November 2014
About Me
I apologize for my tardiness in writing my latest letter. No excuses! Rick Sargent and I drove up the coast to Portland Maine, played golf, ate lobster, and drank wine. A couple of the highlights were playing The Country Club at Brookline and Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. I ran into a friend from grade school in Germany, it was great to see Katie. We stopped to view the 9-11 memorial—very moving. If you have not seen it, I would recommend it.
I have been playing more golf recently, both in tournaments and in friendly non-competitive games. Competitively, I did not play my best this year. I didn’t put the work in it takes to compete with my fellow professionals. I did not have many tournament rounds where I felt comfortable. When I won a couple of years ago I spent a lot of time on my mental approach and it paid off. I will discuss this more in my off-season plan.
Professionally, I had one of my best years working with kids. We started a Boys and Girls Golf Club at Paint Branch. We put 40 students through the qualifying sessions and have retained 15-20 for the season. I have seen these kids get stronger, more coordinated and more confident. It is great to have our coaches, Tim and Tony, so committed to these kids. I am looking forward to next year.
Florida Golf Schools
The Florida Schools are filling faster than expected—only a few spots remain. We are creating more variety in our program this year by using 4 different golf courses. We are going to focus on taking practice to the golf course. Why can’t you play the way you practice (you stripe it on the range and go to the golf course and struggle)? Do you practice the way you play and play the way you practice?
Again in a nutshell, you practice for a couple of hours in the morning with PGA professionals, have lunch and play in the afternoon with PGA professionals. The dates are Session #1 2/19-22 and Session #2 2/26-3/1. The cost is $1200 and it includes instruction and lodging. You can’t find a more valuable school than ours anywhere. I can go on, if you are interested let me know 240-687-7315 of golfclubmd@gmail.com.
Junior News
Jason Schwenz is this year’s Boys and Girls Club Champion! We had our first Club Championship and Jason shot 38, 39. Congratulations Jason! The club is great! We had a good junior league fall season with 6 events. The kids are rapidly improving. Next year we will have a full slate of tournaments scheduled, including two-man, member guest, two club, match play tournament, parent/child and more. We will also have at least one PGA Junior League team. If you are not familiar with the club, we exercise, learn and compete everyday. We are trying to change the junior golf culture. The kids play golf at least once a week. If you know kids who may be interested in joining the club please let me know.
Winter Practice
I write the same winter tip every year for a reason. It’s important. Take care of yourself! It starts now with better balance, more strength, greater range of motion, improved flexibility, and a sharper mental approach. Spend the winter working on these things. If you cannot get to Florida for one of our schools, try this: First, evaluate where you need the most improvement and where you are the most proficient. To assist you, I offer TPI screens and one-day golf schools to assess your needs and create a plan to improve your physical skills and mental approach. Your TPI screen comes with a 6 week plan to improve the areas we identify. That process includes fitness bands and a mat. It also involves this commitment:
I am available Wednesday-Sunday for screens and private lessons if you want a winter plan. I plan to leave for Florida around the 6th of January.
I mentioned that I would comment on my tournament experience this year. In previous years, I returned from Florida playing well. But I would get busy teaching and, ultimately, play/practice less. By the time my own golf schedule gets fired up in July and August I am searching for my game. A two-week plan for tournament competition is a bad plan. Preparation should be constant and continual. Where I find the greatest challenge is in my mental approach. I can comfortably shoot under par in the practice round but when I get to the event I am a different person. My over-thinking gets in the way of my body wisdom. A couple of years ago I had a daily meditation practice of believing I was good. Every morning for 15 minutes I would consciously practice being in the present. I knew I could play and if I would allow my body to connect with my skill and experience, I would see success. I got to a playoff with one of the best players in my section. I told myself over and over I was supposed to be in that playoff, and I just needed to stay in the moment and hit a good tee shot down the middle. I did and made birdie to win.
I promise to get back to believing!
If you are interested in lessons as gifts I have Christmas cards and certificates I can send.
I wish you and your family a great holiday!
I apologize for my tardiness in writing my latest letter. No excuses! Rick Sargent and I drove up the coast to Portland Maine, played golf, ate lobster, and drank wine. A couple of the highlights were playing The Country Club at Brookline and Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. I ran into a friend from grade school in Germany, it was great to see Katie. We stopped to view the 9-11 memorial—very moving. If you have not seen it, I would recommend it.
