Golf Tips for the Young!

Now that my little 8-year old boy Siddharth is playing golf regularly, it is good fun to go out and play with him occassionally. Siddharth recently won a junior club tournament, and also was runner up in a couple more - not a huge deal since these were local club tournaments with fairly limited participation. However these wins have charged him up, and he is excited about playing on a regular basis.

More than his increasing golf skills, what I like about Siddharth is that he has his feet firmly on the ground. He doesn't make a big deal about his golf, stays away from showing off his prizes (in fact he hides one of them in his wardrobe!). As a matter of fact he is downright shy talking about his good rounds. Recently his grandmother asked him about one of his good rounds and his response was "So what?".

Whether Sid becomes a good golfer or not, only time will tell. But I do hope he stays humble. That will certainly stand him in good stead whatever he does.

Here is a hilarious golf video I came across recently about a father and son on the golf course. Enjoy!

Mr. Relentless

Ian Poulter was Mr. Relentless at the Volvo World Match Play Championship that concluded at Finca Cortesin, Spain, last weekend.

I watched quite a bit of the action on television and was mesmerized by the skills of this charismatic Englishman. He was in trouble in many of the early rounds, but got through with some incredible match play golf, and a lot of magic with his wedges and putter.

I have often heard that what separates the really good golfers from the pros is the ability of the pros from inside 100 yards. Ian Poulter put on a show from inside 100 yards in this tournament. I did not track the stats, but he probably made 80% up and down from 50-100 yards in the two matches before the finals. For those who have played golf seriously, that is absolutely incredible.

Mr. Relentless was playing the long hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts in the semi-finals. Poulter clawed his way back into the match down home-stretch with some clutch play, particularly with his wedges. The match was tied after 18 holes and the players had to go to a playoff. What happened on the first playoff hole was a microcosm of Poulter's play in the tournament.

Hole#18 at Finca Cortesin is a 568 yard par-5. Both players hit good drives. Colsaerts had about 250 yards to the flag for his second shot, Poulter was much further back. Poulter knew that Colsaerts would go for the green in 2, and would make it there comfortably. He could have gone for the green as well, but chose to lay up and leave himself his favourite wedge distance to the pin - about 100 yards. Colsaerts promptly struck a 4-iron, threading the needle through the narrow space between the two green side bunkers and put his second shot about 20-25 feet from the pin, needing a 2-putt for birdie. Poulter hit his third shot (a wedge) to about 6 feet. Both players made birdie and eventually Poulter won on the next playoff hole.

What was interesting about this sequence of events was Poulter's decision to layup and then calmly make up and down from there. I saw him do this innumerable times through the event. His wedge play was absolutely unbelievable.

Well done Mr. Relentless!