Strategy/Troubleshooting

10 Ways To Play PGA Tour Style

PGA Tour Player Chris Stroud on his way to winning the 2017 Barracuda Championship in Reno.

PGA Tour Chris Stroud — PGA Tour Player Chris Stroud on his way to winning the 2017 Barracuda Championship in Reno.

I’m no golf pro. I don’t even play one on TV. But I do watch PGA Tour stars on that 55-incher sitting in my living room, and what they do every week still amazes me after nearly five decades of paying attention. The shots they pull off. The pars they save. The powers of concentration that push them to victory, or close. Then again, with golf on TV we’re seeing the best of the best that given week, since all those producers stick with the leaders. We rarely witness the struggle in the bottom half of the field — golf still miles beyond what most of us will ever produce, but a struggle all the same. Even the top one percent of the top one percent have their ups and downs. Or lack of them, if you know what I mean.

But watch a tournament in person and you’ll see it all, the good and the bad, the runs of glory and the bogey-pocked trainwrecks. You walk and watch and learn, and appreciate that they’re human.

PGA Tour Davis Love III — Davis Love III tees off during the PGA Tour event in Reno, Nevada, August 2017

I’ve had the good fortune of seeing four U.S. Opens, one Ryder Cup and many PGA Tour events in person. But the one I follow most closely is right here in my home town of Reno, Nevada. The Barracuda Championship (formerly known as the Reno-Tahoe Open) became a PGA Tour stop in 1999, scheduled opposite the World Golf Champion-ships event at Firestone so the guys not in the top 75 would have a shot at a paycheck. It’s what the Tour calls an “encumbered” event, attracting vets biding their time before they age into the Senior Champions Tour; young studs fighting their way to the higher echelons and hoping not to slide back to the Web.com Tour; and a few dudes earning a sponsor’s exemptions or playing their way in via qualifier. Not that we’re talking slouches here; many major winners have teed it up at Montrêux Golf & Country Club over the years, and 2017 was no exception, with Davis Love III, Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen in the fray. A young Sergio Garcia played Reno one year. A teen Jason Day. Just-out-of-their primes Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara.

To a man (and one woman; Michelle Wie joined the guys on a special invitation in 2008), every player showed up in Reno to win. Every player took it seriously. Every player proved them-selves a helluva lot better than … well, many of us.

PGA Tour Brad Fritsch — PGA Tour player Brad Fritsch hits a recovery shot off a cart path at Montrêux Golf & Country Club in Reno.

And, in the process, every one of them was a teacher of sorts. Up close you get a better sense of just how damned hard and solidly they strike the ball, and how smoothly they roll puts and softly and deftly they hit chips and pitches and bunker shots. You can hear it and see it, knowing that it took not only a measure of natural talent to get them there, but countless hours of hard work on the range and in the gym and sometimes mind-numbing drills for body and mind. They are all in, all the time. They must be or they’re doing something else for a living in short order.

The rest of us don’t have the time, talent or dedication to get anywhere close to the several hundred men and women who play golf full time for money, nor do we want to. But it would be cool to at least feel like a real golfer out there, and based on my own hacker’s-eye-view of the legion of Tour players I’ve watched in Reno over the years, I’ve come up with 10 ways that we can make that happen — how we can be like Davis, or Padraig, or even Chris Stroud, the journeyman who hoisted the Barracuda trophy this year after 289 tries.

1. Breathe

There’s a bit of zen calm in every great player, and you can tell that they constantly, consciously take deep breaths to stay focused, stay on an even keel and keep the nerves at bay.

2. Be Creative, Not Stupid

Pros hit the ball sideways, too, sometimes into the same dicey lies we face every round. The difference is they take stock of what’s before them, choose the route that will cause the least dam-age to the scorecard, and commit. This year I watched Brad Fritsch hit his second shot off a concrete cart path rather than take a free drop and risk a worse lie, knowing it was a par 5 and he had a shot to play with.

3. Have A Comfortable Pre-Shot Routine And Stick To It

Every shot, every time. No excuses, no short cuts, no rushing.

4. Pay attention…

… to EVERYTHING after you’ve hit the shot —where the ball ends up, how it went through the air (or, for us, along the ground), how it bounced or rolled. Then you’ll have a big portion of the intel you need to hit the next one.

5. Study

We don’t have the detailed shot books that these players and their caddies carry around, but a lot of times we do have yardage books, pin sheets, GPS devices and other information we sometimes ignore or consider fleetingly. Time to take an extra moment or two and process this info before we …

6. Settle In, Relax And Go!

Your mind will figure in the stuff you learned in No. 5, below the surface. Your job is to forget it and let the sub-conscious do its thing. The pros have great feel because they trust it.

7. Really, Really Practice Your Short Game

A lot. Then some more. It’s worth millions of dollars to a Tour player. They know it’s 75 percent of strokes made, including putting. It’s pure gold to us, too.

8. Squelch The Negative Self-Talk.

This is my worst failing as a golfer. Sometimes I’ll slip and berate myself like a character from a Quentin Tarantino flick, and let the useless anger derail my game for several shots if not a few holes. If I catch a pro chewing himself out, I also notice that it lasts but a second or two, then he lets it go. Give yourself a break.

9. Look Like You Belong

Untucked (collared) shirts are OK these days for casual rounds, but if you also opt for that nicer pair of pants or shorts, keep the shoes and clubs clean and generally veer toward the pressed pro look, you’ll walk a little taller, swing a little better and score a little lower. It’s all about confidence, so why not look confident and somewhat put together?

10. Never Give Up

The Barracuda is the only Tour event that uses a modified Stableford scoring system, which makes for risk-reward excitement. And, yes, some blowups. But I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched players rinse their second shot in the greenside pond on Montrêux’s 618-yard, downhill par 5 18th, then find a way to save par. Nobody tires of hearing the words, “nice recovery.” The pros recognize that their next shot is always an opportunity, not a punishment or judgment —whether they’re in contention or blowing the cut. As Bruce Springsteen once sang, “No retreat, no surrender!”

Golf Wind: How To Read The Breeze

golf wind scotland — Wind is a near constant on links courses such as the Kittocks Course at Fairmont St. Andrews, Scotland

Does wind make a difference when you’re playing golf? Yes, golf wind matters, big time.

