Swing into Spring”

Spring Golf season is finally here and while we enjoy longer days, get ready for time to accelerate.

Despite more hours of daylight, the golf clock seems to run much faster, which seems to actually shorten them. So my first golf tips today is plan ahead and mark your schedules.

April 8-14 is The Masters Week, April 15-21 is the RBC Heritage PGA Tour event and April 29-May 4 is the Wells Fargo PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C..

These are 3 amazing golf events should be on every golf calendar to visit in person. Getting tickets for The Masters is extremely difficult, but the RBC Heritage and Wells Fargo are available online and attainable by simply going to www.pgatour.com to purchase.

Professional golf events are much fun. Larry Bosewell, Hall of Famer‘s Bobby Howard, Norman Flynn and Bobby Foster, all great players themselves, reinforced constantly to me in my early stages of golf this simple message.

“If you want to learn to play golf better, faster, go watch great players play. Study them in detail.”

One of the original purposes for me writing these type of articles is to provide a takeaway that can benefit a golfer’s game.

Another great place to observe great players is college golf. Beginning Friday, the Furman Intercollegiate will be held at the Furman University Golf Course. There will be ACC and SEC teams, along with other major college programs and some of the best collegiate players in the country.

Furman University Golf Club is truly spectator-friendly. Several holes come back to the clubhouse and watching players on this course is fun. It’s a great test and, while difficult, it is fun to play. You can see many rounds of golf simultaneously and that’s hard to explain, so you’ll just have to trust me and go see for yourself.

Another perk about watching college golf is you can almost walk shoulder-to-shoulder with players and they will occasionally communicate with the gallery. There is much more raw emotion and flare in the college game than the professional one.

Body language is still the number 1 most prevalent form of communication. It’s easy in college golf to view the entire scope of emotions within one group on almost every hole. To me, this is entertaining.

So mark your calendars and prepare your schedules in advance. Remember one of the purposes for going to watch is to learn. In developing a motor skill, the visual reference is the fastest way to learn. That’s proven in golf research amongst other sports.

What’s beautiful about golf is the option to both be a fan and a player.

Please take note of these upcoming events:  

LinRick is holding “The Inaugural Golf Classic” on April 26. For more go to www.richlandcountyrecreation.com. It’s a 9 am shotgun start with an awards banquet immediately following. Call Lisa Lewis Hutcherson at 803-741-7272 (Ext. 102) for questions.

If you are looking to introduce you child to golf, check out the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commissions Summer Golf Camps.  The dates are July 22-24 or July 29-31 from 9 am to noon for ages 6-15 all skill levels.

Call The Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission at 803-345-6168 or 803-772-3336 for more information and to register.