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Why Is Golf More Fun To Play With Others?

One of the most unique aspects about golf is that it is a sport that you can play alone or with other players. Sometimes it’s nice to get out and play a round by yourself to work on your game or to find peace in nature, but most times it’s much more enjoyable to play with friends and even people you don’t know. Golf was created with the intent of playing in groups, so I want to dive in with you on why golf is more fun when playing with others.

  • Make New Friends

Whether you consider yourself a seasoned veteran on the course or you’re new to the area and game, golf is a great and easy way for you to meet new people. What’s awesome about this hobby is that you don’t have to be a good golfer to make a friend. There’s no doubt that one hopes to be paired up with someone who has a similar skill set, but in this instance, just being a nice person can lead to making a new friend.

 At the end of the day, golfing is meant to be fun and you truly never know who you will meet at your tee time. Life is about networking, and playing golf during peak times is a perfect opportunity to do so.

  • Never Ending Ways to Play

In basketball, you can play knockout or pig. With tennis, you can play doubles. For golf though, there’s endless ways to play and keep score. Of course there’s the traditional way of playing your own ball, but there’s several other types of formats that you can play to make your round more interesting. 

You can play a scramble where you and your partner always pick the best shot between the two or group, alternate shot where you rotate between strokes, “Skins” is a format where the player with the lowest score on the hole wins the hole (a tie would carry over to the next hole putting two skins on the line and so on) or even by way of a point system where instead of counting strokes, you award points. Example: 3 points for a birdie, 2 points for a par, 1 point for a bogey, and 0 for anything worse. There’s several other ways to play, but when playing with others the options are limitless.

  • It’s Good for the Soul

There’s no doubt that we all have those days where we just want to be left alone, but according to medical professionals, it’s healthier for us to socialize. Dr. Craig Sawchuk, a psychologist, says that “we are social animals by nature, so we tend to function better when we are in a community and being around others.”

Given the current state of our world, we are in the midst of some sad and depressing times. Even though we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, it’s very healthy for people to interact and socialize together. Of course we have to at a distance to keep everyone safe, but it’s important to keep our brains sharp and our hearts happy. If you are feeling alone and in need of some company, going to the golf course and playing a round with someone may be exactly what you need.

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic GC

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Golf Starter Pack: Part 2

In part 1 of our starter pack blog, we covered what equipment new golfers must have to get started in golf.  This beginner golf “starter pack” included clubs, balls, and tees, and we talked about how these essential items can be acquired cheaply and quickly.  Now that you have a general idea of the equipment needed to get started, getting out onto the course is within reach!  

While the necessary equipment needed in golf is pretty straightforward and easy to acquire, it can still be challenging for new golfers who have never played before to smoothly transition into playing on public courses.  Between the extensive etiquette rules, confusing golf rules, dress codes, and other golf nuances it can seem overwhelming trying to start.  This can certainly be a lot to grasp, but it is really a lot simpler than it appears!

When looking to play on public golf courses, it is always best to call ahead and book a tee time (you can book online most places too) rather than just showing up.  During the golf busy season, most courses will not be able to get you out without booking a tee time in advance.  Golf courses make booking tee times a very simple process, and golf courses will allot four people per tee time slot.  This means that each tee time will allow for a maximum of four people per group.  Here at the American Classic we book our tee times in 10 minute increments, meaning that every 10 minutes a new group will tee off.  This allows for each group to get out ahead of the group behind them, which helps the course flow smoothly.   If you have a 9:00 tee time, it is best to get there at least 15 minutes early to ensure you can check in and get ready to start at 9:00.  The goal is to tee off at 9:00, and showing up exactly at your scheduled tee time can make that nearly impossible.  Late starts can hinder the pace of play on the course, so arriving early greatly helps the course!  To book your tee time, simply call the course clubhouse or book online if your course offers it.

