GOLF

THE KEY TO MAKING ONE METRE PUTTS

Richard Hudson and Eddie Charnock, Algarve Golf Guru, PGA Professionals discuss taking on those nerve-racking short putts!

When you read the PGA Tour ball leaving the club face is very important! Stats for Putts holed from 1m During the drill you will work your way around the circle, and in, you then realise the holing each ball without stopping or making a practice importance of practicing the 1m stroke. Very important, you will count as you go, one, putt! two, three, four, five etc as this is introducing rhythm to 1m putt and closer, 97% holed the drill! On completion of holing the eight balls you can during the season. then start again, but when you count this time start 1.2m putt, 90% holed during the season. at nine, then ten, eleven, twelve etc till you have holed 1.5m putt, 75% holed during the season and when you are number 16. 1.8m away, which still seems to be close, the putts holed It is important to add pressure to the drill, so set a target drops dramatically to only 55%! of holing either 8, 16 or 24 balls without a single miss What is key to holing a 1m putt? different part of the game. If you do miss you must start If you were to ask one of the great clutch putters of the again at 1! modern era, Phil Mickleson, he would say rhythm along before you can either go home or move on to practice a with plenty of self belief! Your chance to WIN! The drill we are going to suggest you do, not only gives Win a 30 minute golf lesson with The Gurus! you the self belief needed to hole the very important 1m Which famous Professional Golfer is nicknamed “Lefty”? putt but also to add rhythm to your stroke. Please email your answer to sales@algarvegolfguru.com As you can see from the picture, this drill requires you to To discuss any of the areas covered above or to book a circle a hole on the practice green with 8 tees 1m from golf lesson, please contact Richard or Eddie and please the hole. All 8 balls you use for this drill must be the mention Simply Algarve as the referral. same, don’t mix makes or types of golf ball as feel of the E: sales@algarvegolfguru.com W: algarvegolfguru.com

Parting words...

Jake Cleaver shares some thoughts on the power of God... No... Sorry, the Sun!

Does anybody else feel like they are at least partially Solar Powered? I have far more energy on days when the sky is blue and everything is lit up by the sun’s rays. Surely I’m not the only one? In fact, if you are reading this magazine that means you’ve followed it to the Algarve (or at least, like me, you haven’t been able to turn away), and I’d be willing to wager that you too, are a fellow Sunflower.

I wrote that last paragraph a few months ago, on a cool crisp morning no doubt. Now it’s August I’d like to revise my theory, and say that past a certain temperature my battery starts to melt. Somebody do a rain dance, please!

Nevertheless, in moderation I still think it makes sense. Seeing as all the energy in the world comes from the sun. Photosynthesis, which is it weird to say is my favourite thing? I love when plants are lit up and highlighted a light green in the sun. Without it none of us would be here. They are catching the sun’s energy, and I feel like I catch it a little too.

If I was to worship anything as a God, I’d say that our closest star is the proper candidate. Without it there would be no life on this earth. It’s the source of all our energy. Every night it sinks below the horizon to do battle with the darkness, and never fails to emerge victorious in the morning and light up our world. But you have to respect it, as anybody who falls asleep on the sunbed can attest to its red raw power. Our mighty God looking down at us from on high. We are all its subjects. We instinctively know not to look directly at it in the eye. “Look at the King and you’re dead”, as they say.

The ancient Greeks worshiped the Sun God Apollo, who drove his chariot across the sky every day. I always enjoyed the way the Greeks would look at the world. Before science you had to come up with your own explanations for things. And if you don’t know any better, then a thunderstorm, for example, could very well be Zeus having a temper tantrum. I also like the idea that there’s not just one God, but lots. All with their own dominion. Poseidon the God of the ocean can, as we all know, be truly magnificent and kind on a day at the beach, but also turn dangerous and unforgiving in the blink of an eye. And that’s true of all the elemental Gods. They are majestic and awe inspiring. But you don’t want to catch them on a bad day. I’d like to And, if the Sun is the God of the day, then the Moon is revise my clearly the Goddess of the theory, and night. Sharing the Sun’s light as she dances in her many say that past forms across the sky. a certain Of course, when we did get temperature a bit more scientific about it and actually started to my battery admit we didn’t know things. starts to melt. That’s the real secret to this incredible modern world Somebody do of ours. There’s real power in being able to admit you a rain dance, don’t know. That way you can please! actually try and find out, and you don’t have to spend your time burning the people who differ from the status quo. Which is actually what we did to the first person who dared to suggest the Earth went around the Sun. The reality might take the wings out of Apollos sails (a little), but it doesn’t hurt my worship of our golden sky lamp, at all. In fact, it just makes it clear about who our lives truly revolve around.

And maybe there is something to my Solar Powered idea. Sunlight is one of the few ways we get our Vitamin D. (It’s certainly one of the most pleasant ways. Who wants to eat cod liver oil? Ick.) Without which we get rickets and our bones get weak. Vitamin D allows us to get our body to produce the calcium we need to make us strong, not to mention being great for our immune system too.

So maybe it is partly that. But I also think us humans are highly visual creatures. We have a strong need for beauty. And I would argue strongly that nothing makes the world as beautiful as sunlight. The way it literally lights up the world, casting shadows everywhere. Maybe it’s my strong affinity towards Peter Pan, but I feel

quite lost without my shadow to show me the way. So worship that fireball of ours is what I say. Do your sun salutations. Absorb that sunlight. Wake up early so you can see the amazing colours sparking off Apollo’s chariot as he sets off in the morning, and watch with awe as he crash lands at the end of the day. Because, if the sun is God, I think the Algarve could very well be its Mecca