Bleacher Report - Articles by Walter David

A First Time For Every Swing: Tiger Woods' Major Defeat Offers New Experience

Walter David — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:30:00 -0400

I’ve been watching golfer Tiger Woods on the tube for many years. At the PGA Championship on Sunday was the first time I have ever seen him rattled.

It all the started on the 14th hole when he missed a putt he normally would make in pressure situations, especially in a major tournament.

As the camera panned in on his face you could see a shaken, frustrated man. He never recovered after that putt.

Normally, Tiger is cool, calm and collective. Usually you would see a little bit of anger on his face after missing a putt, followed by intense determination. That uncanny ability he has to block everything out except the task at hand was no where to be found.

Not on this Sunday at a major tournament. All I saw was a golfer going through the motions. For some reason, that determination or will power he always seems to possess was not with him late in the final round.

Instead, a relatively unknown named Y.E.Yang pulled off the shot of the golf tournament on the 18th hole putting his second shot eight feet from the pin. Isn’t that kind of shot reserved only for Tiger Woods? After all, time and time again we see Tiger make miraculous shots when the tournament is on the line.

It caught me totally by surprise!! This time the other guy made the miraculous shot.

Does this mean Tiger Woods lost his drive and determination? Ridiculous!! All it means is that he is human. Tiger is still the greatest golfer in the world and is sure to win many more major championships. It was, however, a new experience. One I’m sure he will use to his advantage.

Driving Range Mats: Good For Your Swing?

Walter David — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:52:45 -0400

Driving range mats seem to be the norm today at golf courses, but are they good for your swing?

It may be a cost effective move for golf courses, but in my opinion they do not help the average golfer.

Unlike grass, driving range mats are firm causing different ball flights. Also, your feet seem to have a tendency to slip out from under you.

When hitting irons, you can't take a divot. Instead you are picking the ball which creates a shallow swing. You are creating a bad habit.

A divot is created on regular grass when you go down into the ball, striking the ball first. You can't get the same result off of artificial turf. So, you are not getting the proper feedback that you need to correct any mistakes.

The whole purpose of practice is to get feedback and correct mistakes. You are not going to be able to accomplish this by hitting balls off of artificial turf.

You want to fine tune your game instead of creating bad habits.

Another problem I seem to have is that after a session on these mats my wrists ache and my club heads are green and scuffed up.

The only positive I see might be hitting your driver off of the rubber tee. If you can control your balance then I see nothing wrong with practicing with your driver.

My recommendation is to find a grassy area to practice or play a 9 hole course. This way you won't be picking up bad habits from hitting golf balls off of driving range mats.

The Most Spectacular Par Three in All of Golf: Win a Million Dollars

Walter David — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:09:35 -0400

The most spectacular par three golf hole in all the world is located in South Africa. Get a hole in one and win $1 million.

The Legend and Safari Resort 19 hole golf course was designed by 18 different professional golfers including Padraig Harrington and VJ Singh. You’re bound to see a lion or two during your round of golf.

Beautiful landscape and wildlife are all part of this exceptional golf course.

It is situated in the malaria free region of Limpopo Province.

It has a hotel, driving range, recreational facilities, a wellness centre and a multi-functional conference centre. It reflects the rich cultural legacy of this ancient part of Africa.

The resort was designed to minimize the impact on the natural environment. It preserves the pristine bushveld and makes the Resort one of the most environmentally sensitive of its kind in Africa.

But the most exciting part of your round of golf is the 19th hole.

This par three is set high up on the Hanglip mountain and is accessible only by helicopter. The green is 830 meters away—908 yards. However with a vertical drop of 430 meters or 470 yards it is a reachable par three.

It takes nearly 30 seconds for the ball to ht the ground.

The fairway is seeded with Cynodon grass and contoured to funnel the ball to the green below.

In celebration of the African Renaissance, the green has been shaped like the map of Africa and is protected by a large waste bunker.

Make a hole-in-one and win one million US dollars.

How much for a round? A full 19 holes of golf will cost you $220 USD or 2,000 South African rand. Included in this round is a 19th hole helicopter ride and a DVD of your shot.

To see a video of this hole please visit my blog Golfineer

Are Women Golfers Slow Players?

