made birdie!

This was the 4th consecutive year Mike and I have competed in this event and it keeps getting better. I already have it marked on my calendar for September 18-19, 2010. One thing for sure is we expect rain to hit that weekend in 2010. For the past two years, we have played in the rain at least one of the rounds. The first round this year was some of the strangest and most annoying weather I've ever played in. On the front nine, it would be sunny and dry for one hole and then rain the next hole and it continued to alternate. On the back nine, from 14-17, it was downpouring. We actually saw lightning in the distance on the 13th green. On the 17th green, the green went from wet to under water in less than 20 seconds, lightning struck overhead, and we were called off the course. Mike and I managed to play 14 thru 17 in even par. Play resumed 40 minutes later and the course played fine. Dennis Highlands might be the best draining course in America. I was amazed. I shrivered my way to a par on the final hole after the rain delay. Then, we flew back to our guest house in Dennis and took a hot shower.

p.s.: I thought I would tell you that a house on the 12th hole had a massive poster reading OBAMA = SOCIALISM. Everyone could see it. As I've said in the past on political subjects, I'll let the reader make his or her own judgment. Such a political comment, ain't it!

KF

All-Star Team

During 2004 - 2009, either myself or Annie Sperandio or Ally Dunn or Rob Lynch was a winner of the Men's or Women's Club Championship. The four of us teammed up for the Play for Pink Tournament at Lexington GC yesterday. Its an annual 'pink' event to support a fight against breast cancer. All the girls come out with dazzling pink outfits. A few guys sported some pink as well; i'll leave opinions open to my followers on whether or not guys should wear pink. The tournament included 18-holes of golf, raffles, mulligans, pink tee gifts, dinner, and team prizes.

The tournament format is two best ball of four. A typical format in most cases, however, this tournament adds a big twist. Each team receives a pink ball (a Precept Lady which is suprisingly a good ball) that MUST be counted as one of the two best ball scores. Each player must use the pink ball at least 4 times during the round. The player who tees off with the pink ball is required to finish the hole regardless of their score. Pink ball = added pressure = added attention. I found myself looking at the pink ball differently than the white ball and turning my head multiple times a hole --- whos got the pink ball? where is it? what does it lie?

So how did we do??

We cleaned up on the Gross prize by shooting a team total of 151. The next best gross team score was 159. All four of us contributed to the victory. In fact, we had a side match between us that came down to the final hole (all-square after 17). It was Rob and Annie vs. Me and Ally. On the par-3 14th, Rob made a clutch 8-footer for par to halve the match. I'm all too familiar with Rob making putts (for those who don't know, Rob won this year's club championship). As a group, we played steady throughout the day. We didn't find ourselves in a stretch of bad holes or string of great holes. The pink ball caused us a few heartaches, but we didn't lose the ball and even made a birdie with it! My shot of the day was a lefty shot on the 2nd hole. I was pinned up against an out of bounds fence and proceeded to punch it out lefty. I didn't get back to the fairway, but I was able to give myself a third shot to the green (2nd hole is a par 5).

This was my first mixed event of my career. It was an awesome day. I'm looking forward to a repeat performance in 2010.

Thanks to Eileen Flanagan, John Flanagan, and the rest of the Social Committee for running the event. The show of support was solid and I'm sure we raised some good money for breast cancer.

I'm in full preparation mode for the Dennis Four Ball and Mass Mid-Amateur over the next two weeks. See you all soon for more inside the ropes.

K

Ticket to the Mass Mid Am

Today's event was the Massachusetts Mid Amateur qualifier at Highfields GC in Grafton, MA. Its an 18-hole stroke play qualifier. The Top 20 qualify for the Massachusetts Mid Amateur Championship at Haverhill CC on Sept 15-17. The golf course is public; a par 72 7,000 yards; slope 140; course rating 74.5. It plays shorter than the yardage, but the difficulty level is true because of well placed hazards, out of bounds, and firm greens. Its the type of course that will eat at you if you don't drive it well. The temperature was hot, probably low 90s, feeling like high 90s.

