tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3940795358682653412024-03-13T22:10:42.228-07:00Top Hand GolfLessons learned about Golf and Life. Stories and suggestions on how to improve and better enjoy the great game of golf.John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.comBlogger735125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-72122320197860285032019-09-17T09:37:00.001-07:002019-09-17T10:01:09.702-07:00StrugglesThere are a lot of promises made by unscrupulous and dishonest golf teachers and club manufacturers. If you were to believe the hype, you could find yourself very disappointed by the fact that the new club didn't have you hitting it thirty yards farther off the tee, or dead straight every time; or buying that video didn't make you capable of never slicing. Golf isn't like that. If it sounds too good to be true, it's because it is.<div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones was the greatest player of his generation--and perhaps of all time. And he had some really valuable observations and advice for all golfers. He saw no virtue in trying to develop the mythical repeating golf swing because he knew it didn't exist. He didn't believe in golfers trying to break the golf swing down, or trying to swing the club according to Hoyle because he knew the secret was in the strike--not the swing.</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones understood that golf was a game of struggles. He understood that champions were champions because of their ability to deal with the inevitable struggles that every round brought. He believed in being determined, and resourceful, in dealing with troubles, and said he won championships because he tried harder and was wiling to take more punishment than his opponents--not because he had managed to groove the perfect swing.</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby finally learned, still as a young man, that perfection simply wasn't attainable in golf. You simply will never hit it dead solid perfect every time no matter what equipment you buy, or how long you labour on the practice tee. He said that he played his best no more than six times a year; and in those best rounds he would hit no more than six shots--other than putts--exactly as planned. And he was the greatest player of his time. </div><div><br></div><div>If we believe Bobby Jones--and we should--we should accept and be prepared for trouble in every round; and we should not be disappointed on the days when we have more trouble than normal. With that mindset, coupled with the resolve to never give up, we can be the best golfer we can be. Or, we can buy the latest club, or video, that promises us the world. It's really up to us.</div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-37523732227841286812019-07-14T13:15:00.001-07:002019-08-16T22:38:52.792-07:00Dead AimI haven't been writing for some time now because my game has been in the doldrums. When you can't score, you tend to feel like you're in no position to suggest to others what they should be doing on the golf course, even if the advice you're giving comes from golf's greatest players.<div><br></div><div>But recently Steve and I rediscovered the one thing every golfer must do to play their best golf. Harvey Penick had perhaps the best advice you can give to any golfer. He said we must "take dead aim." Golf is a target game. And the best golfers are able to choose, and then commit to hitting, a specific target. That target may not necessarily be the pin, or the exact centre of the fairway, but it is a specific target.</div><div><br></div><div>Too many golfers stand on the tee and just try to hit the fairway. The fact is that a thirty yard fairway is simply not a specific enough target to enable you to take dead aim and for your mind body to perform at its best. It would be like playing darts and just trying to hit the board instead of the bullseye. Your target needs to be something small, like the white 150 yard marker in the middle of the fairway. When hitting into the green, the target might not necessarily be the flagstick. But it can't be vague enough to be just hitting the green.</div><div><br></div><div>Of course, taking dead aim means identifying your target, properly aiming your clubface at that target and then making a swing with direct intention of hitting the ball to that target. And while that may sound obvious, it is amazing how often we don't do it. When I think of taking dead aim, I can't think of a better example than Jack Nicklaus and the obvious care he took to aim at his target. Jack said that most shots were missed before the club was even taken back, emphasizing the need for setting up to hit your target and having the correct mental attitude.</div><div><br></div><div>After another frustrating round today, I realized that I had been caught up in thinking about my golf swing instead of taking dead aim. When I mentioned it to Steve, who was also struggling, he realized he was doing the same thing. We played the last few holes telling eachother what our target was. We didn't always hit it. But we both played better. In fact, I finished with back to back birdies.</div><div><br></div><div>The time to think about your swing is on the practice range. When you hit the links, it's time to take dead aim. That's the way to play golf.</div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-5507701446230914132018-12-25T19:25:00.001-08:002019-03-01T09:55:57.578-08:00Teach Golf as it is LearnedSo many golfers, myself included, spend an inordinate amount of their time focussing on their swing. This search for mechanical excellence never seems to end for many of us when it is quite possible that many of us would be better off learning to play with what we have. <div><br></div><div>In his book, Golf is my Game, Bobby Jones wrote about the state of the game in his day. About teaching, he wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "It seems obvious to me that writing about the golf swing has become too technical and complicated, and even the most earnest teaching professional presents the game to his pupil as a far more difficult thing than it really is. It is equally obvious that what the game needs most if it is to grow in popularity is a simplification of teaching routines which will present a less formidable aspect to the beginner, and offer the average player a rosier prospect of improvement.</div><div> The trouble could be, and I think it is, that golf is not taught as it is learned. It is taught more as a science or as a prescribed set of calisthenic exercises, whereas it is learned as a game."</div><div><br></div><div>Today, we still see the vast majority of teachers focussing on helping golfers improve their golf swing, as though this was the way for them to improve as players. To some extent, I suppose, they are giving golfers what they think they want or need; namely a path to a sound, conventional golf swing. And Bobby said he would never discourage anyone from pursuing that goal with a qualified teacher.</div><div><br></div><div>There is, however, often a problem with this approach--this swing focussed approach to learning golf. Bobby Jones wrote: </div><div><br></div><div> "It is folly for either teacher or pupil to expect that any swing can be perfected in an afternoon, a week, or even a season. It is significant that Stewart (Stewart Maiden, Bobby's teacher) did not try to fill my head with theories. He merely put me in a position to hit the ball and then told me to go on and hit it."</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones believed that you learned to play golf by playing it. Sounds obvious, but if we examine what is happening today, we might wonder. Bobby wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "I have always said that I won more golf tournaments because I tried harder than anyone else and was willing to take more punishment than the others. More immodestly, I will say now that I think a large factor in my winning was a greater resourcefulness in coping with unusual situations and in recovering from or retrieving mistakes."</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby credited his success to his ability to play the game, not on a perfect, repeating golf swing--something he believed was impossible to obtain. And I think teachers who really want to see their students improve would do well to emphasize the playing of the game over the swinging of the club. At every level we see golfers with unorthodox swings beating golfers with textbook swings. Why? Because they play the game better.</div><div><br></div><div>While I am not a teacher, I have seen players I've attempted to help make improvements in their game by working, not on their swings, but on course management, learning to play bunker shots, and choosing the right clubs and shots when they find themselves in trouble, or when they are around the green. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Golf is a game. It is best learned, as Bobby Jones said, by playing it.</span></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k9AOdwEw72Y/XCfEUXfzP4I/AAAAAAAAHdc/8EWGsL-5quYphQ1DQXunmLX7QtWXVURBACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--837171677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k9AOdwEw72Y/XCfEUXfzP4I/AAAAAAAAHdc/8EWGsL-5quYphQ1DQXunmLX7QtWXVURBACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--837171677.