What's my Name?

Hi, my name is Steve Damphousse. I have created a blog for a school class project that I hope to keep up with after the project has been completed. I thought I would do a blog about myself, so I hope you enjoy. I was born July 1st 1992, which I think is cool to be born on Canada Day. I grew up in Georgetown, Ontario which is about 45 minutes north-west of Toronto. I did all my schooling in Georgetown up till grade 13 which I graduated from Georgetown District High School. I played high school hockey for our school team for two years which we were tier two champions in my second year playing. I grew up playing hockey for the Georgetown Raiders for five years, winning the OMHA's twice and being finalist once. I also played baseball through out my childhood and played middle school basket ball in grade seven.

At the age of 11 I got my first job delivering paper a couple streets down from where I lived. Rain or shine every Wednesday and Friday I was out, with a little help from my parents on the rain days. When I turned 15 I applied to some real jobs and was lucky enough to get two at the same time. I first got a call from the Pizza hut in Georgetown which I ended up working at for three and a bit years. I started off running the dishwasher all night to being a cook. A couple months before I turned 18, my boss offered me a shift managers position which I did until I left. It was nice to know that I was able to take on that responsibility at that age and that someone else could see it in me. My second job I received was at The Club at North Halton, formally known as North Halton Golf and Country Club. I was accepted for being a labourer on the grounds crew which I have done for 6 seasons and still currently work. I started off raking bunkers and filling divots for a couple years. I think I spent more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff. I'm now a crew leader and I help train new employees on equipment and technique. I worked last winter cutting down trees and going to different shows in Toronto.

At the beginning of the summer I came to conclusion that I should go to school for at least something instead of just working all the time. Working on the golf course has really interested me a lot and built a passion for the game of golf. I think golf is one of the best and most difficult games to play. There is great sights in every golf course and the game is viewed highly of when it comes to looks of the course, facilities and even the players. I got accepted to the University of Guelph for Turfgrass Management and I think I chose the right path for myself. I have learned a lot in just a few weeks and have even got into an interest in sport fields. For my internship between my first and second year, I hope to travel over seas or to the United States to work on a golf course or sports field. It would be a great opportunity and I would learn and see a lot.

Thanks for reading my blog and hope you enjoy the rest of my blogs!

What Great Golfers Think part 2

This second blog is going to continue about my first blog on the book How Great Golfers Think by Bob Skura. I have gotten a little farther from last time but there has been so much information and stuff I'd like to share I thought another blog was necessary. If you haven't read my first blog I suggest doing so as it gives a quick overview of the beginning of the book and what I have already discussed. I much prefer you read the actual book because it is a great book that a lot can be taken from.

The four men are back at Doc's house for another lesson on their mental game of golf. As soon as they sit down Doc starts asking them questions and gets right to the point. All the guys were telling Doc to slow down as they just got seated. Doc the says "You'll reap bigger rewards if you know what you want right out of the gate"(pg 34).  I thought this was a good quote that well related to my last blog about having a solid starting point. Doc is setting a solid starting point with the men and letting them know that he starts as soon as he sits down. I find that this would be a great thing to do at the beginning of any golf round. Going to the first tee and knowing exactly what you want to get out of the full round. Any golfer wants to do the best they can every round so why not go to the first tee every round thinking about playing your best.

Something I experience and I see other golfers do is get frustrated after hitting a bad shot. From personal experience I find that if I get mad at one thing, everything after that starts going wrong because I'm upset about that one thing. Doc mentioned " If your first goal is to par the opening hole and something goes wrong, your ability to reset your goal is absolutely key"(38).  Professional golfers have walked off the course from consecutive bad shots. Yes, we all have a couple days where we just can't hit the golf ball where we want. When we do though and we do eventually hit a bad shot, we have to put it behind us and think about the next shot right away. Even in every day tasks, if something goes wrong, we have to come up with a conclusion right away to fix the situation.

The group then starts to talk about setting goals and how to get proper goals. One of the men had a best round of 64, then started to perfect his golf swing. Doc asked why he didn't set another goal to shoot lower instead. He then came to realise he didn't, that he hit his goal and that was it. He didn't think he could get any lower so he tried to keep shooting that score. I personally set a goal to get a lower score than 80 this summer. I got to my goal and shot an 78, which I am very proud of. After shooting that score I did not set another goal after that, just like this man in the book. I kept practicing hoping to get better but never set another goal. I think if I set another goal I would've been able to achieve it and shoot even lower. Setting a goal would have let me strive to shoot better and been able to practice with more passion.

Thanks for reading. I will post my next blog after a few more pages.

What Great Golfers Think Part 1

Golf is a great game, but sometimes it can get frustrating and really get into out heads. I know I have had times where my game isn't going so well and even after one bad hole I can go downhill from there.  Over the years I have really been adamant about my posture, weight transfer, keeping my head still, my take away and other thing about my golf swing. I had never thought once about my overall game, and mostly my mental game. I picked up a book call What Great Golfers think by Bob Skura. I have only read a few pages so far but have taken in a lot and have been able to relate it to myself. I highly suggest reading this book as it takes life tips and puts them in a golf sense. The key points in this book for bolded for easy understand and literary flow.For this blog I want to share what I've read so far and how already I've been able to relate it to myself and what I wish to accomplish after reading this section.

The book is following a group of four different aged men from 17-59 that play every Saturday morning and decide to go to their golf pro for mental help. Their pro directs them to a gentleman by the name of Doc, who does a mental session with these men every other Sunday night. The time in between each session allows for the men to work on what Doc has taught them from the session before. With the wide range of age, this book pin points certain ages that allows this book to be easy to relate. 

