by South Florida Golf Pro | Jan 18, 2023 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golfing, Golfing Etiquette, Golfing Tips
What Is Par in Golf?
Deer Creek Golf Club is one of the best championship golf courses in South Florida, not only can guests enjoy the game in a tropical setting, but they can also take advantage of learning from our experts at our golf school. One of the many things that are taught in our lessons is the basis of the basics, for example, what is par in golf? What does it mean and how do you keep score?
Par in golf means the number of strokes set to get the ball in the hole. It is a standard score that is established for each hole depending on its length. The par score is the average number of strokes it takes to complete the hole from the tee box. This is then calculated into the total score for each golfer for the entire course.
Different Types of Golf Course Par
On a regulation golf course, there are typically three types of holes:
A Par 3 means that the golfer is expected to reach the green in one stroke, then get the ball into the hole in two putts for three shots. This type of par is the shortest hole on the course but that doesn’t mean it is the easiest.
Par 4 holes, expect each golfer to reach the green in two strokes and get the ball in the hole with another 2 putts. Par 4s can often have wide variations of distances including over 500 yards for professional golfers.
On a Par 5 hole, golfers are expected to take three strokes to hit the green due to it typically being the longest hole on any golf course. Players often try to take advantage of the par 5 and hit the green in 2 strokes, still 2 putts to get the ball into the hole. Which means they completed the hole in 4 instead of 5.
How to Keep Par Score?
Golfer’s scores are in relation to the par, especially in more professional games of golf. Some of you may have heard terms like “Bogey” or “Birdie” used when talking about a player’s score. However, one means one worse than par while the other is one better. Here are a few other par score terms players would know when learning what is par in golf;
Good Terms:
- Birdie – This is one shot less than the par set on a single hole. A par score of 3 on a par 4 hole is called a birdie.
- Eagle – This indicates two less than par on a single hole. Completing a par 5 in three strokes is an eagle.
- Albatross/ Double Eagle – Albatross means three less than a set par. Finishing a par 5 in two strokes is called an Albatross or Double Eagle.
- Condor – This means a hole-in-one on a Par 5. This is the rarest of all golf scores. As of recently, there are only five recorded condors in history.
Bad Terms:
- Bogey – This means one shot more than par.
- Double Bogey – Two shots more than par is called a double bogey.
- Triple Bogey – This is three shots over par on a single hole.
- Quadruple Bogey – This means four shots more than par on a single hole. This is the last specific name for any score over par.
Contact Deer Creek Golf Club!
If there are any further questions, contact Deer Creek today! You can also check out our tee times to come to test out your new knowledge on our course.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Jan 18, 2023 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golfing, Golfing Tips
What Are Some Golf Tips for Seniors?
Deer Creek Golf Club understands the importance of continuously adapting your golf swing and game to your body as you get older. Our experts have put together some golf tips for seniors and older golfers. For more golf tips you can also check out our blog!
Let’s say you’ve been golfing your whole life and plan on continuing into your “golden years’ as a senior golfer. You’ve worked so hard on your game and as we age our bodies start to change, whether it’s loss of flexibility, your swing not going as far as it once did, or your stamina has diminished, there are many ways for senior golfers to feel like they’ve lost their skills.
Here are a few ways to help combat the parts of aging that can hinder the game.
Older Golfers Tips and Tricks
Throughout this blog, we will break down our tips into three different categories:
- Body
- Equipment
- Tips for The Game
1 – Take Care of Your Body
Regardless of your age, taking care of your body and staying in your best physical shape will always benefit your golf game. Here are a few ways to take care of your body and increase the longevity of your gold game.
Flexibility and Strength
The first step in golf fitness is flexibility and strength. Flexibility affects your swing, so focusing on stretching exercises. Other fitness exercises to increase flexibility will be extremely beneficial. When it comes to strength, there are many exercises to build up the specific strength needed for golf:
- Single Leg Hip Circles
- Highwire Shoulder Raises
- Single Leg Chipping
- Split Power Jumps
- Squat Med Ball Rotations
- Half Kneeling Resistance Band Rotation
Warm Up Before Each Round
Before you play, arrive a little earlier and warm the body up. Do some warm-up stretches and get your body moving, start with some practice swings with a short iron, then a medium iron. Just get a few good stretches and swings in to get the body ready.
