Seeing and Believing

April 4, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

Welcome to the second installment of “Seeing What is Important” when playing golf. As we prepare to watch The Masters, it would be in our best interest to pay attention to what the players and caddies are saying and where they are looking while preparing to make a shot. Value is gained by focusing on their conversations and the language they use to discuss influences on their game. The last post dealt with knowing your yardage, what the wind was doing and how the ground felt. I wonder if the pros at the Shell Huston Open are talking about how these variables affect their score!

Learning the finer points of golf can occur anywhere; watching the pros, your buddies or complete strangers navigate around the links. Rarely is a golf course hazard free. Every hole as something that will catch your eye; something the makes your hair on your neck stand up; or something that makes the voices in your head start to speak!

Landing area is higher than tee. Expect to hit shorter off the tee.

The green is below the ball. Time to throttle back!

Unlike a mirage, most changes in elevation on the course are real. Elevation changes are the most misunderstood challenge on any golf hole. Modest changes to the elevation will create a 1/2 to 1 club difference regardless of the yardage. The challenge for most players is to determine if the modest changes in elevation are real or not. Here is my guideline – if I can see the entire fairway leading to the green without it looking smaller – throttle back and think about hitting one less club. If the fairway looks like a railroad track going away, the yardage is as paced. If the fairway disappears quicker; add one club to your approach shot. This rule of thumb works for me. Thanks to the Dave at One Bearded Golfer for this topic!

Your ball will travel further on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!

The second point for today deals with the temperature! Most experienced golfers are saying that the colder the temperature the shorter the shot; but wait, there is more. Temperature is really broken down into three categories: Temperature, Barometric Pressure and Humidity. As an overview, the ball travels further if it is hot, your golfing at a higher elevation like my buddy Craig in Denver, and the greater the humidity. For amateurs, this is hard to believe, but it is true. For a more detailed explanation, check out Golf Digest.

Last tip is to believe is what you see and visualize what you want. How many times have I heard the saying, “come on, this is ridiculous!” There will be many times over a round when a player thinks they hit the perfect shot; only to walk up to the green and wonder what happened. After shaking their head in disbelieve, they walk to their ball and hit a poor shot and blame it on their lie. As an experienced golfer, I would have to tell that player that the lie did not cause the problem – it was caused by disbelief; then frustration. Acceptance to the situation is extremely important to lower scores. Everyone hits poor shots, it is the next shot the will determine if you score a par or double bogey – you get to choose.

There are many optical illusions in golf and it takes an experienced eye to identify them and adjust their shot accordingly. Understanding and recognizing the potential hazards is one of the first steps to lowering your score. Anyone can do it, it is a matter of “Seeing and Believing!”

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Seeing What’s Important!

April 3, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 7 Comments

Golf is a unique sport that requires mental focus and attention to detail. Most beginners miss the subtle signs and sometimes the obvious signs while walking the links. It is very important to read the signs the course, weather, and your surroundings tell you while you are walking to your ball, visualizing your shot, or reading the greens. The challenge for most inexperience players is they do not know what the do not know.

To rectify that problem, it is important to break down the signs and explain them in the context of any golf shot. So, over the next couple weeks, we will address this knowledge gap and explain what is important to see ‘what is happening’ when you’re hitting the links.

Along the way, if anyone has suggestions, please speak up to improve the quality of the information.

The first area of “Seeing what’s important” is while walking to your ball. The little signs around you are more significant than finding it and looking at the green. Although those are important, a couple other things many be just as important.

First, what is your yardage? If you have a Garmin Approach 6, (no affiliation) determining your yardage is easy. However, if not then it is time to pace the distance. Some courses have the yardage on the sprinkler heads, but most of the courses use the 200 (blue), 150 (white) and 100 (red) yard stakes placed in the middle of the fairway or off to the side. The key to pacing off your yardage is to start at your ball and walk in a straight line forward or backward keeping the pin and ball on that line. Walk to the closest yardage marker and do the math. Pacing your yardage will help with club selection.

Second, what is the wind doing? This may be obvious, but it is important to understand that the wind at ground level might be different from the wind above the trees or in an open area. The key to knowing the wind direction is to look at the top of the trees. The direction they lean is the direction of the wind. Lastly, look at the flag on the pin. This is a good indicator unless trees on all sides, except the fairway, surround it. However, I think you get the point.

Third and last for today, how does the ground feel under your feet? Is it soft, hard, or normal? Why is that important? Well if the ground is hard the club will bounce and therefore prevent the player from getting a clean hit on the ball. If the ground is soft, there is a very good chance a player will dig in with their club and only it the ball a couple of yards. I am sure you understand what to do with ground that feels normal.

