As another year draws to a close and a new one begins it is time to take stock of where we are and to think a little about where we are going. Improvement in golf is an incremental thing. Those of you who have been in The Dirt for a good while know what I am talking about. It happens when players think wide and are open to a wide range of ideas.

Back a couple of years ago now when Elk and I first started to go over a lot of historical information about the golf swing, he was visiting just prior to the Canadian Open and I gave him a copy of one of my favorite books.  My Golfing Album by Henry Cotton.  Ironically he had a copy of this very book on in bookshelf but like many of the hundreds of golf books he'd collected over the years he had never really had the time to really scour through it.  That changed quickly and it soon became a favorite talking piece for us.  So much so that many of the first videos we did For Secret In The Dirt were inspired at least in some ways by what Cotton was all about in this book.
Some of you may remember a piece that we did called "11 Things" which we released on New Years 2010 as a single web page and a PDF.  This was the point when we decided that we would begin to build this website.

There is an old saying in economics that a rising tide lifts all boats.  It's not exactly on point and The Dirt isn't really economics but it is relevant in a way to how I feel about this site.  As Secret In The Dirt grows it has been my goal to help all of our members grow.  First I want their knowledge of this great game to grow. I then want their appreciation of the players and teachers who came before them to grow.  Most importantly through respectful sharing and dialogue I want them to learn here what they need to know in order to improve their games through a new environment of shared experience and social learning.

Today marks the launch of the Caddy For Elk Contest, where you can win a spot as Elk's Caddy during the Pro-Am Round at the Fry's Open in CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, California on October 5th, 2011. 

Let me take you all back a little bit.  I know I’ve asked you to do this many times but once again I think that it is time to indulge in the past just a little. 

First off apologies for being so tardy with the blog but I think once you read this you will forgive me for being otherwise occupied.  I feel like I’ve said that far too often recently but it can’t be helped…..  Especially, when I get something into my head that has to be turned into something real. When we started Secret In The Dirt, it was with the idea that we would try to create as many ways for golfers to connect as we could.

Shot 84. Ouch!!... But considering that 30% of the field withdrew and less than 20 guys were able to keep it in the 70’s that score actually wasn’t all that bad.….

Twelve.  That’s how old I was when I fell in love with golf.  That is also the number of years it has been since I’ve played a competitive round of golf. Why try and play now?

Golf is a game of constant change and adjustment.  That in a nutshell is the message we have for the world here at Secret In The Dirt.

I have been pretty lucky to have found myself around a lot of professional athletes from hockey, football and baseball players to PGA Tour players.  It has been amazing to watch.