We spend most of our time working, running errands, taking care of house and garden, so when you get the chance to get out to play a round, most of us don't know when to say no more, particularly when the round isn't finished! But sometimes it's better to get off the course early so you don't really damage yourself. The New Jersey Chiropractors Association put together these three tips.
Do not play through pain. Pain is your body's way to letting you know there is something wrong. Plus, if that pain doesn't go away after a day or two, see your doctor. Men often don't heed that advice, but the professionals all have the on site physicians in the medical trailer just outside of the TV camera range!
Consider dropping out of an event if you hurt. The injury the chiropractor is referring to usually happen when you hit your ball that has unfortunately come to rest near trees, rocks, roots or other inconvenient obstacles. The part of your body that's usually injured during those attempts to power through your game are generally to the wrist, elbow or shoulder.
Here's the guide. If you can't establish a stable stance and take your normal swing with a normal follow through, take a drop. Even if you are playing for a living and you think that glory shot is going to get you up the leaderboard, an injury sustained from hitting a root can be the end of your golf playing days for a long time or completely. It almost happened to Tiger Woods. He was chastised by his father and his managers for taking the shot that put his club straight into the root of a tree. It hurt my wrist just watching it happen, especially with the power Woods puts into his swing. He was very lucky he didn't hurt a delicate part of his wrist or shoulder.
And here is something you've probably never thought about doing. Occasionally swing backwards. No, not during the game. As a warm up. One of the problems with golf is that every movement in the sport is focused in one direction. Over time that can lead to imbalance in the muscles. So take a few practice swings backwards every third hole, or so.
Next.

No matter how much she likes to play against the men around the world, no matter how much she says she is learning by doing so, if you are on Team Wie, NEVER put Michelle Wie in a position to look bad. I have a bone to pick with whoever decided she should travel to Switzerland three weeks after school started. Switzerland is literally on the other side of the planet, 12 hours and as many time zones away. Was this staged for one of her sponsors, Omega, so she could play against the men on the European Tour at the Omega European Masters.

If that was part of the sponsor deal worked out, the person who added her appearance this year doesn't have a clue about traveling to Europe and Switzerland in particular. It's a small country, with long winding roads, small hotel rooms and 12 hours ahead of Hawaiian time. Just getting over the jetlag going to Switzerland is grueling. But that's nothing compared to how outside her comfort zone Wie must have felt. I wasn't on the trip with her but when I took my husband to Switzerland to show him where my family came to the U.S. from, he was completely unprepared. The Swiss close everything except the train station on Sunday. It's a wonderful, beautiful country that I love dearly, but I can't imagine Wie was comfortable. She didn't look it during what little television coverage of the Omega European Masters I saw. I don't believe she had enough time to get to know the golf course ground and the course conditions, which are very different from anything she has played.

She came in dead last. That has never happened to her before, and it shouldn't have happened at all.
Before the event in Crans-Sur-Sierre began, she told the media corps how much she would like to play the Ryder Cup one day. Reuters quotes her saying "I am not doing it for the support I get, I am doing it for myself and my own self happiness. I love playing in men's events and the challenge. I feel an adrenaline rush when I play these events and it's a lot of fun." That's wonderful but it's imperative that the courses she plays are right for her.

