4th Annual Kravin Cup

The Bentley golfing crew was back in action for the 4th annual Kravin Cup at Crosswinds Golf Club in Plymouth, MA. Masterfully led by former Bentley Golf team captain Erik Swenson, 16 former and current team members joined together to play a 8 vs. 8 Ryder Cup style competition. It was a 27 hole event; 9 holes 2-man best ball, 9 holes 2-man scramble, and 9 holes individual match play.

I couldn't be happier to have this day marked on the annual calendar. And I truly realized how much it means to be there after almost missing the day due to schedule conflicts with a wedding and work. I would have regretted it! Thanks to Swenson, I was able to sleep the ride down to Plymouth early Sunday morning (June 27) after a late, late wedding night which included an encounter with Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, and Tony Allen at 230am in Boston. Will Perkins be done as a Celtic after his Game 6 NBA finals injury?

The golfing experience was classic; creating many new stories and reliving old ones. Terrence Tedeschi and myself battled Jay Gargiulo and Matthew Freedman in the first 9 holes, gaining a halve point with no one going up by more than 1 hole. Tedeschi calmly made a 30 foot putt on the 9th hole for birdie to halve the match.

On the second nine, the perennial Team Woburn of Billy Murphy and I put on a show beating our opponents 3 & 2 in the scramble format, shooting 5 under par after parring the last two holes. I was solid tee to green and Billy did his thing draining putts, including a 35 foot downhill bender for eagle on the first par 5. We rallied off birdie, eagle, birdie to take command of the match. The competitive juices are pumping every year when teaming up with Billy the Kid.

My final nine was a match against the sweet swinging Jay Gargiulo who puts like Ben Crenshaw. Fortunately, Jay missed some putts and I was steady throughout the match to win 3 & 2. I owe my success to keeping the ball in play as much as possible by picking spots and executing my plan.

I'm grateful for having a great group of friends like these guys. The day is always very competitive, but the results are overshadowed by the laughter and smiles between the crew.

Other Highlights: Erik Swenson outdriving Matt Freedman moments after Freedman said he would walk off the course if someone outdrove him on the long drive; first year we added long drive, closest to the pin, and skins to the event; Brandon McDowall holing a 25 yard pitch shot in a 'pitch off' to award the remaining cash pool...ridiculous shot and he used a Pinnacle golf ball.

Crosswinds: fun track, greens roll great and run at 10.5ish, fair layout but you can easily lose golf balls on errant golf shots, 27 holes, no clubhouse but large tent with nice grill food going during the day like you would get at home

Visualize, Think, and Tune prior to addressing golf ball, then trust your intuition.

Kurt

Playing with the Pros

I'm back with the blog! (well maybe) I have to admit I'll be sporadic over the next month as I prepare for the CFA exam on June 5, a long study process. Thanks to my best friend Mike getting married in Miami last month (April), I had reason to pull out the golf clubs earlier than expected. My plan all long was to play as many events as possible on the Minor League Golf Tour (MLGT) (www.minorleaguegolf.com). Its a mini-tour in Southern Florida for aspiring professionals. As more and more mini tours fell off the scene in the recession and player budgets further tightened, MLGT's popularity has skyrocketed. Its an afforable tour for guys chasing a dream of playing on PGA Tour. It attracts club professionals, experienced PGA Tour players (Guy Boros, Ken Duke), Nationwide Tour experienced players, amateurs (must be a 6 handicap or better) and more.

So what was I thinking trying to play against these guys? The winning score is usually 5 or 6 under par for 18 holes! Most of the time you have to shoot par or better to finish in the top 15. Well, this is exactly why I was playing. I wanted to be front row and center against some of the best professional players. In fact, some of these guys that regularly played out here, I played against in college. I wanted to learn how they get around the course. I wanted to hear their stories. And most of all, I wanted to measure my own game against theirs.

I played three events over four days. Each event is 18 holes. First two days, I blew up with rounds of 85 and 89. Oh man it was rough. I made a '10' on the third hole of my first event. Talk about setting yourself back. The thing about these first two days was that I actually hit a lot of good shots. My score was hurt by penalty strokes and very poor play inside 100 yards. Part of the problem was playing new courses and lack of practice coming off the winter. I hit around ten water balls in the first two rounds. I didn't look at these rounds as complete failures. Each of the two rounds had one bad nine. I shot 46 on the front nine of round 1 with a 10 and I shot 49 on the front nine of round 2. Taking those away, my other four nines were 39,40,37, and 38. My best stretch was on the back nine of round 2 at Links at Madison Green (7,000 yards, rating 73.6, slope 144). Starting on number 10, I went birdie, eagle, par, par. You think I'd shoot low?, I followed that with bogey, bogey, double, bogey, double. At the Links at Madison Green, the winning score was 68, an incredible round given the high winds and course rating!

In my last event, I pulled myself together and shot 75, beating both pros in my group. I played steady, smart golf and showed great improvement inside 100 yards. I felt like a professional, strategically placing myself around the course, making good approach shots and recovering from trouble. The short game was better. I made 2 birdies and 5 bogeys. I finished one shot out of the money. Ending on this note was a great feeling and is driving me to come back again.

