The Fleesensee resort is where my ‘golf career’ began, my wife and I made our first steps there, passed our “Platzreife” there and since then returned often to play one of the courses there. Except for the Schloss Course. So it was time to step up to the challenge to play the most demanding course the resort has to offer.

The club issues a handicap recommendation of -28 for the course, so on paper I should be able to master it. From yellow, it has a length of 5.919 meters (6.473 yards) and a slope rating of 133.

From our earlier visits I still remembered the advice given by a fellow golfer to take some extra golf balls with me should I play the Schloss Course. On a sunny november morning I showed up well armed and in an excellent mood, after the warm reception at the pro shop I strolled down through the park from the castle to the first tee. Whilst warming up, I was joined by Volker, a 61 year old retiree from nearby Untergöhren and after a quick chat, we decided to take on the course together. Good decision as it later turned out, as Volker knew the course very well and caddied a little for me in giving me some advice about the course and the tricky corners.

From the first hole - overlooking holes 1/2 and 17/18 - you play a downhill tee shot onto the 327 meter par 4. Beutiful scenery to begin with:

The fairways were soaked with water that day, so we didn’t get some extra meters from bounces or rolls. No, we had to work it all the way. The fairway and the green was separated by a water hazard (see above) and I soon found out that a) there were a lot of them and b) they were all placed in the landing areas of my ball. How could Stan Eby guess my club lenghts so precisely?

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Here’s a chance to work on your golf swing during winter not having to freeze your nose off. Michael Lins - Headpro of GC Prenden - is giving training lessons at the Capitol Yard Golf Lounge during the winter. For that purposes, a Scope video training system was installed in one of the practice bays of the lounge. We gave it a couple of shots last night and the combination of the swing analysis of the Scope system and the facetrack analysis of the simulator is pretty interesting.

If you are interested, Michael is giving lessons tuesday to triday as of 14:00, one lesson is 50 minutes at the cost of € 75,00 all inc. Group lessons are also available. Make your appointments via the Capitol Yard Golf Lounge or contact Michael directly at 0160 / 908 908 90 or miclins@aol.com.

The dream, the reality and the way a responseful parent should react.

As of 2007 the DGV (German Golf Association) will introduce a modified Stableford system that will not only consider the severity of the course alone but also the playing conditions on the individual day. In extraordinary dry or wet conditions, the results may not only dependent upon the course rating. The course rating itself is based upon “architectural” aspects of the course like the rough, hardness of the fairways or the speed of the greens. Aspects that can change on a daily basis due to wheather, fresh cut grass or long hard-rough and that are not reflected in the rating.

But how does this happen in reality? Players and tournament directors don’t have to worry, the calculation is done by the club administration software. Based on the assumption that the results of a tournament reflect the individual playing conditions on that day, the results of the tournament serve as calculation basis for the competition stableford adjustment (known as “competition scatch score” in the UK). The results of all players of a tournament hence can be adjusted by -1 to +3 stableford net points.

Read more about it in here (PDF, german only).

You guessed it: nothing on this week!

I just came across this ad about a new Golf Resort near Munich called the Golf Valley München. Apparently they want to built the longest tournament course in the world measuring 7.200 meters - thats 7.874 yards.

Initially, german golf legend Bernhard Langer wanted to build a golf course on the premises near Munich that formerly was the venue for the US radio station Radio Liberty. But then the investor Michael Weichselgartner won the bid. And so he builds a 27 hole championship course, a 9 hole practive course and a huge, floodlighted driving range ready to open in July 2007.

Looking at the plans, they maybe have been inspired by the TPC at Sawgrass when you see this:

The 16th hole, a par 3 (160m from white) will give a similar challenge to the golfers as the 17th at Sawgrass.

The ambitious plans are to be the stage for the 2018 Ryder Cup. But until then you’d have to throw in some extra money, didn’t Michael Smurfit take 50 Million Euro out of the wallet to have the Ryder Cup at the K Club? Anyway, it would be great to have the RC in Germany in whichever venue.

Even the best teaching professional has to undergo some training to keep his teaching sharp. Oliver Heuler, headpro at G&CC Fleesensee has set up a weekly training session for his pros in which one pro gives a lesson and is observed by other pros and after the lesson they evaluate the lesson and maybe find some improvements.

Moritz was the pro to be trained and I was his guinea pig, as Oliver had invited me over. So we met up at the video training hut at the driving range and it was time to see how good Moritz was in curing my flaws. And he had a lot to work upon. Maybe I was a little intimidated having four pros look at my swing and whispering things to one another. But it turned out to be a very helpful lesson for me and Moritz did a wonderful job and I think he got good grades from his fellow pros.

What was a little frustrating to me that I am being told the same things over and over again and I seem not to be able to itegrate it in my swing. The tightening of my grip (right hand more to the left) or the upswing for example. There are times when everything feels soft and fluid and then you have moments where you think you lost everything you ever had. But hey, I probably have some good 30 years with this game, maybe I’ll get everything fixed by then.

I couldn’t wait to maybe get it for Christmas, so I ordered it from amazon.co.uk: the 2006 Ryder Cup DVD. Delivered this week, I just finished watching it.

To be honest: watching these guys playing the best golf I have ever seen in my life has to turn even the cold-bloodiest human into a golf aficionado. Damn was this good. Holes-in-one, tons of chip-ins, great ball placements, incredible putts and the luckiest of bounces (I mean the one for Colin Montgomerie). I’m going right back to the couch to watch it all over again. And over again, and over….

Password Swordfish was on TV the other day and in one of the opening scenes, Halle Berry visits the other leading character Hugh Jackman as he hits golf balls of his trailer. So he steps up to him in her tight red dress and high heels and tells him to hand him the club and hits away a beautiful shot. Not that anyone would look at the golf ball in the scene but still: can anyone explain me why all these people at a movie set can show the actors a decent backswing? It’s ok if its just for show, but can you believe that Halle would hit a straight ball with a backswing posture like this: