But ultimately, I was still struggling to get to the green. Why? Because after a decent drive, and strong second shot, I was struggling to set myself up for a nice putt by attacking the green with a wedge shot. I was feeling so good that day (outside of my wedge game), I was even saving a couple long putts. If I had to take a guess, I’d say my wedge affected about 8 to 10 strokes in my round that day.

So I’ve been bombing around the internet looking for different instructions and I came across this quick 2 minute, 32 second video from PGA Golf Professional Brad Hauer demonstrating on how to be more consistent and hit a better wedge shots from 40 to 60 yards.

Take a peak, let me know what you think. If you have your own tips for practicing, let me know!

Cheers!

Here is a little bit about each fesitval:

Be sure to checkout LearnYourBeer.com for more news on upcoming New England Brewer Festivals!

Maine Brewers Festival (November 5th/6th at the Portland Expo): The 17th annual Maine Brewers Festival will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 5th and 6th, 2010. This festival celebrates the quality and community of Maine’s craft brewers and their tasty celebrated brews. Great food, door prizes, interesting vendors, and fantastic music round out the experience. This event has become an anticipated New England tradition. We hope you’ll join us for fun, friends, and most importantly, great beer!

New Hampshire Brewer Festival (November 12th/13th at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester). This is sure to be a fabulous weekend of craft beer experiences. If you’re already a beer geek, you’ll have a good chance to sample some new brews and your old favorites, and have a great time while you’re at it. You can Learn Your Beer in some cool tasting seminars. This is a great opportunity to taste the good work of your local hard-working craft brewers, find a new “favorite beer”… and party and dance to great live music!

Get these dates on your calendar now! For tickets visit here.

Golf. Beer. Repeat. will  have more to come on these 2 great events as we get closer!

Cheers!

This is a very special After Golf entry for Golf. Beer. Repeat. For the first time in our short blog career, we were able to connect with co-owner of The Halfway Café John Grasso over a few pints to discuss what makes his restaurants a great place to go after a round of swinging the sticks. And speaking of swinging the sticks, DO NOT FORGET, the 11^th Annual Halfway Café Charity Golf Tournament is coming up August 2^nd! Sign your team up now!

Check out the Halfway Cafe at one of their 7 locations in Massachusetts

First off, when we’re talking about The Halfway Café, we need to start with the great menu items. The Halfway Café is world famous (or so they should be) for their 7 for $7 menu. This special menu offers 7 great options for just $7! And for those who like variety, these seven items change from month to month to insure regulars will come in with new options each month. In asking John what are three items everyone needs to try among walking into a Halfway Café, he says their burgers, steak/turkey tips and original steamers are favorites of his (and among the restaurants regulars). When asked for confirmation from his veteran staff (many within the seven locations have been there for multiple years) echoed the same choices, with wings being added to the mix (and… if you golf on Sunday, definitely stop in for all you-can-eat wings Sunday!!)

John and I next got to talking beer (because, well, I like it). When I asked him what was the one beer he’d want to drink for the rest of his life, he confessed he doesn’t enjoy beer as much as he once did. However, if his arm was twisted, he could enjoy a nice Harpoon IPA or Spaten. As for beer at the Halfway Café, you’ll find the staples that everyone can enjoy after a round of golf…. Budweiser varieties, Guinness, Sam Adams and Sam Adams seasonal among others on tap as well as a solid selection of bottled liquid goodness. I’m not just saying this because I like them, but the Halfway Café in Watertown poured a delicious tasting Sam Adams Summer when I was in there… one of the better ones I’ve had this season.

After getting the important items out of the way (food and beer), John and I kicked back and had a great discussion about what makes his restaurants buzz with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. John believes in the theory of “working with, not for” approach and that starts at the top with his partner David Steen and himself. If you are not familiar with the history of the Halfway Café, check out the history here. Whether you belly up to the bar, or grab a table, the servers are interested in knowing more then what you’re drinking and eating. They’ll ask for your name and refer to you by your name throughout the meal, which adds a great touch even if it’s your first visit. Don’t be surprised if some servers will remember your name after a few visits… it’s that kind of neighborhood establishment.

So next time you’re looking to get out and play… check out the Halfway Café in one of their 7 locations. Here are a few suggestions that pair nicely with a Halfway Café locations:

• Dedham – Dedham Country and Polo Club
• Watertown – Oakley Country Club or Newton Commonwealth Golf Course
• Marlborough – Marlborough Country Club (semi-private)
• Canton – Brookmeadow Country Club (HOME OF THIS YEARS HALFWAY CAFÉ CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT!)
• Holbrook – Braintree Municipal Golf Course
• Marshfield – Green Harbor Golf Club
• Maynard – Butternut Farm Golf Club

So that will do it for my look at the Halfway Café. I want to thank John Grasso and the great folks at Halfway Café for letting me come in and chat with them. It speaks volumes to the emphasis they put on customer relations. Hope to see you out there on the links… cheers!

Got a great place you and your friends like to go after golf?

Let us know by emailing:

nick (@) golfbeerrepeat (dot) com.

Maine Brewers & Vintners Festival: July 24th
Where: Point Lookout Resort – Northport, Maine
Visit www.centralmainebrews.com for details and to purchase tickets.

Blues ‘n Brews Festival: August 21st
Where: Nashoba Valley Ski Area – Westford, Mass.
Visit www.bluesnbrews.com for details and to purchase tickets.

