Touring pros up close

[msd3075]

Haha thats awesome I will look up that thread, any idea what you called it?

Found it...

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...h-Rory-McIlroy

[senorchipotle]

Monday I was at adare manor and had the pleasure of watching the pros up close for the first time, now Im not a bad ballstriker and play with plus handicappers often but when I seen mcilroy hit a driver up close I was stunned! Ive never seen such a flight in my life! Hes only 5 7", how in gods name does he do it! They must be something I mean he doesnt look like he goes after it either, Ive seen many people swing alot harder and come nowhere near what I seen today. Hahaha I just cant get over it, what could it be, flawless mechicanics?

it's all about the smash and how much weight you can get behind the ball. it's not really a matter of timing, but sequence. the fastest part of your swing must be at the bottom. that means starting slow at the top and letting momentum+gravity+weight shift rule your swing. i like to relate it to swinging in a swingset. you use momentum and weight shift in the right sequence to propel you higher in the air. if more people took the swingset mentality to the golf course you'd see loads more people hitting farther, more accurate shots. your body automatically knows how to time the impact punch, let it do it's job.

the best person to look at to understand what i'm talking about is kenny perry. take a look at his swing. his wind up looks funny, but it serves its purpose well.

[Chillmoon91]

cool, wow some people got very serious about his comments on rory s. every knows hes an idiot already, nice to see some confirmation lol, one question was he driving 50 yards pass you guys or what?

[Tiger Spuds]

I taught he was abit chubby on tv but he isnt in real life.

TV definitely adds on a few pounds, I thought they all looked a lot slimmer in person.80% of them seemed to have the same body type actually - Tall and slim, narrow hips and not much arm or leg muscle.I was surprised at that.Tiger is definitely fat though, I don't care what anyone says, he's got quite a belly.

[Chillmoon91]

Wasnt close enough to notice that but his arms are massive!

[DavidFehertysBike]

I think i might have posted this on this board before.. but one time i was watching Tom Kite hitting 5 or 6 irons for about 45 minutes and he was just nuking them. He didnt move a single blade of grass, either. Picked every one clean.

[StixItClose]

Living in central Florida, I'm lucky enough to have multiple chances at going to PGA events during the year. I've been going to Bay Hill my entire life. I've started going to the Transitions now that I live in Tampa Bay. I've even gone to the Tavistock Cup a couple of times, which is completely different as there are no ropes and very few spectators compared to the regular events. At Lake Nona there is a drivable par 4 on the back 9, maybe 310 or so. It has a slight dogleg to it near the green, so the guys have to hit it over some trees to actually make the green. This particular day it was playing into a slight breeze. The shorter hitters were bailing out and either giving themselves a wedge or putting it in the neck to the green. Ernie gets up there with a swing of the same pace as my practice swing and hits the driver high enough to get over the corner while coming down steeply enough to stay on the green. The ball hits on the green, TAKES A HOP BACKWARDS, and ends up 10 feet.

[enis750]

nevr had the chance of seing a PGA event (some day, some day.........)
but i am heading to the Canadian Tour Event at the Dakota Dunes Course on Sunday
Derek Gillespie (you know, dude that won Big Break last year) and Eugene Smith (also from BB) are playing this weekend
both had good scores yesterday, so they SHOULD make the cut

i also relaized that the best and only dude w a + index at my home course is playing
he didnt shoot well though yesterday (10 over) but i have no idea how he got in....he didnt Monday qualify, sponsor exemption???? not sure.......
just goes to show that a +1.2 index can make a mess of things too, on a course that measures 7100 yds, in tournament condition and under pressure

man.....i wanted to one day qualify for this tourney
this year the qualifying scores were 71,72,74,74

my best at this course is 75....but from the back tees. not the tips...i would get murdered

[msd3075]

If any of you guys have never been to a PGA event and there isn't one close to where you live, one thing you might want to look into is going to a Nationwide Tour event instead. We have a Nationwide tournament here in Fort Smith every year (it's at the course I play out of), and seeing these guys up close is the same as seeing the PGA guys up close; the only differnet is the "star power" and name recognition you'll get at a PGA event. The Nationwide guys are 99.999% as good as almost all the PGA guys. Not only that but most Nationwide event have only a fraction of the crowd that a PGA event has so you can get up close to every group on every hole (ie. there are no 5-deep crowds around each green).

