GOLF CLUBS                     GOLF BALLS
Drivers                                   Bridgestone                               
Fairways                                Callaway
Iron Sets                                Nike                               
Hybrids                                  Titleist
Putters                                  
Wedges                                   MISC
Complete Sets                       Shoes
Women’s Clubs                     Gloves
                                                Tees
BAGS                                    Umbrellas
Stand Bags                             GPS
Cart Bags                                Head Covers

Stay In Touch With Your Golf Buddies

Raffy Pena Barreto and his Golf Crew In Puerto Rico

Hi to all from the sandy beaches of Puerto Rico.  Here are my Golfing Buddies.

Raffy pena in Colombia SA

Raffy Pena and John Sparks NY Knicks

Raffy Pena – Chi Chi Rodriguez – Cong. Luis Gutierrez

Don Tito Rivera, Raffy Pena Barreto, Celestino Arias, Hon. Luis Gutierrez

   Chi Chi Rodriguez & Raffy Pena Barreto

     Raffy Pena Barreto & Jose Luis Moreno

Raffy Pena Barreto, Carlos Morales & Miguel Olmeda

                         Wine after Golf? Great!

  A great bunch of guys together, best in Golf.

 MCS Golf Classic, Westin Rio Mar, A Winner?

The best Golf in the Caribbean with the best of friends!  A Toast To ALL

Try These Golf Shops for Clubs,  Shoes and Apparel

 For Golf Shoes

This Was some of Our Golf  Vacation Spots While In Puerto Rico

Pictures Of My Wife And I At Our Golf Spots

Here we are in Cost Caribe Golf & Country Club, Ponce, Puerto Rico.  This course is long and very windy as it sits in the south of Puerto Rico on the Caribbean Sea, however, it’s breath taking views and beautiful landscape overwhelm you.  This is golf at it’s best, extremely challenging and great fun.  A great golf outing!

We Also Played At Dorado Beach Golf & Country Club, Dorado, Puerto Rico

 It Was a Slice

How About These Breath Taking Pictures From El Conquistador, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

I made this Putt

There’s will be much more golf playgrounds featured in the near future, in the interim keep the golf club swinging and make all your putts.

Book You Next Golf Vacation

The Mystique

Posted: January 13, 2011

Jack Nicklaus admitted it. Sometimes, he just waited for players to beat themselves.

As Nicklaus built his skill, as he built victory upon victory, he also built an intimidating mystique that added to his edge.

Tom Weiskopf once captured the nature of the edge with a classic quote.

Players have found Tiger Woods less intimidating after his worst season. (Getty Images)  In a telephone conversation from his Arizona office this week, Weiskopf remembered the psychological battle so many players encountered when paired with Nicklaus in a final round with a championship within reach.

And those memories led Weiskopf to repeat his classic quote.

“As you looked at Jack Nicklaus at the first tee, you knew that he knew that you knew that he was going to beat you that day,” Weiskopf said.

So much of golf, tour pros will tell you, is played in the mind. If you don’t step on the first tee believing you can beat somebody, you probably won’t. Nicklaus won a lot of duels before they even began.

Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it was Nicklaus’ foes who lost before teeing it up.

“Belief is a huge factor,” Weiskopf said. “There is no doubt about it.”

That’s what makes Woods’ quest to break Nicklaus’ record for most professional major championship victories so difficult to figure as Woods prepares to rebound from the worst year of his career and renew his chase.

How much of Woods’ quest will be about regaining his confidence? And how much will be about the confidence his foes have gained?

How much more difficult will winning majors be for Woods without the psychological edge he built? How much more difficult will it be with his competition emboldened?

Weiskopf’s career fell in such a way that he had a unique view of three of the most formidable mystiques in golf history.

Weiskopf played against Nicklaus, and he also played against Ben Hogan late in Hogan’s career, when Hogan was still an intimidating ball striker but not as good with the putter. Though Weiskopf never played against Woods, he’s played three practice rounds with him, and he’s watched him a lot.

In Nicklaus, Hogan and Woods, Weiskopf got to see how an intimidating aura tilted the playing field.

Nicklaus and Hogan eventually lost their advantages between the ropes, but the loss came in a slow fade, with age and the deterioration of skills. They never lost their mystique off the course.

Woods is different. He lost his mystique all at once, on and off the course.

Woods’ mystique might have been more formidable than Nicklaus’ or Hogan’s because he was even more successful with a lead in the final round of a major. Woods appeared more unbeatable than Nicklaus or Hogan. Woods was 14-0 with the lead in a final round of a major before Y.E. Yang beat him at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in 2009.

