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A substantial subsection of the golf canon is devoted to romanticizing Ben Hogan and his technique. And that includes his grip, which is shown in the photograph shown above for Life Magazine in 1947—before he weakened it to stop hooking and went on to dominate golf through the mid-1950s.
The first major championship to be contested in 2020, the PGA Championship, will be played at San Francisco’s Harding Park but without spectators.
The PGA of America announced the decision on Monday after spending months considering other scenarios, including moving the tournament to another venue such as Valhalla in Kentucky or Quail Hollow in North Carolina. It was also waiting on state health officials, who determined the event could go on but without fans.
The organization decided to stick with its original site for the rescheduled tournament to be played Aug. 6-9. The PGA had been originally scheduled for May 14-17 but was rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a tough realization. You just three-putted the 18th to close your round, and your scorecard suggests maybe you should have just stayed home and mowed the lawn.
And while you spend most of the 19th hole explaining to your buddies where and how your round went so terribly wrong, the truth is it didn’t happen with your three OB drives, two shanks or dreaded four-putt. Your round likely went south before you even teed off on the opening hole.
Here are 11 ways you can ruin your round before it even starts. Avoid these and maybe you’ll start finding more circles on your scorecard.
This is the biggest no-no. When you are late, everything is rushed — check in, driving range, putting practice (if you even have time for that). The round starts well before you hit your first tee shot. So don’t be late!
Late night working or watching Netflix? Arriving to the course groggy will make your game sluggish, too. Speaking of not getting enough sleep…
It happens to the best of ’em, but aching after a bachelor party or night out on the town isn’t going to improve your contact. It also might make the day pretty miserable overall.
Think of your time at the course prior to your tee time as an extension of your round. You think Tiger and Brooks and Dustin and the fellas just show up and practice without a plan? Know how long you want to hit range balls for (and which clubs), and give yourself the time you need to stretch or putt or get your bag and gear ready. Give yourself minimums for each so you can check them all off, but leave some extra time to play with in case something like, say, your putting stroke, needs a few extra reps.
By all means, head to GOLF.com and steal a swing thought or work on that tip your local pro has helped you with, but don’t overthink it. Too many thoughts are not good for the average golfer. Keep it simple, focus on one key element and go from there.
Wow, that’s awesome watching you scare the range netting with your 14th straight blast with the Big Dog, but you’re still only hitting that club maybe 15 times, max, when you get to the course. Mix in a couple of wedges, will ya? You might need them.
You never want to three-putt, and one of the best ways to avoid this is improve your lag putting. This doesn’t mean launching a dozen 90-footers aimlessly across the putting green, but you could benefit from rolling two or three 30-footers, just to get a nice feel for the speed of the greens. More often than not they’ll roll at a similar speed once you get on the course.
Lag putting is key, but so is canning the putts that will make or break your round. Those putts are the ones right outside gimme range but inside about 8 feet. It’s the distance where you stand over a putt and aren’t intimidated by the look, and it’s close enough where if you miss you’d be annoyed. Putts from 4-8 feet are crucial, but not that easy to make. Ian Poulter leads the PGA Tour in conversation rate from 4-8 feet at 86 percent, but only 14 players on Tour make 3/4s of those putts. The worst player in that category, Paul Casey, makes 1/2 from the range. So focus on that tricky distance. Once you see one drop the hole will start to look bigger, and a strong putting day from that range — like making 7 of 12 instead of 2 of 12 — can shave five strokes in a heartbeat.
Plan ahead! Grab a bottle of water. Eat at home, on the go or make sure you have enough time when you get to the course. But don’t jeopardize a promising round due to a lack of food fuel. (Here are some ideas for what to pack in your bag.)
You may think you did everything right to get ready for a course you’ve never seen — hit balls, roll putts, etc. — but did you know the first four holes have tight fairways and doglegs and your best bet might be hitting a hybrid? Now you probably wish you would have striped that 17-degree more than twice on the range, huh?
Stop worrying so much about your foursome’s betting game, what tees you are playing or that epic playlist you’ve been cooking up since the car ride over. Put the phone away and check out Twitter later or respond to that work email when you get home. None of it’s going anywhere. And plus, making sure your game is ready for a par-birdie-par start is way more important.
