Extract from Chapter 1:

TENBY

“Tenby is a bustling town on the southwest coast of Wales with an unusually high concentration of pubs. ” www.worldgolf.com

Tenby, Dinbych-y-Pysgod (’little fort of the fish’) in Welsh, has existed for a long time. It lies on the coast of southern Pembrokeshire, 27 miles west of Carmarthen. The first mention of the town was in a ninth-century bardic poem. It grew in the twelfth century. The Norman castle was built to keep out the Welsh. In the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was a major port. After this, however, the town slept until the railways woke it.

By the early nineteenth century Tenby had become a pretty, historical town with a busy fishing community. Victorians were keen on health, and ‘taking the waters’ was a great Victorian passion. The growth of the town and the tourism went hand in hand, and the trickle of tourists in the first half of the nineteenth century became a flood as the railway arrived at Tenby in 1863. By 1888 it was a tourist-driven town. Amongst the visitors to tenby at this time were novelists Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, and George Elliot; the artist J. M. W. Turner; and Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit and friends.

There were hotel-owners and business-owners in the town who were keen golfers themselves and eager for something extra to attract their customers to the area. Setting up and developing the Club was a mixture of business and pleasure for them. In Tenby, as in a number of Welsh seaside towns, golf had a dual purpose: as well as the tourism angle, the Club became a focus for local businesspeople to relax, play and meet.
These days Tenby still pulls in the tourists. They come to walk the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, or to go across to Caldey Island to see the perfume-making monks, and the town itself has an annual Arts Festival. Not too far away is Laugharne, of Dylan Thomas fame. And of course, there is always golf …

<em>Beginnings</em>

Tenby is believed to be the oldest Golf Club in Wales. It was established after a meeting on 31 September 1888 in the Town Hall, when six people decided to form a Club. The first membership fees were 10/6d per year or 5/- per month (equivalent to £273 or £130 today).

However, there is some evidence that golf had been played at Tenby as early as 1875. A passage in Laws of Markets and Fairs published in that year refers to court proceedings being adjourned whilst the court officials took time off to play golf.

The first Club competition was held on 21 October 1888, when thirty-three gentlemen and ladies took part and a Mr. T. A. Rees was the winner with a gross 51, net 41 off a 10 handicap (9 holes).

The Club prospered in the early years. In 1889 there were ninety recorded members. In 1892 there was sufficient money and optimism to employ a groundsman. There is a record in 1911 of comparative wages: whilst the Professional was paid 15/- a week, the green-keeper was paid 35/- per week.

The Club developed in the late Victorian era. A number of improvements were made to the course and exhibition matches are recorded. It was also the time when Tenby played home and away matches with Ashburnham in 1896. This, the oldest surviving Welsh fixture, is still played today.

In 1907 James Braid developed the full eighteen-hole course which was opened at the Easter meeting that same year.

More alterations were made between the war years. It is recorded that part of the course was landmined in 1940.

There have been a number of clubhouses over the years, even one in the town. The current one was opened in 1966 at a cost of £40,000. Over recent years this has been refurbished and extended. It is also one of the most modern-looking clubhouses in Wales.

With the help of partners such as the Ryder Cup Legacy Fund the Club are working hard at improving facilities and attracting more members. The fund will help Tenby Club develop a three-hole short course specifically designed to make golf more accessible and enjoyable for juniors and newcomers to golf. There will also be better practice facilities. This is essential as the Club holds more prestigious tournaments. In 2010 the Club will host the Welsh Amateur Championship and the British Ladies Championship.

With the support of Golf Development Wales the Club Professional, Mark Hawkey, has introduced ‘taster sessions’over the past year. At a subsidised cost of around £1 a person over 150 potential new golfers have had the opportunity to try golf out and see if they like it.  Following on from this the Club has encouraged more people to join by considered more flexible membership deals with three-month trial memberships or six-monthly memberships.

So, whilst Tenby is justifiably proud of its heritage and its unique place in Welsh golf history, David Hancock (Secretary) sums up the approach: ‘It’s about not living in the past, but keeping moving forward.’  ………..

Kicking Racism Out of golf ( eventually)

Waiting on the 2nd tee the discussion invariably was of the Open. In essence the argument was on who’s camp you were in. It was not Tiger v Phil Mickelson, but rather Phil Mickelson v Tom Watson. It was agreed (by some) that Tom Watson was ‘a real gentleman’ whereas Phil Mickleson was a bit arrogant, cocky and fundamentally too ‘smiley’.
“He doesn’t look like he suffers enough” said someone.

It became a theme of the round after that “What would Tom do?”. It seemed to have a profound effect as in the round we let a junior 2 ball though and waited for a green to clear before we drove off. Ah, the power of Tom.

This prompted me to do a little research on Tom. I had read that he had done at least one good thing in Kansas City so I looked for more tales. For people who don’t know Tom Watson had resigned from the ‘ultra-restrictive’ Kansas City Country Club to protest the club’s blackballing of Jewish tax-preparation tycoon Henry Bloch. Although Watson is not Jewish, his wife, Linda, and their two children are. Watson was quoted as saying that his conscience had forced him to resign “out of respect for my family—my wife, my children and myself.”