The personal turmoil that’s followed revelations of Woods’ infidelity, the loss to Yang, the winless struggles last year and the head-to-head loss to Graeme McDowell have dramatically changed the way players look at Woods.

“I think it will be very difficult for Tiger now because of the perception people have of him,” Weiskopf said.

You can hear the emboldened nature of Woods’ competition today.

“Bring it on,” Rory McIlroy said when asked about Woods’ improving game while in New York this winter.

This was after McIlroy said European Ryder Cuppers were eager for a chance to beat Woods last fall.

Ian Poulter called Woods “No. 2” at the Chevron World Challenge after Woods lost his No. 1 ranking, a bold little payback for Woods chiding Poulter in the past.

And then there was PGA Tour veteran Scott Verplank, who last month said Woods’ “shield of invincibility has been dissolved” and that players were not all that worried about Woods anymore.

The playing field is less reverent for Woods, less hospitable.

Plus, tour pros aren’t being peppered with questions about what makes Woods so great. In fact, for nearly a year, they’ve been asked what they see hindering his game and if they think he’ll regain his winning form.

Weiskopf, who claimed 16 PGA Tour titles, including the ’73 British Open, wonders like everyone else how Woods will respond in this new environment.

“Perception is very difficult to achieve, but just as difficult to overcome,” Weiskopf said. “I wouldn’t want to bet against Tiger, because time is on his side, but he had the perception of being perfect. Everything about him was marketed correctly. And the way he answered questions, he was almost infallible, more perfect than the pope. Well, that perception is gone.

“Tiger has now experienced what everyone who has played the game has experienced. He has gone through injury, he has gone through troubling times.”

As formidable as Nicklaus was, Weiskopf believes Woods’ advantage over this generation was greater than Nicklaus enjoyed in his time.

“Only time is going to prove what I’m going to say, but I do believe Jack Nicklaus competed against a more experienced, proven group of champions,” Weiskopf said. “I think there was less intimidation, more desire and belief in those individuals Nicklaus competed against. Look at the Hall of Famers he played against. I think there was more belief that they had a chance than there was in the first 10 or 12 years of Tiger’s career.”

But there’s another factor that Weiskopf gives to Woods that Weiskopf believes is overlooked.

With dramatic advances in club and ball technology, Weiskopf says equipment has been a great equalizer for the foes trying to beat Woods. It’s more difficult today, Weiskopf believes, for Woods or any skilled player to separate himself.

Still, Weiskopf favors Nicklaus when asked who he believes will be remembered as the greatest player. He says the greatness in Nicklaus goes beyond the 18 majors he won. He says it’s in the fact that Nicklaus finished among the top three in an astounding 46 majors.

“Nobody’s ever going to do that again, ever,” Weiskopf said. “Only time will prove whether Jack was the greatest player or not, but I think he is.”

Which Is The Best Putter for You

By DAVID ALLEN
Equipment and Instruction Editor, GolfChannel.com Posted: November 12, 2009

We know it’s difficult to find time to practice during the week. When a Saturday or Sunday tee time rolls around, you’re hoping to find some spark or productive swing thought that will help you break 100, 90, 80 or whatever your scoring goal may be.
 
With the weekend warrior in mind we created Bump and Run, a weekly Q&A with some of the game’s top instructors. Each Friday, a teaching professional will occupy this space and answer questions directed at improving your game. This week it’s Todd Sones, owner of Coutour Golf and one of Golf Digest’s 50 Greatest Teachers in America.

TODD SONES Owner, Coutour Golf; teaching professional, White Deer Run Golf Club, Vernon Hills, Ill., Indoor Golf Nation, Paladine, Ill. Accomplishments: - Golf Digest’s 50 Greatest Teachers in America - Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers in America - 1994, ’96 Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year - 2003 Horton Smith Award winnerStudents (past and present) - Paul Goydos, Steve Jones, Chip Beck, Hilary LunkeWeb Site: coutourgolf.com; www.toddsones.comContact: 847-549-8678

Sones, the author of two books, including “Lights Out Putting,” patented the Tri-Fit Method of fitting putters in 2003 and has taken the art of custom-fitting putters to a new level with Coutour Golf.

“You have one club in your bag that is responsible for almost half of your score,” said Sones. “That’s why it’s the most important club in your bag. Everybody is getting fit for their irons and now their driver, but they only make up 60 percent of their score. If you’re going to get anything fit, make it your putter.”

To submit a question to Sones or one of our teachers, please e-mail bumpandrun@thegolfchannel.com and check back every Friday to see if your question got answered. 

What is the most common fitting mistake you see with putters today?

