CoachB25

Entered the last week of the regular season on Monday. It was also Senior Night. Typically, it is a great night for us and did end good. However, it was a rough start. One of my seniors was pulled over driving to our course and had 3 other players in her car. While she was given a warning, they got to our course late and so, were rushed to get dressed and on the course. Naturally, she was shaken up. My #1 was again medalist but we shot the worst score we have shot on they year. We shot a 215 and that is terrible. We lost to both opponents we played that night and have beaten both by 20 this year. Today was our conference tournament. It is held at a very tough course for girls, has a lot of sand and water and trees. My #4 who is really my #3 but I defer to an older girl at #3 could not play since she was rushed to the emergency room. She is very sick. Anyway, my #1 shot a 77 on a windy cold day and was Medalist. She out shot the next competitor by 11 strokes. Her round was one of the most amazing rounds I've seen. Our conference is very competitive in girl's golf and yet, the #1s from all the other teams could not keep up with her. My #2 was also All Conference. From there, we were terrible but in line with the other girls. Still, when you are missing the young lady that has been averaging 94 per 18 holes, you are not going to win. We didn't. Regional Tournament next. It is on our home course BUT we never get to play those holes. We have 27 Holes and so, never are allowed on the first 18 due to league play. I am hoping we get to play those holes now in practice since league is over. Finally, Senior Night is a celebration of our Seniors. The other girls bought them some very nice gifts. It was also my birthday. They got me an extremely nice Triad Golf Jacket. I needed it today since we were in the mid 60s with a very hard wind. I am so blessed to get to be their coach.

My wife and I saved, worked hard and dreamed of our perfect home. We built it 5 years ago. It is the best thing we have done. Everything is exactly how we wanted it. Recently, we were shocked at our huge energy bill. It was $110. LOL Our old house was easily $300+ all the time. We had geothermal heating/cooling built in. Our home is energy efficient in every way. If I might, create a "list" to do as you walk around your house. There is always some work to do. If you break it down into small pieces and plan accordingly, it can be fun doing some of it. I just re stained the back deck and stairs. I planned for it, got my mind right, and got it done. Now, I walk out there and am so proud of how it looks. We started a strawberry patch. It is fun but also requires work. Our neighbors are thankful that we did as they get some of the strawberries. Finally, I don't know whether you have a potential water problem with the house. If so, make sure you have a backup sump pump. We do and it works. Noting is worse than having a sump pump go out in the middle of a week of rain.

I play a majority of my rounds on one course. There are a lot of benefits not the least of which is that I get to pick my hours when I know that play is less and so, I can take my time. I walk the course and so, don't want to hinder any cart member's rounds. I love the fact that I trust the distances of the various markers on my course and so, I can practice exact distances with my irons. We have water, sand, uphill and downhill holes, ... and so I get to practice a variety of shots. I love the fact that my home course has a links style back nine and so, I get a good mix each round. We also have another 9 that is just hard. That is where my HS Team plays. It can be narrow. There are trees everywhere. You have several creeks to cross and the rough is real rough. I like to go down there at times when I know I'm going to play in a tournament. One drawback to my home course is that the putting greens are a little "shaggier" than other courses in the heat of the summer. The Head Groundskeeper leaves them longer or "shaggier" and, as far as I know, he has not lost a green in the 30 years I've been a member. If I play in a scramble or tournament at another course, I have to constantly remind myself about speed.

My #1 shot a 37 tonight and my#2 shot a 39. They both battled and made some great shots. My #1 drove a ball over a green on a Par 4 and into a pond. I don't know the exact distance she hit that ball but it was breathtaking. She has to be one of the longest hitters in this state. My #2 worked hard for that 39 and was almost crying she was so happy. She has been struggling for her expectations and so, has been 45 almost all year. She shot a 40 Wednesday night and now this. The problem is, my next score that I had to count was a 55. So, we lose again to two teams that we usually beat. One by one stroke and one by 4. One week left in the regular season.

