Happy Paddy’s Day to you all!  Yes, I know I’m a day late but I’m sure there are celebrations still going on somewhere and I wanted to share Mary McKenna’s card with you (above).  In these times we could all do with a hug but we mustn’t forget to give them as well.

After the success of Patricia’s two minute lesson the other day I’ve had a heartfelt cry for help from a blog reader in the States who is a little fed up with the way the unwelcome shanks insist on visiting him when he’s chipping.  The shanks can suck the life out of you on a golf course and replace enjoyment with dread – definitely not a happy state of affairs.  So, here are a few things that should help.

Firstly, you need to understand exactly where on the club you strike the ball when you hit a shank.  Forgive me for stating the obvious but the contact is where the shaft of the club attaches to the head.  Ideally, of course, the contact should be in the centre of the clubface.  Please don’t concern yourself too much with the whys or the wherefores of why you are hitting the ball off the hosel.  Focus on what it is you wish to do – ie to strike the ball from nearer the centre of the face.

Now, here are two little exercises – one for off the course and one for on the course.  In the first drill place a sponge on the floor and address an imaginary ball as shown.  Now make your chipping action and your job is simply to miss the sponge.  Pay scant heed to how you do it – just miss the sponge.  Overthinking your action seldom helps in golf and can completely tie you in knots in such a short movement as a chip.  Understand that it is impossible to hit a shank with an action that misses the sponge.  That should help build a little confidence.

The second tip is something you can do on the course.  When you face a chip shot address the ball out of the middle of the face as you normally would, but do your best to strike the ball with the toe third of the face.  As your chipping action begins to untangle itself you will notice that you perhaps do, indeed, strike the ball from the toe third of the face.  When you do this consistently you can forget this thought and just go on ahead and concentrate on striking the ball from the middle of the face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most important thing is that you understand WHAT it is you need to do, not HOW you need to do it.  Banish all thoughts of how you should/shouldn’t move your body or arms or head or whatever.  That won’t help.  Hopefully, this tip will.

Over the course of my broadcasting career I have been fortunate enough to work with and alongside some masters of their craft.  Tony Adamson, long time Radio 5 golf correspondent and Peter Alliss, who needs no introduction, are two who spring instantly to mind.  And a couple of years ago it was a great thrill for me to be on the same Masters broadcast team as Mike Tirico, one of America’s greatest sports broadcasters.

I have also been privileged enough to work with Andrew Cotter over many years and I think he’s the most talented of the lot – quick thinking, with immaculate timing and expertise at building suspense.  The pacing of his delivery, no matter which sport he is commentating on and no matter the number of his co-commentators, is a joy.

Andrew is now known to millions who haven’t the slightest interest in sport.  He has captured the hearts of dog lovers everywhere with his commentary lock-down videos of his two labs, Olive and Mabel, and the viral response to these gems of brilliance has resulted in Andrew, Olive and Mabel going on tour around the country.

My better half and I went to see his show last week in Chester and it was delightful – a couple of hours of sheer entertainment – do see it if you can.  Andrew is always at his best and most comfortable when he doesn’t have to talk about himself so this is the perfect way to enjoy an evening in his company – and it’s even better if you’re a dog lover.

Following on from the appointment of Zach Johnson the other week as the American Ryder Cup captain for 2023, Europe this week announced they were  entrusting the reins of their campaign to Swedish major winner Henrik Stenson.  Five times a player in the event, Stenson certainly is not short on credentials but what a difficult decision it must have been for the selection panel.  Luke Donald, Paul Lawrie, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Francesco Molinari and Ian Poulter – all in their forties except for Molinari who hits that mark this November – all would be worthy choices.  Trouble is there aren’t enough teams to go round.  The accepted thinking is that if you’re too removed from your playing days, (ie too old) you will have lost touch with your prospective team members.  Alas, several in that illustrious list look set to miss out on one of the greatest accolades golf can bestow.

In the meantime, however, it’s over to Henrik and Rome in 2023.  Can’t wait.

