UBC Golf Clinic

We had a golf clinic organized from our career management program at SFU MBA MOT program held at the UBC Golf Course. The day was separated into several segments

Driving Range

we spent time review hit golf balls from the astro turf mat with a 7 iron from the south driving range which I found to be more pleasant to hit from. I picked a few tips from the instructor that I found useful

swing: bring it back further and faster. I found the comment about the faster backswing to be interesting feedback as my friend Eliza recognized this and pointed it out to me. I got some good results from the 7 iron when I was able to connect with it on the sweet spot. I got some around the 125 yard area.
Sergei suggested to maintain the triangle formed when gripping the club with both arms until the club is above horizontal level and then to cock the wrist back a bit and then swing through. Sergei also suggested to keep the club head square to the ball when on the group and to keep it square throughout the back swing. This was good feedback that I'm excited to head out go an practice and try now.


putting:
-Segei suggested not to use the Shingo group, but to place the thumbs of both hand point straight up the shaft and removing the pinky from the interlock to a regular double fisted group.
- Another pointer I got was to pause on the follow through rather than coming back to the ready position of your swing
- Just like a job interview or before a tennis match spending some time on the green or the range at that course prior to your tee time is useful to warm up and see whether you get a feel for the green.

Practice at the course:
The instructor suggested one of the best places to practice and learn is actually on the course. He recommended a twilight tee time when it is a quieter and you can take your time to practice on the real course.

Driving:
See the video


Sand Trap tips:
See the video

Get a grip

I bumped into My instructor Shingo and he recommended that I switch back to my original grip that he taught me. I struggled with it because I was practicing so often with the hand separated!

I've had several practice sessions and here are some personal notes and findings from this grip.

Left hand:
- the left hand wraps around the grip with the thumb pointing upward against the shaft in the direction of the white arrow on my grip
- crease between my left index finger and the thumb of the left hand form a V that Shingo and Tom Watson recommend pointing at your left shoulder

Right Hand
- the right hand comes over top where the thumb of your right hand points between 10 and 11pm if you imagine the face of a clock. In my opinion I found it important to get the stability on this group with the right thumb
- the right pinky finger comes between the middle and the index finger in the left hand interlocking the group.

Other pointers
I take the hands back together so that they work together. I tend to have one hand dominate so it gets wristy. I focus on the ball and not pulling my head up.

There you go the Shingo grip. Take a look at the pictures or the video for a better idea of what I'm talking about


There you go the Shingo grip in Greg's words. Take a look at the picture and the video.

Mylora Sidaway

I must admit its been a while since my last blog post. I've had a hate love relationship with the sport. We went to Mylora Sidaway with 2 other friends. This is my second time. The first was 2 years ago for a CORIX golf event. The venue itself is fairly laid back and relaxed. On that sunny Saturday afternoon I found out that beers are welcome on the course. Here are the highlights of the experience:

- Longest hole 320 yards
- 4 holes over 200 yards including the the 330 yard hole
- Bermuda Triangle - Hole 10 with the fountain made over 10 of my balls disappear into the lake
- Made par on hole 4 192 yards, hole 8 116 yards.
- First course to actually keep score. I was kind of hesitant to share my awful score but I figure I can only improve from here. First 9 I was 19 over par. The back 9 I was 22 over par. Our group has spent a lot of time practice our driving game and realize that in order to get a lower score you need a short game and a putting game.

I would say this is a good course for beginners that want to migrate from pitch and putt to a golf course, but don't want to be intimidated by 200 plus holes and a stuffy golf etiquette atmosphere. You can have some beers with friends, with at a fairly reasonable pace. We let a group of two pass through and they mentioned covelinks as a good 9 hole course to try.