On Par: The History, Culture, Rules, and Etiquette of Golf

  At the beginning of the day, we started by having a small class conversation about our upcoming day, with a quick walk-through of everything that would be happening at TopGolf. We then hopped on the bus and began our trip to TopGolf. When we arrived, we immediately got to playing some golf, the games were off! Then at eleven, we all took a break to eat and chat with the groups that we had previously been playing with. We had lunch, then got right back to playing, and had about an hour left, which everyone used to the fullest. When it was time to go, everyone made their way back to the bus. A little while later we made our journey back to school, and when we all finally arrived around 1 pm, we took a breather inside from the game in the class, and then got to work! Golf 1 began working on an assignment about racism and sexism in golf’s history, while Golf 2 had some time to read and seminar on Golf in the Kingdom. After our reading for Golf 1, we decided to take a break outside and fi

This Friday wraps up the first week of the fantastic Golf A-Term! We started off the day with the remaining presentations. Golfers in Golf 2 presented on the mental game of golf with reference to professional golfers, coaches, and psychologists. Golf 1 followed up with presentations on professional golfers who had broken a rule, whether intentional or unintentional, in a tournament. After a short break of watching funny animal encounters on the golf course, Golf 2 read more of Golf in the Kingdom, a profoundly insightful book on the game of golf and life. Golf 1 worked with Mr. Roddy on their golf swing, following Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons. At F.M. Law Park, everyone started at the driving range, first, stretching, and then, Mr. Roddy taught us how to measure yardage with our walking stride. Afterward, we warmed up on the range by practicing loosening up our swing and really letting the clubhead take control. Feeling the momentum of the clubhead allowed us to feel the flow of our golf s

Over the course of day 4, our J-Term participated in a number of activities from putting and chipping on the golf course to analyzing rule famous rule violations in golf tournaments. Golf 1 kicked off the day learning about the downswing from the book Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. While Golf 2 had a seminar over the book Golf in the Kingdom. Soon afterwards both groups prepared the presentation. Golf 1 on famous rule violations and Golf 2 on how professional golfers prepare mentally for their tours.  And soon it was time to leave for the course. The group arrived at FM Law Park and walked over to the driving range where we picked up the golf balls. At the driving range we learned how to stretch and other important steps to take to avoid hurting ourselves while golfing. After hitting shots for a while we took a lunch break and many of the golfing veterans left to being moving through the golf. While the beginers myself included practiced putting and chip

  The group getting ready to hit at the drive. Alice after hitting a 400 yard shot Andy teeing up on the fourth hole

Fixing golf ball holes on the green with tees. Finding and fixing more holes. Waiting for the bus at the end of the day. Listening to presentations that students prepared.  

 Day 3 of our Golf A-Term consisted of a lot of golf (shocker). We started the morning off by splitting up the groups once more into Golf 1 and Golf 2. While Golf 1 spent time with Mr. Roddy presenting their findings on historical golfers and courses. Golf 1 enjoyed a quiet morning consisting of reading the course-mandated book and researching how players and coaches mentally prepare for a round of golf. After Golf 1 finished, they went outside and practiced the proper grip of a golf club and took photos to analyze and critique themselves. Meanwhile, Golf 2 went with Mr. Roddy to discuss our findings on the mental aspect of golf and how certain people control and apply certain techniques to it during play.  Once the presentations by both groups were finished, the entire class hopped in the bus and headed towards our golfing paradise at FM Law Park. Yesterday, we experienced the best sweat-inducing heat that Houston has to offer. However, today was an interesting mixture of humidity, ra