Ways to Improve Your #Golf Game During the Off-Season

This golf blog, "Ways to Improve Your Golf Game During the Off-Season" is a guest post by Matt Mascarenas (bio below). Thanks for the insight Matt!

The season is winding down and most golfers will be putting their clubs away for the winter but many players aren't considering the importance of off-season training. Sure, playing golf through the snow is next to impossible, however, if consistent progress is important to you, taking time off is not an option. 

Working on your game over the winter will give you the spring edge; you'll be ahead of where you let off in fall, you'll eliminate the early season slump, and your friends who took the winter off will be struggling to keep up!

Here are a few golf tips to keep you golf-ready when the fairways turn green again:

1. Set Goals

It's important to have a clear perspective on where your game stands at the end of the season. You'll need to be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses before you can set future goals. The first thing I do entering the off-season is to review last year's goals. 

• Did I meet the previous year's goals? 
• What did I do right? 
• What areas of my game was I performing poorly? 

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be to identify the areas of your game that need improvement.

2. Exercise

Every new golf season starts with optimism and excitement; that fades once you get on the golf course and realize you're lacking in physical ability. You haven't fully lost your game, but the winter break has definitely taken its toll.

Exercising during the winter is extremely important — not just to stay in shape, but to get into better shape. Improving your fitness will benefit your golf swing, add distance to your hit, lower stress and improve thinking skills. We all know that the mental aspect of golf is just as important as the physical aspect — keeping a clear and healthy mind is key.

Set up a fitness plan for yourself and stick to it. Even exercising a couple times a week will put you ahead of the golf curve, assuring that your progress from the previous season doesn't go to waste.  

3. Practice Indoors

Putting is one of the easiest skills to improve during the winter. I keep a putting space set up at home and at the office and make a regular habit out of putting throughout the day. This will help improve putter face alignment, routine, and eye position — all critical techniques to master on your way to a better score.

Practicing your full swing in the house can be a little more challenging if you have low ceilings like I do. Many sports clubs now offer golf simulators to practice on while the green is covered in snow. Not only are they realistic, but they offer measured data on your swing speed, ball flight, trajectory and spin ratio. Golf simulators also allow you see the distance and shape of your shot so you can keep track of your progress leading up to the next season.

4. Book a Trip With Friends

Book a golf trip with your friends. This is a great opportunity to keep yourself practicing without having to practice discipline. My friends and I plan a trip every January to escape the snow and get back on a real course. This has helped me extend the season in my mind, knowing that the final game of my season is right before the next one begins. More importantly, it keeps golf alive for us during the off-season.

Guest Post Author Bio

This article is work of Matt Mascarenas from TruGolf.com. Matt is an avid Golf enthusiast and spends all of his time on the course. When he’s not working on his fairway shot, you will find Matt writing about his passion for the process of the game. 

How Do You Keep Your Golf Game in Shape During the Winter? 
Comment below in this golf blog and tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

How Bad is YOUR Bad on the #Golf Course?

Tiger Woods, at his own Hero World Challenge Tournament last week, mentioned a concept that resonates with many amateurs on the golf course: Just "how bad is your bad?"

Do you double bogey after sinking a thirty-foot putt for birdie? Do you choke after looking at your scorecard? Does your round take a downhill spiral and not bounce back or do you recover and shake off the bad golf shots?

Highs and lows have no place on the golf course - a sound and even mental attitude is how to keep the "bad" from seeping into your round.

Here are a few golf tips to get your mind fit for the round and help you to stay focused on par:

1. Stay Positive! Possibly one of the hardest things to do during a round is to keep smiling (like Phil Mickelson does) after flubbing an chip shot when you just struck a miraculous two-hundred-fifty yard drive. Don't beat yourself up - golf is a game of mis-hits and, according to Bob Rotella, it is also a game of confidence and competence. Today, you may not have the most perfectly aligned swing, but your putter might be lightning hot - eighteen holes is a long journey.

Read these Tips for Getting Rid of the Shanks

2. Gimme NOTHING! In order to understand golf tournament pressure, don't accept gimme's during your rounds - MAKE EVERY PUTT. Dr. Joseph Parent say's, "Act like the shot matters, and you'll be more ready to hit it when it really does."

3. What Scorecard? I let my husband score each round and, when I am playing golf in a tournament, I let someone else handle putting my score down on paper...know why? It's too much pressure seeing how many birdies and bogeys I made and calculating what it would take for me to score in the 80's for the round. Focus on the shot right in front of you and let the score take care of itself!

What golf tips can you share that makes your bad on the golf course...better? Comment below in this golf blog and share with us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

New #Golf Clubs, New Swing...New Tiger Woods?

Armed with new Taylor Made golf clubs (driver and woods) and a reworked swing, Tiger Woods makes his way to the first tee of his Hero World Golf Challenge feeling good about his game. Heck, the former number one golfer in the world parlayed two eagles on the front nine in the Wednesday Pro-Am but is that enough or is Tiger Woods over-the-hill?

