GolfStinks

A Golf Blog for the Rest of Us!

Kapalua Caps Maui Vacation

| By | 2 Comments

golfstinks, golf stinks

You may recall I had planned a trip to Hawaii (specifically Maui) for this April. We had finalized the trip rather late in the game (just two months prior to departure) and it took till the week before for me to realize I was about to embark on a journey to paradise.

But once reality set in, I was excited: We had booked tickets to a luau; bought passage on a whale watching boat where we could also snorkel; planned quality time loafing on the beach; and I had set aside a few hours to sneak in a round of golf.

But this wasn’t going to be just any round of golf – no sir. I had a tee-time booked at Kapalua. The resort community features two legendary golf courses (one is host to the PGA Tour’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions) and both are designed by one legendary golfer – Arnold Palmer.

Let me begin by saying Maui is gorgeous. It’s truly a heavenly landscape, complete with sun-drenched palms and misty mountains – visions that have a way of relaxing every bone in your body just by being aware of your surroundings.

golfstinks, golf stinks

But Kapalua kicks it up a notch. Set between the mountains and the ocean, there are views that will leave you breathless – not only of the palm tree-litterd coastline, but of the course itself. For example, the par 3, 5th hole on The Bay Course (see photo at right) requires sailing your tee shot over the crashing surf, past a stretch of caliche and onto a green flanked by three traps.

Beyond the views, the course is immaculate. Despite the tee-boxes and greens having recently been aerated (which you can tell in the photos), the ball still rolled true and steady. The fairways were cut to perfection, while the rough was tough, but not impossible.

Before my round, I spoke a bit to the Sales and Marketing Manager, Dustin Irwin. With management of the courses recently transferred to Troon Golf, Dustin was excited about the upgrades being made. For example, all the carts are new and electric – complete with a built-in cooler for your preferred beverage and a state-of-the-art GPS system where each hole features its own video fly-over! And of course, Kapalua is doing its part to conserve – water is rationed and reused and environmental areas maintained and protected.

If you’re like me and only end up playing one round in Hawaii, there’s no need to lug your clubs along – Kapalua is stocked with complete sets of clubs from Titleist (I actually may have been sold on that 910D2 driver – was hitting the tar out of it).

golfstinks, golf stinks

The round took just 3.5 hours. Typically, when you play at that pace, it’s on a course you know well. At Kapalua, I took time to snap some photos (as can be seen in this post) and enjoy myself. Yet the group behind us was always a good hole back, and I don’t remember seeing anyone ahead of us. Perhaps it was the time of year, but I felt relaxed and comfortable the entire time.

We capped off the day in Kapalua’s Pineapple Grill restaurant, where I soaked in wonderful course views on the patio while sipping on a deliciously strong Mai Tai. And if the fish and chips I ordered were any indication, both the Pineapple Grill’s libations and food are well-worth a post-round visit.

Overall, Kapalua is awesome and deserving of a round if you’re visiting Maui. While the Ritz-Carlton is on the premises, we stayed about 30 minutes south in the cute little touristy town of Lahaina (nothing against the Ritz, but it’s a little too ritzy for my blood).

golfstinks, golf stinks

Speaking of costs, neither course at Kapalua is cheap: The Bay Course is right around $200, while The Plantation Course is just under $300. But twilight rates begin at 1PM – where not just the greens-fees drop considerably, but so does the price of club rentals. And further discounts can be had should you decide to stay at the Ritz.

Bottom line: Maui was fantastic: I throughly enjoyed myself at the Luau; experienced some of the best snorkeling around; got to spy a mom and calf whale in the Pacific (though half of my boat was sea sick by that time); and played one of the top golf courses in the world. If you ever have the chance to visit, don’t pass it up – it truly is a paradise.

The Things We Lose On the Golf Course

| By | 4 Comments

In 2006, I spent a couple weeks in Japan and purchased a Yomiuri Giants hat for my father while attending a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome.

My dad loved that hat. None of his buddies knew what the logo was and he enjoyed explaining it to them. Anyway, a few months after I gave it to him, he was wearing the hat while we were out hacking up this local 9-holer.

When I was dropping him off home after the round, I noticed he didn’t have it on and asked him about it. “Ah sh*t! I think I left it in the basket on the cart!” He called the course but they didn’t have it. He called again the next day to see if someone turned it in, but still nothing. He even drove down to the course a couple days later to check the lost and found bin…nada. The hat was lost.

But that got me wondering about something I had never thought about before – the fact that golf courses have a lost and found bin to begin with.

