Seattle Chapter - American Singles Golf Association November 2014

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1 CELEBRATING 23 YEARS OF SINGLES GOLF IN AMERICA Seattle Chapter - American Singles Golf Association November 2014 President s Corner Fall is here and we recently had our last formal event: the Orange Ball Tournament. Last winter we talked about accommodations for golfing in the southwest. Here's what's new( to me ) as I'm just returning from spending the month of October in Arizona. There are more than a few warm blooded creatures in the Seattle area that are ready to head South as soon as the temperatures dip below 60 degrees. Talk to those that winter over, and you'll find that, while the weather is nice in October (average temperatures are around 90 degrees), getting onto your favorite course may be difficult. In my golfing community in Surprise, Arizona, two of the courses were closed for a month from late September to late October. When they opened, after over seeding, they were open for cart path only golf. Simultaneously, the other two courses closed for the month of November. Arizona courses have Bermuda grass in the summer and then switch to rye in the fall. The dormant Bermuda revives in the spring and over takes the rye grass. Some courses don't over seed the rough but feature brown rough all winter. If you belong to a club, the inconvenience may save you a little in green fees. We played for $20 with a $5 cart fee. Green fees were $15 after 1 o'clock and carts were free. If you decide to invest in a home but don't spend more than a few months there, then you probably would be better off not buying a golf cart but renting one. Unless you drive the cart a lot to the grocery store and other errands, it will cost you more to license and insure your cart then to rent one. Because tee times were a little harder to get, we played a few times in the neighboring community and a resort course or two, but the rates are higher for nonresidents of the community. You might find going South in November, after the over seeding is complete, more desirable than October. In October, the Greens will be slow and fuzzy, and the fairways will have longer and wetter grass, so your drives will be shorter because you don't get a lot of roll. Here at home, we have a new Chapter President taking office in January. Thank you, Ben Watson, for running for President. The Vice President and Secretary are appointed by Ben and other positions will be voted on at our regular chapter meeting on Tuesday, November 11 th, at the Big Fish Restaurant in Kirkland. Meeting time is 7 o'clock; get there at six for drinks and social hour. Speaking of social, we expect to retain John Sweeney and Florence Solt as Social Committee Chairmen. Our Christmas party is scheduled to take place in the cabana at Janet Swanson s condominium complex in Edmonds on December 6th. We are pleased with the catering service that we had last year and plan to use the same one. Music is arranged and provided by Kenny Hicks and John Sweeney. We always have a great time so invite a friend. Hope to see you there. ~Lynn Johnson, President Orange Ball Tournament Our annual Orange Ball Tournament was held at Mt Si on October 12 th. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. We had 22 players and most groups finished in about four hours time. Three of the six groups managed not to lose their orange ball. Group 2 consisting of Marcy Tufarolo, Diane Hilmo, Tab Bronson and Bob Strom, Group 4, Shirley Danielson, Cheryl Howlett and KC Christensen and Group 5, Cheryl Faires, Katherine Curry and Ron Voss. Each person won $4. Upcoming Events Include (see SinglesGolf.com/events) ASGA's Western Caribbean Cruise - November 16-23, Sail out of Ft. Lauderdale for seven nights. Details at SinglesGolf.com/cruise ASGA National's (Belated) New Year's Event - Orlando Area - January 4-7, Details at Orlando's Sunshine Fling - March 12-15, Details released in the coming months. For more information, contact Barney Coomes at bcoomes@cfl.rr.com Office Hours: 9:00am to 2:00pm, M-F (Eastern) National Office: or GOLFMATE Regular Meeting Date: SECOND TUESDAY of each month Next Meeting: November 11th, 2014 Meeting Location: The Big Fish Grill Northup Way, Kirkland, Our Website: seattle.singlesgolf.com (See next page for list of officers and board members.) To join, renew dues, make a change of address, phone, etc., call National Hotline at left or go to