Ask any of the top 93 players in the world after they played the first round of the Masters at Augusta National this year. Winds were sustained at 30 mph with gusts to 40. Only 11 players broke par and the average score for the entire field was 75. For the women, it was the last round of the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout in Alvin TX on April 30. Winds were a consistent 20 mph with gusts to 40-45. Only two players broke par that Sunday. The average score was 5½ strokes over par. Even the great In-bee Park shot an 80.

The overall effects of wind are straightforward enough. A head wind lessens distance, a tail wind aids. However, due to the trajectory of a golf shot, the wind effect isn’t the same. The underspin on a shot causes it to arc upward, more so with a wedge and the least with a driver. A head wind, besides physically pushing against the ball, magnifies the arcing effect and the shot can “balloon,” losing even more distance. A tail wind can physically push the ball forward but also tends to flatten the trajectory or “knock down” the shot. Studies have shown that a head wind of approximately 10 mph can lessen a drive by 12 to 15 yards whereas the same speed tail wind would only add 5 to10 yards. With a cross wind, the ball moves right or left by a varying amount depending on the wind speed.

Taiwanese LPGA player Yani Tseng gets a wind blast at the 2012. Nabisco Dinah Shore tournament. Photo from taipeitimes.com

Making things even more difficult is the fact that wind speed is seldom consistent and becomes less so as wind speed increases. These are the infamous gusts of wind. A period of gustiness often builds as wind speed increases in a fluctuating manner. It will reach a peak and then begin to subside. If time permits, it’s best to just wait out these spells and hit under calmer or at least more consistent wind conditions. If all this wasn’t enough, lurking out there are unseen disturbances in the airflow. Eddies, large swirls of air, are common but typically go undetected in clear air unless there is dust, leaves, or trash in the air to reveal them. These vortices can be vertical or horizontal and can rapidly change wind speed and direction. These can be responsible for “unexplainable” ball reactions.

Inconsistency in the wind is often produced by topography. The overall airflow can be blocked or channeled and overall significantly changed by topographic features such as hills, valleys, mountains, etc. The flatter the topography, the less variation in the wind. A coastal course with an onshore flow from the relatively smooth ocean surface is as good as you’ll get. Mountain courses would be the worst.

I am a professional meteorologist and an amateur golfer. PGA Tour caddies are golf professionals who are by necessity amateur meteorologists. For their thoughts, I turned to Jim Barlett of the Professional Caddies Association and the project editor and main writer of Think Like a Caddie, Play Like a Pro. “After an accurate yardage reading, knowing what the wind is doing is the single most important consideration in sizing up a golf shot.” says Bartlett, “The wind has the potential to affect every golf shot from a 300-yard drive to a three-foot putt.”

So, how do you go about allowing for the wind? The first thing a pro caddie does (or we non-caddied golfers should do) is check the weather forecast for the day before going out. It will give you the expected wind speed (with gusts) and wind direction. Then you apply this information to the course you’re playing. This requires knowledge of the layout of the course especially in terms of compass directions of each hole. Put that together with the expected wind direction and you’ll know if a particular hole should be playing upwind, downwind, or with a cross wind. Pro caddies typically have hole diagrams with the prevailing wind noted. As Barlett notes, “Most of the time, caddies are quite familiar with the courses tournaments are played on, and they know from experience how wind affects certain holes.”

Upon arrival at the course, “Caddies will size up the wind.” says Bartlett, “They usually know what the prevailing or customary conditions are (e.g., in the summer, the winds tend to come out of the southwest) and tend to pay more attention when those “normal” conditions switch, as they do from time to time, to more unusual directions. In terms of meteorology, frontal passages are critical here. When a front passes, the wind direction shifts, sometimes 180 degrees. And often the wind is very strong. That’s what happened at Augusta this year.

How can you tell how fast the wind is blowing? You probably won’t be carrying an anemometer with you. You can certainly feel the wind on your body and determine from which direction it’s blowing and a general idea of how strong it is. Throwing blades of grass up into the air is the classic way of determining wind, but meteorologists and pro caddies agree that it won’t help much. A well hit shot by a good golfer with any club will at some point in its trajectory be 80 to 90 feet above the ground. Wind speed increases with height, often dramatically so. This is even more pronounced if you are sheltered on the ground either by buildings, trees, or the topography itself.

About determining wind speed, Bartlett says, “It’s more of a gut feeling based on past experience. It’s a skill that caddies (and players) develop with experience: how to gauge the wind.” The best thing to do is to check nearby trees to see what the wind is doing higher up. Smaller branches will begin to move when the wind reaches 15 mph. Winds of 25 mph will move large branches. Of course when you can see the green, you can check the flag on the pin. If it’s extended, wind speeds are probably at least 10 mph. There may be other flags up especially at the club house you can check. And an advantage of not hitting first is that you can watch the wind effects on your partner/competitor’s shot.

Golf “gurus” have developed general rules players can use to allow for the wind. They give you specific yardage changes you can expect for various wind speeds and directions. If only it was that simple. The wind often does not follow set rules.

Taking It To The Course

Editor’s Note: In honor of The Masters, first major of the year, Golf Tips presents a popular piece from 2015 featuring PGA teaching pro Jeff Ritter. He turns Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach, California, into a West Coast version of Augusta National to show what shots and strategy it takes to win the world’s greatest golf event. Enjoy.

No tournament is quite like the Masters. The only Major played each year on the same hallowed grounds, golf fans across the globe feel a special connection with Augusta. Like many people, I’ll never forget watching Jack Nicklaus win the Masters in 1986. I had never felt so inspired rooting for someone. As perhaps the greatest tournament in the history of golf unfolded, I recall lying in front of the television, pounding my fist into the carpet with excitement.

Years later, I had the opportunity to attend my first Masters tournament. I remember walking through the gate, gazing down Magnolia Lane and once again recalling the feelings I had watching in 1986. It was almost surreal as I raced about the course, savoring every inch of the landscape. I’ve since had the good fortune of attending most years and each time experience a childlike enthusiasm that’s undeniably connected only to Augusta.