[NI4NI]

My first and only PGA experience was the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot (aka, the Mickelson Implosion Event). I was very impressed with players' games, but was completely floored by the course conditions - talk about punitive rough and undulating greens. I could not get over the tough playing conditions that the PGA conjured up - plus it was in the mid 90's for temp and humidity. It was a killer all the way around...

[acegolfer]

If any of you guys have never been to a PGA event and there isn't one close to where you live, one thing you might want to look into is going to a Nationwide Tour event instead. We have a Nationwide tournament here in Fort Smith every year (it's at the course I play out of), and seeing these guys up close is the same as seeing the PGA guys up close; the only differnet is the "star power" and name recognition you'll get at a PGA event. The Nationwide guys are 99.999% as good as almost all the PGA guys. Not only that but most Nationwide event have only a fraction of the crowd that a PGA event has so you can get up close to every group on every hole (ie. there are no 5-deep crowds around each green).

+1.

I remember someone saying that the biggest difference between PGA Tour and Nationwide players is the short game. So if you want to see the long game, Nationwide event is a good bet. I bet they are more personable than the star players.

[Chillmoon91]

We have the challenge tour over here but I dont think there are any events close to me, cant wait for the Irish open now

N14n1, that must have been sweet to be at a major such as the us open, haha something to do before I die, Id love to try and hit out of the deep rough and break my wrist in the process there lol

[Leftygolfer]

The memorial was my first event. Rory was long for sure, but by far the most impressive player was Lefty. I watched the front and followed a number of groups through there. The others I saw were impressive, but not like phil. Man he hits his driver 30 yards past where non-short players do. He goes after it hard with the driver but with other clubs he wasn't as long with the swing and more in control. I watched him a number of holes and he was really good.

[Chillmoon91]

The memorial was my first event. Rory was long for sure, but by far the most impressive player was Lefty. I watched the front and followed a number of groups through there. The others I saw were impressive, but not like phil. Man he hits his driver 30 yards past where non-short players do. He goes after it hard with the driver but with other clubs he wasn't as long with the swing and more in control. I watched him a number of holes and he was really good.

Although phil hits it a long way people say hes not the greatest ballstriker, although Ive no idea because I never seen him up close, on tv he just seems a bit errant with his irons at times

[Leftygolfer]

Although phil hits it a long way people say hes not the greatest ballstriker, although Ive no idea because I never seen him up close, on tv he just seems a bit errant with his irons at times

You can't stay on tour and not be a great ball striker. He wasn't perfect when I was watching but his misses weren't wild. He pushed a drive maybe 20 yards into a bunker but it wasn't a miss I would classify as wild. I am a big fan of his and maybe I am wrong but he doesn't seem to hit it where he doesn't have a shot. He misses it alot, but he can find it and hit it. Compared to Sean Ohair who I followed quit a bit he was more wild but ohair really didn't miss a shot for the 6 holes I watched. He went long on one hole but it wasn't missed. But his driver and phils driver didn't even come close or sound remotely the same. Phil hit it 40 yards past ohair in different groups, same hole. I don't consider ohair short on tour either. It was bunches of fun to see them up close.

[TN94z]

Although phil hits it a long way people say hes not the greatest ballstriker, although Ive no idea because I never seen him up close, on tv he just seems a bit errant with his irons at times

I would have to say that those people are crazy! There is no way he could be as close to number 1 in the world as he is if he wasn't a great ball striker.....just saying..

[Chillmoon91]

Sorry of course hes a great ballstriker obviously, just for being number 2 there are a good few on the tour who strike it better but his short game takes care of that, he truly kills it with the driver though no-ones denying that but hes meant to be a monster of a man in person, is he? I was referring to the physical capability of some-one like mcilroy smashing the ball despite his physical appearance

[Tiger Spuds]

People talk a lot about ballstriking but it really is hard to discern who the best is.I mean, the differences must be very small.Besides, ballstriking is overated.I keep hearing Heath Slocum's name mentioned in the same breath as 'great ballstriker' but how many tournaments has he wont compared to Phil and plenty of others not regarded to be great ballstrikers?As long as you have other qualities (Long, great short game), you can find your way around a course.