I'll cut right to the chase...the two highlights of the day were: 1) having my brother caddy for me (first time!) and 2) qualifying for the championship. The second highlight was a result of having my brother on the bag. He really turned my mental game around after I made consecutive double bogeys on the 6th and 7th holes. He basically lowered his shoulder into me (at least once) and said snap out of it, you are stiff as a board out here (I was tense, this happens frequently when i get under tournament conditions and it causes me to make poor transition moves, leading to both pull and pushes)...this game is a dream...think about it, you gotta enjoy this or else go sit in the office; the words came out a lot better out of my brother's mouth. It worked and we had a great time together. I responded by going 1 under on my last 10 holes. Fired a 35 on the back nine to shoot 78 (tie for 12th place). (Check out the results at http://www.ghintpp.com/mgalinks/TPPOnlineScoring/results.aspx?id=8 or http://www.mgalinks.org/championships/midamateur/midamateur.html)

My brother was even close to Y.E. Yanging the golf bag on 18, but I missed the birdie putt to justify it.

The low score of the day was 74 by three players. It was proof of a challenging golf course. Typically, someone shoots par or better in these events.

I played with two fine gents today, Jeremy Benedick and Walter Riley. Both were enjoyable and friendly playing partners (makes a difference in a round). Walter used a minature golf putter and made everything. He qualified by shooting 76. Fun to watch!

My friends Mike Murphy and Chris Bates were in the field. It was neat because both of them were in the groups ahead of me and we all played a practice round together yesterday. I did get to see Mike's shots on a few holes. He had a tough round and didn't qualify. Knowing Mike and his game, it was a fluke day for him and he will easily come back with better results. We are playing together in the Dennis Four Ball in less than a month. An absolute blast of a tournament and can't wait to compete with Mike.

Awesome job to my brother today. One other thing he did was keep my energy levels high throughout the day by good hydration and good nutrition (clutch stuff on a 90 degree day). I was eating food every 4-5 holes. It surely helped me make solid golf swings down the stretch.

I'm really looking forward to a big golf month in September. Its my chance to make a statement against the Frank Vanas of the world.

Celebrate with me...

Cheers
Kurt

Back-to-Back Bentley Cups

The 3rd Annual Bentley Cup took place at the Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, MA on August 10, 2009. The event is run by Greg Maynard and the Bentley Alumni Association each year and they do an amazing job with sponsorships, golf, food, and prizes. Its a bramble format. Each player in the foursome hits a drive and the group selects their best shot. From the best shot, each player plays their own ball into the hole. The group takes its best score. The golf course is a gem. I know it for hosting the 2004 U.S. Women's Open. Meg Mallon won the tournament at 10 under par and Annika Sorenstam finished two shots back.

My team consisted of three powerhouse partners, each of whom I played golf with at Woburn High School. (Mike Murphy, Kevin Heimlich, and Mike O'Brien) We dazzled the field last year with a one-shot victory in our first appearance at the 2nd Annual Bentley Cup. Our team score was 8 under par. Note: Steve Aguiar was the fourth player in 2008. He was replaced by Mike Murphy in 2009.

This year, my team and I had full confidence in ourselves to repeat. And guess what? We pulled it off in more dazzling fashion. We rallied to shoot 6 under on the last 9 holes (birds on the final 3). Our total was 8 under par, tying one other team and then claiming victory in a card-off. I don't like card-offs, but I'll take being on the winning end. Two years in row with Team Bentley/Team Woburn. I'm already excited for next year. Where are the challengers?? Note to interested competitors: guests are welcome if accompanied by a Bentley alum.

Oh, and my teammates introduced me to the John Daly drink. Its an Arnold Palmer w/ vodka. Tastes similar to a sweet tea. Cheers to Murph for selling his Callaway golf bag (one of our prizes) for $11 and a beer.

