Johann Oosthuizen

This weekend my 3 sons are treating us to stay at a game lodge in the Waterberg region in South Africa. This is for my 60th birthday, which was in March, but coincidentally coincides with my eldest son's birthday today. We are playing golf at Zebula Golf Estate (https://zebula.co.za/) on Monday and doing an elephant interaction on Sunday. Watch this space for feedback on the golf.....

On Tuesday, Sept 17, we had our monthly SAGES Seniors Golfers day at Eagle Canyon Golf Estate (https://www.eaglecanyongolfestate.co.za/). Commonly called "Evil Canyon". This golf course was built in in a disused quarry which presents many sloping fairways and greens. This was the first time that my wife, Cathalene, and I played this course and on the day I decided to play off the front tees with the others to save time. I was not able to use my driver as much and tactical play was the name of the game. The fairways were tricky due to the slopes and the greens did not really bite on the balls. The competition was a 4-ball alliance, 2 scores to count. Cathalene and I teamed up with another "elderly" couple, June and Clyde, who have been married now for 49 years. Imagine their ages..... The weather was fine, but the wind was terrible. We did not do well at all. I carded a 89, 8 over HC and Cathalene carded 19 over her handicap. At least I have a few good holes on which I could reflect on the 19th. Would I play Evil Canyon again??? I have to, even if it is only to enjoy their 19th hole again.

Ok, in my previous post that I wrote on Monday, I mentioned that the data was at home and that I could not remember everything that I measured but after getting the data from home it seems that my Covid memory really had taken a toll. Anyway, here is the data from the measurement....and it much more varied than I thought. By applying lead tape in the correct areas I can make the swingweights the same, it is pure physics. But then, would the clubs feel better? Most probably a combination of two sciences, physics and psychology.

I think with my clubs the issue is that that I regripped them myself and used masking tape as grip tape. This I applied in an overlapping spiral from the bottom to the top to give a slightly thicker grip. Hence there is a possibility that the weight is ever so slightly different due to the varying lengths of tape that I used. On that, it is important to use the same grips when regripping as the grips vary in weight. There is a swingweight spreadsheet available on the interweb "Swingweight_Calculator_Plus_Rev.0." that I have tested and found it fascinating.

From what I have read and understand is that the set of irons, from the longest to about 9I, should feel the same and this can be done by weighting them. This then helps to hit the sweet spot every time. The wedges are typically heavier. Long, long ago with my previous set of clubs I just could not hit the 3I and 5I (Wilson Staff Dynapower from 1975). I hated them. Then talking about the issue in the club's proshop with my dad the pro asked me to bring the two clubs and also two clubs that I liked the most. I gave him the 4I, 6I and 8I. He then did some measurements on the three clubs that I liked and added or removed weights in the toes of the two hated clubs and bingo... the clubs worked for me. At that stage I was about 14-15 years old and did not really understand what he did. However, I did think the pro was a magician.

I played with my Wilson Staff Dynapowers from 1976 until 2022 when my sons started to refuse to play with me.....their excuse was that they were ashamed to be seen with me on the course and begged me to buy new clubs. I still use my Dynapower sand wedge.

Grip down on the driver...and 80% effort on the stroke. This works for me to build confidence in the darn club again.

Last week I read an article all about Swing Weight. Being a mechanical engineer with some research background I found this most interesting and searched for more articles and also Youtube videos. Based on a a simple measuring and weighing method that I found I then did the measuring and weighing of all my clubs last Thursday evening, put the data in a spreadsheet and found that very few of my clubs are the same even though the are all of the same brand. I cannot remember everything off hand since the data is at home but it was something like the following: Driver - D0 3W - E2 17* Hybrid - D1 4H - E1 4I - D0 5I - D1 6I - D1 7I - D2 8I - D0 9I - D1 PW - D0 A - D2 SW - E0 I hit my 7I and A wedge to most accurate when considering distance, control and feel. I realize that I need to read a lot more and need to to refine my measurement method. I am looking forward to "tune" the clubs to get the irons (4 to A) the same and see if it makes a difference. Not sure what to do with the woods and hybrids as yet.

