the golf academy

Golf is a game for a lifetime!  At The Golf Academy we teach people of all ages to play this great game of golf!  One of the most important things that people must learn is how to stay cool on the golf course.  In Florida most people think I am talking about the weather and how to stay cool, however I am talking about your attitude on the golf course.

Yes, it is important when you are out playing to drink plenty of water and always wear sunscreen.  Just as important to playing the game of golf is your attitude!  Stay cool under pressure, how can you stay calm when you hit a bad shot?  It is very difficult to stay in a positive frame of mind even when you are playing bad.

Most of my Blogs I will talk about golf and the latest news in golf and will look forward to comments back on the subject.  This week I want to talk about the Honda Classic.  Even though the tournament is held in March it sure felt like Christmas for Ernie Els.  Ernie has not won on the PGA Tour since 2004.  Yeah that is right The Big Easy, who gets his nickname by how smooth he swings the golf club, hasn’t won in over four years! As a golf instructor I couldn’t imagine someone with all that talent not being able to win at the highest level.  It goes to show it takes more than talent it takes mental power to win out on tour.  Or you just need the final group to fall apart and give you the tournament just like what happened this past Sunday! MARK CALCAVECCHIA and Luke Donald both gave an early Christmas present to Ernie Els.  Both players started the day at 6 under par and the winning score was 6 under.  There were double bogies flying all over the place and Ernie was able to play pretty solid and post a score of 6 under.  Then we waited and watched, Mark double bogie the 15th hole after what looked to be a great bunker shot, but the ball kept rolling and rolling until it finally came to rest on the other side of the green in the water hazard!  Oops, that is never good for the old scorecard.  So he goes on to double bogie the hole and basically could not get anything going the last few holes.  It was good to see Ernie Els win and it was nice to see a golf course playing tough these days.  Most of the time if you are not 5 or 6 under par you don’t make the cut and play on the weekends!    This week on Tour is the PODS Classic in Tampa and a friend of mine SantiagoCavanagh is playing in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption.  Santiago works with the kids at The First Tee of St. Johns County where I used to work!  Hopefully he will play well to make the cut and play on the weekend. The week after that he is playing at Bay Hill.  Until next time keep the ball in the fairway!