Girls Golf Family Clinic

Just a reminder that there will be a Girls Golf Family clinic tomorrow from 3-5pm At Cottonwood on the Range for members and their families!!! Members are free and Family members are $10.

 

Bring the club you want to work on, and I'll be there to get you back on track!

 

See ya'll tomorrow!

 

Coach Mary~

Gobble Gobble & Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Everyone and Gobble Gobble!!

 

I have some news for everyone that will hopefully be exciting and fun for all!

 

Beginning December 3rd, I will be facilitating a Girls Golf Family Clinic at Cottonwood GC.

 

At first, I just wanted to offer a winter off-season family program for our members to keep everyone out there practicing their swings...... and it may just be that.... however I am prepared to keep it going throughout the spring and new 2012 Girls Golf program season if you all would like to have family golf clinics specifically for Girls Golf members and their families on Saturday afternoons.

 

 

Time:   3:00 - 5:00pm

When: Two Saturdays a month on the Range or Short Game Area
Price:   Members are FREE

            Participating Adults $10.00

            Participating Kids   $5.00

 

This is open to friends and families of Girls Golf members.

 

The following Scheduled dates are all on Saturday:

2011  December 3, 17

2012  January    14, 28

         Febraury   11, 25

         March  10, 24

         April    7, 21

         May   5, 19

         June  2, 16

         July 1, 14 (9 hole scramble!!)

Have a happy holiday and looking forward to seeing ya'll on December 3rd!

 

Coach Mary~

Crazee Dazee (3Oct2011)

Hey LUGGers!

Crazee Dazee was quite a dazzlingly crazy meet with lots of crazadelic games and dazzling displays of both craze and skill on and around the Cottonwood GC short game practice area.

Team Bumble Bee, I'm afraid, lost most of their members 3/4 of the way through the games, leaving the Queen Bee (none other than Coach mary) swarmed over by the enthusiastic mass of Lady Bugs. The literally crazee event finished in quite an impressive obstacle course challenge with the final match up of the buzzled 2 C's: Crystal v Cheyenne. A good race that saw both finishing as winners, one more than the other depending on different points of view... 

Did I mention that it was a rather crazee dazee day? 

Anyhow! Our final event of the year is just a few days away on Monday October 17th from 3:30-5:30PM. Please bring all of your golf clubs, wear athletic shoes, and sunscreen!

Upcoming Bake Sale (Sat Sept 24th at 9AM)

Autumn is almost here and we only have a couple of events left this season. With reduced funding for the program we have been working extra hard to keep the EC LUGG running this year. To help balance our budget, we are having a bake sale this Saturday (September 24th) morning at Cottonwood Golf Course from 9AM-Noon. 

Come out and help support our program. Our moms are the best bakers in town!

Our next event will be Crazee Dazee on Monday October 3rd from 3:30-5:30PM.

Summer Camp Beginneth (1Aug2011)

Hello everyone!

Our summer camp kicked off to a good start with a sizzling session of putting practice on Monday afternoon. Everybody got one-on-one green time with Coach Mary as we learned the basics of the putting stroke and the art of always giving ourselves the best chance of making a putt.

Summer camp continues for the next two weeks at Cottonwood GC from 3-5PM Monday-Wednesday-Friday. Come out and join us if you can!

Movie Day Video Release (25July2011)

Welcome to this year's summer season!

Movie Day 2011 premiere showing at Cottonwood GC

The heat and prior summer engagement kept many of us away from the July 25th meeting, though we did get to meet 2 new members and a guest who had a bit of fun on the range with Coach Mary before we all went inside to watch the first showing of this year's Movie Rock Stars Day music video. Here it is!

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Coach Mary who provides us with another original music for the video. Each of our participating members will be getting their own copy of the DVD, of course, and the clip (along with other previous clips) are available for viewing at our Youtube channel.

Our annual two-weeks summer camp begins next week, running from 3-5PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We meet as usual at the Cottonwood GC driving range. Look for our new girls golf tent on the right end of the range. Please remember to bring golf clubs and wear athletic shoes to each meeting!

Upcoming summer meetings & clinic

Hello Luggers! 

We hope summer has started well for everyone. The Lugging staff have been busy preparing for the upcoming summer events. We next meet at Cottonwood Golf Club on Monday 25 July between 3:30-5PM for the release party of this year's music video. All EC LUGGers will get their own DVD copy of the show (it makes for a good nostalgic memorabilia once you get older, and if not, you can always use a chic and sleek spare drink coaster, ay?). 

