Here in Canada it is the day after our election. The results were close but the Liberal party got elected for a fourth straight term. There seems to be a different vibe happening in our country. The Orange Menace and his band of followers may have actually given us the kick in ass to get us going. Time to stop taking crap from the White House and get our house in order. Elbows and sticks up Canada!
Speaking of hockey, tonight is game 5 of the Leafs and Senators series. Leafs lead three games to one. Ottawa finally won a game in overtime on Saturday, and depending which news media outlet you follow the Leafs totally dominated the first four games or the Senators were only two shots away from being up two games to one heading into last Saturdays game. From where I am sitting there is a small crack that has happened and all the pressure is on the Leafs to close. Being a Coach for 20 plus years and being around some very intelligent hockey people have taught me not to ignore something as small as this. The Toronto media are saying that things are different behind the bench now because they have a Stanley Cup winning Coach and he will get them to the finish line. FYI they also had a Cup winner behind the bench for five years and he couldn’t get it done. The only common denominator are their core four players. If Ottawa gets off to a good start and puts pressure on those four and eventually wins game five the kitchen is officially open and the pots and pans will be rattling.
Watched the first LPGA major of the season on Sunday. To describe it as a car wreck would be kind. First of all the pace of play was brutal. One group was a full par five behind and was put on the clock the hole before. If you are put on the clock it is too late! Also the using of Aim Point on three foot putts is painful to watch. These are professional golfers who need to use their golf IQ better. It is like an accountant using a calculator to see how much one plus one is!
Finally the eighteenth hole which in Championship golf should be a hole in which a par to win the tournament requires great shots and a birdie requires exceptional shots to tie or win. The eighteenth hole at The Chevron was a reachable par five . However, some genius put the grandstand behind the green and players were merely using the grandstand as a back stop and players were getting relief from the grandstand. It totally eliminated having to select the proper club on the second shot. You can’t blame the players for doing this, just the field staff. The one good thing that did come out of it was the drops took so long that the slow players actually got back into position and gave the appearance that pace of play was good. BTW they had a five player playoff and it looked like a driving range. Not a good look for a major championship. When you compare it to The Masters there is no comparison. Augusta is the benchmark.
As for me I went to the range yesterday to hit some the balls. The only thing that I can say is that it was six months of rust got loosened but the body felt pretty good this morning. Still toying with the idea of playing a tournament round this year and the first session of the year did not deter that.
One final thought. Our club did a 1.5 million dollar bunker program a year ago. The intent was to make bunkers conditions better and to increase the degree of difficulty. Last year our course was re-rated and with that ,the rating dropped ( meaning it plays easier) and with it my handicapped dropped. How does that happen! Never did trust the handicap system.
Until next time!
Belief Fuels Trust. Trust Fuels Confidence.
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