Let me ask you something: How many head covers have you lost on the course over the years? Every damn time you get on the tee-box you have to take the head cover off your driver and put it back on after your shot – It’s so annoying. It’s far easier to just leave it in the cart basket until the round is over. Ah, but inevitably it will just be left there to end up in the infamous lost and found bin (or end up on another driver who’s owner also lost a similar head cover the week before).

A better solution would be to leave the head cover in your trunk, since that’s where you need most of the club head protection. Problem solved.

But sadly, the club head cover and the hat are not the only things left on the course. Let me ask you something else: How many times has someone driven up to you in a cart and asked you if you left your pitching wedge on the previous green? How many times have you been the one in the cart doing the asking?

It’s one thing to leave a club head cover but quite another to leave a $100 club. Yet, we golfers do it all the time. Here’s the classic scenario: You’re in a cart (another reason to always walk) and your ball is just off the green. You can’t take the cart too close to the green so you grab your wedge and putter and walk over to your ball. After you chip on, you grab your putter and leave your wedge on the fringe. And there it stays until someone from one of the groups behind you finds it.

If you’re lucky, someone honest will find it and return it. If you’re not lucky, someone dishonest who needs a shiny new pitching wedge will get one for free. The good news is, vary rarely do we leave our $400 drivers!

But how many golf gloves have you left behind? How many divot repair tools? Watches? Cameras? Cell phones? Wedding rings??? Yep, these things can all be found in abundance in your local pro shop lost and found box.

We’ve all lost things on the course one time or another. We humans are prone to be forgetful (a major airline reports 10,000 lost items a week) and the golf course is no exception.

But there’s one item we all leave on the course and never even think about it – one item specific to the golf course. We never call the pro shop asking about them; never wonder what ever happened to them; we don’t even really care that much about losing them (in the long term, anyway).

I’m talking about golf balls, of course. We all leave those behind. In fact, golfers in the U.S. alone lose an estimated 300 million golf balls annually. Three hundred million!!! I know I’ve done my fair share of contributing to that number. And perhaps of all the things we lose on the course, the number of golf balls (whether we care or not) weighs the heaviest – on our scorecards, on our wallets, and on the planet.

If you care about my last point at all, purchase recycled or refurbished golf balls. Studies have shown that recycled and refurbished balls do not lose any playability compared to their new counterparts. Not only will you be supporting efforts to limit the number of these lost balls scattered about the earth, but you’ll be saving money to boot. So, that takes care of the planet and your wallet.

Your scorecard, on the other hand, I cannot help you with…You’re on your own with that one.

Do Golf Handicaps Lie?

| By | 5 Comments

It’s no secret some golfers lie about their handicap. But can the handicap system itself be a bit deceiving?

I keep my own handicap – it’s not that hard, you just have to play at least five rounds of golf and then understand how to calculate it (more about that later).

But what if you play all your rounds at the same course? I’ve played many rounds in charity tournaments with guys who claim a handicap far better than the skill they displayed out on the links.

Do they lie? No their handicap does.

Invariably, these guys are members of a private club and all the scores they use to calculate their handicap have been calculated from that one course.

Sorry gents, your handicap is biased. I play a different course nearly every time. But if I played the same 18 holes day in and day out, for sure I would learn all the nooks and crannies, the dos and don’ts of that course. My scores overtime would get exponentially better.

Better scores translate to a lower handicap, which leads to bragging rights among the foursome. But go to a new course, and suddenly your 10 handicap looks more like a 15. What happened?

Golf happened! No two golf courses are alike. And that fact is perhaps among the most unique and defining features of this game – that to truly test your metal, you must play all that golf has to offer – not just the same tract of turf over and over again. But by only playing the same course, you’re doing your handicap (and yourself) a disservice.

Another wee issue I have with the handicap system is this whole five rounds thing. Statistically, I would think the more rounds you include, the more accurate your handicap. But there are many who say all you need is five.

Personally, I think the 5-round rule is so people can obtain a handicap faster. But to me, five rounds just isn’t enough – so I calculate my handicap from my previous 20 rounds. In case you didn’t know the formula for a handicap, here it is:

1. Play 20 rounds of 18-hole golf.
2. For each round, use this formula to calculate a handicap differential: (Your Score – The Course Rating) x 113 / The Slope Rating
3. Take the 10 best differentials and average them.
4. Multiply that average by 0.96.

Presto – you have a handicap. Can I poke holes in this formula? Sure – for example, who decided 113 was the “standard” slope rating and what was their logic? And why 96%? Are we assuming a 4% margin of error or something?

But despite these quasi-questionable values in the formula, nothing will skew the accuracy of a handicap like having your 20 scores coming all from one course.

I enjoy calculating my handicap every year and I feel it’s a pretty accurate reflection of my skill level. I just don’t think everyone can say the same thing about their handicap.