Well done Tom.

Then I read that Tom had been a member of this Country Club that had secret membership that seemed to be discriminatory for many, many years. So, why did Tom wait until a Jewish millionaire friend was rejected before he spoke out?

I looked for more Country Clubs Tom had resigned from or criticised because of perceived racist or religious discrimination. I was disappointed.  I read that earlier Tom had said that people should “chill out” and that private clubs had the right to choose their members.

I found other reports of Tom and controversy though. Apparently at the 1993 Ryder Cup pre-match dinner Sam Torrance picked up a programme and in a gesture of camaraderie walked over to ask Tom Watson for his autograph. Tom refused. He said that he didn’t want his players bothered by autograph hunters.

This seems as childish as the report of the 1969 Ryder Cup captain Eric Brown telling his players not to look for American balls in the rough.

He doesn’t seem to be popular with everyone; Los Angeles Times columnist Larry Stewart called Watson a “backstabber,” while Jonathan Rand of the hometown Kansas City Star settled for “stuffed shirt.”

Watson criticised Bill Murray for inappropriate antics in a charity Pro-Am.

He managed to get Gary McCord the sack for on-air quips by sending a handwritten demand to CBS director and producer Frank Chirkinian to “get rid of him, now.”

In a positive article John Garrity describes him;  “Watson always seeks the middle ground. He likes Rush Limbaugh……….”

Tom said of Tiger Woods, “I feel that he has not carried the same stature as other great players like Jack Nickolas, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson or the Hogans, in the sense that there was language and club throwing on the golf course. You can grant that of a young person that has not been out here for awhile. But I think he needs to clean up his act and show the respect for the game that other people before him have shown.”

Tom Watson is a real old-fashioned, 18th century gentleman. He is a man from a different age. A man with real Victorian values. It’s no wonder he’s so popular with so many golf club members around the world – including Bargoed.

Mr Happy - not if he came to Bargoed

Phil Mickelson on the other hand is young and wore a bleeper during the 1999 U.S. Open when his wife Amy was expecting the couple’s first child (“Wouldn’t be allowed in Bargoed”)

In an article on Mickelson ArtSpander says “It bothers some that Mickelson plays without a scowl, waving at the fans who yell his name, eating up the approval…..Phil is outwardly gracious when asked about Tiger’s success, affirming him as the world No. 1. He’s agreed that, in the previous five months, with Woods not around, golf was poorer in his absence.

His personality is pretty well summed up in ‘Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post ‘:
“Without a doubt Mickelson is the most approachable star at Sheshan. When he hits a good shot he rewards fans’ applause by smiling or tipping his cap. When he goes through the crowd, if you put out your hand he’ll even give a ‘high-five.’ (“Wouldn’t happen in Bargoed”)

The journey starts 30miles North East of Newport on the Wales-England border. The historic county town of Monmouth has been the scene of many battles between England and Wales throughout its thousand year history. In the middle of the bustling market town stand the remains of the 12th century castle overlooking the River Monnow. This was the birthplace of Henry V and scene of many conflicts throughout the centuries. These days English visitors, especially golfers, are more than welcomed and the town boasts two superb golf courses.

Monmouth Golf Club rightly describes itself as ‘arguably the prettiest golf course in Wales’, but follow the winding B4233 road west for three miles, past the legendary Rockfield recording studios, and you come to the tiny village of Hendre and the impressive Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club.

John Rolls, MP and later 1st Baron Llangattock, bought a shooting lodge on this site at the beginning of the 19th century. Over the next 200 years John and his descendants expanded and developed the house and garden to form the 600 acre Rolls estate. In the 1980s the estate passed from the Rolls family and has since been transformed into an exceptional golf venue.

The stone clubhouse is the former workshop and garage of Charles Stewart Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce Company. The house, a Victorian country mansion is magnificent, but it’s the golf course that people come for. The club opened in 1982, with - bizarrely enough - Greg Norman attached as their early touring professional. Nowadays, the Rolls is regarded as the ultimate venue for dozens of golf societies in these parts who visit through the year - the treat.

It’s a treat because the course is perfectly maintained with each hole presenting a different challenge. It’s a classic parkland course, weaving across the hill with the Black Mountains forming a wonderful backdrop. There are huge oaks and undulating greens. The course is not ridiculously long, but it is fair and a real test for of all aspects of your game. The opening par four sets the tone for the round - a quite majestic hole played through a defined corridor of tall trees and one that demands two well struck shots to reach the green. And, for many, that’s where the fun really starts. For at the Rolls, it is the quality of the greens - pure, smooth and very slick - that perhaps offers the course its best protection. And it is that same quality of playing surface that brings golfers of all handicaps coming back time and again to experience the pleasure of golf in such a setting.

The round culminates with a par three. Standing on the tee the view is inspiring - a hole of around 200 yards with the historic manor house forming the backdrop. This is perhaps the most dramatic - and most dangerous - finishing hole in Wales.