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-17935785926360626592018-11-28T23:17:00.001-08:002019-05-03T15:46:49.664-07:00No Grousing RuleDo you grouse? I know I do. I hit shots, and even before they've stopped rolling, I'm moaning that I pushed it, or hit it fat, or didn't hit it. And sometimes those shots that I've "groused" about turn out just fine. It's a bad habit that is no doubt annoying to anyone forced to listen to my complaining.<div><br></div><div>Today I played at English Turn in New Orleans with David. I asked him to join me as we were both singles. On one hole, I hit a ten-foot birdie putt and immediately moaned that I hadn't hit it. Sure enough, the putt just made it to the hole and dropped in. </div><div><br></div><div>David said: "You owe me two bucks for grousing."</div><div><br></div><div>He explained that this is a rule with the guys he plays with back in Detroit. You owe each guy in your group a dollar if you grouse and the shot turns out okay. If it turns out really good, it's two bucks. I think it's a heckuva good rule. And it would soon teach me to keep my grousing to myself.</div><div><br></div><div>We had a great day on the course. After starting the day with a chip in for birdie on the first hole, David capped it off by making a great birdie on the 476 yard par four 18th--bookend birdies. His second shot on 18 from 208 yards into a pretty stiff breeze ended up about five feet from the pin. The guy can really play. As for me, I did manage to play the back nine in even par for a 77. But I played from the whites. David played from the tips.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm planning on instituting the grousing rule next year when I tee it up with my buddies back home. Hopefully it will motivate me to keep my moaning to myself.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TCq9DrIkpAE/XAADLqNtovI/AAAAAAAAHc8/vVNXN9vRCSsRX2gma-ZP7TZ4YoYmqp2OwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-178193781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TCq9DrIkpAE/XAADLqNtovI/AAAAAAAAHc8/vVNXN9vRCSsRX2gma-ZP7TZ4YoYmqp2OwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-178193781.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-84300681463004099882018-11-24T07:08:00.001-08:002019-08-16T22:37:53.454-07:00Hyde Park Golf ClubI must admit that I'm a Donald Ross fan. I love his golf courses whether they beat me up or not. This trip to Florida I've made my usual stops at the Ross munis in Palatka and New Smyrna. I wanted to play the Bacon Park course in Savannah as well, but they had a tournament scheduled for the day we headed to St Augustine from Murrells Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach, so I had to just drive right by.<div><br></div><div>Of course, a lot of Ross courses are private. So, unless I'm prepared to drive to them and try to ingratiate myself with a member and get an invite to play, I'm pretty much out of luck. Them's the hazards of not being a man of means. But I discovered another Ross muni in Jacksonville, called Hyde Park, and Marvin and I played it the other day with two of his buddies, Elder and Mike.</div><div><br></div><div>The day was about as perfect as it could be. Around seventy two degrees, with just enough breeze to keep me from sweating too much and to make the southern boys think about putting on a jacket. Mike and Elder played the senior tees, but I decided to play with Marvin from the whites at sixty one hundred and change. Sixty one hundred doesn't sound like much, but it's plenty for an old cripple like me when it's a Ross design. </div><div><br></div><div>Since I only drive it about two hundred yards these days, I was approaching most greens from around 150, which generally means I'm using my, usually trusty, five hybrid. But on this day my hybrid was not cooperating. A hook into the trees on the first hole led to a disgraceful seven, thanks to a fatted pitch and three whacking it on the green.</div><div><br></div><div>To make a long story short, I shot 43 on the front and, after a string of bogeys, 42 on the back. It wasn't pretty, but I did cap it off with a nice 4 hybrid shot to about five feet on the last hole that I managed to covert for my only birdie. As for Marvin and the lads, they got a little more bang for their buck. Marvin was 97, Mike was 102, and Elder was around 107. But we had a helluva good time. It was my first time playing with Elder and he was a lot of fun. </div><div><br></div><div>I can't wait to play Hyde Park again. It's got some terrific holes and it's my kind of place. I'm really a muni kind of guy. For now, though, it's off to the Gulf Shores, AL; and a week in New Orleans.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-APcudPavWlE/W_lpXAu_1CI/AAAAAAAAHcU/pmR4JbZYoXcunL4mTsIJcoO78jvAuF_pgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--774316165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-APcudPavWlE/W_lpXAu_1CI/AAAAAAAAHcU/pmR4JbZYoXcunL4mTsIJcoO78jvAuF_pgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--774316165.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-81692427857559605592018-11-20T09:14:00.001-08:002018-11-22T11:23:37.323-08:00Coming Home in the Dark at St John's Golf and Country ClubMy buddy, Marvin, and I played St John's Golf and Country Club between Jacksonville and St Augustine yesterday. We've played the course before and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff are friendly and accommodating. The course is well-designed and very "playable", with enough room off the tee, enough water, bunkers, and trees to make you think, greens mostly open on the front to allow you to run it up, and fast greens that can initially be a shock to your system depending upon where you normally play. (I four-putted the first hole.)<div><br></div><div>We had a 2:20 tee time, so beating the darkness was always going to be a challenge at this time of the year. The starter was good enough to get us off a little early by pairing us up with Randy and another Marvin, two brothers from Jacksonville. And it was quickly apparent that these two brothers, though grizzled veterans like us, could really play. They were not just pretty faces.</div><div><br></div><div>Suffice it to say, we had a grand time, making a few birdies and a few "others." But, as we feared, we ended up finishing in almost complete darkness. The strange thing was we played really well in the gloom. On the last hole we drove into total darkness, found our balls and the three of us--my man, Marvin had quit because he was freezing--hit our second shots to a green we couldn't see. Marvin suggested I aim at the left edge of a back bunker and gave me the yardage. My buddy, Marvin, used his phone to illuminate my ball and I flushed one into the dark. Randy said he flushed his as well. Marvin had made no comment on his, so we had no idea whether it was a good one or a stinker.</div><div><br></div><div>Upon arriving at the last green, we found all three of us on the dancefloor. Marvin was about twelve feet from the hole, slightly long and right of the pin. Randy was about four feet left of the pin, and I was three feet past the pin, directly behind the hole. I could have holed it for the same money. Just goes to show you that playing in the daylight might be slightly over-rated. Still, St John's is best enjoyed in the light of day.</div><div><br></div><div>We exchanged numbers and will hopefully get to play again sometime this winter. Those brothers were not only pretty damned good players, they were good company.</div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Il7mxh0EyxA/W_cCNwIX3jI/AAAAAAAAHcE/guqyVduZw6c-wmGIErBIZtipCasc4UL2ACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--597728286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Il7mxh0EyxA/W_cCNwIX3jI/AAAAAAAAHcE/guqyVduZw6c-wmGIErBIZtipCasc4UL2ACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--597728286.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-22212075415257809242018-11-07T08:06:00.001-08:002018-11-07T08:08:42.726-08:00The Golfer's MindGolf is a game of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. There is an ideal attitude for a golfer. Bobby Jones wrote about this. He wrote that a golfer must be prepared for the making of mistakes. Not only that, but a golfer must not be discouraged on the days when he makes more of them than usual.<div><br></div><div>When you are hitting it solid--and the putts are dropping--golf can seem almost easy. But, inevitably in this game, the wheels will start to come off. It happens to the best players. What defines the best golfers is how they react when this happens. The best golfers refuse to become discouraged; and they refuse to give up.</div><div><br></div><div>I've played a couple of rounds with my friend, Charlie, and his wife, Kathy, from Toronto. We are down in South Carolina, escaping the crappy weather in Canada. Riding with Charlie, we've discussed this attitude that is so important for golfers--this acceptance of bad shots and the refusal to give up. Charlie admits that he does not possess what he calls "the golfers mind." He is more apt to become frazzled after a poor shot, and, in that state of mind, often allows one bad shot to beget another.</div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday, playing the River Club, I went out in 39, which was okay given that I putted poorly. But, at the turn--which in our case was the first hole--the wheels suddenly came off. I couldn't find the center of the clubface and I couldn't chip and putt worth a damn. After four holes, I had dropped six shots to par. Charlie was having his own struggles as well.