It was awesome seeing familiar faces from school, including faculty members. I caught up with Professor Cross, my former marketing teacher and Gary Kelly, who I worked with during Summer Orientation. This tournament will be an annual mark of my calendar for many years to come.

p.s.: thanks to my teammates for another great performance and never ending laughs...hanging out with long-time friends makes me realize that good memories are carried on forever and they never get old

Keep on enjoyin' the summer weather

KF

MGA Father-Son Tournament

My Dad and I improved on our score by 3 shots compared to last week's Winchester Father-Son event. In yesterday's round, we shot 41-39 = 80, including only one three putt that came on the first hole (last week we had six three putts). We didn't let that 3 putt discourage our chances and bounced back with par, par, par, birdie on the next four holes. Unfortunately, we hit a bad streak of golf between holes 6 thru 10, going +7. Both of us butchered drives like Charles Barkley, me following my Dad left off the tee, then right off the tee, then both going different ways off the tee. Talk about frustration! Looking back, we realize we need to make more conservative tee shots if our partner is in trouble. This strategy will apply to holes that have narrow landing areas. Many of the holes at Segragansett CC did not provide generous landing areas.

Note: The MGA Father-Son Tournament took place at Segragansett Country Club in Taunton, MA; a par-72, 6,700 track. Its a fairly flat course with well manicured fairways, fair, but penalizing rough, and medium speed greens. The par-3s are difficult and many tee shots require precision over length. For example, the 530-yard par 5 2nd hole requires a 200-215 yard drive to avoid a hazard that runs the left side of the tee shot and cuts across the fairways; then you must lay up with a 150-170 shot to leave a short approach the green. The tournament takes place over two days, with each Father-Son team playing one round. We competed in the senior division (sons 18 years or older). A portion of the senior division competed on August 4th and the remaining teams compete today. The format is selected drive alternate shot. To see our results yesterday and to find the final results, go to http://mgatpp.org/results/Results.aspx?ID=165&FID=95 or http://www.mgalinks.org/

Going back to our round, my Dad and I finished the final 8 holes at +1. We had multiple great chances at birdies, only capitalizing on one at the 11th hole. My Dad hit his best shot of the day on the 11th hole. I hit my hybrid down the middle, leaving him a 90 yard approach to a tightly placed front hole location, surrounded by bunkers. Prior to the round, I watched some groups come through the hole and noticed the best play was to land the shot 20 feet by the pin and let it feed back down a tiered slope to the pin. Well, my Dad executed it perfectly, landing the shot 20 feet by the pin and it settled to within 4 feet for birdie. Picture perfect swing and result! Go Dad! This got us going again. Our only other blemishes on holes 12-18 were two bogeys, including a missed 3 foot putt (by me) and failure to par from 90 yards on a par-4 (bad approach and bad chip).

Overall, we are fairly pleased with our first appearance in the MGA Father-Son event (75 or better is really where we should be). We played with Lenny and Ryan Devane out of Wayland CC. They were a pleasure to play well. Lenny is 80 years old and hits it 200+ off the tee with driver, down the middle every time. Great inspiration to stay young regardless of age on paper! My Dad and I look forward to competing again next year. We expect better results and will be working on our games between now and then.

After our round, we grabbed a quick lunch at the 19th hole. Segragansett makes a solid steak and cheese sandwich. The bar is a fun setup, good for chatter amongst the competitors. Also, a nice HDTV to catch up on the latest sports news. Food menu is limited but it covers all the good ones such as a burger, grilled chicken, and salads. (I might have to start a 19th hole review column - I got some good ideas for LGC's 19th hole) I caught up with Dave Falcucci for a few minutes, former collegiate rival at Bryant. We will be competing against each other in the Mid-Am in two weeks.

My Dad and I then followed Chuck and Mike Murphy for their final 5 holes. Mike and I have been close friends since 6th grade and I've known his Dad the same amount of time. Chuck was looking good out there with his straw hat and deft putting stroke. Mike is always impressive was with a moonshot ball flight and nice touch around the greens. Hope we didn't put too much pressure on them. I enjoyed being on the spectator side, rooting for my friends to succeed. My Dad and I were able to relive some shots from the sidelines, many with smiles and laughter.

