Do you find yourself playing the same golf courses week in and week out? Is it time to change your normal routine and experience a new and exciting challenge?  If so, do yourself a favor and take the short drive out to Terry Hills Golf Course in Batavia, N.Y.

Excellent Course Conditions

This family owned and operated 27 hole golf course offers an excellent layout with many challenging and scenic holes.  The condition of Terry Hills is unmatched – even with the extreme temperatures and lack of rain this golf season. With plush fairways and greens that are some of the best in the area, you will not be disappointed.  During the early rains this season, Terry Hills was one of the few courses that allowed riding carts out on the course.  Their drainage system truly passed the test that Mother Nature threw at them.

Enjoyable Golf Course Experience

If what you most enjoy when visiting a golf course is the overall experience, then Terry Hills Golf Club is definitely for you. The friendly staff treats each person that visits as if they are family. All staff members are required to wear a polo shirt with the Terry Hills logo stitched on the chest. There is no confusion when it comes to who works at the course.

When you pull up the driveway, you are overwhelmed with the newly renovated banquet facility and restaurant. The dining area with lounge can seat up to 200 people, an ideal location for a wedding or large gathering, while the covered outdoor patio overlooking the first tee can seat an additional 75 people – a great place to enjoy a drink after your round of golf.

Gorgeous Signature Par 3

Their signature 14th hole is a par 3 that plays 123 yards from the white. This hole can be very intimidating due to the water that surrounds 90 percent of the green. You have the option to play it safe by hitting on to the short landing area and then chipping up from there, but why not just go for it?

Competitive Rates

Terry Hills offers some of the most competitive rates around. You can enjoy 18 holes with a cart for only $37 during the week.  Join their email club and receive specials deals as low as $30 on the weekends. Golfers also enjoy discounts on breakfast and lunch buffets when they purchase a round.

Terry Hills is Ideal for your Next Golf Tournament

Terry Hills offers a separate area designated for tournaments or large gathering, such as family reunions. Their covered facility is ideal for BBQs or cook-outs and can handle more than 200 golfers at one time. To request more information on group outings at Terry Hills Golf Course & Banquet Facility, call the Pro, Casey Brown at 585.343-0860 ext. 13 or email, caseybrown@terryhills.com.

With the excellent conditions, competitive prices, family atmosphere and overall experience, there is no doubt you will consider Terry Hills to be a “must play” golf course. Don’t just take our word for it, take the short drive out to Batavia, N.Y. today to see for yourself.

Photos of Terry Hills Golf Course

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Win a 4some to This Great Course

Go to our Win Free Golf page and sign up now for exclusive Rochester Golf offers and promotions. You will be entered in our monthly FREE GOLF giveaway and have a chance to win.

We here at GolfLocal.com believe that there are some key reasons why us golfers enjoy going back to a golf course – those are quality of the course, value and the customer experience. If you have ever had a great customer experience you more than likely would revisit that course again.

That customer experience or service is the foundation of private courses like Augusta National and Trump National. Imagine how Donald Trump is treated at any of his golf courses. Now what if our public courses showed that level of service?

So for the month of August, we are looking for the golf course (private or public) that has provided the best service and experience.

Please leave your comments and reviews below and let us know either way if you saw great service from the courses you have played. We will even send all those that leave a comment a special gift.

The first 15 people to write a review about an experience this month will receive a Free Golf Local Discount Card.

Online coaching is a new concept in the “world of golf” and has the potential of revolutionizing private golf instruction as it is known today. In the day of multimedia communication and electronic mediums this path of instruction “just makes sense” for some people who respond well to visual instruction. With e-coaching your instructor (if qualified) has the potential to offer instruction to you without being with you personally for example, when you are on the road traveling for business or vacation or if you have minimal time to arrange a private meeting with your instructor.

You can simply shoot video both down the line and face on (see example below) with any hand held device such as your iPhone, then send to your locker with Online Skills Coach and your selected instructor will receive an email indicating that you have sent a video that needs to be coached. The video can be shot both indoors or outdoors, on the range, golf course, practice green or bunkers;  videos have been received to be coached that have even been recorded in students’ living rooms at their homes!

The instructor, as part of his or her agreement with Online Skills Coach, must within 48 hours of receipt, coach your video with voiceover and return to you with comments, text and/or drills attached that have been personally recorded by your instructor indicating the path he/she may want you to take to improve or work on in the coming days or weeks. The coached video remains in your locker for a total of one year so you can review over and over again at your convenience; this is an added benefit because many times we as students get off track and this is a way for the student to constantly review what needs to be done at their own convenience.

In the Greater Rochester Area, Brian Jacobs is the only Hank Haney Certified Ecoach Pro and currently coach players from all over the United States, Canada and overseas. His “Estudents” have progressed incredibly well and are just as committed to improvement as the students he teaches in his golf schools and private instruction.

