Posted by admin on November 28th, 2009 | 0 comments
This Was some of Our Golf Vacation Spots While In Puerto Rico
Pictures Of My Wife And I At Our Golf Spots
Here we are in Cost Caribe Golf & Country Club, Ponce, Puerto Rico. This course is long and very windy as it sits in the south of Puerto Rico on the Caribbean Sea, however, it’s breath taking views and beautiful landscape overwhelm you. This is golf at it’s best, extremely challenging and great fun. A great golf outing!
We Also Played At Dorado Beach Golf & Country Club, Dorado, Puerto Rico
It Was a Slice
How About These Breath Taking Pictures From El Conquistador, Fajardo, Puerto Rico
I made this Putt
There’s will be much more golf playgrounds featured in the near future, in the interim keep the golf club swinging and make all your putts.
Posted by admin on November 17th, 2009 | 0 comments
GOLF SCORING ZONE
Leaderboard - The Open Championship
Louis Oosthuizen WINS The OPEN
Oosthuizen making a name for himself at Old Course
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
Posted: July 16, 2010
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The name on his passport – Lodewicus Theodorus – sounds like it belongs in a Wagner opera.
His nickname among friends – Shrek – is not much better.
Louis Oosthuizen found a better way to make a name for himself Friday at St. Andrews, where he carefully navigated the Old Course through light wind and short spells of rain for a 5-under 67 to take the early lead in the British Open.
A long putt through the Valley of Sin on the 18th hole, and the birdie putt from just inside 15 feet that followed, put the 27-year-old South African at 12-under 132. He was three shots clear of Rory McIlroy, who had to face increasing wind in the afternoon.
“It’s probably the position anyone wants to be in playing a major on the weekend,” Oosthuizen said.
It’s a position he doesn’t know very well.
Oosthuizen (WUHST’-hy-zen) had played eight majors when he arrived at St. Andrews. He missed the cut in seven of them, the exception coming in the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, where he finished last.
“It wasn’t very great, was it?” said Oosthuizen, flashing the gap-tooth grin that earned him the Shrek moniker. “It was a matter of not believing in myself, I think. Everyone around here is telling me, ‘You’ve got the shots, you’re playing well.’ And again, that win earlier this season just got my mind set in a different way.”
He won his first European Tour event in Spain this spring, his fourth victory worldwide.
The South African most would have expected atop the leaderboard was Ernie Els, and in a way, Els was a part of this. If not for the Ernie Els Foundation in South Africa, Oosthuizen might not be at St. Andrews, or anywhere in golf.
Oosthuizen comes from a tennis-mad family, but quickly switched to golf when he put a club in his hand. The trouble came with finances, for the travel required to develop his game proved to be too much for the son of a farmer. That was about the time the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation began to identify young South Africans from families of limited resources.
He was 17 when he began with the foundation, leaving when he turned pro.
“It was unbelievable what he did for me, traveling around the country, helping with expenses, things like that,” Oosthuizen said. “He’s such a good mentor. And probably without him, those three years I’ve been in his foundation, I wouldn’t have been here.”
Els identified talent, all right.
Oosthuizen teamed with Charl Schwartzel to win the 2000 World Junior Team Championship. Two years later on his home course at Mossel Bay Club along the famed Garden Route, he shot a 57.
That was great pressure knowing what was at stake, even though he was playing with friends. Oosthuizen needed to birdie one of the last three holes for a 59, and instead he chipped in for eagle on the 17th and birdied the last.
Now comes more pressure, and he appears up for it.
“I like the way he’s playing right now,” said his longtime caddie, Zach Rasego, who talks strategy on every tee in Afrikaans with Oosthuizen. “He doesn’t get frustrated by anything.”
The start of his back nine could have gone different directions.
Oosthuizen drove the par-4 10th green for a two-putt birdie, only to three-putt the next green for a bogey. After a chip-and-putt birdie on the 12th, he came up woefully short on the 13th and couldn’t get up-and-down for par.
He never looked flustered. And he never gave up on his plan.