Our Summer Camp Golf Clinics will be held from 3-5PM on August 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12. Please be sure to come equipped with athletic shoes and golf clubs. Coach Mary is looking forward to showing you how to properly swat the dimples of the little white ball while looking graceful doing it.

Bake Sale Fundraiser (30 May 2011)

The air tasted like brownies at Cottonwood Golf Course as the El Cajon LUGGers set up shop to sell their baked goods to hungry golfers last Monday and raise fund to keep this non-profit group going. 

We were very heartened by the generosity of many. Our supply of delicious bread loafs, cookies, rice crispy cakes, and brownies never ran dry and many generous golfers even made donations while turning down the sweet. 

It is always great to have friends, especially ones that step out from the shadow to help you in time of needs when they don't have to. Our most sincere thanks to all for your participation, contribution, and support to the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program of El Cajon!

Our last regular event for the upcoming Monday (June 6th) is the 'Bring A Special Guest' day. Bring anyone you'd like. No restriction applies! We meet, as usual, at the Cottonwood GC driving range from 3:30-5:30PM. After that, please check our schedule for our summer camp dates.

Movie Rock Star Day (23 May 2011)

The greens were alive with the sound of music...

LPGA-USGA Girls Golf of El Cajon - Movie Day 2011

... or something like that on this year's Movie Rock Star Day. We rocked the range, spud-jumped through the short game practice area, rolled the balls through the green, and hit many good shots over Cottonwood GC's intimidating creek, all while being pestered by the coaches' many intruding cameras. (That's what rock stars have to deal with these days). Now the films are in the can and this year's EC LUGG music video should be done in a few weeks.

                                                                                                                    

In the immediate future, however, is our Bake Sale Fundraiser! Come and join us at Cottonwood Golf Club in El Cajon from 9AM-1PM on Monday May 30th. Those wanting to contribute baked goodies to the sale may also drop them off at the golf course during business hours on Sunday. We are grateful for all contributions!

Best Ball Scramble (16 May 2011)

Last meeting was another fun afternoon spent on the course for LUGGers and coaches alike. First off, congratulations to Jenna and Cheyene on receiving their new set of golf clubs, generously donated by Inbee Park, one of our program's benefactors. Since the EC LUGGers formed a bit over a year ago four of our LUGGers have benefited from Ms. Park's special program, and they are busy putting their equipment to good use!

We teamed up in foursomes and went out for a few holes of scramble; everyone hit from the group's best shot location. Everyone did their best to contribute to the team effort while also observing all of the game's etiquette and rules.

The afternoon rushed by and we are another week closer to the upcoming Bake Sale Fundraiser! In the immediate future, however, is Movie Rock Star Day (Monday May 23rd). Be sure to look hip and rockadelic for the camera next Monday!

Mother-Daughter Day (9 May 2011)

On our Mother-Daughter event we did girls bonding - 21st century sport jocks style... 

It was a free-wheeling fun afternoon with moms and daughters (and even a dad) outside hitting balls on the range, putting on the wacky putt-putt course (courtesy of our wacky coaches), hitting giant croquet balls on the lawn and playing a few holes on the course.

See you all next week (Monday May 16th) for our 'best ball of partners' event! 

Fast, Safe & Courteous (2 May 2011)

As the weather turned positively summerly in Rancho San Diego there was hardly anything better for outdoorsy kids to do on a Monday afternoon than to spend it on a green golf course, chasing after the dimply little ball in the fastest, safest, and most courteous manner! 

The course was a bit crowded, of course, so we had to improvise our round a bit. We played timed-alternate ball with emphasis on speed without forgetting course rules and etiquette. Most of the LUGGers saved their good hits for the real course and their slew of good shots helped kept the pace up. By the end of the round most of us had even gotten better at knowing where to position ourselves and our golf bag/cart in order to save time in between shots.

We also got to practice pitching over a bunker in the short game practice area. It is challenging refraining from making a full swing when having to hit over something like a big sand trap, but an easy little swing usually produces better shots indeed!

'Mother-Daughter Day' is our next event on May 9th at Cottonwood Golf Course. Don't forget to bring moms!

