This month's golf news and features

FOOTBALL STOPS GOLF!!!
Due to the intense interest in the FIFA world cup game between England and Brazil, the society tournament was cancelled.
HEADLINES: The tourist season is over now and it is reflected in the numbers of players in our meetings. It is a much more relaxed period of time and our members express themselves on the golf courses with some superb performances, just to mention a few: - Peter Gouldby 46 pts at Sawang, Mike Anderson 63 net at Hua Hin, Han Hackvoort 65 net at Palm Hills, Robert Baker 66 net at Springfield, Mike Anderson (again) 41 pts at Palm Hills (off a greatly reduced handicap), Bernie 42 pts at Sawang, Tip 41 pts at Palm Hills, Nit 45 pts at Springfield and John Miller 47 pts at Royal Ratchaburi.
Ulf must start looking over his shoulder, because during the last 3 months of the year he must defend his club championships (stroke and match play).
SOCIETY ON TOUR: The day of publication of this issue, the society will be off to Pattaya for it's third annual trip, we will let you know how it went in the August edition.
PROFESSIONAL GOLF: Congratulations to Simon Yates in winning the Singha sponsored tournament at Dragon Hills with a magnificent 20 under par over 4 rounds.
CHARITIES: We have now delivered all the money raised at Christmas to the two schools as follows: Pala U 41,444 Baht for new toilets and fans, and 63,000 baht to the Phetchaburi Special School for mattresses.
RECENT RESULTS: 21st May at Sawang, 16 players one group, 1st Bernie 42pts, 16 hcp, 2nd Han Hackvoort 39 pts 23 hcp. 24th May at Kaeng Krachan 16 players one group, 1st Jay (visitor from Sapporo) 41 pts, 15 hcp, 2nd Ott Hughes (visitor) 39 pts, 33 hcp. 28th May at Lake View 22 players one group, 1st John McMorris 36pts 23 hcp, 2nd Monta 34pts 32 hcp, 31st May at Palm Hills 17 players one group, 1st Tip 41 pts, 21 hcp, 2nd Han Hackvoort 40 pts 23 hcp, 4th June 20 players (special format par +5 stroke play) 1st Mike Anderson 69net 16 hcp, 2nd Peter Newman 72 net 40 hcp. 7th June at Majestic 27 players one group, 1st Mike Zimmerman 41pts 12 hcp, 2nd Richard Wasiluk 39 pts 12 hcp. 11th June Springfield 20 players one group 1st Nit 45 pts, 23 hcp, 2nd Petra 42 pts 25 hcp, 14th June at Milford 13 players one group, 1st Mike Anderson 38 pts 15 hcp, 2nd Bermie 37 pts 14 hcp, 18th June at Royal Ratchaburi 17 players one group 1st John Miller 47 pts 35 hcp, 2nd Peter Gouldby 39 pts 8 hcp.

JULY FIXTURES
Mon 1st-4th Pattaya bus 7.30
Fri 5th Palm Hills Tee off 9.04
Tues 9th Springfield Tee off 8.16
Fri 12th Majestic Tee off 9.00
Tues 16th T.B.A.
Fri 19th Milford Tee off 9.00
Tues 23rd Hua Hin Tee off 9.00
Fri 26th Lake View Tee off 9.04
Tues 29th Palm Hills Tee off 9.04

