In the last several blogs Black Widow ambassadors have done a great job of introducing you to Black Widow and PrideSports products that you can use in the off season to keep you warm and in-tune to your game. They have described the importance of keeping your cleats in good repair, the importance of keeping your equipment clean and your grips in good playing condition. I have also complied by removing and replacing my SoftSpike cleats, cleaned my clubs and grips, straightening out my “golf” closet and washed all my golf towels. 
I am ready for the 2015 season but right now I can only dream of that warmer day (it’s 16 degrees as I write) when I can shoot out to the course and play a few or at the minimum get in some range work. I think back fondly of my 2014 season, the great friends I made, the great courses I was able to play and of the many lessons learned. Sharing your passion for the game of golf with other people who are just as crazed about the game as you absolutely ROCKS!
If you can and like to travel as I do, I highly encourage you to consider playing in as many tournaments as you can get in to. Even if you don’t want to travel far, you can find out about local tournaments by calling your local courses and country clubs 
and asking them to add you to their tournament schedule mailing list. Once you get into a tournament, network with other players to find out about tournaments they play in. Contact those courses; get on their mailing lists and before you know it you will have a list of tournaments to play in. Oh, and don’t forget internet resources, yet another way to find tournaments in cities and towns in your area.
Once you receive your registration form for a tournament, it will contain cost information and other items of interest to the players such as social hours/dinners/use of club facilities, cart fee information and format. The majority of the tournaments are played on Saturday and Sunday with a practice round normally scheduled the week before. One of the most important things to note is the format to be played. If you know it practice it! It will go a long way to boost your confidence level if you can practice playing the format and get comfortable with it. I normally play couples tournaments with my partner, John, and I’ve listed some of the more common formats I have played below but rest assured if you would rather play your own ball, there are many tournaments for you as well :
The Scramble: One of the easier formats and a great one to give the beginning golfer confidence in his/her game. You and your partner both hit tee shots. The team selects the best ball and both hit from there and that continues until you get to the green. Once on the green you both putt. You count the lowest score on the hole. Sometimes a scramble format will require the team to play a minimum number of drives from each partner.
Low Ball: This format requires a player to play their own ball through the hole and the partner plays his/her own ball as well. The lowest score on the hole is counted as the team score.
The Shamble: Both players tee off and the team chooses the best drive. Both players hit from that shot and from that point through the end of hole you play your own ball. Lowest score is recorded as the team score.
Stableford: Each player plays his/her own ball. A point system is used for example: an eagle gets 5 points, a birdie gets 3 points, a par is given 2 points, and a bogie 1 point, and double bogie gets no points. Normally there is a rule allowing a player to pick up his/her ball after a double. Points are added up at the end of a round and the team with the most points wins the tournament.
How I learned it was important for me personally to know the format to be played came when John and I were scheduled to play a couple’s tournament at a country club in Austin, TX. Back in the day, this club held the the first Senior PGA event, the Legends of Golf Tournament and an LPGA tour event and here I was…I was going to play on these same grounds! We arrived on a Friday to play our practice round but before we played we walked through the country club to check it out. It was totally upper crust and elegantly appointed furnishings, paintings, photographs and trophies of the golfing greats and there I was totally country come to town. It dripped history and I imagined the PGA/LPGA pros walking the halls, drinking in the bar, eating dinner after the round and just hanging out. Here I was new to the game, giddy with excitement, mouth hanging open in awe, walking in the same place the pros had (I had chills, I’m not going to lie)! The beauty was carried to the course; it was gorgeous. The greens were perfection, the fairways and surrounds lush, beautifully and perfectly manicured.
John assured me when he scheduled the tournament that the format was a scramble. I had about a month to get comfortable playing the scramble format on our local course. I was ready, I could do it. During our practice sessions, I learned the basic rules of a scramble such has how you play out of a sand trap. If the team chooses to play the sand shot, the player that initially hit the ball in the trap hits first, he/she then rakes the trap and the other player goes into the trap and places the ball in the same location it was previously hit from and hits his/her shot. We played our practice round in the scramble format and it was fun. After the round, we visited the pro-shop to get our tee time for the first day of the tournament. I’m wandering around gawking at all the golf paraphernalia, a shopaholic’s heaven, when I overhear the Pro inform John that the format would be Stableford. I had no idea what Stableford meant. John didn’t seem concerned (he wouldn’t be; he is a player) and I remained oblivious….for the moment.