Golf Egg Hunt (25 April 2011)

There were many golf eggs left around Cottonwood GC on the day after Easter for the LUGGers to poach as they played a few holes last Monday. We walked past a few donkeys, ducked a few chirpy acorn woodpeckers, skipped along with a few rabbits and even spotted a few golfers on the golf course, but the giant colored eggs-laying Easter bunny remained too elusive to spot (perhaps it was disguised as the coaches!).

The eggs proved rather difficult to cook properly, though when crisply cracked they spilled some goodies of their own. Aside from chewy candies held in some, many hatched magical coupons redeemable for more goodies from Coach Mary at the end of the round. Some went home with an armful of colored golf balls while others got loaded up on school supplies and candies. It was a lot of fun for practically everybody involved.

Our next event (on Monday May 2nd) is the 'Fast, Safe & Courteous Event'. Please bring golf clubs and wear athletic shoes and meet at the Cottonwood driving range at 3:30PM as usual!

27 Shot Challenge (18 April 2011)

The weather changed and so did our plan. Our 'Note in the Hole' game was postponed for a week as we instead worked on a few things and completed the 27 holes challenge at the range before closing the day playing a 9 hole "up & down" game chipping and putting on the green.

Much of the session was spent on completing the 27 shot challenge where we tried different concentration technique while hitting golf shots in order to see which works best for each of us. Some did really well visualizing the shot and some preferred counting or humming a tune as we hit the ball. Pop, went many weasels in our head, but luckily everybody stayed in tune through out the challenge.

 
Pre-shot routine.

One of the secrets to playing consistently good golf is, of course, having a consistent pre-shot routine that allows you to get into the playing mindset where you focus on your shot and then execute it the same way every time. At last week's event, we introduced doing most of our shot-planning and thinking in the 'think box' a few paces behind the ball, then only focusing on creating the shot when you move into the 'play box' as you address the ball. Have a look at a few successful golf professionals' pre-shot routines.

We each have to develop our own pre-shot routine that give us confidence! But you can see from the video how the elite golfers do a few basic things in common. They take their practice swings while they are in the 'think box' behind the ball, and once they move into the 'play box' they either play the shot very quickly or they back off back into the 'think box' again if something doesn't feel right (see Padraig Harrington in the video).

Aside from really helping you concentrate better when playing on the golf course, having a pre-shot routine also makes you look like a cool professional. That never hurts!

We hope to see all the EC LUGGers again on the Monday after Easter (April 25th), of course. Get to Cottonwood GC driving range by 3:30PM and be ready for a fun day of Golf Egg Hunt!

Golf Basics for Beginners 2: Pitching

Pitching:

We were also introduced to pitching during the last meeting. Pitching refers to the short and high shots we hit with our pitching wedge (PW), lob wedge (L), or sand wedge (SW) from close around the green. This is not a full-swing shot.

Like the chip shot, we want to choke down on the club a little. Unlike the chip shot, we place the ball in the middle of our stance or a little forward of it (for higher shots), and we will allow the wrists to set on the backswing (so that the clubhead can go higher than our hands) and the same thing on the downswing so that we finish with the club pointing toward the pin or upward. The pitch shot is the first half of a full swing.

Swing drill:

You can practice your golf swing even if you don't live near a golf course! Here is a good swing drill you can practice in your living room using nothing but a golf club (you can use a long stick if you don't own a golf club, even!).

The key is to stand as if you are addressing a golf ball, pick a spot to stand in for the ball and keep your eyes on it until well into your follow-through. It is okay for the head to move a little from side to side, but you want to keep the spine angle you have at address through out the swing rotation. Turn your shoulders and hips and keep the rotation as fluid as possible finishing facing your target!

Golf Basics for Beginners 1: Grip & Alignment

Golf is a much easier game to try to tame when you start off with good swing basics, and the most basic of any golf swing is the way you grip the club! There are a few different ways of gripping the golf club. The three most effective gripping styles are:

1. Overlap (Vardon) Grip: With the little finger of the right hand (for right-handed golfers) placed on top of the groove between the index and middle finger of the left hand. This is sometimes called the 'Vardon' grip after Harry Vardon, the English golf professional who invented it. This is the most widely used grip since it encourages the using of the two hands as one unit while also allowing the right hand leverage for extra power.
2. Ten Finger (Baseball) Grip: Is the most athletic gripping style that allows for a lot of power, but usually at the expense of being able to consistently use both hands as one unit. It can be the best grip for golfers with small or weak hands, however.
3. Interlock Grip: Is the opposite of the Ten Finger Grip in that it promotes consistent use of both hands as one unit (good for control of ball path and flight) even though it doesn't allow much use of hand for extra power.