She played her practice round with Sergio Garcia, the defending champ. "Playing with Sergio this morning was awesome. It is the first time playing with him and he is such a great player I learned a lot playing with him today." Wonderful. Garcia learned a lot too.
Garcia expected it would be a struggle for her to make the cut.
He is quoted by Reuters. "Hopefully she will do well this week but if she had a higher ball flight it would be a bit easier for her. It is not an easy golf course and her short game will have to be sharp. She struggled today to hit some of the greens in two. Michelle is definitely an extraordinary player and hits the ball quite a long way for a woman."
I just don't think it's worth accepting another sponsor that expects her to be at the sponsors title tournament, while she is still in high school. It's wrong.
Days after coming in last for the first time, she had a repeat, Wie was back at work on the PGA Tour at the 84 Lumber classic, at the Memacolin Woodlands' Mystic Rock course, one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour. She shot a 77 on the first day and a 81 on the second, for 134th and last place.
It has been pointed out that the course was very wet and Wie didn't get any roll on her shots. Usually she hits it fairly long for a woman but she still depends on getting another 20 yards with the roll after the ball drops. In Farmington Pennsylvania she didn't get the roll because of the very wet course conditions. In Switzerland she didn't get it because that's the way the course is designed.
But during an interview with a PGA Tour writer, Marino Parascenzo, she said at least she made a birdie at the 84 Lumber and her game was 100 percent better than at the Omega event. Quoting now from Parascenzo's report at PGATour.com:
"The spirit burns bright as ever, suggesting that she's learned at least as much from her psychologist, Jim Loehr, as from her golf coach, David Leadbetter.
Think positive.
"Well I just had a bad two weeks, that's it." Wie said. "I feel like I'm getting better and better, my game is progressing."
Her next appearance, after playing on the LPGA Tour in October where she'll celebrate her 17th birthday, she'll be playing in the Casio World Open in Japan this November.
Are her parents concerned?
Back to the September 15th article at PGATour.com Marino Parascenzo.
"I don't give interviews," her mother said.
Will she continue to play?
"We have already scheduled the Casio in Japan," said her dad, B.J. Wie.
How long will you keep doing this?
"I don't know," he said, ending the interview.
WAIKELE IS OPEN
Waikele Golf Course owners made a huge commitment to their course this year. They closed it for six months to make major renovations to the course, including upgrading the greens to TifEagle grass, plus improving the clubhouse that now includes a new restaurant called Sushi-Ten. For information on green fees and tee times, call 676-9000.
Nothing much going wrong in Tiger Woods world right now. He has won two majors this year, bringing his total to 12 with just 6 more to go to equal Jack Nicklaus' number. Plus he has just won five in a row, looking a lot like he did in the 1999-2000 period when he seemed unstoppable. I actually read an article from a writer who was upset about how boring it was to watch Woods winning, with no one there to even challenge him.
Tiger Woods, his 8th Player of the Year award already in the bag, has five wins in a row bringing his number of wins this year to 8 including two major championships, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods, 2006 Player of the Year
This year the Vardon Trophy is a closer call because Woods didn't make the cut for the U.S. Open, a first in his career and of course the first event he entered after his father died. He doesn't have the number of rounds played per year to be considered for the Vardon, the trophy for the person with the lowest scoring average for the year. Since Woods didn't get past the first round at the HSBC in Wentworth, England, in match play against his first pairing, Shaun Micheel, it doesn't look like he will.
Woods is going into the Ryder Cup at the K Club in Ireland as a leader and team maker. Just days before the Deutsche Bank Championship, he returned from a two day reconnaissance of the Kildare Golf and Country Club golf course. There is only a small road leading into and out of the Ryder Cup site. Our globetrotting correspondent Michael Patrick Shiels couldn't help but wonder how all the traffic was going to be handled. But for Tiger and his teammates, I'm sure helicopters will ferry them in and out.
Woods also took the time to take the Ryder Cup rookies out of dinner on the Saturday night during the Deutsche Bank Championship. Brett Wetterich had never even met Woods before that night. Nevertheless, the European team is still favored to win. Even Woods agrees the U.S. team is the underdog. The U.S. may have the marquee players but we also have a number of "rookies" on the team. Don't get me wrong. All of the Ryder Cup team players earned the right to represent the United States but all of the European players have more experience in general. Plus they do have home course advantage. The K Club is a regular stop on the European Tour.
There is possibly one big factor in our favor. The European team captain isn't doing a good job of rallying the team. Ian Woosnan has been under the gun for not being a unifying kind of guy. When he made his captains picks, one of the Europeaan Tour players not chosen was fined for personal remarks unbecoming a Tour player. That player apologized but that's a sour way to start. On the other hand the U.S team captain, Tom Lehman is going out of his way to be prepared, talking with sports shrinks, communicating with the players on the trip to the K Club and even putting a phone call into Bernard Langer, the last European team captain. Lehman wanted to get his words of advice. By the time you read this, we'll know whether our team stopped the Europeans.
Just in case you question the power of Tiger Woods to make the cash registers ring wherever he goes, it's estimated that his appearance in the Ryder Cup, and the two other European events he played or will play in three weeks, will generate some 250 million pounds for the area. That's 500 million dollars. Economic impact is just one reason why Kauai is looking forward to another PGA Grand Slam of Golf this November. Seeing the best compete close up is a treat you don't get anywhere else. If you haven't made your reservations to be there, it's time. The event begins with what's called the Pro Am on Monday before Thanksgiving. That's the day you can bring your camera and follow the top 2006 players around as they play the course with the very wealthy and influential who have the honor of playing with Phil Mickleson, Geoff Ogilvy, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. The competition begins on Tuesday, November 21 and the winner walks down to the 18th green on Wednesday the 22nd. This is the best chance to really get to see the players perform up close, until the Mercedes Benz Championships starting off the 2007 season at Kapalua on Maui.