Now that you have booked your tee time and are ready to head to the course, let’s talk about some golf course etiquette rules that can apply to all public golf courses.  To start, one of the most important etiquette rules to consider is pace of play.  Pace of play relates to how long it takes to play your round, and how fast each group plays affects this.  Since most courses will separate their tee times in 10 minute increments, it is important to aim to finish each hole in that allotted time.  For example, if you are taking 15-20 minutes to finish one hole, you will hold up the groups behind you and hinder the flow of the course.  Longer holes, like par 5’s and long par 4’s, will take some more time but these holes will also take the other groups longer as well.  With that being said, you do not want to rush around the course and constantly stress over how fast you are playing.  After all, golf is meant to be fun and relaxing, so finding a balance between keeping pace and rushing is crucial to your experience.  Here are some tips to help you keep it moving without overstressing!

  • Plan your next shot as you are moving towards your ball, not when you reach it
  • Don’t be afraid to drop further along in the fairway or elsewhere if you lose a ball out of bounds 
  • Consider playing alternate game formats like a scramble 
  • Play “ready golf”- whoever is ready to go should hit no matter what
  • Make sure to watch your ball all the way to the ground.  This helps you find your ball quicker and can avoid unnecessary looking time

Continuing on with course etiquette, many superintendents and course grounds crew workers would be upset if golf course care was not mentioned.  When playing on public golf courses, taking care of the course is very important.  This mainly relates to fixing divots and the ground in which you play on.  A divot is a piece of turf that is dug out of the course when playing a shot.  If you have torn up some turf on a shot (this is normal and will happen) replacing the chunk that flew out can speed up the recovery process and also fill in the hole left in the turf.  Many courses will also provide you with seeding/sand and ask you to fill the areas tore up to help the turf recover. 

The greens are the most delicate part of a golf course, so always be cautious and try not to damage them.   Do not drive your golf cart on the greens!  That may seem obvious, but I have seen some crazy things on the golf course.  Fixing your ball marks/divots on the greens is also a crucial aspect of taking care of the course.

A final thing to consider regarding etiquette is the course dress code.  Many courses will not allow clothing items like jeans or non-collared shirts, so make sure to ask before you head over.  Here at the American Classic we are laid back about this and do not have a dress code, so feel free to wear whatever you are comfortable with when playing here!

Booking tee times, showing up early, keeping pace, and taking care of the course while playing will ensure a smooth and fun transition into golf!  In the beginning, I would not stress over every little golf rule, and focus mainly on these etiquette basics while having fun with your friends on the course.  Golf is a great game, and following these basics will make getting out onto the course stress-free!

-Sam Cresta, Assistant Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

Book A Tee Time For American Classic Here!

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Make Your Lawn As Green As A Golf Course

Have you often wondered about how you can make your lawn at home look like a golf course? Multiple times throughout the year, we are asked “What do you guys do to keep your grass looking so alive and green?” People see the beautiful bluish green colors and are amazed at how well the grass looks. With some proper care and grass knowledge, we are excited to share with you how to make your lawn look like the golf course.

The first step in having a beautiful lawn is to understand your soil and the climate you live in. Here in the Mid-Atlantic region, we have one of the toughest climates as it can get as hot as the south in the summertime, and as cold as the north in the winter. You can always pick different grasses that blend together and bloom when one goes dormant, but it’s important to choose when you want your grass looking the best. 

For most people, summer is when you want your lawn looking the prettiest as it is when you are able to enjoy it the most. Because of this, you should pick a grass that does well in warmer weather. Fescue, Rye, and Bermuda grasses are a few types that we have on the golf course, and they do well in different ways. The Fescue and Rye can sustain the summer months when properly watered and not cut too short, while the Bermuda doesn’t require much water at all, but only keeps it’s green colors in the hot summer months. If we were to suggest which grass to choose, we recommend going with a fescue and cutting it no shorter than 3 inches, and allowing it to grow a little longer in those scorching hot summer months of July and August.

