St. Patty’s Day Celebration on March 16th
Irish Menu 
Specialty Beers Drink Specials
Food Specials at 5 pm | Live Music at 8 pm
Please Join us – make your reservation – 513-727-0007 opt 3
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John Smoltz’s first foray into serious senior golf came at last year’s U.S. Senior Open, where he shot 85-77 at the Broadmoor to miss the cut. Not that the ultra-competitive retired pitcher was surprised.
“Look, I had a flight home Saturday,” Smoltz admitted to GolfDigest.com. “I wasn’t really thinking I was going to make the cut.”
But it was on that flight home where he also took copious notes about his performance to prepare for the next time a similar opportunity arose. And that time is now.
Smoltz, 51, will tee it up on the PGA Tour Champions this week at the Cologuard Classic. It’s the first of three sponsor exemptions the MLB Hall-of-Famer has accepted to play on the senior circuit this year.
“When the phone call came for this opportunity to play in three events,” said Smoltz, who is an analyst for Fox and MLB Network. “I was like a little kid who just got one of the best Christmas gifts.”
Smoltz joined me to discuss his latest opportunity to showcase his golf game on a big stage, his recent win at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, his impressive backyard golf setup, and how a big baseball trade changed both his career on the field and on the course. He also talked about his senior tour aspirations going forward and a special buddies trip he’s planning with some former teammates.
Plus, Sam Weinman and Keely Levins joined me to discuss Dustin Johnson’s latest win, the LPGA backstopping controversy, and punching out from the trees. Please have a listen:
SOURCE: Golfdigest
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Registration at 3:00 pm | Dealing begins at 4:00 pm
All proceeds are helping to sponsor Rekoj Softball Team and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati
10K Starting Stack – 10K Rebuys – 10K Add On – 15 Min Levels
$20 Buy in / Rebuy / Add on
It’s going to be a great night!
RESERVE YOUR CHAIR – 513-727-0007 option 3
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Friday – March 1st | 8 pm – 11 pm
Disco Dance Contest at 9 pm
$$ for the Winner
See you at the Grille @1320 DISCO
Reserve your spot – 513-727-0007 opt 3
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Golf is a unique sport because you can often participate even if you’re not as physically fit as you once were. That said, golf isn’t always an injury-free sport. Low back pain is the golf injury you’re most likely to sustain. Luckily, it can be avoided.
The following tips will help.
Golf may not seem as intense as a sport like football or hockey, but you still need to warm up before playing. Loosening your muscles helps to prevent discomfort. Practice these basic exercises to prep your muscles for a few hours on the course:
If you’re having trouble with these stretches, or they don’t seem to be effective, getting direct access to physical therapy could help. A few sessions with an expert could help you learn how to properly stretch before golfing to avoid lower back and other injuries.
Golfers apply torque and torsion to their lower backs in order to generate sufficient club speed when swinging. This puts strain on the lower back. That’s why practicing a swing regularly is important. You want to emphasize smooth motions. Additionally, researchers have found that attempting to mimic the “X-factor” swing of professionals (in which you attempt to maximize rotation of your shoulders relative to your hips) may result in injury.
Maintaining proper balance while swinging also helps protect your back. Keep your knees bent and shoulder width-apart, while maintaining a straight spine.
It will take practice to develop a smooth swing, but it’s necessary. Doing so will keep you comfortable while also improving your overall performance while playing.
Lifting heavy items incorrectly or repeatedly can result in low back pain. In other words, your swing isn’t the only part of your game you need to optimize if you want to avoid discomfort. You also need the right golf bag.
Don’t use one you have to set down on the ground every time you’re ready to take a swing. Get a bag that has a stand, so you don’t have to lift it up repeatedly throughout a round.
It’s easy to assume low back pain is something only older golfers need to worry about. However, the X-factor swing described above is often more likely to cause certain injuries in younger players. They tend to have more muscle mass than older generations, which puts significant pressure on their spines during the swinging motion. They may also be more likely to apply excessive force. Even if you’re a younger golfer, you should keep these tips in mind. Doing so will also help avoid injury as you get older.
Again, golf is the type of sport you can play well into old age. You’re more likely to be able to if you avoid low back pain. Remembering these points will help you stay out on the course for years.
SOURCE: Golftipsmag
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You probably feel pretty good when you’re at the perfect yardage for the club in your hands. But what about those annoying yardages, like when a full 7-iron is going to be too much, and a full 8-iron might not get there? Or when you’re 45 yards from the green and your full lob wedge flies 60? I’ve seen many golfers struggle in these situations because they swing too hard or decelerate the club to try to control distance, and neither really works. If you want to hit more shots pin-high, give the methods I’ve used on the PGA Tour a try. Let’s start with in-between yardages. Here I’m swinging a 7-iron. I normally hit it 185 yards, so if I have 175 to the pin, I stand slightly closer to the ball and narrow my stance a few inches.