Another update. This has been one of the toughest, if not the toughest, years I have coached. We are not only going to have my first losing season in any sport I've coached, we aren't close. I've been the head coach in 4 sports and have a few hundred wins in most of those sports. Recently, in a 9 hole match, our scoring went 35, 42, 47, 67. Yes, 67! I have 4 players who have never golfed before and have my #3 injured. She can barely walk around school now. My 4th score has been anywhere between 62 to 72. I have 4 players I've tried to get into that slot but none can produce and I understand. Not one of them played a round of golf prior to trying out. My one softball player who I asked to tryout is the silver lining in this debacle. She is actually shooting in the low 50s and high 40s. She had never played a round of golf until I asked her to go out. Now, she has a Titlist Hat she wears around, a 3 wheel pull cart and new clubs. If my #3 could have toughed it out some we would have turned the corner. Still, I know she is hurt and so that is how it goes. We have a "Par 3 Tournament" we play in every year. Our players get so excited to play in it. My #1 shot a 4 over 58 while taking a double on her first hole. We had transportation problems and so, got to the event just in time to get our hole assignments and get out on the course. Everyone was in a rush. I am so proud of her and how she responded after that start. My #2 shot a 63. From there it was ugly but we placed in the upper half of the tournament teams. I don't know if I've mentioned our traditions. Every new player has to sing on the bus/suv for the team. It is a riot and we all join in singing with them after they get it started. So, when we got on the bus, the last young lady to sing for the team got her singing in after the match. It is so much fun doing this and everyone has such a blast. Naturally, they get to pick the song. We have places we stop to eat. One is a place I went to as a kid. They are famous for being an old Rock and Roll Diner. Though the music no longer is played, we have car hops bring our food and I turn on a Golden Oldie station and we rock. It is pretty much the same atmosphere as them singing on the bus and I sing for them despite being horrible. It is a good time for them to laugh at me and for us to bond as a team. We have 2 weeks left in the season now. To this point, we have had 1 article put in our local newspaper about our team. I wrote it. I asked that we get some coverage when I submitted that article. I will write up another article this weekend and hope that it gets put in the paper. What a shame it is that these young ladies can't get press clippings on their efforts. I hope you all don't find this thread a waste of bandwidth. I wanted to give you all an idea of what it is like to coach the sport at the HS level.

Thank you for the compliment. I've found that any coach that thinks success is about them either hasn't coached long enough or is blind. The kids always make the coach. I have been so blessed to get kids that want to work hard. We have gone through so many buckets of balls now. In fact, I have one more range card left for my year. I am going to have to buck up some out of the pocket but that is the nature of HS sports now. Budget cuts everywhere and in all sports. This was a very tough week. My #3 and now #5 are down. We lost to two teams this week that we should have beaten. We only won one this past week. We enter another tough week and our schedule will only get tougher. Our #1 is still scoring well enough to medal in every match but Tuesday will be a real tough match. We play a team that has to be in the top 5 in the state and has won 2 tournaments this season. Then we play on a course where there are few flat lies as the course is uphill, downhill, and every type of angle with the ball above or below your foot. It is a great home course advantage for the home team. Then, we play in a huge tournament at The Woodlands. Go online and take a look at that course. It is a good measure of golf. Without #3 and #5, this will be a very tough day and I hope none of the young players quit. As it looks now, this will be the first losing season I've had as the Girl's Golf Coach.

I have taught and coached for 30 years. Anyone who doesn't think that times and how children have been raised have not changed is not dealing in reality. When I first started teaching, when Jon Jon got a "D," the parent was angry at Jon Jon. Now, it is the teacher's fault for not identifying Jon Jon's special needs. In coaching, when a player messed up or the team, they ran. Now, you can get fired for that in many school districts. I know one former player who became a coach who was fired for making her volleyball team run laps around her high school. (She played basketball for me.) She could not believe it that she was fired. That is a sign of the times. One former baseball player worked in a very small school district. He refused to accept that his small school could not compete with much bigger schools and so changed his schedule. When they didn't win 20 games due to the tougher schedule, he was let go as a coach but was still able to teacher in the district. His team won a regional title. The replacement coach won 20 when they returned to the old schedule. He has still not won a regional title and that was 4 years ago. I am now the JV softball coach. I used to be the Head Coach but resigned to watch my daughter play softball in college. When I was hired to do the JV, it was made abundantly clear that I could no longer coach as I once did. The helicopter parents are everywhere and in every sport. This past week in a golf match, I saw a parent drive across a fairway to tell his daughter to tell the person who was keeping her card that she misreported a score for a hole and to reduce the number she reported. He did that with me, a coach sitting there. This is a disqualification. He was furious that I would mention it. He thinks it is alright for all parents to intervene in matches. As per the "Adult" issue, there is a vast difference between being what I call a "biological" and a parent. I raised my child to take care of herself and not depend upon anyone. When competing, I told her if she wanted to beat me at something then do it but I won't let her win. I taught her how to stand up for herself to the point of being able to throw blows and out shoot anyone else around. Through softball, she played the best around and played "up" starting at 12U. By the time she was 13, she was playing 18U. Parents need to let their child fail and then be there to catch them. They need to believe in the abilities that the child has and encourage them to push themselves. Well, I could go on and on and apologize for rambling.

