My Wife Is A Hooker

Before you get all crazy and start spreading rumors, let me explain. My Mother-In-Law forwarded this email to my wife and she emailed it to me. My Mother-In-Law knows how much I love golf and thought that I might get a kick out of this...and I did. I thought I had a one track mind, but this is ridiculous. I just hope my wife has a sense of humor when it comes to the title of this post. Have a great round and always hit your target.

Love And Golf Are Blind

When they discovered they lived in the same city only a few miles apart, Ed was ecstatic. He immediately started asking her out when they got home. Within a couple of weeks, Ed had taken Nancy to dance clubs, restaurants, concerts, movies, and museums. Ed became convinced that Nancy was indeed his soul mate and true love. Every date seemed better than the last.

On the one-month anniversary of their first dinner on the cruise ship, Ed took Nancy to a fine restaurant. While having cocktails and waiting for their salad, Ed said, "I guess you can tell I'm very much in love with you. I'd like a little serious talk before our relationship continues to the next stage. So, before I get a box out of my jacket and ask you a life changing question, it's only fair to warn you, I'm a total golf nut. I play golf, I read about golf, I watch golf on TV. In short, I eat, sleep, and breathe golf. If that's going to be a problem for us, you'd better say so now!"

Nancy took a deep breath and responded, "Ed, that certainly won't be a problem. I love you as you are and I love golf too; but, since we're being totally honest with each other, you need to know that for the last five years I've been a hooker."

"Oh wow! I see," Ed replied.

He looked down at the table, was quiet for a moment. Deep in serious thought then he added, "You know, it's probably because you're not keeping your wrists straight when you hit the ball."

Photo found here.

Which Club Is The Right Club For Chipping???

I'm getting ready to go do a little chipping practice. Normally chipping means using my 60 degree or 56 degree wedges. I'm getting pretty good around the greens but I'm still struggling with consistency. At times, I look as silky as Phil Mickelson, one of the best short game players of all time. Then there are times when it appears like it is the first time I am holding a golf club.

In one of his recent posts, Mike Southern shared the video at the end of this post. It is an instructional on how and why chipping with a 7-iron is a better choice for golfers who may be uncomfortable when faced with having to get up and down from just off the green.

Mike said there are three important "technique" things to note:

• The shaft is in line with your forearms. This makes it much easier to use your putting stroke for this shot. (Side note: If you're having trouble with your putting and you aren't holding your putter so its shaft is in line with your forearms, you now know part of your problem. Check my Basic Principles of Good Putting -- this is #4.)
• The 7-iron is slightly up on its toe. There are other ways to chip with an iron, but this one creates less resistance as the head slips through the rough. You'll need to try a few practice strokes before you try this on the course though; the loft of the club is now at an angle, so you may have to grip the club so the face is slightly open.
• Of course, you need to make sure that you hit slightly down on the ball.

I think what I'll do today is compare the outcome of hitting my 6o degree wedge through my 7-iron from the same spot to see which one gives me the most consistency. I'll let you know how it goes in a follow-up post. If you have any stories of what club you use to chip with, feel free to leave a comment. Have a great round and always hit your target.

ASU Karsten Golf Course - Phil Mickelson's Old Stomping Grounds

The past week has been very busy for me but I finally got a chance to get in a round of golf at the par 70, Pete Dye designed, ASU Karsten Golf Course. This is the course that 4 time major winner and 4 time All-American Phil Mickelson called home during his college years.

The course is kept in great condition, but true to all Pete Dye designed courses, it can be very challenging if you find yourself in the rough or in the strategically placed bunkers. It was a tough day for me off the tee statistically as I only hit three fairways in regulation, but the misses were not so bad that I couldn't recover from most of my errant shots.

Club selection contributed to most of my misses off the tee. I found myself in the bunkers several times off the tee and with my approach shots into the green. Since I never played this course before, there were a few shots that I thought were great but was surprised and disappointed to find my ball in a hazard. Purchasing a yardage book before the round would have been a good idea since the golf carts are not GPS enabled.

Water only comes into play on four of the holes but does so in an intimidating way. The par four, 4th hole has water left and back of the green. I ended up posting a triple on this hole, not because I put it in the drink, but because I pushed my tee shot out of bounds and then 3-putted once I reached the green.

Holes nine and eighteen are unique in that they run parallel with each other back towards the clubhouse with a lake that divides the two fairways. The strategy that they give you on the website for playing number nine is "aim left, aim left, aim left, then aim left on your approach shot to avoid the water." As you can imagine the strategy is just the opposite on number eighteen. Stay right!

The other hole that has water come into play is on the signature hole par three, 16th. The advice is to bail out left and play for a good chip shot to save par. This is exactly what I did, though not intentionally. I pulled my tee shot and it ended up in a little gully behind the green, just missing one of those evil hidden bunkers. I was able to chip to a reasonable distance and made the putt for a par.

If you ever get a chance to visit this course, make sure you take a walk through the clubhouse. ASU is known as one of the strongest collegiate golf programs in the country. They have a lot of memorabilia from their many years of success in NCAA competition. The dining area also looks over the 9th and 18th green. A great venue to sit and relax after a round of golf.

ASU Karsten Golf Course gets a thumbs up from me. The course is challenging but fair. The staff was awesome and made me feel welcome and they were quick to answer any questions that I had about their facilities. I'll definitely play this course again, especially now that the prices are going down. It's a steal. Have a great round and always it your target.

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Posted: 6/2/2011 Share on Facebook
ASU Karsten Golf Course (ASU Karsten)	Tees: Championship, Slope: 124, Rating: 70.3

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ASU Karsten Front Nine Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out Par 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 34 6 4 4 7 5 3 3 4 6 42 FIR: # Putts: 2 1 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 16 GIR: Back Nine Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Par 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 36 5 5 4 5 6 5 3 6 5 44 FIR: # Putts: 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 2 18 GIR:

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Pars: 6 Bogeys: 9 Doubles: 2 Other: 1

Par 3 Avg: 3.3 Par 4 Avg: 5.1 Par 5 Avg: 6.0

FIR: 3 / 14 GIR: 3 / 18 Putts: 34 Putts per GIR: 2.3

Scrambling: 4 / 15 Bounce Backs: 3 / 11