Loose and easy.

[buteman]

I had been working on the practice tee, following advice I had received on the lesson tee, nothing major, just loosen up my grip a wee bit and stand slightly closer to the ball. It was time to put it to the test on the golf course, I spent an hour on the range prior to teeing off and I was feeling quite loose and relaxed. I had pars on the first two holes, using my #1 hybrid off the tee on both these par 4's as they are quite tight, I guess the eye opener for me (and my playing partners) was the 3rd. hole, a 445 yard par 4, with my driver I hit a lovely little draw, my ball settled 8 yards behind the 150 yard marker, a drive of 287 yards. That distance is not in my golf game, I'm in my early sixties and play a pretty fair game and a drive of 265 is a good poke for me, I thought it was a wee bit of a fluke but on the next hole a 530 yard par 5 I hit my 3 wood from 245 yards to the front edge of the green. That drive was 285 yards, then the big one on a slightly downhill 389 par four, I hit my 56 wedge from 88 yards, my drive was 301 yards, the biggest I have hit in forty years, incredible distance for me. The only thought in my head was keep my grip relaxed, so I don't know if this was a factor, it probably was when it came to releasing the clubhead, sure was a lot of chatter about my ball striking after the round. By the way the course we played was a par 71, I did manage to break 80, barely (79) the greens were a complete mystery to me, I was " king of the three putts " that day. I have a tournament tomorrow, I will be on the practice putting green early.

[snowman]

Re: Loose and easy.

Wow when reading the title I thought this thread would be about ladies hailing from the North East of England!!!

Seriously though, way to go!!! Where abouts in Canada are you?

[BrianW]

Re: Loose and easy.

Wow when reading the title I thought this thread would be about ladies hailing from the North East of England!!!

Seriously though, way to go!!! Where abouts in Canada are you?

Bolt your door, the Geordies are on their way

[takinitdeep]

Re: Loose and easy.

Is this where we Yanks reply, Blimie!

Wow when reading the title I thought this thread would be about ladies hailing from the North East of England!!!

Seriously though, way to go!!! Where abouts in Canada are you?

[BrianW]

Re: Loose and easy.

Is this where we Yanks reply, Blimie!

Yes! very Dick Van Dyke

Don't know about Canadians though? Vivie The/Le Commonwealth

[ubizmo]

Re: Loose and easy.

I've spent enough time in the UK, over the years, that bits of language have stuck. One of them is "blimey", but spoken with my regular yank accent. I don't say it often, but when it slips out I definitely get some odd looks. But it's a useful word, and often more acceptable than the "Holy shit!" that I would normally utter. I think it's wonderful to see golf facilitating this sort of cultural exchange.

[bulldog2k]

Re: Loose and easy.

Great round, Buteman, nice job!

This perhaps says more about the people I know rather than any great revelation about Anglo/American relations, but I've never heard any British person use the word "Yank" or "Yankee" (and I was a 'high school' teacher for 8 years - if I was going to hear it anywhere, I would have heard it there ), or indeed an American use the word "Limey" (or, for that matter, "Blimey")

Just me?

[buteman]

Re: Loose and easy.

Wow when reading the title I thought this thread would be about ladies hailing from the North East of England!!!

Seriously though, way to go!!! Where abouts in Canada are you?

Well the responses to my thread were good for a laugh, originally from the Island of Bute off the west coast of Scotland I did not have the opportunity to visit the N.E. of England in pusuit of any loose and easy lassies. I would guess Newcastle would be the spot, no we had very little on our island and as luck would have it the bloody sheep played " hard to get ". We live about a half hour from Kamloops in the interior of B.C. excellent selection of high end golf courses in this area which is a treat for me. We lived and worked in a very isolated area up until eight months ago and three round of golf a season for the past seven years was about my limit. Cheers.

[Neil18]

Re: Loose and easy.

Great round, Buteman, nice job!

This perhaps says more about the people I know rather than any great revelation about Anglo/American relations, but I've never heard any British person use the word "Yank" or "Yankee" (and I was a 'high school' teacher for 8 years - if I was going to hear it anywhere, I would have heard it there ), or indeed an American use the word "Limey" (or, for that matter, "Blimey")

Just me?

