Back-handed Shot

photo credit: bgilliard   A players first reaction, when stymied by a tree, is to take a drop with a stroke penalty, or, right handed players will play the shot left-handed or vise-versa.  Next time try a back-hander, it’s much easier than most people think.

Use a lofted club such as a pitching wedge or a nine-iron, since a more straight-faced club sits more on the toe.  Use your right hand only to swing the club.  Play the ball just in front of your feet and strike the ball with a descending blow.  Your back must be perfectly square to the target line.

This shot is a pendulum action so it is important to keep your wrists firm.  Drop the blade crisply on the back of the ball.  Wrist break, if any, should occur on the follow-through, if at all.

Bumpy Terrain

photo credit: akeg   If you are faced with uneven or bumpy terrain, use a running chip shot for best results.  Chipping over a steep bank between your ball and the flag is very common, especially around raised greens.  Many amateurs immediately reach for a lofted club but there is a better way.  Try using a mid-iron such as a 5 or 6 and play the shot low to the ground.

Set up with your left hand in front of the ball.  Swing the club as you would for a long putt and keep both hands ahead of the ball through impact.  Play the ball back in your stance with your weight on your front foot, don’t try to lift the ball in the air.  By leading with your hands, the ball will have little backspin and roll nicely to your target.

Putting Pre-shot Routine

photo credit: danperry.com   Every golfer, amateur or Pro, needs a pre-shot putting routine.  There is one word that describes good putting, “consistency.”  A pre-shot routine develops good consistency.  Once you are ready to confront your putt you should begin the same pre-shot procedure

Tips:  A)  Line-up each putt from about six feet behind the ball and from the same height.  B)  Walk to the ball keeping your eye on the line of the putt.  C)  Take your stance and line up your putter to the side of the ball.  D)  Take two practice strokes (or one).  E)  Address the ball, take one final look and strike the ball. . .  Using a count of ”one” (back-stroke), “two” (forward-stroke) can be of great help in developing good tempo.

Keep Your Head Still

photo credit: Kelowna09   When putting, it is imperative to keep your eyes on the ball at all times.  Head movement of any kind, no matter how slight, is enough to through your putting stroke out of sync.  One of the best ways to help keep you eyes on the ball (to prevent head movement) is to place the ball on the green so that you can use the company logo on the ball as a target.  This will allow you to concentrate on one specific location, the logo. 

Another way to help you to keep your eye on the ball is to mark your ball in your own manner.  Most players do this by using a single straight heavy line.  Most use a magic marker for this purpose.  Keep you head still, eyes on the preferred ball mark and your putting will improve dramatically.

Belly Putting

photo credit: star5112   If you are having serious problems with your putting, perhaps using a belly putter may be the answer.  Most putting problems occur when the putting stroke becomes too wristy.  When the right hand rolls over the left, the face of the putter will slice across the ball.  The belly putter takes the wrists out of the putting stroke which eliminates the manipulation by the wrists.

With the belly putter, you can concentrate on using the arms and shoulders as one unit.  It also forces you to stay very still over the ball. 

When choosing a belly putter, it is critical that you get one that is the right length for you.  It should rest in your sternum and should be comfortable when addressing the ball.

Soft-landing Chip Shot

photo credit: Ed (supergolfdude)   If you are around the green with a bad lie, and a regular chip shot or pitch and run will not work, try a soft landing chip shot.  This type of shot will rise quickly and land softly with very little roll.  Learning this shot can result in a greater ability to get “up and down” to save par.

(1)  Quick Wrist-Break – cocking the wrists immediately upon takeaway is vital because it creates a steeper angle of attack.  (2)  Hands Ahead – Be sure to keep your hands ahead of the ball as you accelerate through impact which assures a downward strike.  (3)  Hands Still Ahead – Maintain the hands-ahead position after impact.  This keeps the clubface open and creates more loft with less forward movement of the ball.

Grasses Part ll

Fescues (grasses) are often found in coastal areas and thus on links courses.  Fescue is a hardy grass.  It can be used for roughs or even be used for fairways.  Cultivation of fescue requires excellent drainage, low fertility, and light traffic.  Heavy rain will out-compete fescue.  Also, heavy cart usage compromises fescues and makes it nearly impossible for the turf to thrive. 

Sand Hills golf course was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  It is located on the plains of Nebraska and originally contained fescue fairways, but were converted to bluegrass because the ferocious and icy winds that blew across the flat-lands of Nebraska burned it badly.  The fescue grass just wasn’t hardy enough to withstand Nebraska’s harsh weather.

Grasses Part 1

photo credit: danperry.com   Turfgrasses are divided according to whether they thrive under cool or warm conditions.  Cool-season grasses grow best in temperature ranges between 55 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  Warm-season grasses grow best between 75 and 95 degrees.  In the US, cool-season grasses are usually bentgrasses, bluegrasses or fescues.  Warm weather grasses are usually Bermuda grasses.

Cool-season grasses tolerate cold but not heat; the reason northern courses favor bentgrasses for greens.  They can be closely mown to create lightning fast greens.  Bentgrass is of a fine texture and the ball rolls smoothly, seemingly on top of the turf, rather than through the blades which tour players love.

Warm-season grasses have thicker blades than bentgrasses.  There is more grain in Bermuda grass.  With modern methods,  it is now possible to cut Bermuda grass closely for faster greens.

Moe Norman

photo credit: kulicki   Moe Norman was one of the few players that could be described as a cult figure.  He had an unusual way of expressing himself.  he spoke in a repetitive manner but with keen insight.  Here are a few of his personal quotes from a by-gone era: 

1)  “Fairways look like deserts to me, even if they are 30 yards wide.”  2)  “Let your body memorize your swing.”  3)  “Everybody swings around their body except for Hogan, Trevino and me.”  4)  “Golf is a hitting action, it is a pulling action and there’s no work whatsoever.”  5)  “I’m not ball oriented, I’m divot oriented.”  6)  “I never think of hazards.  Oh no, never.  They’re not in my jurisdiction, not in my vocabulary.”

The Stymie

photo credit: star5112   The stymie is part of golf’s quizzical past.  Many golfers today may not have even heard of a stymie. 

Prior to the mid-twentieth century, the stymie was part of match play.  If an opponents ball lay in your line on the green and if it was more than 6 inches away from yours, it would remain in place as you played.  A golfer was required to find a way over or around it.  Scorecards were made to be precisely 6 inches long to help measure the 6 inches.  To deliberately “lay a stymie” on an opponent was considered to be bad sportsmanship.

A ball sitting in front of the hole could easily leave you stymied, consequently, there was no penalty for hitting an opponents ball in match play.  After much consideration, in 1951, the USGA eliminated the stymie altogether.

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