Route 44 in Taunton is quite different than the outskirts of Boston; its an area that has a country/hard nose blue collar feel, the houses are big and old and the businesses appear to be of old local descent. I say country mainly because there is a lot of open grass and we heard roosters on the 12th hole.

Thanks Dad for a great day.

After Party

Took place at Halfway Cafe in Watertown with my brother and friends Brandin and Tracy. We answered correctly on trivia questions about the New Testament, quotes by John Adams, baseball statistics, and many more. Let the good times role...

Not sure if I'll have a blog update prior to the Bentley Cup...I have some practicing to do and a wedding on Saturday

Be happy and healthy

KF

Final Round Aberration

Part I

My number was a 68 and my result was an 84. I'm going with an aberration on this year's final round of the Lexington Club Championship. I can't think of anything else more appropriate. According to Wikipedia, aberration is something that deviates from the normal way. Well, I deviated from my normal game today. I hadn't made a score higher than bogey thru the first 54 holes and today I made 3 doubles and 1 triple bogey. I whiffed on a chip shot and double hit a chip shot on consecutive strokes. I four putted a hole! This just doesn't make sense. It was an aberration. I wasn't nervous. I felt great in the morning and really felt 68 was achievable, not just a number. (wonder if anyone else was in the field was on pace to make no doubles or higher).

I will admit I need to improve on managing my adrenaline and not overvaluing the first few shots of the day. I think its huge to stripe one down the middle on one and make par or better. However, you can't let a 3-putt bogey on the first hole take the life out of your game.

Congratulations to Rob Lynch for a very impressive win, shooting a final round 73 to finish 285 (+1) for the championship. He deserved it. He won by 6 shots over Peter Scully. Rob's tournament total is one of the best in club history. I finished in fifth place (303) behind Chris Barry (3rd - 301) and Steve Champagne (4th - 302). I was paired today with Rob, Peter, and Lee Smith; another good group. I didn't keep score for either Rob or Peter, but according to the winner, Peter and Rob were tied after the 12th. This wasn't confirmed with Peter, but I believe it. Peter made a strong charge and birdied 12 to tie things up. How did Rob respond? Eagle on 13 folks. Yep, that's how to do it. More impressive he did that after watching me whif, double hit, and sink a 6 footer for 8 on the same hole.

Again, great galleries on the 18th hole. BIG LOVING THANKS to my Mom, Brother, and Mike for coming out to watch my final round. My family and friends are so much bigger than game. I am very happy they saw me compete regardless of the outcome.

Part II - After Party

The post tournament events included hours of laughter and drinks on the porch, Scott Carroll ordering every appetizer on the menu, Rob Lynch and Peter Scully (senior champion) filling up their trophies with beer and drinking it all themselves (Rob's trophy needed at least 5 beers to fill), Kenny Collina revealing his final-round nutritional secret of a microwaved hot dog on wheat bread, a 3-club tournament, and Jack Finalyson leaving the course before I did (another aberration).

The 3-club tournament took place after many hours of drinks. The participants were Chris Barry, Scott Carroll, Anthony Modoono, Tim Diskin, Kenny Collina, and myself. We played 4, 5, and 6. The winner was Scott Carroll (+1). Shot of the tournament goes to Tim Diskin's opening tee shot on 4 with a 3-wood. He popped it up, like a lob wedge, to the right. It went approximately 15 yards, hit a pine tree, and popped out. Remind you, he swung at least 90+ mph at this ball. Props to Scott for making 3 on the 4th and Chris for making 2 on the 5th with a 3-wood(?).

We are all waiting for the reprimanding letters from the club.

