Date: June 27, 2015
This is what I told my son, Jay.
1) "I know you like sport, but you don’t have to be good in every one of them." So that you do not create any pressure for him. He can learn & play whatever sports he likes.
2) Jay has been exposed to many different sports. But mostly, I told him is for fitness purpose. I want a child to be very active in sport so that he understands doing sports will do good thing to his health.
3) Golf has been Jay’s favourite sport. It is a game that the ball does not move. All you need to do is to hit the stationary ball at the ground. It is challenging especially at the golf course as there are uneven ground, there will be obstacle, and you will need a little bit of Science to make it roll to places you like the golf ball to roll.
Here is some updates of his learning journey of golf….
He played a few holes to let his coach see how’s his skills.
At the moment, he can only played at the Millennium Course executive 9-hole. He played 6 holes today because he wanted to go play with Riyandi at the Adventure Cove. So, we actually skipped 3 holes. Here is the hole by hole coverage to see his swing, his chips and his putts. I enjoyed all the videos very much. It shows how dedicated my boy towards learning to play golf the right way. Please enjoy the videos.
Hole #1
The first hole is about 95 meter. He no longer can use his Driver for this hole to tee off. He has to use a hybrid to tee off about 85 meter.
The drive fly straight, and put his ball right at the edge of the green. And the green is quite difficult as he has about 10 meter slope (quite steep) need to clear. So, with one chip and one putt, he got a PAR on this hole.
Hole #2
The second hold is about 195 meter.
He uses his big Driver. Correct stance, and correct ball position for him. Slowly bring up the driver.
No over-swing. Hip turned.
Swing the club. There is a big break at the left arm. But it’s OK.
Hip turned and let the driver turn his body.
Natural finishing position.
And he nailed it! The drive goes straight and about 120 meter. Big drive for an 8 year old kid (9 soon).
Very big drive.
This shall be my favourite photo for a long while. :)
The 2nd shot he uses his hybrid. But the ball goes to the right.
He decided to attack the green with a bunker in front of the flag. He uses a sand wedge to make the shot.
The shot is a bit difficult for him, as he has to hit the shot from a slope going to the left.
As a result, not enough compensation, his ball goes to the left.
From there, again, he uses his sand wedge to try to bring the ball to the green. Before he do so, let’s practise the stroke.
Can you hear his club brushing thru the rough?
And he make the shot. To the left of the flag.
Left with about 20 plus feet, he putted the ball slightly over. And then, he nailed the last putt.
Hole #2 is a PAR 4 hole. So, 1-2-3-4-5-6 shots. A double boogey.
Hole #3
This hole is about 95 meter. So, again, he will use his hybrid for this hole.
He hits the ball to the left and lie deep in the rough.
But look at his butt, his hip finishing. He is learning the correct way of golf swing, and this will help him to have lesser injury next time.
Coach is happy with his hips turn. He is using his hips to deliver the ball.
Ok, he landed his ball at a slope with a deep grass. So, coach double dare him $100 if he makes his shots on to the green. HaHaHa… I think coach James saw his stands and knew he is going to hit into the left. HaHaHa… And indeed, he chip the ball to the left. But very nice solid chip.
From the edge of the green, he left with about 10-12 feet.
And he bring the ball closer to the hole. It is a downhill. So, he needs to control his putting strength a bit.
He nailed the hole. It is a boogey for this hole.
Hole #4
Hole 4 is a steep uphill 100 meter hole.
Using a driver, he drives the ball to the right. On a slope with long grass again.
He then hit the ball to the left. Standing not the steep slope, it is hard for him to place the weight on the left foot, and then, hit the ball front. That will throw him off balance. But he did make the shot well.
From the left, again, is another slope. He needs to chip the ball into the green. And he hit the ball high up.
Here comes the difficulty putt. It is a downhill putt. When we tell him it is downhill, kids is like this, they immediately reduce the speed of the swing.
And they do so, in a very discrete way. They cut the power by half. hahahaha
If I don’t say it is a down hill he probably hit it far, but once I told him is downhill, he hit is short. Very short.
The next hole, he miss his putt. So, he got a double PAR for this hole.
Hole #5
This is a 196 meter PAR 4 hole.
It is a very long hole. He drives the ball to the right. Right side of buggy, lying on a slide slope. Correct stance, correct swing, correct hips turn. He hit it about 110 meter.
He is left with about 70-80 meter. The coach asked to use a 9-Iron where he really should use a 7-Iron here.
Well, he hits it short. And the coach thought about it, and he says he might be advising the wrong clubs just now. hahahaha
Now, he has to hit on a slope again.
Today is a game with lots of slope shots.
But he hits it OK. To the left.
Just outside the green. So, he spent 3 putts here. A double boogey.
Hole #9
We skipped hole 6, hole 7 & hole 8. Because Jay Jay wants to go Adventure Cove to join his friend Riyandi for water play. So, since the coach has left, so, we skipped the three PAR-3 holes, and go straight to the last hole which is a 212 meter hole.
I reminded him about the hips turn. And he nailed it. The ball landed on the mark of 10 meter in front of the 100 meter marker. So, he drives about 122 meter. Big drive.
Then, with his trusty hybrid, he hit the second shot onto the green.
This is to show you his second shot, how far away from the pin. Great shot Jay!
His first putt. Miss it. But close to the pin.
And he nailed his putt. He score a PAR on the last hole.
He should be quite happy about this!
This is probably one of his best score I have seen so far playing so many times with him.
He has a Junior Medal game competition coming up this Sunday 2:30. Hope it does not rain. All the past 2 events were cancelled because of rain.
He will be competing with all these higher primary students in the group. Let’s see how he do.
He is learning, learning fast, learning correctly. And I think he is going to do well.
OK. Let’s go home pick up Kay Kay and go Adventure Cove. Well done Jay for today’s great game.
Today’s Score
=====
Hole 1 - PAR3 - 3 (PAR)
Hole 2 - PAR4 - 6 (DOUBLE BOOGEY)
Hole 3 - PAR3 - 4 (BOOGEY)
Hole 4 - PAR3 - 6 (DOUBLE PAR)
Hole 5 - PAR4 - 6 (DOUBLE BOOGEY)
Hole 6 - PAR4 - 4 (PAR)
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Total 6 holes
Total 21 shots - and Jay made it with 29 shots. 8 over. Not too bad.
For a kid.
