Challenge of Late (as in age)

[RFKFREAK]

Hi RFK,

Where near Albany do you live? I am in Clifton Park, just north of Albany, and I hadn't been playing for recreation in this, my first year playing, only in preparation for my Pebble Beach round. So I was strictly practicing, and a couple of par-three courses near my house: Barney Road, and Mill Road Acres, do the trick. They each only have a couple of par-four holes, but I have no trouble with my drives, so I don't need much practice with my driver. Barney beguiles players with its signature and very difficult "target" greens, on which sometimes you might have a two-foot putt for a birdie, but you miss it because of the steep slope, and your ball rolls off the green, resulting in a double bogie. Very frustrating, but it makes playing on regular greens, such as those at Pebble Beach, a breeze (pun partially intended). My best score at Mill Road was my last this fall, when I shot just one stroke over par for nine (and that frustrating fault stemmed from having no club between a five-iron and driver, so I came up a little short on a long par-three hole). That kind of short-course practicing is happily paying off. And for a playing field that requires a lot of driving, so I don't lose the ability, I occasionally play at Fairwinds of Halfmoon, which is a long, challenging regulation course.

My wife and I also own a lake house in the Adirondack Park (called a camp, there), and I do play on regular courses in that park; but it is probably too far north for you to travel. The courses in the mountains are magnificently beautiful; and one in particular, the Ausable Club, among the high peaks, can be a bucket-list course because of its spectacular scenery. But it's private, and exclusive, except during the month of October, when they permit the unwashed to play, because most of the members have probably migrated to Palm Beach by then. That might be something you could set your sights on when you have all day.

But I have your handle and will check back with you when I return to Albany in the spring to see if you want to play a round on some good course you have found, or one we could both try for the first time.

Covert

I'm in Albany about 10 minutes north of Capital Hills off 85.

I've never played either Barney Road or Mill Road Acres.  The only executive course I've played around here is Hiawatha Trails.  For what it is, you get good value from the place.

I played Fairways of Halfmoon just once and it was about three months ago.  Very nice course but the walk from the end of the 14th hole and then the uphill walk of the 15th hole is just brutal.  That hole is roughly 40 yards uphill and I'm not in the best of shape.  Seeing that, my buddy and I let a twosome that were riding play through while we rested b/c we knew it was going to be a pain to walk that hole.

Let me know when you get back in town and I'll meet up with you and play a round!

[NJpatbee]

Welcome to TST and to the game of golf!  It certainly sounds like you are a natural to be at the level you are after 1 year - I have never been lower than a 15 handicap and started playing about 23 years ago.

I am not a doctor of any type but I am  63 and do have a bad back with a certain amount of degeneration in my lower spine.  I would encourage you to expand on the idea of adapting your swing  to compensate for issues caused by the back.  I know you are hitting your driver well, and so was I but about 2 years ago eveything off the tee was going  short and right.  The root cause was that I could no longer clear my hips fast enough to square the clubface in time.  I started moving the ball forward on the tee to the point where it is just forward of my left toe (I am a righty) and I am now hitting my drives as long as I ever did.  Bottom line, get creative as the body changes and you will be playing well for many years to come.

Best of luck with your goals for golf and enjoy yourself along the way!

[dfreuter415]

Thanks 415. I couldn't see your name anywhere to use.

I do use your techniques, exactly as you outlined them, and I am happy to see we concur. And I do hit around the green. But I want to hit onto the green, otherwise I usually suffer a bogie, and sometimes even worse.  My tactic, then, is spending 90% of my practice time on fairway iron type shots, at the driving range.  If I miss the greens in a game, I just chalk up the bad score.

Hi Covert,

I am here to tell you that if you hit it near the green in regulation, you can have a single digit handicap. Since you've indicated that your putting is good, I will share a couple of articles by Greg Norman that I have used over the years to help my short game.

In the first article Norman has a drill where he tosses the balls with his hand from around the green, rather than using a golf club. I've practiced this technique and believe it gives you quite a bit of touch using different ball flights.   http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson36.php

The second article Norman advocates using different clubs, depending on the situation. I have used this mind set, and feel it has saved me many, many strokes over the years. http://www.shark.com/sharkwatch/instruction/lesson41.php

Best wishes on developing your short game.

[Parker0065]

Welcome Covert.

There are a few of us Capitol Area guy's around here. I'm up in Saratoga and play mostly up here, Airway Meadows, Saratoga State Park, Saratoga National(once or twice a year). My teenage son works at McGregor Links and gets to play there about anytime he wants but I'm not a member.

I've played Pebble back in the 90's and you can't help but love that place. I was stationed in the Monterrey Peninsula then and got to play a lot of great courses in that area.

Your never too old to take up the game and your never too old to set goals so keep pushing forward!

Good Luck and play well!

