Grouchy Golf Blog

A typical round at my home course lasts at least 5 hours. Unless you've had a Thanksgiving dinner before you play, you're bound to get hungry out on the course.

Rather than chow down a crusty 2-day old hot dog at the turn, I find it better to eat an energy bar or two. Over the years, I've tried almost every energy bar sold at retail. I don't know much about the comparative nutritional content of these bars, but I do know what my taste buds tell me: most energy bars taste like chocolate covered chalk.

However, there are a few energy bars that taste great. I think the best tasting bars are made by Promax. In fact, I like them better than regular candy bars. My favorite flavors are the Double Fudge Brownie, Black Forest Cake and Chocolate Peanut Crunch. If you haven't tried them yet, try the Black Forest Cake. I guarantee that you'll like it. If not, send me the wrapper and I'll refund your money.

I also like Snickers Marathon bars. They taste good, but don't seem to be quite as filling.

That's about it. Other bars may give you more protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, yada yada yada. But with golf, do you need all that? Nah. Just choose the bar that tastes great and more filling. Also, be sure to wash it down with a cold beer of your choice. Great for writing a golf blog too. Just the beer, that is.

Labels: Equipment

I found some SwingVision pics of Els hitting driver off the tee. They illustrate how woods should be swung with a "sweeping" motion. In other words, with woods, the club needs to approach the ball on an ascending path.



Hitting irons is just the opposite. With irons, the club needs to approach the ball on a descending path. This was previously illustrated with Tiger Woods' SwingVision pics.

Labels: Ernie Els, SwingVision, Videos

A while ago, I was playing golf with my friend Anthony and he hit his tee shot Tiger right out of bounds.

After several minutes of looking for his ball, he emerged empty-handed. He promptly reached into his bag for a new Pro V1 and dropped it near the area where his ball entered OB.

I asked him, "So, aren't you supposed to go back and hit a ball from the tee?"
"Nah, I'll just drop from here," he said, looking for a yardage marker.
"So you're just going to take a penalty stroke?"
"Nope."
"But you went OB. If you're not going to re-tee, you should at least take a penalty stroke."
"Dude, if we were playing in a tournament, there would be a gallery over here," gesturing in the direction of the OB. "My ball would have hit the gallery and bounced back in bounds."

I was speechless and could only respond with a look of bewilderment. I'll have to remember that one the next time I go OB.

Some of the most useful and free sites on the Internet are message boards. They allow you to find information about almost anything through people with expertise or interest in that subject. Having computer problems? Go to the AnandTech Message Board. Feeling anxious and you don't know why? Consult the WebMD Message Board.

Using these sites is a piece of cake. Typically, there is a simple and brief registration process to become a member. Once a member, you have the ability to post topics to the board for other members to respond. Likewise, you can respond to other members' topics.

So of course there are message boards related to golf. These sites cover just about everything golf-related: swing tips, club reviews, course reviews, and just plain tour gossip. Like golf blogs, there are a handful of golf message boards out there, but I have only discovered two worth visiting.

So far, my favorite is Free Golf Info Forums. They boast over 10,000 registered users who have made nearly 1 million posts. Definitely check this site out.

The other site is Golf Rewind Forums. This site is similar to the other one, but there are only about 800 registered members. Also, the members seem to be a little more "uptight" than others. Case in point, I maintain the same "avatar", or identification graphic, on all the message boards that I belong. Here it is:

However, after several weeks of using this avatar on Golf Rewind Forums, the moderator sends me a message that several members find my avatar "offensive." I was told to change my avatar or I would be kicked out. So I changed my avatar to this:

For some reason, this avatar was not deemed offensive and I was allowed to stay. Go figure.

P.S. Other great golf message boards that I've found include BombSquadGolf.com and GolfWRX. These board specialize in golf equipment discussions, especially the equipment specially made for golf professionals. Definitely check them out as they have quickly become my favorites.