At almost forty-one years of age, Tiger Woods is hardly over the hill as golfers like Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus would attest to yet you could almost hear Woods' thoughts out loud while contemplating this as an issue. Let's see, Tiger stroking his graying goatee while thinking of Jim Furyk's miracle fifty-eight at the Travelers Championship, "it’s possible. I’m just going to have to find different ways of doing it."

Will Tiger's new set of golf clubs help, or hurt, his game? First the details:

• TaylorMade M2 driver, 3-wood, 5-wood.
• Nike irons and wedges.
• Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter.
• Bridgestone B330S golf ball.

According to SBNation, now that Nike is out of the golf club business, Tiger Woods has his choice of clubs which opens him up to being able to mix-n-match irons, woods, driver that could be more beneficial to his overall reworked old, new, old again swing.  "I hit everything," said Woods. "And I had control of everything. I can hit all the shots now, on call." 

As for his golf swing, top fifty instructor, Brian Manzella, says Tiger looks "golf strong" with "a much more pronounced in-to-out swing path than before--which tends to produce a draw--and a finish that moves much more upright much more quickly after impact."

Tiger Woods hit the range on Wednesday.

And it was great to see. https://t.co/RJoazYkSuC

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2016

New Golf clubs...check.

Reworked golf swing...check.

New and Improved Tiger Woods? ... We will have to wait and see but it would be great to have the old Tiger Woods back on the golf course, wouldn't it?

Will you be watching the Hero World Golf Challenge? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section of this Golf for Beginners blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Tips for Getting Rid of the Shanks on the Golf Course

The Shanks are probably the most horrifying words in golf! The hozel hits the ball instead of the face and POW, off your ball bolts to the right (if you are a righty) - it's a frustrating feeling and you probably are fearing even bringing up the subject lest it creep into your game!

Once you "catch" the Shanks, it's hard to get rid of them (snowball effect) as it shakes your confidence down to the core.

Briefly, what are the shanks? According to top professional golf instructor Butch Harmon, "shanks usually come from an excessively closed face. The player swings out to in with the face closing hard -- both actions push the hosel closer to the ball (top). If the hosel catches the ball, it's shank city." 

Wait a minute! According to Michael Breed it is an open club face which causes the shanks! Which one is it? Two different thoughts with one probable outcome?

Believe it or not, getting the shanks is not as bad as it seems. Short game guru Dave Pelz says the shanks are, "very close to a solid golf shot. If you are shanking your shots, your impact point is the hozel of the club instead of the club face (only about a 1/2 inch difference)."

Whether the clubface is closed or open at impact, it seems that all pros agree that the hitting the hozel instead of the face at point of impact causes the shanks. Let's now figure out how to end the shanks.

Tips for Getting Rid of the Shanks on the Golf Course:

- Change Golf Clubs: Taking a golf club out of your bag that you always have success using, even if it doesn't accomplish you goal, may help stop the downward spiral.

- Try using a different shot in your bag even if its not appropriate for what you want to accomplish. Switching up your physical game might change your mental game. Anything you do is better than a shank switch up until your confidence returns.

- Core Fundamentals - GASP: Make sure you didn't change any of your swing basics: check your balance, (standing tall to the ball), make sure weight is evenly distributed, and that you are not gripping the club too tightly.

A Few Drills to Get Rid of the Shanks:

-While waiting your turn to hit, take a club out and stand at address (in a practice swing). Put a tee an inch in front of the toe of the club face and another tee an inch behind the hozel. Take several practice swings without hitting either tee. - keep the distance from the ball and your line straight at point of impact.

The Shanks don't have to ruin your round of golf. Take a step back, take a deep breath, change your thoughts and think about all of the great shots you have taken up to this point. A positive mental attitude is still your best friend on the course.

How do you get rid of the Shanks? Add your golf tips in the comments section of this golf blog and on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

photo credit: BreakParBlueprint.com

How Much Would You Pay to Play #Golf on a Donald Trump Course?

The fifteen most expensive courses to play a round of golf were recently named by Worthly.com. A few layouts were well known as the fillers of endless bucket lists while others were overlooked for more notable names.

An old proverb states, "Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it." The question this blog asks is, what is your pay limit to play a round of golf?

Two notables on the big ticket list of golf courses, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst Number 2, $475 and $375 respectively, are the stuff that dreams are made of, according to the some of the greatest golfers in the world.

Jack Nicklaus said of the Monterey Beach gem, “If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I’ve loved this course from the first time I saw it. It’s possibly the best in the world.”

As someone who has crossed Pebble Beach golf course off of her own bucket list (Spyglass and Spanish Bay, also on this list), I have to agree...breathtaking...however, I played as a guest. The question is, would I have put my money where my mouth is?

Pinehurst Number 2, the Donald Ross showpiece, may be surrounded by several worthy courses but it is this one which kindles emotion like no other. Tommy Armour once stated about Pinehurst Number 2, "The man who doesn't feel emotionally stirred when he golfs at Pinehurst beneath these clear blue skies and with the pine fragrance in his nostrils is one who should be ruled out of golf for life."

photo courtesy Evan Schiller, Golfshots.com

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, also made the list and, instead of Pacific Coast views, the spectacular Atlantic Ocean is the featured attraction. For $320 a head, you can play the same course as the top golfers in the world - get onto these spectacular fairways soon as the Ocean Course is slated to host the 2021 PGA Championship.