SOURCE: golf.com
One all-time champion pauses to recognize the incredible courage in another.
SOURCE: golfdigest.com
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Join Our PGA Jr. League Team!
Parents and families,
We’re excited to offer PGA Jr. League this season! You can sign up now for the PGA Jr. League at Timber Banks GC & Marina. Register early as we have limited spots available.
You and your kids will share in this awesome opportunity to learn and play golf in a relaxed team environment. PGA Jr. League is all about fun!
The program fee for the PGA Jr. League at Timber Banks is $300. Each PGA Jr. League golfer will receive:
Two high-quality team jerseys; one orange and one blue (for home and away games). Jerseys are available in boys and girls sizes and customizable with our team name and player’s chosen jersey number!
Hat (new design), bag tag (new design), silicone bracelet (new), stickers and drawstring bag (new color)
At least 6 team practices
4-6 matches
If you have any questions, please contact Brittany Siechen, PGA Associate, at bsiechen@gmail.com or 315-657-8383. You can also visit PGAJrLeague.com and follow @pgajrleague on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more.
Register by May 15th
We look forward to a fun PGA Jr. League
season at Timber Banks!
Editor’s Note: Baden Schaff has been a PGA teaching professional for 17 years and is the co-founder of Skillest, a digital platform that connects golf students with golf coaches across the world for online lessons. To learn more about Skillest and to book a lesson of your own with Baden or with Andreas Kali.
The grip causes eternal fascination for golfers. It’s often the first thing I get asked during a lesson. Why is it that the aspect of the swing that creates the most intrigue has nothing to do with the swing itself?
The commonly rolled out line is “because it’s the only part of the body that is connected to the club”. This might well be true, but I think it’s more likely because it’s the only part of the golf swing you can see without videoing it. Your grip is staring you in the face every time you look down at that ball. But why, then, do students still have so much trouble getting it right?
Because they try and fix it in isolation.
Whenever I see a tip regarding the grip it is always a close up of how the two hands are sitting on the club, cut off above the wrists. But what if there is something else at play? What if your grip was influenced by more than just the way your hands are holding the club. Well, there is and it’s got everything to do with your body posture and the way your arms hang at setup. Trying to get your grip right without getting your set up right will drive you mad.
Let’s look at two of the best players in the world. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau. Dustin has an incredibly strong grip and subsequently shuts the club on the takeaway. Bryson on the other hand is the opposite. He has an incredibly weak grip, particularly evident in the left hand, and has a much more neutral face during the golf swing.
Now are these two grips diametrically opposed because they just hold it differently? No, it’s also because DJ generally starts with the body more over the ball and an almost straight down arm hang. This creates more “radial deviation” and gives the left wrist an exaggerated “extension” or cupping. This is what makes it look so strong.
Bryson is the exact opposite. He plays golf with a more upright posture and has much higher hands, almost like the heel of his club is off the ground. This is why Bryson has his clubs lie angles so upright. This setup creates ulnar deviation and less extension in the left wrist and gives it a look of being incredibly weak. It’s not so much the way their hands sit on the club as much as their posture and their arm hang. This is why you can get your grip looking perfect when you hold the club up in front of you but looks completely wrong when the club is down at address.
Grips cannot be fixed in isolation, they are part of a much broader picture.
A great way to test this for yourself is by taking your usual set up. Then, if you want to see your grip weaken without moving your hands on the club, stand slightly closer to the ball, raise your hands so that it feels like the heel of the club is off the ground, just like Bryson.
If you want to see your grip strengthen, push your hands towards the ground and watch the toe of the club come off the ground. You will notice that your left wrist will cup or extend more making it look stronger. When it is set like DJ you will notice that you can see three of four knuckles while setting up like Bryson will show you only one or two knuckles.
Personally, I prefer Bryson’s style, but let’s not detract from the larger point: Your grip can be changed and influenced without ever moving the hands on the club, because it’s affected by your body position. Like always, any change to your swing must be made with a broader context in mind. Nothing ever works independently. Your challenge is finding a coach that understands cause and effect well enough to work with your motion as a whole.
SOURCE: Golf.com
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Timber Banks Golf Club
3536 Timber Banks Parkway
Baldwinsville, NY 13027