Matteson sets Tour record to lead

American Troy Matteson will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Frys.com Open after breaking a PGA Tour record with a second straight 61.

The 29-year-old hit 10 birdies in his second consecutive nine-under round to reach 16 under in Scottsdale, Arizona.

His total of 122 for successive rounds broke countryman Steve Stricker's mark of 123 set at the Bob Hope in January.

Chris Stroud, Webb Simpson and Tim Clark were second, with Martin Laird nine under and Greg Owen eight under.

A delighted Matteson said afterwards: "With the year I've had, it's - first of all - it's indescribable. Two days ago, if you'd have asked me what I was going to shoot on Friday, I would have said 'I'll take anything in the red'.

"It's amazing how fast golf changes. It's just one day something clicks, and all of a sudden you get on a little run.

"Hopefully I can keep it going. It's nice to have some good rounds with the year I've had. It's getting towards a nice ending."

American rookie Rickie Fowler, joint second-round leader, finished four shots off the pace along with first-round leader Nick O'Hern of Australia.

The pair were joined on 12 under by Bill Lunde, Ryan Moore and Jamie Lovemark.

England's Owen, who like Fowler posted 65 on Thursday and 64 on Friday to share the lead at the halfway stage, slipped back to joint 19th on Saturday after recording five bogeys in a disappointing three-over 73.

Scotland's Laird, who won his maiden PGA Tour title last week, answered Friday's 72 to make the cut with no room to spare with a 62 to climb into a tie for 16th.

Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a half inch course-the space between your ears-Bobby Jones

Steve Williams’ Hitting The Zone came to hand as I searched the shelves of my favourite second-hand Hard to Find book shop.

Steve's book, co-authored with Hugh de Lacy has been around for some time however having read literally; no let’s not go there, just let's say lots of golf tuition books, I decided I should at least, buy it for my collection.

And then thought it’s about a Kiwi so maybe a wee word about it will fit the bill for a Golf in Godzone blog.

So here’s a few of my Aha! thoughts while reading what turned out to be a very good book.
And I’d go as far as say it’s a must-read for young golfers.

Not because it’s one of these do this, don’t do that kind of mechanistic methodology tuition books.
It focuses on the mind side of playing this great game.

Its focus on the mind, exquisitely explained in the book's opening quote.

“Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a half inch course-the space between your ears-Bobby Jones”

My first Aha!
Steve approves of the use of “shrinks” then writes, “Tiger Woods is an exception-the nearest thing to shrinks on Team Tiger are Steve, and Tiger’s [late] father Earl."

I guess it’s because so much has been written about Tiger’s swing coaches we fail to observe Tiger doesn’t have a favourite “shrink”.

I also liked Steve’s definition of a successful swing and/or performance.

“We could define success in any sport as the natural learned potential stored within the subconscious, minus the negative interference from the conscious.”

-See what I mean when I write it’s a book about the mind rather than mechanical methodology?

Steve’s definition brought to mind Tim Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Golf and Tim’s idea that we have a Self 1 which creates physical and mental interferences with the natural abilities of Self 2.

Steve gets very upset when he hears of his old boss, Greg Norman, being called a “choker”. And I’ll come back to my thoughts on Greg later.

Mention is also made of the rapid fall in form of Ian Baker-Finch but Steve is not naïve enough to suggest he’s got a fast-fix solution for such a huge fall in performance level.

Steve is a great believer in the value of goal-setting and I found this heading kinda cute;
“The pen is mightier than the passing fancy”.

Suggesting that if you don’t put pen to paper and write down your goals. Whatever goal-of-the moment comes to mind is nothing but a passing fancy.

I’m almost there with my Aha! Moments so please bear with me.

A minor factual error but worth commenting on is, when writing about Sam Snead, Sam is attributed with winning the 1946 US Open. Not so it was the 1946 Open at St Andrews.

Sam never did win a US Open and is on record of having said something Greg Norman might have said in reference to his well-documented losses.

Sam said, “It goes without saying that my biggest disappointment was never winning the U.S. Open. I'm reminded of it all the time. It hurts when people remember you for the things you didn't do, rather than for the things you did do.”

The Great White Shark has a great golfing record but alas all too many people focus on the events where he didn’t quite finish the job.

My thought for the day, and something I did today with some success, but more importantly, enjoyment. Comes from Steve’s thoughts on the relaxation.

“Whatever the on-course relaxation routine, Steve says it’s vital for a player to deliberately break his concentration between shots.
It would be absolutely exhausting, if not mentally impossible, to maintain full concentration throughout the four hours or so it takes to play a round of golf.”

Aha! So when I see Steve and Tiger, talking and laughing between shots, there’s an explanation other than a chat between friends. It’s one of the ways to create a break in Tiger’s concentration between shots.

Buffalo has the industry's most powerful arsenal of leading-edge tools to help keep clients relevant in the minds of their target buyers

Buffalo Communications (Buffalo) has further bolstered its infrastructure by appointing Nicholas Keefe as Director of Information Systems at the global golf-lifestyle public relations, branding and marketing-communications firm that is a division of Billy Casper Golf.