President-elect Donald Trump's course, Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, California (Rancho Palos Verdes), rounded off this list of most expensive rounds of golf at $275 and, with Trump, you get what you pay for, notably a world-class experience.

Although the 2015 PGA Grand Slam of Golf was mutually pulled from this course, I believe it is only a matter of time before this masterpiece takes its place on the list possibilities for a professional golf tournament. Also couldn't hurt to have the President as host of the tournament...or would that be a conflict of interest?

Wonder if Mr. Trump will play golf with President Obama in the near future? Looks like Mr. Obama will have plenty of time off after January 2017!

Take a look at the list and feel free to comment whether or not you have played, or wish to play, any of the golf courses in particular on this expensive list.

Follow Us and Comment on Twitter @Golf4Beginners.

Kiawah Island Ocean Course courtesy of Evan Schiller Photography.
The 2017 Golfshots Calendar is now available featuring the most beautiful courses in the world at your fingertips.

Play #Golf on Your Own Magical Mystical Tour

For the past four years, I have been invited to play a trinity of the top golf courses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as part of the Mystical Golf Writer's Tournament; The Witch, Wizard and Man O' War.

This year, instead of this terrific event being held during our usual mid-October dates, Hurricane Matthew touched down from Florida through to North Carolina, causing harm to many golf courses along the Grand Strand and our tournament was reassigned...just in case. How were these three immaculately maintained golf courses affected or, were Mystical forces at work keeping them protected from harm?

Just after the storm, Claude Pardue, president and CEO of DG Golf Management which operates the Mystical trio of golf courses issued this statement, "We didn’t suffer any significant damage, just a lost weekend in the middle of our season, but we can’t do anything about that...".

A sigh of relief was elicited...whew, good news! I was off to see the Wizard once again!

While playing each golf course, I silently nodded my head in agreement with Mr. Pardue and, although there were a number of trees felled (cleared due to the amazing job done by the groundskeepers) on each golf course and there were some wet areas still in play, it appeared that all three courses were ready and waiting for the next sojourner to travel their creaky, meandering wooden paths.

Busy season re-starts in Myrtle Beach through Christmas as cities in the north and west experience their first snow fall. When you are booking your tee times, here are a few reasons to include The Witch, Wizard and Man O'War in your visit to South Carolina's Grand Strand.

The Mystical Golf Courses have different designs so you won't get bored.

- The Witch Golf Course really comes through on its name - a peaceful eerieness surrounds golfers as they make their way through the forest riding on creaky bridges.

Designed to be playable from tee to green, you still have to hit a straight shot, the bunkers are well-placed, the greens are different than the Wizard and Man O' War (I believe they are Tift Dwarf). If you hit a good shot you are rewarded but beware a mis-hit...it will cost you strokes.

My playing partners read that this was supposed to be the easiest of the three courses but, even though we struggled a bit, we all came out with praise for its level of difficulty.

Be ware of the alligators which laze by the lakes and, if your golf ball lands near one of these seemingly docile creatures, take a drop!

- The Wizard appeared to me to be the easiest for the three days. It is a links-style golf course, open, with rolling fairways but beware of the rough which is quite gnarly. Bentgrass greens are rolling yet playable and in great condition.

- Man O-War is definitely a golf course you should add to your vacation list while in Myrtle Beach if you like to be surrounded by water.

The course is scenic and always in pristine shape (as are the other two Mystical sites). Definitely practice your putting before heading out for your round as the greens are fast, tricky and unforgiving.

This tip from Mr. Pardue should carry you through as you make your way through each of the three Mystical Golf Courses - when you see trouble, stay away from it. Sounds like simple advice but how many of you will actually follow it when you come upon Dan Maples' "arsenal of weapons" within each course layout?

The "Magical Mystical Tour", as coined by Travel Industry Today, is in full swing during this time of year, offering great tee time values. The Witch and Man O'War are listed as two of the fifteen best courses in South Carolina, according to Golf Advisor reviews.

Staying in the Myrtle Beach area for a few days? The Witch, Wizard and Man O' War are centrally located so you don't have to travel huge distances when staying on the Grand Strand; all three courses are located near each other with The Wizard and Man O'War actually sharing a lake. All three have separate club houses and facilities but it's nice to know that, if you are not a local, you will easily find these three gems.

Thank you once again for your hospitality Claude Pardue and best regards to The Breakers Resort for the delicious food and attentive staff service. To all three Mystical Golf Courses and to their dedicated staff of ground crew and management (Tim, Graham and Randy), thanks for keeping the fairways and greens in such great shape.

Have you played any or all of the Myrtle Beach Mystical Golf courses? Share your experiences on this golf blog and tag us with your responses on Twitter @Golf4Beginners and @MysticalGolf.