From the Rolls we drive just 30miles south of Monmouth, a journey that has you running parallel with the English border, to arrive at the ancient Roman settlement of Venta Silurumat Caerwent. A mile south of Caerwent is Dewstow Golf Club & Gardens, a place that ought to be the contemporary model for all clubs up and down the country thanks to the way in which manager John Harris has continually developed and diversified his operation to stay ahead of the game. Since opening in 1988 the club has added a top-class restaurant along with a venue that has won local acclaim for live music- and that’s in addition to two very fine golf courses, both of which are hugely popular with locals (from both sides of the border!). Neither of them are particularly long - the wooded Valley course is just 6,091 yards - and yet both pose a challenge for low handicappers while being great fun for all. The Park course is flatter, a little longer, and boasts a number of unusual features: the 6th is the only par six hole in UK, while at the 15th you encounter a 60-foot totem pole in the middle of the fairway.

One thing you’re always guaranteed at Dewstow is a warm welcome, and by all accounts the members need little excuse to throw a party. There will be activities here throughout the year in the run-up to the Ryder Cup - check their website for details. Oh, and for the horticulturalist, there’s a further treat in store: the Victorian Hidden Gardens and Grottos of Dewstow House were discovered in the grounds a few years ago and are now a tourist attraction.

Heading west along the M4 (beware rugby players in golf buggies!) you reach the Newport turn-off after just 15miles. On the right it’s impossible to miss the Celtic Manor resort, rising like a medieval castle out of the cliffs. Although this is the focus for Welsh golf this year if you travel a few miles east you arrive at Newport Golf Club with its symbol of the Great Oak.

The club is a traditional one. Founded in 1903, Newport retains its standards and values and has a warm, settled, comfortable feel. Changes have been made recently, both to the Clubhouse and the course. And it strikes you they have been implemented with a great deal of thought. The course is not over-golfed,members are very well looked after and there’s an unmistakable air of calm about the place.

The course, in a word, is ‘lush’. Built around the ancient LlwyniWoods - which has been in existence since 1600 A.D. - the fairways are undulating and the greens fast and tricky. The course is traditional in length, at around 6,500 yards, but to score well requires a thoughtful approach and an accurate iron game. There’s little water to speak of but there are 78 strategically placed bunkers to navigate. Mature trees line the fairways and give the course an exclusive, peaceful feel. Always immaculately maintained, the course is host to a number of professional and top amateur events through the season.

There’s a lovely (and generous) balance with five par fives, five threes and eight par fours. Many holes are fairly narrow and require precision rather than power. The 11th is typical of the course, a 374 yard par four played as a slight dogleg, and superbly framed through an avenue of trees.

The par threes are particularly appealing, and as early as the second you face the ’signature’ hole with a pond protecting the green. The 14th is another standout hole, a lovely par three completely surrounded by bunkers.

The lasting impression of Newport Golf Club is one of leisurely and classy golf. Not a bad combination in my book. From Newport we make north along the Usk valley and toward the heart of the Welsh Eastern Valley region.

This area is synonymous with coal, iron and rugby. The coal and iron has all but disappeared over the last half century but the passion for the national sport remains. To get to Pontypool Golf Club you climb up - and up - the mountain until you reach the club perched on top, at the southern tip of Brecon Beacons National Park. Given its location you won’t be surprised to learn your journey will be rewarded with stunning views stretching across the Bristol Channel to Minehead on the Somerset coast and even beyond, as well as a wonderful panorama of Pontypool and valley towns and villages in all directions.

The club was formed in the same year as Newport Golf Club and is a friendly, welcoming place with around 500 members. Without hesitation, club secretary Les Dodd describes the course as ‘parkland golf on a hill!’. And it’s exactly that. The course uses the contours superbly as it weaves its way across the mountain top. It’s a challenging par 69 and the yardage - 6,000 - is virtually irrelevant. Uphill, downhill, into the wind, sailing with it - you get the lot here. There’s immense variety to be enjoyed and it’s fantastic value. And, as the title of the Centenary book declares, “There’ll be a welcome in the hillside.”

Moving southward down the parallel Ebbw valley you approach the flatness of the coastal plain. On the western outskirts of Newport (and the eastern outskirts of Cardiff) you find the small suburb of St. Mellons. However, it can be quite tricky to find St Mellon’s Golf Club. It’s fairly well hidden away, ironically, between South East Wales’ two largest cities, Cardiff and Newport (there are holes within each city’s boundaries). But the effort to get there is more than worthwhile. For the course at St Mellons was designed by none other than Harry Colt (in 1937) and it’s a delight.

The holes are beautifully framed with well designed fairways, and spectacular views over the River Severn, especially from the 6th and 16th. St Mellons has been a members club since 1964 and the members are quite justifiably proud of it. The memorable par three 3rd hole is named ‘Cotton’s Choice’ after three time Open champion Henry Cotton described it as one of the best par three holes he’d ever played.

Travelling through - or more speedily around - Cardiff takes us to Penarth, an exclusive, tree-lined suburb of the capital city. TheGlamorganshire Golf Club was the fourth to be opened in Wales and the first in South East Wales It was established in 1890 when Lord Windsor donated land to the newly formed club for a nominal rent. The course is not particularly long but can prove extremely difficult as it twists around Down’s wood. Such is the layout that it’s rare for two consecutive holes to be played in the same direction. You’re driving into the wind, then playing against the wind, then across, not giving you a chance to establish a rhythm.

