Yikes, it is hard to believe that it’s November already and 2019 is coming to a close. I feel like this year flew by and the top 3 goals I set for myself in the month of January were stabbed at but not completely realized…check out my blog post: .My Top 3 Goals in the New Year
I do, however, have something I’m particularly proud of this year: namely improving on my game of Golf.
Thanks to the Lyman Orchards Golf Center I spent the majority of my Summer and more than half of my Fall golfing. And Summer started late this year in Connecticut – remember the month of May?!? I had to count it out for starting play as it was rainy and miserable. Consequently I did not pick up my clubs until mid-June but then I made up for it by playing until the last weekend of October.
I learned a lot this year both on the course and off. I had previously taken Golf Fore Women 101 (last September 2018) so some of what I learned this year felt like a refresher course but in a good way – check out my blog post: Ready Fore Golf
However, the majority of what I learned I took and turned into real application on the course. And I had the added benefit of being taught and supervised by the award-winning LPGA Class A Teaching Professional Marissa Kulig Crow as well as her 2 trusty teammates Dan Hannibal and Andra Frappier…
LPGA Class A Teaching Professional Marissa Kulig Crow and her trusty teammates Dan and Andra
June
Ladies bonding over the game of golf (smile)
The Fab 4 – Jill, Lajeune, Mary Ann and Tina plus one- Amy (smile)
July
Golf 4 Women 201 with LPGA Teaching Pro Marissa Kulig Crow in black
Club selection with LPGA Teaching Pro Marissa Kulig Crow
I’ll never forget this day – the hottest day that Summer (Saturday July 20th) and we were playing 9 holes on Apple 9 and dying!
Another successful day on the Apple 9 course!
Ending the day with my old starter set of golf clubs – they served me well
August
Golf Fore Women 301 – the Apple 9 golf course is our classroom now (smile)
Coincidentally my workplace (News 8 Television) had a client golf tournament in August which I had the distinct pleasure of playing in with my own clients as opposed to driving the beverage cart (smile).
Me and Elisabeth
Evie, Elisabeth and me
Our golf cart at the News 8 golf tournament
Me and my bf at Sleeping Giant – I did not play the Apple 9 on this particular day as Sleeping Giant golf course in Hamden is mere minutes away from my house and therefore now considered my “home course”
September
Loved Practice with a Pro with our trainer Dan Hannibal because we had the opportunity to work on our golf weaknesses
One on one make-up session with Marissa
In the game of golf, it is not uncommon for the club to pair you and your golf mate with another 2 some so that you become a 4 some and keep up with the pace of play. Especially 9 hole courses like Apple 9 where you get a volume of players in a short span of time. We made fast friends with this 2 some and found we had a lot in common – you never know who you are going to be paired with and they could concievably become lifelong friends (smile)
October
My golf partner today is Mary Ann (a fav of mine) and one of the Fab 4 (smile)
The Fab 4 (Lajeune, Mary Ann, Jill and Tina) finally together again and ready to play for real on The Players course at Lyman
It was a very light day on The Players course so Fab 4 had a chance to cut up (smile)
Me and my neighbor Margot and Jill (of the aforementioned Fab 4) on the very last day of golf for the season (October 31st). In New England its still sunny in the Fall but there are so many leaves on the ground it makes it difficult to find your ball – not counting the chilly weather!
Sooooo…I finally broke down at the end of October and invested in some new clubs. And I actually played with them the last 2 weekends of the month. I must admit that my game has improved with my new set of clubs (smile). Not trying to rush time but I sure can’t wait ’till next Summer (double smile).
So glad I finally got off my duff last summer and signed up for golf lessons for women (smile).
Here’s what happened: I was leafing through the Hamden/North Haven Adult Ed catalog when I happened upon a course listing in the Enrichment Class section called Golf Fore Women 101. It felt serendipitous as I have been talking about taking golf lessons for what felt like ages so I promptly called to register for the Saturday morning 5-week session.
Then I called my girlfriend and broadcast industry colleague Ginger, who, like me, owned her own set of golf clubs but still did not know how to play. Ginger was grateful that I thought of her and I felt lucky to know her (smile).
Me and Ginger on Day 1 of our lessons and the women we met in Golf 101
The reason why I felt so lucky was because I actually bought my own starter set of golf clubs 11 years ago but for some reason or another, nothing ever seemed to come together for me in terms of taking golf lessons or being consistent about actually wanting to play. Here’s the rundown:
2007
I purchased my own set of “lady” golf clubs for $105 dollars (down to the shoes, hat, gloves, pink golf balls, etc.) and although I initially had good intentions, this set sat in my garage year after year collecting dust…
My starter set of lady golf clubs
2011/2012/2013/2014
Since by now I stillhad not learned how to play, I spent multiple years volunteering as a “Beverage Cart Driver” at our News 8 annual golf tournament where we invited our clients out for a day of golf.
2015
I finally took two private lessons (a gift from my bf) at Lyman Golf Center in Middlefield, CT with John Wilson, who came highly recommended from a former News 8 co-worker and female golfer.
At the annual Travelers Tournament in Cromwell, CT (one of my fav live golfing events and spectator sports)
At the annual Traveler Tournament in Cromwell, CT. Always a good time. Turns out my cousin Bear from Rhode Island was working there that week
2018
By now I was so desperate I even fake caddied for my boyfriend last Summer while he enjoyed ‘the game’ (smile).
And it was right after this fake caddy momentwhen I happened upon the Enrichment course listing in the Hamden/North Haven Adult Ed catalog…
Golf Fore Women 101
The Saturday morning Fall classes I registered for ran from September 15 – October 13 (10am -11am) and consisted of about ten women. Our first session was mostly in the classroom where we talked about ourselves and what brought us there and then learned about Golf from a theoretical perspective.
My Saturday morning classmates – I’m gonna miss these ladies
Let me tell you, there is a lot to learn here. Golf is truly a game of and for life… Throughout our introductory 5-week course Marissa Kulig Crow, our LPGA Coach and Club Professional, very patiently taught us the following:
Essentials – equipment selection and appropriate golf attire
Golf Clubs
Golf Course Layout
Golf Terms
Golf Scores
Forms of Golf Games
Golf Shots
Networking
Stretching and Yoga
Golf Etiquette 101
Lesson 1– The Driving Range
Here we are lined up and on our way to the driving range
Lesson 2 – The Full Swing
The full swing – one of my favorite golf swings
Lesson 3 – Chipping/Pitching/Sand
Chipping Pitching Sand Wedge was probably one of the most difficult lessons we took – here is me and Mary Ann – one of my favs
Lesson 4 – On the Putting Green
Today’s practice will be on the putting green – the short game – where a lot of golfers struggle
Lesson 5 – The Apple 9 Golf course
It felt so funny because today’s lesson #5 (final lesson of Golf Fore Women 101) was actually golfing on the Apple 9 Golf course. We played 3 holes during our last lesson. It was so fun! I am looking forward to next Summer and Fall so I can take Golf Fore Women 201 and 301 and work on perfecting my game!
Me and my girls – enjoying our last day of Golf Fore Women 101!
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
