John Sullivan, Author at Trying too hard at golf

Divot or not divot?

They all talk about taking divots

But not many high handicappers actually do

In fact the taking of divots could almost be a filter for the type of golfer you are.

When you see the champs on TV, they always take a divot (usually quite a large one) except, of course, when driving or putting. Coaches will tell you that you should look at the direction of the divot to see if you are impacting the ball correctly. It’s supposed to be the size of a dollar bill…well maybe a five dollar bill since we have dollar coins.

When you play with the locals, however, there is usually a distinct lack of divots or the divots are totally in the wrong place…behind the ball. They can’t all be wrong, can they?

This practice is dangerous to all

Golf practice in the yard

Backyard divots

We live in the country in a small town/village/hamlet and the nearest driving range is 75 kms away. Not easy to pop around for a spare hour or so.

So golf practice is against a plastic net material strung up in a stall of the old stables.

This particular session was devoted to where the divots are created. I have noticed that I more often than not do not create a divot at all and here I am trying deliberately to make a divot after hitting the ball. This is what the pros always say “Hit the ground after the ball”.

I must reveal that hardly any players in the local club do not take a divot at all including me.

I probably should have paid more attention to nearby animals and humans than to divots!

Driving in Brisbane

Playing with legals

Contrast in driving swings

The first two golfers are from the Eagle St legal fraternities so I suppose you could call them Legal Eagles (pardon the very poor pun).

An old friend John Griffin invited self and son Dan to play at Royal Queensland on a weekday in Autumn. The early rapid dusk is typical of tropical areas.

Actually all four of us drove well on this par 5 even though we had totally different swings.

Of course the distances were not equal. Dan’s swing probably indicates plenty of power and this power translates into longer distance. He regularly outdrives me by 80+ metres.

We liked the course except for the tundra between the 3rd and 4th holes.