The view from the 16th green is stunning - overlooking the Bristol Channel to Weston-super-Mare. Apart from the hill leading to the 16th the course is relatively flat with a large variety of trees defining the narrow fairways. Originally there were over 200 bunkers but in 1933 the renowned golf course architect Tom Simpson redesigned the course removing a large number of them and planting more trees. There are still 80 bunkers to protect the greens but the course has became more subtle and a great deal more interesting.

The club is the birthplace of the Stableford scoring system devised by Dr. Frank Stableford at the start of the club’s history. He tested it out on the members on 30th September 1898. Dr. Stableford served in the Boer War and on his return continued to play at the club as well as Porthcawl and later Wallasey Golf Club in Liverpool, where his system of scoring eventually became accepted and increased in popularity.

The Glamorganshire is a familiar, well established and well-loved club in Wales and embraces its tradition. It’s a very social club with around 1,000members and a great deal of social and charitable activity.

A few miles north and a century further on there’s the vale resort, home of the Vale of Glamorgan Golf Club. This is the modern golf resort - new, shiny, brash, confident and luxurious. It’s a corporate and customer-focused operation and a highly professional one. In a number of ways - not least in their accessibility to all-comers - resorts like this and Celtic Manor are the future of golf in Wales. The resort is superbly situated a mile from the M4motorway. Its 650 acres are situated in the lush, rolling landscape of the Vale of Glamorgan on the site of the historic Hensol Castle estate. The complex consists of a hotel, spa and two superlative courses, both of which are open to visiting golfers year-round.

The Lake Course is the members’ course and the older of the two and a stunning 6,436-yard course built around the Lake. More than half the holes feature water with the ’signature’ hole the par four 12th having the green positioned on an island.

The Wales National course is an enormous 7,433 yards, typical ‘American design’ course. The fairways are long and immaculately maintained. The greens are expansive - and fast - and the whole effect is magnificent. The course, barely seven years old, has already been the venue for a number of Challenge Tour events and the Wales Senior Open. An unusual feature here - and a refreshing one - is that players have the choice of playing from whichever tee they fancy. This has provided extremely popular with visitors and, as Golf Operations Manager Clive Coombes explained, there’s an added bonus in terms of saving on the tees: “The wear and tear on the tees is now fairly evenly divided as the load is spread between the four flights of tees.”

The course itself looks and plays splendidly. The 2nd is the longest par 5 hole in Wales at 607 yards. The 6th is an excellent par 4 risk and reward hole with a 200 yard carry to the green or a lay up and a wedge. The 14th, 15th and 16th are also exceptional holes around the lakes and are some of the best holes in the region. The club has a well-developed coaching scheme and a Ryder Cup centre of excellence venue. It is rapidly becoming one of the best clubs for juniors in Wales.

]]> http://byronkalies.com/wp/2010/07/a-journey-around-south-wales/feed/ http://byronkalies.com/wp/2010/07/reactance-transactional-analysis-and-the-committee/ http://byronkalies.com/wp/2010/07/reactance-transactional-analysis-and-the-committee/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:21:43 +0000 Byron Kalies http://byronkalies.com/wp/?p=801

“Applicants for membership will be interviewed by the Club Captain, Lady Captain or Junior Organiser, as appropriate, who may in their absolute discretion reject or provisionally approve the application. No reason shall be given to any applicant in the event of rejection.“

In most golf clubs there are rules, codes, laws, does and don’t. There are things you must do, things you shouldn’t do and things you had definitely better do. It’s all a little childish, don’t you think?

Let me state my reasons;

I am not a 6 year old child. I do not need to be told what I must do on and off the course. As a result of seeing a large notice telling me that I need to go to the toilet to pee my instinct (and I guess I’m not the only one that thinks this way) is to do the opposite. This is not good on any level;

It’s not far off bullying and people (including me) tend to react badly to bullies or to anyone telling them what to do; telling children to eat up their cabbage, telling people they are no longer allowed to take strike action, and telling female golfers they should only use the lounge after 7;30 p.m. All seem to provoke a reaction.

“The appropriate length of shorts is three inches or less above the knee. Shorts that fall below the knee are not permitted”

Psychologically it brings in a theory called reactance – investigated by Jack Brehm. Brehm discovered that when you limit the choice of individuals they tend to react against it. In a experiment with people who expressed no preference for either of 2 soft drinks he found that once you prevented people having a choice (you only supplied one type at a vending machine), people would walk a considerable distance to buy the alternate drink. If you restrict people’s freedom they will react to restore it.

You will know this if you have teenagers.

“Have a nice evening” you’ll call as they leave the house,

“Don’t tell me what to do.” They’ll reply as they slam the door.

Or

“I’d take a 5 iron and lay up if I were you.”

“Oh really”

“Junior Members are not permitted to play before 11.00am at weekends, except in designated competitions or matches and with the prior permission of Match & Handicap. “

So why do golf clubs insist on treating adults like children?

