I’m on the hunt for some new great Golf blogs to read. Does anyone know any? I’m looking for offbeat and interesting blogs, not the big PGA focused stuff, or pure product blogs.

I stumbled onto a manufacturer/marketing company called GolfGym who has an interesting blog at http://www.golfgymblog.blogspot.com/ - yes, sometimes they are selling stuff, but more often it’s good content and ideas on fitness and training. I’m thrilled they are blogging! I wish they would do an online training course or something a bit more active during the offseason to help us duffers get into golf ready shape!

Know any others that you read on a regular basis?

Many of the golf blogs I had been following have either stopped posting or have become too advertising/marketing centric (not that there is anything wrong with trying to turn a buck here or there).

Right now, Life in the Rough is my favorite golf blog to read. It’s both personable and helpful, something I have been striving for here on Golf is Hard to achieve.

I’ve also added a list of golf blogs that I subscribe to on the right (—> look over there). So you can keep up with what I’m reading on a regular basis.

So, what golf blogs are you reading?

I’ve been wondering lately, as I’ve written down some annual and long term goals for myself, what exactly is this blog good for? Hmmm…

It’s been really fun to write and to hear from some of you from time to time. It’s clear that I’m a pretty bad golfer, but that I really do enjoy it quite a bit. Right now, playing a round of golf is the closest I can get myself to a real “zen” moment - the game simply demands that you be completely present at all times. I think that’s what I love most about it.

I think the answer to my question though, is that this blog is good for new golfers and bad golfers alike. I hope that it reflects back the best of why you play golf and occasionally makes you smile, laugh or even learn something.

So for now, I think I’ll stick with my random and sporadic approach; posting on things that are interesting to me and complaining about my lack of focus, inability to hit a soft chip shot and my horrible putting game.

For those of you like me who love statistics, here are some traffic numbers to Golf is Hard from 2008:

• 2,943 visits from 67 countries
  
• 3,880 page views
• 85% of you were new visitors (where’s my repeat readers?)
• Top referring web site was thegolfgirl.blogspot.com - thanks Golf girl!
  

Saw this interesting piece on BBC News “Playing golf can ‘damage hearing” that is most certainly partially hype.

That said, here is the advice…

Players who use a new generation of thin-faced titanium drivers to propel the ball further should consider wearing ear plugs, experts advise.

The sonic boom created by these clubs apparently can damage your hearing. The worst offender was the Ping G10 at over 130 decibels. If you have one of those bad boys, you might want to dig up some earplugs!

The article isn’t specific about how often you’d need to play with to affect your hearing which is why I’m a tad skeptical of how seriously to take this article.

Anyone wishing it was spring already?

I am.

If you are like me, you are always balancing playing golf with your other commitments in life. For me, that includes work (of course) and coaching youth sports. Coaching sports gives me so much pleasure that I think I’ve become addicted to it. I’ve created a new blog, designed to document my experiences, but to also encourage anyone who does coach youth sports, to really put some effort into it and give the kids a fantastic experience.

Check out my Coaching Youth Sports blog now.

P.S. No, I do not coach golf, that would be scary.

It’s not even winter and I’m already complaning about it.

Winter sucks because I live in CT and it’s too damn cold to enjoy a round of golf.

I can’t wait until spring. In the meantime, I think I’ll start practicing my putting in my basement and dream of warm summer days.

Love her or hate her (why would you hate her?), big props to Michelle Wie for getting her card. One of the lessons I have been trying to give my daughters is perseverance. I haven’t read anything about Wie’s training plan or how hard she worked to get her card, but I do know she didn’t give up. Good on ya Michelle.

I did some searching but didn’t find much info on how she trained or even (re)dedicated herself online, if you have any links, please send them!

That said, I did fine one quote that sort of stuck out:

“I closed my eyes, I closed my ears to everything,'' she said. “It was a tough period. This seems like the world for me. I've come from really far below, and it feels like it's a clean slate. It took a long way to get here, but I feel really good about it.”

More on the Wie story here on Golf.com.

I think thats about it for this season of golfing. My goal was to break 95 this year, and I didnt manage it. I came close and played well, but honestly, things never came together the way I expected this year. Ah well.

I did manage to play some really amazing courses including The Broadmoor and Steele Canyon, two really terrific layouts.

I managed to play the entire year without a driver, but I recently remedied that with a recent purchase of a Nike Driver. I cant wait to play with it!

Some stats from oobgolf.com:

• 33 scores entered
• 2 birdies (doh!)
• 52 pars
• 107 bogies
• 85.4 miles played
• 97.4 scoring average

I literally cant wait until next season to start, but I need a break for now.

When is Tiger coming back?

Not only is this one of the best golf books I've ever read, it's one of the most useful life books I've come across as well. Check out reviews on Amazon and buy it if you feel so inclined.

(Full disclaimer: I received an e-mail from the publisher asking if I wanted to read and review the book... I'm a sucker for a free read so I said yes).

I'm thrilled to have had an opportunity to read this book and took extra time on this post to make sure I captured some of the more important ideas I'm taking away. At the end of the day, I feel like I get it - I really think golf is a direct reflection of how I live my life and I intend to use it as a tool to keep improving myself and learning to live in each moment fully. I'm far from perfect, but I am getting better at both golf and life, I hope.

If you've seen Randy Paush's "Last Lecture" or read his book, you'll know about head fake learning. That when we think we're learning one thing, but in reality, we're learning something totally different, and perhaps even more important. That's what golf is to me - a life lesson head fake. Learning to play each shot and live in the moment and translating that to the other aspects of my life is why I play and keep on playing. It's why I don't care too much after shooting a 105 or worse.

Learning to live in the moment means taking my game and my life off autopilot and taking the controls. it means I have to trust each decision I make and commit to my choices and decisions large and small. I used to think Baseball was the perfect game, but I was wrong... it's golf all the way.

Darrin Gee's book is really not so much about golf, it's more like a book about how to live life and I really, really enjoyed every page of it.

One practical golf lesson Gee talks about in the book is the importance of rituals. I have the basic parts of a golf ritual (line up, deep breath, practice swing and then  hit it), but after really thinking more about rituals, I think I can do better. I'll be working on a specific breath technique that I'm using in my life off the course as well. I said it earlier but I just have to say it again... I LOVE this book!

Mahan is an up and coming golfer on the PGA tour. His recent interview in Golf Magazine is OK but his answer to one question in particular caught my eye.

Question: Mentally, you have had your struggles on the golf course. Is that a result of your father always demanding perfection?

Hunter’s answer is a signpost (thanks Mr. Tolle) to greater awareness in life. Simple replace "golf" with "life" and add water…

Answer: No, that’s just me. That’s been one of my weaknesses: trying to be perfect. And then I realized golf (life) has nothing to do with perfection. It has to do with getting the ball in the hole in the quickest time possible (add your own life metaphor here). I haven’t seen anyone play perfect yet, and I don’t think I ever will.

Golf continues to amaze me.