Proper Divot Patterns on the Range

As a golfer it can be a real downer to hear the phrase, "we're on the mats today". We all know that practicing your golf game off of artificial mats is no where near the real experience you receive practicing off the grass. One of the reasons that we do hit off the mats is because the range can honestly not handle the traffic that it takes on a daily basis. A simple way that we as golfers can fix this is trying to follow a divot pattern on the range. We at SilverHorn found this article from the USGA so very helpful to explain what it means to follow a divot pattern on the driving range. If you have a moment check out this article and pass it on to fellow golfers who you know practice on the driving range. Let's all do our part to keep the driving range and real grass in the best possible condition that we can. 

Images via USGA

Don't Stop!

Rob Myers is here today to give us all a little advice on our putting.

I often run into people having difficulty putting due to the inconsistency in the length of their putting stroke. Many amateurs have a tendency to take the putter too far back on the backstroke and then stop their putter upon impact with the ball. This type of putting stroke normally leads to decelerating the putter causing a change in the club face angle just prior to and at impact. I think many people feel that once the ball has been struck that the stroke is finished. So, how can you ensure that you accelerate the putter and follow through after impact? One of the best ways I have found to help ensure acceleration is to shorten the backstroke. By shortening the backstroke you will encourage yourself to to swing the putter forward with more speed to get the ball to the hole. As the putter speeds up on the forward stroke it will help to maintain a square putter face leading to more consistent results.

The next time you are on the practice green try taking the putter back a shorter distance. You should find that it will encourage you to accelerate the putter on the forward stroke leading to a longer follow through and more consistent results. As always, good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

Visit Rob at: www.riimgolf.com 

Call 210-545-5300 ext. 1 to book a private lesson with Rob.

Rob offers discounted lessons for SilverHorn members and you can become a member for just $10 a YEAR!

Your Questions Answered By Rob Myers, PGA (Part One)

We asked our Twitter followers and Facebook fans, "If you could ask a PGA instructor any question what would it be?" We received some great questions and here are the answers from Rob Myers, PGA. 


Ruben J.-
"What's the best drill for improving impact or ball striking?" 

As I'm sure you have noticed, the impact position is one of the most important areas of the golf swing to have fundamentally sound.  One major key to improving impact is to make sure that your hands are in front of the club head and the golf ball upon impact.  Try this: Once you are confident that the ball position is correct for the particular club you are using, place a tee in the ground about 12 inches in front of the ball.  As you execute the next golf swing, focus your eyes on the tee rather than the ball.  While this will certainly feel awkward, this is a great drill to trick your mind into thinking impact is actually later than it is.  The anticipation of impact with the ball often times causes people to release the club too early leading to inconsistency at impact.  As you begin seeing more success, slowly bring the tee closer and closer to the ball until you are able to just focus on the front half of the golf ball.  Best of luck!

Nicolas N.-
"How do I get more distance out my drive!?" 

Great question!  The search for more distance with the driver is something that is common amongst many!  While there is no potion you can drink to increase distance, there are a couple of things you can do to maximize your ability.  First, check your ball position to make sure it is just INSIDE your front foot.  Having the proper ball position will help you hit the ball at the bottom of the swing arc when the club should be moving it's fastest.  Another thing to focus on would be your turn away from the golf ball.  It's super important particularly with longer clubs that you get turned "behind" the golf ball on the backswing(lead shoulder and hip turned even with or behind the ball).  This full turn on the backswing will make it easier to generated more club head speed on the through swing.  Between these two adjustments you should see some increase in your yardage with the driver!  Hit it long!

Brendan N.-
"What is your number one piece of advice for beginners to the game of golf?" 

The best piece of advice I could give to somebody starting out is to PRACTICE!!  Spend as much time as possible with a club in your hand, even if you are not hitting golf balls.  Just holding a club, making practice swings, and working on your posture will get you more comfortable with some of the basics.  The sooner you are able to get comfortable with some of the basics you will be able to start focusing more on the mechanics of the swing.  It's also important to exercise a little patience when getting started.  Golf can be a frustrating game to learn, but hang in there for the first few months and it will be very rewarding! 

Mike P.-
"How can I improve my lag putting" 

Lag putting is a highly underrated area of the game.  Most people don't spend much time thinking about it until they find themselves on the green putting for birdie from 50 feet!  A great exercise for lag putting is to practice putting with your dominate hand only.  It will feel very strange at first, but the dominate hand is responsible for your touch or feel and thus is largely in contol of your speed.  Once you have struck several lag putts using just the one hand, you can place your lead hand back on the putter with very light grip pressure.  The light pressure will allow your dominate hand to still do the majority of the work while not drawing too much attention to yourself for only using one hand.  Before long you should find your speed on all putts (particularly the lag putts) drastically improve.  Best of luck!

