Month: October 2004

Palmer Wins Funai Classic

PGA Tour rookie Ryan Palmer has won his first tournament: the Funai Classic.

ryan_palmer.jpgRyan Palmer, that is, shooting a final-round 62 to win by three shots over Vijay Singh and Briny Baird. Palmer is the fifth PGA Tour rookie to win this year.

In addition to four straight birdies down the stretch, Palmer chipped in from 40 feet on fifteen and made a 44-foot birdie on seventeen that was moving at a hearty pace when it slammed into the hole. Palmer, of no relation to Arnold, said “I knew I could play. It was a matter of proving it to myself.”

Palmer began the day in 109th place on the money list, but this win and the $756,000 that goes with it was enough to vault him to the top 40, possibly earning an invitation to next year’s Masters and locking up an invitation to play in next week’s Chrysler Championship in Tampa.

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Rules of Golf (Online)

An online guide to the Rules of Golf, courtesy of the USGA.

Need an online guide to the Rules of Golf? Here you go! For those of you not under the influence of the USGA, here is the R&A’s version.

Golf Cartoons

Just a pair of golf cartoons from “B.C.” and “Wizard of Id.”

First Dilbert had a golf cartoon, and now Wizard of Id and B.C. have joined the fray:

bc_id_cartoons.gif

You can’t laugh at yourself (or your sport of choice) enough, I say!

Ball Position

Correct ball position is critical to good ball striking.

Setup is many things, and one of the most important of those is ball position. The ball, on woods and irons, should be positioned at different points in the swing relative to the bottom of the swing. This differs from player to player, but is typically centered to about three inches ahead of center. The shorter the club, the closer to center the ball is positioned.

To determine your correct ball position:

  1. Place two clubs on the ground forming a letter “t,” with one club parallel to your target and one perpendicular.
  2. Stand against the club parallel to the target line.
  3. Put the perpendicular one in the center of your stance.

    4. Start with the ball at center and move the ball forward between ¼ and ½ inch as you move down through your irons and woods. When you get to your driver, the ball should be three to four inches forward.

Run this simple drill every few weeks to stay in tune.

Isabelle Beisiegel Fails PGA Tour Qualifier

Coming in last among those who played all four rounds, Isabelle Beisiegel fails PGA Q-school.

Isabelle BeisiegelIsabelle Beisiegel failed to qualify for the PGA Tour this weekend at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta, CA. Beisiegel shot rounds of 84, 80, 80 and 79 for a 35-over-par 323 which placed her last among 78 golfers playing all four rounds. Seven golfers withdrew from the tournament.

After her relatively poor performance, however, Isabelle was disappointed, but not discouraged. “The biggest thing I am going to take away from this week is that strength and length were not a factor,” she said. “I already knew that, but now I have proof.”

Beisiegel, a native of Canada who played golf at the University of Oklahoma, said failing to qualify this year won’t stop her from trying the process next year or trying some one-day qualifying events for PGA Tour stops in 2005.

Tee Height

Experiment with your tee height to improve your shotmaking.

Yesterday I played 18 holes of golf on a 9-hole course. On the eighth hole, a 169-yard par three, I played a regular 6-iron that landed beside the hole and stopped rolling 25 feet away. The second time I played the hole, I teed the ball up higher to promote a higher, softer shot. The ball landed in nearly the same place, but stopped after rolling just ten feet.

Tee height can influence your driver and 3W as well. With your woods (or whatever they’re called these days!?), teeing the ball higher promotes a draw, while teeing the ball lower promotes a fade.

Experiment with tee height and you’ll improve your shotmaking.

Use the Whole Tee

Use the whole tee box to maximize your chances for a good shot.

The 156-yard par-three fourth hole drives you nuts. You hit your 8-iron 150 and your 7-iron 165: what club do you use? You factor the wind, the pin position, and you’re almost sure that you can hit your 7-iron, but you still think it’ll go too far. This is a time to use your noggin – and the rules – to your advantage.

The teeing box is as wide as the tee markers and two clubs (your longest club) deep. Tee the ball back two clublengths to more closely approach your 7I distance, and position the ball to the left or right to hit into whatever breeze might exist to take a bit of distance off. Then, swing with confidence!

Keep it Shut

We take a break to offer you words of advice: finding someone who cares about your golf game is difficult!

Today’s tip is very simple: keep your mouth shut. Very rarely does anyone want to hear about your golf game. Today’s tip is a humorous one from Dilbert.

Of course, the folks on this site are a rare exception! We love to talk about golf!

Awareness and Creativity

Good players use creativity and awareness of the situation to their advantage on the course.

I was late in watching The Big Break II on the Golf Channel again this week. These baseball playoff games lasting until midnight and later are killing me and my regular viewing schedule. Anyhow, I wanted to note something about this week’s competition. My absolute favorite challenge so far in this whole series was the elimination challenge from this episode.

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