As you can see, we have only scratched the surface of “seeing what is important” when preparing for a golf shot. These tips were learned over the years through trial and error. Wisdom says that the more I pay attention, the better I score.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

The Shell Huston Open

April 1, 2014April 6, 2024 / The Grateful Golfer / 5 Comments

Recently, I wrote two articles for Pundit Arena; one called Valero Texas Open – The Most Important Tournament of the Year. For journeyman golfers, winning two weeks before the Masters has the potential to vault them into the first Major of the year. The second outlined how Professional golf stats are useless when trying to predict a winner. Just ask Steven Bowditch – he won an invitation to the Masters. He was no where on any statistical list and shot a smooth 4-over on the last day!

So how important is the Shell Huston Open? With Tiger Woods withdrawing from the Masters today, this tournament becomes even more important because of the potential to bounce the bubble guys around! The field will be tough and world-class. Some of the top 10 are resting, but notables like Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Steve, Stricker, and Matt Kuchar will be out to lead the charge. The Shell Huston Open is important, but given the field, the Valero Texas Open was the tournament for journeyman.

If the Valero Texas Open is the most important tournament of the year; then the Shell Huston Open is the most pressure packed tournament of the year! Many pundits will say no, no, no! It is definitely the Majors or the Ryder Cup. Conceding that playing in the Majors is like a pressure cooker; try being one of 50 guys fighting for the last invite to the big dance. These professionals will be riding a roller coaster of emotions, try things that only superman should try, and watching the leader board as if it was a lottery draw. The pressure will continue to build until like a balloon – POP – they are all done!

The Shell Huston Open is not just another professional event – the press to win has the potential for players to erupt like a volcano. The journeyman players will be dialed-in, ready to play, and shaking in their boots all at the same time. Should be fun to watch!

I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links!

Are Long Irons Important?

March 30, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 8 Comments

Long Irons are the most misunderstood clubs in a golfer’s bag. In some cases, these tools are dusty and look like brand new. Most beginners look at their long irons with fear and contempt because they find them difficult to hit and very unforgiving. Regardless of what your fears are associated with your long game; there are no secrets to success from 200 yards out.

There are many pundits who have the answers on long irons. Some will tell you to move your hands forward, others move them back. Experts talk about where to place the ball; forward, backward, or centre. Even your buddies talk about swing plane, releasing your hands early, weight shift, and on and on. Talk about white noise….please make it stop!

The basic mechanics of a golf swing are not supposed to change regardless of which club is in your hands. Most players take that to mean that exactly everything remains exactly the same. Unfortunately, that is not true. Using long irons is a perfect example. Below are two short videos that focus on a couple of aspects when hitting long irons. They advice is simple and easy to follow.

The discussion about posture and maintaining balance is very important when hitting long irons. It is important not to over swing, but maintain your normal rhythm.

Hand placement is very important with long irons. Most players reach when trying to hit long irons and that is a result of improper hand position.

If you are still having difficulty hitting your long irons, take the fear out of your came and consider switching to hybrids. There are some unique advantages to hybrids over irons especially for a higher handicap player. Although I was not trying to break 100, I switched to hybrids two years ago. This switch increased my confidence from 200 yards out and help lower my score.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Whats Wrong with Phil Mickelson?

March 28, 2014 / The Grateful Golfer / 9 Comments

Phil Mickelson is usually a beast on the golf course. He is steady, focused, and a fierce competitor! So what is wrong with Mickelson in 2014? Is he sick? Are there outside influences affecting his mental game? Is he getting old? Is he trying too hard? Does anyone have the answer?

Currently, Mickelson is struggling to make the cut at the Valero Texas Open, he only has 4 top 25 finishes in 25 events and his stats do not have him leading in any category. He has had sparks of greatness, but nothing consistent. With approach shots like below, he may be starting to turn things around just in time for the Masters!

Phil Mickelson is an enigma. His style of play is loved and hated by the golfing pundits. As a younger player he was fearless. Unfortunately, some of his devil-may-care attitude cost him tournaments. As he matured and learned from some mistakes; Mickelson understood the importance of picking the moments to press a situation, but never to shied away from the tough shots – as seen by his shot in 2010 Masters from behind the tree. It truly was legendary!

So what is wrong with Phil Mickelson in 2014? The short answer is nothing! He has had a tough start this season; he is not playing to his potential, but in all fairness he has not placed the same emphasis on the PGA Tour’s Western Swing as in year’s past. He adopted new strategy to focus on the Majors and many experts are questioning his decision; however, only success in the Majors will be the true test of his 2014 strategy.

In years past Mickelson played around 20 events a year. Likely, he will play around the same amount this year. As a golfing pundit, I predict he will win two events this year: the US Open and one other. Additionally, much to the disagreement of my European friends the US will win the Ryder Cup at GLENEAGLES, Scotland, on 23-28 September 2014.

2014 will be a banner year for Phil Mickelson. It may not seem that way right now, but just wait, the season is just starting. What do you think?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!