Journey at Pechanga offers unique bonus.

Golf courses around the counrty have all felt the pinch of a tough economy. That's the bad news. The good news for Golf Nuts is that golf courses are getting very creative in ways to keep golfers on their links. Even the pricey Top 100 courses are offering incentives and specials to increase their appeal and draw. Some have simply lowered their prices, while others have given away everything from golf balls to golf clubs to entice the golfing public.

Here is a unique bonus offered by Journey at Pechanga, voted by GOLF Magazine as the 4th Best New Golf Course You Can Play. Provided by Athletes Video Network (www.athletesvideo.com ) each golfer is video taped on their drive off the first tee. The video is then emailed to the golfer for their enjoyment. Also provided are comparative swings from selected PGA, LPGA and Celebrity golfers. I don't reccomend comparing your swing to Tiger Woods as that is just depressing but swinging side-by-side against Charles Barkley will brighten anyone's day!

Here's a sample of what you get and please, be kind with your comments...

http://athletesvideonetwork.com/public/email?&event_id=121&a=4ef636ee617a540cd1053eb20cd2a8dbe831cec4

AT MY AGE I SHOULD NOT REQUIRE ADULT SUPERVISION!

I clearly realize that I have been extremely negligent about staying "current" (OK, even close to "current") with my blog. No excuses but lots of reasons (better known as a "cop-out") all of which made perfect sense at the time. So, where is this going? Glad, you asked. I am growing to accept my timing issues, so I can't promise a month-long writing drought won't happen again but what I will always do is try to play catch-up. Besides, as we approach the end of golf season in many areas of the world, I get the idea that most of you Golf Nuts are out playing as much golf as you possibly can.

Do All Amateur Golfers Suffer From G.A.D.D.?

It always sounds simple, "every golfer needs a pre-shot routine." Nothing in that statement is overly complicated. So, why is it so terribly difficult for an amateur golfer to adopt a consistent pre-shot routine?

I've been giving this question a great deal of thought but have finally thrown in the towel in searching for an acceptable answer. I turned to The "Head Coach" for the Golf Nut Society, Randy Friedman, for help. I couldn't hook up with her right away, so being an "immediate gratification' kind of guy, I visited her online. What I found was the following video:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=50685954685

It was short enough for my attention span...so, I watched it. (Well, honestly... I watched 50 seconds of the 3:35  video, sort-of proving my own point.) Although it helped me know why I NEED a pre-shot routine, it still didn't answer what I still consider as the bigger question... we ALL know we need one but why don't we HAVE a consistent one? Watch Tiger (and I know that you do) his routine is A_U_T_O_M_A_T_I_C, on cruise control, programmed...no, hard-wired into his game! Put a stopwatch on Tiger's routine and I bet it doesn't vary by more than a single second from shot to shot. Put that same stop watch on an amateur and, well you get the point.

So, I have come up with my own list of reasons why you and I do not have a consistent pre-shot routine. Here's what I think:

1. NO FREAKING OUT! The average amateur has yet to conquer the "No Freaking Out" Rule; which says: "Tho Shalt Not Freak Out Before Swinging The Club!" I'd be lying if I didn't admit that a 215 yard carry over a bottomless-pit canyon gives me pause.

I'm sure there are many of us who are "money" with our routine when the fairway is clear and wide but might change things up a bit faced with serious trouble.

2. The GPS/What the Heck's My Distance factor. Someday, I'm going to write a paper about the way handheld GPS/Range-finding systems have slowed down the game of golf. For now I contend that one reason our pre-shot routine suffers is that WE DON'T TRUST OUR RANGEFINDERS and therefore we don't trust our distance and therefore we change clubs once or twice or more and therefore we feel pressured to finally make a damn swing and therefore we abandon our pre-shot routine. OK, that's a lot of "therefores," but don't try to tell me it doesn't happen. I've seen it, hell...I've done it!

3. PACE OF PLAY IMPATIENCE. Picture this; You're waiting on the tee box of a Par-5. The group behind you has just rolled up and you're still waiting on the group in front of you. That group in the fairway has 265 yards to the green, which means their best drive traveled 230 yards but they're waiting for the group on the green to putt-out! YIKES! The big-hitter in the group ahead of you finally takes his shot and it is finally your turn to play. Right or wrong there is pressure to move on and instead of taking a few extra seconds the golfer abbreviates the pre-shot. Here's a tip for that group in the fairway; if the distance to the green is longer than your well-struck drive...LAY UP!

4. BEVERAGE TECHNICIANS. That's the politically correct term for Cart Girl. The amount every member of your foursome cuts off their pre-shot routines is directly proportional to the cuteness of the Cart Girl...enough said. Oh, except when there is an equally cute "trainee" on board the cart. Then the pre-shot routine might be completely abandoned.

5. ALCOHOL. Self explanatory.

6. ALL GOLFERS SUFFER FROM G.A.D.D. G.A.D.D. - Golfer's Attention Deficit Disorder; This is the most likely answer. A pre-shot routine takes 18 to 25 seconds to execute, that's asking a lot from anyone who plays amateur golf. The Golf Channel can bring countless experts to their shows to tell us it's important. Hundreds of golf publications and web sites can publish articles on the subject. Great instructors can preach until Armageddon but amateurs will still wander to the tee suffering from G.A.D.D. I'd love to read your comments and find out if you think I'm on-the-money on this one but quite frankly my attention span is too short!

FIRST...YOU PACK!

I hate this part. You are going to be gone for 10 days... different climate, different events, just 10 days of different. Now, you have decisions to make. What will I need for the next 10 days? At home, everything is right there, accessible to your every whim. On the road, a different story. Thus, we PACK. My wife hates it when I pack because I like to travel light but pack heavy. Yep, an oxymoron, so let me explain.