Anna Who?

Anna Acker-Macosko posts a final-round 60, and Leta Lindley crumbles with a final-round 76 (67-67-65-76) as Christina Kim holds off Inkster and Webb at the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge.

anna_acker_macosko.jpgWhat do you call someone who’s played in relative obscurity for most of her professional career, only to surge to shoot a blisteringly-hot 11-under 60 in California?

Anna Acker-Macosko.

Starting the day off tied for 40th place at 2-under, Anna Acker-Macosko came out of nowhere to equal her career-best finish (T5) at the Longs Drugs Challenge in Auburn, California. Today’s finish is also only her fifth top-ten of her career, but her second this year. She was joined in fifth place by Jeong Jang, who posted an equally impressive nine-under 62.

Of greater importance, however, was the collapse of Leta Lindley (67-67-65-76), who fell from the lead to end up tied for 13th after posting a final-round 76. That left the door open for Christina Kim to leapfrog Julie Inkster‘s 68 and hold off Karrie Webb‘s final-round 64 to win the Longs Drugs Challenge, her first career win since joining the tour last year.

Singh Wins Eighth

Singh wins his eighth and the all-time money title.

Vijay Singh has won his third tournament in a row, furthering his grip on the #1 Golfer in the World title and leaving Tiger Woods’ single-season earning record in the dust. Singh weathered a charge from Stewart Cink at the 84 Lumber Classic in Farmington, PA to take his eighth PGA Tour title in 2004. Singh’s 3-under 69 gave him a one-stroke victory just five days after signing an endorsement deal with 84 Lumber.

Woods’ best hope for reclaiming the top spot in the world rankings may be convincing Vijay to sign with Callaway. 🙂

Long Putt? Aim Short…

Divide and conquer long putts to have a better chance at walking off with a two-putt, instead of three or four.

Looking at a long putt, say something of the thirty to forty-foot range? Take the time to read the line, but by all means don’t aim at the hole.

Dissect the putt. Divide it into shorter sections – the break left to that crest, the break right off the crest – and then, once you’ve got the line and tempo in your head, pick a spot about three to five feet along the first part of your line.

Long putts aren’t about sinking the putt every time, unless you’re a pro. Instead, working on getting the putt as close to the hole as possible is a wonderful goal, and the occasional putt in the hole a welcome surprise. Try to sink it, and chances are you’ll end up with a three-putt instead of a chance at two.

30th Anniversary of Long Drive

On September 25, 1974 Mike Austin drove a ball 515 yards.

30 years ago today, Mike Austin set the world record for a drive in PGA competition.

On September 25, 1974 at the US National Senior’s Open Championship at Winterwood Course in Las Vegas, PGA pro Mike Austin drove the par 4, 450-yard fifth and rolled the ball 65 yards past the flagstick: a 515 yard drive. Austin, 64 at the time, used a steel-shafted, persimmon-headed club. Now 94 and living in Studio City, California, Austin still gives lessons.

Slow Down in the Wind

Many players speed up – their swings, their pace of play – when playing the winds. Don’t.

Watch a foursome playing the course on a windy day and you’re likely to see some fast play: they walk faster between shots, they take less time in their preshot routine, and – perhaps most importantly – they swing faster. This leads to inconsistency and poor ball striking.

In the wind, make a conscious effort to take your time and to swing with a slower tempo. You’ll strike the ball with less spin and cleaner contact.

Brush-T

The Brush-T guarantees straighter, longer drives. What doesn’t these days?

brusht.jpgThe Brush-T claims that it can help you hit longer, straighter drives by eliminating much of the friction between ball and tee:

The unique qualities of the Brush-T mean that the side spin or interference, all too often associated with plastic and wooden tees, can be eliminated. The bristles provide raised support for the ball, but still give unprecedented flexibility. Independent testing in San Diego and California, showing a marked improvement in the dispersion rate, thereby delivering greater accuracy.

Let’s ignore for a moment the fact that San Diego is in California. Let’s also ignore that “a marked improvement in the dispersion rate” can’t “deliver” greater accuracy, it is greater accuracy. And hey, if we want to be technical, it’s not greater accuracy but greater consistency. A loose group of balls in the middle of the fairway beats a tight cluster 20 yards right, doesn’t it? 🙂

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Abacoa Golf Club with N3P

Abacoa Golf Club is home to the First Ever Unofficial Non-Charity Tournament of Golf Bloggers.

I played golf with Larry of the No Three Putts blog. I shall summarize my round as follows: wwwwwssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh. The winds were whipping around quite a bit, and after making a snaking birdie on the first hole, I shot about two hundred. That sound? The air going out of my game. I’m definitely the type that likes to warm up – I didn’t have a swing thought all day long and never felt comfortable over the ball.

My PW on the second hole, straight into the wind, must have gone about 75 yards. Larry and I won the front against “the other cart,” two up. We lost the back by four to lose the overall. In addition to my 75 yard wedge (normally 130), I hit a three iron from 240 to 30 feet.

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Remove Your Balls

Just a funny sign about having your balls removed…

As Shaggy (the Scooby Doo guy) would say: Yoinks! This, uuhhh, frightening image courtesy of Larry at the NoThreePutts blog. His site is called “No Damn Three Putts: a golf blog with some balls.” Unless, of course, he’s caught by the owners of the course with this sign.

I’m playing golf with Larry later today (with a hurricane cancellation possible) at Abacoa Golf Club. We shall see.

P.S. I was quite tempted to post this in the “Equipment: Balls” category, but that’d just be mean… <grin>

Experiment

Experiment in your back yard and reclaim the art of shotmaking.

A week ago I spent some time in my back yard with my 60° wedge hitting shots all over the place and from every kind of lie. I discovered that if I play my ball outside of my right heel, open stance 45°, and swing inside out I can make great contact and send a lot skittering shot tremendous distances. I discovered that I can hit the ball with nothing but wrist movement quite far… but that every other body part has to remain absolutely still or I don’t get perfect contact, and wrists aren’t strong enough to fight through grass alone. I discovered that I could hit a lob wedge straight up into the air, but that it only went a foot forward and ten feet up – not a particularly useful shot.

The point is this: experiment in your back yard with your wedges. Use some practice (short flight) balls if you have to. Experimentation is the key to shotmaking – see what kinds of shots you can come up with. I highly doubt that I’ll ever see “stand 45° open, play the ball three inches behind you, and swing perpendicular to your stance to send a low chip cleanly out of even bad lies,” but I’ve got that shot in my bag now.