Going to the range everyday and pounding balls gets old quickly. Especially if you’re doing what 90% of range goers are doing…just beating balls until they’re blue in the face. If you’re lucky enough to do your practicing on the course then you’ll also find that just going out to play for practice can get boring as well…so mix it up a bit. Here are a few fun ways to practice on the course, with a twist.

Play from the Ladies Tees
Yup you heard me….Playing from the front tees is a great way to mix up a course you play often because it gives you new yardages, approaches, and angles that you normally won’t find when you play your normal tees. You’ll have to hit some shorter wedges, and you’re game off the tee will change as well. It’s a fresh change of perspective when you get bored with your course. Yeah I know, there’s no way you’re going to play from the reds in the middle of the day with everyone staring and snickering right? You don’t have to play the reds at 9:00 o’clock on Saturday morning, but later in the afternoons is a good time when the course is emptier and you won’t feel so self conscious about hitting from the reds.

Odd or Even clubs ONLY!
Go play 9 holes with only your odd or even clubs…you’ll have to get creative on some shots where you don’t have your “comfy” club to fall back on. Get used to hitting some of those irons you don’t necessarily trust or look to for your normal shots. If you really want to get crazy, take the driver out of the bag, and while your at it, dump the fairway metals also. You’ll be surprised how your game changes and it’s a fun change of pace.

Two Ball Worst Ball
If you’re out practicing and you can play a couple of balls without holding up the entire course, play two balls on every shot. The kicker is, take your worst shot of the two and play your next two shots from there. So if you stripe one down the middle and hit your second one in the rough behind the tree, play your next two balls from behind the lumber. Do this with all of your shots, including putting and not only will you have a fresh, new practice session, but you’ll also be learning valuable scrambling skills. Unless you hit every ball straight..every time; then this drill won’t be much fun. Give it a try.

3 Club Round
A slight variation on the odd or even club practice session, for this event you only get 3 clubs…including your putter. Pick the three clubs you think you can get around your course with and head out there. This will test your shot making stills as well as your patience. You won’t need a bag, but don’t forget to bring some balls and tees. This one is even more fun if you can get a couple of buddies to do it with you.

So there you have it. A few ways to put some new life into your golf practices. It’s supposed to be fun out there, but occasionally it starts to get monotonous if you’re doing the same thing day after day. Freshen up your practices and you’ll learn some new skills and have a great time. Hit em’ straight!

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The PGA Tour has announced that it will begin it’s speculated drug testing policy as early as July of 2008, with penalties that range from year long suspensions to outright banning from the tour for 3 time offenders. Tim Finchem, PGA Tour Commissioner, says that players can be tested anywhere, anytime without prior notice and that in addition to suspensions for violating the policy, fines of up to $500,000 could also be assessed, depending on the severity of the offense. Finchem said violations for recreational drugs, such as marijuana or cocaine, could be treated differently from steroids. The program allows the commissioner discretion to require treatment instead of sanctions, or a combination of the two.

A list of the banned substances will be distributed to the players in the coming months along with educational material to familiarize them with the program.

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Ok, here’s another freebie you should all enter (I did!). You can’t go wrong with a nice pair of Footjoy shoes…and you REALLY can’t go wrong with a free pair of anything…so enter here and I hope you win…but, I hope I win too.

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Trying his hand at course design for the first time, Tiger Woods has completed the designs of 3 holes for his course in Dubai. Woods and his design company are developing a 7,800-yard, par-72 course called Al Ruwaya in Dubailand, the region’s largest tourism and leisure project. The facility will also feature a golf school, luxury homes and community center in the 55 million square foot development.

The 3 completed hole designs feature all of the requisite difficulties that you would expect from a champion like Tiger. Greens are protected by a multitude of bunkers and water hazards, while lush greenery adorn the fairways. So far, Woods has completed the designs for a 181 yard par 3, with varying elevated tee boxes, a driveable 341 yard par with 3 bunkers protecting, and a 500 yard par 4 finishing hole with water in front of the green and along the fairways.

Overall, I think if you walk off 18 with a par, you will feel like you made some smart decisions and executed properly,” Woods said in a promotional brochure for the development.

Woods personal 50,000 square foot mansion will be a feature of the course, a long with other luxury mansions that start in the $20 million dollar range.

read more here

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The original James Bond star, Sean Connery, settled his long time suit this past week with the Los Angeles based Sherwood Country Club. Connery, was scheduled to appear in court this week to testify, along with golfing friends Joe Pesci and Craig T. Nelson who were also going to testify for Connery. The suit against Sherwood C.C. alleges that the club failed to pay Mr. Connery equity that his membership had earned as a result of a real estate promotion deal he signed with the club in 1990. Connery purchased the membership that year for $35,000, but has not been a member of the club since 2004. The settlement amount was undisclosed. Score one for Double O Seven.

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Now here’s something you don’t think about much…..Golf Carts. I was playing at my friends club last week, and they had just received their brand spankin’ new Club Car Golf Carts…about 100 of them, and I got to thinking…how much does a nice golf cart influence the enjoyment of your round of golf? My club has decent Club Car golf carts also, but not nearly as nice as the carts my friends club just spent a fortune on. I mean these things are plush…fabric bucket seats, a quick release latch cooler system, requisite ball / club washer, GPS, the whole 9 yards. Don’t get me wrong, my club isn’t shabby, but they must have spent a fortune on these Club Cars, and their old carts weren’t in bad shape.

As we played that day, I felt like I was riding around in my wife’s sport utility vehicle. Not only were these Club Car golf carts much more comfortable to sit in, but they hauled some serious…we’ll you know!

Something about golf carts is just plain cool. As a kid, if you were lucky enough to get to ride along on the course with your dad, the only thing you had on your mind was “Do I get to drive the golf cart daddy?” And be honest, we’ve all done a few burn out, skid out, spinners on wet grass maneuvers before….right??? Heck, I’ve jumped golf carts farther than I used to jump my BMX bike as a kid…and we won’t even get into that one incident where the lake was involved.

My point is….well, I guess I have no point, but I was so impress with my friends new golf carts that I just had to talk about it. If you have any cool golf cart experiences, please feel free to comment. In the meantime, I’m going to back to my buddy’s course and ride around in his exotic Club Car golf carts for a while. Happy golfing.

Here’s a fine example of how much fun you can have.