The Broadmoor

I was in Colorado Springs this past week for the CIO 100 event and had a chance to play in the tournament at the Broadmoor Mountain course. In a 4 man scramble, we managed to miss our only 2 real birdie chances and shot an ungodly 8 over.

How do you shoot 8 over in a scramble? Easy, you stink it up and miss putt after putt. That's how! The winning team shot a 62, beating us by a country mile.

The course itself was gorgeous! Most holes are basically looking up at the mountain, and the views are really spectacular. Here's a big time tip for playing this course... putt away from the hill no matter what your eyes are telling you!



We had a putt on the 18th hole that looked like a HARD break to the left. But after our first putt, we saw the ball seemingly break upwards, and away from the mountain. Incredible.

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Walking on Water

This is just simply.. too cool for words.. watch...

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More Golf

I'm finally back from too much business travel and hoping to get some rounds in shortly. My P.O.S. bag by Acuity that I bought about a year ago cracked at the bottom, so I went to buy a new bag tonight at Golf Galaxy. While I was there, I traded in 3 clubs for some fast cash. Gone are my 3 and 4 irons which I never, ever hit along with my lousy driver. RIP TaylorMade R580...

I picked up a stiff shaft TaylorMade R7 fairway wood which is now my default driver. In talking with a club fitter, he is convinced the stiff shaft will make a big difference for me immediately when using this club. Now let's see how it all works out on the course.

I realize that I'll eventually need a driver in my bag, but for now, I'm hoping I can hit the new fairway wood about 230-240 yards which would be a perfect compliment to my 3 hybrid which I hit about 200 yards or so.

I am hoping to get up early tomorrow and get 9 holes in before work, so we'll see soon enough!

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Book Review and Notes: The Seven Principles of Golf

Not only is this one of the best golf books I've ever read, it's one of the most useful life books I've come across as well. Check out reviews on Amazon and buy it if you feel so inclined.

(Full disclaimer: I received an e-mail from the publisher asking if I wanted to read and review the book... I'm a sucker for a free read so I said yes).

I'm thrilled to have had an opportunity to read this book and took extra time on this post to make sure I captured some of the more important ideas I'm taking away. At the end of the day, I feel like I get it - I really think golf is a direct reflection of how I live my life and I intend to use it as a tool to keep improving myself and learning to live in each moment fully. I'm far from perfect, but I am getting better at both golf and life, I hope.

If you've seen Randy Paush's "Last Lecture" or read his book, you'll know about head fake learning. That when we think we're learning one thing, but in reality, we're learning something totally different, and perhaps even more important. That's what golf is to me - a life lesson head fake. Learning to play each shot and live in the moment and translating that to the other aspects of my life is why I play and keep on playing. It's why I don't care too much after shooting a 105 or worse.

Learning to live in the moment means taking my game and my life off autopilot and taking the controls. it means I have to trust each decision I make and commit to my choices and decisions large and small. I used to think Baseball was the perfect game, but I was wrong... it's golf all the way.

Darrin Gee's book is really not so much about golf, it's more like a book about how to live life and I really, really enjoyed every page of it.

One practical golf lesson Gee talks about in the book is the importance of rituals. I have the basic parts of a golf ritual (line up, deep breath, practice swing and then  hit it), but after really thinking more about rituals, I think I can do better. I'll be working on a specific breath technique that I'm using in my life off the course as well. I said it earlier but I just have to say it again... I LOVE this book!

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