“Walk briskly between shots and if possible decide which club to use for your next shot before you reach the ball

Do not take an excessive number of practice swings”

Another psychological theory called Transactional Analysis looks at this. Some people, especially people with self-esteem issues, tend to over compensate in their interactions with people by becoming ‘critical parents’. They tend to adopt the ‘I know better than you’ point of view, which in their mind means ‘I want to prove I’m a better person than you.”. These people behave by blaming, shouting, finger-pointing, belittling, and assuming the air of authority. The natural reaction for people on the other side of this is to turn into children; sulking, door-slamming, disobeying. This is why there is a fair amount of resentment built up, a good deal of moaning, wingeing and whispering in corners and often some quiet heated disagreements.

For me the situation of being told what to do strikes a chord with some childhood experiences. It smacks (no pun intended) of being told off and having to be punished. I remember similar pronouncements from my schooldays – “Children found running in the corridor will be reported to the Headmaster”. “Pupils failing to wear the correct attire for gym will be reported to the Headmaster”.

“Guests taking dinner in the evening or late afternoon will be required to wear Jacket and Tie. “

My line of thought now tends to be; “How old am I? I’m not that keen on being treated like a five year old child at this time in my life.” Added to this annoyance there would be some reactance kicking in. I’d remember in school where a teacher told me to stop playing with your pen. Even though I had no intention of playing with my pen that’s all I could now think about. Psychologically I’m trying to get that freedom of choice back.

In the golfing situation it would instil the same reaction. I may well obey the instruction though as there will be other factors creeping in. I may well obey a great many instructions for quite a well.. In the short term the problem would be solved.

However there would come a time where there would be a critical mass of resentment built up and there would be problems. Presumably I wouldn’t be the only person on the receiving end of this and pretty soon the morale of the club may well have dropped another notch. There will be more grumblings in corners about ‘nanny states’, ‘those people in their ivory towers’, ‘******* Committee members”, murmur, murmur, mumble, mumble. People don’t forget. These ‘small injustices’ never go away. They stay and come out somewhere, at some time – often inappropriately and usually with a physical, mental or financial cost – e.g. another club opens nearby and you see a mass exodus.

“Our staff are empowered to judge whether an individual is acceptably dressed and to take appropriate action. “

Now, I’m not advocating anarchy, as such. There are things that I will do; I will not cheat at golf, I will shout ‘fore’ if my drive is heading toward anyone, I will rake the bunker. I will stay quiet while people tee off. I do not need an edict from the Committee to tell me this.

As a suggestion I would just like people to think about the effect of their communication.. In terms of treating people when communicating do you communicate as a Parent, Child or Adult? A more productive ‘adult’ communication would entail some background, an explanation of the problem, the potential implications if the issue isn’t resolved and a suggestion. It would be even better if there was an offer of some dialogue. It’s what you would like isn’t it? It’s treating people like adults. It’s not difficult.

“Rules for tipping: Professional staff - Do not tip cash to your country club manager. It’s not only in bad taste, it could be construed as a conflict of interest (because they manage your bills), and they may also be offended at being treated like a servant. It’s not fair because the country club manager is usually the person who works hardest for you each year, but Janet and I just tip with a token gift basket of goodies. (Tipping tip: If you want to tip your club manager with a gift basket, make sure to do it in their office. If the waiters see the git, the country club manager will feel compelled to share it with them).

Background labor- I don’t consider it expected nor required to tip the dishwashers, greens keeper or those creepy hippies who mow the fairways.”

Looking for ball just off green at 14th hole, Pyle and Kenfig

How come you walk straight past your golf ball whilst looking for it in the rough? Yet when your playing partners point it out a few seconds later, it’s sitting up in the rough, clearly visible from space but 20 yards behind where you thought it would be . Perhaps you just don’t want to see it. You want to see your ball 20 yards further on because that’s where you planned it to be. Similarly, I don’t believe in many things. I especially don’t believe in rangefinders. The ‘150 yards’ the SkyCaddie SG 2.5 declares to be the true reading should leave me a 6 iron into the 17th. However, I know it’s an 8 iron, because I’ve always hit an 8 iron from here. OK I’ve always been short but it really is just a flick with an 8 iron;

There is the story of Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the Caribbean islands. It was written that as Columbus’ ships, the Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta, approached the islands on October 11 1492, the natives could not see them. One account describes how the shaman of the islanders noticed that the waves washing up on the shore produced an unusual pattern. From this observation the shaman realised that something unusual was happening and looked harder out to sea. Eventually he saw the ships at a fairly close range. He then had to persuade the people to also see the ships. The natives had no concept of large ships and they simply could not recognise them. In a similar vein it’s rare for a committee man to recognise slow play in his own group yet spot a shirt not tucked in 200 yards away.

If we don’t expect something to be there we don’t look. Well we look but we don’t see. There was an experiment carried out by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris that asked people to concentrate on a basketball game. Whilst the game was being played a gorilla wandered through the players (or rather a man in a gorilla suit) and hardly any of the participants noticed. They seemed to be so focused on the game, or it was so extraordinary, that it didn’t compute.