I like to walk and rarely use a cart. My #1 pet peeve when playing with others that walk is golfers walking backwards (via course progression) to get their pull carts or bags. Bring those carts/bags with you, put them to the right as you play the ball, then take them along to the green. Once at the green, walk them to half of the green and set them closer to the departure point heading to the next tee box. One other is a saying I teach my girls. "First in tends the pin." (Pulled pin laying on the green.) If a foursome would do that and have the pin ready to be replaced and the foursome able to leave the green quickly, it makes for a smoother, faster round of golf.

Another update. We had a match tonight that is about an hour away. I drove through heavy rain and hail to get to the match. It was raining when we got off the bus. It was raining during the rules meeting. It was raining as we teed off. So, I guess you all have gotten the idea that it was raining. In fact, at times, it was really pouring. My #1 struggled some and was not feeling well. My #2 was shooting par. That's amazing in these conditions. My #3 was shooting better than bogey golf which, again was amazing in these conditions. Now for the shocker, my #4, #5 and #6 were all just over the pace for bogey golf. While all of you might think that it is dumb that I am so excited, that's outstanding for my young team when 4 of my 8 came into this year having never played 9 holes. My #1 and #2 had just finished their 5th holes when the lightening came out with a pretty good display. So, everyone was called in and with the lightening and rain, the match was halted. We were ahead of the other teams as I went player to player for how they were doing. Still, I am so proud of them. This was a great effort in seriously bad conditions. When my drenched crew got on our bus, one young sophomore said, "Coach, attitude is everything." She said that she decided that if she was going to play in a rain like that, she was going to do well.

High School Golf is in the fall in Illinois. That means that the regional, sectional and state series are all in October. That can get a little tricky sometimes. For example, my #1 made it state last year where we had 30-40 mph winds both days. As all of you know, leaves falling on some of these course can make finding a ball almost impossible. The people who prepare and work these various sites have always done such an outstanding jobs getting everything ready. Per this year, we have been rained out of two tournaments. That is a serious hit in our schedule. One of my seniors remarked yesterday that we will go from major heat (100+heat index) to finishing the season in sleeves and wind gear.

Correction. She used a 9 iron. She sent me a text correcting this for the newspaper.

Our home course is Oak Brook Golf Club north east of Edwardsville. Edwardsville, Metro Lutheran, and Triad play there as their home course. The tournament that I mentioned previously in this thread is in Lebanon. It is the course for McKendree University. I had to log on as soon as I got home for this update. My #1 had her second Hole In One as a Knight tonight. She used a pitching wedge on the 128 yard Par 3 Hole 26. I have been able to see both. She was given her plaque tonight since the Owner/Club Pro was there as well. It was really exciting.

Hey all, we are off and running. My #1 shot a 79 at a collegiate course where we played the "white tee positions" for the majority of the tournament. She was working on an exceptional round when she triple bogeyed hole 18. She is real long off of the tee. She is rock solid on the green. Word is finally out there about her and I've worked hard at getting her name in front of college coaches. After this showing (2nd) she has received 5 emails from 5 colleges this week. Tonight, she shot par on our home course. That is a great feat since our course was under water a week ago. The fairways are not good and there is now a lot of standing water and GUR. The next golfer was 5 shots behind and she is the #1 for a traditionally state ranked team. Unfortunately, the rest of my team didn't do so well. We play tomorrow again. It will be a major chore. These mosquitoes are gigantic. I have welts all over me and I sprayed a couple of times. My #2 shot a 51 and looks like she has hives. Her mosquito repellent can was empty and I didn't know it until she was on hole #5. She said that she was playing in a cloud of mosquitoes. Tonight, I had my wife go buy new Deep Woods Off for every player. We will put a can in each player's bag. I've never seen anything like this but the corn fields around the course are all still under water. Some Notes: My golfers have a hard time learning how to line up their shots. We work on various things but it doesn't sink in for some time. My players have swings that are too long. Most look like John Daley and so, I have to help them control that back swing better. We spend a lot of time working on putting and we putted really well tonight. The problem is, we didn't get off the tee box in good fashion due to alignment. We have trouble everywhere and our course is very tight. My softball player turned golfer as a favor to me will play as #4 tomorrow. She has played golf for exactly 2 weeks now. We have trees everywhere. I have to teach all of my players how to hit stingers low and long. I have three players that can do so and draw the ball doing it. We shot a 205 as a team tonight. That isn't very good. Tomorrow, we have to do a lot better. (We still beat a couple of teams since the conditions were so bad. It was also 100+ heat index)

