Category: Golf

For many of us hardcore golfers, there's nothing more exciting than a competition that pits the young against the old in a full day of thrilling and entertaining play.

Those young whippersnappers can really launch the ball into the next county, but the cautious wisdom and patience of the seasoned veterans often prove invaluable.

We made a few tweaks to the format to increase the challenge. The morning featured 9-hole singles matches, followed by 9-hole greensomes, and concluding with 9-hole foursomes in the afternoon.

In keeping with tradition, the weather was beautiful and sunny, setting the stage for some truly remarkable golfing feats.

Alongside the usual Nearest to the Pin, Longest Drive, and Leary prizes, we introduced new awards: Most Valuable Player, Shot of the Day, and a Consolation prize. Everyone who made a birdie also won a golf ball.

As the reigning champions from last year, the "Old" team once again managed to secure a big win for the second year in a row.

But, to be perfectly honest, we were all winners, both young and old, and we capped off the day with a fun borrel and a delicious BBQ, laughing and sharing stories late into the evening.

We can't wait until next year!

Second place Club Championship is not all that bad for a senior golfer I guess. A shame that the first round wasn't that great. Better luck next year.

Today was my first round of golf of the year, at the Leeuwenburgh Golfclub. I hadn't really played for more than a month, just practiced a bit, so I was curious how well I could play.

Not only did I have my first birdie of the year, which is normally the exciting highlight, but I managed to shoot two birdies in a row.

The first birdie was a longish 12 meter putt on the par three tenth, and the second one was on a par four where I made a long masterful shot from the fairway bunker and then sank the three foot putt.

The rest of the round was far from spectacular, with in total six pars, six bogies, three double bogies and a lousy triple bogie on the last hole for an 84.

Not a bad start for the year, and there will be plenty of fun challenges ahead.

As tradition would have it, the end of the golfing season marks the yearly Jong Tegen Oud Matchplay Tournament. This is a long awaited for contest which pits the best of the youth against the finest seniors. The age divide being forty years old (kind of).

It is fine mix of young and old going at each other in the true spirit of golf. Having lost last years match, the team old had some serious grudges to deal with. Not really revenge, but close enough to it.

Consisting of two teams of fourteen each, we played greensomes in the morning followed by singles in the afternoon. Afterwards we had a good old "borrel" with prizes, capping off the festivities with a fun BBQ just joking around into the evening.

We were all very lucky this time around with the weather. For a few days before, it had been raining seriously (cats and dogs), and the golf course was even closed on the previous day.

Well come Sunday morning the sun came out, the sky presented a blanket of blue, and the slightly wet fairways dried out well by the afternoon. To make it fair, we allowed ourselves to bump the ball and clean it if needed. Gimme putts were up for grabs, gentlemen that we were.

This year was no different from previous contests. The young group of whipper snappers looked awesome striking their drives with intensity, right down the middle in what looked like a million miles down the fairway. Flexibility to its extreme and a swing speed beyond belief.

Team old remained undaunted (though a bit shaky). We know from years of experience that long drives alone are not enough. The thinking man has the advantage in the end. It is not about closing your eyes and whacking the ball as far as you can.

Besides, the older you get the better your short game (they say). That is exactly where we came out superior, sinking longish putts and recovering from behind the trees. Team young were tough as nails and put up a good fight. However, in the end team old pulled off a semi-convincing win.

So what if this time around team old was the winner? What really counts is the fun time we had together, sharing a mutual love for an amazing sport, feeling good by the synergy that bubbles forth when the young and the old get together.

In the end, we are all young at heart.

Nieuwsbrief 6 oktober 2023

Second place bruto men with a 77 from the back tees, and they still insist on calling me Fred.

It was raining pretty hard in the morning, and with a bogie on the first three holes, I wasn't feeling that confident. Despite the slow start, I kept my head and pulled off a 39 at the turn. With just three bogies on the back nine, I scored a 38, for an honorable 77 total from the back tees. One birdie, no doubles, no penalties, and no lost balls. My handicap went down to a 5.0, not bad for an old man. Breaking the 5.0 level mark might be tough, but it's definitely doable. In twelve years from now, I shouldn't have any problems shooting my age.

