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1 Jul 2019 admin

Editorial: Sun Protection – It’s Not Too Late to Start

When I was a young teaching pro in 1991, a lady who was a dermatologist was in my golf class. She observed I wore a visor one day and no visor the next. She inquired about this, and I said on the days I didn’t wear a visor I wore sunscreen, but on days I wore a visor, I didn’t think sunscreen was necessary. She informed me that what I was doing was inadequate and that I needed to be wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen, and to do this every day that I was outside.

She made such an impression on me that I went out the very next day and bought a straw hat. Twenty-eight years later, here in 2019, I still wear a wide-brimmed hat and lather on sunscreen before each and every foray into the sun, whether I’m teaching, playing golf, or just spending some time outdoors.

You would think, in this day and age and with all the information we have about skin cancer that this would be the norm, but sadly, I’m an exception. Virtually every male tour player wears only a baseball cap, and it’s all too common to see teaching pros on the lesson tee doing the same thing. As for regular golfers, baseball caps are definitely the predominant headwear.

I’m fortunate to be at lesser risk for skin cancer due to my mom being from southern Italy and I inherited her darker hair and eyes, but I’d like to think I’ve staved off some real damage by taking that advice I received in 1991. The back and sides of my neck are still relatively smooth for someone my age, unlike the leather-beaten skin of some of my baseball-cap-wearing peers. And perhaps I would have had skin cancer by now.

I realize that old habits die hard and that I might convince only one or two people to adapt a new sun regimen, but I won’t quit trying. Please, for your health and the health of your skin, start doing more to cover up.

By Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director

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1 Jul 2019 admin

Sun Protection – It’s Not Too Late To Start

By Mark Harman

When I was a young teaching pro in 1991, a lady who was a dermatologist was in my golf class. She observed I wore a visor one day, and no visor the next. She inquired about this, and I said on the days I didn’t wear a visor I wore sunscreen, but on days I wore a visor, I didn’t think sunscreen was necessary. She informed me that what I was doing was inadequate and that I needed to be wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen, and to do this every day that I was outside.

She made such an impression on me that I went out the very next day and bought a straw hat. Twenty-eight years later, here in 2019, I still wear a wide-brimmed hat and lather on sunscreen before each and every foray into the sun, whether I’m teaching, playing golf, or just spending some time outdoors.

You would think, in this day and age and with all the information we have about skin cancer that this would be the norm, but sadly, I’m an exception. Virtually every male tour player wears only a baseball cap, and it’s all too common to see teaching pros on the lesson tee doing the same thing. As for regular golfers, baseball caps are definitely the predominant headwear.

I’m fortunate to be at lesser risk for skin cancer due to my mom being from southern Italy and I inherited her darker hair and eyes, but I’d like to think I’ve staved off some real damage by taking that advice I received in 1991. The back and sides of my neck are still relatively smooth for someone my age, unlike the leather-beaten skin of some of my baseball-cap-wearing peers. And perhaps I would have had skin cancer by now.

I realize that old habits die hard and that I might convince only one or two people to adapt a new sun regimen, but I won’t quit trying. Please, for your health and the health of your skin, start doing more to cover up.

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1 Jun 2019 admin

Golden, Harman Win Regional Events

Southwest – Cole Golden shot an opening round 69 against a strong field that featured several current and past USGTF champions at a windy Ridgeview Ranch Golf Course, which hosted the USGTF Southwest Region Championship May 4-5 in Plano, Texas. Tough, tricky greens and somewhat wet conditions after several days of wet weather had hit Texas earlier in the week greeted the competitors. Southwest Region director Bruce Sims and Master Lee carded 76, while Brent Davies and Chris Tyner shot 77. Grant Gulych, Jeff Kennedy, and D.B. Merrill came in with 78.

Golden continued his fine play on day two and was never threatened, as only Davies was able to get within three shots on the back nine before Golden responded with a birdie on the next hole. Golden finished with a 69-74 – 143 for a 1-under-par total. Davies finished in second place after shooting 70, which was the low round of the day, for a 147 total. Lee played solidly all day after shooting a fine round of 74 for a 150 total, coming in third place.

Southeast – Mark Harman made a statement that he is still a force to be reckoned with at GlenLakes Country Club in Weeki Wachee, Florida, this past May. The reigning U.S., Canadian and World Cup champion from Ridgeland, South Carolina, set a Southeast Region Championship scoring record of seven under par (70-67 – 137) to best Ron Cox of Henderson, Tennessee by five shots. Richard Crowell from Pensacola, Florida, and Rich Lively of Rockledge, Florida, took third and fourth, grabbing the balance from the $1,200 purse.

Cox, leading by a stroke heading into the final round, and Harman battled shot-for-shot on the front nine, but on the back nine, lightning struck. Harman eagled the par-4 13th hole, where he hit a punch shot from 125 yards under a tree which found the bottom of the hole. He carded six birdies in addition to the eagle to pace his final round score. Thanks goes out to GlenLakes head pro Tom McCrary, who has hosted us for several years.

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1 Jun 2019 admin

Editorial – Does the Pro Game Really Influence Amateurs?

It’s an accepted bit of wisdom – since the pros play slowly, amateurs take their cues from them that it’s also okay for them to do so. This has been repeated on social media and in articles often enough that it must be true, right? I’m not so sure. As I write this, I played in our morning game with two other players. I walked and carried my bag the entire 18, and another in our group used a push cart, with the third using an electric golf car. We teed off at 8:08 and finished at 11:37, which means we finished in a minute under 3 1/2 hours. Even on the weekends when it’s crowded, it’s common to get around in 4 to 4 1/2 hours maximum. Now, our course in Savannah, Georgia, is pretty wide open, but I’ve never had a problem at other area courses, even our muni, when it comes to pace of play. The amateurs who do mimic what the pros do are the junior and college players. It’s common for rounds to take well over five hours as they pace off yardage, study the wind and go through elaborate pre-shot routines, complete with breathing exercises and visualization techniques. I’m in favor of a checkpoint system, where if a group isn’t on a particular tee at a particular time, they get a warning, and if at the next checkpoint they haven’t kept the pace, dock everyone in the group penalty strokes. Yes, this may not be fair to the faster player(s) in the group, but something drastic must be done. As coaches, we can help our competitive players develop a pre-shot routine that is fairly quick. It doesn’t have to take over five hours to shoot under par, and we need to play our part to help keep players in competition moving along. By Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director

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