Later that evening during a steak dinner and after I took a huge bite (I was starving), John causally informs me exactly what a Stableford format is. What?!? I have to play my own ball? I didn’t practice that format! What!?! After a double bogey I have to pick up the ball!?! I’ll be picking it up for 18 holes!!! How embarrassing!!! I choked on that bite of steak! I freaked! There went my dinner! Now I understand what “divorce golf” is. I wanted to pack up my new golf clothes and shoes and high-tail it out of town on the first bus. My partner was supportive, I must have asked him to explain the format to me at least 100 times and he calmly described it to me 100 times. He assured me that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to death even if I had 18 pick-ups because I would be playing with someone of like skills (yup, that was reassuring, NOT). At one point he even offered to call the Pro and withdraw us from the tournament. YES, I wanted him to do just that BUT…. I had fallen in love with this crazy game of golf and maybe just maybe, I wouldn’t have 18 doubles (I had been practicing like crazy after all) and maybe just maybe, I wouldn’t die of shame on the course and maybe just maybe I could I do this. So I told myself, to suck it up, said a prayer to Michael Breed, (Dear Michael Breed – Can I do this!?!) and I agreed to play no matter what. I won’t bore you with the hounding my partner received that night or the sleepless night I had, but Saturday did roll around; the first day of the tournament on hallowed grounds, grounds where the PGA/LPGA players had once played!
We arrived early Saturday to warm up. OMG! The people were serious! Was this the Masters? I’d never seen that much high-end clothing or equipment in one place! And here I am playing with a set of men’s clubs that John chopped down to fit me and who knows where I found that skort I was wearing! My golf bag was a hand-me-down as was everything else in it. Off we go to the driving range (they had the range balls stacked up in those pyramids like you see on TV and no, I didn’t did take a picture) and we settle down for some range warm-up work. There is minimal conversation on the range other than whisperings between team members. I’m checking out the “competition” out of the corner of my eye and I’m scared. They’re serious and they look tough. You got it; the fundamentals go out the window and John has to work with me, to get them back. I was a wreck!
I won’t go into my game that day, but once I got into the hang of the format I was actually able to enjoy it and I didn’t have to pick up my ball near as much as I thought I was going to. The couples we played with both days were members of the Club and welcomed us to their course with the pride they should have. I feel, still to this day, very privileged that I was able to play on that course both years that we played it (yes, I actually went back for a second tournament).
I learned a couple of very important lessons (1.) know the format (2.) practice the format until you are comfortable playing it (3.) dress the part (4.) be confident. Black Widow and PrideSports can help you dress the part and be confident in your game. Black Widow has excellent grips and there is sure to be a style and texture to suit your game. My personal favorite are the Widow Maker grips! They also have the meanest looking hats which I have found to be a conversation starter everywhere I go, an easy way to break the ice for us shy types! 
Don’t forget to dress your bag! I’ve seen some bags and clubs that look like they have been dragged off a back of a truck on a country dirt road! Keep your bag clean; it represents you! Clean your clubs and keep your grooves clean I use the PrideSports golf club utility brush and give my clubs a bath at least weekly. My clubs are my friends, I lovingly wipe them down with my Black Widow Multi-Use velour finish golf towel. Stock your bag with good tees that last! I thought tees were tees and they were supposed to break after one strike until I tried the the Pride Golf Tee Evolution tee system. I was amazed to find a single tee lasted 2 full rounds and then some!
Be comfortable with your game (practice, practice and more practice), know the format and dress the part and remember… Black Widow and PrideSports have your back! See you on the course!
Lorice SugarGrl Pierce
Black Widow Ambassador
Follow me @TheSugarGrl on Twitter and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SugarGrl?fref=nf
blackwidowgolf 