Where's the %$#@&%$! hole?!

My handicap has been going up for some time, and today I hit the seven handicap mark. This is not good, and I do not want to accept that growing older means that your handicap goes up and up while your motor skills deteriorate.

The sad thing is that all of those extra training and practicing sessions haven't helped me a single bit. In fact, my scores in tournaments are quite poor and I am feeling very frustrated. It seems that an unpredictable routine of bad luck and errant shots is unfairly destroying my game.

For example, in the club stroke championship I shot a 90, 84 and 85. In the senior stroke championship, I mucked around and shot an 85 and 84. Whatever happened to the good old days when I regularly shot in the seventies? Just keep on trying and hope it's merely a bad dream and goes away soon.

This picture shows the results of a single chipping session from about twenty meters one late afternoon of training for a couple hours. Being able to chip and one putt provides a huge advantage on the golf course, especially for those holes where you just miss the green in regulation and have a challenging chip and putt left over.

In general the results are pretty good, a majority of chances to one putt which is the goal of this exercise.

However, if I were to improve my chipping skills, one notices two things: the ball tends to be to the right of the hole and the average distance is a bit too long.

A good golfer prefers the ball to be long as this means there is a better chance of chipping the ball in the hole, but too far past the hole is not good either.

I therefore have two simple goals for the next time, namely: chip more balls along the line of the hole (close my club face ever so slightly), and avoid chipping the ball too far past the hole (minimal decrease ball strike velocity).

Hurrah, for the first time this year I finally did it: I completed eighteen holes without a single double-bogie, played the very same ball and to top things off I broke eighty.

38 + 38 = 76 (no birdies though).

Finally my handicap has stopped going up and is back down to a 6.4.

Last month my golf game has been very sharp, and I have put in some pretty good rounds. However, starting two weeks ago disaster struck and I cannot figure out what I was doing differently with my swing that has impacted my golf game so negatively.

My woods and long irons were inconsistent, I was striking the club in the ground before the ball, I was rarely contacting well with the ball, and most of my shots were pulled or hooked off to the left.

In desperation I signed up for a one hour golf lesson. With a couple very simple changes the pro saved my life by tweaking my swing.

I noted down a number of key aspects that the pro observed and told me about. I printed out the following list and will carry it with me on the golf course for extra inspiration:

Golf lesson:
* Put hands forward.
* Feel club leading edge slightly open and right of target.
* Do NOT close the face!

Long irons and woods:
* Stand proud.
* Trust your tempo and don't swing too fast.
* Stay behind the ball, follow through and do not fall forward.
* Do NOT hang hands between the knees!

Tip: 
* Practice hitting draws with open club face.

Played at De Koepel golf course today in preparation of next week's big senior championship. About a two hour drive to get there, but it was worth it.

I think that I am finally starting to play better again. Shot an okay 37 + 41 = 78 with one birdie and two stupid double bogies. The back nine is much more difficult. Wish me luck next week.

What a great privilege it was for me to be the captain of such a fantastic team. Ending up second place is a great achievement, and I congratulate all our golfing heroes who made it happen. We will have to wait until next year to decide how to proceed further, but no matter what happens, the fun memories will last.

For the third year in a row I get to be the captain of our great golf team. So far this season, we have won the first two matches, but unfortunately got beaten pretty badly in the third match. We have one match to go where you can get revenge and prove that we are the best team this year.

Today I had a terrible time on the golf course, and despite a piling up of inner frustrations ready to explode, I somehow managed to keep my cool.

You'd think that getting a par on the first hole and managing two nice birdies (one was almost a hole-in-one within six inches of the hole) would guarantee a successful round of stellar golf.

That was not to be the case. Three double bogies on the front nine and two triple bogies and a double bogie on the back nine. No less than fourteen unnecessary additional strokes. That's a 44 + 44 = 88, pretty awful round.

For someone of my golfing caliber, you'd expect me to be shooting in the medium to high seventies, but that's the gam of golf for you, very unpredictable and unforgiving somethings.

Decided to splurge again on golf and sign up as a member of the golf club called Golfbaan Bentwoud stichting (foundation).