Looking beyond external physical objects how about taking a look at ourselves? Why can’t we see the poor alignment, the short backswing, the half-hearted follow through in our own game? We see this, and frequently volunteer the information, in our friends - although after a while we barely notice even this in regular playing partners.. We are so used to it, so conditioned that it becomes the ‘dead body in the study’ scenario. This is when people are so used to seeing something that they don’t really process it.

For instance, shut your eyes and think about the room you’re in. What exactly can you remember being on the walls? What’s in front of you that you see every single day? I would guess that when you actually open your eyes and look around there will be something there you will be surprised at. We see but we don’t process. In psychological terms this ‘dead body in the study’ scenario refers to a dead body you may have in the study. Every day you have to step over it to pass through the room. Initially you, of course, notice this but before long nobody seems to recognise this until you get a new person that suddenly starts screaming “You’ve got a dead body in the study!”. In golfing terms there is enormous benefit in having an outsider / coach / professional come in to look at your swing. They can actually see things that you can’t.

It’s estimated that the eyes see a billion pieces of information every second. However the brain can only process a fraction of this information - perhaps 4000 or so pieces of data. This means that there’s an awful lot of information going un-noticed. This would explain the Columbus Caribbean experience, the dead body in the study and a fair amount of golfers’ swings.

So, the moral of the story? Basically people tend to only see what they want, or expect, to see. Golfers, being a little like people, have a mental image of themselves. On the outside they may look like an excited octopus with a stick, but inside they feel they are swinging with the style and elegance of a Bradley Dredge.  Occasionally you will need someone, or a camcorder, to let you really look at your game. It’s only when you can see what’s going on that you can see what’s going wrong.

Change is Uncomfortable - ask Ted

To change anything, or to learn anything (which is essentially change anyway) is uncomfortable. There are a number of well-worn phrases that people trot out to remind you of this including the always memorable - “If you’re not churning, you’re not learning”, “you’ve got to get worse to get better” - “you can give a man a fish and feed him for a day,but if you give him a golf club he will learn to feed himself forever”, or something like that

A useful model I came across with this one is the Comfort Zone model. On the inside is the Comfort Zone. The doughnut next ring is the Discomfort Zone and the Learning Zone is around the outside. It does remind you that it’s uncomfortable to learn anything new. It means that to get to the Learning Zone you have to get through the Discomfort Zone. There are no short cuts or tunnels. However it does give you hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

So, to the lesson. It was uncomfortable. I turned up alongside the fearless youngsters and brand new starters and felt very out of place. I’d been trapped in that comfort zone for too long. My grip was comfortable. My stance was comfortable yet they were so wrong. I knew if I held the club this way I could more or less guarantee it would be straight - well finish fairly straight as I tend to aim thirty yards left of the fairway and it would (fade / cut) back onto the fairway (occassionally) not very long but straightish. Now I’m being told to discard all those comfortable feelings and start again. It really did feel uncomfortable and tempting to go back to the old way.

I learnt that there are no short cuts or secret passages across the discomfort zone. We all know that. We know that all the teaching aids, special balls, magic golf clubs don’t work - or at least they don’t work on their own. We’ve all seen (or bought) that expensive set of aluminium, alloy, enhanced, cavity-backed, nickel platted, NASA designed 3 wood and stood next to a 12 year old girl with basically a long metal stick and seen them hit their tee shot thirty yards further than us.

What did help me though was some wise words I had picked up from a colleague a long time ago about this stress and anxiety.

“Anxiety isn’t pain” he assured me ” It’s the anticipation of pain.”

True enough. The most anxious and stressful times for me has been the waiting for something to start - the dentists, the job interview, waiting by the first tee. Once the action kicks off the stress diminishes a great deal.

“The trick”, he continued, “is to live in the here and now” (he was a bit of an old hippie), but very true. If you concentrate on what you’re doing before a stressful event; eating, preparing, practising, and try to concentrate fully on that you’ll save yourself a fair amount of stress.

So I’m taking the lessons. I’m staying in the ‘here and now’ and things are starting to improve. Not as quickly as I’d like, of course and I do feel that I’m living most of my life in the discomfort zone but… in a perverse way I’m starting to enjoy it (well almost).

Remember the other day when Tiger Woods was caught using a cell phone out on the 10th green during a practice round? It was later clarified that he was using the phone to take a video of Mark O’Meara and his putting stroke… But can we be sure of that? GolfCrunch has obtained a transcript of what exactly went on that day, right on the 10th green.

Tiger Woods
(on phone)

Hello Elin. You can’t phone me here I’m at work….

Augusta…..

Georgia…..

Yes really I am….

I’m with Mark……

No he’s putting he can’t come to the phone …

No, there are no women here….

None at all apart from some press and spectators…

No I don’t know any of them….

No none of them are pretty. I’ve apologised for that do you have to….

Sorry. I forgot…

Honestly it is just Mark and me. Look here’s a photo…

(aloud)

Mark can I just take a photo of you putting… It’s for Elin.

