Feeding Your Inner Golfer

It is winter in many parts of the country (well, technically, it is winter everywhere, but it doesn't effect places like Florida as much as my home here in Utah), and that means that the golf clubs have to be put away until the weather permits play. So what does a golf junkie like me do to satisfy my cravings? Well, I have a few things that I do:

1. Practice putting. I set up a cup in my living room, and I practice shots from all over the place. I have even started setting up the cup in the kitchen, and putting from the living room into the kitchen. I let the seams in the tile act as undulation, and affect the path of the ball. I have learned how to read a putt better doing this, and adjust my shot for different placements in the kitchen. It is a lot of fun on a boring winter day when you'd rather be out golfing.
2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06. There isn't anything quite like becoming the first golfer to win every tournament in a season, and of course, the only way to do it is on your console.
3. I have all of my buddies on Golf Link that I can turn to for getting my hands on tips and golf discussion to help while away the hours. Also, fellow golfer Scruffy, who I met on Golf Link has another great website, Golf According to Scruffy. Scruffy has created some great characters and gives great tips and golf humor, so go check him out.
4. Lastly, I have a Tip-A-Day calendar that my wife gave me for Christmas. It has some great stuff that I can't wait to apply in the spring, such as today's tip: Help for low, hooking iron shots. I don't want to plagiarize, but the gist of the tip is that if your approach shots hit the front of the green low and hooking, chances are, they will end up off the green. The trick to fixing this is making sure that your shaft is lean, or in other words, that your hands are placed ahead of the ball, and that they are ahead of the ball at impact. Doing this gives you a higher and straighter flight plain, and will help you have a nice, soft landing on the green. You can find more tips like this in Bill Kroen's Golf Tip-A-Day by Andrew McMeel publishing.