Now residing in Pebble Beach, I operate out of the newly renovated Poppy Hills Golf Course. Poppy Hills’ tall Monterey pines, powdery white sand bunkers and perfectly manicured fairways have made players feel a “touch” of Augusta during each round. Home to the Champions Tour’s Nature Valley First Tee Open, Davis Love III was recently quoted as saying, “At times, you’re like, Wow, it looks like Augusta!” With that information in hand, I asked the team at Golf Tips if we could have a little fun with a Masters-themed story shot right in my backyard.

The Masters is special and challenging for many reasons. Following is a series of shots and strategies players will need to employ to come out on top at golf’s greatest Major!

Bust The Bends: Hitting The High-Bomb Draw

Augusta National presents players with a number of challenging shots competitors will train for well in advance. One particular shot needed on holes such as the par-5 13th is a high, booming draw off the tee (right-handed golfers). Missing left into the water or right into the pine straw results in sure lost shots to the field, whereas a deep, perfectly placed drive provides easy access for a run at birdie or eagle.

Step 1: Set Your Sights

The first key to smashing a high-bombing bend comes from a simple adjustment in vision. Curvature is a product of swing path. A ball that curves back to the left needs a swing path directed “in to out” or, in this case, off to the right. To set the stage, tilt your head away from the target, while rotating your eyeline to look well down the right-hand side of the fairway (right-handed golfers). As long as you deliver the clubface a little closed to your rightward swing path, the ball will bend back to the left with ease. This simple adjustment in perspective will go a long way toward producing your desired swing shape and ballflight.

Step 2: Widen The Arc

To hammer it off the tee, you need to create a wide, powerful swing arc. A great way to develop the feel of both power and control is with a two-club swinging drill. Grab two clubs and assume your setup position. Space the shafts by about 6 to 8 inches, while hovering the clubheads above the turf. To start the movement, swing the shafts one-quarter way into the followthrough. As you swing away from the target, imagine a wide, consistent arc, as if the clubheads were tracing the edge of a massive, overinflated basketball. As you reach the top, the shafts should maintain an even separation as your hands are pushed well away from your back shoulder. This is an awesome drill that helps develop a smooth start and big stretch for more firepower off the tee.

3 Step 3: Up And Out

Radar devices such as TrackMan and FlightScope have shown that most players will maximize driving proficiency by hitting a few degrees “up” on the ball at contact. To infuse this benefit into your driving, tee your ball a little higher than normal, while making sure it’s positioned well forward in your stance, as well. From here, adopt a mind-set of striking both “up” and “out.” Hitting “up” delivers optimal launch characteristics for max distance, while swinging “out” ensures a swing path conducive to producing the right-to-left ballflight you’re looking for.

King Of The Hill: Slope Secrets

One of the more surprising characteristics of Augusta is how terrain is so undulating. While beautiful to the eye, television simply doesn’t showcase that Augusta National is one of the most up-and-down pieces of earth players will face all year. To slip on the Green Jacket, the winner will have to navigate the slopes with precision over four challenging rounds.

Step 1: One Club Up

Success from uneven lies is all about delivering quality contact. With the slope working against your ability to play your normal game, it’s imperative to trade power for predictability. When faced with awkward lies, consider clubbing up and smoothing things out. You’ll find this simple adjustment in strategy and mind-set will dramatically increase your prospects for producing a clean hit.

Step 2: Stable Base

To play well from uneven lies, you need to establish a stable base. In this case, I’m standing considerably wider than I normally would play a 7-iron from level ground. Without balance, success is all but impossible. Forget any rules you have in your head about stance width and instead do what it takes to feel solid and grounded.

Step 3: Stay In Control

Try and go big, and chances are, your attempt will end in disaster. Huge windups and big finishes are notorious for adversely affecting posture on these tricky shots. Lose your incline to the slope, and you’ll be hitting toppers across the ground, or worse. When faced with an uneven lie, focus on staying in control. That means adopting a three-quarter-swing attitude both back and through. By swinging more within yourself, you’ll be in prime position to hit your best shots more often.

Flush Your Irons: Play Long For Laser-Like Accuracy

Make a trip to the Masters, and you’ll quickly understand that “hitting greens” doesn’t add up to what you may think. Whereas most courses play favorably for balls that hit the putting surface, Augusta demands that shots hit a spot no larger than a bedsheet to have any chance at working to the players’ advantage.

Step 1: Long Arms

Look at poor iron players, and you’ll often find “short arm syndrome” throughout the golf swing. A great way to feel and maintain a reasonable swing radius is to practice hitting shots with a ball hugged between your elbows. Find a ball about the size of a grapefruit. Having one that can “squeeze” a little will help keep the ball secure. With a short or mid-iron, practice making half- to three-quarter-length swings. Try keeping consistent pressure on the ball throughout the swing. These should be controlled shots at a comfortable pace, with the goal being to learn to create a cleaner and more consistent strike.

Step 2: Extend Your Divot

To hit laser-perfect irons, you have to create a slightly downward strike that takes loft away from the face. A great way to “feel” this action is to think of extending the length of your divot. Imagining a longer “low point” helps facilitate a strong downswing move, where the weight is firmly on the front foot. As the weight shifts forward and the arms stay long (see the tip above), you’ll effectively strengthen the club’s playability, leading to more crisp and powerful shots.

Play Defense: Taming The Slick Downhiller

Of all the unique attributes that make up the Masters, perhaps the most noticeable is the need for advanced skill on the greens. Below are two simple tips this year’s winner will employ that can benefit you, as well.

Step 1: Work Together

No place requires more teamwork than Augusta National. Challenging contours that require a little hometown knowledge are one reason first-timers rarely win at Augusta. No one knew Augusta better than Jack Nicklaus. Upon winning his sixth Green Jacket, Nicklaus was asked about one putt, in particular, he played correctly when many others in the field did not. Jack’s reply: “I had that same putt 15 years ago and knew it didn’t break the way it looks.” Great putting is both skill and knowledge. Try creating a mental log of oddities you find on the greens or elsewhere at your home course. At some point, you’ll be sure to pick up a shot or two.