I also grip down an inch or so. When I swing, the only adjustment is to stop my backswing just short of my usual top position. Then I make my normal through-swing. I don’t change my speed coming through the ball. That’s key.
Swing speed also is important when you have less than a full wedge into a green. This is the area of the course where I’ve noticed amateurs struggle the most. Part of the reason is because they don’t have a consistent plan for how to handle these short shots. If you don’t have a strategy, it’s hard to know what to practice. And without practice, you’re going to struggle on the course.
The way I handle these shots is to regulate the length of the backswing depending on the length of the shot—shorter distances mean shorter backswings. But the thing to remember is, just like with in-between yardages on longer shots, you have to swing through the ball at the same pace no matter the distance.
I practice three swing lengths with my sand wedge that are less than full, so I have three distances locked in when I’m on the course. If I stop my backswing when the shaft is around the height of my hips (above), I know the ball will go 35 yards. When my forearms are parallel to the ground, it’s going 60 yards. And when my hands stop at my shoulders, it’s going to go 80 yards. Again, I can’t stress enough that you never want to slow down as you come through. It leads to inconsistent strikes.
For even better results, add this to your range sessions: Hit 10 balls each with your backswing stopping at three different lengths. Make note of how far the ball goes with each, and rely on those swings to produce the right yardages when you get on the course. You’ll be a lot more confident in hitting half-wedge shots pin-high.—with Keely Levins
SOURCE: Golfdigest
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The original Augusta was intended to have a hole 19, giving losing golfers a chance to win their money back on a quick round of double-or-nothing. It was indefinitely tabled because the hole would ruin the flow of the golf course.
Would you like the option of winning your money back?
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Hosung Choi and his unconventional swing leave Pebble Beach after earning respect
Hosung Choi’s weeklong parade around Monterey Peninsula finished in bitter rain Saturday at Pebble Beach, the conclusion accompanied by a missed cut in the Crosby Clambake known officially as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Yet the 45-year-old from a small fishing village in South Korea, who took up golf when he was 25, couldn’t stop smiling as the waves crashed the craggy coastline. He had won the lottery, after all, and his first trip to American soil and his first start on the PGA Tour left a lasting impression not only for Choi but for those entertained by his affable personality, showmanship and outrageous follow-throughs full of twists and turns that have made him an internet sensation.
On the scenic stages of Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course, Choi was the biggest star in a tournament filled with celebrities and some of the game’s best players, his festive galleries larger than those following Bill Murray, Wayne Gretzky, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth.
“I definitely felt the love from my fans,” Choi said through an interpreter.
Choi returned the love. He acknowledged most every shout out from his followers, many coming in his native tongue. He signed tons of autographs and posed for hundreds of selfies. He was Mickelson without flashing the thumbs up.
Playing on a sponsor’s exemption, he showed his appreciation by plunking down his own cash to buy clothing featuring the tournament logo and wore his new duds through 54 holes. He literally ran to the media center for his pre-tournament presser to make sure he wasn’t late.
And Saturday he gave each of his playing partners – actor Chris O’Donnell, his teammate, and pro Jerry Kelly and his teammate, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers – one of his clubhead covers that feature a silhouette of his one-legged follow-through.
“They were such great people,” Choi said. “And even when I had a bad shot or was struggling, they encouraged me, and they gave me words of advice out there. And I tried to give them a gift to remind them of me.”Choi, Rodgers said, was the gift that kept on giving.
“We had him over to the house, him and his family. We had a blast,” Rodgers said. “There’s obviously some loss in translation with the language barrier, but we had his translator there, and we just had a blast. He’s a great guy. I think it’s great for the tournament and for golf. Obviously, his swing gets a lot of attention, but he’s a good player. It was a lot of fun to play with him.”
While the record will show he missed the cut by 11 shots after rounds of 72-75-77, Choi wasn’t out of his element in a week full of elements featuring hail, showers and bone-chilling temps. The four-time winner on the Japanese and Korean tours was baffled by the Poa annua greens but was far from a sideshow, as he impressed Kelly, who has six victories on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
“I really love the action,” Kelly said. “It made me want to get my leg into it just a little bit and see if I can get a little extra. His fundamentals at impact are pretty darn good, and he can shift it and roll it. So, there’s no reason that he can’t compete.”
On Sunday night, Choi left for Guam for a photo shoot and doesn’t know when he’ll play next. While he was disappointed in his play on the Monterey Peninsula, Choi was far from downcast about his future and said he hopes to receive more invitations to play on the PGA Tour.