Two things. Incorrect length, which affects ultimately the distance you stand from the ball, your posture (relationship to the ball), and your arms in relation to your body. Those are three really important things because if your putter is too long, you’re either going to stand too far from the ball, or you’re going to have your arms jammed up into your body. If the putter is too short, you’re either going to bend over past the ball or have your arms stretched out, because you’re reaching down, and disconnected. If you can get the right length putter then you can lock in your setup every time.

I would also have to say swingweight. People get confused by swingweight because it’s hard to explain a feel, and that’s what swingweight is. It’s the feel of the putterhead as it goes back and forth. If a player doesn’t feel the clubhead, it affects his distance control because he can’t really develop good rhythm or balance during the stroke.

Do amateurs typically play with putters that are too short or too long?

It’s really hard to say, because it depends on the individual’s height and body type. You might have two guys who are the same height – one who’s all legs and the other who’s all body – but the guy who’s got long arms and a long torso is going to use a shorter putter. Length really does make a difference, but it’s got to be right for your body type. What we have found in our fittings is that guys who are typically 6-foot-3 to 6-5 need something in the 36-inch category; guys that are 6-1, 6-2 need a 35-inch putter, guys who are 6 foot, 34 inches, 5-9, 33 inches, and so on.

If you don’t know if your putter fits you, or is the proper length, is there a way to check?

It’s like trying to fit yourself to eye glasses – you’re not going to be very successful at it on your own. At coutourgolf.com, we have a fitting form where you can plug in your height and your knuckles to ground measurement (arm length in relation to ground), and it will tell you what length putter fits you based on this information. It will tell you what length putter and swingweight fits you based on your height and arm length.

What length putt gives amateurs the most trouble and why?

l think you have to look at both short putts and lag putts. From 10 feet out, most amateurs have no real expectation of making the putt so direction is not that important, and from 20 feet, even if they mishit it, they’ll probably be okay.

Poor fundamentals show up most on short putts because they can’t make a 4-footer if they have the putterhead coming in from the outside with the face open; they don’t have enough time to recover whereas with the longer stroke, they can. Once they get past 20 feet to the longer putts – let’s say, 30 to 50 feet –  they’ll struggle because they don’t put a good enough roll on the ball to control their speed.

Where putting is made or broken is how good is your speed control in lag putting, how close do you get that first one, and how well do you convert from 3- to 5-foot range? That’s where your mechanics really show.

Is there a drill you’d recommend for short putts, long putts, or both?

I’d recommend you practice both: Hit your long putt first, then try and convert the short one.

Most golfers have what I like to refer to as a signature backstroke. They take the club back the same distance for almost all putts. Let’s say it’s 12 inches – if they take it back 12 inches on a 4-foot putt their brain starts screaming, “Slow down!” If they take it back 12 inches on a 40-foot putt their brain screams, “Speed up!” Ultimately, what you really want to learn is what length backstroke is right for each putt. If you’ve got a 4-foot putt you should really have a backstroke of 6 inches. (Normal green speed, stimped at 10). If you’ve got a 40-foot putt you really need a backstroke that’s somewhere around 15 inches, so you’re allowing the putterhead to create its own momentum.

Think about a pendulum: A pendulum you swing way back and the distance it travels determines how fast it moves forward. If you swung it 6 inches it would swing slower than if you swung it 15 inches. What happens with most people is they’re controlling the putter’s speed versus letting it swing by itself. If you look at the best putters, they have a constant rate of acceleration and an equal back and through motion.

What makes Tiger Woods such a terrific lag putter? Seems like every time he has a putt of 30 feet or more, the ball grazes the hole or finishes a foot away.

No. 1, he puts a great roll on the ball, and that’s because his mechanics are very solid. The face of his putter is squaring to the path at impact, not cutting against it, and he has that constant acceleration. He never looks like he’s holding the putter back or accelerating it; it looks like the putter accelerates itself. And finally, he practices long, breaking putts. You’ve got to hit it solid to be close to the hole from long range.

Tiger talks about releasing the putterhead. Is that a good thought for amateurs?

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• Video: Is Your Putter the Right Length?
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That’s a word that describes a specific feel for a very good player. It goes back to the pendulum: if you keep your center (head and sternum) still and you let the weight of the putter go past your center, that’s releasing the putter. I don’t think it’s flipping the putter or necessarily closing the face; it just has to do with simply letting the putter go past your center.

Any advice for the weekend golfer? Something that might help them drop a stroke or two over the weekend?

I’d say this: We have 10 people come through our short game school regularly, and I think 70 percent have the wrong putter; it’s not the right specifications for them. So they’re never going to get better. It’s like glasses: You won’t see clearly until you have the right specs.

Stop wasting your time with band-aids and quick fixes that don’t do anything. Get to the heart of the problem, and get fitted for a putter through instruction. A better setup with a fit putter will develop a good putting stroke.