(back on phone)

You see. Just me and Mark working…

I’m not sure when I’ll be home, probably Sunday night…

It starts on Thursday…

Look we’ve been through this – it’s practice days before. I explained that…

Relaxing in the bar after a tough, but profitable, first round

I’m standing on the first tee at the Rolls of Monmouth. I’m preparing to hit the first shot of the annual equivalent of the ‘jolly boys’ outing’.
(This is the end of winter bash we use to reward ourselves for those dark, dingy,tough, early Saturday morning rounds. Keith saves our £2.50 a week for this reward. The Rolls of Monmouth is the hidden secret that everyone in South Wales knows about. It’s the end of year treat,the equivalent of Christmas, birthday and anniversary all rolled into one. The Rolls in fantastic. Most courses in South Wales, with the exception of Celtic Manor are claustrophobic. There is the valleys feeling of crampdness. Perhaps it’s to do with the shape of the valleys. Whatever the reason there is limited space and tees and greens are pushed back to the edges of the courses. With this comes the feeling of not being able to swing properly. The Rolls has space, lots of space, too much space. It’s nerve racking. It’s almost agoraphobic to a Welsh valley’s golfer like me – but in a nice way. I remember the same feeling as a small child going to Porthcawl for a week’s holiday (the caravan park, not the golf course) and was amazed at the size of the beaches and the fresh air.)

An aside:
“Learning to play golf is a steep learning curve”.
Not really. The concept of a learning curve to me implies a steady climb getting better each month until you reach some sort of peak. This, as any high handicapper will tell you, is absolute nonsense. Learning to play golf well is more like a cross section of Lance Armstrong’s route in the tour de France. There are a selection of highs (consistent shots, rounds without air shots, occasional pars) followed by horrendous lows (hacking along a fairway as if you’re tacking into the wind, 4 putting, playing 5 off the tee). It’s far from a smooth curve.

So,on the tee, as a high handicap it’s all abuse;
“Look at this swing.”
“21! he’s off 21. God his practice swing looks like it’s off scratch.”
“He’s wearing a hat. Shouldn’t it be a sombrero?”
“El bandito”
My bottom is twitching like a trout’s mouth as I try to smile, without looking too confident, or too put off. Unfortunately I then hit a great drive straight up the middle.
“Cut him.”
“I played with the handicap sec once and hit a shot like that and by the ninth I was cut 3 shots. Bandit.”
I sheepishly make my way back to my bag and begin my round amidst mumblings and grumblings.
High handicappers get far too much grief. It’s like Learner drivers – regular drivers forget they had  to learn once. The worse offenders are the middle handicappers. You may have to give them ½ a shot a hole, but for that privilege you get grief if you hit a tee shot straight, abuse for hitting an approach shot on the green and practical decapitation for holing any putt over 6 feet. The air shots, miscues and slices are conveniently ignored. Low handicappers seem to be less bothered.
Still, I have a fantastic morning – get cut too shots for scoring 37 points in the morning, play like a polar bear wearing boxing gloves that are too big for him in the afternoon and everyone goes away happy… roll on next year.

Bargoed G C Vets' Captain lining up match winning putt

You’ve hit your 3 iron to 8 feet. You march confidently to the green and mark your ball. It’s your turn to putt and within 60 seconds you’re a nervous wreck – you three putt and walk off the green shattered, disillusioned and grumpy.

You’ve done everything exactly as they do it on the tele. You’ve looked at the distance from ball to hole from the left side, from the right side, from the hole side and from behind the ball. You’ve crouched behind the ball. You’ve held your putter like a plumb bob and looked at the hole closing your left eye then your right eye (you’re not too sure why you’ve done this but you have). You’ve lined the mark on your ball with the hole and stroked the ball 3 feet past the hole, twice.

What I think you should have done is walk up and hit it. I firmly believe that when you look at a putt you get enough accurate information in those first few seconds. The rest of the time you spend confusing yourself. .
In the next minute or so you spend time looking for confirmation that you were right in the first place. However, you start doubting yourself, looking at the slope again, guessing, getting negative thoughts, second guessing, remembering all those times you left this putt short, or long. You worry about your feet, your putter, your head. It’s a wonder you get any putts anywhere near the hole.

There is evidence from a variety of places that indicate that I am not making this up;
In the eye there are roughly 126 million nerve cells in the retina. What happens is that light hits the neurons and convert the image on the retina into nerve impulses. These impulses are then transmitted to the brain. Each neuron is capable of firing once a millisecond, yet the average activity is only four times per second. So, although it is estimated that your eyes take in a billion pieces of information every second, the brain can only process a fraction of this information – perhaps 4000 or so pieces of data. So the brain has to ‘fill in the gaps’ and ‘guess’. These guesses tend to be based on previous experiences and a set of schemata. This will invariably lead to mistakes and assumptions. The more time you have to ‘fill in the gaps’ the more you are likely to compound the errors.

You have to rely on your instincts to a great degree – it is biologically impossible to take in all the information you see, as described above. For instance – shut your eyes now and describe your watch. You may have seen this thousands of times in the past few months yet how well can you describe it. What colour is it? What writing is on it? Describe the strap. You see it yet you don’t see it.