First, 8 positives to 1 very bad negative work for my players. My clubs simply don't understand that. My 3 wood (War Bird) and 7 iron (Callaway) have been asked to show the way but the other clubs refuse to follow suit. The putter which is a long putter, is the most rebellious. I've tried to reassure my long putter that I'm using the Grandfather law for old geezers to continue using it although it still feels like I'm going back to the old Zebra Putter. Anyway, for punishment, I let my new golfers, who have never golfed, use them during our open day for any players who might consider trying out for golf but who don't own clubs. That typically makes them stand up and take notice. Almost always they do better for a few days afterwards.

I like playing The Woodlands. It has enough easy holes to make the average golfer enjoy their round and then it has a couple of holes that will bust your chops.

I won't be able to attend. When I am in season, it is almost impossible to do anything else but coach and teach. Good luck to everyone. I forgot to mention that my golf team is in a tournament on that date at The Woodlands in Alton. Take care, Darrell Butler

Update. Our course has been under water as we received over 7 inches of rain and the creek that runs through the East 9 was way over its bank. Of the 9 holes, 6 were 4 feet or more under water. We have been rained out of every tournament and match so far. It is almost impossible to practice. Yesterday, we went to a Tee Box on Hole 25 and worked on Teeing off with 7 irons up to 3 woods. If we tried to use a driver, at least two of my girls would be in the water and both were with their 3 woods with a couple of balls. Today was a great practice. We alternate players through the driving range and the practice green. There are 3 schools that use this course as a home course so, there are HS Golfers everywhere and so getting on the practice green and/or driving range is almost impossible since we also have public golfing the opne 18 holes that aren't under water. The owner of the course came over and watched my 3 freshman and 1 soph that have never played and was so impressed in the progress that they have made given the conditions. He is in his mid 70s. He asked if I would mind if he worked with 2 of my new golfers. Heck no. He is a teaching pro but is so busy with the course that his son, who is also a teaching pro, does most of the teaching. He called two girls over that he was impressed with, took them over to the side of the range, moved other HS kids out of the way and gave both of them a lesson. I sat back and was so impressed at how they listened and how much fun he was having. Everyone knows my kids can't afford lessons and come to me without knowing anything. These two young ladies ate this up and he was laughing a lot with them as they worked. Long story short, when he was done, he mentioned how much he missed doing that and that he'd like to work with them again. This family that allows so many HS kids to use their course are some of the nicest people I know and here he is going out of his way again for the benefit of kids he didn't even know. What a great day of practice! We can't practice tomorrow due to course limitations and have a tournament Saturday. The forecast is for Thunderstorms.

Anthony, I don't have a smart phone. I am not the type of person who wants one. I text my wife and child and teams. The school system made a rule that all coaches have to have a phone. I have the phone my daughter used in 7th grade. She is 23 now.

I have never watched the show but grew up with enough murders for a lifetime. I grew up in a real bad place. Here is what I know about some of the murders I grew up with. You can't figure them out. They don't act rational. Also, some have, as they say in a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, the smell of death is around them. Here is one case from the area I grew up in. Karla Brown was about as nice of a person as you could ever meet. https://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/monsters-among-us-john-n-prante-convicted-of-killing-karla-brown-sentenced-to-75-years-in-prison/

I had been using an Excel Spreadsheet. However, our school has switched over to Google. So, even though it is simple enough to convert those excel documents from excel to Google, the switch over has caused some major problems. My pages don't match up in length etc. I went to change the margins both top and bottom and side and it is simply a mess. When I posted this thread last night, I was at my wits end trying to get stuff to line up and fit the printout as it did in excel. I know that there has to be a way to do all of it. I simply am not, at this time, adept at the google stuff. Therefore, if some had an actual program, they are allowing up to upload approved programs. BTW, our tech department removed all hard drives from every computer in school so that we won't have access to Microsoft programs. Google is our only option unless we buy a program, get it approved and then have the tech people install. This is a radical change for our school system but is said to save us a lot of money.

