October is Pink Ribbon month and October 25^th is Pink Ribbon Day.  We attribute this great awareness to Nancy Goodman Brinker, whose sister, Susan G. Komen, died of breast cancer. Prior to her death Nancy promised her sister that she would find a way to speed up breast cancer research. Thus, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation was created and is also supported in combination with Rally For the Cure.

Since the inception of the organization in the early 80ties this large charity has contributed to breast cancer research, education, and health services for women. Through merchandising in the golf world, Pink Ribbon products assist with this cause. SurLady Golf contributes to this research in conjunction with your support. Please join SurLady Golf as it cannot do this alone.  Your purchase allows SurLady Golf, via it distributors, to give back 10% of all Pink Ribbon sales to breast cancer research.

by LaVerne McLeod

http://www.surladygolf.com/pinkribbon.html

Therefore, we extend this invitation to you to plan with us, a home or office show in the Monterey County California area and nearby vicinity. [For showcasing in other areas, let’s e-mail regarding arrangements.]

-invite 10 or more of your lady & gentlemen golf friends and non-golfers that you wish to attend the home or office showcasing. SurLady Golf also has a list of some golfers that may also like to attend as we plan together

-receive 2 gifts; a golf item and another gift item

-in addition to ladies golf accessories, a variety of fused glass jewelry & home décor will be available as well as other art jewelry on some occasions

-party appetizers and refreshments are compliments of SurLady Golf and glass artist

-relaxed shopping atmosphere

Just e-mail us and let us help you plan a home, office or conference showcase social, info@surladygolf.com

Return to our SurLady Golf homepage, scroll down the page and on your left you can click inside the box and type in your e-mail address. You will receive the next issue as soon as it is published.

Among the majestic vistas of the Pacific, rolling mountains and intimate pathways surrounded by giant pines an small lakes, twilight golf groups take place during summer throughout the Monterey Peninsula.

The concept of late afternoon golf originated locally about 17 years ago with former Monterey Peninsula teaching golf pro Diane Murphy. The concept caught on and has been a regular feature at peninsula golf courses ever since. Twilight golf is all about camaraderie, learning and improving one’s golf game, making new friends and-bet of all, having fun.  Different formats are played each week which helps establish a more confident feel for the game of golf in this friendly environment. Beginners as well as more advanced golfers are welcome to participate in twilight golf between 4:30p.m. and dark. There are basic golf etiquette rules that peninsula coordinators ask participants to follow which balances the levels of players for speed of play.

I’ve found that women attend at this time for a variety of reasons. First, there are nine holes of golf to complete and this can fit into a busy week. Also, it is convenient to play at the end of a workday.  Some have found it a more serene time while beginners might find it less intimidating or a way to transition from golf lessons to the golf course, as I did a few years ago. Often, experienced golfers want to add nine holes to their usual one or two rounds they’ll play during that same week.  Regardless of skill level, golfers can be paired with others of similar skills or handicaps, or with a group of friends.

Twilight golf is not to be confused with early daytime ladies golf leagues that have by-laws, board meetings, club meetings an tournaments.  Unique to all golf groups are their formats. Play can start out the same way with a “shot-gun” style.  Additionally, “best ball” and “scramble” are particularly common in twilight golf.

Noteworthy to any female golfer is the chance to socialize at the clubhouse restaurant.  The team leader announces the prize winnings for the evening as ladies jubilantly feast on delectable appetizers, evening dinners, or sip refreshments.

Generally, twilight golf evenings include registration (based on pre sign-ups), range practice, a free golf lesson, 9-hole golfing with carts, no-host food, refreshments and prizes.

The bottom line for all golfers is this: how to perform better to lower golf scores.  Recently I’ve learned a simple way to do this just by having the right tools- perfectly fit clubs-with the use of motion analysis technology.  This technology is now available for golfers at Quail Lodge Golf Club in Carmel-and it is the only one in northern California.  The great news is that it is now available to any golfer type, not just the pros. Otherwise I would not have had the opportunity for a run-through of the Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade (MAT-T System) also called “The 3-D MAT-T Lab.” In the back of my mind I kept wondering, “Am I really going to come out of this experience performing better with longer drives?”

Bio Mechanical figure

Accompanied by Katherine Marren, 2008 Northern California PGA Teacher of the Year and Quail’s PGA teaching pro, I knew I was in great hands.  In the lab I was outfitted with stretchable rubber pieces over my golf clothes along with markers looking like tiny antennas.  Every movable part of me was connected with these markers, including: my shoes, knees, torso, back, wrists, elbows and head as well as on the clubs I used.  Six cameras captured my every movement from the markers.  The playback could be done in real-time or slow motion, backward or forward, showing me as a bio-mechanical model and all of my golfing motions from different angles.  I was given a copy of this imaging on a DVD which has provided continuous help as an instructional tool.  Key to the technician fitting me with the right clubs is the precise, yet seemingly complicated data that the MAT-T System produces.  These final calculations provide a prescriptive analysis that is translated by a technician for the making of optimal golf clubs for the customer.

Technology has given us an edge in every area of our lives and now, in golf.  I was given that edge after trying out my perfectly fitted clubs; a noticeable 30 yard distance was gained on some of my shots with the new driver.  I was also amazed at the loft of the 6-iron. My data record is kept on file at Quail’s Golf Academy so whenever I am ready to purchase other clubs that I need, I can simply order them.  You don’t have to be a pro to take advantage of the motion analysis club fitting, which is complemented with professional instruction and coaching.  NCGA members can take advantage of the one hour club fitting for $170 or $250 for two hours ($200 and $300 for non-NCGA members). Experiencing the 3-D MAT-T Lab doesn’t mean that we will be replaced by robotic golfers on the golf course any time soon.  All you have to do is step into the MAT-T room and exit with a set of golf clubs to enhance your golf performance.  The fun and joy of golfing still remains and just gets better with a lower golf score.

