If you are a senior golfer, I have a book for you. It is called Playing Through Your Golden Years: A Senior’s Golfing Guide, and it was written by two guys who know what it is like to play the game at a certain age. I explain in this month’s issue of Home On The Course.
Announcing a New Book for Senior Golfers…and a Deal for Subscribers
What are the chances that two Baby Boomer golfers who have each published a book should meet on a blog site, wind up playing golf together and, a couple of years later, produce a book for senior golfers? In the Internet age, the odds actually were quite good.
Brad Chambers, who maintains the blog site ShootingYourAge.com and has written a book to help senior golfers do just that, has joined me in producing a brand-new book called Playing Through Your Golden Years: A Senior’s Golfing Guide. The book may or may not help you produce a score below your age, but for less than the cost of a sleeve of Topflites, it is worth a shot — or two.
Playing Through goes on sale today at Amazon.com in electronic (Kindle format) for a mere $3.99. (The Kindle app can be downloaded for free from www.amazon.com/kindleapps.)
Our new book covers all the challenges a senior golfer — male of female — faces in trying to play the best golf through their senior years. It is topical, occasionally detailed but written in a casual manner that makes the 90-pager about a 90-minute read (although a few passages are worth a re-read, if we do say so ourselves). If you are on the cusp of retirement, the book will prepare you; if you still have a few years to go, your parents will thank you for the gift.
Beth Bethel thinks we nailed it. The former publisher of the blog site Foregals was kind enough to read a review copy and wrote us the following:
“No heavy lifting, no sweaty gym sessions, no expensive training aids required. And, refreshingly, you understand and include women in your model. While you pitch to Boomers, your advice and guidance will work just as well for those of us in the Silent Generation who want to enjoy the game right up to our last breath, hopefully on the 18th hole — with the ball in the cup!”
Former PGA Tour player and Ryder Cup participant Ken Green was direct as well, saying Playing Through Your Golden Years provides all the options senior golfers need to play their best golf and have a helluva lot of fun doing it. (See the excerpt in the sidebar for more on the subject of proper tee boxes.)
We tried to combine some serious approaches to the game with the overarching principle that, above all, the game should be fun — or at least, enjoyable. For example, in our chapter on what tee boxes to choose for your round, we warn that testosterone is a dangerous thing on the golf course and keeps some of us from playing at the appropriate distances. Consider, for example, that PGA Tour golfers typically hit mid- to short-irons into most par 4 greens. Yet many of us mere mortals insist on playing tee boxes that cause us to take out long irons or even a fairway metal for most of our approach shots. Last year, I came to the conclusion that was just plain silly; I want to play like the pros — even though I don’t hit 300-yard drives (more like 200, if that). Therefore, I have moved up to the tee boxes that play between 5,600 and 5,800 yards on my favorite courses, giving myself a pro’s chance of a fair shot to the green. I am enjoying golf these days as much as I did in my grip it and rip it 20s.
Other chapters in the book include tips on how to manage a golf course when you don’t hit the ball as far as you once did; how to play as much golf as you want, including a formula for playing 12 months a year; how to stay in shape and what to do if you suffer a golf-threatening injury; the joys of connecting with men’s, women’s and couples’ golf groups; my obligatory words about finding a golf community that suits your lifestyle and your game, as well as the journey my co-author Brad and his wife Alice are starting in search of their own “best” golf community; travel golf for seniors; and a bit of advice of what to do when your golfing days are winding down.
Although the book is priced at $3.99, I am pleased to offer a free copy — in PDF format, which looks pretty slick — to Home On The Course subscribers who order my first book, Glorious Back Nine: How to Find Your Dream Golf Home, directly from Amazon. Just send me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. after you have ordered Glorious Back Nine in either its paperback ($9.99) or Amazon Kindle version ($5.99), and I will email you the copy of Playing Through Your Golden Years with my compliments — and thanks.
Larry Gavrich
Founder & Editor
Home On The Course, LLC
The following is a short selection from the chapter written by Brad Chambers titled “The Right Tee Boxes – for You”
We all remember what we “used” to be able to do and that includes standing on the tee with our trusty persimmon driver and crushing it 220 yards. And, yes, sometimes even 250 yards. With the wind. Downhill. But still.
Very few of us can do that anymore. Yet, the great majority of you reading this are playing from the same set of tees you’ve always played. Why? Seriously. Why???
A few years ago, I spoke to some experts on the subject, including Del Ratcliffe, a PGA Class A teaching professional and owner of Ratcliffe Golf Services which manages municipal courses in the Charlotte, NC area; two other PGA Class A teaching professionals in Lexington, KY; and Ken Green, former PGA Touring Pro and 1989 Ryder Cup team member.
Ken Green’s comments: “Golfers make the move up (in tee boxes) way too late, in my opinion. The male ego gets in the way. I don’t play the tips anymore, and sometimes I even go to the whites depending on the length of the course.”
He continues, “My theory is you should try and shoot whatever your best golf was when you were younger. I still want to shoot under par, so I go to the tee where I can shoot a few under par. Why would you want to beat yourself up playing tees where you can’t even come close to shooting what you used to shoot?” [Editor’s Note: Why indeed?]
