83rd Masters at beautiful Augusta National.....it's Springtime!!

[regaleagle]

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player will be teeing off early today to start off Golf's traditional Major of Majors. These two won't be around too many more years, so let's enjoy this opening while we can. This year's Masters has only 87 players in the field......considerably smaller than the normal 156-man field in most tournaments. And quite a few of those are former champions and a few amateurs that qualified for this event. So only 29 threesomes in the pairings for this grandest of stages of major tournament golf this week. The beauty of the venue and the time of the year makes this watch even more surreal and worth the watch. No telling who will emerge on the leaderboard on Sunday with a good chance of winning, but Tiger Woods has his game very competitive and is without a doubt a favorite this week because no golfer in this field is better on this track. Phil Michelson tends to do well on this course also, but Rory McIlroy is playing the best of anybody and seems to have his game hitting on all cylinders. Justin Rose of England should contend as should Justin Thomas. Speith has lost his accuracy off the tee......and if his putting continues to haunt him he cannot make up the difference. There are many others......take your pick. It's drama on a grand scale and the replays are shown each night in their entirety of that day's round on the Golf Channel. I love golf......Freddie Couples is playing and he's 59 this year. What other sport(professional or otherwise) is this possible in, Huh? It's a lifetime game of you against the course and elements of nature......worthy opponents and in a wonderful environment that is very healthy. Today's equipment is just unbelievable......and the competition on the Tour is too!!

[regaleagle]

I picked up my Dad's golf clubs at the tender age of 8 yrs old in 1962.....the woods were real woods and the irons were heavy MacGregor Tourneys he won in the Robstown tournament in preceding years. I batted left handed in Little League, but I'm a righty with everything else. But even to this day......I putt from the left side even though I golf from the right. Took some lessons at age 10 at Beeville Country Club with the pro Stanley Wright......that was really the start of this lifetime love affair with this sport that is closest and dearest to my heart. I played football, was an excellent baseball player, and very good golfer......but only golf remains(bowled competitively in my younger years) as a sport I can still compete and play thru the year. I've learned to really enjoy the journey and have played many, many, many different courses and destinations in my travels. I really could not even put a valid number on how many different courses in the USA and abroad.....enough for a lifetime for sure. Not many on the West Coast, but from Billings Montana down to Phoenix and all the way across the rest of the continental USA there have been so many exciting teetimes and rounds. No reason to ever join a country club.....variety is the spice of this game. Even just around the Metroplex and our great state of Texas......there are just innumerable courses to play from far out West Texas all the way to the Piney Woods of East Texas and from Muenster at the Red River to McAllen, Mission, and Brownsville at the southern tip. How many in Texas alone.......I cannot begin to count them all. Older classic courses steeped in history and newer designed courses for today's game with the improvements made in this game over the past 5 decades since I first picked up my Dad's MacGregor Tourney 8 iron and began grooving a swing with Stanley Wright back at the Beeville Country Club. It's been the trip of a lifetime and I'm not done yet!

[regaleagle]

It's Saturday and moving day at the Masters. You will either move up or move down on the leaderboard for a shot at tomorrow's final round for positioning and payout. For some, Saturday could mean a share of the lead or moving within an outside shot of playing for the title tomorrow against the leaders after today's round is finalized. For most of the others.....it's positioning for the final round and trying not to drop too many strokes to the field. Can't really blame anything on the weather.....looks like the conditions at Augusta are near perfect on this Saturday. Just about everybody on the course is having problems making those short tricky fast putts. If your ball ends up on the "wrong side" of the hole.....you will be lucky to make even a 3-footer. Tiger just missed one too, and he's having a really good round so far today.....one off the lead at 8 under right now. I would say whoever does the best on the putting green today will be the ones shooting the lowest scores today.....gotta make them short ones.

[regaleagle]

The slopes of these greens is the deal.....and where your ball ends up AFTER hitting the green. So sometimes you aim way away from the pin just so you are allowing for the slopes to take it closer. Sometimes you can "gamble" and go for it and it will end up good, but if you miss your target area just a little it could turn out worse for you. What could be a safe two-putt par can turn into a three-putt bogey very easily. Course knowledge and experience with these greens helps quite a bit on this course......but players that are just very accomplished with the flat stick do better here against the field than they may do against the field in other tournaments......that's a testament to how tough and tricky these greens can be.

[regaleagle]

Positioning off the tee for your next shot to the green becomes important just because of the greens. There's not hardly any wind today to worry about.....so it's basically just being able to hit it where you want and hope what you wanted is the right diagnosis for that hole. You have to remember they change the pin positions each day.....so the holes play differently each day depending on the location of the pin on the green.....it can change the way you play the hole, and definitely your approach shot to the hole.....so maybe even your drive in the fairway also to get the right approach angle to the pin.