Oosthuizen can bash it out there with the best of them, yet even with a breeze at his back, he laid back in the fairway on the 15th and 16th holes, playing longer irons into the green.
“I’m trying to take the bunkers completely out of play,” he said. “Seeing Tiger … I don’t think he went in one bunker. To me, if you go in a bunker, that’s a bogey or it’s going to be a very good par. So I’ve got that strategy.”
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – You could almost see tendrils of smoke coming out Ernie Els’ ears as he marched out of the scoring trailer and through assembled media at the end of Sunday’s U.S. Open.
Witnesses testifying against the mob don’t make more determined exits from courthouses.
“He wants [a major championship] really badly,” said Chubby Chandler, his agent. “That’s his 31st top 10 in a major. Pretty amazing.”
And immensely aggravating.
Tiger Woods stopped to face the inquisition in the media bullpen behind the 18th green at Pebble Beach, but there was frustration of his own. Woods recounted bad decisions at the sixth, 10th and 12th holes that he believes cost him a chance to win his 15th major championship.
“You take away those three mental errors, and I’m right there, I’m tied for the lead,” Woods said.
Phil Mickelson staggered away lamenting his chance to win his first U.S. Open.
“Obviously, I wanted to win,” Mickelson said. “I had opportunities.”
Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell winning the U.S. Open to become the first European to win the title in 40 years wasn’t the stunning upset here on the craggy shores of Carmel Bay. It was that three of the titans of this era failed to capitalize on terrific opportunities.
McDowell finished a shot ahead of France’s Gregory Havret to win.
Mickelson failed to record his first U.S. Open victory. (Getty Images)
History will note that the three most decorated players of this era kept backing up when circumstances begged them to step forward.
Elsfinished third two shots back with Mickelson and Woods tied for fourth three back.
If you wondered if all those twentysomethings winning is a sign that a new era is dawning, this U.S. Open adds to your suspicions.
Without Woods at his best, the game seems as wide open as this U.S. Open was going to the back nine.
That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re entering an exciting new era of golf.
If the back nine is where the Masters begins, it’s where the U.S. Open ends, at least at Pebble Beach on this gray and dreary ending.
McDowell didn’t win this title so much as everyone else lost it.
Apologies to McDowell, because that’s immensely unfair to him, but that’s how this crazy Sunday felt with so many of the game’s best players squandering chances.
There was a terrific moment at the fourth tee box early in the day.
That’s where Woods set up to play under the large leaderboard there. It’s where he first got to see that Dustin Johnson was falling apart and turning this championship into a free-for-all.
With Johnson making triple bogey behind him, Woods could see he was now within three shots of the lead. So were Els and Mickelson.
Pebble Beach crackled with spectacular possibilities, but that’s what made this finish so unsatisfying.
The disappointment wasn’t in seeing McDowell win. It was in seeing three players as gifted as Woods, Mickelson and Els fail to challenge him. The three of them combined to make two birdies on the back nine.
Mickelson birdied the first hole, but he seemed to lose momentum failing to capitalize after smashing his tee shot to the fringe of the fourth green, a 325-yard par 4. He three putted for par.
“That was frustrating,” Mickelson said.
Almost as frustrating as failing to make a single birdie on the back nine.
“All I had to do was shoot even par in the back, and I’m in a playoff,” Mickelson said.
Woods was paired with Havret, where we saw the strongest evidence yet that Woods no longer intimidates opponents. Havret schooled Woods on the front nine, playing precision and almost error-free golf, making the turn in 1 under for the day. Woods bogeyed four of his first eight holes.
“This course baits you into being aggressive,” Woods said.
Woods took the bait too often. His swing was too loose under Sunday pressure.
Els’ putting continues to be a problem under pressure. His stroke’s tentative and short and unreliable and that doesn’t bode well for his dream of adding to his two U.S. Open titles and British Open title.
Was the setup too difficult? Tom Watson said it was difficult but fair.
Even McDowell was surprised he wasn’t pushed by this era’s proven stars.
“I was surprised that Gregory Havret was the guy closest to me,” McDowell said. “No disrespect to Gregory, he’s a great player, but when you have Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els obviously there, you’re not expecting Gregory Havret to be the guy you’ve got to fend off.”