If you are looking to improve your golf game Rob is available for lessons at SilverHorn and offers discounted rates for members of SilverHorn (our lowest memberships start at $10 a month!). E-mail Rob at rmyers@centurygolf.com to schedule a lesson or to simply ask Rob a question.

Also visit Rob online at Rob's website: www.riimgolf.com. 

Keep Up The Pace

Our director of instructor, Rob Myers is here today to educate us all on the best way to keep up the pace of play. 


Take it away Rob...


"As the weather continues to improve and more and more 


people begin flocking to area golf courses it is important that 


everybody understands the importance of pace of play.  Pace of play is something that is becoming a large area of concern for many golfers and golf courses as the popularity of the game increases.  Tonight, I am going to discuss a few small things that you can do to ensure that you are not contributing to a slow pace of play.  Hitting provisionals for lost balls, preparing for your shot while somebody else is playing their shot, and playing ready golf are just a few ways that you can help to keep a faster pace of play. 

1.  Hitting Provisional Shots

A provisional is an additional shot that is played when one is not certain where their first ball has come to rest.  This is a quick and easy way to help speed up your pace of play.  Next time you are out on the golf course, and you or one of your playing partners hits an errant shot that you are not able to see come to a complete stop, hit a provisional.  If you are unable to find your original shot than you can play your provisional ball which will save you the time of having to go back and replay the shot or to continue searching until you find the first ball. 

2.  Preparing For Your Shot Early

I often times see people on the golf course who wait until it is their turn to play before determining their distance from the hole, the type of shot they will play, or starting their pre-shot routine.  All of this can and should be done as soon as you reach your golf ball. 

3.  Playing ready golf

Playing "ready golf" is really just a fancy golf term for playing out of turn or hitting your shot as soon as you are ready.  Obviously during tournament play it is very important to maintain the appropriate order of play, but when playing recreationally it is far more important to keep a comfortable pace than play in the proper order. 

These are just a few simple things that can help to improve pace of play making the game much more enjoyable for others as well as yourself.  It doesn't take much effort to implement some of these things into your game, but it can make a monumental difference to the pace on the golf course if everybody is practicing these pace of play tips.  As always, let me know if you have any questions!  Make it a great week!"

If you are looking to improve your golf game Rob is available for lessons at SilverHorn and offers discounted rates for members of SilverHorn (our lowest memberships start at $10 a month!). E-mail Rob at rmyers@centurygolf.com to schedule a lesson or to simply ask Rob a question.

Also visit Rob online at Rob's website: www.riimgolf.com. 

SilverHorn Sidewalk Sale- This Saturday!



This Saturday

(April 21^st)

Near the practice green

11am- ? ?

Find discounts on:

-Clothing

-Used Golf Clubs

-Pull Carts

-Accessories

-Gloves

& More!

Spring Maintenance Aerfication

SilverHorn has one of the hardest working and most dedicated maintenance crews in the golf business. Ask anyone that comes to play SilverHorn and they will tell you that SilverHorn is constantly in great condition no matter what time of year it is and that is all because of the care given to the course by SilverHorn maintenance.

SilverHorn manitenance is lead by our superindentent- Neil Thrailkill. Neil built this course from the ground up and he continues to be dedicated to SilverHorn on a daily basis. For those out of the business golf course maintenance can be a bit confusing as to why certain things are done the way they are done, but today Neil is here to help educate us all on what Neil and his crew are working on right now at the course.

"As we move into the spring golf season at SilverHorn Golf Club, the Golf Course Maintenance staff would like to update you on some of the maintenance issues and cultural practices that will be taking place on the golf course over the next few months.

Addressing one of the most frequently asked questions- greens aerification (click here to define aerfication): our plan consists of aerifying 2-4 greens each week using smaller diameter aerification holes in early spring with the possiblity of increasing the diameter size of the holes as we get into the summer months when the Tif-Dwarf Bermuda grass on the grees is actively growing.

We will topdress (click here to define topdress) the greens as needed throughout this aerification process. The amount of sand that is applied will be dependent on the time of year of the aerification and the diameter size of the aerification holes that are used.

This aerfication process should speed recovery time on the putting surfaces and be more golfer friendly. The goal of our early aerifications of the greens is to provide a uniform surface transition from a green cool season Bluegrass (which is a cool-season turf) to an actively growing warm season Tif-dwarf Bermuda dwarf with minimal transition time and little adverse effect on ball roll. "

Check back later this week from more on what spring maintenance is being done at SilverHorn.

If you happen to see Neil our any other maintenance employee out on the course give them a wave and a thanks for all they do. Happy Spring San Antonio!

Putting On Fast Greens

SilverHorn  PGA, instructor Rob Myers is back with some more great advice that we could all benefit from- how to putt on fast greens.