[regaleagle]

The avid golfer gets more out of watching these pros go at it than those that don't play golf or those that are not as accomplished and knowlegeable about the game.....just like in some of the other sports.....except that golf has lots of rules and lots of variables because of course conditions, the elements, and Mother Nature......not counting all the other things that can happen on any given swing of the golf club. It's really a very difficult sport to play and be consistently decent at.....LOL. IF you are fortunate enough to play regularly OR maybe you have not only the time but also the finances to afford a good coach that will work with you over a period of time......you can become a decent golfer and really enjoy your rounds. It's a very challenging game, but if you can make pars, a few birdies every now and then, and keep the big scores off your card....then it becomes fun!! I've hit two holes-in-one in my entire lifetime of countless rounds(close and even hit the pin many times, but those don't count, LOL). What does count is not cheating on the course.....it forces you to become a better golfer and develop better self-discipline and respect for the game. Then when you do score a good round or a good 9 holes......you can know you achieved it against the course the way it was intended.....it was real!!

[regaleagle]

Playing different courses......some you have never played or even seen before.....is a better barometer of your skill sets and your true handicap than playing the same course(s) or your home course all the time. Anybody and everybody will have a much lower handicap playing the same or their "home" course all the time. It's really better to keep and enter your scores all with the slope rating of that course into your handicap totals to arrive at a true scoring average for you as a golfer. Then, if you enter a tournament where handicaps are used to pair golfers into different flights(degrees of accomplishment), you will be competing against equal players as yourself....except for the "sandbaggers"....LOL. "Sandbaggers" are golfers that show a higher handicap than their skill level really is so they can win in a handicapped scenario. Straight up golf without handicapping for score totals against players with similar scoring averages or even slightly better than you.....this is the kind of golf you want to play in a competitive group to help you improve your overall game.

[regaleagle]

Seeking out an experienced adviser, teaching pro, assistant pro or club professional to "fit" you with the right set of clubs for your swing and your game level also will help immensely with your capabilities out on the course once you develop a grooved swing on the practice tee. Choosing the right putter for you is also a biggie.....honing your putting skills is the easiest way to trim strokes off your score. Almost half of golf happens on or around the green.....so putting and chipping should be practiced and mastered even more than just hitting balls on the driving range or practice tee. All that counts is How Many Strokes it took to get that ball in the hole.....not how you did it or how beautiful your drive looked or how far you hit it down the fairway. It's how you arrive, not how you drive. Although driving the ball down the middle and long is also another very important element to scoring well.....it sets up the rest of the shots for how you will play that hole.

[regaleagle]

For the amateur golfer......keep count of fairways hit, number of putts per hole, and greens in regulation each round you play......on your scorecard! Just write below your score on the scorecard in the other blanks.....Putts, Fairways, GIR......and write those down also for each hole. Then after the round you can revisit your round looking at your scorecard to see what parts of your game need the most attention and what parts are your strengths.

[regaleagle]

This is a lifetime game of you against the course, the elements, and your ability to make yourself better.....nobody is gonna help you become better more than you yourself. You can take lessons and get a swing coach, but you still are the one responsible for your level of play ultimately. The better you become at golf, the more fun the game becomes for you. The best part is you don't have to be part of a team to play this game.....or even another player alongside you. Many times I have played two separate balls in a round while playing alone.....just to play against myself. Now I'm getting double opportunities to improve my skill sets in one round of golf at one green fee and cart fee. It isn't advised if the course is busy or you are not conditioned to play this way with consistency.

[regaleagle]

Well....here we are on Sunday and they teed off early to beat the weather. Molinari and Tiger and Koepka are battling for the top spot.....I really don't see anybody else making a move today to the forefront with these leaders. All three leaders are solid players and playing well.....don't see too much faltering by any of these down the stretch. The weather may come into play with high winds later in today's round.....we'll see what happens. Michelson has made up a few strokes early, but he was too many back and will need to shoot about 65 today while the leaders shoot 70 to have a chance. I think Tiger will shoot 3 or 4 under par at least today to win it.....Or Molinari will win it by shooting under par. Koepka could make a run, but his putting is not as good as Tiger's or Molinari's. The greens are very tricky.....very tough and very fast. Today's pin placements are the most difficult of the week......so this all plays into Tiger's advantage since he knows the course so well and knows how to play these greens.

[regaleagle]

The back nine might be more exciting with more birdies for all the groups today.....especially some of the earlier groups before the bad weather comes in. Somebody needs to make up some ground on the front nine early......Michelson might be that guy. Tony Finau is capable.....Patrick Cantlay shot a 64 yesterday and is a really good putter. But he's 4 back at 9 under.

[regaleagle]

Whover can start making those putts without bogies on the card.....that's the guy that will gain on the leaders today.

[lostaussie]

This thing getting good!!!

[regaleagle]

Looks like Bubba Watson has made a move on the back nine and is now at 10 under thru 15 holes on his final round. He'll need a couple of more birdies IMO without a bogie to get into the clubhouse with a posted 12 under to lead in the clubhouse for all the others to shoot for.