Don’t Over Warm up or Play
As much as it is important to prepare the body, it is equally important to listen to it. Don’t over warm up or over play and exhaust your body before the game even begins. Find a pattern of play that works for you!
2 – Equipment Matters
What you play with is just as important as how you play. It is important to choose your equipment carefully.
Clubs and Balls
The key to this is the shaft. Here are some ways to make sure your clubs fit perfectly to your needs:
- Get fit for a senior shaft, they are available in different flexes that can help get some distance back into your game as the swing speed may slow.
- Move to a hybrid alternative instead of the long irons.
- If you aren’t a long-established golfer then it is best to keep a selection of wedges in your bag.
- Have the proper putter length, for a correct setup, the eyes should be positioned over the ball.
- Check your grip size as well. If you struggle with arthritis then adjusting your grip size can help. A midsize or jumbo golf grip size can be the solution and make things easier on the hands.
- Find the ball that suits your game. The ball that professionals use isn’t the best idea for older golfers. A ball that has low compression with a rating between 70-80 will match up with a slower swing speed and help improve distance.
3- Game Strategy
As golfers get older, their game should be redesigned to fit their abilities over the years. With our golf lessons and more, seniors can continuously audit and go over their fundamentals such as good posture, grip, stance, and alignment.
The fundamentals also involve embracing a shorter backswing, working on your follow-through, and making sure you transfer your weight.
Contact Deer Creek Golf Club!
If you have more questions about our course, tee times, and golf tips for seniors, contact Deer Creek today!
by South Florida Golf Pro | Dec 7, 2022 | Fun Golf Facts, Golf Lessons, Golf News, Golfing, Golfing Tips
There is much focus that is needed in the sport of golf. Naturally, when you need golf focus, it can be very easy to burn out from it. With golf mostly being slow-paced, the game provides many windows and opportunities for you to think. You can collect your thoughts, as well as focus on the mental aspect of your next move in the game. Losing concentration during a game of golf can be costly. If you want to play to the best of your ability, honing in on different tips and tricks to keep you alert and focused is important.
Deer Creek is here to give you tips on how to focus better in golf. We have a full golf course with 18 upgraded holes and brand-new TifEagle Ultradwarf bermudagrass in a high-end setting. At Deer Creek, we have the knowledge to offer advice on staying focused on your game of golf so you can play your best game. Keep reading to learn more from our golf experts.
The Mental Aspect of Golf
As with many sports, the mental aspect of golf is almost as important as the physical aspect. As simple as it sounds, thinking positively can affect your ability to focus. If you go into the game with a negative attitude, your focus will not be in the right place. It might not even be present at all. Work on your process, not your score. Overthinking about your downswing, the takeaway, or your grip can really interfere with your mental state and ability to focus.
Losing Concentration During a Golfing Game
A tip that can help you hold concentration during a golf game is splitting the 18-hole game into rounds of three holes per round. Doing this makes it three mini-games during each of the two rounds. Having mini-games is very helpful because completing nine holes twice in a row can become very tedious. Typically it is during the second set of nine holes that people begin to lose focus.
Another tip is to only focus on one hole at a time. Completely forget about how the previous holes went – good or bad. Don’t begin to think about the upcoming holes. Focusing on the hole at hand will increase not only your performance but your ability to focus throughout the game. This is because your head will be less cluttered, and you will not be thinking about the past or the future.
Having a pre-shot routine, as well as practice routines, can be tasks that contribute to your ability to focus. Prepare your pre-shot routine earlier than you already do. You’ll be able to look at the slope of the ball as well as feel how heavy the wind is at the time of day. Many professional golfers recommend that you think to yourself, “What does the shape of my shot look like?” Course management can bring consistency. This will help create less noise about what your next steps are. It will also give you more room for your golf focus, and you can concentrate on how well you are about to play.
Playing a Focused Game of Golf at Deer Creek
Once you have these tips down, you can check out our tee times and rates. If you have any questions about our course, contact us today.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Nov 1, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golf Lessons, Golfing, Golfing Tips
“Slicing” in golf is when a sidespin is put on a ball, which means golf shots go right for a right-handed player and left for left-handed players. It is known as one of the most common faults in golf. It is not as destructive as the hook (a ball that curves during flight,) but it still does not help one to get a good score in their game. Unfortunately, it is not always a quick or easy fix, either.
