Three rounds of golf…I may have needed four to catch the young Nicole Zhang during the city amateur held last week at Silver Springs Golf Club. I was a very consistent golfer this week with scores of 73-71-73 to finish as runner up in the event. It was great to have the CTV sports team out on the course on the last day filming and doing interviews. Golf in Calgary is strong and we are always looking for support. Thanks to John Down for writting the articles in the Herald as well. See link to his article: http://goo.gl/6UjxW

Great golf performance can lead to a win. But to get there you need to understand all the factors that influence your game. These factors can be described under two categories – Intrinsic (within you) and Extrinsic (outside you). Physical limitation is an intrinsic factor that can have a cummulative effect with other factors. Simple Screening is available to identify areas of limitation or weakness in your body! Once they are understood, then they can be corrected or compensated for in a safe manner.

Tiger is a great example right now – his left knee and achilles injury is an intrinsic factor that is limiting his golf career currently. The pain and phyical weakness he has in these areas of his body will limit how he plays the game. He may not trust the leg to withstand his strong follow through, which may lead to doubt on where to aim, or compensation strategy with other areas in the body. If he continued to play in this state – there could be a snowball effect of doubt, pain in other areas, slow healing of injured tissue, swing mechanic alterations due to pain inhibition, and more time away from this great game.

I believe Tiger stepping away from the game to take care of his body under the pressure of sponsor and PGA to play instead…is the greatest thing Tiger has done in the past 2 years. It is hard to step back and take the time to heal – especially here in Calgary with such a short season. In the long run it pays off. You will be back playing the game better and stronger if you let the injury heal.

Today was the last competitive round at the CN Women’s Tour Event held at Squamish Valley Golf Club. I started my round at 8:00 am bright and early with cool breeze of the mountains, blue skies, and sunshine. My game and score was not what I would have liked it to be, however, it was a great experience. The highlight of my game was choosing the option to chip my ball that was on the green already so that I could have the best chance of making par. If I had putted, I would have had to go through 25 feet of fringe on the way to a downhill bending line. It was great! Not a blemish on the green and a almost spectacular shot (needed to fly it 1 more foot to catch the better break). What I take from this adventure in golf is that I have the ability to play at this level when my game is more in tune. Now it is time to practice to get my swing to be singing the right tune!

Thanks to CN for supporting the great game of golf for Women in this great country of Canada! To all the volunteers (especially Bob and Wayne the walking scorers for the last two days) from the community and Golf Canada – your work is recognized and much appreciated. Way to go players! These girls can play!!

Today was the first round of the CN Women’s Tour event at Squamish Valley Golf Club. The weather was great as the rain had decided to stay away and the sun was shining! A nice cool wind blew off the mountain sides which had us all keeping our sweaters on for the day.

My Round was okay! This is one of the strongest fields that I have ever played in and this early in the season. Although I struck the ball poorly, I ended up digging in a shooting a 77 (+5) which is 8 stroke back of the leader who is sitting at -3 for the day. One of my highlights was hitting a hybrid from 200 yards from the left trees, over the trees and coming up just short of the green giving myself a chance to save par. The other highlight was putting it in from off the green on #10 to save par after a few poorly executed shots.

After the round, I received a few pointers from Derek Ingram the National Women’s Team head coach. After trying it out on the range…I came to realize…oh my…what the heck was I doing out there today and how did I actually get any portion of the club face on the ball! Thankfully, my short game came through.

Tomorrow I tee off at 8:00 AM – bright and early with the worms! Looking forward to a steady round. They have live scoring for the event..so you can keep up as I play through the morning hole by hole! Until tomorrow!

CN Women's Tour – BC Today was my first viewing of the beautiful Squamish Valley Golf Club..oh and I played as well. The weather was a mix of dry, mist, drizzle and rain! It was nice that it was warmer than expected despite the rain – so I just got wet instead of cold and wet. The golf course is great! According to the staff in the pro shop the greens have not had the most optimal growing weather, but to me they were running at a good speed and mostly smooth. They will pose a good challenge on the tournament days. Hats off to the maintenance crew that keep this course in great condition despite the weather. Many THANKS to the pro shop staff for all the help they passed forward to the players in the CN Event. They have been working hard booking tee times, getting us out on the course, and providing tokens for range balls. At the same time they show great interest in who each player is and where they are from while providing any insite they can give playing at sea level. The food in the club house is fantastic. I had the best Salmon Burger EVER!! Nice speedy service and hot food! Lastly, I would like to send out a cheer to the gentleman who scored a double eagle on the par 5 -13th hole ahead of me today! Awesome! Thanks to the few groups that let me play through on the back nine as well…and to all the members who are giving up their course for the next 4 days. It is much appreciated! Tomorrow is the official practice round…I tee off at 8:15 am, hopefully the rain will be mild and the temperature above 10C.

http://golfcanada.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/rcga11/event/rcga112/contest/4/leaderboard.htm

Link to the CN Tour Results.

I was fortunate this year to attend the Thursday round of the 2011 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta!  What a fantastic place and experience!  We arrived early in the morning to watch the warm up of the players.  They hit the ball so solid and long!  The entire day was spent seeing at least one tee shot from each hole, the second shot in to the green to each hole and a few putts and short game skills at the greens.  My favorite spot to watch the players go through was at the corner of 13 where most were hitting their second shot to the green instead of laying up on the par 5.  The course is in perfect shape and greens were slick. The day ended with us watching Phil hit 3 different drivers all over the driving range until dark!  Great day in Augusta!

Last weekend I was in Rancho Mirage CA playing in the last tee time before they closed the course for the first LPGA Major of the season.  What a beautiful course in top notch condition.  Too bad the wind was blowing 40 miles per hour.  Made the course severely tough!!  Watching the event on the Golf Channel this week helps me see how I should have played some of the holes!!  Canadian Stephanie Sherlock is in the field after a solid performance in the Kia Classic in LA the previous week. Alena Sharp is having a good start as well.  Hopefully Poppy's Pond is a refeshing end for the great player to win this event on Sunday!

This morning on the Golf Channel – Morning Drive, Phil Mickelson was speaking of his psoriatic arthritis diagnosis and how he is managing his symptoms.  Controlling symptoms like pain, swelling, and stiffness will impact your golf game in multiple areas.  To learn more of how Phil is getting the word out on arthritic diagnosis look at:   http://www.oncoursewithphil.com/

Golf Season in Calgary starts when the snow melts! It is just 11 weeks before the 1st of May – this is a great time to start thinking about Yourgolfbody and if you are ready for the season to begin! Flexibility work and Strengthening golf muscles that have been dormant like the grass here in Calgary is an easy way to prevent injury and start the season with more confidence.