Sistas on the Links featured in African American Golfers Digest

The new Metro-based club Sistas on the Links is getting some attention in the golf media.

African America Golfers Digest has a story on the 54-person club created by Janet Johnson. Here's a brief excerpt:

According to Janet, "Our home course is Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland and our mission is to united and expose African American women to the game of golf, introduce young women and nurture their growth ... I have discovered that so many black women did not know they could play this game, or how to approach learning the game, and many had never picked up a golf club. These same women are now playing tournaments with us--it's wonderful!"

Sistas on the Links has an open enrollment period Oct. 15 through Nov. 15. For more information contat Janet Johnson at (510) 236-7118 or jjohnsonconsult1@peoplepc.com

Craig Snyder helping me clean up my game

"Do you know the importance of cleaning your clubs?" asked Craig Snyder as he got a glimpse of my mud-caked Titleist 755 irons at the beginning of a recent lesson.

Over the course of the next hour, Craig persuaded me not only to scrub my clubs, but showed me how to remove some of the gunk from my swing as well. Craig, one of the members of the Rich Marik Pure Golf instruction team, taught at Nike Junior Golf Camps for 13 summers after a successful playing career at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Most recently he brought his golf expertise and easy-going teaching style to Metropolitan Golf Links. Craig believes simplifying your golf swing with the correct information can quickly and easily improve your results and enjoyment.

After watching me hit a few balls Craig instantly spotted some of my long-standing problems: sucking the club inside, getting across the line at the top, and hitting nasty hooks. Craig said many of my swing ills are caused by standing too far away from the ball, so he moved me closer, worked with me on some path and plane issues, and gave me a simple but effective drill to groove the changes.

I'm already seeing results.

Craig works with all kinds of students. I recommend him highly.

csnyder@playmetro.com
(415) 596-9499

Creature from the deep, dark, murky waters

I snapped this photo with my cruddy Blackberry camera just off the 5th green...

New toy for golf nuts

I've been messing around with a high-speed consumer camera from Casio. The Exilim EX-FC100 can shoot 30 images at 6 megapixel resolution in one mere second, and allows for slow-motion video shooting of up to 1000 frames per second. It's the slow-mo stuff that's interesting for golf nuts. I've found that 210 FPS gives the best results for capturing golf swings. To wit, here is some recent video that Metro instructor Gregg Thrall captured with this camera. He recorded Nationwide Tour player Dong Yi on his recent visit to the Metro driving range.

(Image quality is better than the compressed stuff you see here)

Paddy gains 30 yards with the Happy Gilmore swing