It's only a twenty minute drive from my house, and it offers very nice training facilities. I can also play on the golf course for a big discount, and in the afternoons it is never busy there. This is really nice for me, because much of the time my home course is booked solid, and I cannot play on late notice.

I want to workout three times a week, practice golf and play more often, and take part in as many (senior) tournaments as possible. My goal this year is to get my handicap down below five and to win at least one tournament (maybe three).

Sorry, I could not resist. What a beautifully crafted golf weapon. Makes the perfect pair with the driver I recently purchased.

A special thanks goes to the fine folks at Dormy Golf where I found it for a great price.

In case you were wondering, it's a TSi3 fairway wood 4. Isn't it georgeous?

Since I've been playing better lately, I decided to reward myself with a new driver. The Callaway I have been using has been good to me, but in the five years since I first bought it, much has changed in terms of modern technology. I figured it was time to take advantage of the newest improvements and crank up my game another notch.

TSi3 Driver - Dynamic Distance. For players who create more consistent contact and require more precise control over CG placement. Features an Adjustable CG Track Design for advanced speed-tuned performance.

There are number of important differences with my previous driver, namely:

• Higher loft (from 9 to 10 degrees).
• Slightly more flexible shaft (between stiff and regular).
• Lighter and more aerodynamic head for higher velocity.
• Better feel and nicer sound on ball impact.
• Distance increase of 20+ extra yards.

When I was younger one was taught to hit the ball lower, but nowadays if you really want to get more distance you need to let the ball fly high. Also, as I get older my swing speed has decreased and the measurements made showed that my swing speed was at the bottom of the stiff band. As I get older, the swing speed will eventually dip below into the regular stiff area, so now I can use a driver that will adapt better to my swing. I do notice by the way that a slightly more flexible shaft is tricky for me right now as I tend to swing too quickly and force the ball to the left. I can slow down slightly and become more consistent with straighter drives that in the end go just as far and even farther than when I swing too fast.

It's going to take some getting used to, I tend to pull the ball to the left, but when I let one go it can really fly! We will have to wait and see if it can make a difference in my game, but I suspect it will.

It's been awhile, but I was finally able to do it again: win another golf tournament. I started out poorly on the front nine with a disastrous triple bogie on the eighth hole for a disappointing 42, but gathered myself together on the second nine to shoot a much needed 34. I even missed two short putts for birdie. On the last hole I pushed my ball out to the right and it looked like I'd have to take a penalty drop but at the last second my fellow player found it in the high rough, after which I pulled off a nice par at the clinch for the winning score of 76.

See: Final results.

Out of eighty plus players of all ages, I was one of the oldest there shooting an honorable old fart 42 + 41 + 43 = 126 which was 36th place.

On each of the nine holes, I managed to have one lousy hole that messed up my score, darn. A triple on the first nine holes, a double on the second, and on the last nine holes I was three over par until the second to last hole.

It was an easy par four and I was just short of the green about twenty feet from the flag. I proceeded to skull a routine chip which ran across the green, over the back and down the slope into the thick underbrush. From there it took me three shots to get out of the shrubbery (should have taken an unplayable lie, but was foolish and gave it a go), chip on the green and two putt.

The golf competition season has finally started again after waiting patiently two years for the corona pandemic to recede, and our Heren 1 (27 holes) team is looking pretty good. I am the short guy to the far left with the wrinkled pants, also known as the team captain. From right to left: Erik, Paul, Ed, Reinier, Jeroen and me.

One birdie, four bogies and the rest pars. Thirty-seven on the front and thirty-seven on the back. No double-bogies, no water balls, two saves out of the sand trap, and not a single lost ball. This is what playing golf is all about, once in awhile everything clicks, the long putts fall and you get lucky a couple times. My handicap has dropped from a 6.8 to a 6.3 in one sweep. Let's not allow this to go to my head, tomorrow is another day, so let's enjoy this great feeling while it lasts.

As the proud captain of team Old (Oud), I am pleased to announce that finally after three years we beat team Young (Jong) in the traditional yearly match-play championship.

The young whipper-snappers were cocky and with their massively long drives they felt confident that they would win hands down yet another time, but we pulled it off with our wits and perseverance.