Step 2: Maximize Break

What’s scarier than a fast downhiller under pressure? Contestants will be faced with plenty of these tricky sliders, and nothing is more nerve-wracking than having to make one to win a Green Jacket. At times, I like to divide putts into mind-sets of offense and defense. In an offensive situation, like a short uphill putt, I’ll play less break while driving the ball with a little extra steam to the hole. With the slope as a natural protector, it’s easy to play aggressive and still not have the ball shoot too far past the cup.

The slick downhill slider needs the opposite play. Maximize your break and opt for a more delicate roll. Research shows that most golfers under-read putts by as much as 75%. Drastically increase your read and let the slope do the work. You’ll find more putts hitting bottom or, at worst, finishing within easy tap-in range.

Close The Deal: Mind-Set Strategy For Coming Out On Top

Jack Nicklaus once recited Shakespeare in saying, “Some people are born to be great. Some people learn to be great, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” One can only guess who the winner will be. It’s the Masters, so expect something amazing to happen!

Step 1: Focus Your Approach

No tournament is more exciting than the Masters. Nearly every year a number of competitors are within reach, only to falter down the stretch. With the weight of a life-changing victory on their shoulders, it’s easy for players to mentally drift out of the present or become emotionally influenced by potentially negative outcomes. To finish strong to the clubhouse, it’s imperative you allow yourself to take in the entire experience. Trying to block out an onlooking crowd or daunting water hazard will only increase your attachment to them. Instead, survey the landscape and enjoy the moment. Acknowledge out of bounds, slopes and hazards not as round-killers, but rather as “markers” that simply show the proper way to go. Once you have all the info, focus on what you want and swing away as if success was a given.

Bonus Point: Step Into The Winner’s Circle

From Tiger’s dominating 1997 victory to Larry Mize’s improbable chip-in to best Greg Norman, winning the Masters is a life-changing event. Although all players in the field are talented, the one who most embraces “deservedness” will most confidently step into their own brilliance at Augusta.

Jeff Ritter, PGA, is the Founder of MTT Performance. A Golf Channel Academy, the company creates winning strategies for players in golf performance and lifestyle development. For more information, visit mttperformance.com.

How To Hit The Water Blast

We all remember PGA Tour player Bill Haas’ incredible water blast shot at the FedEx Cup that won him the championship a few years back. He made it look easy (as they all seem to do!). This shot is actually not as hard as it may look to the typical weekend golfer. I usually will recommend that if your ball is in the water to take the penalty and take the drop due to the unknowns that lurk under the surface of the water and ground beneath your ball. Now if that $2 Nassau is on the line, the conditions are right and you’re not worried about getting a little wet and possibly dirty, here’s how you can impress your playing partners.

If any part of your ball is showing above the water, it will be playable. The way the shot is played would be simply like playing a normal or plugged bunker shot (See Photos 1 and 2), depending on how much the ball is submerged in the water. There’s one big difference: DO NOT open the clubface! The club you are using needs to pierce the surface of the water first; the water displaced with the club force will get the ball out. If at least half of the ball or more is showing above the water, you can treat it as a normal bunker shot — except, keep the face square to the target. If more than half the ball is submerged, than you need to treat as a plugged bunker lie, which requires a very steep and descending angle of attack with an abbreviated follow through (See Photos 3 and 4). Instead of exploding the sand, you simply splash the water. How deep the ball is submerged will determine the force of your swing (Photos 5 and 6).

The ball will come out with very little or no spin, so plan on it rolling when it hits the green. Unfortunately this is a shot we don’t get out and practice very often, but if it does come up try these tips — and don’t be afraid to get wet.

Randy Chang is Director of Instruction and Golf Channel Academy Instructor at Journey Golf Academy at Pechanga and Aloha Academy of Golf in Southern California

2 Cool Trouble Shots

Most of us can recall a particularly dicey situation during a recent round of golf. Probably plenty of them over the years. After all, getting in and out of trouble is one of the chief charms of golf. How boring would it be to be right down the middle, home in regulation and in the hole in two putts every time?

OK, perhaps “boring” is the wrong word, but let’s face it, finding an unconventional way out of hazards — natural or designed by an architect — holds its own special allure among avid golfers. We pride ourselves on the well-planned and well-executed recovery shot, which sometimes takes a combination of laser focus, patience and luck. If we pull it off we’re often rewarded with applause from our playing partners and maybe, must maybe, a hard-won par save.

The following two tips from Southern California-based PGA and LPGA teacher Alison Curdt have to do with situations we’ve all run into on the green battlefield. Take her advice and you’ll be out of dutch in no time — and ready for the next roadblock.

1 PUNCH OUT WITH PURPOSE

We’ve all been there. It’s a windy day and your tee shot is being pushed all over the yard, or worse, you just made an (uncharacteristic) poor swing and sprayed the ball into the trees. From there the options get limited depending on line of sight, distance to safety and how much risk you want to take to try to save par, or at least bogey. Never an appetizing position to be in, but if you study the situation and keep your head, you’ll be out of jail with minimum damage.

In this tip I’ll show you the proper technique for hitting a low trajectory shot for just such situations — using a low punch shot to get out of trouble and back into play, or shaping low shots to get around obstacles.

Sometimes when you find yourself in trouble, the safest and lowest risk shot is a punch out to the middle of the fairway. Overhanging branches, wind in your face, or trees and bushes in your way might warrant such a punch shot, and it’s especially true if you have a small opening, as I do in Photo 1 top of this page.

Here’s what you do:

Select a low lofted club such as a 5 iron or 6 iron. Position the ball in the middle of your stance upwards of 1-2 inches back from center, and forward press the hands so that the grip of the club is pointing at the left hip (Photo 2). Take one or two looks at your window of escape and visualize the ball breaking through that window (Photo 3). Take a half swing to punch to ball back into the fairway (Photos 4 & 5). Make sure the hands feel low on the follow through to keep the trajectory low (Photo 6).

To curve the ball right around an obstacle, keep the face slightly open during impact. To curve the ball left around an obstacle keep the face slightly closed through impact.

Again, this is a shot that allows you to get out of trouble and back into play without giving up too much distance. It’s always a good tool to have in toolbox for those off-line drives or approaches, it’s easy to learn and implement, and it can even be fun.

