golf

El Guappo got to hear two proposals last night on the future of a golf course at The Ravines.

The contrast between the two groups was stark. The degree of preparation, quality of presentation, command of the information, ability to clearly and effectively communicate the goals and vision were quite different. One group demonstrated respect, trust and accountability. The other simply did not. One group had a vision of a future albiet with a price tag that was 'sticker shock' realization for the crowd. One group had a vision of a future that was simply what was here before you might have again without significant improvements and no clear price tag.

Golf is a game for a lifetime!  At The Golf Academy we teach people of all ages to play this great game of golf!  One of the most important things that people must learn is how to stay cool on the golf course.  In Florida most people think I am talking about the weather and how to stay cool, however I am talking about your attitude on the golf course.

Yes, it is important when you are out playing to drink plenty of water and always wear sunscreen.  Just as important to playing the game of golf is your attitude!  Stay cool under pressure, how can you stay calm when you hit a bad shot?  It is very difficult to stay in a positive frame of mind even when you are playing bad.

Being that we all live in North Florida I wonder, do people rather play golf or watch golf on TV. Being a golf instructor you would think I'd much rather play golf than watch on TV. For the most part I would rather play golf except when Tiger Woods is playing!

This week Tiger Woods will be playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.  Tiger has played in two events on the PGA Tour this year and has won both, he is the leader of the FedEx Cup and if that wasn't enough he is the best player to EVER play the game!

We are watching history and as a golf nut I would much rather watch Tiger play golf than play golf myself!  So I pose the question to you:

Playing Golf in the wind can be very difficult for most amateur golfers.  Most golfers think that swinging faster is going to help the ball through the wind.  It is actually the complete opposite; the smoother you swing the better in the wind.  Why?

When you hit the ball regardless of the golf club you generate spin on the golf ball.  More spin with the wedges and hopefully less speed with the driver.  The harder you swing the more spin you create on the golf ball.  When you are hitting golf balls into the wind the wind will affect a ball that has more spin than a ball with less spin.

Most of my Blogs I will talk about golf and the latest news in golf and will look forward to comments back on the subject.  This week I want to talk about the Honda Classic.  Even though the tournament is held in March it sure felt like Christmas for Ernie Els.  Ernie has not won on the PGA Tour since 2004.  Yeah that is right The Big Easy, who gets his nickname by how smooth he swings the golf club, hasn’t won in over four years! As a golf instructor I couldn’t imagine someone with all that talent not being able to win at the highest level.  It goes to show it takes more than talent it takes mental power to win out on tour.  Or you just need the final group to fall apart and give you the tournament just like what happened this past Sunday! MARK CALCAVECCHIA and Luke Donald both gave an early Christmas present to Ernie Els.  Both players started the day at 6 under par and the winning score was 6 under.  There were double bogies flying all over the place and Ernie was able to play pretty solid and post a score of 6 under.  Then we waited and watched, Mark double bogie the 15th hole after what looked to be a great bunker shot, but the ball kept rolling and rolling until it finally came to rest on the other side of the green in the water hazard!  Oops, that is never good for the old scorecard.  So he goes on to double bogie the hole and basically could not get anything going the last few holes.  It was good to see Ernie Els win and it was nice to see a golf course playing tough these days.  Most of the time if you are not 5 or 6 under par you don’t make the cut and play on the weekends!    This week on Tour is the PODS Classic in Tampa and a friend of mine SantiagoCavanagh is playing in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption.  Santiago works with the kids at The First Tee of St. Johns County where I used to work!  Hopefully he will play well to make the cut and play on the weekend. The week after that he is playing at Bay Hill.  Until next time keep the ball in the fairway!

I am very excited to be writing my first ever blog.  Let me introduce myself I am Elliott LaVercombe Head Teaching Professional for THE Golf Academy!  I am writing this to tell my story of how I got into golf and why golf is such a great game!

I started my passion for the game of golf when I was twelve, even though at the time I had no idea how many doors the game of golf would open for me.  I just enjoyed playing.  My grandfather introduced me to the game of golf during my summer vacations in Grand Haven, MI.  At the time soccer was still my sport and living in Colorado there wasn't much time during the year to practice golf!  Since no one in my immediate family played and since it was still an expensive game to play I stuck with Soccer until my parents moved me to St. Augustine, FL when I was a sophomore in High School.  I was fifteen and very excited about the opportunity to play more golf!  By this time I had three summers of golf with grandpa and I was getting better!

Monday, August 6th was supposed to be the day that the course at the Ravines would be sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps.  That event is cancelled secondary to the request for bankruptcy by the owner, Mr. DeBusk.

Mr DeBusk will be having a meeting to discuss his perceptions regarding the petition for bankruptcy on Monday, Aug 6 at 6:30PM in the Fairway Villas' Board Room in The Ravines.  This is located between Villas D & E.  I was told that if I had any neighbors/friends that I thought might be interested in hearing this particular discussion that I was to "feel free to bring them" and further that this meeting would be "...opened to any and all questions..."

New Day; New Blog

Focus: My understanding of the silly, maddening, fascinating, infuriating events with direct and indirect impact on my community. Also, my interests which may or may not amuse anyone else. So be it.

Today: Golfing Blues

Clay County has quite a few courses. Rumor says that they are all barely breaking even from a business standpoint (except probably the one on NAS Jacksonville. Lotta choices for us. I live on a golf course. A defunct golf course. Been defunct for over a year with no end in sight. Don't know if there is anyone out there with enough $$ and tolerance for suffering that would want to buy it. Probably the most beautiful area for golf in NE FL but...it is all overgrown with mustard weeds with a level of disrepair that has taken multiple owners years to achieve. But I have an IDEA:

The article posted by DEBORAH CEARNAL- Clay Sun has residents of the Ravines Golf? Community buzzing with ethusiasm but with an air of caution at the same time.  My wife and I moved to the Ravines four years ago and it was the golf course which was the deciding factor which made the move a reality.  I am very relieved to see that the Ravines golf course may have a contract to sell; however I am somehwat leary as this article is the only evidence to date. 

I have spent sometime on the internet reasearching Florida LLC's in an attempt to locate Living Legends LLC Corporation in South Florida as well as researching all four names from the following article:  Public records show Living Legends Golf’s officers are Paul Thomas, Michael N. Elliott, John J. Walsh and Stephen H. Sheriff. The corporation is headquartered in South Florida.