From left to right: the overlap (Vardon) grip, ten finger (baseball) grip, and the interlock grip.

Whichever grip you use, be sure to rest the club at the base of your fingers rather than in the palm of your hands!

Alignment:

One hard thing about golf is that we do not have direct line of sight of our club-path and the target. We are hitting the ball while standing to its side! So when you line up your shot, it is best to first stand behind your golf ball and picture in your mind's eyes a straight line that runs from your ball all the way to your target (this is your 'target line'). Try to pick out something on the ground that lies on that line a foot or two in front of your ball (we call that our 'intermediate target'). Walk up to the ball and take your stance aiming the club-face at the intermediate target. Imagine the line between your ball and the intermediate target as your 'target line' and lining your feet up parallel to it.

Body alignment parallel to the target line

In this photo, Coach Mary has lined herself up toward the red flag on the driving range (the wind was blowing from right to left, so she is aiming a bit to the right of the flag to compensate for that). The blue line is her target line, with the intermediate target being a white tee (in the yellow circle) that happened to be on that line. She then lined up her body line (orange lines) parallel to the target line. Now she is set to hit the ball!

Lining up the club-face.

How do you aim your club-head as you stand over the ball? Look down at the leading edge of your club-face (highlighted in red in the illustration). The club-head is 'squared' to the target line when its leading edge is perpendicular to it (the middle photo).

Blind Holes (11 April 2011)

Great turn out for last Monday's 'Blind Holes' round at Cottonwood GC. The weather was perfectly sunny and mild. The birds were singing (and the ones that weren't singing were busy pecking holes into the cottonwood trees along the course). Great weather for golfing!

The game of the day was 'Blind Holes', of course. Sneakily educational Coach Mary went about posting instructions on the tees and greens on the back nine of Ivanhoe course before hand. And each LUGGer had to comply to the posted instruction through out each hole they played. The instructions were all meant to enable our budding golfers to explore the various dominant sensory modes of thinking that worked best for them during a golf round. Some are quite counter-intuitive.... like this:

If you wonder what this has to do with golfing mind-set, try it and see. Sometimes it helps to focus on doing a task so much that one doesn't have time to worry about things one shouldn't worry about on the golf course - swing mechanics being a chief example, of course.

Since each of the LUGGers are their own individuals, some preferred one blind hole instruction over the others, though it doesn't hurt to explore them all. After all, how do you know what works best for you if you haven't tried all the various ways first?

Our next event is similar to the last. We meet, as usual, from 3:30-5:30PM at the Cottonwood GC driving range on Monday April 18th for our 'Note in the Hole' event!

3 Ring Circus (4 April 2011)

Last week we had a circusy good time learning the chip shot on the range and the practice greens. Practicing chip shots on the range was trying, of course. So much room, so little swing!

But golf is the game of getting the ball into the cup with the least number of strokes rather than a game of mindless ball-striking... And chipping is, aside from being a great help in making good score even when missing the green, fun! 

The trick to chipping, of course, is to always have control of the club face. A good chipper chokes down on the club and chips with a putting stroke - always keeping her hands ahead of the club-head through impact. A little hop, then the ball rolls the rest of the way into the hole. And, voila! A par is saved! 

After some practice on the range we had a fun hour navigating the                "3 Ring" obstacle course Coach Mary set up in the practice area. Touchy putting holes followed by feel-developing ball tossing stations, balance wobble boards & pods course, and chipping holes. Topping it off, the LUGGERs got to vent off at the smiling clown pinata that went 'poof' after a few good slugging swings with a pitching wedge - deploying a shower of candies from its swinging legs. A sweet reward after two sunny hours on the golf course!

Our next event (April 11th from 3:30-5:30PM) is 'Blind Holes'. See you all at Cottonwood GC driving range!

Bring A Friend Day (28 March 2011)

Hello! Hello!

Our 2011 season kicked off to the welcoming dry and warming weather at Cottonwood GC Monday. We had a good turn out for this early in the year and spent some quality time both on the range and on the putting green.

Putting proved a touchy aspect of golf, though it got easier as Coach Mary showed the group some very cool putting drills. 

Some of us did better in judging how hard to hit a putt when our eyes are closed and some with our eyes wide open. Taking care to line up a putt and focusing on giving our stroke a good tempo helped, though. And many good putts were made despite of the obnoxiously twisty nature of the finishing 9 holes putting round.