2 SAVE YOUR SCORE … BACKWARDS

OK, perhaps we’re not all recovery shot wizards on the level of, say, Phil Mickelson, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with creative ways to escape the kind of bad breaks that used to trip us up every time. In this case I’m talking about that occasional ugly lie that leaves you no way to address the ball normally, even to take a restricted whack at it. Nope, this calls for drastic but effective measures.

When a ball is lying next to a tree or bush in such a position where you are unable to address the ball (Photos 1 & 2), be creative with stance and approach in order to save yourself from an otherwise unplayable lie. The following tip demonstrates an alternative for hitting the ball if an immovable obstruction prohibits setting up in a standard position.

Stand with your back to the target and hold the club (for a right handed golfer) in the right hand only with the club face pointing the target (Photo 3). Your right arm will be out to the side allowing enough motion and space to swing and hinge the club (Photo 4). Utilize the wrists to hinge the club up and down to pop the ball out into the fairway (Photos 5 & 6). This will create enough speed to advance the ball back into a position to take a standard approach.

The benefits of this risky but worthwhile shot are obvious. Instead of incurring a penalty shot for an unplayable lie, or running the risk of not advancing the ball because of the placement of the tree, this gambit allows you to get full contact with the ball and pitch it out into the clear, with an open shot to the green to follow. It definitely shows how a golfer can be creative in his or her stance (within USGA guidelines) and use the club in a unique way to keep an acceptable score in range.

Think & Play Like A Pro

Lowering your scores on the golf course isn’t just about your ballstriking abilities. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and making better decisions based upon risk and reward, can improve your scoring immediately. The Tour pros you watch on television are constantly discussing and weighing the pros and cons of each shot with their caddies. Unfortunately, weekend golfers don’t have the luxury of a professional caddie with them to help make better decisions during their rounds with their buddies. So, here are a few tips on what the conversation would be like and what goes through a pro’s head as he or she is contemplating a shot in these common situations.

In today’s modern course designs, there has been a premium on target golf, meaning there isn’t much wiggle room for error off the tee. Here are a couple of examples of holes at the Journey at Pechanga where managing your thought process is as important as executing the shot itself.

Tip #1:

Par-4s And Par-5s Don’t Mean You Have To Hit Driver Off The Tee

The biggest mistake I see with amateur golfers is that they feel like they have to hit driver off of every tee box if it’s a par-4 or par-5. When playing a golf hole, the first priority is to put your tee shot into play! Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, and the risk-reward factor, here’s how a pro would think in this situation.

Decision A

On this particular hole, where it measures 320 yards to the green and the carry over the lake is 260 yards, a golf professional who can reach this green with his or her driver would contemplate the risk-reward factor. In taking the risk of not hitting the green on your drive, you’re looking at bogey or worse. The reward would be a chance to make an eagle.

If you know you can’t even reach the green with your driver, there’s no sense to take the risk or even try to carry the water on the right side of the creek as shown in the photo.

Decision B

Your next option would be to lay up, but far enough to give you a very short and lofted club. The risk would be either cutting too much of the lake off and dumping it in the water or hitting it too far and ending up in one of those deep fairway bunkers in your intended line. In this decision, if you do hit it into the water, you’ll have to drop pretty close to where you teed off, resulting in a sure double-bogey or worse. The reward for executing a good drive with a driver or 3-wood simply would be having a wedge or shorter club to the green. Again, the risk still seems too high, and the reward isn’t that attractive.

Decision C

The third choice would be to take a hybrid, or an iron for you bigger hitters, and take all of the trouble out of play and give yourself the largest room for error. The carry for the lake at this angle is only 150 yards, and you have almost 80 yards of fairway and some light rough left of the fairway bunkers. It will leave you with 120 to 160 yards for your second shot into the green.

A golf pro playing in this situation will choose Decision C 99% of the time. Going for the green the other 1% of the time is when you’re mad or trying to catch up to the tournament leader because he or she is too far ahead!

Tip #2:

Never Guide Your Shot

When you come to a hole where there isn’t anywhere to miss the shot, I see too many amateurs try to steer or guide the shot, usually resulting in unfinished and de-accelerating swings. When a martial artist is breaking a board, his or her thought process isn’t punching at the object, but aiming and thinking about hitting through the target.

The same thing can be done when you come to a narrow fairway or a target green where anything right or left will result in a big number. Don’t aim at your target, where you want your ball to end up. Take aim at a target in the distance, in this case, the Pechanga Hotel in the background, and try to hit it into one of the rooms!

Pick a tree or something past your landing target in the distance and swing for it! You’ll have a better chance of hitting your target and making a positive motion through the ball instead of trying to steer or guide it there.

Randy Chang, PGA, is the Director of Instruction at Journey at Pechanga in Temecula, California. He also owns and manages The Randy Chang golf schools at Talega Golf Club in San Clemente and Back Bay Golf Club in Newport Beach. Randy is the 2010 Southern California Teacher of the Year and is one of the Top-30 Golf Instructors for Golf Tips Magazine.

What Of The USGA’s Anchored Putter Ban?

One 2016 rule change would have kept PGA Tour player Camilo Villegas in a recent tournament with a two-stroke penalty, rather than disqualification.

The rules of golf aren’t simple–the only thing more complicated might be the U.S. Tax Code. That is obvious to everyone as even some of the game’s top golf professionals have run afoul of the rules. It takes more than 800 pages to cover the decisions on the rules and sometimes even rules officials don’t get it right.

Every four years, the USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of the game, amend the rules, always saying they are trying to improve and change them to simplify matters. It certainly helps.

The USGA released a seven-page explanation of new rule 14-1b, which will prohibit the anchoring of a club when making a stroke. Reading it will definitely assist players, club officials and tournament administrators.

It makes clear that a player cannot use an anchor point, defined as holding a forearm in contact with with any part of the body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club. For an anchor point to exist, the player must do it intentionally, not accidently. The player must grip the club so that the hands are separated and work independently from one another.

The penalty for anchoring will be two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play.

According to former USGA staff member Frank Thomas, who has spent many years writing, interpreting and monitoring the equipment rules, this will mark the first time in 600 years that the rules have dictated how to hold the club.

Thomas felt strongly that the best way to rid the game of a “non-traditional” manner of holding the club would have been to simply modify the rules to say that the length of the putter shall be no longer than the shortest club in a player’s bag.