You may well not be able to describe it very well, but does it matter? If you look at it for 30 seconds you will retain a lot more information about the watch face, the hands but has that helped you tell the time more accurately?

People make accurate assesments very quickly. Exactly how quickly was assessed by Artemio Ramirez and Michael Sunnafrank of the University of Minnesota. They carried out an experiment with 164 college freshmen. The students were split into pairs and selected to spend either three, six or ten minutes talking to each other and then completed a questionnaire asking them to predict how positive or negative a relationship they would have. Nine weeks later they were asked to reassess the relationship.

There was a high correlation between that first impression and how they felt now. They also tended to sit closer to them in class and talk to them more. One important result was that it made no difference if it were three, six or ten minutes.

In a 1993 study Professor Nalini Ambady, a social psychologist at Tufts University videotaped graduate teaching fellows as they taught their classes. She selected three random ten-second clips from each tape and combined them into one thirty-second clip for each teacher. She then showed these silent clips to students who did not know the teachers. The students then rated the teachers on a number of variables including “active,” “competent” “confident.” They combined these individual scores into one overall score for each teacher. These scores were kept and compared with the teachers’ end of term evaluations from actual students who studied under them for a year.
“We were shocked at how high the correlation was,” Ambady said” It was 0.76. In social psychology anything above 0.6 is considered very strong.” Ambady cut the length of the silent clips to six seconds. “There was no significant difference between the results with thirty second clips and six-second clips,” Ambady says.

More and more recent research seems to be saying more and more that you are right instinctively a lot of the time.  If there is something you know about, and feel is right – like when to take a putter or a wedge from off the green, go with your gut feeling. People often analyse things to death. You know yourself and you know your game. You really, really are the best person to judge.

The useful of this approach is summed up by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink. The basic idea is to sort through those first impressions to “figure out which ones are important and which ones are screwing us up.” While most of us would like to think our decision making is the result of rational deliberation, Gladwell argues that most of it happens subconsciously in a split second. This process, “rapid cognition”, is where room for both error and insight appears. Many of the snap judgments we make are based on previously formed impressions and are competing with subconscious biases such as emotions and projections. Once we become aware of this we can learn to control rapid cognition by extracting meaning from a very small amount of information.

All very interesting but all boiling down to the same message;

Trust that instinct.

Sitting Tenant on path to 14th tee, West Mon

On the tee at the par 3 18th at Dewstow Golf Club I reached for a 7 iron. This was the first time I’d played the course but on meticulous investigation of the yardage (card), the wind (finger in air) and slope (downhill) I thought a 7 iron was perfect. I noticed my playing partner (a life long member at this club and a hitter of similar distance to me) reaching for an 8.

I put my 7 iron away and hit the 8. I was 10 yards short. My playing partner hit an 8 and was also 10 years short.

“I’m always short on this hole” he muttered as we walked after our balls.

Golfers are creatures of habit. We obey sets of regular, repeated behaviour often for no other reason than we’ve always done it - I leave a drop of tea in my cup even though I haven’t used tea leaves for 20 years, I read the newspaper from the back to the front even though the sports pages have long since moved to a special section of their own. I put 3 long tees and 3 short tees in my pocket at the start of each round. I always hit driver on the 8th - I think it’s the law.

“A golfer has more rituals than a catholic priest.” I’ve heard.

Consider this; the parable of the quiz show, the car and the 2 goats.

On a tv quiz show there are 3 prizes - 2 goats and a car. There are 3 doors in the studio and behind each door is either a goat or a car. The contestant chooses one of the doors. However this door does not get opened immediately. Instead the host of the show, who knows where all the prizes are, will give the contestant more information and allows them to change your mind, if they want to. The extra information you get is your host opens one of the doors not chosen to reveal a goat.

The intriguing question now is “Should the contestant stick with their original choice of door or change their mind?”

The initial thought may be that this seems ridiculous - surely your first choice should stay as you’ve a 1 in 3 chance of winning…. surely it can’t make any difference?

However it does and you should. You should change your mind and you’ll have a better chance of winning. Let me explain;

There are 3 doors - A B and C. Assume the car is behind Door A .
This means there are 3 possibilities;

1.You choose Door A. The host reveals the goat at Door B. If you now change your mind and choose Door C you only win a goat.

2.You choose Door B. The host reveals the goat at Door C. If you now change your mind and choose Door A you win the car.

3.You choose Door C. The host reveals the goat at Door B. If you now change your mind and choose Door A you win the car.

If you keep Door A you will only win a car 1/3 of the time.

The situation has changed. A few minutes ago at the beginning of the exercise you had a 1 in 3 chance of selecting the door with the car behind it. Now with the additional information there is a 2 in 3 chance.

OK - it’s a little contrived but the principle is the same - if you get more information don’t ignore it - reassess. Often I see players wandering off to chip with a wedge and find a bad lie. Instead of walking back to their back for a sand wedge they’ll try a ridiculous shot with the wedge then moan for the rest of the round. Or players will see their playing partners leave their putts short and will then hit their own putt short,and moan about it for the rest of the round. If things change - reassess and change with them.