fleming island

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.

Being that we all live in North Florida I wonder, do people rather play golf or watch golf on TV. Being a golf instructor you would think I'd much rather play golf than watch on TV. For the most part I would rather play golf except when Tiger Woods is playing!

This week Tiger Woods will be playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.  Tiger has played in two events on the PGA Tour this year and has won both, he is the leader of the FedEx Cup and if that wasn't enough he is the best player to EVER play the game!

We are watching history and as a golf nut I would much rather watch Tiger play golf than play golf myself!  So I pose the question to you:

Playing Golf in the wind can be very difficult for most amateur golfers.  Most golfers think that swinging faster is going to help the ball through the wind.  It is actually the complete opposite; the smoother you swing the better in the wind.  Why?

When you hit the ball regardless of the golf club you generate spin on the golf ball.  More spin with the wedges and hopefully less speed with the driver.  The harder you swing the more spin you create on the golf ball.  When you are hitting golf balls into the wind the wind will affect a ball that has more spin than a ball with less spin.

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!

I am very excited to be writing my first ever blog.  Let me introduce myself I am Elliott LaVercombe Head Teaching Professional for THE Golf Academy!  I am writing this to tell my story of how I got into golf and why golf is such a great game!

I started my passion for the game of golf when I was twelve, even though at the time I had no idea how many doors the game of golf would open for me.  I just enjoyed playing.  My grandfather introduced me to the game of golf during my summer vacations in Grand Haven, MI.  At the time soccer was still my sport and living in Colorado there wasn't much time during the year to practice golf!  Since no one in my immediate family played and since it was still an expensive game to play I stuck with Soccer until my parents moved me to St. Augustine, FL when I was a sophomore in High School.  I was fifteen and very excited about the opportunity to play more golf!  By this time I had three summers of golf with grandpa and I was getting better!

After reading My Clay Sun's story about the hazing incident with the Fleming Island High School wrestling team, I felt strangely as if I was being hazed myself.  Instead of being a freshman grappler being held down while an upperclassman's naked posterior was presented for close-order inspection, it was more like the usual Clay County taxpayer hazing.

I'm being held down by government and expected to accept another half-assed investigation being shoved in my face.

Granted, a little horseplay in the locker room certainly isn't exactly the worst incident deserving of local government investigation.  But its conclusion just reminds me of other "investigations."

This is why they play the game.

This is why we watch the game.

Winter Park Lake Howell quarterback Chris Perry could run, and run, and run, but on a frigid Friday night on Fleming Island, there was nowhere he could hide from the cold, hard truth that he couldn't really throw.

The senior Silver Hawk signal-caller put on a rushing clinic in the 5A regional quarterfinal playoff game, amassing 374 yards on 44 carries against the Golden Eagles defense, but in the end it was the more versatile quarterback, and the more complete team, that won the day for Fleming Island, 55-24.

FRIDAY's FINAL:

FLEMING ISLAND 41, OCALA WEST PORT 3

By PAUL D. BOWKER

paul.bowker@myclaysun.com

A first-ever district title tucked away in their pockets, Fleming Island's Golden Eagles were anticipating nothing more than a tuneup for the playoffs when it played host to Ocala West Port on Friday night at Fleming Island Stadium.

That's exactly what the Golden Eagles got.

Senior quarterback Ryan Aplin threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns, Dee Frieson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score and Fleming Island's starters made way for the reserves in the second half of a 41-3 victory over West Port.

(See photo gallery on Spotted)

Fleming Island surged out to a 17-3 first-game lead in the District 3-5A tournament championship Thursday night, but it was Bartram Trail's fifth-game surge that gave the Bears the title and a first-round state playoff game next week.

The Golden Eagles will get the district runner-up playoff spot and will have to win on the road next week if they want to move up the state ladder.

Thursday night's championship match looked like it might be over quick as the Lady Eagles won the first game handily, 25-10. And Fleming Island was strong throughout the second game, too, but the Bears rallied late for a 26-24 win to even the match.