That pretty much summed up this Sunday at Pebble Beach.
THE OPEN: Louis Oosthuizen WINS the OPEN GOLF Championship
Posted by admin on November 14th, 2009 | 0 comments
Which Is The Best Putter for You
By DAVID ALLEN
Equipment and Instruction Editor, GolfChannel.com Posted: November 12, 2009
We know it’s difficult to find time to practice during the week. When a Saturday or Sunday tee time rolls around, you’re hoping to find some spark or productive swing thought that will help you break 100, 90, 80 or whatever your scoring goal may be.
With the weekend warrior in mind we created Bump and Run, a weekly Q&A with some of the game’s top instructors. Each Friday, a teaching professional will occupy this space and answer questions directed at improving your game. This week it’s Todd Sones, owner of Coutour Golf and one of Golf Digest’s 50 Greatest Teachers in America.
TODD SONES
Owner, Coutour Golf; teaching professional, White Deer Run Golf Club, Vernon Hills, Ill., Indoor Golf Nation, Paladine, Ill.
Accomplishments:
- Golf Digest’s 50 Greatest Teachers in America
- Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers in America
- 1994, ‘96 Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year
- 2003 Horton Smith Award winnerStudents (past and present)
- Paul Goydos, Steve Jones, Chip Beck, Hilary LunkeWeb Site:
coutourgolf.com; www.toddsones.comContact:
847-549-8678
Sones, the author of two books, including “Lights Out Putting,” patented the Tri-Fit Method of fitting putters in 2003 and has taken the art of custom-fitting putters to a new level with Coutour Golf.
“You have one club in your bag that is responsible for almost half of your score,” said Sones. “That’s why it’s the most important club in your bag. Everybody is getting fit for their irons and now their driver, but they only make up 60 percent of their score. If you’re going to get anything fit, make it your putter.”
To submit a question to Sones or one of our teachers, please e-mail bumpandrun@thegolfchannel.com and check back every Friday to see if your question got answered.
What is the most common fitting mistake you see with putters today?
Two things. Incorrect length, which affects ultimately the distance you stand from the ball, your posture (relationship to the ball), and your arms in relation to your body. Those are three really important things because if your putter is too long, you’re either going to stand too far from the ball, or you’re going to have your arms jammed up into your body. If the putter is too short, you’re either going to bend over past the ball or have your arms stretched out, because you’re reaching down, and disconnected. If you can get the right length putter then you can lock in your setup every time.
I would also have to say swingweight. People get confused by swingweight because it’s hard to explain a feel, and that’s what swingweight is. It’s the feel of the putterhead as it goes back and forth. If a player doesn’t feel the clubhead, it affects his distance control because he can’t really develop good rhythm or balance during the stroke.
Do amateurs typically play with putters that are too short or too long?
It’s really hard to say, because it depends on the individual’s height and body type. You might have two guys who are the same height – one who’s all legs and the other who’s all body – but the guy who’s got long arms and a long torso is going to use a shorter putter. Length really does make a difference, but it’s got to be right for your body type. What we have found in our fittings is that guys who are typically 6-foot-3 to 6-5 need something in the 36-inch category; guys that are 6-1, 6-2 need a 35-inch putter, guys who are 6 foot, 34 inches, 5-9, 33 inches, and so on.
If you don’t know if your putter fits you, or is the proper length, is there a way to check?
It’s like trying to fit yourself to eye glasses – you’re not going to be very successful at it on your own. At coutourgolf.com, we have a fitting form where you can plug in your height and your knuckles to ground measurement (arm length in relation to ground), and it will tell you what length putter fits you based on this information. It will tell you what length putter and swingweight fits you based on your height and arm length.
What length putt gives amateurs the most trouble and why?
l think you have to look at both short putts and lag putts. From 10 feet out, most amateurs have no real expectation of making the putt so direction is not that important, and from 20 feet, even if they mishit it, they’ll probably be okay.
Tiger Woods and all good putters allow the putter to swing itself; they don’t force the speed.