He could eventually be proved right as I see the implementation of the rule creating some disagreements in the coming years.

Perhaps the most significant change besides the one on anchoring is the withdrawal of Rule 18-2b, ball moving after address. This means that a player will not automatically be considered guilty if a ball at rest moves after the player has addressed it. A one-stroke penalty will now apply only if the facts show the player has caused the ball to move. Considering the speed of the greens and high winds, this is a really good rule.

A “limited” exception was added to Rule 6-6d, the penalty for signing an incorrect scorecard. A player will not be disqualified for returning a score lower for a hole as a result of failing to include penalty strokes that he was not aware of at the time he signed his scorecard.

The best example of this is where Camilo Villegas was DQed from the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in Hawaii. He moved a loose impediment when he saw his chip shot rolling back to him. The violation was reported by a television viewer. I saw it happen myself and realized the error, but wasn’t the one making the telephone call.

If this happens now, Villegas would have been accessed an additional two-stroke penalty, but could have continued playing.

In addition, the same penalty would apply the first time a player breached Rule 14-3, using an artificial device, unusual equipment or the abnormal use of it. He would be DQed for the second such mistake.

D.A. Points was disqualified from the 2014 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when he used a spongy green ball under his arm as a training aid to keep his arms connected while waiting on another group on the 18th tee.

My first look at the decisions did reveal a few other things that simplify things and makes common sense. I’m sure a closer look when the USGA sends me the entire book will reveal other interesting cases.

If you find you have a 15th club in your golf bag and realize it before you start, you can declare it out of play without any penalty, placing it on the floor of the golf cart or by turning it upside down in the bag.

If you drop a provisional ball, it can be picked up if the original ball is found in the five minutes allowed to search for the ball provided you have not made a stroke with it.

Animal hoof prints can be repaired on the putting green or treated as ground under repair provided a local rule has been added. I would think even the local rule would not be needed in any regular games.

One other thing I’d like to see along these lines: Golfers should get relief from divots in the fairway. Why should they be penalized in such a case?

Looking ahead to 2016, golfers will need to be aware of the ban on anchoring along with a few other changes recently announced by the Royal & Ancient and the United States Golf Association.

While I never saw any evidence that anchoring affected the game by giving anyone an advantage, the ruling bodies did and now has offered a six-page, 2,500-word memo about the implementation of Rule 14-1b, which will prohibit. It’s interesting and provides answers to many questions.

However, I have to agree with Frank Thomas, a former USGA staffer who has spent many years writing, interpreting and monitoring equipment rules and doing research on putting, that there are going to be disagreements whether a player was intentionally holding the club or gripping hand in contact with any part of his body except against a hand or forearm.

Writing in his weekly blog, Thomas suggested a better way to simply things would have been to just ban the long and belly putters. Amen!

The ruling bodies always say they are always trying to simply the rules–the only thing more complicated might be the U.S. Tax Code–when changes are made every four years and they did make other significant changes for 2016 that will help do this.

A player now is no longer automatically considered guilty if his ball moves after address, taking into consideration that wind does tend to move balls, especially on the fast greens used for professional and top amateur events. A one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2 will be applied only when the facts show that the player has caused the ball to move.

A player will no longer be disqualified for returning a lower score for a hole as a result of failing to include penalty strokes that he was not aware of at the time of signing his scorecard. Instead, the player incurs the penalty under the Rule that was breached and must add an additional penalty of two strokes for the score card error. In all other cases in which a player returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken, the penalty will continue to be disqualification.

The use of using an aritifical device or unusual equipment will no be grounds for automatic disqualification. Instead, the penalty will be two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play for the first breach of Rule 14-3. An additional violation will result in DQ.

Mind Games

Photo location courtesy of Troon North Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Visit troongolf.com for information.

What separates the great players from the really good ones? In most cases, it’s what takes place between the ears. There are fabulous players out there who can hit some extraordinary golf shots and have tremendous ballstriking skills and near-perfect swing mechanics. But that doesn’t mean they know how to shoot lower scores and beat the competition. In most cases, the players who rise to the top are the ones with the strongest minds to play their best.

What are we talking about? Well, when was the last time you really trained your brain to play better golf? Yes, you read that right. The brain needs training just like your muscles do if you want to play at your best possible level. Scottsdale-based THINQ Golf (pronounced “think”) is dedicated to helping you play better by developing a stronger, more apt mind for shooting lower scores. THINQ Golf’s “mind games” are available on a computer, smartphone and tablet, and are designed specifically for improving your mental aptitude on the golf course. Each game works to improve a different aspect of your brain. (That’s cool and all, but here’s a little secret. These games are incredibly fun, as well.)

Let’s take a look at a few distinct areas of the brain that THINQ Golf considers key areas to train and develop for shooting lower scores.

ATTENTION
When it comes to moving the body a certain way, the mind thinks first and tells the body which way to go (well, at least in terms of voluntary movements). Where you are in your mind right before the swing starts is absolutely critical. If you’re questioning or tentative, your swing likely will be a slightly different tempo than it would be if you were lucid, free and confident. One of the keys in staying successful is to stay in the present moment. This means not getting fixated on the shots you’ve already hit, or the difficult tee shot you have coming up a few holes ahead. You need to pay attention to the now and not the before or later!

Next time you play, consider how well you stay in the moment and block out both the future and the past. You can’t hit more than one shot at a time, you can’t do anything about the shots you’ve already hit, and you can’t play your round out of order and skip a few holes. The game is played one shot at a time, so it’s time to think that way.

GT: If we’re talking about staying in the moment and playing with full attention, is there something you can do on the course when you realize your head just isn’t in it?

Debbie Crews, Co-Founder of THINQ Golf: Staying focused in the moment can be a scary thing to do when we don’t know what lies ahead. The mind sometimes races ahead of where you are and you forget to focus on the shot in front of you. Also, when there’s added pressure on a particular shot, there are two directions the mind can go. You either focus better and get the job done or you lose your focus because you’re too worried about outcome and likely will hit a bad shot. When your focus escapes you, it’s wise to back off the ball and start over, if at all possible. I always tell players, you can go ahead and hit it without the focus, just add a stroke or two. Stop, take a breath, and regroup and play the game one shot at a time. Once you commit to a shot, stay committed to the finish!