There are a variety of reasons for why people choose ecoaching for example, time constraints or as a continuation of instruction for out of state/country students that have attended a golf school; many Estudents progress at the same or more rapid rates and in some cases Brian Jacobs has received as many as 3-4 videos a month from some  Estudents. He has been asked a number of times if he feels that ecoaching will “take over” traditional instruction and he  replies, “no” but there is a place for this type of instruction for a number of people who again, would prefer to be coached in this manner.

Brian Jacobs is always open to learning and implementing anything that he believes will help his students get better and develop consistency and this is definitely another tool that he can use to assist his students in constant progress. In Brian Jacobs way of thinking for our area of the country this is a great way to stay “tuned up” in the winter months and he has used this program for players that he coached that play the Mini Tours in Arizona when snow is on the ground here and for athletes that are preparing for college golf. The coaches from colleges can simply view the video in the student locker with his voiceover and the process of recruiting or student improvement can continue to be as smooth as possible.

In the coming months he will be creating a program with his Performance Coach, Corey Taylor (www.CoreyTaylor.net) where he can also ecoach his students and build drop down programs that can be done at home or a gym to assist the student in being golf fit for the off season, pre-season and in season all based on video that is sent via Online Skills Coach.

This program is a tremendous way to learn at your own pace or support previous learning at one of his golf schools or private instructional training sessions and Brian Jacobs would encourage you to research this further. He is always available to answer your questions either through his website www.BrianJacobsGolf.com or on twitter @brianjacobsgolf and he looks forward to the coming months as he continues this series of articles with Golf Local on topics of interest that to golf instruction.

HOW TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT

1. Go to OnlineSkillsCoach.com

2. Click on new user in top right corner of page

3. Fill out the information

4. Select golf as your sport then Hank Haney Golf as your team

5. Select Brian Jacobs as your Coach and get started today!!!

Start improving your game today with PGA, Hank Haney Certified Instructor, Brian Jacobs. When you send your videos, you receive a personal instruction video and customized tips and drills within 48 hours. All of your coached videos are stored in your accounts locker so you can watch them over and over again.

Get Started with 2 videos for only $29.99.

***Brian Jacobs Golf reserves the right to determine the length of the coached video returned to student

Now that the Wegmans LPGA Championship is over and the professional athletes have left town, women’s golf isn’t making Rochester headlines like it was back in June. That may lead to the perception that there aren’t many local golf opportunities for women, particularly for amateurs.

Thankfully, that’s not the case.

“Rochester is a golf town,” said Susanne Yarnall, the publicity director for the Women’s Rochester District Golf Association. “There are more opportunities than ever, more women-friendly leagues and courses.”

But what if making the transition from being a woman who is interested in golf to being a woman who is actually taking the steps to become a golfer seems overwhelming? It’s a normal feeling – even pros like two-time LPGA champion Heather Daly-Donofrio understand that type of hesitation. But the benefits of golf outweigh the challenges.

“At times the game of golf can be intimidating, but what all players need to understand is that the game is difficult for everyone, no matter the age, sex, or ability level of the player,” wrote Daly-Donofrio, now the LPGA’s director of tournament operations and player services, in an email. “Golf is a game that you can play for a lifetime and is a wonderful way to spend time with your friends, entertain business clients, enjoy the outdoors and, if you walk, get some exercise.”

Daly-Donfrio, who started golfing at age 15, became a professional golfer in 1993 and won on the LPGA tour in 2001 and 2004, emphasized that competition is not always the best motivation. “The key is to enjoy the game and not to worry about how well or poorly you play,” she wrote.

It is also helpful to take lessons, and get involved in local organizations, Daly-Donfrio added.

And Rochester has plenty of golf organizations to choose from, Yarnall said.

The WRDGA strives to further the advancement of golf by assisting in the development and recognition of amateur women golfers, while promoting good sportsmanship and friendly competition, according to its website. Yarnell said there are organizations in Rochester for all types of female golfers – whether you are simply looking to learn, socialize and network, or if you would like to play competitively, there are lots of options. Another example of a Rochester women’s golf organization is Rochester chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA). And there’s no reason not to introduce girls to the sport early on. The Genesee Valley Golf Course is home to the First Tee of Rochester program, Yarnell said.

“People should be aware of the talent that comes out of Rochester and that’s because of the programs we have,” Yarnell said.

For those women just starting out, Daly-Donofrio recommends bringing along a friend. She said that her sister starting golfing at age 45, and brought a friend with her as she got started. “Before long she and her next-door neighbor were comparing notes and swings in the driveway,” Daly-Donofrio wrote.