Poor fundamentals show up most on short putts because they can’t make a 4-footer if they have the putterhead coming in from the outside with the face open; they don’t have enough time to recover whereas with the longer stroke, they can. Once they get past 20 feet to the longer putts – let’s say, 30 to 50 feet – they’ll struggle because they don’t put a good enough roll on the ball to control their speed.
Where putting is made or broken is how good is your speed control in lag putting, how close do you get that first one, and how well do you convert from 3- to 5-foot range? That’s where your mechanics really show.
Is there a drill you’d recommend for short putts, long putts, or both?
I’d recommend you practice both: Hit your long putt first, then try and convert the short one.
Most golfers have what I like to refer to as a signature backstroke. They take the club back the same distance for almost all putts. Let’s say it’s 12 inches – if they take it back 12 inches on a 4-foot putt their brain starts screaming, “Slow down!” If they take it back 12 inches on a 40-foot putt their brain screams, “Speed up!” Ultimately, what you really want to learn is what length backstroke is right for each putt. If you’ve got a 4-foot putt you should really have a backstroke of 6 inches. (Normal green speed, stimped at 10). If you’ve got a 40-foot putt you really need a backstroke that’s somewhere around 15 inches, so you’re allowing the putterhead to create its own momentum.
Think about a pendulum: A pendulum you swing way back and the distance it travels determines how fast it moves forward. If you swung it 6 inches it would swing slower than if you swung it 15 inches. What happens with most people is they’re controlling the putter’s speed versus letting it swing by itself. If you look at the best putters, they have a constant rate of acceleration and an equal back and through motion.
What makes Tiger Woods such a terrific lag putter? Seems like every time he has a putt of 30 feet or more, the ball grazes the hole or finishes a foot away.
No. 1, he puts a great roll on the ball, and that’s because his mechanics are very solid. The face of his putter is squaring to the path at impact, not cutting against it, and he has that constant acceleration. He never looks like he’s holding the putter back or accelerating it; it looks like the putter accelerates itself. And finally, he practices long, breaking putts. You’ve got to hit it solid to be close to the hole from long range.
Tiger talks about releasing the putterhead. Is that a good thought for amateurs?
That’s a word that describes a specific feel for a very good player. It goes back to the pendulum: if you keep your center (head and sternum) still and you let the weight of the putter go past your center, that’s releasing the putter. I don’t think it’s flipping the putter or necessarily closing the face; it just has to do with simply letting the putter go past your center.
Any advice for the weekend golfer? Something that might help them drop a stroke or two over the weekend?
I’d say this: We have 10 people come through our short game school regularly, and I think 70 percent have the wrong putter; it’s not the right specifications for them. So they’re never going to get better. It’s like glasses: You won’t see clearly until you have the right specs.
Stop wasting your time with band-aids and quick fixes that don’t do anything. Get to the heart of the problem, and get fitted for a putter through instruction. A better setup with a fit putter will develop a good putting stroke.
Posted by admin on November 14th, 2009 | 0 comments
Bump and Run: Bunker Basices
By DAVID ALLEN
Equipment and Instruction Editor, GolfChannel.com
Posted: November 6, 2009
We know it’s difficult to find time to practice during the week. When a Saturday or Sunday tee time rolls around, you’re hoping to find some spark or productive swing thought that will help you break 100, 90, 80 or whatever your scoring goal may be.
With the weekend warrior in mind we created Bump and Run, a weekly Q&A with some of the game’s top instructors. Each Friday, a teaching professional will occupy this space and answer questions directed at improving your game. This week it’s Josh Zander, a teaching professional at Stanford University Golf Course and the Presidio Golf Club in Northern California.
JOSH ZANDER
Teaching professional, Stanford University Golf Course, Palo Alto, Calif., and Presidio Golf Club, San Francisco
Accomplishments:
- Golf Digest’s Top-20 Teachers
Under 40 (2007)
- Golf Digest’s Top Teachers by State (2002-’09)
- 2003 Northern California PGA Section Teacher of the YearWeb Site:
zandergolf.comContact:
Stanford: 650-323-0944, Ext. 17; Presidio: 415-561-4661, Ext. 300
Zander, a former member of the Stanford University golf team, competed in the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He can frequently be found on the practice range at Stanford alongside one of the school’s most famous pupils, Michelle Wie, or in the practice bunker trying to help one of his students escape the sand. Zander says amateurs would have a much easier time getting out of the bunker if they understood what the club, specifically the bounce, was designed to do.
