Golf Anniversary
Last week I was talking about Anniversaries, in particular Wedding Anniversary. I have readers and friends thanking me for the reminder. One great fellow told me he would be celebrating his Silver Anniversary with his beloved wife this year. What a great moment and I wish them bliss for this couple for many years of joy and happiness.
This year no matter what would be a special year for me too and in this month of March. It would be my 21st Anniversary meaning that my married life has reached adulthood. I take pride and this opportunity to thank my beloved wife for the pain she has to go through in giving birth to and bringing up my two beloved children. Given a choice I could have two more children so that we could form a flight for golf anytime with two on standby. June would mark my 30th Anniversary at work. Sigh. What a hard life! It's a life sentence!
I was a late starter in golf. I used to play much faster ball games like soccer, squash, badminton and have even did some basketball and hockey. Golf to me was a slow, boring game. Then a friend suggested going to a range and he lent me one club to try. He looks simple but after trying I confirm that it is a terrible game. Different groups of friends kept encouraging so alright what the heck. I got myself a cheap Gosen set at a sale and kept up at the range but once you hit a few good shots that flew high and long and you get a bit of the bug. Still I wanted to give up and someone suggested that we should go and play it at a real golf course.
So we headed to Batam and sometimes JB because in Singapore you can't play without a handicap. Well, the rest is history! Once you get onto a real golf course you begin to understand why people love golf. The nature, the laughter, sunshine, camaraderie and the fun. When you have a bad game you wanted to address it and come back and do better. If you had a good one, you wanted more. At times, we take half a day off and played at the Executive Course at Mandai.
We got a bit better, so a group of us perhaps 8 fellows went to Seletar Base Golf Course to get a coach which at that time was the Poh Brothers.
We did this because we wanted to go on to get a Proficiency Certificate (PC) so that we could play at Seletar Base Golf Club (SBGC). It is a very interesting course on natural terrain. Meantime, we continue to visit JB and Batam. I started teeing off with only an iron. Couldn't get going with a driver so an uncle gave me an used Callaway Warbird 3-wood and boy did I get excited with those hits! Then some golfers would tell me that if you do not tee off with a driver you are at a great disadvantage. I begin to organise golf games every month to Batam and JB and once or twice a year make the holy pilgrimage to Bintan to play especially at the very scenic Ria Bintan.
I went on to discover a great driver - the Nickent Genex 425 all for $250. This one was a bomber and I was out driving everyone such that by the back nine nobody else was using their own drivers. It kept my interest. It led me to explore irons, fairway woods, putters and later wedges and even much later balls. After buying what were apparently good clubs and even big name models somehow I seemed to get the wrong ones. Frustration and desperation set in and I vowed to get to the bottom of it all. I read golf magazines and I searched the Internet and I tried, test and bought some more clubs to learn and understand. I wanted to know and learn things that nobody tells you about not even on the Internet. If you were to browse through my archives you will find such nuggets.
If you ask a shop or your friends what is a suitable putter for you they will tell you it is personal. There is art and science in selecting a putter trust me. Reasons why you have a double-bent hosel, plumber neck, offset, center-shafted, mallets and so on. Then I studied the brands, the people who invented or designed the clubs, the materials used. The concepts like perimeter weighting, lighter shafts for faster swing speed, more or less spin, custom-fitting, etc. You can find them all in my previous articles. Right now I am still watching, learning as I play. As it is the knowledge part is better than the play. I could play a mean game but I need consistency and to get down to a lower digit preferably single so that I am not just a paper tiger and to walk the talk but I will continue to share all these with you.
So after 10-11 years of golf, I gave myself incentives to walk on like Johnny Walker still going strong. To walk on I need shoes and partly due to the old ones giving up, this Golfanniversary I have given myself two pairs to take me through 2011.
