Highlights from Centennial Park Golfing!

Start at 10:50am, end at 2:30pm and then headed off to Wild Goose for some beer and food.

Women's highlight
=================
Vivian: Her swings are longer, and the ball is getting further. Her drive off the last hole went as far as 200 yards! And again, she finds more ball than she lost.

Helen: Her swings are consistent, straight, even though short. Consistency, and direction is what matters, and she gets the ball on the green fairly well. However, her putting is not at it's best, and all her scores sacrificies. :-(

Yun: The more pregnant she gets, the better she gets at the short game. Awesome day of putting for me, as I get the ball in the hole in 1 or 2 putts once on the green. Best score of the year at Centennial!


Men's highlight.
================
Alan: Honest golfer of the year, he had an 11 and 10 during the round. Also he switched to a new putter and he was hitting 2 putts all day. I think he's found his putter!
Had a little too much power on his irons by over shooting the green. = )

Alex: Wasn't his best round but he did well, had a great short game hitting close to the pin on a few key shots. The key was to get to the green in good shape. The driver was working well for him that day.

Jason: Short game non existant. Only had one Birdie (have to verify that tonight). Funny how everything goes well in the dome but on the course it falls apart. On the front nine the putting was great, then we hit that hole where everyone 4 putted. oye!

Everyone was a little frustrated on the course but it was still fun to get out.


Wild Goose
==========
- Alan got his first shot of alcohol here when he was in highschool. :-P
- Jason wasn't very impressed with the Philly Hogey. :-( And so weren't Alex and Yun.
- Alan was fooled with the glass of beer. What appeared to be a cooled glass in the fridge as you can tell from the frost on the glass, was actually a frosted glass. Yes, the frost was painted on the glass.

Centennial Park Golfing!

Centennial Park Golfing!

Lag tips

Wonder why no divot and you get thinly hit shots?

http://www.golflagtips.com/

Club Distances.

Here is a rough table as to club distances based on gender I found on the internet.

Club	Men	Women
Driver	200-230-260	150-175-200
3-wood	180-215-235	125-150-180
5-wood	170-195-210	105-135-170
4-iron	150-170-185	90-120-150
5-iron	140-160-170	80-110-140
6-iron	130-150-160	70-100-130
7-iron	120-140-150	65-90-120
8-iron	110-130-140	60-80-110
9-iron	95-115-130	55-70-95
PW	80-105-120	50-60-80
SW	60-80-100	40-50-60

Cottage Golf!

For the civic holiday long weekend a bunch of us went to stay at a cottage near Perth Ontario.
We found a nice nine hole golf course called Dalhousie Glen Golf Course at 4094 Watson's Corners Rd in Lanark Ontario. It was run by a couple who lived on the ninth hole and was very well maintained. I think I ended up playing five rounds that weekend, with Alex playing four. On Saturday morning everyone went to play and we even had our friend Kai come take some photos below.







My Commentary of the golf action on the trip.

Friday August 1, 2008

Alex and I went to play at 5pm and it cost us 19.75 for 9 holes and a cart each!?!
You can't get prices like that in Toronto. When we got to the first hole we were in awe because we had no idea what to expect since we couldn't see the course from the road.
It was a difficult traditional style course with trees added in at specific spots to make it more difficult. You were punished for making bad slices and hooks into the deep rough because the rough was very thick and you'd have to take a drop and stroke penalty. On the greens it was a slow roll to the hole. The greens were wet and sticky so the breaks that we'd read wouldn't even happen and we'd be left with difficult two or three putts. Very frustrating.
From that first round Alex shot a 50 and I shot a 44 on a Par 34 course.
I scored an eagle on the 3rd hole but it was a pure fluke I hit my 9 iron thin and the ball skipped across the fairway and onto the green and hit the flag stick and fell in. It was nice that Alex saw it so that I had a witness.

August 2 2008 (Morning)
Yun, Alex, Vivian, Kai, Alan and I went out early in the morning at 8am to play a round, we rented a cart and had Kai drive around and take pictures.
The girls went ahead of the guys with kai following around in the cart.
The pictures below are of that day. All picture credits are to Kai.
The highlight of that day was the deer that ran across the fairway on the 4th hole.

August 3 2008 (Morning)
The group dwindled down to just Alex, Yun and I.
Meena was a designated walker and bag puller for Yun.
We let Meena hit a few shots with the PW and she was hitting them down the pipe at the green, very impressive!

August 4 2008 (Afternoon)
Alex, Yun and I. (again) :)
This time with Vivian as a driver, because we rented two carts.

August 5 2008 (Morning)
Just Vivian and I. Vivian playing the role as the driver.
We were chasing this old lady playing ahead of us, and she was fast!
Probably due to the fact she was hitting in a straight line and could see
her ball. I was having to hunt for my ball just because I sometimes couldn't see where it landed.