AWARENESS
Where does it all begin come time to hit a shot? The target! The goal with every shot, whether it be a tee shot or a tap-in putt, is to advance the ball toward a specific target. Whether your target is a section of fairway, the green or the actual cup, how you imagine the shot in your mind is based on your awareness of a specific target. The swing is a response to the target, actually. When you’re farther away from your target, you tend to swing faster with longer clubs. If it’s closer, shorter clubs come into play.

One of the problems many players have is the inability to take their driving range swing to the golf course. One reason for this is, when you’re hitting balls on the practice tee one after another, it’s easy to lose awareness of a specific target. This makes it easier to swing freely and your golf swing actually can get into quite a nice groove. But as soon as you hit the course and you start reacting to targets, you lose that freedom and things start getting complicated!

The best way to improve your awareness is to practice with a target in mind–always. THINQ Golf has developed a game that helps you increase your target awareness and trains your brain to not only hone in on its ability to focus on a target, but also steer clear of distractions.

GT: Is there a time and place that works best for mind training? Also, how much is too much or too little?

Tim Suzor, Co-Founder of THINQ Golf: When you’re training to improve a golf skill or a mental skill, two key components are vital for improving efficiently. You want to be rested, not overly stressed, and somewhere where you’re in control of your environment and the environment isn’t controlling you. As far as time of day, this could be different for each individual. My recommendation for the majority of people is training in the morning. In the middle of the day or late day, the brain gets more analytical and typically experiences more stress. Our research shows 10 minutes of brain training a day will show improvements in as little as 3 weeks. The research also shows warming up the brain for 10 minutes with cognitive games before you tee it up results in improvement in performance. Warm up your brain like you would your body. We’ve all experienced “brain fog” on the golf course. That’s why we say around here, “Tune it up before you tee it up.”

PLAY IT BACKWARD
The next time you play, take a moment before you tee up on each hole and play it backward in your mind. Imagine everything in reverse. Maybe you two-putt from 20 feet, hit a decent approach and hit a drive that lands on the right side of the fairway. If you’re satisfied with the visualization, hit “play” and do it in real time.

ADAPTABILITY
Have you ever seen a golf course that was perfectly flat or uniform throughout? Every inch of a football field, soccer pitch or basketball court is the same (or at least they try to make it so), but for golf, this simply isn’t the case. No two holes on the golf course are the same, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll be faced with two of the exact same shots in the course of a given round. Sure, you may have shots of similar distances and such, but nary is one shot exactly like another. This pattern of an ever-changing environment makes developing the skill of “adaptability” that much more important. We all know that golf courses are different, but here’s an aspect that you may not have considered. Just as there are many different physical situations to adapt to on the course, there are also several emotions that arise during a round. These aren’t always caused by bad shots, either. Is it windy? Or raining? Are your playing partners getting on your nerves? Your ability to adapt and play well in any emotional state is just as important as any other skill in golf, maybe even more so! Adaptability is a hidden skill that’s very hard to learn, but THINQ Golf says they have the tools to teach it to you so you can be a rock on the course.

GT: A big part of brain training is the repetitious nature of the games. Why is that?

DC: Neurons that fire together wire together. To lay new pathways in the brain or to solidify the pathways that serve us well, we practice them. Then, especially under pressure, the new pathways will be the dominant response and will carry us through to great performance.

WHAT’S YOUR BOUNCE-BACK PERCENTAGE?
The best players on the PGA Tour bounce back nearly 25 percent of the time–when they make a bogey or worse, they recover one-quarter of the time with a birdie or better. This goes to show you that they know how to adapt to an unfortunate score, hole, shot–whatever. Check your bounce-back rate and see how you fare. If you’re not bouncing back well, you know what you need to work on.

INTENTION

BE YOUR OWN CADDIE!
If you ever come to a place on the golf course where you’re unsure of what shot to hit, take yourself out of the game for a moment and look at the scenario the way a good caddie would. Don’t just pay attention to the yardage book, the wind and what hazards are in play. Look at the types of shots you’ve been hitting thus far and make a calculated decision on your tendencies. For instance, maybe your go-to fade is a slight draw today. Remember to factor in the tangibles (the yardage, wind, elevation, etc.), then evaluate the intangibles (how you feel and what you’ve been doing up to this point) before you decide on what’s the best shot to hit at a given moment.

With the target in mind, it comes time to define your shot intention, meaning how do you plan on advancing the ball toward the target? Do you have a specific shot type you intend to hit? Making a clear decision on every shot is necessary for successful results. And, to do that, you need to make your decision by analyzing the risks associated with the shot. In golf, sometimes the high-risk shot isn’t necessarily the shot that rewards you the most. For instance, let’s say you’re on a short par-4. It’s not reachable off the tee, and there’s a small landing area short of the green and a large landing area about 100 yards short of the green. You could take the greater risk and go for the area in front of the green, but are you better off hitting a delicate pitch from 35 yards than you are a full wedge from 100 yards?

Determining the right amount of risk for a given shot also depends on how you feel at that moment. THINQ has developed a series of games designed to train your mind to deal with situations of varying amounts of risk.

GT: Where did the ideas for each game come from?

TS: I often get asked the question on where the idea came from to train golfers cognitively with games. As a PGA Teaching professional for 19 years and working with players at the highest level, I’ve always appreciated the players with the strongest mental games. As a swing coach who teaches golf with technology and science in mind, I thought there had to be a more efficient way to train the mental game utilizing science. The brain activity of a golfer can be quantified the same way as the golf swing. EEG technology that produces brain maps shows a difference between an elite-level golfer versus a high-handicapper. Neuroscience has proven that the brain isn’t a physiologically static organ and it can change. The question became how do we do that. The answer became repetition, just like we train a motor skill for a golfer to improve his or her swing. Dr. Debbie Crews, who heads up THINQ Golf’s research and development, determined the five main skills that golfers must train and those became the game names: Awareness, Intention, Attention, Synchronicity and Adaptability.