What do I take from all of this? Chalk it up as a 'toughen me up' failure. Sounds bad, but its going to make me better and I'll come back stronger next year. In the meantime, as I digest this final round aberration, I'm pysched to be able to immediately reset and start fresh Tuesday morning in the MGA Father-Son Tournament. As one of my colleagues says, theres nothing like the present.

By the way, here are some key facts. Tiger Woods has won roughly 25% of his major championships (I calculated as 14 out of an 55). I've got 33% (3 out of 9) at Lexington. Fred Funk beat Tom Watson by 22 shots at the U.S. Senior Open. Rob Lynch beat me by 18 shots this weekend. Tiger Woods won his 69th PGA Tour event today. He has lost over 175 professional events. Failure is part of the game.

See you on the practice tee

KF

Anti Moving Day

It was the third round of the club championship, known as 'moving day' on the PGA tour. However, Rob Lynch made it anything but moving day. He fired a 71; a nicely manufactured round with multiple clutch putts and birdies (for those who are not regular followers - both good putting and birdies are two of my keys to winning the club championship). Peter Scully, Steve Champagne, and myself all made good golf shots but couldn't gain any ground as we shot 73, 75, and 72, respectively. It was a lot of fun out there. Pars were no good to get honors in this group. I have to say today's round was true club championship golf. You felt the tension. You felt the competitiveness. You felt the sportmanship. You felt what it takes to win this thing.

One of the best moments of the day was coming up 18 with the gallery behind the green. Its exciting when other members come out to support you. Theres not enough words in this blog to give shouts out to all my friends I see before, during, and after each round. (however, I want to give one to Walter Scott for keeping me on my toes at all times) Steve and Peter had the crowd pleaser shots on 18; both of them almost holed out their second shots from the fairway!

I was pleased with my effort today despite a few three putts and a 'make me want to cry' bogey on the par-5 13th. Seriously, why do I make 6 on a par-5 from 185 yards out on my second shot. This was a true measure of patience (i have to give my Dad props for picking me up here as I almost fell over in disgrace - THANKS). I managed to bounce back with 2 birdies on my last 5 holes. My nines were 37-35=72. (35 putts today vs. 29 putts in the 2nd round)

Today's pairing was a blast. Peter, Steve, and Rob are great guys; they also bring gritty competitiveness and true camaraderie!

After 3 days the top scores are:
Rob Lynch - 212
Peter Scully - 216
Kurt Flionis - 219
Chris Barry - 225
Lee Smith - 225
Steve Champagne - 225

The place will be rocking tomorrow. Everyone has their work cut out to catch Rob. The final round kicks off at 7:24am and the final group tees off at 8:36am. Bring your 'A' game everybody.

Happy resting,
KF

p.s.: for all of you who are disappointed with your rounds today, think about John Daly's 88 in the second round of the Buick Open...from what I heard, he gave up out there...don't put yourself in that category, keep pushing forward

Winchester Father Son

Yesterday, my Dad and I competed in the Winchester Father Son Tournament for the first time. Its the largest Father-Son tournament in the state with over 300 teams competing. The tournament takes place over three days, with each team competing on one day only. The format is selected drive alternate shot, with awards given to gross and net champions.

I'll tell you I was very excited about the opportunity to compete with my Dad on a championship golf course. What a great way to spend a Tuesday - no work and golf with my Dad!

We shot an 38 - 45 = 83 (+12) (Gross score).

Phew, it was a hot, humid day (90 degress +) and we came out swinging. Both of us hit solid drives off the first tee. We selected my Dad's drive, so I played the second shot from 120ish. My shot fell short and right of the green, about pin high. Then, my Dad chipped it to 10 feet and I missed the putt. An easy looking par became bogeyville. The second hole was a short par-5. I crushed my drive to within 185 of the green and then my Dad hit a nice hybrid shot to 20 feet. We were sitting pretty with an eagle opportunity. I aggressively hit the eagle putt by the hole 3 feet and then my Dad missed the birdie putt. How quickly the eagle became a par? Good ball striking and good opportunity went to waste. Unfortunately, that became the story of our day. We were real close to breaking through in this tournament and posting a great round. We had 6-three putts and 2 penalty strokes, pushing the score well up the charts. We will likely finish in the middle of the pack.

