The PGA of America has designated July 2007 as Family Golf Month. In recognition of the fact that family time is now more precious than ever, the PGA believes golf can be a “Family Vacation for a Day.” While there are many forms of entertainment and recreation that are family oriented, a day on the golf course can be as relaxing and maybe less expensive and time consuming than a trip to a ball game or a day at a high-priced amusement park. A family day on the golf course can be an experience that you can build into a regular event.

Those close to golf know that it can be the perfect recreation for families. While it is a fact that the growth of the game depends as always on younger and new players staying with the game once they try it, playing golf as a family outing on a regular basis can be a great way to bring family members closer, and a way to get to know each other in an entirely different manner, away from the traditional confines and everyday routines. There are memories there that you will always remember.

Along those lines, Mark and Megan Cahill shot a two-person scramble score of 64 to win the scratch division of the annual Dutch Hollow Father-Child Father's day event. Andy and Wayne Eckhardt were second. Butch Mazzeo and Keri Hogan were third winning a tie-breaker with John and Nate Sexton.

Aaron and Marty Wisniewski were fifth, and Tony and Rob Graceffo finished sixth.

Net division winners were Matt and Connor Wisniewski with a Callaway score of 66. Tom and Joe Costello were second. Steve and Jon Poweski were third winning a tie-breaker with Tom and Justin Taylor. Kirk and Spencer Edmunds were fifth. Bill and Bobby Gage won a 12-way tie-breaker for sixth place net. Fifty-seven players competed in the event.

Golf, like the people who play it, have their cycles and phases. The modern game has become more complex than ever because of the technology available in both equipment and instruction, and because that is the way we have made it. Some say physical conditioning is the next wave of the future. On the other side of the coin, golf is still a simple game - you have to move the ball where you want it to go and get in the hole in the fewest number of strokes. The same fundamentals that were popular at the game's beginning are still applicable today.

An announcer on a telecast of a golf tournament said last week that one of the players had a “quirky kind of little over-the-top move” as he made his pass at the ball. The former player-announcer then said about the player, “But you know, he hits it where he's lookin.” With all the new systems and philosophies, and the surfacing of a new swing guru every week, there are still only a few things that matter: You have to feel comfortable in your own skin, and you have to find a way to get that ball to go where you want it to go.

Learning the golf swing is a life-long experience. Your game changes as you change. The key is to synchronize the two, in moving toward better shots and better scores.

Don't be afraid to send your scores or stories to lombo@pga.com.

See you on the links!