I got a copy of “The Rotary Swing” from the publisher who apparently, thought I’d love to read it and review it here on my blog. Luckily, for both of us, that turned out to be true! I read the book on a flight to Seattle last week and absolutely fell for it – hook line and sinker.

In my hotel room, I was practicing my turn, feeling the “bump” and working on my legs and body with the hope that my swing will get less “handsy” and I’ll start to hit the ball more consistently.

I had intended to get to the range this weekend, but my 9 year old convinced me to play 9 holes with her earlier today. I knew I was risking it by going out on the course without trying out the new swing, but what the hell… why not.

I was nervous at the first tee, but hit an amazingly solid shot with my hybrid and proceeded to par the first hole! Unfortunately, the rotary swing can tend to make shots go left if you don’t do it right… the next two holes proved that. I realized that I was over-turning and corrected my swing on the 4th hole by sticking an 8-iron from 140 yards to 20 feet. I was shocked!

I hit the ball so pure, I hardly felt it. Over the next 6 holes I shot 2 over with 4 pars and 2 bogies.

The book is written in a simple, conversational style and while there are illustrations, the quality isn’t great. That said, I do believe I’m a rotary swing convert. The companion web site and drills are terrific – I’d recommend this book, especially for high handicappers like me. I’m really looking forward to digging into some of the drills and working on this more as I try to improve my game.

I played in a best ball charity tournament a week or so ago at Whitney Farms Golf Course in Monroe, CT. My friend Dave invited me to play because his company, Hudson Valley Bank was a sponsor and for some reason, there were extra spots (can you believe it?).

The course was in great shape, and we had a chance to play with Dennis, a course ranger who is 75. Not only did he know the course inside and out, the man was supremely consistent and knew exaclty how to play his slicing 150 yard drive every single time. I was amazed!

The winning team shot something like a net 57. C’mon!

I played OK – and as a team we did decently shooting 4 over with 4 bogies. It was a bit frustrating not to close out any birdies, but truth be told, we only had 2 legit shots at them, and the putts simply didn’t drop.

After the round, we had dinner and heard a lot of good stuff about St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport… I’ll be sure to go there if something bad happens!

It’s a great time to be a golf addict. Tiger and Rocco’s playoff at the U.S. Open was simply stunning.

I used Live maps to try to see where I might improve my course management on my home course. It’s interesting to take a bird’s eye view and see where I might be able to attack different holes in new ways.

On this map, I plotted our a 200 drive from each hole to the center of the fairway and 100 yards out from the center of the green (my favorite spot to play from).

Check it out and map your own attack!