Pro Tips - Swing Thoughts

This month, we talk about the thoughts that should be in your head during your golf swing. The goal of a golfer is to have a swing that is consistent and will repeat itself under pressure. The best way to achieve that is to have a thought process that repeats itself and is consistent. If you think the same thoughts before and during the golf swing, you will hit the ball more consistently. Let's take a look at some swing thoughts that you can consider that might help make you a more consistent golfer.
ESTABLISH A TARGET AND A TARGET LINE IN YOUR MIND BEFORE YOU STEP UP TO THE BALL.
Not after you step up. Before. You have to be approaching the ball with the target already selected, so that when you get there, you don't waste time thinking of extraneous thoughts. This helps to simplify things, as well as helping to reduce moments of indecision.
ALIGN YOUR BODY AND SET UP TO THAT TARGET LINE IN A RELAXED, TENSION-FREE MANNER.
When you set up to the ball, your legs, hips and shoulders should be parallel to the target line. Your body's posture should be flexed and balanced. (See a golfing magazine, book or video to see more detailed examples of good set-ups.) Somewhere around this time, most golfers take either a waggle, or a practice swing. It is in these practice swings that the correct swing thoughts should be utilized every time as practice for the real swing. You can think of many things in between shots, but once you're set-up, you think about keeping your thought process clean through the swing.
TRIGGER THE BEGINNING OF YOUR BACKSWING WITH ONE CONSISTENT TAKEAWAY THOUGHT.
This thought should be something that will produce a smooth takeaway, for if you start off too fast, you'll ruin the swing from the outset. Some possible takeaway thoughts: "Smooth, one-piece takeaway," "Baaaaack anddddd...," "Slow, and easy." Most people have their own thoughts to trigger their swings, but it's important that they stay the same. For all of these thoughts, remember... The backswing is only there to get you into position to hit the ball on the downswing.
COMPLETE THE BACKSWING IN A RELAXED, SMOOTH MANNER, WITH NO NEW NEGATIVE THOUGHTS ENTERING YOUR HEAD.
This is perhaps the hardest thing to do in golf. The backswing takes about one, full second. The takeaway thought uses up about 1/4 to 1/2 of that second. You have from 1/2 to 3/4 of a second where you can't let any new, negative thoughts enter your mind. Here is where anxiety, over-analysis and self-doubt often enter the mind and foul up the swing. "Is my left arm straight?" "Is this enough club to get it over that lake?" "Man, I could really use a big drive this hole," etc. All of these thoughts during this part of the swing foul up the timing at the most critical time and tend to mess up lots of shots. Don't let extraneous thoughts into your mind on the backswing. Concentrate on that ball until you reach the completion of your backswing, where you will...
HAVE A DOWNSWING THOUGHT TO TRIGGER THE DOWNSWING WITH A MOVE FROM THE LOWER BODY.
Think of it. The backswing sequence is hands, arms, shoulders, trunk, hips, thighs, knees, feet. The downswing sequence should be the opposite, with the feet, knees, thighs and hips beginning the chain reaction swing until the arms and hands deliver the blow at impact. Some thoughts to help trigger the downswing might include one of these: "Plant your left heel back onto the ground," "Slide your left knee laterally toward the target," and "Push your weight off the right foot onto the left foot." All of these body movements serve to transfer the weight, that had been moving to the right, back to the left (similar to the stride a baseball hitter takes when hitting). Remember, the purpose of both the backswing and the downswing is to make you strike through the ball squarely. If you don't hit it square, none of the other tips matter.
The key thing to remember from this month's tips is to try to build up a consistent thinking pattern, which, hopefully, can lead to a consistent ball striking pattern. If you're a good golfer already, you've probably got something that works effectively for you. But, if you're not, try developing a backswing thought and a downswing trigger that can remain consistent for a whole round. It should help get you on the road to more consistent golf.

Reid joins Palmer and calls it a day

Rookie wins golf fifth major
News of rookie Paul Morton's stunning upset victory in the Bob No Hope Classic Golf Tournament held in Hua Hin was completely overshadowed by Bob Reid's announcement that he was joining Arnold Palmer and calling it a day. The new draconian tour organizer, Martin Swift, following the precedent set at this year's U.S. Masters, signaled his intention to upgrade the calibre of the field by discouraging ageing former golfing legends, Ray Kite and Tim Cutlack, from entering this year's tournament. Reid got the message and voluntarily withdrew his name from next year's field.
A visibly emotional Reid said "This tournament is about much more than golf." Reid, who is renowned for his prematch preparations in the Elephant Bar of the Old Railway Hotel, explained "You cannot have a golf swing like mine without three or four warm up cocktails." "That man can drain a cocktail quicker than a six foot putt" said Roger Perrin, Reid's close friend and confidant.
Innovations made by Swift such as curfews, punctual departures and strict adherence with golfing etiquette did not go down well with other tour veterans.
"I much preferred the good old days under Barnett when the tour was completely spontaneous and disorganized. You never knew where you were playing and the food was awful," grumbled Alistair Foulkes. Foulkes was so upset by the new tour arrangements that he dined alone in his hotel on room service for the entire week.
A clearly irate Martin Swift defended himself at an angry media conference held after the tournament. " Reid has always been a major security risk. You cannot be a tour leader and let that guy out on the town on his own. Some of his pals are even worse. I had brain surgery because of the strain of looking after Scales and Law" said Swift. "I do not know what Swift is talking about" said Law "Mike and I have always prided ourselves on our good conduct and setting an example to younger immature players like Ian McKinney. "
There was more drama off the course than on. None of the pre tournament favourites put Morton under any pressure. Brian Vijay Carroll, who was in contention until he put three consecutive shots in the lake at the 13th hole. Even worse, a heavily backed Arthur Barnett ruled himself out of contention by applying Deep Heat instead of sun tan cream to his famous XL hooter before the game.
Morton, who shot a record breaking 84 in his debut on the demanding Imperial Lake View Championship course was over the moon about his victory. Ignored by other players, Morton spent the next two days making collect long distance calls to former friends to give them the news of his victory. Even the normally taciturn John Holgate bristled with anger at Morton's victory celebration antics. "So what if he shot 84. I shot more than that on the front nine," said Holgate.

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