Golflogic.ca

All Golf Town stores will be closed to everyone but YOU and your friends! 

I spent most of the week trying to will the technical finesse to post the invite, but since I didn’t succeed and the event is Sunday night – click here to see all the details, including the Sandra Post Celebrity appearance (Vega Blvd. location)…  

Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend because the King St Golf Town location isn’t participating (read the fine print…), so please let us know what you thought if you do swing by!

I was embarrassed to admit this even to Nigel a few weeks ago – for the last six months I have been in the market for my very first set of golf clubs (I played 35 rounds last year with a WIDE variety of rental and borrowed clubs ranging from vintage to brand new…) but I am finding myself completely overwhelmed by the variety and price range of options, colours, names and all other considerations. 

I have spent SO many hours in golf stores, actually playing on the course (last year and a few weeks ago in Arizona) and surfing the web, reading every detail about the various manufacturers and individual clubs, even bidding on eBay sets that now I’m starting to find them all interchangeable. 
·          Someone told me Jazz is a good Canadian company;
·          Caroline last year got a lot of complements on her Mizuno set;
·          When I played Wilson rental clubs they just felt heavy like lead (the shaft was steel);
·          The Cobra I could take or leave for play but they looked pretty;
·          I’m curious as hell to try out Element 21 Golf Clubs!
·          Doesn’t Callaway make ladies clubs?
·          It sounded to me like the PING set Nigel has did pretty well for him & I like the idea of being personally custom-fitted

I just really want a set that plays well & feels comfortable, which I can’t see knowing until I’m at least 5 rounds into them. 

Does price really make a difference?  And if not, then why would I spend $2,500 for a well-known brand name set when I could spend $300 on the clubs and the remaining $2,200 playing golf in Panama or England or Michigan? 

Well whatever the case, I’m sure I’m not the only woman who finds the prospect of choosing golf clubs a little bit overwhelming, so regardless of which set I choose to try, I’ll let you all know how I find them as we go through the season – and I’ll definitely let you know if I ditch them and trade up before the season is over!

I thought that the Golf Channel had been moved to one of the higher-up digital channels on Rogers Cable (in the Toronto area) last year so I haven’t been watching a lot of golf on TV unless it’s on a regular channel or when I was in the States (I watched 2 days straight of Golf Channel in Los Angeles – it was great!); Nigel and I chatted about this the other day and so it was on my mental ‘to do’ list for the weekend to call Rogers to arrange access to the digital channel; I was on the phone with their computer and at the same time went searching through the on-screen guide only to find the Golf Channel on channel 78!!!  Does anyone know when this happened that they moved it back to tier 3? 

I am so happy – I love great TV, especially when it doesn’t cost anything extra!  Ahhhhh; my Easter weekend is made!

In simulator world, at least… I was able to play the first few holes of Pebble Beach this afternoon, fulfilling a golf-long dream ever since slowly cruising the real 17-Mile Drive 6 years ago (which winds through a few holes of the famed golf course in Monterey, California, as well as an exceptionally high-class wooded/beachy residential neighbourhood)

I really enjoyed my experience at InnerGolf this afternoon – since opening mid-February in King West Village Toronto, they have become quite busy (book weekend SIM times at least 5 days in advance) and are continuing to expand – soon they will double the number of SIM booths to 6 and now feature a new yoga studio (I especially loved that!), CPGA Pro instruction with one of my Toronto fave’s Dave Cooke, associated spa & gym all under one golf-loving roof. 

You can wear what you want & they have decent sets of golf clubs available to rent…  But the liquor license isn’t quite ready yet, so they can’t technically serve or sell any alcohol at the moment; food is truly only for the real ‘gamers – chips, chocolate bars & soda – the most ‘proper’ golf food they had available for gluten-free me was water.

From my personal golf-fitness perspective, I am not 100% sold on the effectiveness of the simulator – the exercise of walking 4+ miles in a real-life round (you could expect to burn 1,000 or so calories during 5+ hours of paying) can’t possibly be there when you can play 18 holes in only 1 hour… the pitching, sand and putting shots are all a wee bit odd physically and I have some concerns about development of ‘golfer’s elbow’ if you hit too many off the mats (taking deep virtual divots), but I found the driving and fairways to be quite forgiving for my own swing, fun AND unexpectedly realistic… 

The rest of your body, mind & swing technique can all be trained & maintained with the other services available and the simulators ARE truly entertaining.  I think I may become a member myself through the next year, so I can still ‘play’ even when the weather is bad or I don’t feel like actually getting my oh-so-cute golf shoes dirty…

If our 6 months of winter (non-golf season) were a desert, I’d have to say I found an oasis in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the home stretch between Christmas and the start of golf season…  I recommend the Scottsdale Golf Guide (download it from the web, since it takes a while to arrive by mail…) to plan where you’ll golf, stay, eat, spa and/or shop. 

I’ll have more specific details to come very soon on my thoughts about the Westin Kierland Golf Resort & Spa, Legend Trail GC and SunRidge Canyon GC (no its not ALL good), but for now I just want to plant the seed – if you want a multi-faceted, fun-for-everyone winter golf & spa vacation, start saving and planning for next winter soon!  When it comes to Scottsdale in March, the early bird gets the worm (hotel rooms, tee times and scheduled tours are only available at least 3 months in advance of March – the PEAK season!)… 

Tip #1: the free PING Factory tour, which the knowledgeable concierge at Westin Kierland gave me all the info on, IS fully booked 3 months in advance – even for me.  Now, he’s not a golfer but says a lot of hotel guests come back from the tour absolutely raving about it, so if you go, please let us what you thought of it!  Walking tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 AM. Reservations are needed and the tour takes between 1:45 – 2 hours. Call 1-800-474-6434. 2201 W Desert Cove Ave Phoenix, AZ 85029
Tip #2: Kierland Commons is a gorgeous outdoor shopping/dining experience, across the street from the Westin, and is comparable to the best shopping malls in North America including Madison Avenue and the Bloor/Yorkville area, except perhaps not quite as overpriced and even (dare I say it?) offers AMAZING sale prices! 