After you understand your soil and climate, and choose the right grass type, it’s also important to have irrigation. When it’s not raining on a consistent basis, your grass needs to be watered to stay alive. The important thing to know when watering is that you don’t want to over water because the sitting water can cook the grass in the middle of the day, and that you should try to avoid watering overnight as that becomes the time when fungus and other diseases thrive. We suggest watering early in the morning for the sun to help dry up the excess water, and occasionally watering throughout the day to help keep the grass cool. When you see us watering on the course in the middle of the day, it’s not to grow the grass, but to keep it cool and prevent it from burning up.

If you want to have a beautiful lawn, not as much work and effort is required as you would think. Understand your soil and get it aerated every now and then to allow oxygen to get to the roots, and choose your desired grass type and water it correctly. If you do this process in the Fall and overseed again in the Spring, you will be very happy with the results.

Knowing this information will help turn your yard around in no time, and you’ll be able to take those practice swings you’ve always wanted. . . at least until you take that first divot and cry a little inside after all your hard work and money gets chopped up. We can tell you that in this moment, you will finally know how it feels to work on the grounds crew at the golf course. Enjoy your grass though, and let your neighbors be jealous of how beautiful it is. 

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

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Golf Starter Pack: Part 1

Many golfers, including myself, have been patiently waiting for the weather to break so we can get back onto the course and into the swing of the 2021 golf season.  The weather has been pretty terrible this month, and the cold temperatures, rain, and snow we have seen here in Delaware have not been optimal for golf.  Wednesday’s 55-degree day proved to be a bright spot on a pretty horrible month weather-wise and provided us with optimism and hope that the golf season is not too far away.  I certainly saw the enthusiasm from our golfers here at the American Classic Golf Club that Wednesday as the tee sheet quickly filled up with golfers excited to finally get out and play again.  

While many beginner and experienced golfers are starting to get ready for the 2021 season, many others have interest in playing but do not know how to start or what they need to get into the game.  Understanding the basic golf essentials needed to get into the game can seem overwhelming for those who have never played, but it is a lot easier to get started than it seems.  Hopefully this blog will help get you one step closer to hitting the course!

If you are sure you want to get into golf, having a set of golf clubs is definitely needed.  A few weeks ago, I wrote an in-depth blog on all things golf clubs, so I will just cover the important details here. The main golf clubs include irons, woods, hybrids, and wedges. While club manufacturers sell these clubs individually, I recommend purchasing a full set to start out.  There are many affordable full sets available for men and women that will have all the clubs you need to get started. There is absolutely no need to spend a ton of money on your first set of clubs and purchasing a full set can be an affordable way to get started. I would also like to mention that many golf courses have clubs available to rent, so if you wanted to play a few rounds before investing in your own set it could be worth it to rent first.

The next things you will need are golf balls and tees.  Golf balls are not included with your round, so you will have to purchase your own.  Brands like Top Flite, Spalding, and Wilson are inexpensive golf balls that are perfect to start out with.  You can get 15 of these golf balls for 10-15 dollars, while other balls like Titleist Pro V1s and TaylorMade Tp5s can be up to 56 dollars per dozen.  In my opinion, there is no reason to spend a lot on golf balls when you are starting out, as you are unlikely to notice any difference between a 5-dollar Titleist ball and a 1-dollar Top Flite ball in the beginning of your golf journey.  In the beginning, you will also lose more balls in water hazards and other out of bounds areas on the course, so it makes sense to start with a cheaper ball.  When I play a Titleist or another expensive golf ball and lose it in the water or elsewhere, I always think “welp, there goes 5 dollars.” As you begin to improve and start playing more often, upgrading to a premium golf ball can certainly have its advantages and is worth it, but I would recommend starting with cheaper balls.

Golf tees are also essential items when starting out and are inexpensive. You can purchase a package of 50-100 tees for 5-10 dollars, and they are also easy to come by on the course.  Tees come in sizes ranging from 1-4 inches and starting with a 2-3.5-inch tee is totally fine.  Any package of tees you can find at your courses pro shop or online will be fine and work well for you on the course. 