Bump and Run:  Bunker Basices

By DAVID ALLEN
Equipment and Instruction Editor, GolfChannel.com
Posted: November 6, 2009

We know it’s difficult to find time to practice during the week. When a Saturday or Sunday tee time rolls around, you’re hoping to find some spark or productive swing thought that will help you break 100, 90, 80 or whatever your scoring goal may be.
 
With the weekend warrior in mind we created Bump and Run, a weekly Q&A with some of the game’s top instructors. Each Friday, a teaching professional will occupy this space and answer questions directed at improving your game. This week it’s Josh Zander, a teaching professional at Stanford University Golf Course and the Presidio Golf Club in Northern California.

JOSH ZANDER Teaching professional, Stanford University Golf Course, Palo Alto, Calif., and Presidio Golf Club, San Francisco Accomplishments: - Golf Digest’s Top-20 Teachers Under 40 (2007) - Golf Digest’s Top Teachers by State (2002-’09) - 2003 Northern California PGA Section Teacher of the Year Web Site: zandergolf.comContact: Stanford: 650-323-0944, Ext. 17; Presidio: 415-561-4661, Ext. 300

Zander, a former member of the Stanford University golf team, competed in the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He can frequently be found on the practice range at Stanford alongside one of the school’s most famous pupils, Michelle Wie, or in the practice bunker trying to help one of his students escape the sand. Zander says amateurs would have a much easier time getting out of the bunker if they understood what the club, specifically the bounce, was designed to do.

“Every bunker shot is the not the same,” said Zander. “Sometimes the sand is hard-packed, sometimes it’s real fluffy or the ball is buried. You can’t go about them all the same way.”

To submit a question to Zander or one of our teachers, please e-mail bumpandrun@thegolfchannel.com and check back every Friday to see if your question got answered. 

You made reference to the word bounce earlier. Just what exactly is bounce, and what is it designed to do?

Bounce is the angle between the clubhead’s leading edge and trailing edge. If you hold the club up to eye level, so the shaft is straight up and down, you’ll be able to see how much lower the trailing edge is to the leading edge.

Understanding the bounce of the club is huge because if you know how the bounce works, and how it moves through the sand, then you can look at any lie and adjust accordingly. From a tight lie, you want to use less bounce so the club will dig; from a fluffy lie, you need more bounce because you want it to skid.

If you open the face more that will create even more bounce on the club than you currently have. A lot of clubs will have the degree of bounce written on them. For every degree you open the face you’re adding one more degree of bounce.

Every degree you lean the shaft forward, you’re decreasing the bounce by one degree. If the sand is really hard-packed – which is the case at many municipal courses – and you have a 60-degree club with seven degrees of bounce on it, what you want to do is lean the shaft forward at least seven degrees in order to get the bounce and leading edge on the same level. This way, the club will not skip across the hard-packed sand into the middle of the ball and skull it.

What is one of the biggest mistakes you see from amateurs out of the greenside bunker?

They get in the bunker and they open their stance 45 degrees, and then they open the clubface. Opening your stance causes an outside-to-in swing, creating a glancing blow. Opening the clubface increases the bounce, so if you’re in hard-packed sand you’re very likely to skull one, even if you make a good swing.

If you have a standard 56-degree sand wedge with 12 degrees of bounce on it, and you set up dead square with a square clubface, you’ll have 12 degrees of bounce. If you use the club the way it’s designed, it’s going to work pretty well for you. It’s when you start to get too fancy with it, opening the face way up and opening your stance, that you make it a lot more challenging than it has to be.

What causes the dreaded skulled shot?

Two things: No. 1, you have too much bounce on the club, which makes it skip off the sand into the middle of the ball; No. 2, the club is actually entering the sand too far behind the ball. If you take a divot out of the sand it’s usually six to eight inches long. After those six to eight inches the clubhead exits the sand, so if you hit a bunker shot that’s eight inches fat, the club is going to catch the ball on the way up. You’re actually skulling it by having hit too much sand before the ball.

Could you recommend a drill or tip to help amateurs overcome their fear of skulling the ball?

A great idea is to imagine a dollar bill under the ball. Let’s call it six inches long. Imagine the ball is in the middle of the dollar bill – you can draw the bill in the sand when practicing – and make the club enter two to three inches behind the ball, and exit two to three inches past it. If you can do this consistently, you’ll be in good shape.