The hole of the day was probably the eighth hole, a daunting 420 yard par-4 with a narrow fairway and steep uphill approach to a blind green. My Dad hit a 280 yard missile down the middle and I hit a 6-iron right over the pin and GREEN (looked perfect until we walked up to the green and noticed nothing there). The chip shot remaining for my Dad had to come up over a hill and land to a pin at the bottom of a slope of a two tier green. My Dad hit a beautiful chip to 4 feet and I sunk the downhiller for par. Can't believe he made that chip. It was 8 level of difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10.

All things considered this tournament was a day to smile back on and good preparation for next week's MGA Father-Son event. Its going to be a lot of fun going out there again with my Dad. Our goal is to avoid big numbers and three putts!

We had a marker (scorer) named Steve (assistant pro at Winchester) that joined us in yesterday round. Steve was formerly an assistant at Meadow Brook CC in Reading, MA.

Enjoy the summer nights while they last
Cheers
KF

p.s.: treated my back with electrodes at 9am yesterday, it was nice, athletes have it made with the amount of physical treatment they get from trainers, physical therapists, etc.

Free and Easy

Last night, my Dad and I figured out some 'mental' things together to improve my approach to each golf shot and those ideas really clicked today. It went so well that my Dad called today's round 'free and easy'. I shot 70 (1 under) (two day total 147) with 3 birdies and 2 bogeys. I stand in 3rd place after two rounds, behind Peter Scully (143) and Rob Lynch (141). We have Monday - Friday off before completing the final two rounds.

Amazingly, I followed my own advice on how to win the club championship and completed a solid round w/ birdies, confidence, patience, and good putting (29 putts!).

The weather held up nice for the men's and women's club championship. In terms of average score, the field seemed to shoot higher today. Possibly due to higher wind speeds and fatigue, maybe? It was hot (felt like 90)!

SPECIAL THANKS to my wonderful friends Brandin and Tracy for coming to watch me. They certainly helped me will in some putts out there today, especially my 20 footer from above the pin on 16 to save par. It was the shot of the day to keep me at level par thru 16.

Next weekend will be a lot of fun. Don't anybody give up.

Be healthy and be happy this week

p.s.: Wednesday should be my first blog of a golf event outside of Lexington, stay tuned

How to Win the Club Championship

I've been lucky enough to win the club championship three times in my short career, so I'd like to share my thoughts of what I believe are the keys to winning (in no particular order):

1) Patience
2) Good Putting
3) Confidence
4) Make Birdies

1) Patience - When I say patience, I mean you must not let mistakes carry over to the next shot in a 72 hole stroke event. Every shot counts as much as the one before and the one after. Don't get caught up if you leave an iron shot 10 yards short of the green or fly one over because the next shot is way more important in that it could save you par or better. If you let it carry over, you will be looking at double in no time. If you are struggling with your swing, try to return to something basic (alignment, grip pressure, initial takeaway of swing); then be realistic and execute the shots you feel comfortable with.

2) Good putting - It requires good practice prior to the tournament and it requires trust. The speed of the greens will be a little intimidating, but don't let this trick you into thinking that putting is more of a challenge. In fact it should be more fun. All you have to do is pick the line and trust it. Fast greens will reward a good putting stroke.

3) Confidence - Be prepared to deal with nerves and pressure shots. When the time comes to execute shots, you must believe in yourself. You must visualize the shot and let it happen. If you only visualize the one shot you want and nothing else, it will happen. Confidence is built over time prior to the tournament. When you get on the course, you show it off.

4) Make Birdies - All of us are going to make a fair share of bogeys, a few doubles, and maybe (hopefully not) greater than double. Therefore, birdies are necessary to offset over-par scores. I'm not saying you need to make 5 birdies per round. My number is 3+ per round. Not only does it boost your score, but it boosts your confidence!