[RFKFREAK]

Welcome Covert. There are a few of us Capitol Area guy's around here. I'm up in Saratoga and play mostly up here, Airway Meadows, Saratoga State Park, Saratoga National(once or twice a year). My teenage son works at McGregor Links and gets to play there about anytime he wants but I'm not a member. I've played Pebble back in the 90's and you can't help but love that place. I was stationed in the Monterrey Peninsula then and got to play a lot of great courses in that area. Your never too old to take up the game and your never too old to set goals so keep pushing forward! Good Luck and play well!

Another Capitolregioner; nice!

[Covert]

Hi again, 415. I have never actually calculated a handicap, and I don't yet even know how. I had to put a number down in order to get on this forum, so I picked 16 based on the fact that for the biggest part of this first year (yes, beginning at 70) I shot scores of around four below bogie for 18. However, most of my play was on a course with impossible target greens, where I often 3-putted. When I moved to a course with regular greens I almost never putted worse than twice on a hole, so my scores in the late season were better, at the end approaching par, but that could have been an anomaly. We'll see this winter.

I know a lot of what I say sounds, or is, braggadocio. But it's a fact that I am strong and have athletic genes (my father was a world-class, national record-holding athlete) and I have the financial resources and unlimited time (no close family - and no kids - besides my wife, who also has no family) to practice, play (wintering on a golf course), and take lessons every day if I want to, and I am devoting a lot of time toward this quest (for the pure hell of it) of shooting very well (once in a while - again, my strategy is to ignore bad scores, so I can put almost all my focus and energy into mastering iron approach shots). Also, having plastic and metal for joints gives me an unfair advantage of being somewhat bionic by implanting the fluidity of a young man.

And I believe there is (psychic) magic in my Covert clubs, a Godsend, so to speak. My fear of losing them on plane trip is approaching neurosis. :)

[Covert]

Thanks a lot for these videos. I am a proponent of orthogonal approaches to improvement, which the ball tossing certainly represents. I'll try it. And I have adopted the strategy of a seven iron for most chips.

[Covert]

Thanks, NJ. As bad as my back is, it doesn't seem to bother my drive. Having bionic hips seems to be the key to enough rotation. I have found that the torso rotating machine at my gym has strengthened the small amount of rotation I still have in my back so that I have a pretty good snap. I could drive further, I'm sure, if my back twisted and coiled more, but I drive far enough to reach greens in regulation. The big problem with my bad back, though, as I mentioned, is that different spasms on different days result in small changes in my natural swing, which translate into bigger variations with regard to where the ball lands.

[Covert]

RFK, I made the mistake of walking Fairways after being paired with two guys in a cart. Part of the reason I took up golf is for the cardiovascular exercise, so I try not to take a cart, not even a pull cart; I carry. I had to run a lot of the time to keep up and some of those hills almost killed me.

[dfreuter415]

RFK, I made the mistake of walking Fairways after being paired with two guys in a cart. Part of the reason I took up golf is for the cardiovascular exercise, so I try not to take a cart, not even a pull cart; I carry. I had to run a lot of the time to keep up and some of those hills almost killed me.

You 'da man, especially at age 71!  What really gets under my skin are kids riding in a cart on walkable course. Not only do they miss out on the health benefits, but in my opinion, the aesthetics of golf are enhanced when you walk.

I appreciate you carrying the bag, because of the resistance, but it's no crime to get a pull-push cart. I still carry quite a few times every season, but I also have a 3 wheeled cart that saves some wear and tear on my back. (I, too, have back issues, since my mid-20's.)

I love this game!

[RFKFREAK]

You 'da man, especially at age 71!  What really gets under my skin are kids riding in a cart on walkable course. Not only do they miss out on the health benefits, but in my opinion, the aesthetics of golf are enhanced when you walk.

I appreciate you carrying the bag, because of the resistance, but it's no crime to get a pull-push cart. I still carry quite a few times every season, but I also have a 3 wheeled cart that saves some wear and tear on my back. (I, too, have back issues, since my mid-20's.)

I love this game!

That's just silly.  Unless they're doing something stupid with the cart like driving it on the greens then what does it matter what their reason is for riding a cart.  People golf for different reasons and whereas maybe the health benefits and the aesthetics of golf are important to you, others might just want to go to out on the course with their buddies to have a few drinks and hit some balls.

[Parker0065]

Another Capitolregioner; nice!

If you and Covert have walked Halfmoon I give you guy's a lot of credit. I've played out there a couple times in the fall when they have their lunch/cart specials. Yes that #15 is a real uphill monster! It's like your trying to hit a ball up Mt. Marcy, lol!

I normally walk all season and I'm use to walking hilly courses like my home course at Airway. It's amazing when I play Saratoga State Park it literally is an easy walk in the park(no pun intended). That course is very walker friendly and my legs stay fresh all the way to the 18th hole.