In addition to these great events, here’s another brew festival featuring Redhook Brewery…

Redhook Fest: July 24th

Where: Redhook Brewery — Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Visit www.hookfest.com for details and to purchase tickets

HARPOON CHAMPIONSHIPS OF NEW ENGLAND BARBECUE
We have received many emails from Friends asking when we are hosting this year’s Harpoon Championship of New England Barbecue . So, we thought we would take a moment here to tell you that our summer festival at our Windsor Brewery will be Saturday, July 24th and Sunday, July 25th, 2010. There will be more than 40 BBQ teams competing for the title “Vermont State Champion” and the right to go to the National

The Harpoon Championship of New England Barbecue in Vermont!

Championships. And for you, there’ll be plenty of Harpoon beer, brewery tours, great food to sink your teeth into, live bands, Beer and BBQ University, and much, much more. So grab your nearest calendar and your favorite pen…HARPOON BBQ!

Check out the band and competition schedule

SUNDAY FRIEND OF HARPOON SPECIAL

Present your Friend of Harpoon Card at the entrance on Sunday of the BBQ Championships and receive a $5 discount! You must have your Friend of Harpoon card when you pay for your admission to get this deal. You will receive two beer/soda tickets along with your admission. Sunday ONLY!

Here are the details:

Visit our web site for the band schedule, directions to the Brewery, and additional event information or call us at 888-HARPOON ext. 3.

More about this year’s Championships

Check out this email I got from the folks at Harris Golf!

Please join us on Sunday, July 4th and take advantage of a round of golf including cart rental for $75 per person.

The course is in great shape and the weather looks perfect for this upcoming weekend. Make your tee times online today or call us at 207-495-4653 and play Maine’s Number One Course for just $75.

What a great way to spend what looks to be a beautiful 4th of July weekend! Cheers! And enjoy!

Where: Gordon’s Fine Wine & Culinary Center (Waltham, Massachusetts)
Cost: $20 per person

A new series for la creme de la creme, Boston bartenders. Putting their cocktailing and improvisational skills to the test, then deciding who shakes, mixes, and stirs the best!

How it works:

The first Wednesday of each month, two bartenders from different high profile bars & restaurants will take part; this month: the winner of June’s Bar Wars will go up against a “challenger” (TBD).  Each month a different liquor brand will be featured; this month: Neige Apple Ice Wine from Quebec (in honor of Canada Day, July 1).

First, each bartender will have the opportunity to create and serve a “signature cocktail” using the featured liquor. Meanwhile everyone votes on ingredients the bartenders will have to incorporate into a new drink on the spot (a la “iron chef”). They’ll have 20 minutes to conceptualize and perfect the drink, after which everyone will taste, vote on their favorite, and the winner will go on to battle a new challenger the following month.

We like a good competition here, and so hope you’ll come to cheer on your favorites and witness all the hard work and creativity that goes into a truly great cocktail. Let the games begin!

And our friendly grocer next door, Hannaford’s, has graciously offered to provide all the ingredients potentially needed.

Snacks will be served.

You must be logged in to the Gordon’s website before you can register.

Let’s start with the good stuff: beer. While The Whittier House website does not boast its great craft beer selections, please trust us that you can find a cool, refreshing brew to here. And while it may look like a fancy sit down joint, don’t worry, they offer a relaxing tavern area with televisions and comfortable sitting options. They carry roughly 20+ taps with the usual domestic offerings paired with some great local finds including Tuckerman Brewing Company, Redhook Ale Brewery, Moat Mountain Brewing Company and other hard to find locals. If you can’t find a draft that fits your attitude after shooting 18… step up to their bar and check out the 40+ bottle choices that are constantly changing from season to season.

The menu gives hungry golfers many choices from burgers, wings and other traditional pub food to well portioned entrée’s (that includes Schnitzels!)

If you’re interested in taking a road trip to the White Mountain to visit the Whittier House and shoot 18, I recommend checking out Golf in the White Mountains as a resource to help plan your trip (we promise, they don’t pay us to say that).

Got a great place you and your friends like to go after golf?

Let us know by emailing:

nick (@) golfbeerrepeat (dot) com.

Smuttynose Brewing Company (@smuttynosebeer): One of the last six logs of Barrel-Aged Tripel is going to the Blue Mermaid in Portsmouth. We don’t know when… http://fb.me/ASGw5UU2

The Great Lost Bear (@greatlostbear): @greatlostbear in Portland, ME @harpoon_brewery Summer Beer $2.99 on special all week. So light and crisp. Our favorite on a hot day!

Beer Pulse (@beerpulse): Baxter Brewing construction underway in Maine http://bit.ly/aLrAln #craftbeer @BaxterBrewing

Shipyard Brewery (@shipyardbrewing): Get it while it lasts: Broadway Redemption (771 Broadway in South Portland, ME) has a special on Shipyard’s SMASHED PUMPKIN – $5.99 22oz.

Magic Hat Brewing Company (@magichat): Let @magichat get you to a festival this summer. We have @NewportFolkFest @NatevaFestival @bigupfestival tix & more! http://bit.ly/1XIxfk

Federal Jacks Restaurant & Brewpub (Kennebunkport, Maine) (@FederalJacks): Open at 9:30 tomorrow am for the World Cup! USA vs Algeria and England (thanks, Simon) vs Slovenia. Danishes will… http://fb.me/AU4ldml6

Got tweets we aren’t seeing? Let us know! Drop a line on Twitter or Email.

Cheers!