These are my keys to winning the club championship. Every winner has a different story of how they got there and what worked for them. Last year, Lee Smith won with 75-75-75-75 = 300. Expect to go 295 or better to get it done.

p.s.: props to Kenny Collina for having fun no matter what he shoots, now thats a key to a good life!

p.p.s: I played my first round w/ Tim Diskin, Steve Potter, and TJ Lombardini, a pleasure of a group; we only made 3 birds between the four of us; ouch!; i finished 38-39= 77; struck the ball excellent, but i missed in the wrong spots; i sit here with confidence and look forward to my chance tomorrow to get back at the golf course; Rob Lynch shot 70 (-1)

Toast of Champagne

played a round with the Champagne brothers this weekend...Steve and Mike, got whopped by Steve, who shot 71, a very close run at Magliozzi's 69 for the Champagne's annual family shootout (note: steve made double on the 4th hole); my play was mediocre at best, got off to a poor start with a three putt on one and then went bogey, double, bogey, birdie, birdie to start the back nine (not consistent to say the least), finished with a 77 (+6)

one thing i know about myself is that pre-game preparation is very important to my success on the golf course, including a good sleep, good breakfast, good warmup, and good on course nutrition...i think it can be the difference between a 72 and a 77

other notes: spent some time with Dick Harding on the putting green this weekend, a legend at Lexington, he has 6 club championship titles; i don't know Dick that well but I certainly admire his love for the game - he still plays and he is in his 90s; i told him i'm chasing down his record (i believe that its the most in club history), also exchanged some short game tips with Dr. Yusah - practice shot of the weekend was the hybrid chip shot

This coming week will be quiet on the blog as I prepare for the club championship - A LOT OF R&R and short practice sessions

Friday Night Lights

I'm really not sure where to go with this blog, Lexington GC was full of energy on this Friday night...the beer, wine, and food was flowing on the porch, bets were flying, and personal shots were taken (in a humorous way of course, we at LGC are all close)

I showed up to the course around 530 and managed to see a wide range of great events:
1) Matty C with a Super Stroke putter grip; if you know what this is, you'd be laughing in some way; Matt is working very hard to get rid of it by the club championship
2) Billy F mysteriously making his way around the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th holes, practicing golf or enjoying nature?
3) Scott C betting $20 on two separate bets with Brian K: 1) he would break 70 in at least one round of the club championship and 2) he will finish in the top 5 of the club championship; love the confidence, but you wouldn't catch me betting on myself in the club championship
4) Jack F and friends signing Ole Ole Ole Ole on the porch; yes, this really happened and more than once

Aside from the entertainment and laughter, there was some serious golf that preceded these events. It was the first Ryder Cup event in LGC history with Lexington High School defeating Arlington High School (graduates of all ages) 383 to 386 (team totals - 6 combined scores per team - included 9 holes net best ball and 9 holes net scramble). The low rounds per each respective team were for Lexington - Scott C and Pat H fired a 60 and Arlington - Peter S and Joe T fired 61.

In the middle of all this I managed to put in my practice time around the greens and on the course. The club championship is right around the corner. Everyone is talking about it. The hype it brings to the club just makes you love the tourny even more.

Can you believe Tiger Woods missed the cut at the British Open and Tom Watson and Mark Calcavecchia are 1st and 2nd? Say that again?