</div><div><br></div><div>I said to Charlie, after finally making a par on five, that we should try to play the rest of the holes in even par. Charlie just smiled, not convinced that such a thing was likely, or even possible. I made pars at six and seven--only by virtue of some scrambling. On eight, a nice par three over water, I failed to get it up and down for par from the front edge and needed birdie on the last to reach my goal of finishing the last five in even par.</div><div><br></div><div>Rather than become discouraged after missing an easy up and down, I announced that I was going to finish with a birdie. I hit a good drive, but thinned my approach into the front bunker. Now, I had to hole quite a lengthy bunker shot to make good on my promise. I focussed as hard as I could and struck the sand perfectly. I watched in amazement as the ball rolled right into the middle of the hole, not even touching the flagstick.</div><div><br></div><div>As crippled as I've become, my game is not likely to do anything but get worse. I can't change that. But at least I can keep working on developing that "golfer's mind" that is so important. It's amazing what you can overcome if you don't give in to discouragement, and refuse to quit.</div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-19240235889370838912018-10-25T19:49:00.001-07:002018-10-25T20:10:35.068-07:00The People You MeetOne of the great things about golf is the people you meet. The game is all-consuming when you are playing it; so, for four hours or so, you can forget your troubles and just worry about making the damned ball behave. You are generally playing in pleasant surroundings, with birds and various critters sharing the park-like setting with you. But it's the people you meet in your golf travels that really makes it special.<div><br></div><div>This week I arrived in Murrells Inlet, SC and, as a single, was lucky enough to be paired up with Richie and his nephew, Henry, at Indian Wells; and with Mike, from Cornwall, Ontario, at Wachesaw Plantation East. </div><div><br></div><div>Richie is 81 and claims he played at a six when he kept a handicap. He drove it by me all day and had all the shots, and confessed that he made a lot of money playing as a six. I know I wouldn't have wanted any of his action. Henry struggled a little with his game, but was also great company on the course.</div><div><br></div><div>Mike is a five and, at 62, still bombs it. We played the senior tees and he generally had little more than a flip wedge to the par fours. The first time we played at Wachesaw he shot 73 with a double on the last hole. I shot 43 on the first nine, so my 35 coming in did little to prevent me from being thoroughly whipped.</div><div><br></div><div>Today I managed to arrange a skins game with Richie and Mike. Henry had to leave for Virginia. Richie and I played the senior tees at just shy of 6000 yards, while Mike had to play the whites at 6300. After nine holes, we each had one skin. Mike and I won ours with birdies, while Richie won his with a par on the tricky third. Richie went out in 39. Mike and I were one shot better.</div><div><br></div><div>Mike announced on ten tee that it was now "game on," and wasted no time in winning another skin with an impressive birdie from the right trees. I birdied 12 and 14 for two skins. Mike made par on 15 for a skin after Richie and I failed to get it up and down from the apron. I won another skin on 16 with a par and headed to 18 with a one skin lead. </div><div><br></div><div>Eighteen at Wachesaw is rated as the second or third toughest finishing hole on the Myrtle Beach grand strand. It's a beast. But as luck would have it the senior tees were about fifty yards ahead of the whites today. Mike hit a perfect drive, right in the middle of the fairway, that, unfortunately for him, had about two yards of roll. He was left with about 160 yards into the wind. Richie and I hit good drives leaving me about 120 yards and Richies about ten yards less. </div><div><br></div><div>Mike hit a solid shot that didn't draw for him, leaving him about 30 feet for birdie. I hit a punched 8 iron to about 20 feet, and Richie hit it onto the back apron after the wind layed down on him. When they both missed, all I needed was a solid two putt for the win. However, there is nothing worse than needing a two putt on the last to win, unless it's needing a one putt from thirty feet, downhill</div><div> and breaking left to right. Anyway, I stood over the putt and announced to the boys that I just needed to hit a solid putt. Sure enough, it went straight in the hole for birdie. </div><div><br></div><div>I never birdie 18. Oh, I birdied it once by chipping one in, but birdies are few and far between on that hole. It was a great day with two really nice guys and two pretty damned good players. Mike shot 75 and hit the pin twice without the ball going in. Richie shot 79, breaking his age again. Something that was obviously no big deal to him, given how solid a player he is.</div><div><br></div><div>I managed a 73. I've shot 73 at Wachesaw atleast half a dozen times. But I can never seem to shoot par on this track. We're scheduled to play again tomorrow if the weatherman is wrong about the projected thunder storms. The great thing about golf is the people you meet.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dzIuPPAgdEc/W9KFoMECxdI/AAAAAAAAHbQ/1yOAtAcjIgkG9i4uPnIBw_tMflRuLLRbwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1115750852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dzIuPPAgdEc/W9KFoMECxdI/AAAAAAAAHbQ/1yOAtAcjIgkG9i4uPnIBw_tMflRuLLRbwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1115750852.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XbQ_LLdMEKo/W9KFqX6TSsI/AAAAAAAAHbU/u0K-8G_RYEQkQDDp18mEB4W60cwx8avhwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1173388119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XbQ_LLdMEKo/W9KFqX6TSsI/AAAAAAAAHbU/u0K-8G_RYEQkQDDp18mEB4W60cwx8avhwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1173388119.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xPyKhKRBjxQ/W9KFmWJyakI/AAAAAAAAHbM/duzzGTKavPIzfn4v3lYVtsiQZTmgsNtRQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-740032793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xPyKhKRBjxQ/W9KFmWJyakI/AAAAAAAAHbM/duzzGTKavPIzfn4v3lYVtsiQZTmgsNtRQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-740032793.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-91996431191163399492018-10-21T07:54:00.001-07:002018-10-25T20:59:08.923-07:00It's Still All About How ManyAt our course, we don't really have a driving range. We have a tee box where you can hit as much as a seven or eight iron to some patchy ground with a couple of markers; but that's pretty much it. We have a small practice green where it's hard to find anything close to a straight putt. But at least you have a view of the lake.<div><br></div><div>Ours is not really a club for those who love to practise. We all generally head from the car to the first tee wondering what we've brought that day. We might hit a few practice putts, and maybe even a few chips, prior to teeing off. But that's about it. Funny, when we go elsewhere to play, or compete, we often have the opportunity to hit balls first. But I'm not sure it helps an old cripple like me. I'm usually aching before I tee off if I do. So I prefer to just focus on trying to find the best way I can to get the damned ball in the hole.</div><div><br></div><div>I just arrived in Murrells Inlet last night. Bright and early this morning, I was on the porch enjoying a coffee and my pipe, and watching two guys get ready to play. My porch overlooks the practice tee and the practice putting green at Wachesaw East. It's a really good course that hosted an LPGA event for a number of years. </div><div><br></div><div>One of the guys headed to the practice tee and hit one shot after another, with barely a pause before raking another ball over and whacking it. He was done in about seven minutes and announced to the other guy, who was on the putting green, that he hadn't hit one decent shot. </div><div><br></div><div>The other guy had started putting four footers; making the lion's share of them. Then he practised hitting lag putts; putting them all out. And finally he hit some chips and pitches before heading to the first tee. It looked to me like he had a really decent short game. And he seemed calm and ready to play.</div><div><br></div><div>I don't know about you; but I'd have been willing to put a fairly substantial wager on the guy with the short game. But, who knows, maybe the rapid-fire guy can putt like a demon. In the end, it really is all about who can get it in the hole in the fewest number of strokes.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0AZlSl_fhUA/W9KRCvgvbMI/AAAAAAAAHbo/Q4o56TjuPe8KJmS3yoPckXHyEFLMC0QbACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-524676467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0AZlSl_fhUA/W9KRCvgvbMI/AAAAAAAAHbo/Q4o56TjuPe8KJmS3yoPckXHyEFLMC0QbACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-524676467.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-58427959572980570762018-10-18T06:49:00.001-07:002018-11-28T23:18:06.431-08:00Old Age and TreacheryGolf is becoming a challenge for me. Actually, I guess I should say it's becoming more of a challenge for me. I began the season as a three handicapper, crippled with a bad back. I'm now an eight. The game is tough.