Of of the first relations to this book is when Doc relates to the start of the mental game to the start of a swing. he says "The more solidly you build your starting point, the fewer corrections you'll have to make later on" (29). He's talking about how you approach your golf game every time you go play and building your mental game. In both the mental and relation to golf, I have learned much from this quote. I have walked onto a tee with a bad mentality and have started off bad. Getting my mind to correct into the good things is hard when I've already started off down. I also think back on how I approached the ball. I always thought of where I wanted to put the ball but I never actually looked if I was starting off good. I have to check my point of direction, my stance, my grip, my clubface and everything before I even start the swing. 

Ill keep reading and keep updating about this book. A for sure read though. 

My First Experience with Craft Beers

The other day my classmate Sid asked anyone if they would like to try craft beers with him for a school project. As I am one of those guys that goes out every week and buys the same old lager like Canadian or Labatts Blue, I thought I would accept his offer just to see what they would be like. I quickly discovered I was naively seeing beer as just another excuse to drink, instead of appreciating the craftsmanship that actually goes into making them. The night of this beer tasting we were trying some Pale ales. I learned that these ales were made of hops, an herbal ingredient that gives each beer a different aromas and bitterness.  In these particular beers we were smelling citrus, herbal, pine, spruce, spices, and many more. I never really looked for these when drinking big named lagers, but I found them intriguing when trying the craft beers. When it comes to tasting, there is a very distinct flavour difference between craft and regular lagers. We did taste some of the aromas like pine and citrus in the beers which did give it a nice flavour. Though I enjoyed most of the craft beers we tasted, there were a select few that were not for me. I have truly seen beer in a different light and am looking into purchasing more craft beers in the future to experience different tastes and aromas in beer. I am looking forward to the next beer tasting and what surprises beer will bring me next.




photo:http://torontobeerweek.com/2012-bars/

Victoria Park Valley Golf Club

Located on the outskirts of Guelph, Victoria Park Valley Golf Club is a new 27 hole course with great potential. The course opened in the spring of 2012 as a 3 9-hole executive course. However, the course is under construction right now building a new clubhouse, so they have the Valley 9-holes shut down. Victoria Park is made mostly of par 3's and 4's with one par 5 on the Valley course. If your a golfer that likes to work on hitting the greens in regulations on par 3's, or trying to hit the 290 yard par 4's in one shot - this is a good track for you. The greens are T-1 creeping bentgrass which is becoming increasingly popular as it is more poa-grass resistant. The greens are medium sized, roll well, and are very firm. On the day I played, it had rained quite a bit that morning and the greens were still firm in the afternoon so I can't imagine how they would be on a nice, dry day. The greens have a medium slope to them, placing them somewhere between hilly and flat ground. The course is pretty open with a couple holes that follow tree lines so if you want to give the driver a good swing there is lots of room to do so. The bunkers are well maintained, and come well into play if you attempt to go for the short par 4's, or if you miss the green on some of the par 3's. There is not a lot of water on the course but a couple ponds can be hazardous. The tree lines in the golf course do not come into play as much, in comparison to many other courses. They are well pruned; high with pine needles under them, so getting through or out of the trees is a little easier. There is also a driving range, practice green, and carts available to rent. I played 18 holes at 4pm and it cost $20, so overall it was a great deal and a good course to play.

The Boys are Back

                                           

It's that time of year again, the day most Canadians look forward to more than Christmas. Hockey is back on for a full season of wicked goals, crunching hits, beautiful saves and knuckle chucking fights.   It's a great time to gather with friends, throw on a hockey jersey and watch the game and cheer for your team. The beer fridge never seems to go empty this time of year and the freezer is always filled with frozen foods to throw in between intermissions. Hockey being on also makes us look forward to the cold weather and being able to lace up the skates to play outdoors hockey anywhere we can. Between backyard rinks, town built rinks and frozen ponds, everyone can find a place to play Canada's favourite game. Even in the dark hockey can be played if there are lights around the sheet of ice. All you need is a hockey stick, skates, a puck, a patch of ice and friends to be able to play the sport. Its never always about winning, but more about the sweet dangles and body checks into the snow banks that make the outdoor game a good time. After the sticks are sorted by a  blindfolded player, the puck drops and the game begins. After a long fought game there's nothing like going home to a ice cold beer and arguing about who should've won and who laid the biggest hit. So if it's going outside to play the game or sitting inside to cheer on your favourite team, hockey is everywhere and be sure to enjoy it however you can. 

Soft or Stiff?

After work, nothing feels better than grabbing your clubs, putting on a fresh collared shirt and heading to the golf course. Come early spring and fall it gets dark early the sun is the only thing standing in the way between nine and eighteen holes. Especially around the slow times of the season, warming up becomes a great debate around this time. Walking on cold to the tee can have it's advantages and disadvantages. If you do have time, a quick stretch could assist in not pulling any muscles. Even a few more practice swings can loosen up the main muscles needed to swing the club. If time is of the essence , tee up and swing away. Knowing how to change your swing without a warm up can really help in some situations where time is scarce . We all know we can't make it to every tee time half an hour before to really loosen up. Doing this may help for the odd occasion that as your pulling in the parking lot, your group is ready to go to their first drives. Green speeds can be another factor of your game if you decide to skip warm up. The fall and spring speeds tend to be slower, but if the superintendent is really good, the speeds can be more slippery than you think. If your a good ball striker and stretching isn't a necessity, a few putts on the putting green could help save a few strokes on the card. No matter how much time you have or don't have, consider prior to teeing off warming up is in your schedule. Photo: http://selectgroupre.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/pace-of-play-not-an-issue-in-speed-golf/