Keefe will expand Buffalo's strategic operating platforms and oversee the firm's six-person team of technology specialists. The investment in Keefe and Internet and internal systems parallels Buffalo's recent addition of high-profile clients and its strength servicing clients in digital and social media.

"Lifestyle purchasing decisions are no longer driven strictly by traditional media coverage, long-term brand loyalty and personal recommendations," says Rich Katz, Managing Director of Buffalo. "The ways people communicate and consume information is evolving, and Buffalo's leadership position ensures clients continue to thrive from being major parts of conversations across all mediums."

A graduate of the Kogod School of Business at American University, Keefe has 13 years high-level systems analysis and project-management experience, with a focus on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of information-technology programs.

"Buffalo has the industry's most powerful arsenal of leading-edge tools to help keep clients relevant in the minds of their target buyers." says Keefe, who in a dual role manages IS for Billy Casper Golf. "Dynamically using these tools to service our clients and journalists helps Buffalo maintain its 95-percent client-retention rate."

I try to stay out of things in the course of play

Coach Melissa Melahn made a strong statement at the beginning of the Rock Bridge girls golf season. She’s hoping her team will make one at the end.

During the first meeting of the season, Melahn told her team it had the ability to qualify for the state championships. With a win in the Class 2, District 5 tournament earlier this month, the Bruins will be competing in the 35th MSHSAA Girls Golf State Championships on Monday and Tuesday.

The Bruins last sent a team to state 20 years ago.

“We’re all not trying to get nervous about state,” Melahn said. “We’ve had our focus on the district tournament because it’s been so long since it has happened to our program. We certainly have the potential to go to state and be one of those top competitive teams.”

She credits the William Woods tournament, which happened about two weeks before district, as a good moment for the Bruins season. Her team was two strokes away from setting a school record, and she thinks that helped them push each other to be even better.

No. 1 Meghan Mueller, a junior, and No. 2 Kayla Burri, a senior, who both competed individually last season at state, lead the team.

In high school, the number of strokes needed to complete the last five competitions determines rank. The difference between the two is less than a half a stroke.

“At the start of the season, it was a stroke or a stroke-and-a-half,” Melahn said. “Kayla got back in the swing of things, literally. They are so close. One day, one will shoot a 39 and the other a 40, and the next day it’s the exact opposite. They probably haven’t been separated by four or five strokes, max, spread-wise.”

Off the course, however, they’re quite different.

Mueller began golfing at age 7 when her grandfather cut down one of his old clubs to her height. He then gave her a few plastic balls to hit around. She began competing with one of her grandmother’s old set of clubs before her family bought her a set of clubs four years ago. Mueller competed in multiple tours while growing up and is in her sixth season of competing in the Plantations Junior Golf Tour.

She’s also accomplished twice golf’s most challenging shot: a hole in one.

“The first one was amazing because I was so young,” Mueller said. “Most people go their whole lives without getting one. I was 8 or 9.”

The other came in 2007 when she was playing in a tournament in Florida.

“I couldn’t see the hole from where we had teed off from,” Mueller said. “I got up there, and my grandmother started clapping. I said, ‘What?’ She said, ‘Look in the hole.’ That was pretty intense.”

When Burri was young, she had another passion.

“Music,” she said. “I was seven years old, and my brother got his first guitar. And as soon as I heard him strum, just like a chord, it was the coolest thing to me. I just wanted to learn how to play it from then on. I just had the greatest interest in it.”

Burri knows how to play the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano and saxophone. She has started a group with one of her friends called Irish Chopsticks and hopes to record a CD in the near future with some music she has written.

Burri began competitive golf her sophomore year and, unlike Mueller, doesn’t have a hole in one.

She does have at least one fan.

“She’ll be out in the cafeteria playing the guitar, and I’ll be out there, just listening to her,” Mueller said. “She’s really good. I’ll definitely listen to her if she made a CD, which I hope she does because she’s really good. It’s definitely not something I could do. I know I can’t. I’m the girl that’ll sing in the shower.”

She and Burri have developed a good competitive balance on the course. An example happened in a competition Sept. 8 in Kirksville.

“She had made a bad shot to the left,” Burri said, “and I just told her, ‘Meghan breath.’ Sometimes it’s take a breath or multiple breaths.”

It’s something Mueller relies upon.

“I guess I can kind of get intense,” she said. “We walk together a lot (during competitions), so she’ll be near me when I hit the shot. I’ll get mad, and I’ll look over at her, and she knows what she needs to say to get me to calm down.”

It's something Melahn is thankful for.

“I try to stay out of things in the course of play,” she said. “I’m not out there for every shot. They have to figure out how to encourage one another, direct one another. In terms of individuals and personalities, I’d say they’re drastically different, which is why it’s fun to see them play that give and take on the golf course. All that other stuff goes away and out here they’re just teammates and golfers.”

Also competing for the Bruins are senior Hadley Thompson, sophomore Morgan Reimler and freshman Kaitlyn Marsh.

