Golf Course Feature - The Bog

The Bog is this Month's golf course feature.

Located 30 minutes north of Milwaukee, The Bog is consistently rated as Milwaukee Top Public Course. Designed by Arnold Palmer, THE BOG is a public 18-hole, Par 72 championship layout, playable from 5,110 yds - 7,221 yds to all skill and courage levels, flowing through 297 acres of woods, wetlands, rolling hills and wildlife habitat. Expansive 15 acre practice facility complete with bentgrass tees, target chipping and putting greens.


Rated 4 1/2 Stars and 7th Best Golf Course in Wisconsin by Golf Digest and Milwaukee's #1 golf course since 1997 by The Business Journal. THE BOG offers lunch, dinner, golf outings, banquets and parties available in an elegant clubhouse overlooking the 18th hole.

Golf Course Information:
The Bog
3121 County Road I
Saukville, WI 53080
Ozaukee County
Phone: 262-284-7075
www.golfthebog.com

Two Mental Components of Golf

Bill Rabuck, head golf pro at The Bog, comments about the two menatal components of golf.

Golf, like all competitions, is at least 90% mental and at most 10% physical. 90% how you look at it, 10% how you do it. The mental side of the game can be broken down into 2 components: confidence and decision-making.

CONFIDENCE:

Ben Hogan once said, "The more I practice, the luckier I am". When a player is confident in their ability they produce a more natural swing. One of the most important components of a good golf swing is allowing the arms to swing without any tension. When the arms are supple, they return the club to the target with more club head speed creating a longer shot. In addition, when supple, the arms allow the release of the club to be timed correctly creating a straighter shot. These longer, straighter shots build more confidence. This added confidence builds more flexibility in the swing. The flexibility creates better results and the circle of improvement begins - CONFIDENCE leads to FLEXIBILITY leads to LONGER/STRAIGHTER SHOTS leads back to CONFIDENCE.

DECISION-MAKING:

There are an infinite number of decisions a player makes in the course of an 18 hole round of golf. Simple examples are club selection, and aiming decisions. I would like to offer some tips that can help players of all ability levels.

• Since most greens are pitched from back to front, it is better to miss greens short than long.
  
• In chipping, the bigger you swing (lob shot vs. pitch and run), the more risk you assume.
  
• Never aim such that a straight shot leaves you out of play.
  
• Be sure about all of your decisions (i.e. putting line or club selection). If you are unsure&STOP everything and think it through.
  
• Always focus on what to do, instead of what not to do. "I'm going to hit it in the fairway, instead of I'm not going to hit it out of bounds".