Surprisingly, even though I prefer “moist” heat to dry heat, and I like to refer to myself as a “picky” eater (I don’t eat anything that includes any wheat or has even touched wheat, because it makes me so sick), I loved Scottsdale – the weather in March was really a treat (I still have a great tan!) & great for the achy joints, the desert/mountain scenery is gorgeous during early morning/late afternoon golf rounds, mountain hikes, bike rides and patio dinners through sunset AND I was able to find an Italian restaurant with a separate and FULLLY gluten-free menu, called Pizza Picazzo where I was able to enjoy a couple of wheat-free beers with lunch after my round at SunRidge Canyon! 

Now, I definitely plan to go back again, hopefully at least once every year (this was my 2nd time there), I’ve made a few very interesting friends in the Scottsdale area, and in coming trips I will make time for excursions up to Sedona, Grand Canyon, and possibly even Monument Valley, Utah…

Well its taken me a few days (at least!) to decompress & process everything I experienced during 2 weeks in the USA cities of Scottsdale, Arizona, Los Angeles, California and Washington, D.C. but I think more than anything I am impressed by the overall recognition Katherine Roberts’ Yoga For Golfers program (which I teach in the Toronto area) is finally starting to receive with the North American PGA pros.  

Katherine invited me back to Scottsdale for the 2nd time and I did get a lot of growth from the 2nd time around – but what astounded me even more was the presence of PGA Pros at the training!  I’ve Googled “Swing Flaws & Fixes” and found most people agree they are not actually swing flaws, but physical flaws, a fact the PGA teaching & professional community seem to be accepting with more & more openness.  Proof of point in that we had 2 PGA pros with us in the training; they already know quite a bit about Golf physics & the kinetic chain of swing power generation, acceleration and deceleration throughout the body and still found the time & funds to attend this Yoga For Golfers training program – the fact that Katherine is the Fitness Expert for The Golf Channel’s programming obviously wouldn’t hurt either.   more…

While working with Katherine Roberts in Scottsdale earlier this month, we talked about her association with GolfGym and their line of golf performance training products.  

Currently, GolfGym is offering a FREE PowerGrip Squeasy (you only pay shipping costs) which comes with a $10 coupon to apply to any future GolfGym training product purchase.  I realize you may currently need a US address to ship the Squeasy to, but I am in contact with GolfGym to see is they will be willing to extend the offer across borders to Golf Logic members as well. 

Using the Squeasy is great to help you “feel the club” in your fingers, not in the palm of your hand; David Ledbetter makes the case for the club being gripped in your fingers and not in your palm. ”If your glove gets worn out in the heal portion, you are holding the club in your palm and not in your fingers. Move the butt end of the club out past your palm.”  All you have to do is take a look at your old gloves worn out in the exact spot to be convinced you may benefit from holding the club in your fingers instead of too far to the end and in your palm.  

The Squeasy comes with 11 exercises that can help with your grip and the “feel” of the club being in your fingers and not in your palm, as well as stretching your upper body and shoulder area.

I was scared – 1st tee jitters I think!  I really shouldn’t have thought a few Yoga For Golfers practise sessions & teaching classes over the winter would get me in a position to have my swing criticized by a new golf instructor (even though I am still more flexible than many & have a not-so-bad swing for a newbie!) 

To my relief, Dave at King’s Golf Academy was a nice mix of complimenting my swing and providing me with VERY valuable swing advice… especially now, I can’t wait to leave for Arizona on Tuesday!

“The hole in the stratospheric ozone layer was… a global problem requiring the cooperation of every nation in the world.  [The United States] took the lead in phasing out the chemicals that solved that problem.” 

Amazing. 

I never knew that the hole in the ozone layer was no longer an issue, that I could now use aerosol spray cans without fear of contributing unnecessarily to the deterioration of the environment. 

I know Al Gore is not a popular man with many people, but in the end, why not err on the side of safety and continuing to enjoy the environment that gives us beautiful golf courses?  I saw his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” last June for the 1st time in theatres, and again tonight.  Although after the first viewing I was stunned onto tears for more than 1/2 hour after the matinee ended (I didn’t leave my seat I was crying so hard), this second viewing allows me to reflect on changes I’ve recently made in how I live life – still no car since I totalled my last one on the morning of my birthday in 2005, contirbuted financially to make my personal CO2 impact = zero, now only eat organic fruits, veggies and more importantly meats, and even still I appreciate being able to get out into nature, golfing, even more. 

I am confident the golf industry will adapt the same way every other industry has as a result of the growing awareness about the climate crisis – without sacrificing our benefits or enjoyment, we will find a way, quickly, to continue with less environmental impact.   I can hardly wait to become a member of a local environmentally-friendly golf course. 

In the more near future, I am excited to try the organic food grown on-site at The Boulders Club in Scottsdale, Arizona in less than two weeks!

6 months ago coming out of the gym I stopped for a veggie-burrito & water – the guy told me that “you should never drink water with food – it’ll make you fat” and I was completely blown away by the misconception that water could ever be anything but helpful in your body.

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