If your ball lands in the Indian burial ground, it's a free drop!

“Hi! Welcome to Indian Wells!  Is it your first time here?” The starter says with a big grin. He rattles off a couple of reminders before he sends us on our way to hole number 1 of its Celebrity course.  “Don’t forget to hydrate.  It can get pretty hot out there.  There are no cart path restrictions.  One more thing, if your ball lands in the Indian burial grounds, it’s a free drop……”
As soon as I heard that, I knew I was going to enjoy playing the course. The good news was that the temperature had gone down some.  So 109 degrees was a little cooler from 113 F earlier that morning. It was the first time for me and “the men in my golf life” to play Indian Wells and we were quite excited to see if we could conquer her.

Indian Wells is located in the center of Coachella Valley and just 20 minutes east of Palm Springs. The two-hour drive from Los Angeles was so worth it. The mountain views were scenic. The fairways were lush and the greens immaculate.

It was hard for me to concentrate between taking pictures and playing the course. The landscaping was just gorgeous. Every hole looked like a postcard. Because there were no houses surrounding the golf resort, there were no distractions. The course had a tranquil look and feel.  Like you had entered a “golf” sanctuary. The best part was the playability of the course. The orientation of its multiple tee boxes was challenging enough for the single handicapper and manageable for the novice golfer as well. Indian Wells was recently ranked the only 36-hole public golf facility in Golfweek’s  2010 “Top 20 Best Places You Can Play” in California. And I so totally agree!

Neither thunder nor lightning can stop my golf game except....

I used to say only thunder and lightning could stop my golf game. I was wrong. Hailstones would. In Manila where playing in 98 degrees humid weather was normal, I was so looking forward to a much cooler game in Northern California. 

Our hosts Rey and John arranged our 2 flights to tee off at Rancho Solano in Fairfield.  I was excited as the last time i played Rancho Solano was two years ago where we played 36 holes straight.

It was cool but sunny. After a couple of holes I noticed that the clouds started to show a dark “greenish” color. Apparently typical of hail clouds... 

It started out lightly much like a soft drizzle. Then it started to get stronger. Little balls, like irregular lumps of ice clumped together raining over us. Falling faster and larger in size until they started to hurt.

John was gung ho and still tried to putt....

.....  but realized it was going to be useless.

And thats when I realized it was time quit. Only hailstones can stop me from playing.

The men in my golf life....

I am blessed. I have reason to celebrate! The most important men in my life have started to play golf ….. 

The best part is that they both just recently graduated! Christian my first born son from the University of California Berkeley 2010. Gabby, my youngest boy, from the Ateneo de Manila University grade school. What Joy! Now that school is out there will be much time for golfing with my two sons....

Life is good.

             Gabby and Christian, the men in my life.....

In golf, men and women are equal......

I was playing golf with my fraternity brother Joseph Pangilinan when out of the blue he said ….“ The rules of golf imply that after the drive, men and women are all equal”. The assumption here was that the ladies tees were way forward and therefore women could outdrive the men easily. But by the second shot, the men would be able to “equalize” the ladies tee advantage and the playing field would even out. I often play with guys who comment that the ladies red tees are just too far ahead over the men's regular blue tees. I am not too sure if the guys say this as a “preamble” so they can get a better deal on the bets we make.... ("Hey, let's play even... No more "plus" ok? You are hitting from the red tees anyway..."!!!!)     I must agree though that there are some holes where the ladies tees would be advantageous enough that some guys land their drives not too far from our tee off area... "Hey dude, it's ok... at least it went past the ladies tees!" (snicker, snicker......)

So anyway I did some research on typical yardages for both men and women. According to Brent Kelley who writes for Golf guide, the yardages in the chart below covers the typical average male and female amateur. It represents a large range from the short hitters, mid range all the way to the long hitters. But not to worry if you don't fall in any of the numbers below  (you can always change sport...maybe badminton???) There will always be those who hit it much longer and those who just hit it shorter.  And for those who hit it shorter, it shouldn't be such a big deal.  It doesn't necessarily follow that if you hit it longer, you score better.  Or that if you hit longer, that you hit it straight. Right?

Club                Men                        Women

Driver           200-230-260         150-175-200

3-wood         180-215-235         125-150-180

5-wood         170-195-210         105-135-170

2-iron           170-195-210         105-135-170

3-iron           160-180-200         100-125-160

4-iron           150-170-185          90-120-150

5-iron           140-160-170          80-110-140

6-iron           130-150-160          70-100-130

7-iron           120-140-150           65 -90-120

8-iron           110-140-150           60 -80-110

9-iron             95-115-120           55-70-95

PW                 80-105-120           50-60-80

SW                 60- 80-100            40-50-60

Hold that finish!

              “Hold that finish!” Coach Noel would often tell our regular Saturday foursome which would normally include his wife Matec and a couple of us Forest Hills golf ladies .

              I would silently tell myself “But the ball is already gone!!!! Why do I need to hold my finish???” Thing is, Noel is not just a great golfer but also a serious photographer who usually takes his camera during our round. Being the “camera shy” ladies that we are (ok, ok, we all rush to strike a pose whenever anyone brings out a camera....)

                That's why it became my habit to “hold the finish” all the time. You know, just in case someone takes our picture..... This habit also works well during golf tournaments when photographers are busy taking souvenir shots. Hey, it doesn't matter that your ball went straight to the flower bed on the right... as long as you held that finish, your swing in the photo looked great!

         Once you get the habit of holding your finish after your swing, you will notice that your balance becomes better and you start feeling that your rhythm and timing is just right. Isn't that what teaching golf professionals tell us we need to do so that we can easily bring the club back squarely into impact anyway?

So go on and hold your finish. You will never know just who might be taking your picture....