Poipu Golf Course

Tiger Woods, PGA Grand Slam of Golf defending champion
For the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Kauai, "The Golf Club" team is staying at the Outrigger Kiahuna Hotel. It's a condo style hotel, with full kitchens and maid service and a great location on the ocean so you can walk out your backdoor and slide right into the water across the sparkling white sand. It refreshes your body and cleanses your soul, or at least it feels like that for me. Make your Thanksgiving week a relaxing one, away from the hectic every day traffic on Oahu. The Outrigger Kiahuna is a five minute walk from the Poipu Golf Course spectator entrance and right across the street from the beautiful Kiahuna Golf Course. You can watch great golfers play their game, and try your own at Kiahuna.
There are rules for spectators. Fans must always respect the players - when they are striking the ball, be quiet. After that cheering is appreciated. When the last player in the group puts the flag back in the hole, the spectators can move. Some people do it sooner but that is very rude to the other players on the green. The course marshals are responsible for crowd control and there have been people who will intentionally annoy a golfer. The player can point the individual out to the marshal and the offending party will be removed immediately. For the most part, fans are free to move around, find the best viewing area and enjoy the tournament with no camera's, cell phones, pagers and outside the ropes.
Speaking of Thanksgiving week. A Russian cosmonaut will whack a golf ball from the International Space Station in a publicity stunt on Thanksgiving day. This is the event that was postponed because of safety concerns but it was given the green light by NASA. If all goes according to plan, Russian flight engineer Mikahil Tyurin will get to show off his swing in his bulky space suit the day after the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Element 21 Golf is paying a hefty sum to showcase it's new line of clubs and commemorate the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard hitting his golf ball during the Apollo 14 Moon mission.
In my last column, I talked a little bit about how important the caddie is to the golfer. In the interview with Kimberly Kim after she won the U.S. Women's Amateur, she said she told her caddie that her whole game had to be credited to him because he was helping her read the shots. He told her "but you're the one actually making it work!." It's that close caddie golfer bond that most people don't experience in the game. Years ago, when Tiger Woods was rebuilding his swing, someone asked him if he could ever repeat the year he had in 2000. Woods said he thought he could play that good again. "You better," called out Steve Williams as he stood behind him and studied his swing. "I'm building two race cars." Lots of laughter, but most of it at the thought of Woods supporting his caddies racing career in New Zealand. Well, Woods is certainly looking just as good as he did in 2000 and he is still working on his game. At the Firestone, which we will cover later in this article, Woods finally had to leave the driving range because it was too dark to see. His swing coach, Hank Haney, reported the next day Woods had made some significant strides. 5 days after his second major championship in 2006 and 3 wins in a row, Haney says "three straight wins and he's the last guy on the range. I like that."
I wanted to do a show about caddies but I figured it would be tantamount to asking a caddie to violate the very bond these men and women count on when the going gets tough. That's not something you want to read about or hear on the radio. I found the Professional Caddie Association and the founder and C.E.O. Dennis Cone who was on "The Golf Club" during September. You can hear him on the September 2nd show.
PCA is an organization dedicated to providing caddies with high quality benefits, services and certification through educational and communication programs worldwide. You can find out about the educational opportunities and other benefits by going to their website plus you can join the Association even if you aren't a caddie or you could nominate someone to be inducted into The PCA Worldwide Caddie Hall of Fame. PCA is also looking for "Notable People Who Started as Caddies". Maybe we should nominate Mark Rolfing! But I think he got his start in the cart barn at Kapalua. Oh well.
You can send your nomination to:
PCA WORLDWIDE INC.
23 Malacompra Rd.
Palm Coast, FL 32137
Ph: 386 446 8721
Or you can go straight to the website: www.PCAworldwide.org
Professional Caddies Association and Michael Bolton, the singer, are releasing a beautiful song initially written and produced for Bruce Edwards, Tom Watson's long-time caddie who died of Lou Gehrigs disease. It's called "Five Feet Away".
"Five Feet Away" sung by Gary Chapman.
The song has been completely reproduced with Michael Bolton singing, as a tribute to all heroes worldwide and in our lives, "who are spiritually, metaphorically and physically, never more than Five Feet Away, who push and support us to be the best we can be and deserve the glory as much as we do." The money from the song will be used for the PCA-World Mentoring Program and other PCA non profit activities. PCA is making contact with a group in Kenya where the Mombasa Olympic Youth Organization reaches out to the 8 thousand street children through a refuge called the Glad's House. There are 9 000 PCA members worldwide. If you become a founding member, you'll receive a Friends of PCA Goodie Bag and the first FREE download of the song released on October 1st. For additional information or to purchase a copy of the song visit: www.pcaworldwide.com or www.michaelboltonclub.com.
Congratulations to Pierre Henri Soero for his win at the Barbers Point Invitational.