One other thing people don’t understand is how much speed you need to hit good bunker shots. My formula is if you have a 10-yard bunker shot, you need to create enough speed to allow the ball to go 30 yards if you were hitting it from the grass. It’s about a 3 to 1 ratio. If I’ve got a 45-foot bunker shot, I look at it like, ‘Okay, that’s 15 yards. How much do I want to fly the ball in the air? Okay, I want to fly it 10 of those yards. What’s my 30-yard swing from the grass?’ I make a couple of practice swings through the air and that’s my swing. This formula is based on a decent lie in the sand. If you’re buried, you might have to swing a little harder; if the sand is firm, you don’t have to swing as hard.

Too often you see golfers leaving the club in the sand, out of fear of skulling the ball over the green. How does one stop this?

I always want my students to feel like their follow-through is longer than their backswing. It also goes back to how much you open the clubface. If you have 12 degrees of bounce on the club and you open the face another 15 degrees, that’s a ton of bounce. You could skull the ball or go right under it and hit it about a foot. If you squared up your stance, squared the face a bit, and swung in to in like a regular golf swing, you’d have a better chance of getting the ball out safely.

Let’s get off the beach for one question. One of our readers writes in that he’s starting to look up on his shots from time to time. He says it’s causing him to lose 10 or more shots per round. How can he stop?

Almost always when people say they’re looking up on a shot, it’s not so much that their head pops up, it’s that they’re changing their spine angle. If you look at any Tour player, their eyes are always following the ball; they don’t keep their head down past the shot. It may be down at impact, but then it releases with the shot.

If you keep your head down past impact, it locks your body up so you can’t turn and accelerate through the shot. Allow your head to release but maintain your spine angle

Here’s a drill that will help you on your full-swing shots. Take your normal address position and place another ball down about two feet from the ball you’re hitting, or two feet outside of your target line. Make your normal swing, trying to get your left shoulder to point at the second ball on the backswing, and your right shoulder to point to it on the follow-through. You can do this without a club, too: Stick your arms out like an airplane, bend forward into your golf posture, and then point your left arm at the ball on your backswing, and your right arm at the ball in the follow-through. Stay in this imaginary two-foot zone and you’ll maintain your spine angle and make solid contact.

What You Must Do Prior To Address the Ball

by Phil Rodgers with Al Barkow

This involves the rehearsal swings you should take before getting up to play your shots during a round of golf.  It is a very simple business and follows my basic precept for every golf swing…Make it even paced.  With the rehearsal swing you imitate the feels you’re after when it’s “show time.”  Try to simulate mechanics as much as you do the tempo and synchronization of the Swing

Practice Practice

Work on swing technique is more productive when done in short, concentrated sessions.  Long periods of ball hitting are fine to relieve the frustrations and tensions of life in general, and if you stand there just hammering at balls long enough you may eventually find some timing and rhythm that will produce decent shots.  But such sessions are invariably worthless in terms of developing a swing you can use on the golf course.

For one thing, on the golf course you are hitting a shot about ever five minutes.  But on the practice range the tendency is to hit a ball every 30 seconds.  That’s on reason why I think no practice session should be over an hour long, that you shouldn’t hit a great number of balls and that there should be a reasonable pause between each shot.  I don’t expect you to hit a practice shot every five minutes, but you want to come as close as you can to simulating on-course conditions.  Then, too, each practice shot tends to be hit with thought and purpose–you’re more likely sto concentrate well on each swing, and the work becomes productive.

With the exception of tour pros who through constant practice build up golf strength and stamina, golfers cannot usually sustain themselves physically for more than an hour of practice.  Every individual has his own level of physical endurance, and some people may be able to practice a little longer than others, but a person should quit when he finds himself or herself not thinking about each shot he hits and/or feels he is no longer able to put out a maximum physical effort.  Thoughtless and tired golf swings on th practice range make the session counter productive.  The muscles are left with a poor “memory,” and there is no psychological benefit, either, from leaving the range frustrated.

It pretty much follows that if each practice session is going to be relatively Short and concentrated, then at each one you can work on only on element of your swing–at most two.  Go into each practice session with a single thought.  When you’re satisfied that you have reached a goal with the work, leave.  If you’ve reached that goal after hitting only 40 balls, still leave.  Don’t get into another idea.  Go chip and putt.  or better yet, go play.

Practice, but practice for a reason and not just to hit golf balls.

Have A Plan, Draw A Picture

by Phil Rodgers with Al Barkow 

A lot of golfers don’t think about the next shot!  But that’s at the heart of the game.  Look at the good pool or chess player.  He is always thinking ahead.  That’s the way good golf is played, too.

You are always going to be more successful in the long run if you have a plan for every shot, even if it fails occasionally.  I think many golfers get upset with poor shots and simply blame bad swing mechanics.  They should realize that bad swing mechanics often are the result of not thinking about where and how they want the ball to go, and why.  Somehow, when the purpose of a swing is more than merely getting the ball properly airborne, the shot is always better.