“Every bunker shot is the not the same,” said Zander. “Sometimes the sand is hard-packed, sometimes it’s real fluffy or the ball is buried. You can’t go about them all the same way.”
To submit a question to Zander or one of our teachers, please e-mail bumpandrun@thegolfchannel.com and check back every Friday to see if your question got answered.
You made reference to the word bounce earlier. Just what exactly is bounce, and what is it designed to do?
Bounce is the angle between the clubhead’s leading edge and trailing edge. If you hold the club up to eye level, so the shaft is straight up and down, you’ll be able to see how much lower the trailing edge is to the leading edge.
Understanding the bounce of the club is huge because if you know how the bounce works, and how it moves through the sand, then you can look at any lie and adjust accordingly. From a tight lie, you want to use less bounce so the club will dig; from a fluffy lie, you need more bounce because you want it to skid.
If you open the face more that will create even more bounce on the club than you currently have. A lot of clubs will have the degree of bounce written on them. For every degree you open the face you’re adding one more degree of bounce.
Every degree you lean the shaft forward, you’re decreasing the bounce by one degree. If the sand is really hard-packed – which is the case at many municipal courses – and you have a 60-degree club with seven degrees of bounce on it, what you want to do is lean the shaft forward at least seven degrees in order to get the bounce and leading edge on the same level. This way, the club will not skip across the hard-packed sand into the middle of the ball and skull it.
What is one of the biggest mistakes you see from amateurs out of the greenside bunker?
They get in the bunker and they open their stance 45 degrees, and then they open the clubface. Opening your stance causes an outside-to-in swing, creating a glancing blow. Opening theclubface increases the bounce, so if you’re in hard-packed sand you’re very likely to skull one, even if you make a good swing.
If you have a standard 56-degree sand wedge with 12 degrees of bounce on it, and you set up dead square with a square clubface, you’ll have 12 degrees of bounce. If you use the club the way it’s designed, it’s going to work pretty well for you. It’s when you start to get too fancy with it, opening the face way up and opening your stance, that you make it a lot more challenging than it has to be.
What causes the dreaded skulled shot?
Two things: No. 1, you have too much bounce on the club, which makes it skip off the sand into the middle of the ball; No. 2, the club is actually entering the sand too far behind the ball. If you take a divot out of the sand it’s usually six to eight inches long. After those six to eight inches the clubhead exits the sand, so if you hit a bunker shot that’s eight inches fat, the club is going to catch the ball on the way up. You’re actually skulling it by having hit too much sand before the ball.
Could you recommend a drill or tip to help amateurs overcome their fear of skulling the ball?
A great idea is to imagine a dollar bill under the ball. Let’s call it six inches long. Imagine the ball is in the middle of the dollar bill – you can draw the bill in the sand when practicing – and make the club enter two to three inches behind the ball, and exit two to three inches past it. If you can do this consistently, you’ll be in good shape.
One other thing people don’t understand is how much speed you need to hit good bunker shots. My formula is if you have a 10-yard bunker shot, you need to create enough speed to allow the ball to go 30 yards if you were hitting it from the grass. It’s about a 3 to 1 ratio. If I’ve got a 45-foot bunker shot, I look at it like, ‘Okay, that’s 15 yards. How much do I want to fly the ball in the air? Okay, I want to fly it 10 of those yards. What’s my 30-yard swing from the grass?’ I make a couple of practice swings through the air and that’s my swing. This formula is based on a decent lie in the sand. If you’re buried, you might have to swing a little harder; if the sand is firm, you don’t have to swing as hard.
Too often you see golfers leaving the club in the sand, out of fear of skulling the ball over the green. How does one stop this?