If you are considering a search for a permanent or vacation home in a golf-oriented area, please contact me for a free, no-obligation consultation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are a senior golfer, I have a book for you. It is called Playing Through Your Golden Years: A Senior’s Golfing Guide, and it was written by two guys who know what it is like to play the game at a certain age. I explain in this month’s issue of Home On The Course.
Announcing a New Book for Senior Golfers…and a Deal for Subscribers
What are the chances that two Baby Boomer golfers who have each published a book should meet on a blog site, wind up playing golf together and, a couple of years later, produce a book for senior golfers? In the Internet age, the odds actually were quite good.
Brad Chambers, who maintains the blog site ShootingYourAge.com and has written a book to help senior golfers do just that, has joined me in producing a brand-new book called Playing Through Your Golden Years: A Senior’s Golfing Guide. The book may or may not help you produce a score below your age, but for less than the cost of a sleeve of Topflites, it is worth a shot — or two.
Playing Through goes on sale today at Amazon.com in electronic (Kindle format) for a mere $3.99. (The Kindle app can be downloaded for free from www.amazon.com/kindleapps.)
Our new book covers all the challenges a senior golfer — male of female — faces in trying to play the best golf through their senior years. It is topical, occasionally detailed but written in a casual manner that makes the 90-pager about a 90-minute read (although a few passages are worth a re-read, if we do say so ourselves). If you are on the cusp of retirement, the book will prepare you; if you still have a few years to go, your parents will thank you for the gift.
Beth Bethel thinks we nailed it. The former publisher of the blog site Foregals was kind enough to read a review copy and wrote us the following:
“No heavy lifting, no sweaty gym sessions, no expensive training aids required. And, refreshingly, you understand and include women in your model. While you pitch to Boomers, your advice and guidance will work just as well for those of us in the Silent Generation who want to enjoy the game right up to our last breath, hopefully on the 18th hole — with the ball in the cup!”
Former PGA Tour player and Ryder Cup participant Ken Green was direct as well, saying Playing Through Your Golden Years provides all the options senior golfers need to play their best golf and have a helluva lot of fun doing it. (See the excerpt in the sidebar for more on the subject of proper tee boxes.)
We tried to combine some serious approaches to the game with the overarching principle that, above all, the game should be fun — or at least, enjoyable. For example, in our chapter on what tee boxes to choose for your round, we warn that testosterone is a dangerous thing on the golf course and keeps some of us from playing at the appropriate distances. Consider, for example, that PGA Tour golfers typically hit mid- to short-irons into most par 4 greens. Yet many of us mere mortals insist on playing tee boxes that cause us to take out long irons or even a fairway metal for most of our approach shots. Last year, I came to the conclusion that was just plain silly; I want to play like the pros — even though I don’t hit 300-yard drives (more like 200, if that). Therefore, I have moved up to the tee boxes that play between 5,600 and 5,800 yards on my favorite courses, giving myself a pro’s chance of a fair shot to the green. I am enjoying golf these days as much as I did in my grip it and rip it 20s.
Other chapters in the book include tips on how to manage a golf course when you don’t hit the ball as far as you once did; how to play as much golf as you want, including a formula for playing 12 months a year; how to stay in shape and what to do if you suffer a golf-threatening injury; the joys of connecting with men’s, women’s and couples’ golf groups; my obligatory words about finding a golf community that suits your lifestyle and your game, as well as the journey my co-author Brad and his wife Alice are starting in search of their own “best” golf community; travel golf for seniors; and a bit of advice of what to do when your golfing days are winding down.
Although the book is priced at $3.99, I am pleased to offer a free copy — in PDF format, which looks pretty slick — to Home On The Course subscribers who order my first book, Glorious Back Nine: How to Find Your Dream Golf Home, directly from Amazon. Just send me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. after you have ordered Glorious Back Nine in either its paperback ($9.99) or Amazon Kindle version ($5.99), and I will email you the copy of Playing Through Your Golden Years with my compliments — and thanks.
Larry Gavrich
Founder & Editor
Home On The Course, LLC
The following is a short selection from the chapter written by Brad Chambers titled “The Right Tee Boxes – for You”
We all remember what we “used” to be able to do and that includes standing on the tee with our trusty persimmon driver and crushing it 220 yards. And, yes, sometimes even 250 yards. With the wind. Downhill. But still.
Very few of us can do that anymore. Yet, the great majority of you reading this are playing from the same set of tees you’ve always played. Why? Seriously. Why???
A few years ago, I spoke to some experts on the subject, including Del Ratcliffe, a PGA Class A teaching professional and owner of Ratcliffe Golf Services which manages municipal courses in the Charlotte, NC area; two other PGA Class A teaching professionals in Lexington, KY; and Ken Green, former PGA Touring Pro and 1989 Ryder Cup team member.
Ken Green’s comments: “Golfers make the move up (in tee boxes) way too late, in my opinion. The male ego gets in the way. I don’t play the tips anymore, and sometimes I even go to the whites depending on the length of the course.”
He continues, “My theory is you should try and shoot whatever your best golf was when you were younger. I still want to shoot under par, so I go to the tee where I can shoot a few under par. Why would you want to beat yourself up playing tees where you can’t even come close to shooting what you used to shoot?” [Editor’s Note: Why indeed?]
If you are considering a search for a permanent or vacation home in a golf-oriented area, please contact me for a free, no-obligation consultation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Camden Country Club, Camden, SC