A great visual picture of what each club does. Taken from the Ping Golf website.
Click on the picture to see the full image.
SW = Sand wedge
UW = Utility wedge

Golf @ Cresthaven - July 27

Alas, it was the first sunny Sunday this whole season for a lot of us. With excited (and a bit sleepy from early rise) minds, we all met at the Cresthaven golf course at 8:30am for a game of golf. Everyone was on time! Very impressive.

Here are some photos of golfers for the day!

Calvin and Grace were busy practicing chipping and putting prior to starting at Tee #1. As for everyone else, they just hung out before starting at Tee #1.

I headed off to the putting practice green as soon as photo taking was done to improve my short game and putting.







More to come later!

Golf @ Centennial - July 13

Centennial Golf Course is a 18 hole course mostly par 3 and par 4 holes, with total yardage of approx 3800 yards from the blue tee, 3500 yards from the white tee, and 3200 yards from the red tee.

The day started with grey sky, with some rain spitting out from the clouds. Helen and Alan encountered some car trouble on 401 on the way to the golf course, so unfortunately, they couldn't make it. Everyone gathered in the parking lot of Centennial Golf club, setup the golf bad on the pull carts, changed shoes, and of course, put on their wind/rain jackets in case the rain continues. Everyone was very enthusiastic and excited about the golf day. It was greyer, and rainier than the last time we cancelled and took the rain check, but alas, we decided to go ahead with the day at the course.

We tee'ed off at around 9:30am. The plan was to start with North 9, and then move onto West 9.


On the North 9, the weather was still grey when we tee'ed off. Here are some photos of the ladies on the North 9. I was the only camera-woman, so naturally, there are no photos with my face in it. Notice the still grey weather. This is Janet hitting from the fairway on the first hole, 350 yards from the white tee to the green. She hit the driver off the tee onto the fairway, and is hitting it second time towards the green.

This is Vivian hitting from a tee on the West 9. Notice that the sun is now fully out, and the day is getting better. Vivian's shot off the tee was using a 7 iron, on this short par 3 hole. You can see the green in the far end of this par 3 course. We switched between white and red tee, depending on the course.

The ladies were doing pretty well for the first-timer(Vivian), and the second-timer (Janet). The forms were great, the direction was decent, even with the short yardage of each swing. ;-) Considering I had more experience being on the golf course, I wasn't doing so well. My driver swings were off, most of the time slicing, and my iron shots were inconsistent. Here's a putting action photo. Vivian has just putted the ball, and you can see the ball rolling in action. Janet's ball is sitting closer to the hold in front of Janet.

Now, the men... I was only able to take quick shots of the men, right before I tee'ed off from the next course. Two times, I caught the men putting on the green in my photos. They were fast behind us, and kept the others playing golf after us at bay. ;-) This is Alex putting on the West 6. Notice his white hat. He got a mesh tan on this head from that tan. For a few days I thought it was just a sleep mark from the pillow, but after seeing it few days in a row, and trying to rub it off, we both realized that it was a sun burn from the mesh part of that white cap. Hilarious!

This is Calvin reading the green for that perfect putt on the West 6, and Jason putting. I can't say much for men, since I was not playing with them.

Ladies Recap and Highlight of the day

Janet - Accurate iron shots. Great forms, and great direction! Losing several balls in one course int he water hazard. :-P Towards the last few holes, her rambling of, "Yun, I don't care anymore... I'm so tired..." and being sloppy with the putter.

Vivian - Amazing ability to find balls wherever they go, into the bushes, trees, etc. Very skilled at finders keepers. She ended up with more balls then she actually lost! It's almost like she had a ball homing device.

Yun - Super woman strengh of carrying the golf bag full of clubs on her shoulder for all of 18 holes in her state. The big slices of her driver swings followed by "Ohhh, mmmaaaannnnnn!", and of course the ball is lost.

Men's recap and highlights of the day

Calvin - GREAT short game, from 75 yards and in he was very close to the pin. As for the Rescue club, if he didn't use it the scores would have been lower. Also only guy to get a birdie with a great drive onto the green.

Alex - Driver-o-matic. very consistent drives (with Nike one ball). Two off the tee green shots in one.

Jason - Recovery shots were okay, plus I top my ball alot. Lots of tee shots only went past or not even past the red tees. The only guy to land on the green off the
tee, in the water hazard hole (was it #16?). Alex lost about 4 balls in
the water on that hole :P

The Perfect Swing

Here are two video clips of 'The Perfect Swing'. I'm sure you can see 'who'. :-) Hope this is a useful resource for studying and improving your swing.

The Perfect Swing - Frontview



The Perfect Swing - Sideview

Planes in golf swing

It's cool to find out there is a terminology for the swing planes. Basically your backswing goes up in one plane, but your downswing comes down in a different plane, hence the terminology, two-plane swing.

