It was 4:25 PM when I arrived at the golf course and the sun was setting at 5:57 PM. I didn’t want to be pushed to have a golf cart back at a certain time, so I decided to carry my bag. There’s not many golf courses you can walk in South Florida, that are nearby and I want to play, but Pompano Municipal is one that allows it. I figured I could get in 9 holes if I hustled and no one was in my way. It was perfect timing. I made it 9 holes on the Palms course by 5:35. Since I had more daylight left, I pressed on! Unfortunately I encountered other players so it went to a crawl until they left the course. I planned a few holes out, cut left to the holes coming back and managed to get in 15 holes and back at the clubhouse by 6 PM. Yes, I was moving quickly, but it was great exercise. (I was on track for a 93, a bit above my normal average, but I was happy under the circumstances.)

When I mentioned my adventure, my friends have all said how they would love to carry their bag and walk, but their country clubs won’t let them. Wake up course managers! As long as players keep up, there is no reason to block players from walking the course. Instead of policies that are ‘no way, no walking’, how about, ‘let’s try and see’. There are many players who want to walk and find it far more enjoyable, myself included. If you haven’t had walkers in 20+ years, this is a way for you to make your course more inviting.

I’ll make it even easier. How about a policy that states a player can walk the course as long as there are no complaints about that groups slow play? If they can’t finish in the expected time, and there was no one holding them up, they are banned from walking in the future. This let’s speedy players like me who can walk 18 faster than many driving a cart, enjoy golf the way it was meant to be played. How about a trial period? “We’re testing allowing walkers on the course. Players must be able to finish 9/18 holes in xyz time. If interested, please contact …”

Golf practice is waning but my core strengthening is increasing.  Any momentum I had a week ago is gone and I only have 2 weeks to my next tournament!! My last run was Saturday, and after 7 miles in the hot humid weather, I could barely swing my speed stik. So how will I save my game without hitting the links? 

Last night I worked on side push-ups. I got this idea from a book called Core Performance Essentials. 

I picked up the book at Costco a few years ago and figured it was a good value compared to a personal trainer. Now I always knew that my core body could use a little work (ha ha), but until I tried some of these, I didn’t realize just how bad it was. Push-ups? No problem. Side push ups, big problem!

It took me about a year of non-continuous effort to get to the point I could do a decent side push up. Now I do three sets on each side- it’s easy to gauge your improvement over time with these exercises because my point of reference is almost always ZERO reps capability when I start. Most of the routines I either was not doing, never heard of, or did wrong. And that’s after years of working out off and on with trainers, friends and different gyms. 

The book has 4 illustrations for all the exercises, and 4 levels of difficulty for each one. For those who like to skip the reading and get to the beef, there is a couple of pages of spreads that show all the exercises. Then as you are able to hit a certain level, there is a slight modification for the exercise to make it harder. It’s color photos with color coding for levels or stages,  and everything is all together so it’s easy to follow. 

I follow up all strengthening programs with lots of stretching, simulating specific golf movements. 

For the ladies, if you suffer from a terminally soft tummy like me,  these golf shorts are great for whatever kind of body you have. They give when you need it, and are snug when and where you don’t. By Bugatchi Women, they have something called elastane which gives it some stretchability. You don’t have to wear them for golf. They look great with everything. They look like classy shorts, and no one ever needs to know they actually stretch. 

Sorry guys, there is nothing comparable for you. However, here’s a bunch of really nice men’s golf shorts.