2 Seattle Chapter of the American Singles Golf Association President Lynn Johnson Chairman of the Board Carletta Barnes Vice President Ben Watson Secretary Sandy L'Allier Treasurer Karen Kohler Golf Chairperson Cassie Jacobson Handicap Chairperson Stuart Boyd Membership Co-Chairpersons Susan Mayon Nancy Carmen Social Co-Chairpersons Florence Solt John Sweeney Communications Chairperson Theresa Bronson Newsletter Editor Adrienne Moe Webmaster Patricia Bonner Women's KP's were won by Pat Walsh and Kathy Hutton. Men's KP's were won by Ron Voss and Kenny Hicks. Ben Watson won the straight drive for the guys and Kathy Hutton took the honors for the gals. Katherine Curry took home the prize for the best costume which was a cute clown outfit. We made it back to the clubhouse in time to catch the last quarter of the game and see our beloved Hawks fall to the Cowboys. Still it was a great day to be on the course and everyone had a good time. ~Carletta Barnes Christmas Party December 6 th This year s Christmas Party is Saturday, December 6 th. The location is the same as it has been for the last several years, Point Edwards Club House at 85 Pine Street in Edmonds, WA The party begins at 6:00 pm with dinner at approximately 7:00 pm. After dinner we will have dancing till 10:00 pm. If you have any music requests, please send them to Florence Solt. Please BYOB, if desired. Water and soda will be provided. Deadline for signing up for the Christmas Party is November 22 nd in order for the caterer to prepare for the dinner. Costs have not yet been finalized, but further information will come to you via . There is no telling who or what may arrive at this party. Therefore, I suggest that you be on your best behavior and make amends for all your past year s indiscretions. ~John Sweeney The Zone of Peak Performance *Good focus and great mental routine. Narrow focus for the shot. Widen focus between shots. *Abstract thinking on relevant variables only and on course management when appropriate. *Emotionally stable. Little reaction to bad shots or bad breaks. Limited reaction to good shots. *Dominant. Moderately aggressive. Takes smart risks. Challenges the course. *Tough-minded. Self-reliant and indifferent to others. Makes own decisions. *Confident. Secure, self-satisfied and guilt -free. See self as winner. *Very self-sufficient. Very decisive and committed to shots. *Optimum arousal. Energetic and motivated to succeed. Energy to manage routine, regulate focus and keep thoughts simple. Tempo is good. ~Submitted by Carletta Barnes A Day in the Life of Golf Lessons The Secret to Consistency When new students are asked what they would like to achieve in their golf lesson, the most common response is wanting to hit the ball with more consistency. Over the years, I have heard tips like practice harder, keep your head down or don t lift your front heel. Here s the real secret. Work on your finish. Find a good, balanced position with your front foot fairly flat and your body level. Your hands and the shaft of the club should be near eye level with shoulders and arms relaxed. Hold your finish position for three seconds until you see where your ball stops. Think of achieving the finish as you take your address position. When the goal or finish position are thought of before you swing, you are more apt to string your backswing and forward swing together with better repetition and develop more consistent ball flight. ~Chris Aoki, Golf Professional Off Line

3 About Our Members Happy Birthday to these members: Greg Brace - 11/01 Karen Christensen - 11/07 Bill Culverwell - 11/02 Moshe Genauer - 12/08 Carolyn Hanley - 11/11 Adrienne Moe - 11/16 My Golf Game -- What I Planned and What Happened These members are up for renewal: (date shown is last day of membership) Virginia DeVos - 11/30/2014 Penny Freedman - 11/30/2014 Welcome newest members: Douglas Barrett - Joined 09/02/2014 These members recently renewed: Jay Holman Karen Kohler Adrienne Moe Patricia Walsh Our chapter currently has 65 members. Rules and More Rules Bending branch out of the way of your swing Q. Larry was playing in a stroke play event. As he too often does, he was playing most of the round on the edge of the woods rather than in the fairway. On hole # 5 his ball was tucked up against a very large bush in the rough. On preparing to take his stance and practice his set-up swing it became apparent that a branch would inhibit (don t you just love that word) him from making an unrestricted backswing. Larry carefully bent the interfering branch back and tucked it behind a larger branch that held it out of his way. Larry then proceeded to top the ball but did get it out into the fairway. But I digress. Excuse me, got carried away. Now back to Larry. His opponent called called a 2 stoke penalty. Larry protested. What is the correct answer below? A. Larry did nothing wrong bending the branch out of the way of his swing, so long as he did not break a branch. No penalty is warranted. B. The opponent was correct. Larry can not bend branches. But the penalty is only one stroke, not two. C. The opponent was correct. Larry can not bend branches. Two strokes is the correct penalty. D. That is an obvious 15 yard penalty. Ball is to be re-spotted at the point of infraction, 1st down. AND THE ANSWER IS: The answer is C. Larry was wrong and should have been assessed a two (2) stroke penalty. Larry was in violation of USGA Rule 13-2 which pertains to Improving Lie, Area of Intended Stance or Swing, or Line of Play. The rule is very explicit, you are not allowed to improve your lie, area of stance or swing, or your line of play. The basic play it as it lies rule. The penalty for violating the rule in match play is loss of the hole; in stroke play the penalty is two strokes. Larry had options he could have made. 1. He could have declared the ball unplayable and taken a penalty and drop. 2. Or he could have played it where it was in a manner that did not entail bending the branch and breaching the rules. He could have for example choked down on the club and made a shorter swing. Conversly, he could have taken a full swing and hit the branch free of penalty and swung down trying to make good contact with the ball.

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5 The Seattle Chapter of the American Singles Golf Association WANTS YOU! We re 3,000 members in 75 cities and we re ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN! So if you re single (i.e. divorced, widowed, legally separated or never married) and enjoy meeting others through the game of golf, you re invited to inquire about membership by calling the American Singles Golf Association directly at (1-TRIPLE-EIGHT-GOLFMATE) or visit our website at SinglesGolf.com