St. George: Come and Gone

Before:
This week Park City students have one of the best breaks. Our break is called "winter break". This break is awesome. While there are some ski bums that stay home and ski on the water that we have this year. Other normal kids, go somewhere where it is warm. I am one of those kids. I have the opportunity to go to St. George Utah. Why do I mention this? I mention this because St. George is supposed to have temperatures in the high 60's and low 70's. In my opinion this is the perfect temperature for golfing. While I would like to say that all I am going to be doing is golfing, this is far from the truth. I enjoy mountain biking as well and the majority of my trip will be filled by doing that.

Bear Claw Poppy: Image Courtesy of MTB Project

Recap:
The first full day I arrived I mountain biked. I biked a trail called Bear Claw Poppy. This trail is really fun we rode it several times and I wrecked on it several times (luckily golf is a safe sport). Sunday I went through grave yards and took pictures of ancestors. On monday I mountain biked and went to a pool. Tuesday was interesting. I biked up to some indian cliff art and then went over to my uncles. At my uncles, I enjoyed helping him move back into his house. He brought with him a tree. Literally a tree that he will use to create bowls and other things. In return for my physical labor, I got what I wanted. Wednesday, I woke up and went golfing at The Ledges. I golfed with my uncle and I did not do so well. I did not keep score so I can not report that side of things. Not that it mattered any way. The golf course that I played was in great condition. The fairways were green which was something that I have not seen in a very long time. I also enjoyed the greens and the course layout was awesome.

The Ledges Golf Course: Image Courtesy The Ledges

St. George was a ton of fun! Everyone should go there to golf at least once. The courses really integrate the red rock and sand stone in cool ways. Most courses in St. George have shots that require you to shoot over a canyon which is also a really awesome experience. Mountain biking was a blast and I really enjoyed it. I just overall loved getting out of the snow and cold and into the sunshine and heat. It felt really good. Being outdoors and active was great.

Tis The Season

Original Golf Course Name. Good Job Stone Bridge.

I had the opportunity last weekend to play the Stone Bridge course in Salt Lake City, Utah. Was it a success? You tell me. I haven't been able to play or even swing since early last November when the courses started closing down. That, is DEFINITELY NOT MY FAULT (extreme sarcasm). At the time, I was done with golf. School had officially started and balancing academics and athletics was not the easiest. Anyway, that story is for another day. My Stone Bridge experience was interesting. To start off, I would like to ask why name a course "Stone Bridge"?! I mean there was a small fake stone bridge, though every time I thought of stone bridge I found myself thinking BridgeStone golf. Which to me is not the most appealing. Despite the problem that I had with the name, the course was decent.

I actually really did like the layout of the course. The only complaint that I had
was that it was not designed for a fade. Though this may just be me not being able to play my fade. Also, my fade wasn't even a fade. Stating that my all my shots faded would be a complete understatement. Calling them cuts would also be a complete understatement. In the words of my uncle "It's not a fade, it is NOT even a cut. You are just playing crappy golf!!!!" So this was the support that I received during the whole round of golf.

The course was in exceptionally good condition considering the circumstances. The greens were great! The fairways were a little bit muddy and wet in some areas. However, this was minimal and was only encountered on parts a few holes. When all said and done, I did not shoot a good score. Perhaps the best score of the year, though not good. I shot 48 on the back and 53 on the front. When considering the conditions and when I last played, I guess 101 is not that bad of a score.

When was the last time that you played? Whats your best score in 2015? Leave a comment, and please help me with ideas!

Oh Blogging: A Reflection

Though there are very few of you. I am aware that there are at most three. You people, are the people that read my blog. These last two quarters have gotten hard. I have had very little to write about. I did not think that writing about golf would be hard for me. However it is. It wasn't hard during the golf season because I lived and breathed golf. But now that I am not thinking about it as much I find it hard to think and come up with blogs. I think that I am going to turn to my humorous side more and just make total fun of golfers. Even though my first post ratted out those that made fun of golf.

I need some help. If you have any preferences that you would like to hear me write about please inform me. I would greatly appreciate your comments. Also tell me what you think about going to a more humorous side of golf.

The Downfalls of humor. It's rude to golfers (myself). May contain insulting images (to me, from me). Will make you laugh so hard you'll die (I won't die).

The Upfalls of writing golf humor. More cartoons (by me). Less seriousness more funniness (I still will write tips, reviews, and opinions). It'll make you laugh (don't die).

-Thanks for a great semester of blogging.

JT Harman

Buying is For the Weak

For my birthday last year I received a couple dozen sleeves of Taylormade Lethal's. These are very nice balls. I enjoy playing with them and their performance is great. In fact, it is so great that I would like to save them and use them only during tournaments. I decided that I wanted these balls to last me through out the tournaments in my high school years, individually and on the team.

All boxes full of random golf balls.

