Contents of a new book!

I received an email the other day that may be of interest to all of you golf fanatics! Within this blog post you will find the table of contents and probably a chapter that has caused you much anguish or discussion with your regular foursome or at home with your wife ;) Read on and enjoy!


Chapter 1 - How to Properly Line Up Your Fourth Putt.
Chapter 2 - How to Hit a Nike From the Rough, When you Hit a Titleist From the Tee.
Chapter 3 - How to Avoid the Water When You Lie 8 in a Bunker.
Chapter 4 - Ho to Get More Distance Off the Shank.
Chapter 5 - When to Give the Marshal the Finger.
Chapter 6 - Using Your Shadow on the Greens to Maximize Earnings.
Chapter 7 - When to Implement Handicap Management.
Chapter 8 - Proper Excuses for Drinking Beer Before 9:00 a.m.
Chapter 9 - How to Rationalize a 6 Hour Round.
Chapter 10 - When Does a Divot Become Classified as Sod.
Chapter 11 - How to Find That Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go into the Water.
Chapter 12 - Why Your Spouse Doesn't Care That You Birdied the 5th.
Chapter 13 - Using Curse Words Creatively to Control Ball Flight.
Chapter 14 - When to Let a Foursome Play Through Your Twosome.
Chapter 15 - How to Relax When You Are Hitting Five Off the Tee.
Chapter 16 - When to Suggest Major Swing Corrections for Your Opponent.
Chapter 17 - God and the Meaning of the Birdie-To-Bogie Three Putt.
Chapter 18 - When to Re-Grip your Ball Retriever (Must Read for Every Golf Course Marshal).
Chapter 19 - Throwing Your Clubs: An Effective Stress-Reducing Technique.
Chapter 20 - Can You Purchase a Better Golf Game?
Chapter 21 - Why Male Golfers Will Pay $7.00 a Beer from the Cart Girl and Give Her a $3 tip, but Will Balk at $4.50 at the 19th Hole and Stiff the Bartender.

This book is available in fine golf stores everywhere and can be located right next to the sleeves of golf balls that refuse to listen and are afraid of the dark. Enjoy your next round!!

"The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back into the bag."

~ Byron Nelson, former PGA Tour player

An interesting tib bit of information.

When I worked at the 2001 US Open players were complaining about some of the pin locations on Saturday, particularly the 18th. Tiger was asked about the fairness of the pins and he answered, "how can they be unfair if everyone is playing to the same hole?"

I have been asked numerous times about fair pin locations and my view is the same as the USGA's with similar guidelines. Please read below about how we try to manage our putting surfaces taking into account pace of play and that not everyone is a PGA Tour player., That being said oftem times the greens in the morning are not nearly as fast as later in the day after they have dried out and an extremely diffult pin can occassionally surface. We do our best to try to minimize these situations, but nobody is perfect because if we were there would be many more pars and birdies out there right ;) Enjoy!

Question: I've played a lot of golf courses and have seen hole locations all over the place. What is the USGA's recommendations regarding hole locations?

Answer: The USGA frequently receives requests for guidelines with respect to selection of hole locations on the putting greens, particularly during competitions. There are no rules regarding hole locations, so there is no such thing as an "illegal" hole location. However, we do have some guidelines.

Many factors affect selection of hole locations. The first and most important is good judgment in deciding what will give fair results. Do not be tricky in locating holes. There should be enough putting green surface between the hole and the front and the sides of the green to accommodate the required shot.

In any case, it generally is recommended that the hole be located at least five paces from any edge of the green. If a bunker is close to the edge, or if the ground slopes away from the edge, the distance should be greater, especially if the shot is more than a pitch.

An area two to three feet in radius around the hole should be as nearly level as possible and of uniform grade. A player above the hole should be able to stop the ball at the hole. Consider the condition of nearby turf, especially taking care to avoid old hole plugs that have not completely healed.

"When he gets the ball into a tough place, that's when he is most relaxed. I think it's because he has so much experience at it."

~Don Christopher, caddy for Jack Lemmon

Golf: It's not just a game

Click on the link below to see how the golf industry is an important player in our nations (world) economy as well as briefly touching on how golf courses can contribute to environental sustainability.

Golf Course Industry : Golf: It's not just a game

"Eighteen holes of match ply will teach you more about your foe than nineteen years of dealing with him across the desk."
~Grantland Rice, sports columnist

The 90 degree rule - what is it?

I was in the golf shop the other day and overheard a customer asking one of our assistant pro's about the 90 degree rule. Tom did a fantastic job of explaining to the customer how this rule worked and thought I would take the time right now to explain the rule again.

There is an old joke that goes, "You want to know about the 90 degree rule? Well it's nowhere near that hot so don't worry about it!" This is not exactly the rule that we are talking about.

The 90 degree rule refers to cart traffic. The 90-Degree Rule is something golf courses may put into place when they want to allow the convenience of golf carts but minimize the impact of those carts on the golf course.

When the 90-Degree Rule is in effect, golfers are required to keep carts on the cart path until they are even with a golf ball on the golf course. Only then should the cart leave the path, turning sharply (90 degrees) to drive straight across to the golf ball. After playing the shot, the cart should be driven directly back to the cart path, then remain on the path until pulling even with another ball. In this manner, golfers have the convenience of carts but damage to the course is minimized.

The above picture depicts a golf hole and the location of two golf shots indicated by the #1 and #2 in the black circles. The two lines indicate how the driving style of a cart correctly follow the 90 degree rule (red line) and incorrectly follows the rule thus causing damage to the turf and ultimately poor lies (black line).

The 90-Degree Rule is permanenty in effect at many courses; at others, it will be put into effect following rains or when course conditions warrant. Look for signs near the first tee that might indicate whether the condition is in effect, or ask in the pro shop.

Even when the 90-Degree Rule is not in effect at a course, it's a good practice to follow because it helps maintain a healthier turf.

Frost Damage...not just a myth!

You may recall the following picture from last year as it indicates how many footprints or steps that a single foursome creates by walking across a single green. Do you remember the answer?

? 240 steps per foursome per green!

Now the title of the post is frost damage and something about not being a myth. A number of weeks ago we experienced some low temperatures here on the Central Coast and some mornings it was even in the upper 20's. BRRR! (We are spoiled here) Frost had set up on the courses and we issued frost delays to help protect the turf. The next few photos show why we ask that golfers remain patient and not step onto the turf while we are experiencing this natural phenomenon.

This is a view of the first tee box at Dairy Creek Golf Course. Do you notice anything unusual? Maybe a different angle will help.

How about now? It nearly looks like a misapplication of herbicide like RoundUp.

A closer look reveals that these are in the shape of footprints and that would be correct. It appears that an individual took a stroll across the frost covered tee to have a look or stretch his/her legs before their round while waiting for the delay to be lifted.

These photos were taken the following morning once the damage was noticable and permanent. Nearly one month later these footprints are still visable and will be until the turf fills in because this damage caused death to these plants by crushing the cell structure inside of the leaf tissue, thus halting photsynthesis and energy production.

As golf course superintendents we realize how important this game is to the golfers and it is our intention to get you onto the course as soon as it is safe. But how damaging would this have been if this were a green? Schedules are important, but sometimes Mother Nature has her own thoughts and we beg you to understand the delays while we wait for warmer temps.

Happy Golfing!