Deer Creek Golf Club has seen and worked with many golfers over the years that have overcome this fault in our golf school. With this experience, we are able to offer some advice and tips on how to not slice a golf ball.
Tips to Stop Slicing
There are a few factors at play when a golfer continuously slices. No one wants to waste a tee time on slices and bad shots. Here are ways that work for some, including our professionals’ basic tips and things you can work on.
#1 Work on Proper Weight Shift
A common theme among slicers is having incorrect or insufficient weight transfer in their swing. When players get to the top of their backswing and the first move is made by the shoulders and arms is where the expression “coming over the top” comes from. The feet get stuck because the player is putting too much weight on the back foot.
A good weight shift comes from the proper sequence of movements starting in the lower body, feet, knees, then hips. Then the upper body follows the upper torso, arms, and hands, all in that order. This means that the hands, which control the club, will stay more inside the correct path for a decent swing.
#2 Turn Through the Impact
Good golfers who have proper weight will shift and turn their bodies through the impact and, more often than not, won’t slice. If professional golfers are analyzed, it will often be seen that their shoulders are about 15 to 30 degrees left of the target, and hips are between 30 to 60 degrees leftward.
Tips #1 and $2 are about correcting the motion of the body as a way to stop slicing.
#3 Don’t Aim for a Slice
Many golfers who are dealing with a slicing problem attempt to aim more left as a fix for how to correct the right slice in golf. That is not the answer! If a round is being played with a left-to-right wind, then aiming more left will just further exaggerate the slice. A wind that is coming off the left may stall the ball’s forward motion, meaning it’s going nowhere.
By working on correcting the swing and path of motion, golfers learn how to get the clubface and stance more squared up, which helps overcome the slice regardless of the wind patterns.
#4 Try Stronger Grips to Make It Easier to Square Up the Clubface
The face of the club naturally rotates closed as it approaches impact. A common problem that golfers have is being able to allow this to efficiently happen. Some players overdo it, and suddenly, instead of slicing, they’ve pulled insanely left.
A way to square the clubface up to avoid either of those bad shots is to strengthen the grip a little. For right-handed players, stronger grips mean more knuckles of the left hand and, if necessary, dropping the right hand slightly under the shaft.
#5 Use Softer Flex Shafts
As golfers swing down, the club head is initially lagging behind the hands. With stiffer and heavier shafts, it makes it harder for it to catch up correctly, while light and flexible shafts help the club head kick forward before impact. This creates more rotation of the face which then helps square up the face and adds loft to the face, which minimizes the headspin on the ball at impact.
Softer shafts should be used by players who slice, while heavier ones should be used by those who struggle with the hook.
Contact Deer Creek Golf Club
We hope our tips for how to not slice a golf ball have helped and if you are interested in our golf school, tee times, or rates, contact us today! If you are in the area, you can also check out our pro golf shop, filled with all the attire, accessories, and equipment you’ll need to look like a pro golfer.
by South Florida Golf Pro | Nov 1, 2022 | Deer Creek Golf Club, Golf Lessons, Golfing, Golfing Etiquette, Golfing Tips
Deer Creek Golf Club has helped and taught many players golf strength and conditioning workouts to better their game. Focusing on this type of fitness is a great way to target specific areas that could be affecting your golf game. Golf fitness involves a lot of mobility work and balance that can translate into a better swing. There are four main areas that should be focused on when thinking about golf fitness:
- Balance
- Stability
- Rotational strength
- Power
Adding these elements together and into your regular fitness routine will only be beneficial to your swing and overall golf game. In addition, keeping up with proper fitness can prevent your body from feeling pain which can be caused by incorrect form or weaker muscles. Practicing this type of fitness can target all the muscles needed when playing golf.
Balance Workouts
Balance is often the part of golf fitness that gets forgotten or doesn’t get the amount of attention it deserves. Here are some tips and workouts to incorporate into your fitness routine to focus on balance.
Single-Leg Hip Circles
Stand with your hands on your hips and your feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight over to your right leg and slowly lift your left leg out to the side. After establishing your balance, begin making circles out to the side with your left leg. Try to maintain stability and balance in the knee and ankle of the left leg to reduce too much movement. All movement should be in the left hip. Do it five times clockwise and counterclockwise, then switch legs and repeat.