I have been offered a "free" scoring program from a friend who has purchased a scoring program for his HS. I just can't do that. I don't know if any of you coach a team but I need something that I can track a season for 8 to 10 golfers. We don't hold a tournament so I don't need the ability to keep track of that many players. If needs to be somewhat simple as I am simple minded. If there are free programs out there that you know of, I'd like to check them out. Naturally, if you know of some programs that are inexpensive for what I need, I'd consider that as well. I just can't spend that much money out of my pocket for some of the online download programs that are too complex for what I need. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance.

Her playing partner in Junior's Match insisted that she violated the rules. I hand each of my players a couple of handout on the rules but, to be sure, one handy thing I try to get for them is, The Rules Caddie which is a nice concise booklet that they can carry in their bags. She went through the booklet and the other handouts I give them and could not find any rule that she had violated. Still, she was so panicked at state when she picked up that leaf, to be honest, she has started really questioning herself on the rules.

After wrapping up practice tonight, a parent came to me with a situation that happened to his daughter this summer playing Junior Golf. She was under some trees. She took practice swings outside the limb coverage area, walked inside, shortened her swing and hit a decent punch shot out. However, she did hit tree limbs on the follow through. She was told she should assess herself a penalty. I asked her to clarify. I asked if she hit any limbs, did any leaves fall, did she break any limb or growing portion of that tree on her back-swing. She said she did not and only hit the tree on the follow through. I asked if this might have had anything to do with bending or breaking a club. She said she only hit "soft limbs" and barely at that since she hit a punch shot. What am I missing here? I don't see a penalty. This is the same young lady that innocently picked a leaf out of a bunker in the state tournament last year and had that look of embarrassment knowing what she did.

Update again. We had a volleyball/softball athlete call tonight and say that she is coming out. So, we will have 8 golfers. Today, it was very hot and so, we had to operate under a heat warning. That means we have to monitor the players, carry cold water around and cut rounds short. My players didn't want their rounds cut short until we got down into the bottoms of our course. It was like a sauna. Sweat just poured off of me and I was only coaching. Heat index, or so I was told was 112 were we were. With two 18 hole tournaments coming up next week, it hurt some that we can only get in 9 holes each day. Still, all of the other schools are in the same situation so it all balances out. If you all don't mind, I wouldn't mind keeping this thread going so you can all get a sense of what HS girl's golf is like in my area. Edited to add: Erik, I used that drill I private messaged you about today. My one girl who has never done anything golf related started crying when she hit the 100 yard sign. It was so neat. To you, that drill might look silly and I'm sure you have much better ways to get stuff done. For me, a coach who has to be a swing coach even though I am not, it is really rewarding to see these players listen, try, fail and then have success. Take care, Darrell

I wanted to give an update. Today started rough with a couple of coaches, who are good guys, texting and calling me about my numbers and matches. One didn't want to play if we didn't have enough. One very thoughtful coach from a larger school asked me to let him know about numbers and he would loan me two players for a scramble that we kick the season off with each year. This match really isn't a match but more of a social function where our girls network with players from other schools, see who is going where for college and really have a great time. They also get fed at this event with hamburgers and hotdogs and a lot of laughter at the coaching staffs. So, we had tryouts. My main 3 were there and also panicked. No one has said a word to anyone about any others trying out. The "fourth" person backed out. I AM SO EXCITED! We had 4 more show up with 3 being freshmen. The other is a young lady who played her freshman year and then didn't play last year but she is pretty good. A little later yet another showed up but did not have a physical so I could not let her try out for the team. I hope she will be back after she gets her physical. If so, we have 8. Of the freshmen, I asked of them who had played 9 holes of golf. NOT ONE! One said she tried one time but fell asleep in the cart. LOL All players have to start on the driving range per the course rules. It is a safety issue. Guess what? Two of the freshmen have real good swings and can get the ball in the air. The third has a great attitude and worked really hard. One of these young ladies that can get the ball in the air said to me, "My Mom made me try out for the team. I didn't want to play. Now, I'm glad my Mom made me try out." It is going to be a fun year! Oh, my #1 shot even par for 9 holes. We are limited due to heat today so they could not play 18. #2 was 5 over with a water ball. Not bad!