For Betsy Fox of Brockport, she didn’t even have to leave her yard to find a golf partner. Her husband, John Fox, first introduced her to the game approximately nine years ago. Fox picked it up herself as a way to regain upper body strength after a medical issue and has been golfing regularly ever since.

“My best advice for women starting out is to get fitted for a good set of clubs. Find a good instructor and take a few lessons,” Fox wrote in an email. “And don’t golf with your husband until you are comfortable swinging a club!”

Fox said it can be challenging when a husband and a wife are at different skill levels, but it’s worth it to power through. They enjoy golfing together, as well as separately. They are members of separate organizations – he belongs to the Brockport Country Club and she belongs to the Arrowhead Golf club. Unaware that Daly-Dofrino had pointed out the same benefits of the sport, Fox demonstrated that amateurs find the same enjoyment out of the sport as the pros do by writing that both she and husband “love that we can get outside and enjoy the weather, and it is great exercise.”

“Golf is a mental game and that basically is the most challenging part of the sport,” Fox continued. “Women tend to get very frustrated when things don’t come together as quickly as they would like and golfing is always challenging – if it wasn’t we would all be on the pro circuit,” she pointed out.

For additional information on the organizations mentioned in this article, visit:

www.lpga.com	www.thefirstteerochesterny.org	www.ewgarochesterny.com	www.wrdga.org

Article Written By Jessica Nicastro

You may not notice it driving through Rush, but there is a hidden jewel that is located just after the bend in the road on 15a. This hidden jewel is known as Wild Wood Country Club.

There are many appealing qualities that Wild wood has to offer. The greens are beautiful, the course is challenging, and the staff is very courteous and accommodating. Wild Wood offers all new electric golf carts and the pro shop provides great products. Make sure you pick up the course guide which includes a layout of each hole.

3 Reasons That Make this Course Shine

Beautiful Hole Layouts – This is a beautiful course containing many large tree’s, very luscious green grasses and challenging water hazards. The back nine of Wild Wood has some of the most beautiful holes in the Rochester area.

One of the best holes includes number 15. It has a sharp dog-leg with water that streams up the entire left side of the fairway and surrounds the green.

Improved Irrigation and Drainage

Wild Wood has improved the irrigation system and drainage allowing for a drier course but keeping bright green fairways and greens. The course has a creek that winds its way through the back nine making water in play on every hole except the 10th and 18th. Putting in a state of the art drainage system was key to keep this area dry. Wild Wood also added cart paths throughout the course.

Mike Sweazy the Head Golf Pro mentions that “Some area golfers believe that our course is wet after it rains but in reality we have one of the best drainage systems in the area. This spring we never had to close the course or not allow carts out on the course.”

Challenging Golf for a Great Price

Wild Wood is right up there in the caliber of golf as other top public golf courses in Rochester. If you have a flexible golf schedule you can find some great deals to play this great course. For example you can play 18/w cart Monday-Friday anytime between 8am-12pm for only $30 and that includes lunch. That is a fantastic deal!

A Couple Tips You Must Remember

Don’t be scared to layup – You must play smart or you can be in trouble very fast. Because the course has many large trees and many water hazards you cannot bomb drivers or crush irons. Every shot you take must be precise as there is not much room for error. Hitting straight is key to this course. The course rewards you for choosing the right club and staying in the fairways.

Do not hit over the greens – If you hit over many of the greens on this course you will be in a difficult spot. Hole #1 is the first of these holes that has a very steep slope off the back of the green that goes right into the woods. With a shot over this green you will have a large number on this hole.

This is a challenging course and simply gorgeous. Make sure you take the short drive to Rush and play Rochester’s Hidden Jewel.

Photos of Wild Wood Country Club

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View photos from the round 4 of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography Staff: David VanScott, Jesse Horning

View photos from the round 3 of the 2011 LPGA Wegmans Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography Staff: David VanScott, Cody Dalton

View photos from the round 2 of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography staff: David VanScott

View photos from the first day of the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.

Photography staff: David VanScott

Paula Creamer is once again finding herself near the top of the leader board at the 2011 Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club. Creamer carded a 5 under par 67 in her opening round to find herself 1 stroke back of 1st round leader Yani Tseng.

Creamer, aka the Pink Panther had 5 birdies and no bogey’s, opening with birdies on 3 of the first 4 holes. Since joining the LPGA in 2005, Creamer has 9 LPGA tour victories and is currently ranked 11th in the world.

Over a year ago Creamer had a surgically repaired left thumb and wondered how it would hold up. Her thumb is fine and her game is even better. Creamer is looking to move up the rankings with a strong finish this weekend and hopes to be in the same sentence as #1 ranked Yani Tseng and #2 ranked Suzanne Pettersen.

Photos from Day 1 of the Wegmans LPGA Championship

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Video of Paula Creamer after 1st round