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The Tournament You've Been Waiting For!

The inaugural NSC National Best-Ball Golf Tournament is a unique opportunity for amateur golfers with a valid handicap to compete as two-man teams for the chance to play at Pebble Beach and for a shot at the title, “NSC National Champions.” This is the only golf tournament that provides a national stage for a team, match-play, handicap competition and the only national best-ball tournament that brings winning teams to Monterey Bay, CA to play three of the most prestigious golf courses in the country; Pebble Beach Golf Links® Spyglass Hill Golf Course® and The Links at Spanish Bay®

This is a three-stage competition that begins with a local shotgun net best-ball qualifying round in April, May or June (depending on the region) at 32 quality public golf courses around the country. Low-scoring teams advance to local match-play where they are guaranteed three matches at the local qualifying course. Winners advance to regional match-play where they are guaranteed three matches at quality public courses. The tournament culminates in September with the final eight teams competing in a match-play tournament on three beautiful Monterey Bay courses.

Click here to find a participating course near you.

Visit our main website www.nationalmatchplay.com for complete information on the tournament
schedules, rules, and registrations. Also visit our new website www.GolfChampion.net.
You can also contact us by phone: (888) 438-8051 or email us at info@natlsportscomp.com.

History of Golf

Golf is a sport in which a player, using several types of clubs, hits a ball into each hole on the golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardised playing area; rather, the game is played on golf "courses," each one of which has a unique design and typically consists of either 9 or 18 separate holes. Golf is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules."

The first game of golf for which records survive was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A.D. 1456, recorded in the archives of the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, now The Royal Burgess Golfing Society. Golf has become a worldwide sport, with golf courses in the majority of countries.

Golf has increasingly turned into a spectator sport, with several different levels of professional and amateur tours in many regions of the world.Golfers like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam have become well recognized sportspersons across the world. Sponsorship has also become a huge part of the sport and players often earn more from their sponsorship contracts than they do from the sport itself.

Courtesy - www.wikipedia.org

Did you know: St. Andrews, one of the oldest golf clubs in the USA, was established as a 3-hole layout in 1888 at Yonkers, N.Y.

Hitting a Golf Ball

To hit the ball, the club is swung at the motionless ball wherever it has come to rest, from a side stance. Many golf shots make the ball travel through the air (carry) and roll out for some more distance (roll). Every shot is a compromise between length and precision, and long shots are often less precise than short ones. A longer shot may result in a better score if it helps reduce the total number of strokes for a given hole, but the benefit may be more than outweighed by additional strokes or penalties if a ball is lost, out of bounds, or comes to rest on difficult ground. Therefore, a skilled golfer must assess the quality of his or her shots in a particular situation in order to judge whether the possible benefits of aggressive play are worth the risks.

Types of Shots

Every shot made in a round of golf will be subtly different, because the conditions of the ball's lie and desired travel path and distance of the ball will virtually never be exactly the same. However, most shots fall into one of the following categories depending on the purpose and desired distance:

A drive is a long-distance shot played from the tee or fairway, intended to move the ball a great distance down the fairway towards the green.
An approach shot is made with the intention of placing the ball on the green. A drive may place the ball on the green as well, but the term "approach" typically refers to a second or subsequent shot with a shorter-range iron club chosen for the distance required.
A putt is a shot designed to roll the ball along the ground. It is normally made on the putting green using a putter, though other clubs may be used to achieve the same effect in different situations. A lag is a long putt designed less to try to place the ball in the cup than simply to move the ball a long distance across the putting green for an easier short putt into the cup.
A chip shot is a very short lofted shot, generally made with an abbreviated swing motion. Chip shots are used as very short approach shots (generally within 35 yards), as a "lay-up" shot to reposition the ball on the fairway, or to get the ball out of a hazard such as a sand trap. A bump and run is a variation of a chip shot, which involves running the ball along the ground with a medium- or high-lofted club using a putting motion.
Punch or knock-down shots are very low-loft shots of varying distance. They are used to avoid hitting the ball into the canopy of trees or other overhead obstructions, or when hitting into the wind which causes the ball to climb higher than normal.
Lay-up shots are shots made from the fairway similar to a drive or from the rough, but intended to travel a shorter distance than might normally be expected and/or with a higher degree of accuracy, due to intervening circumstances. Most often, a lay-up shot is made to avoid hitting the ball into a hazard placed in the fairway, or to position the ball in a more favorable position on the fairway for the next shot. They are "safe" shots; the player is choosing not to try to make a very long or oddly-placed shot correctly, therefore avoiding the risk that they will make it incorrectly and incur penalty strokes, at the cost of requiring one or more additional strokes to place the ball on the green.
Flop Shot is when a player uses a very open club like a Lob Wedge to get the ball high very quickly over an obstacle or to get the ball to stop quickly when it hits the ground.
A draw is when you shape a shot from right to left in a curving motion. Or left to right for a left hand player. A shot which draws too much, or unintentionally and thus uncontrolled, is called a "hook".
A fade is when you shape a shot from left to right in a curving motion. Or right to left for a left hand player. A shot which fades too much, or unintentionally and thus uncontrolled, is called a "slice".
A shank occurs when the club strikes the ball close to the joining area between the shaft of the club and the club head, and thus flies at a sharp angle to the left of the intended direction (or to the right, for a left-handed player).
A topped shot occurs when the forward edge of the club head strikes the ball too high, ie "over the top" instead of underneath as intended, and the ball thus flies very low or rolls along the ground.
A duffed shot occurs when the clubhead strikes the ground behind the ball, instead of striking the ball cleanly, thus slowing the club head velocity as it propels the ball and/or altering the alignment of the club head to the ball, with various consequences for the quality of the shot.
A "bladed" shot occurs when the clubhead strikes the center of the ball not giving the ball the desired lift or spin, usally caused by lifting one’s head.

