andy101

One of the most beautiful courses in the Western Cape. Situated in Franschoek amongst all the wine farms :) I have walked the fairways once to watch the SA Open title but now have been given the opportunity to play 18 holes for my birthday :) Going to be an epic experience. I would highly recommened anyone to play a round here if you ever come visit South Africa. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus. Pearl Valley Golf Estates was recently rated the ‘5th Best Golf Course in South Africa,’ by Golf Digest Below are some links to photographs of the course: http://www.pearlvalleygolflodge.com/...tes-03-lrg.jpg http://www.pearlvalleygolflodge.com/...tes-04-lrg.jpg http://www.pearlvalleygolflodge.com/...tes-01-lrg.jpg http://www.pearlvalleygolflodge.com/...tes-02-lrg.jpg

I agree with everyone on the confidence side. Very important to be confident with your putts. What I am working on at the moment and I find is a great practice is as follows. When I am on the putting green at the range I, i read my putt, pick a line and putt to that line and thats it. If I miss the putt but miss it on the exact line that I aimed at, then I am happy. Why? Because I missed it because I just had the wrong line and not because I hit a bad putt. I find too many people get over the ball either have no clue and hope for the best or change their minds at the last second and this causes missing putts and affect you even more on the next putt because you missed the last one. As soon as you start missing the putts that aren't on your line then you my have to look at how you putting or you lacking the confidence and you are not being true to the putt. So in a nutshell, don't be scared. Putt to your line and be true.

Thats what we like to hear :D

I am no pro but will just put a few things down that I noticed with the shot. - Lifting the club with the hands on the backswing - no shoulder turn, this caused by the lifting. - your weight is not forward on your follow through but on the back foot.

Congrats on breaking the 90 barrier :) My advice on breaking 90 would be to have a sharp short game. The short game is where you need to save yourself. I believe that if you have a confident short game then you are always on the path to breaking the barrier. I am having the struggle with breaking 80 at the moment. I can never put back to back rounds together. I played yesterday and shot 80 on the dot. 1 over on the first 9 and 9 over on the back (36/44). Short game let me down big time on the back nine, but what came into play was the lack of cencentration on my game and more on the score. Lost focus and the bad shots menatally made it worse, where I should have been concetrating on each shot and having a positive mindset.

He is my favourite golfer at the moment. One of those players that gets out there and shows ho whappy is to play. Really inspires me, specially through the tough times on the course. RORY is AYOBA!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had an issue with there takeaway and managed to fix it? The reason for my questions is I would like to know what it felt like in the beginning when you were in the process of correcting it. Want to compare what I am feeling with how you felt. If its the same then I know I am on the right track :) Don't wanna keep practising something that is not correct. Obviously with changing anything in golf it always feels strange in the beginning. Cheers,

Much appreciated for all the tips guys. What I will do is post a link up with my swing and then maybe that will give you chaps a better idea of what I am doing wrong. Personally I think it has to do with my hands. I feel that my left hand is too strong, meaning that I lead with it too much which gives no room for my right hand to turn my wrists over. My grip always wears out on my left thumb first, so I don't know if that is an indication that I am holding too tightly.

Hi All, Hoping someone could help me out here. I am having trouble off the tee. I tend to slice the ball quite badly, but with my irons I draw the ball. It really frustrates me because I am forever having to scramble due to my inconsistent driving, which is killing my game. If anyone has got some video links or articles on the movement of the hands in the swing, i would much appreciate them. I am thinking that it has something to do with my hands in the swing. I think my right hand is too strong, meaning that I lead with it too much that my left hand can't turn my wrists over. I notice that on my glove it wears away on my thumb, so not sure if that is an indication that I am holding too tight with the left hand. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks,

Hi, Can anyone tell me what the mutual bounce would be on a SW (56 degree)? I am going to be a first time buyer of a personlised SW and was chatting to a mate and realised that there are different degrees of bounce and I have no idea what I would use. So any advice would be great.

I would suggest not worrying about the scorecard on the round. Don't sit and work out the numbers in your head as it will put too much pressure on you. You need to go out and play. Being confident I find is also good, i.e. stick to your guns. For example on putting, what you read is where you putt. I find too many people change their minds (specially when its an important putt) at the last second causing a miss everytime. This applies to all area's of the game. As soon as you can be confident in yourself your golf will turn around. Trust me this won't work over night and takes sometime. Remember you not playing for other people, but for yourself, so you know how you played, cause sometimes the golf thats displayed is not true reflection. You hear it all the time, with the pros. They can have a crap tournament but will tell you that they were happy because their ball striking was on song, or their driving or whatever. Hope it helps :)

Recently bought new irons, 3 - PW, so a new SW is in order. I am a first timer at buying personalised wedges so have no experience. Any good ideas what to look out for?

Thats why the provisional is there. In the cases where you not 100% whether you're in or out OB is where you need to hit a provisional.

I also have a few things that make me happy. - When I am hitting a consistent ball off the tee - Strong putting game - pure ball striking with all clubs So if I am having a bad day at the course and any of the above come through, then I am happy :)

Thanks James, will give it a try

Nice Stretch :) Yeah I mainly play at Royal Cape, but then get the odd weekend and head out to Erinvale or De Zalze. There is a special that is running on at Pearl Valley, you should maybe check it out. Where abouts do you live in the mother city?

I am from South Africa and live in Cape Town. Went to 2 games and must say that it was the most amazing experience, what a world cup!!!! For those of you that haven't been I seriously seriously recommend coming down here, oh and make sure Cape Town is your first stop, most beautiful city!!

Hi All, I am from South Africa and was intersted to know if anyone on the forum has ever played in SA If so what courses have you played? Cheers,

The last 3 years have been a battle with my golf. I have started to hit the ball inside left (closer to the hosel) of center on the club face. It's worse on the shorter clubs and yes I sometimes hit the dreaded you know what. I know there are alot of factors that can cause this issue, but I am hoping to try and find some advice or even better drills from someone that has cured there's. Much appreciated for any help

I like to look at the results on this one. I am not to worried about swing technique as one of Tigers greatest tips was that "if it works for you then keep it". So comparing swing, short game....etc I feel doesn't fall in this category for me. I don't feel that both have had it harder then the other as it is all relevant. Both have contributed to the game in massives ways. So I am in favour of Jack at the mo as he has won the most majors ever, has won more PGA tour events then Tiger. I def think Tiger will beat these records, but until then Jack is my number 1 pick :)

Rory is one of my favourite golfers at the moment. Great clip but have to agree with Michael, music is not the best.

I am a Technical Support Engineer for a IT company Financial Services industry

I find hitting a few balls on the range is important. I find it loosens me up and more importantly I like to get my rythm started early, so that I feel comfoartable on the 1st tee.

I started playing when I was 6 years old. Will never forget my first club that my father gave me. It was a 7iron and it was purple :D Have been playing ever since. Was advised to go to golf academy but my mother said that I had to go to uni. She's never said it but I don't think she thought I had it in me. With that said I never had the opportunity to take golf seriously as the only support I had was from my father (parents are seperated). I used to live with my mother and so only ever really played golf when I went to stay with my father. But I am now on my own and working so starting to get back into it quite seriously and dream goal is to be scratch one day.

My Goals for 2010: 1. Get my handicap from 9 to 7. 2. Upgrade my irons. 3. Get my greens in regulation up. 4. Get myself to have a lesson :)