Pierre Henri Soero
One Saturday he was at Kapalua Golf Academy getting a tune up with Jerry King, the head professional, and the next weekend he was winning at Barbers Point. Soero, a member of the UH golf team, has been finishing second in many of the events held this year. King says sometimes it's as simple as adjusting your grip. The Kapalua Golf Academy is right across the way from the Kapalua Plantation Course where the Mercedes Benz Championships are held every year. It's beautiful there. The Academy even boasts an 18 hole putting course. King put together an amazing Play Golf America day at Kapalua in September. Not only were all the equipment manufacturers invited to show their wares, there were putting tournaments, games, door prizes, free mini lessons and clinics from some of the top PGA professionals, including Stan Utley, Mike Adams and Laird Small. Stan Utley took the time to visit with us in "The Golf Club" on Saturday, September 16th. You can hear his comment on the short game at www.radiogolfclub.com, click on the "listen" post, scroll down to the show you want to hear and click on the coffee cup.
One Tour professional put it bluntly the other week. "What, are we all playing for second place?" Sure must feel like that the way Tiger Woods has been performing. At least until Shaun Micheel the 2003 PGA Championship winner, beat him in the first round of match play at Wentworth at the HSBC Championship. But Woods is making up for missing the cut at the U.S. Open. Winning one after another. That's what he has done so far, beginning with the British Open, the Buick Open, the PGA Championship. After the reporter complained about how easy Woods was making the game look and lack of competition, Woods immediately follows with a playoff, one he said he didn't even deserve to be in much less win, based on how poorly he was hitting the ball. Could have fooled me. For this column, we'll cover the PGA Championship, The WGC Bridgestone and the Deutsche Bank - all won by the same guy they said lost his game and complained that he wasn't winning and now, after he has found his game, they're complaining that he is winning all the time and has no competition, Tiger Woods. "They" obviously can't be pleased.
It was a miserable day, Friday of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Tiger Woods was back in the field for the first tournament since his father died and he was out. The first time in his career he didn't make the cut in a major championship. Could he recover? Would he recover? Was his career over? Was the emotional turmoil of losing his best friend, his mentor and his first teacher and coach too much for him to come back from this year or ever? Those were just some of the thousands of pieces of paper filled with speculation from reporters from around the world as all eyes watched every move Woods made back in the public eye.
Now it's British Open week. The British Open hasn't been played at Liverpool in 40 years - may as well have been several hundred years for all the progress that's been made in the world since the 1960's. The course is barren, to put it mildly. The wind is blowing and Tiger Woods keeps his driver in his bag and pulls out a brilliant iron game that blows the competition away.

