Month: October 2004

HSBC World Matchplay, Round 1

The first round of the HSBC World Matchplay remains unfinished due to rain delays. Retief Goosen was the day’s only winner, thrashing Jeff Maggert 12&11.

goosen_hsbc.jpgWho says it never rains in England? Well, no-one, frankly, and with good reason. The first round of the HSBC World Match Play Championship was heavily disrupted by rain, which meant that only one match out of the eight 36-hole first round matches was settled before the close of play, with US Open champion Retief Goosen crushing Jeff Maggert 12&11. Goosen was 8 up after the first 18 holes, and only required a further 7 holes to complete the rout and set a new record for the largest margin of victory in the event.

The delay has given me the opportunity to make some predictions for what’s left of the first round, and I’ll do the same for the remaining rounds. Post your predictions on here too, and we’ll see who comes out tops!

Read the extended entry for my predictions.

Continue reading “HSBC World Matchplay, Round 1”

Putt Long

Make sure you get your putt to the hole.

“90% of all putts left short don’t go in.” I’ve used that taunt a few times, even though it’s quite obvious that it’s just a gag. Every putt left short won’t go in, and Dave Pelz has taught us that the best speed for a putt is that which makes it stop 17 inches past the hole. Practice hitting your putts at a speed that puts the ball one to two feet behind the hole and you’ll make more putts, even if it’s simply because you don’t leave as many short.

Chip off the Toe

Chip with the toe of your club in bad lies.

Your ball is in the fringe or fairway near the green, but sitting in a slight depression. The sole of the club is wider than the hole, making it difficult to get down to the ball. You could chop down hard, but you’d have very little distance control. Instead, set the club up on the toe a bit and play the shot almost as you would a putt. The shot will come out lower than normal and you may have to swing a tad harder as energy will be lost by making contact so far out on the toe.

Pre-Shot in Practice

Practice your pre-shot routine on the practice range as well.

When you’re warming up before a round, and even when you’re just at the range beating balls and working on your swing, go through your pre-shot routine. Walk behind the ball, pick a target, take your practice swings… whatever you normally do on the course, do on the practice range. A pre-shot routine is one of the most under-rated aspects of good golf, and solidifying your pre-shot routine by practicing it – while practicing your swing – builds familiarity and confidence.

Tour Roundup

A roundup of this past week’s tour events.

In Las Vegas on the PGA Tour, Andre Stolz shot a 5-under 67 to win the Michelin Championship by a shot over Tom Lehman, Harrison Frazar, and Tag Ridings. Ridings, who began his final round on the back nine, shot a 29 on the front and tied the course record with a final-round 61 to just barely come up short.

Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher won for the first time on the European Tour, beating Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell on the first playoff hole Sunday at the dunhill links Championship. Ernie Els and Fred Couples finished five strokes back and Vijay Singh finished eight strokes back.

On the Senior Tour, Larry Nelson shot an 8-under 64 to come from behind and beat Hale Irwin with a birdie on the first playoff hole at the Administaff Small Business Classic.

Liselotte Neumann won her first LPGA Tour title in six years, holding off a late charge by Grace Park for a three-stroke victory at the LPGA Asahi Ryokuken International Championship on Sunday.

And finally, on the Nationwide Tour, 22-year old Chris Nallen chipped in on the 72nd hole and sealed the win on his Nationwide debut at the Gila River Golf Classic at Wild Horse Pass Resort. Nallen went wire-to-wire and won easily by eight strokes.

Play with Kids

Play a round with high school kids if you’re playing a bit too conservatively lately.

If you get the chance, play with some high school kids. They’re too young to know any better and old enough to be fairly competent. They’ll hit the impossible shot (and pull it off more than you’d guess). They’ll go after that testy downhill curler and ram it into the hole.

Scoring well means walking the line between reckless play and ultra-conservative play. If you’re veering too far towards the latter, a round with some high school kids will put you back on track. Best yet, you may be doing them a favor. Beat ’em and show them what they have to look forward to.

Make a Game

When you’re playing alone, get creative on the course by making up a game.

When you play by yourself, it’s difficult to remain focused. Stave off boredom, complacency, laziness, and sheer apathy by inventing games for yourself. Play one ball against the other. If you’re good enough, play a draw against a fade. Try to keep the ball within 10 yards of the cart path. Play the even holes with even-numbered clubs and the odd ones with the odd-numbered clubs. Make bets with yourself: you’ll clean out the den if you don’t break 45 on the back nine, for example: it’s win-win, regardless of your score (you play well or have a clean den).

Blast Anything

Practice hitting balls out of bunkers by hitting anything BUT balls out of bunkers!

When you execute a proper bunker shot, your club doesn’t even make contact with the ball. Take your mind off of the ball by hitting small plastic toys, a tee, a used cleat, a mowed half-ball, your keys, or anything else you can think of. It’s fun and it gets your mind off of hitting the ball: you want to slide the club through the sand.

When you get good, borrow your friend’s Rolex and hit that out of the bunker, too, landing it just in the fringe. You may want to wrap it in a plastic baggie to keep the sand off of it, but then again, it is your friend’s watch, not your own. 🙂

Choke Down for Control

When you are in between clubs, take the longer club, grip an inch down the shaft, and make your normal, positive swing.

There are times out on the golf course when you find yourself “between clubs”; that is, at an awkward distance from the flag. You may find that you are slightly too far away for a full 8-iron, but slightly too close for a full 7-iron.

You should resist the temptation to hit the shorter club slightly harder. This will most likely result in an out-of-control swing, a poor ball strike, and ultimately a wayward shot. Another common mistake is to take the longer club and try to swing slower. This can cause an awkward, tentative swing, which increases the chances of catching the ball “fat” or “thin”.

Instead, opt for the longer club, but grip down the shaft about ½ inch to an inch, and take your normal swing. Gripping slightly further down effectively decreases the length of the shaft, which takes those extra 5 yards of your ball flight. Remember to maintain a positive strike, and resist the temptation to swing harder or softer than normal.