I don’t know how many of you have tried disc golf but apparently it’s one of the fastest growing sports in America, which means it’s pretty big.  There was an article about it in The Times (London) last month, by Will Pavia, who told us that Ricky Wysocki, 28, from Arizona, is making a pretty good living from launching his frisbees into a chain-strewn basket.  He’s earned more than $500,000 in prize money (not sure if that’s per season or over several seasons – forensic research is no longer this blog’s area of expertise) and has a contract worth more than $1 million with a frisbee manufacturer.

There’s a disc golf course in Beacon Park in Lichfield but not for long because the council are going to close down the golf course and the disc golf (not that long installed itself) and put in a zip wire or some such.  It’s difficult to know quite what they have in mind because they seem disinclined to pay any attention to what their parishioners have to say on the matter and still haven’t re-opened the council offices – not so much fear of Covid now, I suspect, more the relief of avoiding face to face meetings with the people they’re supposed to represent.  Be still my inner cynic.

The local disc golfers were competing here last Sunday – no advertising, so we (not the royal we, we the dog walkers, although admittedly I’m only honorary) found out about it by accident, being nosy and wondering why the golf course was closed for the day.  We chatted to bods who were practising for the big comp and discovered that there’s quite a thriving disc community in the Midlands.  They were fairly complimentary about the Lichfield track and gutted that it was earmarked for closure.  One of the stalwarts has a daughter who is No 1 in the world in her age group and will be competing in the world championships in America later this year!  And we’re closing places down.

Moving up the pay scale, Greg Norman and his Saudi-backed circuit have announced a schedule, starting at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire in June, just before the US Open.  The prize fund is £25 million.  For that one event; over 54 holes; no cut; 48 players.  Well, if you want to attract the attention of any professional sportsperson, you offer them money.  We play for fun (!), they play (work) for pay.  And at the last count the LIV Golf Invitational series of eight events was offering a total of $255 million, an eye-watering sum to most of us, a drop in the desert to the Saudis.

When DP World, the Dubai based logistics company, became the title sponsor of the European Tour, it was exciting news that the 47 events in 27 countries were worth $200 million.  An absolute bargain, it would appear.  Mind you, I’m reliably informed that DP World, who own P&O Ferries, owe the Seamen’s Pension Fund nearly as much, in which case it’s a very substantial sum.  Funny what you can do with numbers – though more often than not it’s not funny at all.  Just ask Robert Maxwell’s Mirror pensioners or the sub-postmasters shafted by the Post Office.

When it comes down to it, tournament golf may be a business, sometimes very big business but it’s not essential, the world wouldn’t grind to a halt if it disappeared altogether.  It can add to the gaiety of nations and some of us would miss it, Paddy Power and co more than most – though there’ll always be raindrops racing each other down a window pane somewhere.

Moving on to more important matters, we had our ladies’ captain’s first charity comp on Tuesday, a 9-hole Texas Scramble, followed by a fashion show (brave members doing the modelling) and lunch.  We raised quite a bit of money with a raffle and an auction (boosted by telephone bids from Cheltenham)  – more than £500 I think – and I’ll keep you posted on progress over the next few weeks and months.  I’ll also give you the full proper name of the charity, a variant of muscular dystrophy which affects children, including the gorgeous grandson of one of our members.  Some things are far more deserving of mega dollars than golf tournaments.

You may remember 50 Shades of Grey, a very successful trilogy, which, I hasten to add, I never read.  However, when I was ladies’ captain (nearly ten years ago now), I wrapped the three books in brown paper and auctioned them, sight unseen, for my charity.  The lovely John Tipper, whose funeral was yesterday, won the bidding with his characteristic generosity and accepted the surprise with his trademark laugh.  I never asked him if he read the books.

John loved his family, his friends, his sport (a wide variety), appalling puns, bright ties, any number of things, including Matt, the Daily Telegraph’s genius of a cartoonist.  I roared with laughter when I saw this cartoon on the back of the order of service, not least because it was, for me, the essence of the man.  It was John Tipper to a tee.  Thanks so much for the laughs.

To finish on a brighter picture (literally), here’s a glimpse of Lichfield’s three spires, one of my better efforts?  Well, the sky’s a great colour.