<div><br></div><div>But the other day I played a match with Levi. I was giving him the gears about how he must be so discouraged, being two down after ten to an old cripple. Levi responded by winning twelve, fifteen, and sixteen, to go one up. Suddenly, I wasn't quite so cocky.</div><div><br></div><div>On seventeen, we both missed our drives left. Levi was in jail in the trees. I was in the rough and blocked by the trees on the corner. To hit the green, I needed to play a thirty yard hook with a five hybrid out of thick rough. Somehow, I pulled it off and found my ball on the front edge of the green about twenty feet from the hole. Meanwhile, Levi had to pitch out and missed the green with his third. Two putts for par and I was back to all square.</div><div><br></div><div>Levi and I made par threes on 18 and decided to go extra holes. We both hit it over the back into thick rough on 18. We then both chunked our chips. Levi played his third about six feet past the pin, and I stood over my chip and told Levi I was going to make it. Sure enough, I did--not the first time I've managed to do that to Levi.</div><div><br></div><div>Golf is becoming increasingly difficult for me with this damned back. Most of the guys I play with, including Levi, drive it forty yards past me. I'm hitting hybrids where they are hitting nine irons and wedges. But I still absolutely love this game. And sometimes old age and treachery can beat youth and skill. Not always, but sometimes it can. Sorry, Levi.</div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-35648901010426248982018-09-07T06:14:00.001-07:002018-09-07T06:49:20.105-07:00The Secret's in the StrikeThis new kid, Bryson DeChambeau is really making some noise lately. Have you checked out his swing? Not what one might call pretty, but definitely effective. One wonders, if he starts winning Majors whether other golfers will start trying to imitate his swing.<div><br></div><div>Golfers often seem obsessed with the golf swing. I know that I've tried more than a few different swings in my day. I saw a cartoon recently showing a student taking a swing under the watchful eye of a teacher and missing the ball. The instructor said something to the effect, "Great swing, but you missed the ball." The sad truth about golf is, that despite the emphasis by most golfers on the golf swing, the secret is really in the strike. The sweetest swing in the world isn't worth a damn if it doesn't produce a solid strike.<div><br></div><div>The fact is, you can swing the club in many different ways and, if the strike is right, a good shot will result. Bobby Jones wrote that, when playing golf, he intensely concentrated on the strike. He let his swing just happen. I have experienced myself that when I am able to focus on how I want to strike the ball, instead of how I think I should swing the club, my shotmaking dramatically improves. </div><div><br></div><div>I've seen this with other golfers over the years. In fact, I've seen this to the point that I try not to make any suggestions about the swing, except that it be rhythmic. But I constantly refer to the strike. I don't even watch another golfer's swing. I just focus on their strike. Bobby Jones wrote that he learned different shots by watching other players. But when watching them, he said he took no notice of how they swung the club. He learned to make those shots by observing how they struck the ball.</div><div><br></div><div>There are more than a few great players who had what might be termed unorthodox swings; swings that didn't conform to the ideal swing--if there actually is one. No one, for instance, would likely teach a beginner to swing like Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, or Raymond Floyd. And, though some try to teach Moe Norman's swing, Moe himself said he wouldn't recommend anyone copy his swing. And yet, what wouldn't you give to be able to strike the ball as they did?</div><div><br></div><div>The secret is in the strike. And golfers are more capable than they think of producing a good strike, if only they would come to understand how the ball needs to be struck to produce the various shots in golf. Bobby Jones said that a golfer could literally change their game overnight by gaining this information about the strike, which is covered in my featured article, entitled The Wisdom of Bobby Jones: Striking the Ball.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8mtTsZL5QdM/W5J9jrMJIjI/AAAAAAAAHWc/S3HStn5clc8JQ0va7O9CrhWDJ_sk74ZAACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--361196561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8mtTsZL5QdM/W5J9jrMJIjI/AAAAAAAAHWc/S3HStn5clc8JQ0va7O9CrhWDJ_sk74ZAACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--361196561.jpg"></a></div></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VWKww27sa7I/W5KB3jlTNaI/AAAAAAAAHWo/oafPfmJYu5IVBwaoVoTfTJdRIJWTyvyXwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--679371006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VWKww27sa7I/W5KB3jlTNaI/AAAAAAAAHWo/oafPfmJYu5IVBwaoVoTfTJdRIJWTyvyXwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--679371006.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-87694367632240208752018-08-22T06:57:00.001-07:002018-08-22T06:57:40.118-07:00RoutineRoutine can sometimes kill you. I worked in the Canadian federal penitentiary service for thirty years. Things run a certain way, and except for the occasional flare up, it is often a mundane, mind-numbing job for a guard. Life expectancy for guards is 59. I guess that statistic itself tells the story.<div><br></div><div>But many convicts tend to find a certain comfort in the routine. They get to know the rules of the prison and the convict code, and they get to know their place. My first suicide involved a young inmate who had found himself in trouble. He asked to go to segregation, claiming he needed a transfer to the regional psychiatric centre to get his head straight. He never mentioned any suicidal intent, and we suspected what his problem really was was drug debts.</div><div><br></div><div>In any event we put him in the hole and I happened to be assigned there for the midnight shift on overtime. I spoke to the inmate during the early part of the shift, but he was soon asleep. I went home to my bed. </div><div><br></div><div>The next afternoon I returned for my regular shift to find that this inmate had hung himself that morning at breakfast time. Whether he had actually wanted to die, or was just trying to secure a fast transfer to the psych centre, we'll never know. But it could be that he was killed because of routine.</div><div><br></div><div>When the meal cart arrived at the hole, the routine was for it to go to the far end of the range first. This inmate had spent time before in the hole and anticipated that routine. It seems that when he heard the meal cart arrive, he strung himself up on the bars in his cell at the far end of the range, likely anticipating the cart to arrive momentarily and the staff to cut him down. </div><div><br></div><div>In this case, however, there was a new officer transferred in from Millhaven in charge of the hole. He decided to tell the staff to start feeding from the front end--a departure from the routine. When they finally got to this inmate's cell he was long gone. </div><div><br></div><div>A buddy of mine, who had started in the service at the same time as I did, was working in the hole that morning and told me that as they were wheeling the inmate out a grizzled, old guard muttered: "I wonder if his shoes would fit me." A slice of life in the big house.</div><div><br></div><div>What has this got to do with golf? Perhaps nothing, but there is an emphasis on routine in golf as well as the joint. Golfers are encouraged to develop a pre-shot routine--a sort of ritual they perform prior to hitting a golf shot. This came about from teachers observing good players and noticing that they did pretty much the same thing prior to hitting a shot. Some of those things might be mannerisms, like tugging on a shirt sleeve, or taking a certain nummber of wagglles with the club, prior to making a full swing. But good players tend to follow their own routine, whether they are aware of it or not. So many teachers encourage us all to do it.</div><div><br></div><div>Now you see average players opening and closing the flap on their golf glove prior to the shot, like Ernie Els does, or tugging on their shirt sleeve like Tiger did when he wore those baggy shirts. We see them doing lots of things like a ritual before they play a shot. And sometimes this routine they perform has nothing to do with actually preparing them to hit a shot. Sometimes these rituals are empty and do nothing to actually insure that they have decided on the shot they want to hit, where they want to hit it, or that they are mentally and physically prepared to hit it. In this case, their routine could be killing them--in a manner of speaking.</div><div><br></div><div>Golf is anything but a routine game. Every day is different. So, be careful that you don't get lulled into a routine approch to the game. Treat every shot as a new opportunity. Commit to your shot. Do the best you can. It might just end up being one of the best shots you've ever hit. And, as I write this, I realize that this is something I need to work on as much as the next guy. When you do it, golf can be really fun, not just a good walk spoiled.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2D2l0CKwirQ/W31r0pEEgdI/AAAAAAAAHWA/u4i1f3jQZKgP9zKS5hYLEM_XaPUBMaMAACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1913056596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2D2l0CKwirQ/W31r0pEEgdI/AAAAAAAAHWA/u4i1f3jQZKgP9zKS5hYLEM_XaPUBMaMAACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1913056596.