Expecting temperatures to reach near 100 degrees, our morning nine holes were completed by 10:30 and the sun was just beginning to dry out the freshly watered fairways and traps on the back nine. As I write this at 3 p.m., our back patio is just now creeping over ninety degrees. Another great morning for golf in The Villages.
Today, atop the leader board, Mike Falarski and Jim White stood tied for number one with an even par Net 36. In third place, another tie, Jeff Rose and Chuck Benjamin posted one over par net 37.
As a group, our putting continues to improve with a team average of slightly less than two putts per hole. Today’s putting “Ace” was Dick Henderson, with no three putts and a couple of one-putt holes for a total of 16. Given that the putter is the most used club in a golfer’s bag, it is good to know that the Pinseekers are improving that skill.
A reminder that beginning October 4 we will be returning to our Winter Schedule with the first group tee time at noon. We are allocated 20 tee times (five foursomes)—however, if we haven’t filled our slots by the Pro Shop close of business on the Tuesday evening before our play date, we will forfeit our priority hold on the unscheduled slots. Make sure you schedule your tee time before the deadline to insure a slot with us.
This week I’ve been reading magazine articles and watching a couple of You Tube videos on playing with hybrids vs. driving or long irons. The authors and online “content providers” insist that hybrids are easier to strike cleanly, more forgiving and tend to give a slightly longer carry than irons having a similar loft. One article suggests, at times, using the hybrid for chipping, putting and even greenside sand traps. For someone who has played this game for over sixty years this is a little overwhelming and even a bit more than my not-so-young brain can absorb. What I can see is there are a myriad of situations where the hybrid could help make improvements in my score, but not without lots of practice and some guidance from a golf pro. We’ve got three teaching pros on staff at The Villages. It may be time to see if they can help put a little more consistency into a game that has become “consistently inconsistent.”A final bit of information: Friday September 27, the Championship Course is hosting a golf tournament for an outside charity. We will not have our priority times of 8 to 8:36 a.m. The course is open to residents and guests for an Open Shotgun start at 8. You can sign up on the Member Portal under tee times. Keep your scores on a standard scorecard and record your scores on the USGA posting site. There will be no sweeps or championship points for Pinseekers.