This past weekend was a great weekend. Our son, Robert, and his wife came to visit and obviously we worked in a round of golf at our local club. It was the Monthly Medal and Cathalene and I each made 73 net with Robert, who only played his 2nd game for the year made 80 net. The 13th took my first ball in the water and 3 putts. Overall my putting let me down. After a pitstop at the 19th we rushed home to watch the New Zealand vs South Africa rugby test which was played in Cape Town, and then rejoiced in the win that our Springboks had over the Kiwis. "How do you braai (barbeque) a Kiwi??? 40 minutes a side.....

The Q-Stars really work for me. I get great control and spin with them and they last until they are lost.

I also had trouble with the driver. Changed the tee height and presto......driver is doing better. See my post on p1017 (28 August).

Played the back 9 at Rustenburg yesterday with my wife off the red tee (front tee). The spring weather was perfect with afternoon temperature reaching 31C. I shot a 41, which is 1 over handicap. Should have played a 37, but made some mistakes: duffed 2nd shot on the 10th duffed 2nd shot on 11th shanked 2nd shot on 12th into the water hit a 126m Gap wedge and overshot the green on 13th instead of 110m which is my standard distance for the club. On the 18th I was just short of the green with my drive and made my only birdie. The 19th hole is always the best. On the 19th, Cathalene is telling her friend that she beat me again.

"Krokodil Fees 2024" (Crocodile Fest 2024) This past weekend my wife and I played in a charity golf day in a small farming community town, Koster, in here in South Africa. The event was to raise funds for their local children's and old age home "Ons Huis" (Our House). The events for the day was as follows: Scramble drive BB golf competition Mej. Krokodil Fees (Miss Crocodile Fest) Beer tent (with free barbequed crocodile kebabs) Gin Bar South Africa vs New Zeeland Rugby test on tv's in the Beer tent Live music entertainment after the rugby Koster is situated 140km west of Johannesburg in the heart of the North West farming region. The course consists of 9 greens, of which the largest is about 35ft in diameter (some of the tees are larger than the greens. This time of the year every blade of grass is dead and the fairways are bone dry. The weather prediction was that it was going to be cold and therfore my wife and I packed our thick bush jackets for the evening's festivities. On the morning the August winds made their last visit and was howling at 100mph (or at least that was how it felt). The morning was so cold that we decided to play with our hunting jackets until it warmed up a bit. The scoring on Garmin was a bit of an issue as the course is registered as a 9hole course, so I told my wife to only use the watch for the GPS. The fairways were so hard that I hit a 376yd drive on the 1st, and that was about 40yds short of the longest drive for the day. This was really a fun day for a good purpose. Good scores were not our goal. Our goal was to get to the beer tent and Gin bar to watch South Africa beat New Zeeland in the rugby, which we did. Cathalene & I. The team The 3rd Tee The 3rd green somewhere ahead. The beer tent A Sponsored tee The 1st tee with the Crocodile kebab table on the right South Africa beat New Zeeland The Garmin Approach 60 recorded both rounds (18 holes) on the 9holes course. Fascinating!!!

This is one thing that I do not really get from golfers. We all spend as much as possible time on the golf course, usually on days when the weather is perfect. But the vast majority wear golf caps (baseball caps) that offer the least protection against the sun. I used to wear my Akubra Coober Pedy, but found that it was too hot to wear. Sweat would drip from the front of the hat onto the ball when putting. I then changed to a CANSA (The Cancer Association of South Africa) approved hat from Sunhats, the Emthunzini Oscar. It offers much better UV protection, especially on the ears and sides of the face. The ventilation of the hat is also very good. The hat is permanently in my car and I always wear it when in the sun. PS. The flatcap that I have on in my profile pic is only worn when I play golf in charity games when I wear my kilt, about 4 times per year. Akubra - too hot to use on the golf course Emthunzini Oscar - my go-to golf hat