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-40454566320607246332018-07-31T18:00:00.001-07:002018-09-19T05:32:44.258-07:00Got a Coin?Moe Norman was a ball-striking genius. Everyone who saw him hit balls were amazed. His set up, with his feet set wide apart, his extended arms, and his palm grip, generally fooled people into thinking they were watching a twenty handicapper. But when he struck the ball they realized they were witnessing something very special.<div><br></div><div>There are those who have tried to teach what they deem to be Moe's method. And while good results are claimed, no one stands out in the golf world as a disciple of Moe. And, interestingly, Moe never suggested that anyone try to copy his swing. His swing was his own, refined over the years after hitting literally millions of golf balls. </div><div><br></div><div>But Moe demonstrated something for us. It had little to do with his wide stance, or extended arms. But it did have to do with the manner in which he struck the ball. Moe believed his ability to hit laser-like shots, dead straight, time after time, was because he was able to keep his clubface square to the target for so long before and after impact. He practised hitting balls and clipping a coin set as much as sixteen inches past the ball on his target line. Managing to do this eliminated the possibility of him hitting it crooked.</div><div><br></div><div>Another great ballstriker, Byron Nelson, had the clubface square to his target line 12 inches past impact. His secret was thinking about the back of his left hand going to his target. Byron admitted that this swing initially cost him some distance, as it did Moe, but both compensated for that by a incorporating a strong lateral drive with their legs. </div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones believed that it wasn't necessary for the clubface to continue straight down the line for any appreciable distance after impact. And he was right. But he also admitted that he never struck the ball like Byron Nelson either. Bobby did, however, believe that focussing on the strike, rather than the swing, was the key to good golf. So, if you're confused about swing mechanics, or struggling with consistency and accuracy, why not forget about how you are swinging the club and start focussing on how you want the clubface to strike the ball. It can literally change your game overnight.</div><div><br></div><div>If you aren't happy with your ballstriking, maybe try placing a coin on the ground six inches in front of your ball, directly on the target line, and think about clipping it with a square clubface. See what happens. You might just be surprised with the results.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S1b0MyCmeK0/W6JB6VdMQ6I/AAAAAAAAHXI/7AZ_UZeRSVEFVKzuXM5-pCEXuFTiUa8NQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1456986019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S1b0MyCmeK0/W6JB6VdMQ6I/AAAAAAAAHXI/7AZ_UZeRSVEFVKzuXM5-pCEXuFTiUa8NQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1456986019.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-49992678772846774792018-06-11T10:28:00.001-07:002018-06-11T11:23:05.737-07:00Sometimes You Have to ImproviseA good rule in golf is to save your tinkering for the range. But in my case, given my back issues, trips to the range are pretty much nonexistant, as hitting multiple shots in a short period of time leaves me crippled. Besides, my father seems to have passed on the tinkeritis gene to me, so I will likely always be prone to fiddling with my swing, both on and off the course.<div><br></div><div>I've struggled with my game this year. But I've discovered the last few years that my natural swing is the one I use to clip daisies, or the one I make with my eyes closed. It generally works quite well when I use it, instead of the four or five other swings I often resort to trying.</div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday was the Quinte Cup. It's a yearly matchplay event between four clubs in our area that has been held every year since the twenties. I just barely made the team this year, needing a playoff to do it. But the day before I had played using my natural swing and had shot 78. That's not normally a great score for me, but this year so far anything under 80 is good. </div><div><br></div><div>So I set out to play yesterday determined to play with my natural swing. In the current format, we play all three guys at the same time in an 18 hole match. It's not an ideal format for match play. But, as Big Bob always says, it is what it is. Despite my poor play this year I was sent out in the number three spot which had me a bit nervous. I was also pitted against my old nemesis from Napanee, Rick Gerow. And I certainly didn't want to give him the satisfaction of beating me like a drum.</div><div><br></div><div>Well, my natural swing, after nine miserable holes, had me down six, four, and two in my matches. I was seemingly on my way to being skunked. Rick was struggling as well, so he only had me down two. But I was pretty sure Rick figured he had me in the bag, the way I was hacking it around.</div><div><br></div><div>Waiting to tee off on ten I decided that I was either going to have to change things, or accept being humiliated by my poor play and just quit. I know I had resolved to stick with "my swing," but today my swing just wasn't good enough. So I tried to find some sort of action that would keep me in play, and to just find a way to make a score. And I did just that. I chose a shortened swing where I just focussed on having the back of my left hand strike the ball straight down the target line. </div><div><br></div><div>At the end of the day I managed to halve two matches and lost the other. This was not the result I'd hoped for. But, under the circumstances, I was happy that I chose to improvise and to keep fighting hard. As for Rick; he hit his tee shot out of bounds on eighteen and let me halve the match. </div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole. It isn't about making pretty golf swings. I'm sure the swing I used on the front nine looked much better than the abbreviated punch I used on the back nine. But in golf it's only results that matter. I </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">will try to use my natural swing as often as possible. But I learned again yesterday that sometimes you just have to find something--anything--that works. If the game has gone off the rails, what do you have to lose? And again I learned that there is a great deal of virtue in simply refusing to give up. You won't always win. But you'll feel better for having tried as hard as you can.</span></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-61910728684660086462018-05-28T07:51:00.001-07:002018-05-28T07:51:40.190-07:00Golf Rarely Goes as PlannedGolf, like life, seldom goes as planned. All you can really do, in golf as in life, is refuse to give up no matter how miserable it is.<div><br></div><div>I played in the qualifier for our club team yesterday. I didn't have particularly high expectations, since I've struggled mightily with my game this year. But I never expected to putt as abysmally as I did. I hit the ball as well as I've hit it for years, but couldn't buy a putt. I missed at least six putts inside five feet, including a couple of two footers.</div><div><br></div><div>In the end I was tied with Randy for the last spot on the team and we had to play off. Randy had become angry on the fifteenth hole when, after searching in vain for his ball for at least ten minutes, I said we had to move on. I advised him that five minutes was the time allotted by the rules to look for a lost ball and we had well exceeded that. He was furious. But that's the rule.</div><div><br></div><div>As we were about to tee off for the playoff Randy angrily stated that there wouldn't have had to be a playoff if he had found his lost ball. I replied: "Yep. And if your aunt had had nuts she'd have been your uncle." I didn't bother mentioning all the short putts I had missed.</div><div><br></div><div>The first hole is a short dogleg par four. I hit a perfect three wood, leaving myself sixty yards to a front pin. Randy tried to take the Tiger line over the trees to the front edge of the green, managed to clatter through the trees, and had about a forty yard pitch over the pond.</div><div><br></div><div>I hit it to about five feet. Randy hit a pitch just over the pond into the thick grass and his ball somehow bounced through the rough, onto the green to about two feet from the pin. Levi had driven out to watch the playoff, and I had told him I was going to look at the playiff like a new round, forgetting all the lousy putts I'd hit. I assured him I was going to just stand up and knock that putt in, with the expectation that we'd be going to a second playoff hole.</div><div><br></div><div>Sure enough, I stood up and knocked it in the hole. Randy was probably vexed that I was making him putt his two footer, but I'd missed a couple, and he was being a prick, so I made him putt it. Sure enough, Randy lipped it out, banged his ball off the green in disgust, and actually threw his putter at his cart. He drove away without shaking my hand.</div><div><br></div><div>So, the moral of my story is: don't give up, Randy is a dickhead, and, if your aunt had had nuts, she'd have been your uncle. Golf rarely goes as planned. But, if you keep trying, things sometimes work out. And sometimes they won't, but at least you'll have the consolation of knowing you tried your hardest.