Having a plan involves strategy, which is the intellectual part of the game.  Creating a visual image is the artistic side of it.  The intellectual part is involved in calculating distance, weather conditions, the contour of the terrain.  the artistic side makes a picture with it all, adding instinct to the mix.  You can play golf with only one or the other, but the best golf is played when the two are a team.

Positive Practice

Golf practice come in three different packages.  There is the warm-up before starting a round, the pre shot routine during the round, and the session when you work on various parts of your swing seeking to learn and improve your long-term performance.

The Pre Round Warm-up

I’m not going to dwell on the fact that everyone should hit a few balls on the practice range before starting a round of golf.  Everyone can appreciate that loosening up the muscles and joints is necessary.  However, I will make a point many golfers don’t seem to be aware of; that is, the warm-up should be only that, it is not the time when you work on swing mechanics.  You should hit balls only to develop a good rhythm and swing pace.

To establish rhythm and pace, hit more shorter irons so that you won’t be temped to press for distance.  Hit a few drivers at the end of the warm-up to stretch y;ourself to the maximum, but after you do, wind down the session with some Short pitches and chips.  The thing all great player have is the ability to carry the rhythm and pace they develop on the practice tee to the course.  Pay attention to your tempo, and you have a better Chance of taking it into your round.

Your concern with aiming and hitting for certain distances is not as great, but you should always be aware of what your ball is doing in the air.  If you’re drawing the ball during your warm-up, that is probably going to be your shot for the day, so be prepared to play it during the round.

It is also a good idea in the warm-up to mimic your pre swing routine–the way you get into address when playing on the course.  Don’t just beat out some balls.  Get behind the ball for each practice shot, pick out a target area, walk into address and take the positions exactly as you do when playing on the course.  This also helps you establish you rhythm.  The idea is to prepare yourself so that when you get on the course it is not a foreign experience.  Make your warm-up a rehearsal, not just practice.

It also helps allay tension when you’re in a pressure situation on the course to have a simple routine to go through.  when you go through a familiar pattern of activity you are comfortable, and it gives you a sense of self-confidence.  Get into the pattern on the practice tee.

People will say they don’t see the pros warming up that way on the practice tee.  In many cases that’s true, which is why I maintain that 70 percent of the warm-up practice the pros do is not as productive as it should be.

After the ball-hitting warm-up, always stroke a few putts on the practice green.  Here again, work primarily on the rhythmic, even-paced stroke and the system you use for getting up to a putt.  You’ll probably putt for a hole, but a mark on the green would do just as well.  You can concentrate better on tempo.  In any case, make most of your practice putts no longer than 12 feet.  As I mentioned earlier, that’s the length from which you can reasonably expect to make putts.  A 12 footer is long enough to give you a feel for the speed of the greens with a stroke of sufficient length.  And if a few go in, you start the round with a positive psychological felling.

Remember, always warm-up the way you play, and play the way you warmed-up.  Plan to hit them, then hit them strait.  


 

The Caribbean – Your Final Golf Vacation Destination

Have you thought of or dreamed of vacationing in paradise with white sandy beaches, the best Golf Courses you will ever play, alive with vestiges of the past and a sunset that leaves you breathless. You have just found Puerto Rico – Travel to a tropical Island with miles and miles of beaches, plus an unbelievable rain forest, and the most exciting night life you will ever encounter.

Puerto Rico is alive with vestiges of the past – even though the Island is a commonwealth of the United States, it’s hard not to think you’ve stepped into a Spanish colony when you arrive at your hotel in San Juan. In fact, if it weren’t for the American flags waving throughout San Juan, you might as well be in Spain. Music is everywhere – salsa is impossible to avoid, but all music is heard and various other Latin-flavored beats pulsate through the night. For the young at heart, Puerto Rico tourism has also adopted a Cancun-like atmosphere, hoping to attract carefree teens on spring break; but the country especially San Juan, is alive with the country’s history. Few other places in the Caribbean have preserved the past as well – Puerto Rico history thrives in the carefully restored harbors and colonial architecture that remains from its days as Spanish colony.

One small downside to this beautiful Island. San Juan is nothing if not a polarizing city. One of the largest in the Caribbean. San Juan is an urban Jungle. This is, of course, a problem for many vacationers. Most visitors choose the Caribbean to get away. To disappear. And that is unlikely to happen in such a place as San Juan. Instead, the city has welcomed the crowds and aggrandized them as one of the main selling point of the Puerto Rico Tourism industry – thousands and thousands of people certainly cannot be wrong. Regardless, many move immediately from the airport to the Puerto Rico hotels in more remote locations on the Island. But those that ignore the capital city, and Old San Juan in particular, are missing out on one of the most fascinating locales in the sea. Though it has taken its rich Puerto Rico history and diluted with Americana and the carefully insinuated designs of the Puerto Rico tourism industry, San Juan is still a wonder to behold.