This is an interesting article, that describes the differences in one plane swing, and two plane swings.
One Plane Golf Swing vs. Two Plane Golf Swing - What's the Difference?

Today, as a going away game for Calvin, some of us from work are going to Centennial Golf course, and playing 9 hole after work. Players: Calvin, Jason C., Ania, Myself.

We'll miss Calvin around here at Telmetrics Development team. I'm sure he'll come visit for a golf game or two. ;-)

Vivian's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Vivan, the rookie's first swing! Yay!

Alan's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Alan Swing #1


Alan Swing #2


Alan Swing #3

Helen's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Helen Swing #1


Helen Swing #2


Helen Swing #3

Alex's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Alex Swing #1


Alex Swing #2


Alex Swing #3


Alex Swing #4

Yun's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Yun Swing #1


Yun Swing #2


Yun Swing #3


Hmm... not so great... feel free to add comment on what I'm doing wrong.

Calvin's Swing - May 10 - Markham Golf Dome

Calvin Swing #1


Calvin Swing #2


Calvin Swing #3

April - Remembering the thunderstorm @ the Docks

I recall the grey weather the first time we all went out to the driving range at the docks. Typical of April weather, which is often accompanied by rain, the sky was grey, with some hint of potential rain, with temperature still somewhat chilly. However, Canadian weather forcast is usually off by quite a bit, we all went out expecting drizzle in the worst case. The docks is great in such drizzing weather, since the range has cover and heater system.

The afternoon started with the group of us: Grace, Ryan, Jason, Vivian, Aliza, Kelvin, Alex and myself. We got few buckets toghther and settled over few spots on the main floor mat. As the afternoon progressed, our muscles became lighter and our hits were improving.

Then unexpectedly, the thunderstorm with crazy strong wind started. The wind was literally blowing the rain drops horizontally, hitting us in the face, in the body, and ripping off the tarps that were covering the back of the mat from the rain. Few tarps got torn off the posts, and started flapping in the storm, and sending chunks of collected water at us. Few of us got the courage to run through the open flaps, risking getting wet, to get to the other side, where the tarps were tied strong, and holding together and covering the mats well, providng drier santuary. At some point, our golf bags were getting drenched in horizontally hitting rain, the plastic chairs were blown out onto the range, and the few standing golf bags were blown and fell to the floor.

The storm didn't last very long, probably about half an hour. All of us were drenched by the end of the storm. What a day it was! And imagine continuing to hit the golf balls through the storms as some of us were crazy to continue doing this.

Here's a photo of the rolling patio chair. This photo doesn't do justice to what was actually happending, but is only a hint of thousand other things that were blowing and getting drenched (including us).

Nicknames !

Alan: Walrus
Helen: FlyHi
Janet: Angry pharmacist
Calvin: Doggy toy
KC: Tree sniper
Alex: Skippy
Yun: 30 degrees
Jason: Arms
Vivian: Rookie

Here's to our name - "Lost In Green"

One fine afternoon, in a sleepy trance after too much greasy chinese food lunch, Yun had this idea of creating a golf blog mainly to share photos. She was just too lazy to send out individual golf photos after a golf/driving-range meet. One can imagine why she is getting lazy, in her state, where she is extra-sleepy most of the time.

So she called up some of her IT buddies through messenger and gtalk, and started to ping for ideas for Blog names. In this golf group naming chat session, there were many names that were thrown out, some very odd, some quite good, some just a darn right out copies from other genres. They were so funny that Yun thought they must be shared. Here are some of the highlights. I'm sure some of them were largely influenced by people's lazy friday lunch habits, as it was clear that some of the names seemed to have been created in some trippy trance induced by MSG or some other friday bar/grill lunch accompanied by beer.

First up was Calvin with his ideas for a name.
- The Year of Golf
- Golf: Year in review
- AG - Asian Golfers
- GOGO Golf
Conservative, no? Yun thought GoGo Golf was actually a cool name.

And then Alan had this idea for a name.
- Bushwackers
Upon hearing that Bushwackers sounds hickish, and suggestion of coming up with some classy names, and some-other-wackers, here were more from all of us:
- Grass-wackers
- Grass-diggers
- CK Grass-diggers which evolved to ACK Grass-diggers
- Grass-freerrs (Free grass from the bounds of earth? o_0;)
- Land-Scapers
- Grass Freedome Crusaders/Angels
- Golf Ball Crackdown
- Missing Balls
- Balls Gone Wild
- The raincheckers
- The Three Putters
- Iron (Wo)Men
- FlyHi(gh)
- Infinity Putters
- Lost In Green

And the winner was, "Lost In Green", the most classy name of them all.

Stay tuned for everyone's nickname challenge!
Until next blog, Ahn-Nyung!