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G2rJ1cIcetg/WwwXelTAtSI/AAAAAAAAHUo/PEd_tTdPTHAVFhMQWoaEL9YU9MHlMcbtgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-604314781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G2rJ1cIcetg/WwwXelTAtSI/AAAAAAAAHUo/PEd_tTdPTHAVFhMQWoaEL9YU9MHlMcbtgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-604314781.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-67228453136012093422018-05-15T08:16:00.001-07:002018-05-19T14:09:13.989-07:00Try HarderBobby Jones identified these two things that he felt made him able to win championships. In his wonderful book, <i>Golf is my Game</i>, <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Bobby wrote: </span><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> "I have always said that I won golf tournaments because I tried harder than anyone else and was willing to take more punishment than the others." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Sometimes great golfers can make the game look easy. They can appear relaxed and maybe even casual as they go about their business. But the great players all try the hardest. They refuse to give up, or to take shots for granted. They realize that one shot played carelessly can cost them a tournament. </span><div><br></div><div>Now, if I'm being honest, I don't think I've ever played eighteen holes of golf where I gave every shot my full attention. I've come close, but if you've ever tried it, it's hard work to concentrate that hard and maintain your intensity on every shot for 18 holes of golf. And where you tend to have the let-downs are when you have what appears to be a relatively simple shot. It's easy to focus and try hard on the tough shots. So, trying hard is a key element in becoming a good golfer. Golf, as Bobby Jones once pointed out, is not a game to be played impetuously. You've got to try on every shot; whether it's for birdie or double bogey.</div><div><br></div><div>And golf does punish you. The other day I played with Steve, Levi, and Justin. Justin and I were teamed up and I started with three doubles in a row. In fact, I played the first nine holes without making a single par, shooting 49. I cannot remember the last time I shot 49 for nine holes. Needless to say, Justin wasn't overly thrilled to have me as a partner. Not only that, but I had only brought one pain pill which I had taken at the start of the front nine. These days, with my back issues, I tend to require a hydromorphone every six holes to get around without being in agony. </div><div><br></div><div>So, after nine holes I felt well and truly punished. If ever a man felt like quitting it was me. But, as I drove to the eleventh tee after finally making a par on ten, I told Levi that, while I really wanted to just quit, I was going to keep trying. I was bound and determined to just keep on hitting it, no matter what happened, which was Harry Vardon's advice to Bobby Jones--the best advice Bobby felt he'd ever received. Suffice it to say, not giving up worked, and I came home in 37. And, Justin and I actually came back and won the match.</div><div><br></div><div>Golf is a lot like life. You never know what can happen if you just keep trying and refuse to give up. So trying hard and being willing to endure the punishment--the trials and tribulations this game can put you through--is the first key to winning golf. In my next article, I'll write about what Bobby Jones felt was the second key to great golf.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jxGr6etJnfQ/WvsCgk3oCdI/AAAAAAAAHUE/f3Xf1Cw_B14RcXtj65uwNqQ4XXCYVF0wACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--973050276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jxGr6etJnfQ/WvsCgk3oCdI/AAAAAAAAHUE/f3Xf1Cw_B14RcXtj65uwNqQ4XXCYVF0wACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--973050276.jpg"></a></div></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-42488158757826763402018-02-03T07:52:00.001-08:002018-02-03T07:59:34.385-08:00Thirty for ThirtyRickie Fowler shares the lead after two days in Scottsdale this week at the Phoenix Open. Two rounds of 66 have him in a position to perhaps win one that got away after he had that emotional loss in a playoff to Matsuyama; one that he really wanted to win for his grandpa who was in attendance.<div><br></div><div>These guys are good. That's what they say about PGA tour players; and it's true. But where they are really good is on the greens. Bobby Jones, when assessing the next generation of top players, felt that it was on the greens that they were really better than players of his generation. Part of this had to do with better agronomy that allowed them to putt on better surfaces, but part of it was simply better putting.</div><div><br></div><div>Consider Rickie this week. After two days he is thirty for thirty putting from 10 feet and in. Thirty for thirty: I mean that is simply crazy good. When Dave Peltz did a study of tour pros he found that they made fifty percent of their putts from six feet. Rickie is one hundred percent from ten feet. That's not putting; that's magic.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PTOfSFEQWP8/WnXcZNHY7AI/AAAAAAAAHSw/1TjKjyS6lbYK5bMyOvXw9QesuwAO5KvzQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--736407160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PTOfSFEQWP8/WnXcZNHY7AI/AAAAAAAAHSw/1TjKjyS6lbYK5bMyOvXw9QesuwAO5KvzQCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--736407160.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-27035034721137672018-02-01T07:48:00.001-08:002018-02-06T08:38:15.667-08:00It Isn't All About YouRecently, at the Farmers Insurance Open, we were witness to JB Holmes taking over four minutes to play his second shot into the eighteenth green in the final round. He was standing in the fairway knowing full well that he needed a three to have a chance to win. After seeming to wait forever, evidently hoping the wind might ease up some, JB changed clubs and layed up into the rough.<div><br></div><div>While this was taking place, two other players in an even better position to win the tournament were forced to wait. Alex Noren ended up changing clubs and hitting his three wood over the green. It didn't cost him the tournament right then and there, but it sure as hell didn't help him.</div><div><br></div><div>And, despite the number of people criticizing JB for what they deemed to be a terrible display of poor sportsmanship, Holmes still claims he wouldn't change a thing. He claims he was trying to win the tournament and had every right to take the time he did. That he ultimately layed up tends to belie his claim about trying to win. But he's got his story and he's apparently sticking to it.</div><div><br></div><div>Slow play is nothing new. There have always been golfers who seemed to take interminable amounts of time to play even the most rudimentary shots. But, if anything, the problem of slow play has become even worse. I think, as is generally the case, that Bobby Jones had the right idea when he devoted an entire chapter of his book, <i>Bobby Jones on Golf</i>, to Slow Play. He wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "There can be no odium attached to slow play when the motives of grandstanding and of upsetting an opponent are eliminated--and these can be entirely eliminated from this discussion; but I regard it as a mistake, considering both the player's efficiency and the welfare of the game in general. Golf depends for its growth upon public interest, and competitions are designed to stimulate public interest. Nothing can be less entertaining to the spectator than a round of golf drawn out by minute examinations of every shot."</div><div><br></div><div>Looking back on that final round involving JB Holmes--and particularly his second shot on 18 during that six hour round--if we give him the benefit of the doubt that he was not grandstanding, or trying to upset his opponents--his slow play in general, and specifically his four minute delay in hitting that shot on 18, did very little to endear him to the fans or his opponents, or to "grow the game," which seems to be the desire of the PGA tour.</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby goes on to write:</div><div><br></div><div> "After all, the deliberation necessary depends entirely upon the man who is playing the game; it is his business to play the shot, and he should never be required to play until he is ready. Some situations one finds on a golf course require some amount of study before the player can determine the best way to overcome the difficulty; but these are unusual. The vast majority of shots from the fairway are but repetitions of countless hundreds played before. At least, to one familiar with the course, as all tournament contestants are, the decision should be a matter of seconds."</div><div><br></div><div>Getting back to Holmes, he was not faced with a particularly unusual shot. Yes, it was an important shot; but it didn't require any special deliberation. He needed to make three. The wind was blowing. He therefore had to decide whether the best way to make three was to challenge the water and go for the green, or to lay up and try to hole a wedge shot. It wasn't a tough decision. But what he was really doing--something I believe he later admitted--was not deliberating; he was really just standing around hoping the wind would ease off. It didn't and he layed up.