Above, the winning captain giving the celebration speech, I could not have ever done it without such a great team of old farts behind me.

Here is the entertaining article I wrote for the club magazine:

Chipping went really great this afternoon, from ten feet off of the green most of my balls ended up within a meter or two of the hole. Sure, playing an actual round of golf is a completely different story, but knowing at least that I can chip well makes me feel more confident out on the course.

Played nine holes today for the first time at a golf course called Midden Brabant. On the first hole I chipped in from 50 yards for a birdie, and on the ninth hole I made another birdie by sinking a massive putt from one side of the green to the other. Too bad for the double-bogie, trying to hit over a tree that was too close for comfort. Ended up with a thirty-nine which is nice.

I was hoping to break eighty during the monthly medal tournament this morning. With only one hole to go, all I had to do was shoot a bogie for a seventy-nine. Instead, I three putted for a double-bogie and ended up with a round of eighty. The only other bad hole was number eight where I choked with a triple bogey after hitting my drive into the water. Not necessary, the putt was only a couple of feet uphill. You could look at it more positively and say that I only had two bad holes out of eighteen. But those lousy two holes cost me five undeserved extra shots. Better luck next time, and when I break eighty I will be even happier than before.

If my memory serves me right, I think that this article dates way back to 1973 when I was sixteen years old. That would make my father fifty-six, which is seven years younger than I am today. I remember that sunny day very well and how happy I felt holding that trophy in my hands.

What a fantastic round of golf that was. My father and I complemented each other perfectly. We made amazing recoveries, drove long drives straight down the middle, shot chips landing next to the hole, and sunk many a long putt for birdie. Beyond recalling the feelings of excitement and being pumped up with adrenaline, I don't really remember that many exact details. One episode though that does remain clear in my mind is the following.

The 17th hole was a par 3 and my father had a long uphill birdie putt from the front of the green. I was attending the flag and hoping that he would putt it close enough for an easy par. When he struck the ball too hard and realized that it would end up rolling much too far past the hole, he screamed "Step on it, stop it!" When I ignored his cursing he repeated it with such aggressiveness and furious anger that I began to tremble doubting whether or not he was serious and if he was directing his anger at me. I hesitated but held my ground doing my best to ignore him. Then at the top of his lungs, he hollered "Step on it!" one last time. Despite the rules of golf, the fact that we were playing in a very important club championship, and to make things worse we were leading with a fantastic score, I acted like the good and obedient son that I was. Not wanting to go against my father's wishes, worried about the possible repercussions of ignoring his orders, believe it or not, I actually stepped on that ball and stopped it dead in it's tracks.

I guess after that embarrassing display of poor sportsmanship, we should have been either disqualified from the tournament or given the usual hefty penalty of two strokes. We were playing with Bill Chapman and his father, and they were so kind to look the other way, let us place the ball about where it would have ended up, and allowed us play on as if nothing had happened. Just a small glitch, and it was after all a friendly good old club match. We had played an amazing round of golf (despite a bogey on that hole), truly a stellar performance, so in a way we still deserved to win that trophy.

I really had never ever thought about it, not even at the time of holding that trophy as the winners, the memory had been erased from my mind in the joy of that moment. Not until thirty years on when I met up again with my former golfing buddies Craig, Danny and Bill. When Bill recounted the scene in excruciating and embarrassing detail, we couldn't stop laughing and rolling on the ground. Strange how a long lost memory can be rekindled and brought back to life again in that way.

This year around I had trained hard and was psyched up to win the senior championship.

On the first day I played pretty well, and things looked very hopeful. With four birdies and two double-bogies, I was tied for first with a 76.

On the second day I fell apart for some strange reason. No birdies, three double-bogies and a disastrous quadruple bogey on the 12th hole (back-to-back drives out of bounds).

The final tally resulted in a fourth place finish for me. Oh well, better luck next year.

This afternoon I played nine holes in the searing heat. Things went quite well at the beginning, but after six holes disaster struck.

Here's how it went: par, par, par, par, par, par, triple bogie, bogie and bogie.

In general golf can be a fun sport, but it can also be very painful sometimes.