Once you have clubs, balls, and tees, you have just about all of the essential items needed to hit the course!  One thing I recommend before taking on the course for the first time is considering hitting a few buckets at a driving range or hitting net.  It is best to avoid hitting your first ever golf ball on the 1st tee of a golf course, so hitting at the range or net can be beneficial.  

These are the basic and general items needed to get started, and in another blog going forward (Part 2), we will cover the basic etiquette rules and other items that will help you get out onto the course. 

Hope to see you all out on the course soon!

-Sam Cresta, Assistant Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

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Tips For Golf Nutrition

Have you ever heard the phrase “you can’t outwork a poor diet”? Well, it’s true! Your body needs healthy fuel in order to perform at its best. Eating healthier foods and staying properly hydrated can help increase your energy, mood, and golf performance. Check out 3 of my golf nutrition tips below!

1. Proper Hydration

In order to perform at your best you need to be properly hydrated. How do you figure out how much water you should be drinking during a day? Calculate half of your bodyweight in ounces and that is how much water you should be drinking each day. The Titleist Performance Institute suggests to drink 25% of your daily water intake when you wake up in the morning,  50% of your daily intake while you are playing your golf round and the last 25% of your daily intake post-golf round and throughout the rest of the day. This only accounts for water; so soda, coffee, and other drinks do not count towards your daily hydration intake.

2. Breakfast IS The Most Important Meal Of The Day

Whether you have an early tee time or a later tee time, you need to make sure you eat breakfast! Eating a nutritious breakfast can actually set the tone for controlling your blood sugar for the day. When you wake up you are in a “fasted” state and your blood sugar is low. So it is important to eat protein, healthy fats, and carbs (in that order). Proteins break down slowly and do not spike blood sugar levels, which make them a great nutrition source for breakfast. 

3. Eat Whole Foods

Whole foods are foods that have been changed as little as possible. Examples: animal protein, fruits and veggies, nuts, beans and legumes, and grains. Eating whole foods will give you almost all the nutrients your body needs. So for more energy & more nutrients before, during, and after your golf rounds, choose snacks/meals that are made of whole foods. Example: Instead of getting crackers or cookies to snack on during a round, choose jerky or a piece of fruit or even a handful of nuts. 

As a golfer, it is important to have good nutrition, hopefully after reading this blog you have some tools to change your nutrition to improve your swing in the process! Golf fitness training will be available at American Classic GC starting March 1st. For more golf fitness education and training, email me at brittmmorrison@gmail.com to set up a fitness assessment!

-Britt Morrison, TPI Level 2 Fitness Trainer

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Golf Can Make The Heart Grow Fonder

One of the hardest things to do from time to time is to find something that you and your significant other can do in your spare time together. We all love to sit on the couch and binge watch our favorite tv shows and movies together, but have you thought about ways to get outside and be active? Of course there’s taking long walks, going on a hike, taking a bike ride, and other types of great ways to enjoy the outdoors, but have you thought about playing golf together? Believe it or not, but golf can be one of the best ways for you to spend your time together!

For those of us who consider ourselves to be golfers, we know that golf is a lot like everyday life. You have your good days and your bad days, as well as your remarkable shots and the strokes that got away. This can be seen exactly like life though, and be a great way for you and your partner to grow together. You’ll be there to support each other when the ball doesn’t fly as you wanted, but also be there to celebrate those shots that keep you coming back. It’s a great way to bond through the ups and downs of a round, but also to have someone to lean on through every round played together.

As mentioned before, golf is a great way for you both to get exercise and vitamin D. If the Doc is recommending that we all get 10,000 steps per day, then why not have some fun while getting your steps in? Walking 9 holes at the Classic can get you anywhere from 5,000 to 6,500 steps depending on where your shots are going. So the next time you miss the fairway, just remind yourself that it doesn’t hurt to get a few extra steps in. It’s always good to see the glass as half full!

