Greetings Fellow Golfers. I hope everyone is gearing up for this upcoming season. With the hint of Spring in the air, good golfing days are just around the corner. A lot has been happening here at Goldsboro Municipal Golf Course. Just a few of the winter maintenance projects include cutting out of the sprinkler heads to make it easier for you to find them and get the distance to the center of the green, replenishing sand in some of our bunkers, removal of roots on the edges of car paths to help level some of those teeth rattling jars, measuring out of yardages to install drainage in number one fairway, tree pruning and many other projects. Something new this year will be in the formation of a 'Tournament Committee' that I have been pushing to get for a long time. This will be a great addition to our course in that we will be offering to our members various tournaments throughout the year. Things such as afternoon shootouts or skins games, tough day competitions, maybe a member-member or member-guest. The possibilities are endless. Committee members have been chosen and will have their first organizational meeting in March. Stay tuned for future postings of exciting events. Don't forget the 'Range Plan' if you haven't already signed up. You do not have to be a member to join. Cost is $25 per month for individual or $35 per month family. Also you can join yearly for $250. Also on January 18, the Goldsboro City Council approved doing away with initiation fees. They use to be $300 individual or $400 family plus quarterly dues. You can now join by just paying quarterly dues of $210 for seniors (60+) or $240 individual/family. We also have a junior rate of $210 for those 18-26. That's not but $2.67 per day for the individual/family membership. I don't know about you but I spend more each day than this on soda pops. We will also be offering a 'Seasonal Pass' to those that want to play golf but will only be in the area for a short while. It will cost $125 for unlimited greens fees for 30 days. Now on to the lesson part of this newsletter. BASICS, BASICS, BASICS. I can never stress it enough. Especially with most of us finally coming out of hibernation and finally getting to swing a golf club, now is the perfect time to spend some of that quality time on the range working on your Basics or as I like to call it, Pre-Swing or Pre-Shot Fundamentals. These are things that have to be done, in correct order, for you to have any chance of making a repeatable swing. All of you that have or are taking lessons from me know that I like to use the word G.A.S. An easy word to remember that stands for the Pre-Shot Fundamental of Grip, Alignment and Setup. I have been a little longwinded in this newsletter so this month I want to address the 'G'. How you grip the golf club is the most important fundamental in golf, bar none! Your hands have to work together as a unit. There should be no spacing between them on the club. There are three and only three acceptable grip styles used in golf. They are the 10-finger grip, or as it use to be called in the old days, baseball grip, where all 8 fingers and two thumbs are on the club. This grip is primarily used by people with weakened grip and/or upper body strength such as seasoned citizens, women and children. The interlocking grip is where the little finger of the right hand is interlocked with the index finger of the left hand. This is a good grip for people with big palms and short fingers. Also the grip used by Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. And lastly the overlapping, or Vardon grip, where the little finger of the right hand overlaps the index finger of the left. This is the grip style mostly used on the PGA Tour. It is for people with long supple fingers. Now, let's put our hands properly on the golf club. For right-handed people, golf is a left-handed game. Are you confused yet? The golf club face position at impact, in a normal and unmanipulated swing, is controlled by your lead or left side and your left hand position on the club. Our left hand when it is properly put on the club is in what I like to call a 'Natural Hanging Position'. To find this position, stand erect with your arms hanging loosely by your side. Notice how your left hand pronates, or in layman's terms, rotates toward the center of your body. This is how you left hand, when placed on the club with the leading edge of the club facing your target, should be. With your left hand on the club, and the butt end of the grip pointing at your navel, you should be able to see two knuckles on the back of your left hand. You should also be holding the club in the palm of your left hand, never in your fingers. Reason later. The grip in the left hand should run diagonally from the pocket that is formed between the first joint of your little finger and the heel pad to a point across the second joint of your index finger. The right hand should be placed on the grip holding the club in the second joint of your right fingers. Hands should mold together on the club with no spacing being seen. When the right hand is placed properly, the thumb of your left hand should fit in the 'Life-line' pocket of your right, with the palm of your right hand in line with the leading edge of the club. A great thing for you to do is to procure a "Training" grip. John Berry at the First Tee here in Goldsboro sells these clubs for I believe $20.00. This is a great investment for anyone. Now back to the answer of why we hold the club in the palm of the left hand and the fingers of the right. It has to do with right side dominance in right handed players and how to counteract or counter-balance the right side which is naturally stronger than your left. Now go get you a club with a 'Training' grip, work diligently on your BASICS and hit some balls.