To get down to the heart of the matter, playing a game of golf is analogous to life itself. First and foremost, a golfer has to keep oneself on track by being self-disciplined and focused. Along the 18-hole journey, golfers repeatedly have to hit out of the bunker, those deep and sometimes over-the-head places- as in life- when one focused try doesn’t always do the trick. The game of golf is designed so you will have to get out of this type of trap before continuing the journey.

Unexpectedly, your emotions might get the best of you. Reproaching thoughts can mentally beat you up. The confidence that you tried to start out with has faded. You are more on an inhale than an exhale, getting gloomy, and over -analyzing your shots. Regretfully, you are wearing yourself out both mentally and physically. Although it is not your intention, it’s as if you’ve awkwardly chosen to hit into trouble. By now your golf partner may have insensitively made a negative comment about your play. In other words, is this not comparable to life where self-intimidation comes in? Take for instance, your opinion of your golf partner’s abilities. You see your partner confidently and effortlessly hit a 200-yard shot down a 5-par fairway. Somehow you might have felt daunted by this feat and rather than congratulate your comrade, you may have feelings of incompetence. Sometimes you can curtail these negative thoughts by reminding yourself that other golfers, pro and amateurs alike, are still working on their game. Nothing is more inappropriate and unsportsmanlike than profanity or throwing clubs on the ground.

Golf’s encounters resemble our life experiences. It is necessary to get out of the rough places in golf or life no matter how tough it may be. Being disciplined enough to let go of those overly self-critical thoughts and over-reacting actions can prevent setbacks. There are so many factors, including internal and external distractions that can get in the way of your sinking the ball into the hole or reaching one’s goals in life. When you focus on making a fresh start at the upcoming tee, you are ahead of the game. Maybe by modifying your reactions to the birdie and double bogey you will find that emotional balance. A bad-lie may not result in a “heroic recovery.” It’s the positive effort and resilience put forth that keeps the bliss in the game and in life. This is why golf is such a great sport as life is a great game. Keep practicing your skills, build confidence and balance your emotions. Most importantly, lighten up.

Suppose you are daydreaming about how your great grandmother or your grandmother looked as a golfer or imagined her being one.  You are having a casual conversation with someone outside the country club when an 1894 woman just passed you by as you entered the club house doors.  Your eyes met a practicably dressed female golfer wearing her acceptable golf ensemble.

Suddenly, you awakened in the current year 2009, and passed through a remodeled, yet the same, country club building and noticed 115 years later, there is a complete change in a woman’s golf attire.

As clothes are considered “nothing less than the furniture of the mind made visible” according to James Laver [Style in Costume], then what are these two golfing women making visible or telling us through what they are wearing?  Now without a conversation, you actually sum up people or at least register the information of what they are wearing.  Now of days don’t tell me you don’t see the young tattooed arm woman, golfer or not, when she enters a store or building or the high-boot tutu wearing woman who is walking the streets.  I mean if you are concerned about fashion and what it projects in any way, you do have a opinion and perhaps a summation.

Take for instance, the 1984 golfing woman wears a fully sleeved, high-top collared blouse that fits tightly under arms. The sleeves are bubbled on the shoulders almost to her elbows.  This golfer’s blouse fits snugly to the body down to the waist. Her long, flowing gathered skirt, dropping close to the top of her golf shoes, is accented with a tight cinched belt. Oftentimes, the hat barely has enough bill to shade the eyes while some have flat tops and brims.

an illustration from an 1894 Harper’s Bazar

Some fashionable golfers might say that the 1894 woman golfer as well as any other person in any other time period or occasion might be telling us her sex, age, class status, perhaps occupation, origin, personality, maybe opinion and her current mood. Who wouldn’t agree on most of these listings?  Comparatively speaking, what is this 2009 woman golfer telling you about herself?

Could we be seeing a independent, spirited lady who carries her own weight as well as her golf bag, wears leopard printed visor and matching gloves perhaps indicating that she is a bit wild. She appears to feel good about herself in black golf attire. Could this indicate that she is dominant, also sophisticated and is comfortable when she plays golf. Her big smile might indicate that she is outgoing and loves to have fun.

More than likely, the 1894 woman is athletic and maybe vibrant as well.  Who would go to all the trouble to dress so athletically uncomfortable to meet the approval of what is acceptable for the day unless she loved to golf?  Unlike most folks having  an opinion about an 1894 male golfer.  There were obviously some who  didn’t mind his lady accompanying him or her golf society friends at the club or on the course.  Perhaps the 1894 man thought similarly to what women wore then on the golf course at that time as the  professional men of the 1970ties thought when a lot of women re-entered the workplace.  They desired women to wear clothes that made them look serious as well as look pretty, even if they were uncomfortable for the lady.

Conclusively,  visually registering information about what a woman is communicating based on her golf attire, doesn’t always tell you what you think you know about her.  Some women are “want-to-be(s)” and would be terribly ostracized and criticized if they dared try to express themselves the way they truly want to.  Just be thankful that the golf world allows for these costume try-out s and reality dressing as well.  No matter if an 1894 or 2009 golfer, women find spicy ways to dress while golfing.  As we move from history towards our current day, our clothing continue to reflect what we are expressing or trying to express or even disguise. http://SurLadyGolf.com awaits your order of women’s golf accessories, clothing, and gifts whether the desire is to be… colorful, practical, contemporary, or wild.