Passing out...cheers to the weekend

Controversy

we finished the final round at 11:15am; Mike and I threw in a 72 for a team total of 139; the second round format was the Chapman Format, too much work to describe here, but its simply a form of alternate shots, using 50% handicap of the higher handicap partner and 30% of lower handicap partner, its a solid format for the low handicap teams, our team score for the weekend was good for nothing this week...we lost again to our playing competitors, who fired a 67 and were in position for a runner-up finish!

today's highlight had nothing to do with golf per se, but it had to do with being able to drink alcohol before noon; the Keegans and multiple other members were denied alcohol prior to noon because of member compliant, are you serious!? i've never paid much attention to alcohol rules, one because i'm not a big drinker and two they don't really mean much to me...is this bush league or is this the 'lawfully correct move'? (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bush+league) I'm not too concerned, (i won't be researching the laws) but I don't think a member should be denied a drink on a Sunday at their home club, especially on Sunday at a major...wheres the freedom? the luxury? the celebration?

it stirred up some controversy...i'm not sure the new laws will stick

Caruso's appear to be repeat winners with a team total of 130 (12 under par)

I was criticized for a long blog entry yesterday....tried to shorten this one up

Great weekend at LGC; I'm looking forward to the Club Championship in two weeks, until then...be healthy and be happy

Mid Summer Classic

Round 1 of the Mid Summer Classic kicked off this morning at Lexington GC, one of the "Majors" at the club; its a 2-day event with 2-man teams, i consider it the second best tournament behind the Club Championship (begins July 25), the purest test of all at 72 holes of stroke play; anyhow, the tournament kicked off this morning at 7:16 am; i happened to be in the lead group, not my preference to have to set the alarm clock for 5:15am on a Saturday morning (thanks Steve Keegan!), today's format was best ball, 90% handicap...tough for us low handicappers,but who said good things come easy anyway?, lets go...bear with me on my first blog ever

I arrived at the club at approximately 6:35am to prepare for my opening round and the first person I see is defending champ Jim Caruso warming up with some chips around the practice green, how about that! no wonder the Caruso team is always geared up to play well; its a tournament that truly comes down to chipping, i experienced it first hand with my steady partner Mike 'Groundskeeper Willy' Keegan last year, when we lost in a chip off to the Caruso's; first thing i did after my stretching routine was to practicing chipping, you never know, it could happen again!

Mike and I were paired w/ Steve Keegan and Dan Brennan at 7:16am, a strong group of golfing talent; i always enjoy the competition and i was looking forward to playing with Steve and Dan because it'd be a while since we last played and I know they would give Mike and I a good pulse on the tournament competition

As usual, the field was filled with strong teams, many of whom I will not name here, but to name a few strong teams I saw on the grounds in the early am, included Bob "PGA" Green and his partner Steve Champagne, a guaranteed contender; of course the Carusos, Steve Tunney and Peter Brown, Jack and Tim McDonough and many more...

A testing golf course awaited the field, the greens running as fast as they have all year (probably 11 on the stimp...just a guess on my part), the rough is thick in many spots from all the rain; and to the players' benefit, the fairways remain wide and conditions were benign

Mike and I were coming off a win in 2007 and a playoff loss in 2008, but we are no guarantee to put on repeat performance in this field, especially after Day 1; we shot a 4-under 67 on a round of fair, unexciting golf, 2 gross birdies and 2 gross bogeys; our playing competitors Steve and Dan made up for our boring play with multiple chip ins, birdies from the woods, and a bogey (!) on the ever so simple looking, but tricky short par 4 16th; i often leave that hole shaking my head why i'm not at least skimming the hole every time for birdie! its only 280 to 290 yards and its a par 4. it proves that golf isn't about distance, its about execution; Steve and Dan ended up besting us with a 6-under 65 ; well done

Some other notable sightings: Peter Scully ripping driver off 10 in pro form (look out), Rob Lynch making his Mid Summer debut with Steve Jackson, and Peter Brown making a delicate putt from above the hole on 18! a crowd pleaser!

I can say I'm very happy about waking up early to kick off MY first MAJOR of the year, it was too hot later in the day (i'm always excited to play, i guess its just the pure thought of waking up at 515 that stings...Steve, thank you and I look forward to doing it again tomorrow morning)

Who is going to pull it out tomorrow? Mike and I are going to make a hard run at it. When I left at 1pm, the clubhouse leaders were at 63. Great shooting. Mike and I are coming after you tomorrow.

Keep it in the short grass.