Courtesy - www.wikipedia.org

Did you know: Of the last 10 U.S. presidents, nine have been golfers; only Jimmy Carter was not.

Visit our main website www.nationalmatchplay.com for complete information on the tournament
schedules, rules, and registrations. Also visit our new website www.GolfChampion.net .
You can also contact us by phone: (888) 438-8051 or email us at info@natlsportscomp.com.

What is a Swing?

Putts and short chips are ideally played without much movement of the body, but most other golf shots are played using variants of the full golf swing. The full golf swing itself is used in tee and fairway shots.

A full swing is a complex rotation of the body aimed at accelerating the club head to a great speed. For a right-handed golfer, it consists of a backswing to the right, a downswing to the left (during which the ball is hit), and a follow through.

The full golf swing is a complex motion that is difficult to learn. It is common for beginners to spend several months practicing the very basics before playing their first ball on a course. Generally, even once a golfer has attained profession status, a coach is still necessary in order for the player to maintain good fundamentals.

Use technology to improve your Golf Swing

Every golfer knows the most essential thing to conquer is the golf swing. One of the ways to improve is by using hi-tech Electronic Golf Swing Improvers, this guarantees to correct hooks and slices, and you don't have to be on a driving range to exercise it. You can use it in your own garden. It comes with a thick, driving range-style nylon turf mat to guard your clubs, an electronic device with a large LCD display for animated ball flight to show how far the ball is going and how well you're hitting it, and a solid ball for "real hit" feel. Use any club, from driver to 9-iron. It will give club head readings in MPH or KPH and can be used by both right-handed and left-handed golfers.

Tips to protect your Golf Clubs

Use two sided brush with soft brass bristles on one side and rigid plastic bristles to brush after each shot to keep the golf club’s grooves clean.
Graphite golf club shafts can weaken or get damaged with repeated abrasions. Avoid using hard dividers in your bag. Use soft padded dividers or use long-padded head covers.
Protect your golf clubs shafts by flipping your golf towel up and into the club section as an extra cushion for the golf wood heads and golf shafts.
Keep your golf clubs from rusting and pitting by removing them from the car when the temperatures start dipping. The temperature changes can lead to rust damage on the outside and inside of the golf club shaft and golf club head.
Always cover the wooden clubs. Avoid clanking of two golf clubs against each other during transport around a golf course or in a car.

Did you know: During the 1932 Walker Cup, golfer Leonard Crawley accidentally hit his ball in the wrong direction and it ended up hitting and denting the Walker Cup trophy.

2008 NSC National Two-Man Best-Ball Golf Tournament - Regions and Venues

South California

The Links at Victoria, Los Angeles

Carlton Oaks Country Club, San Diego

North California

Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, Sacramento
Bing Maloney Golf Course, Sacramento

Santa Clara Golf & Tennis Club, Bay Area
Skywest Golf Course, Bay Area

Lake Michigan

Bridges Golf Course, West Lake
St. Andrews Golf Club, West Lake

Boulder Creek Golf Club, Michigan
Timber Trace Golf Club, Michigan

Tennessee/Kentucky

Windtree Golf Club, Nashville
Ted Rhodes Golf Course, Nashville