Footjoy Sports
Report card on these shoes after one round of golf. They are very well padded giving all round good support to the sole, heel, arch and around the foot. The sole is firm and you can walk on soft grass, thick rough or hard ground without feeling abused. I used to buy and wear normal and average golf shoes. Playing sports can cause problems to even normal people and once I had a spur which can cause extreme pain to your foot and this kind of thing can happen to people who play lots of sports or run and walk a lot.
I feel that these pair of Footjoy Sports with very solid sole support can help prevent that. At the usual retail price it was going for $243. I believed a newer model is being introduced so this very good pair can be had for $142. I found them at Golf House Suntec City. I encourage you to get them if you wish to keep your feet happy and joyful. Plus I was on par 3 and landed 15 feet away from the pin with the ball resting above feet. I took my 56 degrees sand wedge and chip it on and with a skid and a roll it rolled beautifully into the tin cup without touching the pin. Damn, these shoes are good!
Paradiso
Paradiso are golf products by Bridgestone of Japan and of course they make great vehicle tyres. They tend to make their golf bags and shoes designs quite stylishly and colourful. I have seen these shoes before but at $259 a pair I know some of us may only wish to buy one. Others may choose a golf club instead. The came in three colours - white with gold trimmings (Ah Beng) and black with silver trimmings (Ah Seng) and then green with yellow trims (who belongs to it?). Now I didn't choose it. Sometimes in life, when something is yours, it chooses you. It jumps up and says "Me! Me! Me!" The fact that everybody played safe and bought the white or black meant that the green and yellow has to be pout on sale sooner or later and that was what happened. It not only jumped at me to say "Me! Me!" It also jumped and said $99! $99! A fool and his money is soon parted.
Paradiso are golf products by Bridgestone of Japan and of course they make great vehicle tyres. They tend to make their golf bags and shoes designs quite stylishly and colourful. I have seen these shoes before but at $259 a pair I know some of us may only wish to buy one. Others may choose a golf club instead. The came in three colours - white with gold trimmings (Ah Beng) and black with silver trimmings (Ah Seng) and then green with yellow trims (who belongs to it?). Now I didn't choose it. Sometimes in life, when something is yours, it chooses you. It jumps up and says "Me! Me! Me!" The fact that everybody played safe and bought the white or black meant that the green and yellow has to be pout on sale sooner or later and that was what happened. It not only jumped at me to say "Me! Me!" It also jumped and said $99! $99! A fool and his money is soon parted.
The colour and texture is so nice that sometimes when you go hungry it may eat it. I had to put it to the test and soon enough wore it for action on a golf course. These shoes felt very comfortable throughout and whether you are walking on grass, concrete or any soft or hard ground it gives a natural soft feel. You do not feel a sense of any studs when you are walking but like your other kind of casual or sports shoes. The fact the Goodyear makes them means you cannot fail in the brakes department so you can stop in your track on demand.
I was told that the soles were made using tyre technology not that you can now do aqua-planing and water dispersion but they were made much more durable with the material used. Conventional thinking tells us that shoes with removable studs are better so that when the old ones are worn out you can replace them. I did that, got two boxes of studs and replaced for two pairs but while the studs are still relatively new the shoes went bonkers. The other great advantage is that you can wear them as casual shoes when you are out at the shopping malls or wear them at home and go straight onto the golf course without having to change again and later to wear them home since the soles are going to be that strong and lasting.
Now I am thinking of creating a clothes line where you can immediately convert from office attire to golf attire in a few seconds by pushing a button. The tie will become a cloth for cleaning your clubs and balls. This way, we shall all become operationally-ready. Golf bags in car and within six hours can gather and meet for a game at short notice. Don't laugh but as ready as you are do not make the same mistake as these fellows.
I must dare to dream. All great things were started with a small dream. I work hard for the money but I spend harder. Sometimes, we all wish that money will just fall from the sky...
On a serious note, I have been playing pretty well with the wedges but the irons' dispersion has not been as tight which led me to believe that I should explore using steel shafts for instant hit and better accuracy. Coming up by mid-year as a target.
Golf as in life, play as it lies.
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