Thursday, September 16, 2010

Golfing Highlights Column 9-17-10

Pravin Singh, left, is in his first year as Director of golf at Kutsher's Country Club. His son John provides golf lessons and is working on obtaining his PGA certification.

A well equipped pro shop is part of the Kutsher's Golf facility.

The par 3 third hole on the front nine at Kutsher's Golf Club has water in the front, a sand trap right and an embankment in the back. A good tee shot gets you your par.


Pravin Singh Heads Up Kutsher's Golf

Pravin Singh and his 21-year-old son John are finishing up their first year as head of the golf program at Kutsher's Country Club.
Pravin, in his first year as Golf Director is also the Tennis Pro, a position he has held for 15 years at Kutsher's.
The new golf director noted that Mark Kutsher owns the golf course and leases the hotel facilities.
Pravin is also the former Tennis Professional at the now closed Pine's Hotel and resort.
The Singh family have made Grahamsville their home for a number of years and have lived in the area for some 30 years.
Pravin and his wife Mary have two children, daughter Patricia, a graduate of Tri-Valley Central School where she played tennis on the Tri-Valley-Fallsburg girls tennis team and on the boys golf team at Tri-Valley and John who also graduated from Tri-Valley Central School and attended the University of Tampa where he played on the college golf team and is presently studying and working towards his golf professional certification.
Pravin grew up in the Calcutta, India area and graduated from high school and Calcutta University majoring in mathematics. He played tennis professionally in India for seven years and has taught tennis in Florida, at Columbia University and teaches weekends at the Beaverkill Inn.
His wife Mary is a registered nurse (RN) at the New York State Department of Corrections Eastern Correctional Facility near Napanach in Ulster County.
A number of weeks ago son John qualified for the Met Open Golf Championships at Beth Page and John and Pravin have won the Father & Son Golf MGA and the Westchester Open two years ago.
Asked how he became golf director Pravin noted that Mark Kutsher encouraged him to accept the position. Pravin plays golf to a 0 handicap and son John plays to a below 0 handicap.
On our round of golf at Kutsher's we found the course in great playing condition and this facility is a must play as it's not so tough that average golfers can enjoy it, but it's still a challenge for any golfer.
The Kutsher's golf facility plays host as one of the courses in the Monday Sullivan County Men's Traveling league.
The excellent condition of the course is because of the outstanding maintenance procedures used by Golf Course Superintendent Pat McNamara.
The Golf Pro Shop is attractive, well equipped and a full pro shop. Lessons are also available from John Singh. There is presently no food available at the club house.
Kutsher's can certainly be labeled a well-rounded course and when playing it you can see that architect William Mitchell designed a classic parkland course with tree-lined fairways, sloping greens, strategic bunkering and lurking hazards. The real fairness of the design is its variety of holes and Mitchell shaped Kutsher's holes in all directions, both up and down hills.
The first nine holes were constructed in 1958 and the second nine in 1961.
This 18-hole USGA course plays 7001 yards from the blue tees and is a par 71. The course also has a driving range and putting and chipping greens.
Golf rates, including cart, for 18-holes, are $39 for midweek and $52 on the weekend. Rates after 1 p.m. Monday through Friday are $33 and after 3 p.m. are $24 for week days. Also available is a special senior rate of $35.
For tee times the golf course can be reached at 845-794-4786.
This week we introduce you to the front nine, playing from the blue tees for a total of 3613 yards and a par 36, featuring five par 4's, two par 3's and two par 5's.
Hole No. 1 is a 415-yard par 4 with pretty much an open fairway and some trees on the right. About 200 yards from the green on the right side of the fairway is a trap, so your best tee shot should stay to the center of the fairway. Traps are on the left and right sides of this large first hole green....a nice comfortable opening hole.
Hole No. 2 is a 460-yard par 4 with trees on both sides of the fairway. A fairway trap on the right is about 115 yards from the green. There is a trap on the left front section of the green.
Hole No. 3 is a 168 yard par 3 slightly down hill from an elevated tee. There is a small pond on the right some 15-20 yards from the green and traps on the left and right sides of the green. Club selection is important here and finding the green on your tee shot helps for making the par 3.
Hole No. 4 is a 415 yard par 4 with a fairway sand trap some 160 yards from the green. Traps are on the left and right front section of the green.
Hole No. 5 is a 425-yard par 4 with traps on the right side of the fairway. There is pretty much an open fairway to the left. A trap will greet you in the middle of the fairway and there are traps on both the left and right sides of this sloping green.For a par here....it is a must to stay out of the traps. Hole No. 6 is a 575-yard pr 5 and this is the longest hole on the front nine. The hole features a dogleg left with an open fairway. There is a pond on the left side of the fairway some 150 yards from the green. There is a fairway trap on the right some 40 yards from the green. Traps are on the right center and left side of the green. Club selection and staying away from the pond and traps help to score par on this hole.
Hole No. 7 is a 220-yard par 3 with trees on the left and right sides of this fairway. Large traps are on the front left side and right side of this green. The key to your par here is club selection from the tee.
Hole No. 8 is a 415-yard par 4 with a dog let right and an open fairway . Traps are on the left and right sides of the green.
Hole No. 9 is a 520-yard par 5 with fairway traps left and right and a sharp dogleg right. A nice, open fairway and a good tee and fairway shot puts most golfers in line for a birdie or par. Traps are on the left and right sides of the green. A nice hole to finish the front nine.
Next week we will outline the back nine holes 10-18.

The Golf Tip
By Robert Menges

Scoring is about getting the ball in the hole with the least amount of strokes, and the short game is a key component to accomplishing this.
One of the ways to improve the short game is to work on distance control.
In this drill, I set up four targets...whether it's buckets or whatever visual object you can find...with distances ranging from 10 to 40 yards.
After the targets are in place you then hit one ball at each target in sequence. By hitting at different targets in sequence, you once again will prevent yourself from locking in to one distance. In the long run, this will help you develop better feel for your distance control.
As far as club selection, I suggest you start with a 5 degree wedge for this drill, and then experiment with your other wedges. The key here is to develop your touch for the different distances.
Robert Menges is the head golf professional at the Swan Lake Golf & Country Club, Mt. Hope Road, Swan Lake. He is available for private lessons and if you have a question or subject you would like covered, he can be reached at 292-0323 or via email at menges@hughes.net

This column is written by Ed Townsend, a consultant to the amateur and professional sport of golf and to several golf writers associations. If you have a topic that you feel would make good reading or have league scores and tournament information, Ed can be reached by phone at 845-439-8177, by email at edwardctownsend@hotmail.com and by fax at 845-230-8674. For a more expanded version of this golf column please visit our Web page at http://bght.blogspot.com/ This column is also available on Facebook.

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