The capital city, San Juan also has easy access to some of the best Puerto Rico beaches. Who needs anything else when you’ve got sun and sand and fruity rum drinks at hand? the city beaches of San Juan are an anomaly – the ones closest to the urban areas are often the best Puerto Rico beaches imaginable. City high-rises almost melt into the warm summer sea. Executives on break, interns just off work and mid-level managers mix seamlessly with locals and tourists and there is always a beach side bar within walking distance.

There are plenty of fine Puerto Rico beaches all across the Island. The eastern side is growing in popularity. In fact, many Puerto Rico vacations are based solely on the Island’s Atlantic side, where the sand is more powdery, the crowds thinner and the surfing at its peak. many of the most luxurious Puerto Rico hotels are also located on this end, growing exponentially the further southward you travel.

There are Golf Courses that take your breath away.  Close to San Juan you have the Plantation Golf Club in Dorado Beach and The Embassy Suites Dorado del Mar Beach & Golf Resort.  Swing east, and you will find Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club, Berwind Country Club, Trump International Golf Club Rio Grande, PR, the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort.  Further east you will fine El Comquistador Resort & Golf Club.  Try driving south to El Legado Golf Resort, Where ChiChi Rodriguez make his home.  A little further south you will arrive at Coamo Spring Golf & Tennis Club, then to Ponce, PR, where you will find Costa Caribe Golf & Country Club.  There are many more going West.  You can find them all in the Puerto Rico Golf Course Guide at www.worldgolf.com.  Hit them strait and far, and if not, post a good score.

After Golf and If fine dining is your specialty, while in the San Juan metropolitan area you will find the most exquisite restaurants in the Caribbean. first on the list of fine dining is Pikayo.  Plan to linger for several hours at this formal restaurant, where the dishes are as rich, complex, and deserving of it’s carefully selected surrounding. Chef Wilo Benet, widely regarded as one of Puerto Rico’s culinary rock stars, draws on the country’s African, Indian, and Spanish flavors to create what he calls “exotic criollo” cuisine. The menu is seafood-heavy; three perpetual standouts are the sesame-glazed tuna carpaccio, served with a scoop of wasabi sorbet; the blackened salmon drizzled with caper butter, and the risotto, a must, mama mia!.

The second restaurant that stands out from the rest is Los Chavales, located at FD Roosevelt Ave, in Hato Rey. Here you will find the most in Spanish cuisine. Typically a Spanish cuisine restaurant with an international flare, their menu is complete from seafood to steak to Paella, and their food preparation and presentation is second to non. They pride themselves in their hospitality, friendly atmosphere, and more important, fine dining. Their three perpetual standouts are the rice paella marinara, a combination of fresh fish, clams, lobster, shrimp, and mussels; fried whole red snapper with fried green plantain (tostones), and a NY strip sliced with a special sauce and a rich tasting rice. On Thursday and Friday you may find most of the CEO’s and Excutives from major companies along with some politician, chatting and exchanging views, a great place to socialize.

So, if your thinking of a Golf vacation filled with everything and close to home, think Puerto Rico, a never ending destination. Remember, there are no Passports or visas required for U. S. Citizens.

You will lavish in the most brightest sunshine, white sandy beaches and play the best Golf Courses ever, Puerto Rico your final destination.

The United States Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, is the most popular tourist and golf destination in the Caribbean.

Our long standing, enviable international reputation is not solely based on our pristine beaches, warm weather, and crystal-clear waters — we’re also the most culturally diverse, ethnically rich, and artistically vibrant society in the tropics.  Our biggest asset is our sun-kissed people. Our residents are island-spiced, friendly and quick to smile. Contemporary Virgin Islanders are literally from everywhere. We are as diverse as the peaceful Arawak and fierce Carib Indians—and as culturally rich as the peoples of Africa, England, Holland, Denmark, Spain, France, India and the United States.

Nowhere else in the Caribbean offers such a good vacation value as the US Virgins. Secluded beaches.  National Parks. Duty-free shopping. Campgrounds.   Kayaking. Hiking. Ecological tours. World-class diving.  Superb  sailing. Tropical forests. Local craftsmen. Island art. Sunbathing. Fine Dining. Nightlife.

 Dining in The US Virgin Island

Welcome to the all new USVI ‘Tell It Like It Is’ Restaurant & Bar Guide!