Tiger Woods at the 2006 British Open at the Royal Liverpool
Wow, Tiger Woods is back. But wait. It's time for the PGA Championship. This is a lush, oak tree lined course. Maybe that British Open win was just a fluke. Could he play on a course like this?

![]() PGA Championship Medinah | ![]() PGA Championship Trophy |

Tiger Woods in play at Medinah.
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| Tiger Woods talks about on how he felt on the final day of the 88th PGA Championship |
You couldn't tell by his face. Tiger Woods was the picture of concentration and focus through all four days of competition. He closed his 12th major title of his career with a five stroke win over Shaun Micheel, who took second. (I found it kind of ironic that Woods was paired with Micheel at the HSBC Championship and lost to him in match play, a form of golf Woods excels at and usually wins!) After beginning the final round tied with Luke Donald at 14 under, Woods knocked his iron shot on No. 1 to 12 feet and made the putt for birdie to take a one stroke lead. His lead grew to two after a two putt birdie on the 537 yard par 5 fifth and then to three when he rolled a 40 footer on No. 6.

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| Tiger Woods talks about his final round for the 2006 PGA Championship |
It was over. But it wasn't until the final iron shot at the 88th PGA Championship that you could begin to see Woods get ready for victory. Steve Williams, who also caddied for Wood's 1999 PGA win said "to make three bogeys in 72 holes, no matter how easy or hard a course is playing, is an astounding statistic." Tiger Woods after his winning putt at Medinah for the win at the 88th PGA Championship.

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| Woods says it was a magic day |

Shaun Micheel trying to catch Tiger Woods at Medinah.

Tiger Woods with his 12th major title trophy
Jack Nicklaus's mark was getting closer. Nicklaus was asked when he thought Woods was going to surpass his major number. "Next week?" he joked. But time is flying and it seems like it was just weeks ago that Woods made his professional debut.
Next up, the World Cup Championship at Bridgestone, special for a couple of reasons including the fact that it marked Tiger Woods 10th anniversary as a professional golfer. So for the 52nd time on the PGA Tour, making an 8 foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole against Stewart Cink, he won his fifth Bridgestone Invitational title. This is the event I mentioned earlier in the column. Writers were getting bored watching Woods make the winning look so easy and none of the competitors really stepping up to the plate to challenge him. So this one he did, the entire time just fractions from losing. Cink managed to make up a three shot deficit over the last three holes and had Woods struggling to regain his composure in the first of the three playoff holes but Cink just couldn't make it happen.
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| Stewart Cink talks about coming in second |
Cink had a good shot to win on the first three playoff holes. There was a 20 foot chip that just passed the lip at 18. The 18 foot putt that missed on the high side on 17. The 8 foot par putt on the 18 again that missed to the right.

Stewart Cink and Tiger Woods.
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| Steward Cink says at least he learned a lot |
During much of the rain drenched tournament it seemed like victory would be inevitable for Woods. He had a three shot lead, no one else was making birdies and he wasn't making any mistakes, that is until the 16th hole.

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| On the fourth playoff hole, with Cink in the bunker and Woods was ready to end it all. |


Tiger Woods with his 5th WGC-Bridgestone Invitational trophy
Jim Furyk finished with a 68, one shot behind the leaders, making a 10 foot par save on the 18th.

Jim Furyk with his caddie
Woods, Cink and Furyk went straight to Cleveland airport to join the rest of their U.S. Ryder Cup team for the charter flight to Ireland, where they spent two days practicing.
They came back on Wednesday, and they went straight into the Deutsche Bank Championship.

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| Tiger Woods says it feels good when the mechanics you've been practicing start taking over |
They traded the rain for the sun on the final day, and the Tournament Players Club of Boston was the venue, just the challenger changed. It was Vijay Singh this week. For the second time in three years these two golfers were at the top of the leaderboard on the final day. Two years ago, Singh came out the winner. That win ended Woods' 264 week run at the top the world golf rankings. When Labor Day arrived, Singh had a 10 under par 61 the day before. But Woods was coming off that sloppy win over Stewart Cink and practicing for the Ryder Cup. The rematch was set. Singh had a three stroke lead. But the momentum changed when Woods eagled the par 5 2nd hole, knocking a 6 iron second shot from 206 yards to 11 feet and birdied the par 3. Another birdie on the par 4 5th and Woods was in the lead. And even when Singh made a spectacular shot from the fairway bunker at the par 5 7th to set up his birdie, Woods one bettered him with an eagle, his second on the front nine.