Interesting that this should be raised on a golf forum, because the only time I may use the term "Feckin Yank!" is when some dingbat watching a PGA tour event yells "GET IN THE HOLE!" when the player is 600 yards away, or "OH MY GOD!" when the ball is in mid-flight.

Quite often it leads me to switch off the box and go do something else.

Please be advised that this is not a slur on all Americans! In general, I quite like America, Americans and most of what the US of A gives the world. But it's the only country that sports the kind of ignoramous that tries to "get on telly" in this way at a golf venue.

Plus, I am very aware that (apparently) the term "yank" is used in America by the citizens referring to an obviously upper-class, private school boy/young man donning a blue blazer, cream slacks, showing a considerable amount of wavy blonde hair combed to perfection, who also may be a polo player. Or an older man trying to cling onto his younger private school days by still wearing a blue blazer, cream slacks, a tub of Just for Men and reminiscing about days on the polo field. For example.

Anyway......................golf, isn't it? Hmmm?

[takinitdeep]

Re: Loose and easy.

My simple attempt at humor and you need to get out more.

Great round, Buteman, nice job!

This perhaps says more about the people I know rather than any great revelation about Anglo/American relations, but I've never heard any British person use the word "Yank" or "Yankee" (and I was a 'high school' teacher for 8 years - if I was going to hear it anywhere, I would have heard it there ), or indeed an American use the word "Limey" (or, for that matter, "Blimey")

Just me?

[ubizmo]

Re: Loose and easy.

Interesting that this should be raised on a golf forum, because the only time I may use the term "Feckin Yank!" is when some dingbat watching a PGA tour event yells "GET IN THE HOLE!" when the player is 600 yards away, or "OH MY GOD!" when the ball is in mid-flight.

This annoying phenomenon is a fairly recent development, it seems to me. I guess it's a result of the increased popularity of golf, resulting in a different sort of crowd--definitely rowdier. I mean, golf never used to be the sort of sport where you'd have spectators who were drunk. But now, especially at certain venues (*cough*phoenix*cough*), it's not unusual. For a certain percentage of people in these crowds, the extent of their knowledge of golf is that the ball is supposed to arrive in the hole. I suppose this is one of the downsides of golf's greater visibility.

Plus, I am very aware that (apparently) the term "yank" is used in America by the citizens referring to an obviously upper-class, private school boy/young man donning a blue blazer, cream slacks, showing a considerable amount of wavy blonde hair combed to perfection, who also may be a polo player. Or an older man trying to cling onto his younger private school days by still wearing a blue blazer, cream slacks, a tub of Just for Men and reminiscing about days on the polo field. For example.

Hmmm....the term "preppie" would be a better fit for this species, at least for the young one. The old one has matured into a WASP. Interestingly, the term "yankee", but not "yank", is generally used by people in the South in the US to refer to people in the North, and it may or may not have a derogatory aspect, depending on context and intonation. More narrowly, "yankee" refers to people from the six New England states, and they (we) may refer to themselves as yankees. There is even a magazine, in print for a long time now, called "Yankee", that's all about New England interests.

Returning generally to golf--and I suppose this should be in the 19th Hole section--for a long time golf in the US was perceived as a sport just about as WASPy as polo. In some circles, I suppose it still is.

[Neil18]

Re: Loose and easy.

I stand educated!

I don't now where I heard what I wrote! Maybe I made it up!

Sounded plausible though! I could have won a round of Balderdash with that answer!

[ubizmo]

Re: Loose and easy.

Well, now that we've sorted out yanks from yankees, to get back to the actual topic, I shot a 94 today, which ties my PB that I set my last time out. I worked on the slow swing (see also the "5-minute lesson" thread). I found that I was getting respectable distance this way. And I found what I already knew, that it's just hard to keep myself from swinging hard when the driver is in my hand.

[buteman]

Re: Loose and easy.

On no, what have I done, look what I've started, if it wasn't for the "Yanks" we would all be wearing jackboots etc. etc. etc. A final footnote, I kept it together yesterday under rather trying circumstances namely slow play, five and a half hours, and a wee bit too warm for my liking. I prevailed and shot a six over 78 to take low gross by a shot, I certainly feel that by maintaining a softer grip throughout the swing has been a factor, I am releasing much better through the ball,,,,,,,,,,cheers.