I always want my students to feel like their follow-through is longer than their backswing. It also goes back to how much you open the clubface. If you have 12 degrees of bounce on the club and you open the face another 15 degrees, that’s a ton of bounce. You could skull the ball or go right under it and hit it about a foot. If you squared up your stance, squared the face a bit, and swung in to in like a regular golf swing, you’d have a better chance of getting the ball out safely.
Let’s get off the beach for one question. One of our readers writes in that he’s starting to look up on his shots from time to time. He says it’s causing him to lose 10 or more shots per round. How can he stop?
Almost always when people say they’re looking up on a shot, it’s not so much that their head pops up, it’s that they’re changing their spine angle. If you look at any Tour player, their eyes are always following the ball; they don’t keep their head down past the shot. It may be down at impact, but then it releases with the shot.
If you keep your head down past impact, it locks your body up so you can’t turn and accelerate through the shot. Allow your head to release but maintain your spine angle
Here’s a drill that will help you on your full-swing shots. Take your normal address position and place another ball down about two feet from the ball you’re hitting, or two feet outside of your target line. Make your normal swing, trying to get your left shoulder to point at the second ball on the backswing, and your right shoulder to point to it on the follow-through. You can do this without a club, too: Stick your arms out like an airplane, bend forward into your golf posture, and then point your left arm at the ball on your backswing, and your right arm at the ball in the follow-through. Stay in this imaginary two-foot zone and you’ll maintain your spine angle and make solid contact.
Posted by admin on November 11th, 2009 | 0 comments
What You Must Do Prior To Address the Ball
by Phil Rodgers with Al Barkow
This involves the rehearsal swings you should take before getting up to play your shots during a round of golf. It is a very simple business and follows my basic precept for every golf swing…Make it even paced. With the rehearsal swing you imitate the feels you’re after when it’s “show time.” Try to simulate mechanics as much as you do the tempo and synchronization of the Swing
Practice Practice
Work on swing technique is more productive when done in short, concentrated sessions. Long periods of ball hitting are fine to relieve the frustrations and tensions of life in general, and if you stand there just hammering at balls long enough you may eventually find some timing and rhythm that will produce decent shots. But such sessions are invariably worthless in terms of developing a swing you can use on the golf course.
For one thing, on the golf course you are hitting a shot about ever five minutes. But on the practice range the tendency is to hit a ball every 30 seconds. That’s on reason why I think no practice session should be over an hour long, that you shouldn’t hit a great number of balls and that there should be a reasonable pause between each shot. I don’t expect you to hit a practice shot every five minutes, but you want to come as close as you can to simulating on-course conditions. Then, too, each practice shot tends to be hit with thought and purpose–you’re more likely sto concentrate well on each swing, and the work becomes productive.
With the exception of tour pros who through constant practice build up golf strength and stamina, golfers cannot usually sustain themselves physically for more than an hour of practice. Every individual has his own level of physical endurance, and some people may be able to practice a little longer than others, but a person should quit when he finds himself or herself not thinking about each shot he hits and/or feels he is no longer able to put out a maximum physical effort. Thoughtless and tired golf swings on th practice range make the session counter productive. The muscles are left with a poor “memory,” and there is no psychological benefit, either, from leaving the range frustrated.
It pretty much follows that if each practice session is going to be relatively Short and concentrated, then at each one you can work on only on element of your swing–at most two. Go into each practice session with a single thought. When you’re satisfied that you have reached a goal with the work, leave. If you’ve reached that goal after hitting only 40 balls, still leave. Don’t get into another idea. Go chip and putt. or better yet, go play.
Practice, but practice for a reason and not just to hit golf balls.
Posted by admin on November 11th, 2009 | 0 comments
Have A Plan, Draw A Picture
by Phil Rodgers with Al Barkow
A lot of golfers don’t think about the next shot! But that’s at the heart of the game. Look at the good pool or chess player. He is always thinking ahead. That’s the way good golf is played, too.