I have been playing more golf recently, both in tournaments and in friendly non-competitive games. Competitively, I did not play my best this year. I didn’t put the work in it takes to compete with my fellow professionals. I did not have many tournament rounds where I felt comfortable. When I won a couple of years ago I spent a lot of time on my mental approach and it paid off. I will discuss this more in my off-season plan.
Professionally, I had one of my best years working with kids. We started a Boys and Girls Golf Club at Paint Branch. We put 40 students through the qualifying sessions and have retained 15-20 for the season. I have seen these kids get stronger, more coordinated and more confident. It is great to have our coaches, Tim and Tony, so committed to these kids. I am looking forward to next year.
Florida Golf Schools
The Florida Schools are filling faster than expected—only a few spots remain. We are creating more variety in our program this year by using 4 different golf courses. We are going to focus on taking practice to the golf course. Why can’t you play the way you practice (you stripe it on the range and go to the golf course and struggle)? Do you practice the way you play and play the way you practice?
Again in a nutshell, you practice for a couple of hours in the morning with PGA professionals, have lunch and play in the afternoon with PGA professionals. The dates are Session #1 2/19-22 and Session #2 2/26-3/1. The cost is $1200 and it includes instruction and lodging. You can’t find a more valuable school than ours anywhere. I can go on, if you are interested let me know 240-687-7315 of golfclubmd@gmail.com.
Junior News
Jason Schwenz is this year’s Boys and Girls Club Champion! We had our first Club Championship and Jason shot 38, 39. Congratulations Jason! The club is great! We had a good junior league fall season with 6 events. The kids are rapidly improving. Next year we will have a full slate of tournaments scheduled, including two-man, member guest, two club, match play tournament, parent/child and more. We will also have at least one PGA Junior League team. If you are not familiar with the club, we exercise, learn and compete everyday. We are trying to change the junior golf culture. The kids play golf at least once a week. If you know kids who may be interested in joining the club please let me know.
Winter Practice
I write the same winter tip every year for a reason. It’s important. Take care of yourself! It starts now with better balance, more strength, greater range of motion, improved flexibility, and a sharper mental approach. Spend the winter working on these things. If you cannot get to Florida for one of our schools, try this: First, evaluate where you need the most improvement and where you are the most proficient. To assist you, I offer TPI screens and one-day golf schools to assess your needs and create a plan to improve your physical skills and mental approach. Your TPI screen comes with a 6 week plan to improve the areas we identify. That process includes fitness bands and a mat. It also involves this commitment:
- 10 minutes a day getting more stable with planks, push-ups, sit-ups and jumps.
- 10 minutes a day stretching your body specifically hips, legs, shoulders and core.
- 10 minutes a day meditating. Believe you are good, “I am the best 4 iron player of all time.” Visualize balls flying high and straight at targets you are familiar with on golf courses. If I had a nickel for every time a student told me they were good with their low irons until they get to their 6. The 6 iron is ½” longer than the 7 iron, really that’s the problem? You don’t believe you hit the 6 iron well so you don’t. Believe you are good. You have to figure out how you play your best.
I am available Wednesday-Sunday for screens and private lessons if you want a winter plan. I plan to leave for Florida around the 6th of January.
I mentioned that I would comment on my tournament experience this year. In previous years, I returned from Florida playing well. But I would get busy teaching and, ultimately, play/practice less. By the time my own golf schedule gets fired up in July and August I am searching for my game. A two-week plan for tournament competition is a bad plan. Preparation should be constant and continual. Where I find the greatest challenge is in my mental approach. I can comfortably shoot under par in the practice round but when I get to the event I am a different person. My over-thinking gets in the way of my body wisdom. A couple of years ago I had a daily meditation practice of believing I was good. Every morning for 15 minutes I would consciously practice being in the present. I knew I could play and if I would allow my body to connect with my skill and experience, I would see success. I got to a playoff with one of the best players in my section. I told myself over and over I was supposed to be in that playoff, and I just needed to stay in the moment and hit a good tee shot down the middle. I did and made birdie to win.
I promise to get back to believing!
If you are interested in lessons as gifts I have Christmas cards and certificates I can send.
I wish you and your family a great holiday!