Overcome Caveman Golf

Golf is a game of risk vs. reward. Being realistic about the risks – and the reward – is the key to playing smart golf.

Golf Digest recently published a “Guide to Caveman Golf” for those people incapable – or unwilling – to overcome their “smash it and then go look for it” tendencies. If you are able to overcome your tendencies, you may score better as a result. We don’t advocate hitting nothing but your 3W off the tee, but do try to ask yourself a few questions:

  • If you hit a 3W from this tee, do you still have a 7I or less into the green?
  • If you hit to the fat part of the green instead of going at the flag just over that water hazard, can you lag and tap in for par?
  • Do you need to make this putt, or would lagging one up there be sufficient?
  • What’s more important: being closer to the pin or hitting the highest lofted club you might be able to get to the hole?
  • If you go at this par five in two and miss the green, will you be in better or the same shape as you’d be if you safely lay up?
  • Would you rather play your next shot from the trees again or from the fairway?

I think you get the point. Golf is a game of risk vs. reward. Being realistic about the risks – and the reward – is the key to playing smart golf.

Hole in One Registry

You can register and view holes-in-one across the country at PGA.com.

If you took dead aim and recorded a hole-in-one, you can register your ace at PGA.com and bask in your own glory. Enter your details for the world to see, or poke fun at. For example, this fine lady used her trusty driver to conquer the monstrous sixty-yard par 3 in 2001.

Ahh, who am I kidding. I’m just annoyed that Tiger bagged his first ace when he was six, and I’m still hoping.

Duval Has Best Round of the Year

David and Bob Duval team up with Special Olympics athletes Kevin Erickson and Oliver Doherty in a made-for-TV match.

david_duval.jpgDavid Duval and father, Bob Duval, played golf at the Timuquana Country Club with Special Olympics athletes Kevin Erickson of Wisconsin and Oliver Doherty of Ireland in a made-for-TV match called “A Tee Time Like No Other” to be televised by CBS Sports on New Year’s Day. The match was set up by the Special Olympics, who wanted to feature some of their finest athletes.

During the first hole of the made-for-TV match, that paired David with Kevin and Bob with Oliver, Erickson hit a slight draw and landed in the middle of the fairway. Duval hit a slice into the trees. “At least one of us is in the fairway,” Erickson told him. Duval shot right back, “Fairways are overrated.”

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2004 Funai Classic

Ryan Palmer is a Titleist man, and he used these clubs to win the 2004 Funai Classic in his rookie year.

Ryan PalmerRyan Palmer used this gear to win the 2004 Funai Classic:

Driver Titleist Titanium 983 E 8.5°
3 Wood Sonartec SS03 14°
5 Wood Sonartec TRC 18°
Irons (3-PW) Titleist Forged 690 CB
Wedges (PW, AW, SW) Titleist Vokey Design 46°, 53°, 57°
Putter Odyssey Rossie II
Ball Titleist Pro V1x

Yes folks, Palmer is also Titleist kinda guy.

Photo Credit: © PGA Tour.com.

Putt to a Dime

Practice your putting with FDR to improve your concentration.

DimeNeed to work on short putts? Putt to a dime. The smaller target will force you to concentrate. Once you get good at that, putt at the edges of the dime. If you can roll it over FDR, you can roll it into the hole.

If you’re looking for information about the dime, well, by all means drop by the Wikipedia.

Shoulder Under Chin

Great baseball hitters say they can see the ball hitting their bats – there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try to see your clubhead meeting the ball as well.

Lots of people hit the ball thin. Whether they’re afraid to hit the ground or take a divot or simply trying to swing too hard, hitting the ball thin is still an unwanted problem. One way to avoid hitting thin shots (they sure sting sometimes, don’t they?) is to get into the habit of feeling your right shoulder on your chin before you look up for the ball. Let your shoulder bring your head up, and you’ll avoid “coming out of the shot” and hitting it thin. Great baseball hitters say they can see the ball hitting their bats – there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try to see your clubhead meeting the ball as well.

Etiquette: Golf’s Order

Golf is a civil game: anyone can play with anyone so long as they observe the rules of etiquette.

There are two kinds of rules: rules governing play and rules governing conduct. Golf may be the only sport to include a section on player conduct in the official rules. These rules of etiquette are as important to enjoying an afternoon golfing with three friends as the rules of play are to playing the game correctly.

In other words, proper etiquette is as much a part of the game as knowing what to do when your ball gets stuck in a tree. Newcomers typically learn the rules of etiquette as they go, but we’re happy to offer the crash course in on-course etiquette.

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Pine Valley

Ro lives near Pine Valley, but will never have the pleasure of playing it.

It’s hard to fathom sometimes that I reside within a twenty mile radius of Pine Valley Golf Club, the perennial #1 golf course in America. It’s actually quite maddening because, even though it is seemingly right around the corner, I most likely will never have the pleasure of staring down Hell’s Half Acre in person. Sure I can play a similar course across the street, but it’s not the same.

A chauvinistic smirk emerged on my face reading this blurb: “While Augusta National allows women to play, Pine Valley doesn’t even let women on the property” until I realized that, 99.99% of all males, including myself are in the same boat.

Maybe I’ll picket…

Buying Junior Clubs

Junior golf ain’t what it used to be, and neither are the clubs! Here’s how to pick good clubs for your budding star.

Junior Golf PaintingLike many golfers, I was introduced to the game of golf as a child: I hit “borrowed” range balls around a soccer field with a sawed-off 7-iron. I probably had it a bit easier than most because I got a late start at the age of fifteen. I escaped the harm that can come of starting a seven year-old child out with a cut-down adult club.

Fortunately, today’s world brings us an unheralded variety of junior-sized clubs, bags, and accessories (shoes, hats, etc.). Some manufacturers, like U.S. Kids Golf make nothing but kid-sized clubs. Others, like Ping or Nike, offer junior lines in addition to their standard, adult-sized offerings. How then do you choose the set that’s appropriate for your budding star? Follow along and we’ll walk you through the steps.

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