“Phillips Tilting At Golf’s Windmills” is an article written by Jack O’Leary in the Florida State Golf Association Monday edition of Global Golf Post. This is the second article this year about my quest as a non-athletic amateur golfer to qualify for the United States Golf Association Senior Amateur Tournament.

This article gets to the heart of the issue with me and my quest. Few things are impossible and most things are within the realm of possibility if an individual makes a commitment, devises a plan and executes the plan through exercise, practice and education.

I may not have the windmill in sight at the moment but I am on the quest and I will get there.

Thank you Jack O”Leary.

I have seen the mountain and I do believe it is scalable. Translation: My practice is starting to pay off.

I played at Eagle Landing in Orange Park, Florida today. I was playing with Ernie “I haven’t made a long putt all day” Velazquez and Darrell Jerome “J.D.” Jackson, a master of the long irons from the fairway.

Eagle Landing is one of my favorite courses in Jacksonville area. With six sets of tees there is a place for everyone and everyone has a place. The course is wide open with increasing difficulty as you start on the back nine.

My round started slow with a 50 on the front side. This was a direct result of not hitting balls before I played. I re-learned a major lesson today that if I cannot make an effort to get to the course early to hit balls then I should not be undertaking this quest.

During the last 9 I hit my stride. I shot 42 on the backside. My drives were 200 plus yards. I was able to go for the par 4′s  in two and the Par 5′s in three. If I could have made a few more putts I would have been 2-3 strokes lower.

Things are definitely looking up today. I will continue to practice work on  my swing and hopefully continue to improve. Four months and two days till final deadline for the submission of application for the USGA Senior Amateur Qualifying.

Over the last two days I have worked on on my long clubs; driver, fairwoods and hybrids. As previously noted I am trying to maximize distance for each individual club. The major movement lacking in my swing is the movement of my hips before my shoulders, arms and hands. I have been an arm swinger most of my life which maximizes my distance out by how fast my arms can move.

Workign on redoing the sequence of my swing is causing initial problems with direction since the face of my club is open at impact. The distance has increased but the accuracy is off for now. However, I believe with persistence I can get a 10% increase in total driving distance. Once the sequence is ingrained, I am goingt to get a professional fitting for a driver to maximime distance from equipment.

My goal is to increase my driving distance to 225 yards. This additional distance will allow me to reach 400 yeard Par 4′s in regulation. Currently I must rely on my wedges to get me close on the third shot in order to have a chance at par.

As the weather is warmer and my practice sessions increase, my posts will become more frequent detailing my progress. The deadline for submitting my application for the USGA Senor Amateur Qualifying is August 15, 2012.  Four months will go by quickly so stay tuned for updates.

Professional Golf received a great gift Sunday. Not since the rise of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus has the golfing community been energized by an enigma known as Bubba Golf. Bubba Watson, a young man from the Panhandle of Florida, who never had a formal golf lesson in his life energized the golfing world by winning the Masters Tournament yesterday in Augusta, GA. Without pretenses, he openly wept with his family and friends after sinking the winning putt. The World of Golf has a new hero who is family oriented, not ashamed of his religious beliefs, and brings joy back to a suffering industry. Those of us who watched were truly blessed with great drama, suspense and a Real Hero.

I travel frequently to Orlando for business. Since I like to stay in the Lake Buena Vista area, I am limited usually to the Disney Golf courses for practice. Although the courses at Disney are fabulous, their setup is not conducive to someone who only wants to practice for a few hours before dark.

On my last visit, I decided to look for a traditional driving range. I must say there were a number of ranges but none really close to me. However, in reviewing the names, one stood above the rest, Bad Dog Driving Range which is located at 6933 Curry Ford Road in Orlando.

About 10 miles and 15 minutes later, I came upon an Oasis in the City of Orlando. Golf practice purists enjoy being able to drive into the parking lot, take their clubs out of the car, put them on the range and buy a bucket of balls. Within 25 feet or so of parking, I was setting my clubs on the range. Entering the new club house, the most difficult decision I faced was whether to purchase a runt, lap dog, pick of the litter, or big dog size bucket of balls. The staff was very friendly and very helpful on my first visit.

Returning back to the range, I noticed that I would be hitting off real and lush grass. As a resident of Florida, I am familiar with hitting off mats and ranges made of sand but this was real dirt and equally real grass. Obviously, I knew I had found a home away from home.

In addition, the range was well marked with targets from 100 yards to 285 yards at 25 yard intervals. This is makes practice and club selection more precise and allows golfers to further define refine their games.

Golfers of Orlando and fellow golfers, who travel here, take note of Bad Dog Driving Range. It is truly an Oasis for golfers in the city of Orlando, FL.