However, this posed a challenge. I practice way more than I play; so I did not know what to do. I was not going to waste these balls in practice. So one day I decided that I was going to go buy a bulk supply of used garbage balls off eBay. Turns out those "garbage" balls were not cheap at all. I had to grab some balls, and get them fast. I was all out of balls to practice with and was borrowing balls from teammates everyday. Everyone has probably done this but I had such an aha moment it. I guess I am just stupid. But, I share it with you anyway.

Here's what I decided to do. I took my golf clubs and headed over to my local course. I went over right before they closed and started to walk the holes. On each one going through the bushes and water hazards to find every ball I could. When all said and done I found fifty plus balls within the first six holes. Fifty balls was enough to last me a couple weeks. When I ran out (which I didn't) I went back for more. I now have a large collection of "junk" balls that I can go out and practice with. The thing about doing this is that it takes all but forty five minutes. Plus as a bonus more than fifty percent of the "junk" balls were Pro V1's and Taylormades' newest balls such as the Lethals.

Darth Faders Claim to Fade

Every golfer has a flaw in their swing. This flaw leads to a flaw in their shot. All flaws can be overcome. Just look at the professionals. However, flaws are habits. The more that you practice them, the more that you will use them. I personally have many flaws. One of these many include an insane fade. I have had many instructors and pros try and help me fix my swing. None of what these professionals told me really helped. That is until my uncle came in.

There are many things that have been said that can be done in order to fix a fade. The simplest way is the way that I will talk about first. The easiest way to fix a fade is to just learn to play it. Obviously you consistently fix a fade. If you have tried everything and you just cannot fix it no matter what, than you need to learn how to play it. This may seem like an easy and cheaters way of fixing a fade. You could say this, however even the pros don't fix it by changing their swing. They just learn to adjust their aim to their swing. It is by far the easiest way to fix a fade. All you have to do is to aim a little bit to the left of your target.

The second way that a fade can be fixed is through a method that I developed by myself. This probably was not invented by me. In fact, I am positive that many people use this way to fix their fade. To start, get in your normal and comfortable golf stance. Take your backswing and swing through. On your follow through you want to feel like you are trying so hard to reach something however your arms are not long enough to reach it. You have to reach out in front of you.

My Drawing and Explanation Abilities... Impressive hey?!

The third and easier than the second way to fix your fade is to take a backswing that is three fourths the amount you usually take. Along with doing this, take your backswing extremely slow. Challenge yourself and take it as slow as possible.

So if you are a person, like me that fades every single shot. I challenge you to use one of these techniques. I challenge you even harder to understand how to use the reach method. Just by using my picture. IT IS beautiful.

The Off Season

Golf. The sport thats season lasts a month and a half into the school year. For golfers that live in warmer areas the season is longer. Though some may say that this is a positive thing I disagree. Within the first week I have to admit I had stopped golfing. This is a major problem. Not all of this is my fault however. The weather in Park City plays a role too. It starts to snow and the courses close. Yes, I could go down south, but that would require a five hour drive at least. They also are closed as well. Indoor ranges are expensive and take time to get too. I have developed a solution to all these problems. No more excuses for not having golfed. Though this way of golfing cannot compare in any way to the thrill you get out on the course. It helps maintain a decent swing.

Hitting A Snow Ball

Snow. The stuff that we play in. Can be shaped into many different physical objects. One of which is a ball. Snow balls can be used for many things: snow men, snowball fights, and golf balls. I have been hitting snow balls off my deck since the winter started. Though it may not be doing much it is good to get out and swing a club. After all what is swinging without hitting something!

Now there are no excuses. Except maybe one. You do not want to use your nice clubs to go chunk away at ice and rocks and christmas trees and apples and ornaments. I understand! I didn't either. The best way to find a old club for cheap is to stop by a Deseret Industry (DI) where you can find a club for under five dollars.

Taylormade Conspiracy

It has appeared to me that I need to write a short follow up to my post entitled A Dummies Guide To Golf. This follow up is due to a comment of a fellow blogger made on the particular post. In it I explained a handful of ways that golf has and can be ruined. In one I mentioned that Foot Golf has ruined golf. However, I also stated in another blog how bias I am toward Taylormade. This is where the contradiction begins.

It began something along the lines of this. Yes, foot golf has ruined golf. Though, how can you say this when you favor Taylormade so much? This question confused me a little bit. However, as I read on I came to discover that it was the owner of Taylormade that invented the sport of foot golf. This is extremely contradictory and so now I will explain.

Image Courtesy Hooked on Golf Blog

Taylormade is still the greatest golf company that there ever was. Nike is still dirt to me and the person that convinces me that their clubs are good will be the same person that kills me. However, Taylormade is a brand, not a person. Now I must say this, the owner of Taylormade ruined golf. Forever! I will forever be upset with the sport that came out of the man who owns Taylormade. However, I still believe that the clubs are top notch and no competitors can beat them?