Was your game ready?  I certainly hope so.  We're not likely to see better scoring conditions that that. Hopefully the extended (12 week) warmup this spring gave you time to get your game in shape.  If not - see Mike Turnesa, word is his lessons are great.  Or maybe it's the course that needs changing as suggested in the next section's comments on length and appropriate tees. 

Seems I was wrong in my previous posting - this is not the end of Partners' Best Ball, but we are into the Final Four.   One of the two semifinal matches is scheduled for Saturday.

 This Week At A Glance

From the First Tee	Saturday, June 11th	PBB Semi Finals
	First Tee Time: 5:40 Forecast: Could be a Warm One	Price/Ennis v Leopold/Hertz

Our survey of the Front Nine didn't draw any new responses, so we'll give it a rest for a week or two before we move on to looking at the back nine. 

The handicap calculator has moved to the newly named Tee Times/Handicaps page, along with a page showing indicies for the whole group and a handy "Sandbagger Chart."  Check them out.

Our club plays from the Blue tees, but why?  According to Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf, that's the equivalent of the pros playing from over 8,000 yards!  Barney has started a movement called Tour Distance which advocates playing from tees that allow you to hit the same clubs into greens as the pros do on their courses.  Warning - read no farther if phases like these offend you:

• "Unfortunately, golfers are masochists," says Jack Nicklaus. "They want a challenge but end up playing from the wrong tees. The game needs to become more concise."

• "I began to think it was like golfers have had a toothache for a long time," Adams says. "They've gotten used to the wrong thing."

According to GHIN.com "beginning in late May, the USGA, the PGA of America and the GCSAA started an ad campaign -- with the tentative handle of Play It Forward -- to convince golfers to move up.  It started with television segments during the Senior PGA Championship and will continue with the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women's Open. Then the organizations will urge course operators across the nation to set aside two weeks beginning July 5 in which they ask customers to play from a shorter set of tees, following Adams' guidelines."

Sounds like a great idea.  I hope Saxon Woods goes along with it.  To read more about this you can see a preview of Barney's article in the July issue  of Golf Digest (click here ) or the USGA perspective at GHIN.com (click here).

Which Tees should you be playing?

Driver Distance	Recommended   18 Hole Yardages
PGA Tour Pro	7,600	-	7,900
300	7,150	-	7,400
275	6,700	-	6,900
250	SW Blue Tees   6,200	-	6,400
225	White Tees   5,800	-	6,000
200	5,200	-	5,400
175	4,400	-	4,600
150	3,500	-	3,700
125	2,800	-	3,000
100	2,100	-	2,300