Vijay Singh, watching the lead and the win, slip away, was still pleased with his game.
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| Vijay Singh says he played a good round |
Until his loss at Wentworth at the HSBC in the first pairing with Shawn Micheel, there was a lot of talk about his streak. He had five in a row, one short of his career best 6 and maybe he'd break the all time winning PGA Tour winning streak of 11 set by Byron Nelson. But Woods was quick to say he's not even close.

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| The lead charity beneficiary of the Deutsche Bank Championship is the Tiger Woods Foundation. |
This win sets up next years new Fed Ex Cup perfectly. Woods figures the best players on the PGA Tour will be in the field, good for the Foundation, good for the Deutsche Bank and for PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem's new Fed Ex playoff series.
Congratulations to Scott Simpson on his first Champions Tour win in his 25th career Champions start. It came at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach with an eight foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Scott Simpson at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open
With Simpson's win, he became the sixth first time winner this year and the 14th different winner on the Champions Tour in 2006. It'll be a great MasterCard Championship at Hualalai to start off the 2007 Champions Tour season.
Scott Carroll was the winner of the Aloha Section Taylor Made adidas golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship at Ko Olina. Carroll, of Kapalua Village Course, shot a final round 3 under 69 for a tournament total of 147 and a one stroke win over Jason Deigert of Oahu Country Club. First round leader Lance Taketa of Hilo Muni and Joey Tadeo of Mililani Golf Club tied for third. The two spots open representing the Aloha Section at the Taylor Made adidas golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship on the South Course in Port St. Lucie Florida will be Carroll and Deigert.

Makalei Golf Club on the Big Island is hosting the 1st Annual Makalei Amateur Golf Tournament this Veterans Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 11th and 12th at Makalei. Kevin Ginoza, PGA, the Director of Golf at Makalei says the Makalei Open is for all amateurs, men and women, with a valid USGA handicap. There will be four flight, Championsship, A, B and C. Their phone nujmber is 808 325-6625.
PGA commissioner Tim Finchem is shrugging off Greg Norman's accusation that the tour is sticking it's head in the sand on the performance enhancing drug issue but Finchem says there is a ban on the use of illegal drugs or prescription drugs that are being used or in possession of without a prescription and that's enough. Tiger Woods weighed in on the issue saying professional golfers should be tested. After the opening round of the WGC Bridgestone in Akron Ohio Woods said tomorrow would be fine with him. "We should be ahead of it and keep our sport as pure as we can. This is a great sport and it's always been clean." Drug testing will be conducted at the World Amateur Championships in October in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The test results will not be revealed. Hawaii's Kimberly Kim will be playing on the U.S team.
And finally, there is so much going on in the game but for those of you who enjoy watching but are too frustrated to play, there is a man in the Netherlands who came up with a new way to play. He calls it "farmers golf". Here's the website: www.farmersgolf.com. Peter Weenink says all he needs for his version is a nice field, a wooden clog, like in the Dutch shoe, attached to the end of a stick and a ball that's just a bit larger than a golf ball. Farmers Golf courses are actually springing up almost every week since Weenink invented it back in 1999. His invention was born out of frustration, the prohibitive prices and the elitism of the traditional golf courses. In the Netherlands you have to pass an exam before you are allowed to play on a golf course. Not a bad idea since it's actually designed to see if the individual knows the basic etiquette, or how to behave on a golf course, and course management. This farmers golf is spreading to neighboring Belgium and Germany. The Belgium's even won the International Farmer Golf title recently, upsetting the Dutch at their own game.
Next month I'll have to tell you about Russian golf.
Looking forward to hearing from you, and you can always listen to "The Golf Club" radio show on your computer. Just go to www.radiogolfclub.com and click on the listen button. The show guests are listed next to the dates.
Until next time, thank you for your Mana and may you hit the sweet spot every time.
Aloha,
Danielle Tucker