Reflecting on the experience, I learned a lot about whats its like to play golf day and day out. All of my playing partners were decent guys and each one had a different story. I played with one guy who has experience on the Canadian Tour, South African, and Asian Tour. He had sponsorship from Taylor Made and private investors. Another guy was an amateur and said he was going full time professional after he played his club championship. One guy who worked in membership sales at a private club and recently got significant encouragement to play full time, so he quit and here he is playing the MLGT with plans to compete on the Tar Heel tour in NC over the summer. Then, a club professional who left the day-to-day golf operations in Florida to play full time. Each one of these guys has a dream to make it to the big stage. Its a lot of time and money with very few making it. I admire their courage to take a chance.

Watching these guys play, I realized even more than before that I can make shots just like this guys, but the difference is that they do it more consistently and with more confidence. A good example was on par-5 at Abacoa Golf Club. I hit my drive past my playing partner (the guy sponsored by Taylor Made). I had about 260 yards to pin, he had 270ish. The options were lay up to the right size, with anything from an 8 iron to 6 iron or to go for the green, entirely protected by water on the front side. Maybe obvious what happened, but I laid up with an 8-iron. My playing partner waited for the green to clear and ripped 3-wood on the green. That's the difference! On a short par 4, 320 yards on paper, about 270 in a direct line, again green protected by water, this guy rips 3-wood just over the water leaving a chip shot. I hit hybrid safely to the right. Most pros are not afraid of the consequences of a risky shot because they know they can recover and believe its well worth the chance. And the result is many birdies, a must on the tour.

Another proven lesson is that short game is a momentual skill. All of the pros have it. It is a differentiator when you get to the highest level.

Every guy out here has a laser measuring device. Its huge for tournament play. I'm there pacing off yards from the 150, so old school. I'm getting myself a device ASAP!

I could continue to go about this experience and what I learned. If you have an opportunity to compete at a higher level, even if its just a small taste like I got, go for it, you won't regret it!

This won't be the last time I play with the pros...

Giddy up,
Kurt

First trip to Cali - Torrey Pines and more

Last month, my friend Mike and I spent a long weekend in San Diego, CA to play as many holes of golf as possible. We played 5 rounds in 3 days, including The Vineyard at Escondido, Mt. Woodson Golf Club, Coronado GC, Torrey Pines - North Course, and Balboa Park GC. If you haven't been to San Diego, its absolutely beautiful out there and filled with nice golf courses for the right price. Coronado GC, my second favorite course we played after Torrey Pines, costs $20 after 12pm and is right on the Pacific Ocean. The course condition is as good as a top tier public course in Massachusetts.

The highlight of the golfing experience was our round at Torrey Pines. We chose to play the North Course to save ourselves $100. This is still a recession people! We pulled into Torrey at 530am and there were a dozen cars already in the parking lot. Mike and I both walked up to the Pro Shop area looking to the check in. Come to find out, we had to go up to a random car with its heading lights on and trunk open in the parking lot to claim a spot in line. By the time we figured this out, we probably lost a few spots in line. Torrey Pines has a first come, first serve policy between 6am to 730am. After that, its tee times. We got the 12th or 13th spot. This number got us off the North tee at 7am with two gentleman, one from Long Island and one local from La Jolla. The local guy plays the course for a mere $40!!! Why can't we get a marquee course in the Boston that gives significant resident discounts?? It just doesn't exist. Granite Links costs $125!

At Torrey, you are welcomed by a stunning view looking out into the Pacific Ocean over the cliffs at 7am with a soft breeze and high 60s in mid-February. Its light enough to play at 6am as the sun rises. The fairways are cut tight and narrow and you feel the joy of walking on the same grounds as the greatest golfers in the world.

Mike and I played a different type of match play (hole-by-hole, quota, etc.) each round on the trip. For Torrey, we chose to play USGA stroke play. Finish everything out, tournament style. Winner takes all. We battled it out in a Tour-like finish and tied with 77s. Mike and I were both a 2 under par on the last 5 holes. On the 397 yard par 4 15th, Mike made a mammoth putt of about 50 feet for birdie and then a drained a 25 footer from off the green to save par. On the par-3 17th, about 180 yards, we both hit nice approaches to pin high. Mike went first and drained a 18 footer. Then I preceded to drop a 15 foot putt right on top of him to go all square into 18. We both made par on the par-5 18th. We couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise and our golf games made us smile even more. Even better, after Torrey, we were on our way to round #2 of the day and the final round of the trip at Balboa Park.

As we New Englanders know, the golf season is short around here, so it was a treat to split up the winter break in California. Mike and I spent our time outside the golf course in Los Angeles to see my cousin Jay (who is the Jing Master out in LA at Erewhon Foods), at a famous Mexican restaurant in San Diego (El Indio - two visits), and a few trips to In-And-Out Burgers.

I left San Diego thinking wouldn't it be nice to live out here...

Namaste,
Kurt

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