"When you find yourself putting on fast greens there are a couple things that are super important to remember.  On fast greens it is imperative that you pick intermediate targets on the putting green, and it is equally important that the intermediate target you pick keeps you on the high side of the hole.   Not only will choosing an intermediate target help you get the ball started on the right line, but it will also help you focus on something that is short of the hole.  By focussing short of the hole you might be able to keep from hitting the ball as firm as you normally would.  This is a huge key in being able to "die" the ball in hole on quicker putting surfaces.  Another thing to make sure you are focussing on is making sure that the intermediate target you pick gets the ball started on the high side of the hole.  It's dangerous to get the ball on the low side of the hole too soon on quick greens because then the ball is rolling quickly away from the hole rather than towards it.  The longer you can get the ball breaking towards the hole and not away from it the better off you will be.

Putting on quick greens can be tricky, but if you are able to keep these couple things in mind they should help you be a little more consistent.  Over time you will probably find that while putting on fast greens is a challenge, its a fun one!  Let me know if you have any questions.  Good luck, and make it a great week!"

If you are looking to improve your golf game Rob is available for lessons at SilverHorn and offers discounted rates for members of SilverHorn (our lowest memberships start at $10 a month!). E-mail Rob at rmyers@centurygolf.com to schedule a lesson or to simply ask Rob a question.

Also visit Rob online at Rob's website: www.riimgolf.com. 

Hit Your Wedges Closer

We are lucky enough to have an excellent PGA teaching professional at SilverHorn, Rob Myers. Rob is here today to give us a little bit of advice on hitting our wedges...


"Today I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about wedge shots, and how you can better control your distances with them. When you are working on distance control with your wedges it's important to first have control over your trajectory. Without having control over your trajectory it will be very difficult to know exactly how far you will hit the ball. 

To better control your trajectory with your wedges you need to keep two things in mind, ball position and speed of swing. Moving the ball position in your stance can certainly help you to hit lower or higher wedge shots when desired. As you move the ball more forward in your stance you are likely to hit the ball higher while moving the ball back in your stance will encourage a lower ball flight. The speed of the golf swing plays a little bigger role in controlling trajectory then ball position. The harder you swing (particularly with your wedges) the more spin you put on the ball and the higher it is likely to fly. When you slow down the pace of your swing it is easier to flight the ball down. This might often times require you taking "more" club (a less lofted wedge) and swinging a little smoother.

The next time you are on the range spend some time practicing with your wedges. Experiment with the ball position and the pace of your swing and see how your trajectory changes. Once you are able to better control your trajectory you should find yourself having much more control over your distances. Best of luck, and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, and make it a great week! "


If you are looking to improve your game Rob is available for lessons at SilverHorn and offers discounted rates for members of SilverHorn. E-mail Rob at rmyers@centurygolf.com to schedule a lesson or ask Rob a question. Also visit Rob online at Rob's website: www.riimgolf.com. 

5 Tips For Putting Together A Successful Charity Golf Event

A golf tournament is the perfect way to hold a fundraiser, but it isn't enough just to schedule a tournament. There is a lot of effort and planning that must take part on behalf of the tournament coordinator in order for a golf tournament to be a successful fundraiser.

Today Mike Norton, SilverHorn's Sales Coordinator is here to give us his top 5 tips to be successful when putting together your own charity tournament. 

5 Tips for putting together a successful charity golf event:

 

1. Have a strong committee, that includes golfers on it

 

2. Sponsors, sponsors, sponsors. The more sponsors, the more money you raise.

 

3. Have contest holes with great prizes.

 

4. Be associated with a known/respected charity.

 

5. Make the date one that works for your potential players!

If you are thinking about a golf tournament for a fundraising opportunity- either for a charity, school, children's sports team or any other reason please contact Mike Norton at mnorton@centurygolf.com. 

New Ladies' Callaway Apparel

Let's face it for the ladies the same amount of time is spent shopping for golf apparel as it is spent on the range practicing. The good news is we just received a large shipment of new Callaway ladies' apparel. Here is a sneak peek at some of the pieces:

Hurry in ladies and get your shopping on. Remember if there is a piece that you see that is not in your size or you would prefer another color please know that we can order something for you. 

Welcome To SilverHorn's Blog!

Welcome to SilverHorn's blog!

Where we will frequently post all things SilverHorn and golf related. Visit this blog to see detailed information about:
-Upcoming events at SilverHorn from Adam Alviar
-Golf tips from our PGA instructor Rob Myers
-Event and banquet information from Jon L'Insalata
-Agronomy information from our head of maintenance Neil Thrailkill
-The latest golf style trends from Lauren Bird

& MUCH MORE!

Add us to your bookmarks or subscribe to recevie our blog posts directly to your e-mail by entering your e-mail to the left.