</div><div><br></div><div>So, unless players are now entitled to stand around hoping the wind will change, JB Holmes delayed the game. By doing so he upset the fans, surely upset his playing partners, and discredited himself. That he said he would do the same thing again, testifies to the fact that he doesn't "get it," as it relates to slow play. And it would seem to behoove the other players, the press, the tour, and the fans to help him see the light. </div><div><br></div><div>Ultimately, JB, it isn't all about you. You owe it to your playing partners, the fans, and the tour, to get on with it. And the same applies to anyone else if they are prone to taking more time than necessary to play their shots. Golf is an individual game; but it isn't all about you.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2Wa6t2w8lpk/WnnZ9uxfueI/AAAAAAAAHTM/K-sp5LVg27gK57pw0b1Z7Ta0ick5TndCACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-2126371137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2Wa6t2w8lpk/WnnZ9uxfueI/AAAAAAAAHTM/K-sp5LVg27gK57pw0b1Z7Ta0ick5TndCACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-2126371137.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-40550390296428000502017-12-28T07:17:00.001-08:002017-12-28T08:20:25.368-08:00Bobby Jones on Putting NaturallyIt's funny; as a kid I was a pretty good putter. In fact, I remember going to a summer hockey camp one year--it was 1967, Canada's Centennial year--where we were staying on a golf course. When not on the ice, which was my first love, we were playing golf, or putting for money on the putting green outside our rooms. As I recall, I came home with more spending money than I started with thanks to my putting.<div><br></div><div>Somewhere along the line, however, two things happened that hurt my putting. First, I started becoming mechanical about my stroke and trying to imitate the putting styles of the top players. Then, I learned how damned easy it was to miss a three-footer. Since then, I've had some stretches of really good putting; but I've never been as confident on the greens as I was as an eleven year old who wasn't worried about missing.</div><div><br></div><div>In some respects my experience was not dissimilar to that of Bobby Jones. He wrote about it in his book, <i>Bobby Jones on Golf</i>. Bobby wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "Up until 1921, my putting was about as bad as one could imagine; I had experimented with it for years, but most of my experiments had taken the form of attempted imitations of some of the good putters I had seen, notable among whom were Walter Travis and Walter Hagen. I had studied the styles of these men, particularly that of Hagen, and would always try to assume the same posture at address, and attempt to swing the putter in the same way. The result of these efforts--and it was a result that should have been expected--was a tension throughout my whole body that would not otherwise have been present, so that however accurately I might reproduce the stroke that had been successful for the man I was imitating, the effect if it was destroyed because I could never relax. After all these experiences, I determined to putt naturally."</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby believed that, in putting, just like every other part of the game, it was important to "stand before the ball in a position that is so comfortable that it is easy to remain relaxed." He felt that taking great pains to set yourself just so when addressing the ball led to tension. And, as far as Bobby was concerned, tension was a killer. He wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "The putting stroke is the simplest of all because it is the shortest; once a person has developed a fairly good sense of what it is all about, and once he has developed a rhythmic stroke that can be counted upon to strike the ball truly, the only thing he should worry about is knocking the ball into the hole."</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby wrote that his putting posture changed from day to day, sometimes setting up square, and other times preferring to stand slightly open or closed. And while he always stood with his feet fairly close together--just like he did on his full shots--and used the same grip, he sometime moved his hands up or down the grip. He noted that some putters have developed a putting ritual that they adhere closely to. But he warned:</div><div><br></div><div> "Anyone who hopes to reduce putting--or any other department of the game of golf for that matter--to an exact science, is in for a serious disappointment, and will only suffer from the attempt. It is wholly a matter of touch, the ability to gauge a slope accurately, and most important of all, the ability to concentrate on the problem at hand, that of getting the ball in the hole and nothing more. I think more potentially good putters have been ruined by attempting to duplicate another method than by any other single factor; by the time they can place themselves in a position they think resembles the attitude of the other man, they find themselves so cramped and strained that a smooth, rhythmic stroke is impossible."</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones was ever the pragmatist. He knew that putting, like the rest of the game, was all about striking the ball so that it would comply with your wishes--in this case by rolling into the hole. All the pains taken to stand, or swing, in any specified way were often only helpful in terms of adding tension and possibly taking your mind off the problem at hand; namely striking the ball just so. I love his teaching.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wNCYq4wvXo0/WkUZx_PWOxI/AAAAAAAAHSM/tZbQThNtvhctJ_N_H1hDDtTXDf1QIlfOwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1702988233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wNCYq4wvXo0/WkUZx_PWOxI/AAAAAAAAHSM/tZbQThNtvhctJ_N_H1hDDtTXDf1QIlfOwCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1702988233.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-38873260751710063772017-12-27T07:11:00.001-08:002017-12-27T19:51:50.235-08:00The Most Useful Learning You Will Ever AcquireIn my opinion--which admittedly may not be worth all that much--the most important chapter ever written about how to effectively strike a golf ball was written by Bobby Jones. It was the second chapter of his book <i>Golf is my Game</i>, and described, according to Bobby, "the most useful learning you will ever acquire as a golfer."<div><br></div><div>Bobby was not only a phenomenal player. He was also extremely intelligent and a keen observer. He observed other great players, and he o<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">bserved average players who often struggled with the game. And Bobby believed he could actually help the average player. In fact, he believed that the information he was providing on how to strike the ball could literally "make you a better golfer overnight."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Bobby Jones felt for golfers who looked so uncomfortable trying to play the game and he thought he knew the reason for their discomfort. He wrote:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> "The unskilled golfer often looks uncomfortable, strained, unsure, sometimes even unhappy, but he hardly ever presents a ludicrous aspect. And I think that a great measure of his discomfiture is derived from his conscious efforts to follow prescribed routine, to look and move like someone else, or as he has been told. I think he would present a more natural appearance if he should put his mind upon striking the ball, rather than upon swinging the club."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Consider that for a moment. Instead of thinking about swinging the club, Bobby Jones believed the average player would be much better served thinking about striking the ball. In fact, that's how Bobby himself played the game. He went on to write what I think is one of the least understood, and most profound statements about golf that I've ever read; something everyone would do well to remember:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> "Golf is played by striking the ball with the head of the club. The objective of the player is not to swing the club in a specified manner, nor to execute a series of complicated movements in a prescribed sequence, nor to look pretty while he is doing it, but primarily and essentially to strike the ball with the head of the club so that the ball will perform according to his wishes."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Bobby went on to describe the ways a golf ball would respond when struck in different ways; how to hit the ball straight, how to fade and draw it. He believed that every golfer required this knowledge in order to play good golf. In fact, he wrote:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> "No one can play golf until he knows the many ways in which a golf ball can be expected to respond when it is struck in different ways. If you think all of this should be obvious, please believe me when I assure you I have seen many good players attempt shots they should have known were impossible."