You are always going to be more successful in the long run if you have a plan for every shot, even if it fails occasionally. I think many golfers get upset with poor shots and simply blame bad swing mechanics. They should realize that bad swing mechanics often are the result of not thinking about where and how they want the ball to go, and why. Somehow, when the purpose of a swing is more than merely getting the ball properly airborne, the shot is always better.
Having a plan involves strategy, which is the intellectual part of the game. Creating a visual image is the artistic side of it. The intellectual part is involved in calculating distance, weather conditions, the contour of the terrain. the artistic side makes a picture with it all, adding instinct to the mix. You can play golf with only one or the other, but the best golf is played when the two are a team.
Positive Practice
Golf practice come in three different packages. There is the warm-up before starting a round, the pre shot routine during the round, and the session when you work on various parts of your swing seeking to learn and improve your long-term performance.
The Pre Round Warm-up
I’m not going to dwell on the fact that everyone should hit a few balls on the practice range before starting a round of golf. Everyone can appreciate that loosening up the muscles and joints is necessary. However, I will make a point many golfers don’t seem to be aware of; that is, the warm-up should be only that, it is not the time when you work on swing mechanics. You should hit balls only to develop a good rhythm and swing pace.
To establish rhythm and pace, hit more shorter irons so that you won’t be temped to press for distance. Hit a few drivers at the end of the warm-up to stretch y;ourself to the maximum, but after you do, wind down the session with some Short pitchesand chips. The thing all great player have is the ability to carry the rhythm and pace they develop on the practice tee to the course. Pay attention to your tempo, and you have a better Chance of taking it into your round.
Your concern with aiming and hitting for certain distances is not as great, but you should always be aware of what your ball is doing in the air. If you’re drawing the ball during your warm-up, that is probably going to be your shot for the day, so be prepared to play it during the round.
It is also a good idea in the warm-up to mimic your pre swing routine–the way you get into address when playing on the course. Don’t just beat out some balls. Get behind the ball for each practice shot, pick out a target area, walk into address and take the positions exactly as you do when playing on the course. This also helps you establish you rhythm. The idea is to prepare yourself so that when you get on the course it is not a foreign experience. Make your warm-up a rehearsal, not just practice.
It also helps allay tension when you’re in a pressure situation on the course to have a simple routine to go through. when you go through a familiar pattern of activity you are comfortable, and it gives you a sense of self-confidence. Get into the pattern on the practice tee.
People will say they don’t see the pros warming up that way on the practice tee. In many cases that’s true, which is why I maintain that 70 percent of the warm-up practice the pros do is not as productive as it should be.
After the ball-hitting warm-up, always stroke a few putts on the practice green. Here again, work primarily on the rhythmic, even-paced stroke and the system you use for getting up to a putt. You’ll probably putt for a hole, but a mark on the green would do just as well. You can concentrate better on tempo. In any case, make most of your practice putts no longer than 12 feet. As I mentioned earlier, that’s the length from which you can reasonably expect to make putts. A 12 footer is long enough to give you a feel for the speed of the greens with a stroke of sufficient length. And if a few go in, you start the round with a positive psychological felling.
Remember, always warm-up the way you play, and play the way you warmed-up. Plan to hit them, then hit them strait.
Stay In Touch With Your Golf Buddies Around The World
Raffy Pena Barreto and his Golf Grew In Puerto Rico
Here we are in Cost Caribe Golf & Country Club, Ponce, Puerto Rico. This course is long and very windy as it sits in the south of Puerto Rico on the Caribbean Sea, however, it’s breath taking views and beautiful landscape overwhelm you. This is golf at it’s best, extremely challenging and great fun. A great golf outing!
We Also Played At Dorado Beach Golf & Country Club, Dorado, Puerto Rico
How About These Breath Taking Pictures From El Conquistador, Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Which Is The Best Putter for You
TODD SONES
Bump and Run: Bunker Basices
JOSH ZANDER
If you have a standard 56-degree sand wedge with 12 degrees of bounce on it, and you set up dead square with a square clubface, you’ll have 12 degrees of bounce. If you use the club the way it’s designed, it’s going to work pretty well for you. It’s when you start to get too fancy with it, opening the face way up and opening your stance, that you make it a lot more challenging than it has to be.