Overall though, golf can be as fun as you allow it to be. When you look back on the earlier days of your relationship and think about all of the fun times you had together, playing golf with one another can bring back those same feelings again. You’ll be able to challenge each other, support one another, and laugh when the other messes up and says their favorite swear word. The fact that golf can help you reminisce on the “good old days,” as well as create new memories together, makes it a great way to spend time with your loved one.

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

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SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

With the Superbowl happening tonight, now is a great time to talk about football players who golf!  Many of us watched star quarterback Tom Brady play in “The Match” before the start of the NFL season alongside retired NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and PGA tour legends Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. While Brady struggled throughout most of the round, his incredible hole out on the 7th hole from 150 yards out was awesome to watch.  Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce also entertained fans playing alongside each other at the American Century Championship, celebrity golf competition, this past summer.  Kelce and Mahomes were fun to watch on the course together, and this was highlighted when Kelce sunk an eagle putt on 18.  After sinking the putt, Kelce and Mahomes yelled as if they just scored a touchdown and celebrated with a chest bump and a couple flexes, and chances are we’ll likely see some of that in the game tonight.

There are many other NFL players who golf, and many are very good players. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a great golfer with a very low handicap, and he credits his impressive golf game to his former backup quarterback Chris Redmen, who used to constantly win money from Ryan by beating him in golf matches during their time together on the Falcons.  Retired quarterback Tony Romo is also a great golfer and might be the best, current or former, NFL player who golfs.  After retirement, he played in a few tour events and tried to make a playing career for himself. Currently, he is an NFL broadcaster, but his golf game is certainly very impressive. 

I think many current and former NFL players turn to golf as a way to continue playing a sport competitively against themselves and friends.  Watching some of the best athletes in the world take on golf can inspire all of us to get into the game. Tom Brady during “The Match” was offered 50,000 dollars from commentator Charles Barkley if he could hit the green on a par 3.  After shanking the ball 20 yards off target to the right and into trouble, Barkley joked that he should have just offered him the $50,000 if he could keep it on the planet.  While Brady is actually a very solid golfer, seeing the best quarterback of all-time hit a ball so poorly shows us how difficult golf can really be.  

Golf can be played for a lifetime, and many former NFL players take it seriously upon retirement.  After Brady’s golf round that day, he said he loved golf because at halftime of a football game they check for concussions while in golf you get offered snacks and refreshments.  All the more reason to pick up golf!

Enjoy the game! 

-Sam Cresta, Assistant Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

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What’s Missing From Your Golf Routine?

You put in the hours at the range… You play a few times a week… You take lessons…. You are doing everything right! Yet, your golf swing is still not the best it can be. Well, what’s left? New to the American Classic Golf Club this spring… Golf Fitness! What is golf fitness? Golf fitness is training your body to enhance your golf swing. Beginning in March, I will be accepting 1-on-1 clients for golf fitness training.

I have been studying flexibility and mobility for a while now, and the one thing that almost everyone has in common is that they want to improve their mobility, but do not know where to begin. A great start is stretching every day. Stretching everyday for at least 15 minutes (holding each stretch for 30 seconds or more) has been proven to enhance your flexibility over time. With that being said, I have now worked in the golf industry for 7+ years and I can tell you from experience that a lot of golfers do not stretch properly, if at all. And that’s where I come in!

I can help you create a golf warm up routine, cool down routine, and help you improve mobility. Here’s how:  The golf fitness assessment is a tool I have gained from my TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) certification. This tool allows me to test your body and see what areas need improvement in order to enhance your golf swing. After your golf fitness assessment, we can schedule 1-on-1 training sessions to focus on those areas that need improvement. I create custom programs for each client based on their golf fitness assessment; no two programs are the same! It is important to recognize that everyone has a different golf swing and everyone’s body is different! 