The 2011 Season Is Almost Here!

Hello Everyone!!

First of all, I want to say that I am so excited for this new season of Girls Golf to begin! 

For those of you who will be our newest members, welcome!!! I'm Coach Mary and I'm really looking forward to meeting each and everyone of you while having as much fun as we can on the golf course!

For you returning members, welcome back!!!! We had a lot of fun last year, and I have every intention of creating an even better golfing experience this season!

Michell (the blogmaster) will be posting more updates on our blog, The LUGGer's Log, for you, so be sure to take time and check it out whenever you get the chance. The LUGGer's Log is for you to stay informed, and to keep in contact! As well as check out whatever Michell tends to sneak onto her camera during the events of all of us.

Now with the proper announcement: We have 2 events that I want to make sure everyone is aware of.

First, of course, is our 1st Event on Monday March 28th, 3:30 - 5:30pm at Cottonwood GC. We will all meet on the driving range, where you will see the Girls Golf Banners. The Event is "Bring a Friend". So.... BRING A FRIEND!! 

Normally, a guest can pay $10 to attend any of our events. However, for this first event, each guest will only be charged half the usual price ($5). This is an opportunity for anyone else who may like to join the Program and become members before we get the show rolling for the year. Besides, having a friend around always makes it more fun!

Last, but not least; I have free entry tickets for the LPGA KIA Classic which is being held at Industry Hills GC in Los Angeles area on March 24-27th. On Saturday, March 26th, I will be joining with my fellow LPGA Coaches and Tour Players for the LPGA Tour Junior Clinic at the KIA Classic.

Anyone who is interested in going to the KIA Classic on Sat March 26th should give me a holler. I can take 3-4 girls with me to the Tournament, and if any parents would also like to attend, let me know. If more than 4 girls would like to attend, maybe we can do a caravan. I have 8 free entries, so first come first serve with this one.

Here's the Info:

WHAT: LPGA KIA Classic & LPGA Tour Junior Clinic

WHERE: Industry Hills CC in the City of industry ( LA Area)

COST: Free, but must provide for your own food and drinks

WHO: Anyone interested in the game of golf

WHEN: Saturday, March 26th.

9AM - Meet at Cottonwood GC

12PM - Arrive at Industry Hills GC. Watch the tournament.

3-4PM - Participate in LPGA Tour Junior Clinic (also meeting LPGA Tour players and coaches, hit balls at range and practice area)

7PM - Arrive back at Cottonwood GC

WHY: Because we can!!!

Happy 1 putts. See ya'll soon!!

Coach Mary~

2011 Registration & Schedule

Hello LUGGers! Now that we are on the thawing side of winter, are you ready to get reacquainted with your golf game? Come and join us for another fun girls golf season. Below is our 2011 schedule. As usual, all events are held at Cottonwood Golf Club in El Cajon, California.                                           

          

EC LUGG 2011 SCHEDULE

Sunday February 27, 12 – 3 pm: Registration Day (outside Pro Shop)

ALL AFTER-SCHOOL EVENTS ARE 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
1.   Monday March 28: Kick-off Event “Bring a friend day”
2.   Monday April 4:
3.   Monday April 11: “Blind Holes”
4.   Monday April 18: “Note in the Hole”
5.   Monday April 25: “Golf Egg Hunt”
6.   Monday May 2: “Fast, Safe, and Courteous”
7.   Monday May 9: "Mother-Daughter Day"
8.   Monday May 16: “Best Ball Scramble”
9.   Monday May 23: "Movie Rock Star Day"
10. Monday May 30: "BAKE SALE FUNDRAISER!!!!"  9 – 1pm
11. Monday June 6: "Special Guest Day"
                                                                       

Summer Clinic Schedule
12.  Monday July 25: 3:30-5 Eagle & Future Stars clinic
13.  Monday August 29: 3:30-5 Eagle & Future Stars clinic

Pre-Fall Season Golf Camp Series
August 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12: Monday-Wednesday-Friday 3-5pm

                                                           
    
Fall After-School Events
14. Monday Sept 19:
15. Monday October 3: 
16. Monday October 17:  Division Championships and Banquet Party

Registration made easy:

Download, print, fill out, and mail in (or scan and email completed forms): 2011 Participant Agreement,  2011 Season Registration Form, and Participant Form.