Maybe next season we could get a few Capitol Area guys together and have a little outing or something. I know you said your close to Capitol Hills and I absolutely love that place. If I lived in Albany it would be my home base for sure and I try to get out there a couple times a year. My son won the NENY Junior Tour event there this year so it's one of his favorites as well.

For now, it's golf-dome, golf-forums, and golf-tv until the spring,,,,,it's going to be a long winter, lol!

[Covert]

Parker, is that the Latham Dome pictured for your avatar? I have been utilizing the Latham dome since the snow set in. I think that might be the hanging dartboard-like target I see in the picture. It's a great target for practice, and frustrating. I can nail it three times in a row and then not be able to hit it in the course of the next five shots. My seven-iron affords the best trajectory for it; it's easy to go over or under.

The Latham dome also has a simulator, and I am curious as to how accurately they measure driving distance. A pro who was practicing on it let me take a drive. My ball supposedly carried 241 yards and rolled another 15 for a total distance of 256 yards, which would be good enough for me, if it's anything near reality.

What other domes in the Capital Area do you know of? And are there any with ranges longer than 100 yards? For those who haven't hit in short domes, you can still practice all your shots, but except for chips and short pitches, you have to watch where the ball hits the "wall" to know if the shot was decent.

[Covert]

I think 415's comment would have been fine if he just left it that seeing young people in carts gets under his skin, without any implication that kids should behave differently, for their health or any other reason, putting aside the fractions of taxes and insurance premiums that go toward patching up preventable health crises. Certainly there are different strokes for different folks. It bothers me also, aesthetically, to see any able-bodied person using a cart, similar to how seeing people wearing T-shirts and shorts in fine restaurants lessens my dining experience. Some of us are just traditionalists in our tastes, and we can be free to express our tastes and thereby form comradeship with like-minded traditionalists.

The folks in the pro shop at Pebble Beach told me the staff discourages the use of carts on that beautiful course, I would guess for aesthetic reasons, but there may be others.

[RFKFREAK]

If you and Covert have walked Halfmoon I give you guy's a lot of credit. I've played out there a couple times in the fall when they have their lunch/cart specials. Yes that #15 is a real uphill monster! It's like your trying to hit a ball up Mt. Marcy, lol! I normally walk all season and I'm use to walking hilly courses like my home course at Airway. It's amazing when I play Saratoga State Park it literally is an easy walk in the park(no pun intended). That course is very walker friendly and my legs stay fresh all the way to the 18th hole. Maybe next season we could get a few Capitol Area guys together and have a little outing or something. I know you said your close to Capitol Hills and I absolutely love that place. If I lived in Albany it would be my home base for sure and I try to get out there a couple times a year. My son won the NENY Junior Tour event there this year so it's one of his favorites as well. For now, it's golf-dome, golf-forums, and golf-tv until the spring,,,,,it's going to be a long winter, lol!

I'd be down to do a Capitol region outing but you'd have top convince @colin007 to join us as he's my chauffeur. ;) I was planning on playing Saratoga State Park. I played Rockland State Park this year and it was awful. I think that experience shy'd me away from playing at State Park courses. [quote name="Covert" url="/t/78559/challenge-of-late-as-in-age/0_100#post_1085197"]I think 415's comment would have been fine if he just left it that seeing young people in carts gets under his skin, without any implication that kids should behave differently, for their health or any other reason, putting aside the fractions of taxes and insurance premiums that go toward patching up preventable health crises. Certainly there are different strokes for different folks. It bothers me also, aesthetically, to see any able-bodied person using a cart, similar to how seeing people wearing T-shirts and shorts in fine restaurants lessens my dining experience. Some of us are just traditionalists in our tastes, and we can be free to express our tastes and thereby form comradeship with like-minded traditionalists. The folks in the pro shop at Pebble Beach told me the staff discourages the use of carts on that beautiful course, I would guess for aesthetic reasons, but there may be others. [/quote] Different strokes move the world. I prefer seeing men wear a collared shirt or polo and either shorts or khakis and whereas I don't like seeing people wearing jeans while playing golf, if the course allows it I can either not play there or deal with it.

[colin007]

Couple of things. Al of which are of course gospel because they are my opinion. 1) young, fit guys driving carts on a dead flat course (town of colonie, stadium, Saratoga spa...) irks me too. Not "real" golfers. 2) no jeans on the course unless it's winter play 3) I've walked Fairways of Halfmoon also, I'll never do it again. The climb up 15 was like the Bataan death march. 4) I would love to do a capital region golf get together with y'all. 5) @Covert for real you're shooting near par after one year of play?

[Covert]

Thanks, Colin. But I want to stress that my near par outings represent just a couple of last rounds. I am practicing at least four times a week indoors and will await Florida at the end of January to find out what I can shoot on a consistent basis, and I will report back honestly, since I've spouted off about my early success.

That would be great if a couple or a few of us here can get together for a round or two - or more - in the spring.