Free Pair of Golf Sunglasses Anyone?

| By | 2 Comments

Not too long ago, I purchased a pair of sunglasses for golf. At nearly 100 bucks, I was hoping I would get plenty of rounds out of them. Alas, my new sunglasses lasted a little over one season before I dropped on them on the cart path and scratched the lenses.

While I can’t fault the sunglass company for this mishap, I can fault myself for getting such an expensive pair. Now don’t get me wrong, many people spend well over $100 on sunglasses, but if I’m going to keep them in my golf bag and take hundreds (the way I play) of swings per round with them, a pricey pair shades may not necessarily be the way to go.

Enter a site called the SunglassWarehouse.com. While these guys have a surplus of shades for multiple uses, I like how they have an info page specifically for golfers.

Not only does this page explain why golfers should wear sunglasses (UV protection, etc.) but it also claims wearing certain sunglasses can actually improve your golf game! According to the site: “Some sunglasses will protect your eyes from above UV rays, and at the same time help your game by improving your view of the fairway.”

Not only that, but the right polarization can help you read the breaks in the green better. And, according to the site, all golfer shades must have a snug fit, to keep them from slipping down your nose at address.

OK, so by now, I know what you’re thinking – can the type of sunglasses really help my golf game? Well, I wondered the same thing and the good folks over at Sunglass Warehouse sent me a pair to test out (see photo at top). Actually, they sent me two pairs – one pair to test out and one pair to give out – to one of you!

I recently played my first round of the season. With no leaves yet on the trees to block the sun up here in New England, I thought it would be a perfect time to test my new shades. I also carried a pair of “sport” sunglasses that did not have polarization – just to see if there was a difference.

Sure enough, the polarized sunglasses were actually an improvement over the non-polarized sunglasses. In direct sunlight, I could see the fairway and green much better. In addition, the fit was just right – snug enough to stay put, yet not uncomfortably tight. On top of all this, they are UV 400.

So yes, a little thing like which sunglasses you choose can help you be a better golfer. And the beautiful thing is, these types of sunglasses don’t have to break the bank (or to put it another way, if you drop them on the cart path and scratch the lenses, it won’t hurt your wallet as much).

So – how do you win a pair for yourself? Just go over to the Golfstinks Facebook page (“like” us if you haven’t already) and “like” the post on our wall called “Free Pair of Golf Sunglasses Anyone?” That’s it! We’ll select one random winner from all those who like that Facebook post!

Good Luck!

Why You’re to Blame for Slow Play

| By | 3 Comments

golfstinks golf stinks

Ever get stuck golfing behind shanks, hook, skull and slice? Of course you have. It sucks, doesn’t it? Well, chew on this: Someone in your foursome is probably to blame, if not yourself.

More on that in a moment. But first, let’s state the facts:

  • Slow play is a serious problem in amateur golf
  • Slow play is a serious problem in professional golf
  • Slow play is never tolerated, yet is rampant everywhere

That last fact is perhaps the most important. I’ve played a ton of golf courses and almost every one has a statement on their scorecard (or on a sign) regarding slow play (e.g. “slow play is not tolerated” or “keep up with the group in front of you” or something to that effect). Why?

Well, because slow play is everywhere. It’s not isolated to a select few – I would even venture to say it afflicts about 1 in 4 golfers. Now I don’t have any data to backup my statement (not sure any even exists), but think about the foursomes you’ve played in – probably at least one person in each foursome could be labeled as a “slow player.” Sure, sometimes you’re able to push this person along gently, but other times you find yourself waiting on them (especially while the group behind you is waiting on the tee).

In any event, slow play is rampant. So much so, the powers that be in golf created the Tee it Forward campaign, which, as we stated in a recent post, was implemented mainly to curb slow play.

So who’s to blame?

Well, I say 3 in 4 golfers are to blame. Not the slow player, but the rest of the group (e.g. you). Slow play is a direct result of poor etiquette. Someone, somewhere, at some point introduced the slow player to the game of golf. It was up to that someone to instill the fundamental rules of etiquette in that new golfer – including an emphasis on slow play.

We are all responsible. We must make it a point (right up there with don’t step on someone’s line) to teach about the poor sportsmanship of slow play. This lesson needs to be learned right at the beginning – DO NOT hold up the group behind you – if you’re hitting your 12th shot on one hole, perhaps it’s time to pickup and move on to the next hole (your score doesn’t matter at that point anyway).

But there has been a lax in teaching proper etiquette to new golfers. It’s obvious – poor etiquette and slow play can be found in every foursome – and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Keep this in mind the next time you’re introducing golf to someone new.

Questions / Advertise

info@golfstinks.com

Disclaimers

See here

Privacy Policy

See here