Happy Memorial Day Weekend. I played a round of golf at Crandon Golf Club on Key Biscayne, FL yesterday. The last time I played this course I made a new friend named "Iggy" the iguana. This is one of the most scenic tracks that one could ever play. There are many different species of wildlife and the views over Biscayne Bay are breathe taking.
Not only is this a beautiful course but it is also one of the hardest courses in America. As we were checking in for our tee time, my buddy Hurchell noticed a sign sitting on the counter. I had to do a double take. The sign boasted that Crandon was the 3rd toughest municipal course in the country. Only Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black,(both of which have hosted the U.S. Open Championship), are considered more difficult. I knew this was a challenging course but now I understand why. I had an okay round despite the fact that I only got two hours of sleep the night before. And it didn't help that it was about 93 degrees in the shade with humidity of about the same. I was drained by the 12th hole. I was barely able to get my drives over 200 yards. That is not good especially playing the from the blue tees which measure over 6800 yards.
Up until 2005, Crandon hosted the Senior PGA Tour Classic. A who's who of players have won at this tournament including Lee Elder, Gary Player, and Lee Trevino to name a few. Crandon has also hosted Q-School qualifying events. This course, as the sign says presents many challenges that make it worthy of having held professional tournaments. There is a lot of water to deal with especially on the back nine. Many of the tee shots are visually intimidating and it becomes very important to visualize the shot that you want.
I have been working very hard on visualization before each swing. "Whatever you visualize will materialize." It makes a huge difference when you can see the shot before you attempt it. You hear the pros talk about it all the time. Nick Faldo always makes a reference to the visualization process at least once during each round of a PGA event.
Jack Nicklaus said:
“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”
If it is good enough for the eighteen time major winner Golden Bear, then it good enough for me. Have a good one and always hit your target.
On Monday I watched the latest episode of The Haney Project with Ray Romano. As you may know, Ray's goal is to break 80. He came close once finishing within one stroke of doing it after missing a three footer on the 18th hole of a charity event. Since then Ray has been on a quest to break into the 70's.
I have not taken any formal lessons to date. All that I have learned so far has been from watching The Golf Channel and numerous videos on YouTube. I have played sports all my life and I can hold my own in most sports that I try. I am a good "imitator", paying attention to fundamentals so for now the videos have been good. I want to see how far I can progress before I go to a "swing doctor" for a checkup.
The problem with that is when you develop a bad habit, you have no one to point it out to you. That is what happened to me. I started worrying about getting to steep on the back swing to avoid the "shanks" and I developed a takeaway that was way to shallow. As a result I would have to come over the top with a big loop to try to get it back on the proper plane.
This is the same problem Ray is having. My over the top loop was way worse than Ray's. I have been struggling to fix it for the three weeks but could not figure it out. I couldn't find any good videos that addressed my issue. They are probably out there, but nothing clicked with me until I saw this episode. Haney wants Ray to reverse his loop. Instead of starting shallow and then coming over the top, start wide and then come back down on the inside. Simple enough, but it finally clicked. I took it out to my practice course and I could feel the difference. After taking about twenty swings to get used to it, and really exaggerating the move as Haney instructed, I finally began to hit some solid shots. The ball flight was straighter and I noticed that my divots were more towards the target rather than left of it as it used to be.
It still feels a little awkward but I feel that if I stick with it, the results will come. My goal at the beginning of the year was and still is to break 80 and to get down to a 12 handicap. To date I have gone as low as 81 and am a current 14.6 handicap. I am hoping that this will be a step in the right direction.
I would love to play a round of golf with Ray. He's a funny guy. We are at about the same level and have similar goals. Hey Ray. Have your people call my people and we can do this. Have a good one and always hit your target.
I had a chance to play a couple of courses in Ohio over the weekend. My siblings and I flew in to surprise my father for his 60th birthday, so my way of staying out of sight for the few days leading up to the party was to play some golf.
The first track I tackled was a great course in Pickerington, OH called Turnberry Golf Course. I almost didn't play because the day started out with rain. I wanted to play in the morning because the party was at night and I did not want to be rushed. Around noon I decided to get out there figuring that it would not be busy due to the weather. I was glad I decided to play.
The course was in great condition despite the steady drizzle which remained for the entire round. This course demands an accurate drive off of every tee. A lot of the fairways are narrow, some with over hanging trees just off the tee boxes which force you to play a draw or a fade to keep it out of the branches. A nice(or not so nice) touch were the mounds of fescue grass that were strategically placed on different locations of the course. It almost gave it a links style feel while retaining the features of more traditional courses. I managed to stay out of them, but a ball hit into this "rough" would most certainly be lost. The following day I played Sharon Woods Golf Course which is a part of the Hamilton County Park District in Cincinnati, OH. This course was a lot different from the courses I am used to playing in South Florida. The main difference was the severe elevation changes. Good course management is a must on this style of course. There were many times I would hit great shots only to discover that my next shot was in the fairway but on a steep uphill or downhill lie. Now I truly understand why the pros and their caddies really pay attention to every detail of a course. Laying up to the proper place on a hole makes all the differences if you want to score low.
This week I will be working on hitting shots from and uphill lie. I faced a few shots that I had no idea how to play simply because I had never been in that position before. All of the top players practice trouble shots. They put themselves in difficult spots so that when it happens during a round they are prepared because they have "been there and done that."
It's time to start practicing a variety of shots from a variety of lies. Phil Mickelson pulled off one of the greatest shots in Masters history from the woods this past April. I can almost guarantee that at some point he had practiced that or a similar type shot before.
Practice the conventional as well as the unconventional. Preparation and knowledge in all areas breeds success. Have a good one and always hit your target.
I'm just trying to get better at the game I love. This blog is kind of a journal of my progress. I will share all the tips, drills, exercises, and experiences that I am using to improve. Hopefully they will help you too.
Golf Tips & Quips does not claim credit for any images featured unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyright to its respectful owners. In no way are we responsible for, or have control over, the content of any external web site links. Information here may contain errors or inaccuracies; proprietors do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images, or are depicted thereof, and do not wish to appear here, please contact us for prompt removal. Oh, and if there is a link to Amazon or to another company it is probably an affiliate link. I do stand by the products I review and promote and do so honestly.
Posts
