s052017

The Game
THE LESSON
TEE... CON'T
prevent it. And anyone who's been stricken
with the shanks knows that once one occurs,
the flood gates open. They become a selffulfilling
prophecy: the more you obsess about
not doing them, the more likely they are to
occur. So what began as a swing flaw
ultimately morphs into a psychological
labyrinth.
This year, my intention is to play more with you,
the members. You can appreciate my
reluctance to do this in the past because of my
"issue". For someone in my profession, publicly
displaying the shanks is not exactly good for
business. And extremely embarrassing. They
really are a strange disease. Mysteriously, like
the shingles or gout, they can go away for a
few years only to return with a vengeance.
A while ago, Hank Haney confessed to having
the yips with the driver, so badly he had more
or less stopped playing golf. I love golf too
much to let it come to that. If we play together,
I may or may not have the Jerry Barbers in my
bag. Try a shot with one if you like. To
paraphrase the old Buckley's slogan: "they're
ugly, but they work." In the meantime, I have a
beautiful new set of Callaway irons waiting in
the wings to go. They are easy to hit and go a
mile. At the range I haven't shanked one yet!
Perhaps I'll have the nerve to bring them out
when we play.
As for Jerry Barber, the golfer, he died in 1994 at
age 78. At the time he was still playing on the
Seniors' Tour, routinely shooting his age and
espousing his unique teaching theories. There
are lots of characters like him who now are
barely footnotes in golf's rich history. Too bad.
Ky Laffoon, Titanic Thompson, Lloyd Mangrum,
J. Douglas Edgar are a few others who are
worth looking up if you're interested. So, a big
shout-out from me to Jerry for making golf fun
again. Having said that, I'm still determined one
day to return his clubs permanently to Dad's
basement.
Free Junior Clinic - Friday, May 26
If you keep your ear to the ground around the golf world in the last few
years you've heard, "grow the game" and "Drive, Chip and Putt" more often
than not. Most of you are aware of a relatively new initiative at The Masters
where junior golfers compete in a Drive, Chip and Putt competition right on
site at Augusta National. How incredibly cool is that!!! The entire initiative is
to get junior golfers to the golf course and experience for themselves how
truly great this game is.
With that in mind, new this year Whitevale is offering a free junior golf clinic
to encourage more junior golfers at the club. The details are as follows:
Date: Friday, May 26
Time: 4:30pm sharp to 5:30pm
Location: Driving Range
Description: This clinic will be conducted by two professionals, Ray
McCorquodale and Charlie Doherty. It will start with a quick introduction
and welcome to the season. The clinic component will be an introduction to
the basic elements of the golf swing for juniors to be as comfortable as
possible in their attempt to hit the golf ball. The conclusion will be full
access to the hitting stations, so they can practise what they were taught
and have some fun hitting golf balls.
Details:
- For ages 6 and up, beginners welcome
- Open to all Whitevale junior members and friends/family of Whitevale
members
- Parents/guardians expected to be by juniors at all times, regardless of age
- Junior does not have to be a beginner, feel free to come just to take the
opportunity to use the range
- Pros will walk up and down the line during practice to help with swings
- Bring your own clubs (we will have a few available for those without a club)
- Based on participation volume, sharing/rotating through hitting stations
may be necessary
Although registration is not required, it would much appreciated if an email
was sent to proshop@whitevalegolfclub.com so we have a general idea of
how many plan to be there. We are looking forward to having a great
turnout and a fun evening!
13 / WHITEVALEGOLFCLUB.COM / MAY 2017