Looking for an upbeat eatery on the beach? A romantic hideaway? An extravagant dining indulgence? The US Virgin Islands have it all — and more. Whether you are in paradise for a day, a week, or a lifetime, why shouldn’t you enjoy each and every dining out experience? With that in mind, this new guide was devised to help you make the best selections — and avoid any nasty unwanted surprises.

A few quick notes:

Each restaurant and bar listed here carries an automatic recommendation. No duds have been included. Food is rated good to excellent. “Good” equals tasty and satisfying. “Excellent” indicates truly superior meals. 

Although price guidelines are indicated, island dining never comes cheap.  Categories have been created to make selecting easier — OR investigate them all before you decide.  A ‘bow tie’ image indicates you may want to ‘sharp up’ a bit — however, island-casual dress is generally accepted everywhere.

If Golf is you desire

Tee-off Virgin Islands’-style amidst a dramatic backdrop of sun, sand and sea.Configured by world acclaimed designers and putted-on by presidents, courses on St. Thomas and St. Croix cater to golf enthusiasts who love to `play a round’ while on vacation
St Thomas Golf Course: Mahogany Run  Ratee: Four Stars

This Tom Fazio-designed, par-70, 18-hole course overlooks the Atlantic ocean with a view of the neighboring British Virgin Islands beyond. Most spectacular is the Devil’s Triangle – a trio of holes so challenging that golfers who play through them without a penalty shot earn a prize in the pro shop. Overall, the course has rolling hills, tropical valleys and greens that are really green, thanks to a recently completed multi-million dollar renovation which included a brand new irrigation system, recently regrassed greens and renovated bunkers.

Call for tee times or come by to play, availability is excellent. Informal scratch tournaments held throughout the year give visitors a chance to pit their skills against local players with hometown course knowledge. Three-day special packages available to golf enthusiasts. Groups are welcome and special tournaments complete with prizes can be arranged. No need to lug clubs from home, Mahogany Run offers Callaway-brand rentals.
 

St Croix Golf Course – Buccaneer Hotel

Set on the grounds of a former sugar plantation and located just east of Christiansted, the Buccaneer Hotel is an island within an island, offering one of the most extensive roster of activities on St. Croix. The 18-hole golf course takes players over sloping hills, right to the edge of the Caribbean sea.

Golf pro Tim Johnston is on duty full-time. Guests and non-guests welcome. Breakfast on The Terrace, with views to Christiansted Harbor, makes a delightful way to start a round of play.  Hotel guests play at reduced rates. One-week golf packages are also available to guests. Discounted 10-play books are available to all golfers.

Carambola Golf Course  Rated Four Stars

Nestled in the valleyed northwestern section of St. Croix, is the Laurence Rockefeller built,

Robert Trent Jones-designed Carambola Golf Course. Since opening thirty years ago, the Carambola has been awarded a gold medal by GOLF magazine for being one of the finest golf resorts  in the world and has been given a four-star rating by Golf Digest.

The par-70 course winds through a deep valley, full of water hazards in the form of spring-fed lakes. Bright tropical foliage makes for an exotic appeal. The rolling terrain and nearly 100 bunkers provide a stern test for the accomplished golfer, but four sets of tee markers and ample landing areas make Carambola a golf course players of all skill levels can enjoy.

In addition to the 26 quaint two-story red-roofed villas of the Westin Carambola Beach Resort, facilities for golfers include an expanded clubhouse, a practice putting green, a driving range and full-time golf pro, Greg McCulloch. The pro shop has rental clubs and lockers.
Carambola’s New York Deli serves super sandwiches and salads at lunchtime daily, catering to golfers and golf widows alike. Sunday Brunch is an island institution.

THE REEF CLUB

This 9-hole mini- golf course on the northeastern part of St. Croix has a casual personality perfect for some carefree putting. Friday afternoon scrambles are an event. There’s also a driving range.  Hit them strait and far.

Whether the subject of a photograph – or a passionate conversation about mother nature’s greatest gifts, the beaches of the US Virgin Islands offer endless topics to one and all.

Swimmers, snorkelers, divers and wanderers alike, find endless bliss in and around these incomparable teal blue waters.

The relatively small size of the islands means that one of its most awe-inspiring natural resources is within easy traveling distance. The beaches routinely rate among the best in the Caribbean, and offer variety unheard of on many islands.

To help you discover the one that’s right for you, here is a brief overview of some of the island’s best beaches. By the way, all beaches are open to the public, including those adjacent to hotel and resort properties. Some may charge a small fee to outside guests wishing to make use of amenities such as lounge chairs and water toys. However, you are sure to find courteous staff members, eager to assist you in arranging the best possible activities for your party.

And it’s all wrapped up in the safety, security, and efficiency of the American flag. The United States Virgin Islands. St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Three lively islands — one gentle people