Stretch

Large Americans of indeterminate gender, who rock.

Ball might be getting too far forward in your stance? Try moving it back an inch or two and then feeling like you really hold onto your right wrist bend through the shot -- see what that does to the flight.

I'm going to the International Sectional US Open qualifier at Walton Heath on May 25th. It's a 36-hole day over two great courses with no ropes etc. and a great chance to see some of the top Euro pros and amateurs up close. Plus it's free.

Foley talking about changes Justin Rose has made to his pressure shift and the results.

Shit, almost a year ago! Since then -- moved countries, had some drama, stopped playing golf altogether, started again, now rebuilding from the ground up. So, anyway ...

Skwat.

Swedish Country.

The event was in Scotland and the team thus required a token Scot. Paul Lawrie is busy losing his card at the mo, so ... George Coetzee to win, from the perennial President's Cup whipping boys.

As they say in his former home country, he's so far up himself he's coming out the other end.

There is a TopGolf not too far from us in London. My kids (who have otherwise resisted all efforts to get them into the game) really love it. The food is truly filthy and the best beer is Heineken, but these are the sacrifices one makes for one's offspring.

Faldo was the worst Euro captain in recent memory in 2008. Watson may occupy that slot for the U.S. going forward. He seemed borderline senile.

Golf swings with the 6. Quality looks pretty good. (Picture and mechanics!)

Inside the leather, that's a gimme.

Heard the other day after an interview: "He came up short on the intrinsics." Translation: "He's a dumbass."

Missed opportunity! "I, for one, would like to associate myself with Stretch's sentiments in no uncertain terms!"

It is my understanding that we all strive to leverage our individual competencies in the linguistic arena to add value to the discussions here at the Sand Trap. It this organic, bottom-up approach from all of our valued contributors that makes the site so much more than just the sum of its parts and, ultimately, allows it to literally take flight.

Oh ye of little faith! It's important to have 560 horsepower in a country where premium gas is $9.50 a gallon and there's a speed camera every 500 meters (546.81 yards), on average.

Sweet ride Mike. I'm selling the Land Rover Discovery next week and picking up something slightly sportier -- will cut about 5 seconds off the 0 - 100 km/h time.

Rob's changed his pattern a bit.

Hey Mike. Think you accidentally ... a word there and I'm curious about what it was. Joe, I'm not trying to jump down your throat. But learning this stuff was life-changing for me -- turning around 20 years of slow, steady weight gain and physical degeneration -- so like any convert I love to preach! I'm 45, 6'7" and have gone from 250 lbs at my heaviest to 210 lbs today. Change was 90% through diet and I'm just now starting a serious exercise program, with an eye on getting back some lost strength and lean mass. Anyway, no arguments I can make here will cover the issues a tenth as well as reading the book I suggested a few pages back, so I'll just suggest it again. "The Big Fat Surprise" -- Nina Teicholtz.

I respectfully disagree with almost all of your arguments. My personal belief is that the most healthy way to eat is low in carbohydrate, moderate in protein and high in saturated fat. I try to keep net carbs below 50g, protein between 0.8 and 1.0 gram per pound of lean body weight and then adjust the fat component as necessary to create a caloric deficit or surplus. I eat eggs, fish, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, butter, cheese, cream, double cream yoghurt, full cream milk, mayo, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, avocado, spinach, tomatoes in moderation, coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil, almonds and macadamia nuts, berries in moderation. I don't eat sugar, bread, rice, potatoes, cereal, pasta, soy anything, corn anything, legumes (peanuts!) or vegetable oils. A normal day's menu would be a 4-egg omelette with bacon, cheese, tomato and avo for breakfast, a chicken or steak salad with blue cheese dressing for lunch and a grilled steak or grilled lamb chops with vegetables sautéed in butter for dinner. Drinks are water, coffee with heavy cream and red wine. Of course, at this point people usually start asking you exactly when you are going to die of that heart attack. But I'm satisfied that the "standard" dietary cholesterol hypothesis is utter bollocks and I guess I'm literally betting my life on it. N = 1 but I am much healthier -- generally -- now at 210 lbs and mainlining bacon than I was at 245 lbs smashing pizzas into my face. I had my blood lipids tested about a month ago and they were excellent. My cardiologist is a friend and a forward-thinker and he summarized the currently-available experimental evidence on LCHF (low carb high fat) diets for me thusly: -- Total cholesterol level doesn't actually matter. LCHF eating tends to boost total cholesterol. -- HDL (good) cholesterol level matters a lot. You want it high. LCHF eating tends to boost HDL cholesterol. -- LDL (bad) cholesterol level may or may not matter in itself. Almost 75 percent of patients admitted to hospital in the US for a heart attack have LDL cholesterol in the so-called "safe range" -- under 130 mg/dl. Low LDL is not protective unless accompanied by high HDL, so it is the ratio of HDL to LDL that is important. LCHF eating tends to raise both LDL* and HDL, but boosts HDL by more, thus improving the ratio. (* A lot of people freak out about this and they needn't, because ...) -- There are two types of LDL particles -- for simplicity think of them as either small and dense (ApoB) and large and fluffy (ApoA). The small and dense ones cause the damage that leads to coronary artery disease. Both the number and the size of the small ones matter. LCHF eating tends to both make the small LDL particles bigger (and hence less damaging) and less numerous relative to the large LDL particles. So, even if total LDL reading does go up, the main underlying risk factors are going down. -- Blood triglyceride levels are an important risk factor. Lower is better. LCHF eating tends to lower triglyceride levels (a lot). -- Blood insulin and glucose levels matter. Lower is better. LCHF eating tends to lower insulin and glucose levels. I really do think the tide is turning against the "standard" low-fat dietary orthodoxy that came into force in the early 80s, simply because the general population in the developed world has become so undeniably fat and sick while ostensibly following this advice. How the medical and nutritional communities will deal with acknowledging that they have been giving their patients precisely the wrong advice for decades -- ultimately killing many of them -- remains to be seen.