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Community Corner

Mid-Spring Brings Golf to Forefront

A Ballwin event gives golf a new look, and local golf experts give newbies some tips.

As days start to get longer and more pleasant, golf starts to look better, even to me.
I barely make-do on the driving range, but thoughts of sunshine, cold beer and
camaraderie on the course sound pretty great right about now.  But for those of us who don’t regularly get out on the greens, golf can be incredibly frustrating. To cater to an unconventional golf crowd, the Glow Golf Scramble will bring out a different side of the game when its players tee off starting 8 p.m. Friday at the Ballwin Golf Club.

The event, put on by the Ballwin Parks & Recreation department, started 3 years ago when one of the managers heard about it at a programmer’s roundtable.

“The course looks like a runway at night,” said Chris Conway, Recreation Manager for Ballwin. The event is held at night, and the course is measured and lined with glow sticks and LED lights.

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There will be a “shotgun” start at 8:30 p.m. at Ballwin’s golf course with teams of two players staggered at different holes.  It will take approximately three hours to finish, with refreshments and awards to follow at the clubhouse. The light-up balls are a bit rough on drivers,  however, so if you play don’t bring your prized club.

“Glow Golf is special because it takes the edge off golf,” Conway said. “It takes a sport that, in my opinion, generally frustrates players and puts a fun spin on it.”

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The event is open to all golfers ages 21 and over. For cost information and additional event details, click here.

Not quite confident enough to take on golf in the dark? Marilyn Schake of Barrett Station Golf Practice, and David Furlong, the golf pro at the Ballwin Golf Course, may be able to give some tips to get you on the right track.

Don’t invest in new clubs just yet! Barrett Station Golf Practice has lender clubs free of charge for those in the fledgling stages of learning how to drive the ball (or tee-off) and putt.

“I recommend beginners get used, not new, name-brand clubs and not worry about getting ‘custom-fitted’ until they have a swing built,” Furlong said.

Start good habits right away. Barrett Station Golf Practice holds complimentary clinics with pros, and also hosts a Continuing Education golf class from Meramec Community College. Furlong is the pro at Ballwin Golf Club, and lessons are available there as well.

“It takes a long time to undo bad habits – and the body remembers what you teach it,” Schake said.

Practice until you are good enough to not get in the way.  A big tenet of golf etiquette is to be able to play quickly that golfers behind you don’t get annoyed from having to wait for you to finish. So use the driving and putting range until your skill level progresses.

“[New players should] practice at the driving range until they no longer miss the ball when they swing, and can get it in the air and general direction of their target 70 percent of the time,” said Furlong.

Be here now. That is, really stop and think about how you are moving and focus on how you are moving the club, not the ball.

Before watching the pros at Barrett Station Golf Practice, “I didn’t realize this was such a mental game,” Schake said.

And as always, mind your manners on the course: Stand quietly out of peripheral vision; replace divots (uprooted chunks of earth) and repair ball marks on greens; and rake sand bunkers when finished playing out of them.

Barrett Station Golf Practice has been a family-run business for over 10 years. It was started by Mr. and Mrs. Ted Koziatek, and further developed by their daughter Melissa Koziatek-Schake. It is located at 3031 Old Dougherty Ferry Road Ballwin, MO 63021.

Dave Furlong is the Professional Golf Association’s Professional-in-residence at Ballwin Golf Course, located at 333 Holloway Rd., Ballwin, MO 63011. Furlong received the President’s Council award in 2009 and 2010. For more information on Golf Glow Scramble, click
here
.

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