“If I’m lucky enough to get another invite, I’ll be happy to play in any other tournament,” Choi said. “I learned a lot from this experience.
“I will continue to dream.”
SOURCE: USAtoday
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GRIP CONTROLS FACE
SLICE
A weak grip leads to an open face. Unless you’re trying to hit one on purpose, this grip is a surefire way to help you slice the ball. A weak grip leaves less room for the hands to rotate, which for a chronic hooker of the ball can help lessen the chance of an extreme right-to-left ballflight. Other factors to be ready for include a shorter but higher trajectory, since the hands will release sooner. And the more open the face, the more loft you’ll add at impact.
HOOK
A strong grip will help lessen a slice and help you hook the ball. A stronger grip, where the V of both hands point to the right of your shoulder, means the hands have more torque and stored energy. This engages the rotation of the hands forcefully, helping to square the clubface at impact and prevent slice-inducing spin. If you slice, try a stronger grip like this one and expect a lower, deeper ballflight. Aim accordingly to allow for a right-to-left flight and roll.
STRAIGHT
Versatile and useful, a neutral grip is the way to straighter tee shots. The key here is to rest the hands in an athletic but calm position on the golf club. By emulating the position above, you’ll not only hit straighter shots, but you can also make variations in your stance and ball position should you want to hit any sort of draw or fade. Experiment with the right grip for your game and, if all else fails, hone in on a neutral grip for better results.
SOURCE: golftipmag
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A Putt Measured at 140 feet and 2 3/4 inches on the 18th at St. Andrews was sunk by Bob Cook in the International Fourball Pro Am Tournament on October 1, 1976
What was your longest putt?
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Ho-Sung Choi was so excited to talk to the media Tuesday afternoon at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am that he ran from the player hospitality tent to the media center, a lengthy jaunt, when he could have just waited for a shuttle ride.
“It is my first time here in the United States, so I can’t even put into words how incredibly happy and grateful I am to have this opportunity here,” he said through an interpreter.
When the likes of Aaron Rodgers, the All-Pro quarterback from the Green Bay Packers, requests to be paired with the late-blooming Korean sensation, it’s safe to say that the excitement is mutual. America is ready to embrace him.
Choi might not speak much English, but he is the undisputed World No. 1 in body language. His pirouetting, leg-kicking golf swing, a cross between the Gary Player walk-through and an Olympic ice dancer – called a “fisherman’s swing” in some circles – has caught the attention of golfers and fans the world over.
“I’m actually fascinated clearly by his swing and the way that he … moves around,” said former world No. 1 Jordan Spieth, who won here in 2017. “But I would almost say funniest … the most entertaining videos I’ve seen were actually some of his putts where he’ll spin the way he wants the ball to start moving around and then when it goes in he’ll give one of those kind of fist pumps and it’s just, it’s really entertaining.”
It also has been pretty effective. Choi, 45, is a two-time winner on the Japan Tour, having won most recently at the Casio World Open in November, and he is No. 194 in the Official World Golf Ranking. But it’s his penchant for natural showmanship with his homemade swing that made him a perfect fit for a sponsor exemption – adding another layer to an event famous for its inclusion of celebrities and entertainers.
Comedian Bill Murray once spun around an old lady in a bunker here. This guy needs no assistance, corkscrewing himself into a pretzel after most shots.
“I know sometimes after I’ve hit the ball I sometimes will the ball to go in the hole and in my mind I feel like that helps the ball go in the hole, so I’m going to keep doing that this week,” Choi explained. “And I feel like in my mind the way I move my body, sometimes it feels like I have remote control that wills the ball to go in the hole, so I’m going to keep doing that, because I feel like it helps.”
Choi is hardly self-conscious about how he looks on his full swing. He was happy to demonstrate it during his press conference, standing up on the dais to show the full move. The swing, he noted, was even wilder in his earlier years than it is now. It was born from hitting a shot out of the rough and following through with his whole body, something Tiger Woods has done routinely when he goes for extra speed from heavy lies. Choi, who averages about 280 off the tee, figures he gains an extra 10 yards from the pronounced action.
“I personally love my swing,” he said. “I didn’t start golf until I was in my late 20s, so technically I didn’t take any lessons growing up. But regarding flexibility or anything like that, I might not have as much compared to the other tour players, but I do what I can with what I have. And also with the advancement in technology and with how far these players are hitting it nowadays I needed to find my own unique way to get that extra distance. And by hitting it hard and by swinging hard I was able to swing the way I do right now, so that might result in to how I’m swinging it.”
It also results in delight from those who watch it.
“Yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s unique, for sure. Nobody swings a golf club like that and I’ve never seen anybody move that way when they swing a golf club,” said U.S. Ryder Cup player Tony Finau. “I think it’s great for the game, and obviously he’s playing with Aaron Rodgers this week. And I was just with Aaron this morning, and he’s excited to watch him play. I mean, how is that not really cool for our game to have someone like him wanting to play with someone like Ho-Sung Choi? So that’s, I think he brings some excitement to this tournament. And as players it’s really cool to see someone that that’s different and that unique of a golf swing.”
Some guys would cut off their right arm to have a chance to play golf professionally. Choi cut off his right thumb.
As he tells the story, he went to school to specialize in a job in the fishing industry. When he was 23, he accidentally amputated a portion of his right thumb with a chain saw. (Somewhere Greg Norman is cringing knowingly.) Though the tip was reattached, Choi’s right thumb is shorter than his left. But from that mishap started his long road to an unlikely golf career. About two years after the accident, in 1995, he got a part-time job at a golf course. He said his responsibilities included “anything from from cleaning locker rooms to stocking vending machines, to taking the coins out of the vending machines. On hot summer days I would be the one responsible for putting the cold ice towels inside the locker, inside the ice boxes for the players.”
When the course opened a new practice area, the owner encouraged employees to learn the game. From these humble beginnings, a star was born – and the Internet sure helped. Everyone recognizes Choi, who actually will partner for three rounds with actor Chris O’Donnell. Rodgers and Wisconsin native Jerry Kelly, one of several Champions Tour players in the field, are paired with them. They are in the celebrity rotation, meaning Choi will likely get his share of airtime during Saturday’s CBS telecast from Pebble Beach.
Good thing he’s not shy – and that his real strength, he said, is his mental game. He doesn’t care what others think. He just wants to play.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he said when asked about how others might view him. “My only goal is to give it my all and to play my best when I’m on the golf course. I’m just not worrying about what other people say or do and just focusing on my own game.”
Before he left the dais, he was asked to demonstrate his swing one more time. He was only too happy to oblige, and he was so focused that once he was finished, he left behind his cell phone.
SOURCE: Golfdigest
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Every bad result in golf can be traced back to a root cause. If you’re struggling to hit accurate drives, the issue is a lack of clubface control.
Many amateurs start their backswings by whipping the driver way inside the target line and opening the face. From there, they re-route the club on a looping path that comes into the ball from outside the target line—the classic over-the-top move—with an open face in relation to the path. You can guess what happens next. The ball slices right of the target. If by some luck or last-second adjustment they can close the face, the ball flies on a straight line but left of the target. How many times have you heard another golfer get frustrated after setting up to hit a drive that flies left to right—and presumably in the fairway—only to see the ball go dead left and into the trees?
If a round of golf for you is constant guesswork of where the ball might end up, you can improve your accuracy if you fix the cause and control the clubface better through impact. It starts by making a better takeaway. No more whipping the club inside. Instead, pretend the clubface has vision, and its job is to swing back while keeping its eyes on the ball. In the photos above, my club starts squarely behind the ball and does not rotate open in the takeaway. Copy this move. I want you to keep it staring at the ball as long as you can when you take it back.
What you’ll find is that this gets you to make a backswing where your club, hands, arms and body all turn together. This is the type of synchronized movement that allows you to control the clubface.
Ideally, it should return to the ball facing your target, and your shot will fly straight. Even marginal improvements in clubface control will reduce the dispersion of your off-line hits. You’ll be in play a lot more often. — With Ron Kaspriske
MY TRICK FOR HOLING ALL THE SHORT ONES
You’ve probably heard someone tell you to keep your head still when you’re on the green—especially if you’re trying to hole a short putt.
The advice is well intended. The less you move, the less chance you will twist the putterface open or closed and miss the putt. No steering! Unfortunately, locking down your head can add a degree of tension and prevent you from making a confident, relaxed stroke. Since we’re on the subject of vision on this page, I’ve got a better way to help you control the putter as you make your stroke. Instead of thinking about keeping your head still, your swing thought should be keep my eyes still. You’ll notice right away that it has the same effect of minimizing body movement, but it doesn’t add extra tension to the stroke.
David Leadbetter, a Golf Digest Teaching Professional, runs 32 academies worldwide.
SOURCE: Golfdigest
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The record for the longest hole in one belongs to Lou Kretlow, who achieved a hole-in-one at a 427-yard course in 1961. Kretlow was originally a baseball player and enjoyed much success. He only became a professional golfer after hanging up his gloves. We can certainly think of worse ways to enjoy retirement.
Tell us what your longest drive was?
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