Walter David — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:00:21 -0400

Women golfers are slow, they don't hit the ball long, they don't have the physical attributes necessary for playing a forceful game, they're weak, they have no balance...Sound familiar? Those phrases can still be heard on golf courses today but not as much as 10 to 15 years ago.

For example, recently I was invited to play golf at a family reunion. There were 12 of us split up into 3 foursomes and the first tee time was at 7:30 am. Amongst the 12 were 4 women golfers who wanted to play together.

Nobody seemed to mind that set-up until it was our turn to tee-off. One male in our group, being the gentleman that he was, told the ladies to tee-off first and the men will follow. All of a sudden you could hear whispers in the two waiting men's foursomes. "Why did he tell the them to go first, now we won't get back to the reunion until after lunch." "This is going to take all day." "If I knew this was going to happen I wouldn't have played." And on and on.

I didn't say a word, all I did was take it all in and observe. The first hole was a par 4. All four women hit their tee shots short but on the fairway. Their second shots were again short but on the fairway. It was then that a guy in our group named Dave stated, "Oh my, this is going to take forever. We're going to have to wait until they hit three shots before we can hit one."

I watched the ladies hit their 3rd shots—Two hit on the green, one was on the fringe and one was in the sand trap. It was at that time that we teed off.

It wasn't until the 8th hole when I spoke up. I was waiting for Dave to hit his ball which he couldn't find in the rough, when I yelled across the fairway at him, "Dave just drop another ball, the ladies are almost a hole ahead of us and you're slowing up play."

When we reached the green I said, "Dave, I guess those golfers ahead of us, who are women, just made you eat your words." Everyone started laughing and Dave said, "I’ve got a big mouth."

So how well did the girls play that day. They didn't keep score, they were just out for the family gossip and exercise.

The moral of the story—Girls golf, get over it

Oh, lest I forget, the 4 women golfers who played ahead of us that day were all age 70 or older. They didn't take up the game until they were in their 60's.

Are You Being Ripped-Off On The Golf Course?

Walter David — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:02:10 -0400

I love the game, but outlandish green fees and cart costs are making it harder to afford to play a round of golf.

Are you being ripped-off?

I believe the green fees started to rise in the 1990's. Today it is hard to find a course that won't charge you $50 for green fees on weekdays and more on the weekends. These fees are rising ahead of the cost of living.

What happened? I believe a lot of golf courses are being built to adapt to the weekend duffer's game with plush fairways and manicured greens. This over indulgent need to provide perfect playing conditions has skyrocketed golf course maintenance budgets.

Also, many golf courses are being built to promote real estate in the area surrounding the golf courses.

Are you being ripped-off?

Another thing that has changed for the worse is the use of riding carts. This is a costly added expense to your golf game and a lot of times a needless or unnecessary expense.

Some golf courses make a cart mandatory which of course will raise their profits. Other courses require carts on the weekends but not on the weekdays.

I suppose the thinking on mandatory weekend carts is it will help in speeding up play, which I don't agree. Think about it, with or without a cart, it will take you 5 to 6 hours to complete the round on a weekend.

You are being ripped off.

There are also too many bad golfers playing on the weekend which will slow down play and make you wait endlessly. When this type of situation occurs it will only hurt your game.

You will tighten up, lose concentration and guzzle beer after beer waiting to hit your next shot. All you are getting out of this round of golf is a buzz-on and sunburn which you could have done in your own backyard at very little cost. My thinking on this is to avoid the five hours trying to play a round of golf on the weekend.

The biggest rip-off of all is on those golf courses that make a cart mandatory but you are only allowed to drive it on the cart path. This kind of golf is utterly ridiculous. Let's take a look at this scenario.

Suppose you hit your tee shot to the left and the cart path is on the right. Now what do you do? You don't know what kind of lie you have and you don't know the distance to the green for your next shot.

So you take two to three clubs out of your bag and take the long walk to your ball. After you hit the ball, you take the long walk back to the golf cart. The big problem here is that this type of play goes on all day long—for the whole round. So, I ask you, why do you have to pay for a cart when you are walking most of the time anyway?

Are you being ripped off?