Waggle for Tempo

Waggling is a very small swing. How fast you waggle helps to determine your tempo.

Waggling – the movements you make with your club during your pre-shot routine – is more critical than most people assume. It’s under-utilized and important, because it often acts as a miniature (very miniature) version of your full swing.

Watch players with a very fast tempo: odds are they waggle the club in a fast tempo too. Other players look like they’re rocking the clubhead to sleep with their waggles. They’re likely to have a slower tempo.

Use this to your advantage: try waggling more slowly to slow your tempo down a notch. It’s rare that you’ll ever want to speed up your tempo, but should you, simply waggle faster.

Caddy For Life

Caddy For Life, a review of the book written about Bruce Edwards.

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I passed the time on the flights by reading Caddy For Life, by John Feinstein which I bought on a whim at the Philadelphia International Airport.

Caddy For Life beautifully tells the triumphant life story of Bruce Edwards, perhaps the best known caddy on the PGA Tour. He was Tom Watson’s caddy for nearly thirty years, and is most famous for telling Watson to “get it close” on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Watson exclaimed, “I’m knocking it in!“. He did just that, pointed to Bruce and went on to win the 1982 US Open. In 2004, Bruce tragically died after a heroic battle with ALS.

This book was excellent. I laughed at many parts, mostly how Bruce would talk to Tom on the course, and came close to shedding a tear a few times when Bruce was nearing the end of his eventful life. This was a real page–turner, and I’d recommend it to any golf fan.

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Tiger Back to #2

Ernie Els slips to #3 while Retief Goosen moves to #4, bumping Phil Mickelson down to #5.

Tiger and VijayTiger Woods is once again the #2 ranked player in the world. Though he may have given up a 54-hole lead in the Tour Championship, his second-place finish was enough to vault him back to second in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Vijay Singh remains perched in first, but Tiger’s move drops Ernie Els back to third and Retief Goosen’s win vaults him to fourth, pushing the slumping Phil Mickelson down a notch to fifth. Mike Weir and Padraig Harrington climbed to sixth and seventh while Davis Love III, who withdrew from the Tour Championship with a shoulder injury, fell to eight. Sergio Garcia and Stewart Cink round out the top ten.

Golf Punk

Golf Punk is a new magazine for the more “alternative” golfer.

There’s a new golf magazine out there, if you’re into that sort of thing: Golf Punk labels itself as an “alternative” golf magazine, with hot chicks, tattoos, and a bunch of other “in your face” type of coverage. Your grandfather’s Golf Digest this is not.

Golf Punk Bunker Babes

We just like the hot babes (that’s two separate links, folks). We don’t like the cost (£21 for Europe to £42 for the rest of the world).

Virginia Legend Chandler Harper Passes at 90

Virginia golf legend and PGA Hall of Famer Chandler Harper died Monday in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Chandler Harper wins the 1955 ColonialChandler “Old Bones” Harper, PGA Championship winner in 1950 and PGA Hall of Fame inductee in 1968 – died Monday in Portsmouth, Virginia from complications due to pneumonia.

Known for his wiry, thin frame, Chandler competed in the first nationally televised golf tournament, the 1953 (“Tam O’Shanter”) World Championship of Golf. Chandler held a one-shot lead over Lew Worsham when Worsham holed a 115-yard wedge shot for eagle and a one-shot victory.

With eleven career PGA Tour victories, Harper retired after participating in the 1955 Ryder Cup matches. After retiring, Harper was instrumental in the design and construction of the Bide-A-Wee Golf Course in Portsmouth, Virginia, which hosted the Virginia State Open four times.

Continue reading “Virginia Legend Chandler Harper Passes at 90”

When to Practice

When you practice is just as important as how you practice.

When are you more likely to hit the range: after a good round or after a bad one? Golfers are more likely to hit the range after a bad round than a good one, which begs the question: how do you ingrain a good swing if you only practice when you’re not swinging well?

Instead, reverse the two. Practice when you’re playing well. See a pro when you’re not.

If you’d like to find a PGA instructor, use the search engine at pga.com.

“I was hired to elevate this tour…”

Rick George (“I’m Rick George, b**ch!”) and the board of the Champions Tour bullheadedly move forward with their plans to ban carts on the Tour next year.

Champions TourSo says Rick George, president of the Champions Tour. “… to look at everything critically. We looked at [changing] the minimum age. We looked at carts. How do we make this product better?”

When you think Champions Tour, do you still mentally substitute “Seniors Tour”? Do you think of players who’ve started to decline in their physical abilities, but who still both love to compete and are fun to watch as athletes and personalities?

Do you think to yourself, “Those old bums should be walking, not loafing about in their golf carts!”

Evidently, the Champions Tour board seems to think that’s exactly what we think, and they’re out to change our minds.

In what could best be called a counter-intuitive decision, Champions Tour president Rick George is moving forward with the decision to ban golf carts during Champions Tour events. He’s nice enough to ‘accomodate’ golfers like Casey Martin who must ride in a cart due to physical disability.

Continue reading ““I was hired to elevate this tour…””

The Stimpmeter

All about the stimpmeter!

Edward S. Stimpson, the 1935 Massachusetts Amateur champion, devised a device to measure the speed of a golf green, over sixty years ago. The result of his efforts was the Stimpmeter.

The Stimpmeter was first used at the U.S. Open in 1977. Once a ball travels down the contraption, it will hit a speed of about 6.00 ft/s. The distance the ball travels is called “the stimp speed”. A stimp speed of 11½ means the ball has rolled 11½ feet. An average speed on your local muni hovers around 6½, while the fastest reading recorded was a 14 at the 1981 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

How fast is 14? Take your Titleist to the nearest sidewalk and putt a few.