SYNCHRONICITY
Synchronicity is a skill that most of us have as juniors, but tend to lose as we get older. Why? Synchronicity refers to our ability to jump from the analytical side of our brain, the left side, to our creative performance-motivated side of the brain, the right. Every shot requires both of these abilities. When gathering information–yardage, wind, slope–all are aspects of a shot that must be dealt with, but so is looking at the target one last time and pulling the trigger. All of these can only be put together when the mind is in sync and can pass back and forth easily between the two. You can see professional golfers trying to make the jump from left to right brain on every shot. First, they have a short conversation about yardage and all things analytical (left-brain stuff). Then, the caddie backs away and the player begins to make the transfer by taking a few practice strokes to understand the shot needed through feel (right-brain stuff). Finally, the player is beautifully balanced or slightly right-sided until the shot is complete, at which point the analytical brain is allowed to take over again to digest the shot. THINQ Golf has a game specifically developed to improve your ability to get in sync on the course.

GT: How important is mind training for daily life?

DC: Thought precedes motion! Where you are in your mind dictates what swing comes out, how the club moves through space and, finally, the flight of the ball to the target. Be aware of your intention, focus of attention, synchronicity of the outside and inside world, and adapt if things don’t go your way. The cool thing about what we do at THINQ Golf is, our games help you well beyond the golf course. It’s not just training for better golf scores; it’s training to make you a better thinker, a more conscious risk-taker and, ultimately, a better person.

Train Your Brain
Want to learn more about THINQ Golf? Log on to thinqgolf.com and have a look at some of the amazing games. In addition to brain training, there’s an online community for friendly competition, stats, webinars and much more.

How To Play Fearless Golf

Editor’s Note: This piece has been updated slightly with a new title, “How To Play Fearless Golf,” and a more readable format.

Fear is one of golf’s biggest bugaboos, but armed with the following tips from PGA Instructor David Woods and mental game coach Rick Sessinghaus, you can nip those butterflies in the bud. Here’s how to play fearless golf.

SCARY TEE SHOTS

Don’t Forget To Turn

Fear can be a great detriment not only to the mind, but also to how the body performs. Often, when we get fearful, the bigger muscles in the body shut down and the smaller muscles try to take over. In the case of a tee shot like this, that’s exactly what you don’t want. The key when getting fearful and nervous is to always remember that better shots are achieved when the body rotates down and through. If you get fearful and stop turning, the hands will take over and flip through the shot. Now, you may get away with that sometimes, but it’s not a good way to maintain any sense of consistency. Remember to always turn and hit down into the golf ball. And don’t be afraid to make a divot!

RICK’S TAKE

Don’t Be Scared!

Hey, most course architects are on your side, right? As diabolical as some may be, often there’s a bail-out area somewhere on a difficult hole. In the case of the above par-3 at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells, Calif., Tom Fazio left some room to the left for players who just don’t have the gusto to clear the water to a difficult green. Now, here’s the rub. Not every shot needs to be a hero shot. If you’re uncomfortable for whatever reason, don’t force a shot that just doesn’t feel right. Bail out and get up and down. It’s a lot easier to play it safe than forcing a shot you’re not comfortable with.

BackSpin: Common Mental Mistakes

1. Getting Easily Distracted.
There’s a lot of downtime in golf, which allows our minds to wander. Some players begin to think of the holes that are coming up, while others are thinking of the phone message they just received from work. These are distractions that will take away from you being focused on the current shot. Instead, ask better questions of yourself to stay focused. How is this lie of the ball going to affect my shot? What angle do I want to come in from to this hole location? What’s my intermediate target on this chip shot? Questions like that will change your focus and get you to stay focused on what’s relevant for the present shot.

2. Obsessed With Score.
Yes, we keep score and it’s an important aspect of the game; however, if golfers only focus on their scores, it will create a major distraction. Thinking of score too much creates anxiety and added tension. Instead, focus on the process of each shot. Use a mental routine, breath deep, and survey the shot at hand. Check for wind, elevation changes–basically, do what you can to distract yourself from your score and think more about hitting shots. You can only control the current shot, and thinking of what could happen to your score will only pull you away from making a relaxed, confident swing.

3. Reacting Emotionally To Poor Shots.
Golf can be a frustrating game, if we let it. If every time you hit a poor shot you react with anger and frustration, it will be very difficult to bounce back and be ready for the next shot. When we experience frustration, it affects our tension level, decision-making and enjoyment of the game. No one hits good shots all the time, but your reaction to your poor shots will determine your mind-set for the next shot. The best players use a post-shot routine to learn from a shot instead of constantly being critical of their performance. Being able to learn from the shot and move on is a mental game skill you should develop. Ask yourself, “Why did that ball go there? Was it a mental error or physical error?” Then make a practice swing and put the club back into the bag and move on to the next shot, leaving the last shot behind. If you can manage your emotions, you’ll begin to bounce back quicker and enjoy the game more.

4. Lack Of Course Management.
Okay, you may not be able to play like Tiger, but knowing your strengths and limitations can help you shoot lower scores. So many golfers play shots based on their ego and not on reality. These poor decisions lead to blowup holes and further frustration. When you play to your normal patterns, you’ll be more comfortable and relaxed, which leads to better performance. Play to your strengths. Know your average distances you hit clubs. Play your normal shot pattern–if you normally hit a 20-yard fade off the tee, play it, don’t fight it! A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t hit a certain shot at least 70% successfully, then play that shot no matter how the hole is shaped. When you’re comfortable with your decision-making, it will result in a relaxed, confident swing. Make the best decisions based on your game and you’ll shoot lower scores.

5. Losing Confidence.
Believing you can hit a shot successfully is crucial to lower scores. Unfortunately, many play golf with doubt and fear. So many choose to remember poor shots or think of worst-case scenarios. You need to choose to be confident by recalling past shots you’ve hit well in similar situations, visualizing the shot exactly how you want to perform it. Check your self-talk to make sure you switch it from negative to positive, and improve practice habits to work on shots that give you trouble. By using other mental game skills like course management, focus and emotional control, you’ll actually improve your confidence. All aspects work together to make or break your performance. Put time in today to avoid making these mental mistakes, and see your score lower.

Learn more about how to improve your mental game at MZCoach.com and www.RickSessinghaus.com.