New Hampshire from Winslow State Park one of two state parks on its flanks

Mount Monadnock (3,165 feet) in southwestern New Hampshire has repeatedly been called "the second most climbed mountain in the world," which may be true or not (likely not), but it sounds good. But it is true that Monadnock sees a lot of climbers, especially on a sunny weekend in prime foliage season. (The web addresses for information on individual NH state parks are unwieldy, so go to www.nhstateparks.org. Most of the parks sites have a downloadable/printable hiking map.

Monadnock is popular for a couple of reasons. First it's a climb that most reasonably-fit people can do—yet still enough of a challenge that you feel like you've really accomplished something when you reach the summit.

Second, the summit is wide open, with 360-degree views that takes in all six New England states. Monadnock is really a lovely place. But there are many, many other, mountains to hike. Most of them are quieter than Monadnock. And many of them have rocky, bald summits which make great overlooks to see fall foliage from on high.

My son Justin and I recently climbed Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire from Winslow State Park one of two state parks on its flanks. The other is Rollins State Park. From Rollins, it's a half-mile stroll to the summit. From Winslow, you have two trails to choose from: the Winslow trail which is pretty steep and 1.1 miles long, and the Barlow, more gentle but 1.8 miles long. Together they make a nice loop. There's also the 4.6 mile long Lincoln trail which starts on Kearsarge Valley Road near the golf course.

River Oaks work continues

Renovations on the Otter nine at the 27-hole River Oaks Golf Club facility have been completed and the holes reopened Thursday. The Fox nine will close Monday for a similar project.

On the Otter nine, which closed July 7, more than 2,000 trees were removed, a number of bunkers were eliminated and others were added, cart paths were improved, and both drainage and irrigation work was done.

American Golf manages River Oaks. Signature Golf Group, a local management company, has been hired to oversee the projects, and designer Craig Schreiner of Myrtle Beach is implementing the changes and improvements.

"Before there were probably 50 to 60 bunkers, and a lot of them weren't really in play but could affect a high-handicap player," said Signature Golf president Dave Downing, the project manager. "We tried to create a better golf course where the good player would still be challenged but it was a little more open for the average player."

The bunker work included new sand, and greenside bunkers on the Otter are now more penal. Some former bunkers were filled in or converted to grass bunkers.

Downing expects the Fox nine to reopen in March, in time for the spring golf season. He said it has yet to be determined when the Bear nine will close for refurbishments. All 27 greens at River Oaks were changed to the high-quality Champions ultra-dwarf Bermudagrass in recent years.

My arm was hurting me by the end of the day which is why I didn't play well in the final match against Adrian Lewis

STUDLEY'S Andy Smith is aiming to take the momentum gained from his performance at last week's Championship League Darts (CLD) event into the Skybet World Grand Prix which begins at Dublin's Citywest International Event & Conference Centre on Monday.
The Pieman picked up a healthy £1,300 in prize money for his efforts in Group Six of the CLD in winning three of his seven matches against some of the biggest names in the game and, by staying out of the bottom two of the eight players, will return to Essex's Crondon Park Golf Club for Group Seven on October 20.
The event, which is based on world rankings, saw Smith enter at the Group Six stage and sees the winning player from each group qualify for the Winners' Group final on October 22, for which six players - James Wade, Phil Taylor, Mervyn King, Mark Walsh, Wayne Mardle and Colin Osborne - have already booked their place.
Smith therefore has two more chances to book his place in the grand final as there are eight group stages but, regardless of progress to the final day or not, he was delighted to earn the £1,300 from a day's work last Thursday as he earned £50 for each leg won and claimed 6-5, 6-5 and 6-3 victories over Wayne Jones, Denis Ovens and Mark Dudbridge respectively, which left him in good touch ahead of his visit to Ireland.
"It was a pretty good day for me," said Smith, the world number 24 who faces Dutchman Vincent van der Voort in the first round of the World Grand Prix on Monday - a best of three sets match which can be seen on Sky Sports.
"I played some really good darts and also some not so good but that will happen in a day-long event.
"It's a good format and another one of the events which rewards players for their efforts at the floor tournaments over the year because if you earn the right to qualify you can see the good money which it offers.
"My arm was hurting me by the end of the day which is why I didn't play well in the final match against Adrian Lewis, but it's fine now and I am really looking forward to playing Vincent in Dublin.
"He's a good player but I feel confident and if I can make the second round then a game against Colin Lloyd or John Part is not a bad draw. No disrespect to them, they are great players, but the draw could have been worse given the current form of some players."
Smith is targeting a place in the world's top 16 in the near future and knows that this ambition, despite his consistent performances at floor tournaments, will be given a bigger boost by good performances at televised tournaments, of which Dublin brings such a chance.
He added: "My arm has played up before and cost me on TV, but I'm fitter now and really believe that perhaps getting to the semis in Dublin is within my reach.
"I like the double to start format as I was brought up playing that way in the Studley League and it's a good tournament because that format rewards more than just heavy scoring.
"I'm ready for it but as I always say it's hard to set targets because it's all about performance on the day."