Highwire Shoulder Raises
This is a combination of shoulder work and balance. Start with a light dumbbell (5 to 10 lbs) in each hand, and your arms should start by your side. Place your right foot directly in front of your left foot as if you were walking on a tightrope or highwire. Once you find your balance, lift your right arm out to the side until it is parallel with the ground. While keeping that balance, lower your right arm and repeat with the left arm. Continue until you’ve completed 10 reps on each side.
Switch legs and repeat.
Single-Leg Chipping
Grab a club and set up as if you were about to knock a 30-yard chip onto the green. Bench your trail knee (right knee if you are right-handed, left if you are left-handed) and lift that foot off the ground. Maintain your balance in this one-legged set-up potion and practice your chip shot. Aim to keep that trail leg up in the air and keep the clubhead from touching the floor for at least three perfect shots at a time.
Once you have mastered this, switch the foot that is in the air and try to get three perfect shots without the front foot touching the ground. As you master the skills, up the distance of the chip shot to 50 yards and so on.
Stability Training
Stability and balance go hand in hand in most sports and workouts. It is no different in any golf training guide. If there is a lack of stability, then the swing of any golfer will be compromised. Here are some stability training workouts to work on.
Shoulder Taps
Starting on all fours, lift your knees off the ground so that you are now in a high plank position. Slowly alternate between one hand tapping the opposite shoulder and placing it back on the ground. This type of exercise strengthens core and cross-body stability. It also helps protect your lower back and helps efficiently transfer force through the spine while maintaining the angle.
Side Leg Side Reach
Get your balance on one foot and keep the opposite foot low to the ground, then reach side to side without losing your balance. Let your head and upper body lean in the opposite direction to maintain a nice long line from the tip of your head to your foot. This will help build up stability in ankles, knees, hips, and spine in the frontal plane and help transition weight side to side like you would in a golf swing. Do this for three sets of 10 reps on each side.
Palloff Lunge
For this exercise, you will use a cable machine or a resistance band. Have the cable or band directly out to your side and hold it in your hands directly in front of your sternum and begin stepping forward and dropping into a lunge. Switch between legs and only lunge as deep as it is comfortable. This will help build rotational stability over a dynamic lower body, which in turn helps with a more efficient transfer of force from the lower body through the core to your arms and club.
Rotational Strength Training
It’s pretty obvious that rotational strength is important for a golfer’s swing. There are a few ways to improve your rotation, which also means improving your swing. Being consistent with golfing exercises and stretches is a big part of golfers being able to continuously improve their rotation and swing. Here are a few ways to do that.
Stability Ball Twist With a Dumbbell
Starting by lying on your back with shoulders on the stability ball and hips off in a bridge position. Keep feet a little wider than hip-width apart, and have the dumbbell straight above at chest level. From this position, maintain a strong core, keep your hips in the bridge position, and slowly rotate towards one side and then the other. Make sure to keep your arms straight and feet pressed on the floor. Repeat five times on each side.
Half Kneeling Cable Lift
In a half-kneeling position with the knee down closer to the cable machine, maintain proper hip, knee, and ankle alignment on the forward leg. It is important to maintain a strong core and bring the weight towards your chest and then simultaneously rotate and push the weight away. Keep bare at eye level upon full rotation, control the movement through your core and avoid twisting through the lower back. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Half Kneeling Resistance Band Rotation
In a half-kneeling position, the front knee should be closest to the wall. Place a ball between your leg and wall, grab a resistance band and create a little tension with arms pulled shoulder width apart and slightly lower than shoulder height. With your front knee pushing the ball to the wall, rotate your upper body away from the front leg. There should be little to no movement through your hips. Follow the movement with your eyes throughout the rotation. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Power Training
Power is something every golfer strives for because power can translate to more yards off the tee and to the irons. Here are a few power exercises to add to your workout regime:
- Slam Skater Vertical: Using a medicine ball, stand on one leg at a time and slam the ball side to side, maintaining your balance.
- Split Power Jump: Starting in a lunge position, power through grounded feet and keep your core tight and explode up.
- Weighted Power Jumps: Power up from grounded feet in an explosive move. These can be done with or without weight.
- Squat with Med Ball Rotation: Stand with feet separated shoulder width apart and toes forward. With a slight bend in the knee, engage your belly and keep your arms straight as you rotate slightly and toss the ball to a partner or against the wall.
These exercises will help build strength and control in a golfer’s swing.
Contact us today if you are interested in our golf school, tee times, or rates.