Golf fitness is the perfect accessory to your golf lessons. Working on your swing and technique go hand in hand with working on your mobility. Maybe your technique is lacking because you just can’t get far enough back in your backswing, or maybe you are having issues with getting your lower body involved in your golf swing, and those are areas I can help! Together we can improve your golf swing by strengthening and stretching the muscles most often used in golf. 

-Britt Morrison, Level 2 TPI Fitness Trainer

Want to learn more? Email me at brittmmorrison@gmail.com

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LEVEL UP Your Golf Lessons

Have you been excited about and looking forward to the upcoming golf season? How about dreaming of those perfect shots and how to replicate them round after round? If so, we have exciting news for you on how you can visibly see your swing and improvements this year! We would like to introduce to you in 2021, here at American Classic, the Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor.

In select lessons with Sam or I (haha . . . I said “Samurai”) you will now be able to see your swing in action. This device has the ability to give you instant feedback with its real-time video analysis; which is very beneficial for those who learn better by seeing what to do instead of just hearing what to do. In your lessons, you will now be able to see how far you go back in your backswing as well as where you are stopping in your follow through. For anyone who has worked with me before, you know how much I can harp on finishing your swing properly to get the results you are looking for. 

The mobile launch monitor (MLM) comes with several perks though! Other than the obviously cool instant video feedback, you will know your average distance for each club, your club and ball speeds, the launch angle of each shot, and even the smash factor! For those who don’t know, smash factor is the ratio between your swing speed and the ball speed as it leaves your club. All of this information can be used to help you understand your swing more, and where you can improve to strengthen your ball striking. Another great feature with this device is that you can use it at a range or even into a net with its shot tracing abilities. Just wait until you see how awesome this device truly is!

It’s important to know that the MLM will not always be used in your lessons as it won’t always be needed, but it will be available to help your game progress in certain areas. If you are looking for professional video analysis of your golf swing, please reach out to us to schedule your next lesson. We will take care of improving your smash factor, so you can go out and smash the course!

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic Golf Club

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Why You Should Regrip Your Clubs

With the cold weather officially arriving and the holidays in the rearview mirror, there’s no better time than now to get your golf clubs regripped. Whether they are falling apart in your hands or feel as smooth as a bowling ball, it’s something that must be done from time to time. We all know that our hands are the only thing touching the club, so it is important for the grips to be in good shape and ready for the season ahead. If we wouldn’t drive our cars on bald tires, we shouldn’t want to play golf with bad grips either!

The biggest reason that you should want to regrip your clubs is the importance that your grip has on your golf game. More times than not, your grip is the deciding factor of how your ball travels through the air. How to grip the club properly is one of the first lessons that every new golfer endures when taking up the sport. As you were learning about the most popular way to grip a golf club, the interlock, I’m sure you can think back to how awkward that specific grip felt the first time you tried it. It’s important togrip the club like this because you want your hands to work together as one without one going in the opposite direction of the other. Because of how vital the grip is in a golf swing, it’s a must that we give our clubs newer, tackier grips.

If there’s one thing that everyone can agree on, it’s that golf is hard enough as it is. The last thing you should be concerned about while playing is the idea of your club flying out of your hands midswing, and getting stuck in a tree or falling into the water. This would be very embarrassing (but also hilarious), and something that shouldn’t happen if you had better grips on your clubs. If you find yourself squeezing the living daylight out of your clubs, just to hold onto them, then it’s time to replace the grips.

Lastly though, regripping your clubs makes them feel new again. We all love that feeling we get with new toys, and regripping your golf clubs has that same exact effect. It’s also a much cheaper option than going out and buying a whole new set of clubs just to have to replace those grips eventually as well. But seriously though, the best part about regripping your clubs is picking out a sweet, new color to make your clubs the coolest on the course. We all know that if you look good, you’ll play good. . . sometimes.

If you need help picking out the right grips or want to schedule your clubs to be regripped, please feel free to contact our clubhouse and talk with Austin or Sam to set something up. And who knows, this just might be what you need to accomplish those 2021 golf goals!

-Austin Ebersole, Head Golf Professional at American Classic GC

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