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Bobby Jones gave us a great gift in his books on golf. And this information in chapter two of <i>Golf is my Game</i> was the best of the best. This information can transform your game. I have covered it in depth in my featured article called <i>The Wisdom of Bobby Jones: Striking the Ball</i>. If you haven't got a copy of Bobby's book, I invite you to check it out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">To give you a recent example of the truth of what Bobby said, I recently played with a young man in Jacksonville. He was struggling with his driver, hitting big pushes, pulls, and slices. He had power to burn, but he was all over the place. Finally, I showed him how the driver face needed to strike the ball, square to his target and moving straight down the target line. I asked him to try to feel like the club was chasing the ball down the line for sixteen inches after impact, which is what Moe Norman said he did. I didn't expect him to keep the clubface square to the target and moving straight down the line for sixteen inches; I just wanted him to feel like he was doing it. When Sam Snead wanted to hit a big one, he said he also thought about having the clubhead chasing the ball down the line.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The young man tried it and hit a drive that was a frozen rope, right down the middle of the fairway. We measured it at 310 yards. He hit several more just like it coming in. He didn't alter his swing, change his grip, which was an old-fashioned grip that featured a weak left hand and a strong right hand, or change his setup. All he did was focus on the club striking the ball in the only way that produces a straight shot. The results were immediate. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">I've seen similar results over and over again with myself and others. When you forget your swing and focus on the proper strike instead, good things happen. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">And yet, it's so tempting to go back to thinking about the swing. Golfers tend to be obsessed with the swing. Strange game, golf.</span></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ftvzGg1io78/WkRqVOPegoI/AAAAAAAAHR4/Pi66lJxqwfoEfnJH9hAPfzLChPCrO6OcgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-22649319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ftvzGg1io78/WkRqVOPegoI/AAAAAAAAHR4/Pi66lJxqwfoEfnJH9hAPfzLChPCrO6OcgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-22649319.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-23248275959049841812017-12-26T07:41:00.001-08:002017-12-26T07:44:39.783-08:00It Ain't How...Golf is a peculiar game. And golfers can be a funny bunch. It's kind of like life. As the old folks used to say, "There's nothing as queer as folk."<div><br></div><div>Golf is a game where you hit a ball from a teeing ground towards, and ultimately into, a hole. The one who does it in the fewest strokes wins. It's a simple enough concept. And yet, golfers seem to have a tendency to become awfully confused about it.</div><div><br></div><div>I read recently somewhere that most golfers seek out lessons to try to learn how to swing the club better, hit the ball more consistently; and hit the ball farther. It was suggested that most golfers taking lessons identified scoring lower as less of a priority than hitting the ball better.</div><div><br></div><div>It makes you wonder. Golfers, if they are being honest when identifying their goals to their teachers, are obviously not really understanding the game. Golf is a game where the only thing that matters is the score. And yet, when going for a lesson, most students are apparently not asking their teachers to help them score better. And, by all accounts, many teachers are not making better scorers out of their students.</div><div><br></div><div>One successful teacher on an internet site that I regularly visit admitted that the average improvement in scoring by his students, based on a review he conducted, was about one tenth of a stroke per round. He said his students continue to come to him because they like him as a friend and enjoy the lessons. Improvement--or should I say lack of improvement--in their scoring doesn't seem to deter them from parting with their money.</div><div><br></div><div>Golf is a game, like pretty much every other game, where the only thing that really matters is the score. That's why we have sayings like, "No pictures on the scorecard"; or "It ain't how, it's how many"; or "Drive for show and putt for dough." Most golfers know those sayings, and will even repeat them. And yet, when they go for lessons, they are more interested, it seems, in learning how to make a prettier swing, or in learning how to hit the ball farther. </div><div><br></div><div>Golfers, it would seem, are a strange bunch. But then, as my old Irish grandmother would have said, "there's nothing as queer as folk."</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EJSua740G-Y/WkJuZkPIK8I/AAAAAAAAHRk/ulehnL-iwGUDjdl7Tv4V_TK-8GkIU5MfgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-47416628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EJSua740G-Y/WkJuZkPIK8I/AAAAAAAAHRk/ulehnL-iwGUDjdl7Tv4V_TK-8GkIU5MfgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-47416628.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-41111761645042325432017-12-24T07:36:00.001-08:002017-12-24T07:54:28.183-08:00No More Mental Holidays for ByronWell, it's that time of the year again; time to reflect on another year gone by. Of course, golfers will spend some time reflecting on what they did or didn't manage to accomplish in their golf season and might look forward to what they might like to accomplish in the coming year. A little honest reflection is good for you. <div><br></div><div>Byron Nelson did this prior to his breakout season of 1945. He had been keeping notes on his rounds in 1944 and came to the conclusion that there was nothing he needed to change in his golf swing. He realized that what he needed to change was his mental approach. </div><div><br></div><div>Byron realized that in almost every round he played there were relatively easy shots, especially on and around the greens, that he played, not necessarily wrecklessly, but without giving the shot his full attention. And because of this he was missing a makeable putt, or failing to get the ball up and down due to nothing more than lack of attention and focus. </div><div><br></div><div>Byron came to appreciate the truth of what Bobby Jones had written about; that the hardest shots to focus on were invariably the easiest looking ones. It's not hard to give a difficult shot your full attention. But those easy-looking chips and putts can get away from you when you take them for granted. And it really hurts your psyche when you waste shots. You can forgive yourself for missing a shot. We all miss them. But when you miss a shot because you were careless, it stings.</div><div><br></div><div>Lord Byron entered the 1945 season knowing that he wanted to make enough money to retire to a ranch and leave the grind of the tour. He wanted to try to establish a few records if he could during that process. And what he knew, most of all, was that he wasn't going to do it unless he played every shot for all it was worth. He couldn't afford to take any more mental holidays out on the course. And Byron vowed to do exactly that--to grind over every shot for an entire season.</div><div><br></div><div>Byron Nelson was already a great player. He was routinely beating guys like Hogan and Snead. And his ballstriking was almost monotonous in its efficiency. But when he added the determination to grind out every shot, he nit only played great golf; he played golf the likes if which had never been seen before. He won eleven tournaments in a row, and eighteen in a single season. His scoring average of 68.33 stood as the lowest scoring average ever until a certain Tiger Woods came along more than sixty years later.</div><div><br></div><div>All the great players were great because of their ability to focus and concentrate. There are lots of guys who can hit great golf shots and go low from time to time. But the great ones know the importance of playing golf one shot at a time. And they are able to actually do it.</div><div><br></div><div>I have played this game for over fifty years. I've played some half decent golf, and shot as low as sixty five. But I don't think I've ever come even close to playing an entire round of golf where I gave every shot my all--playing one shot at a time. Oh well, there's always next year.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N-Z43jvoFb4/Wj_NstR5QxI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/yZsUokDNh3YpUIC1Et4IoSDdb5pVYX0VgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1174724090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N-Z43jvoFb4/Wj_NstR5QxI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/yZsUokDNh3YpUIC1Et4IoSDdb5pVYX0VgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--1174724090.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-68572840120404690602017-12-10T21:11:00.001-08:002017-12-11T09:39:32.674-08:00Putting Can Drive You CrazyPutting is a part of the game of golf that can literally drive you crazy. For years, despite being told by others that I was a pretty decent putter, I could never quite believe it myself. I was always haunted by those three footers that got away--those putts I figured I should have made that I didn't.<div><br></div><div>I really did believe that I was a lousy short putter. And a funny thing about belief is, it often proves to be true. Add that bit of negativity and doubt to your stroke when trying to hole a three footer and you'll miss a bunch of them.</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones addressed this issue in his book <i>Bobby Jones on Golf</i>. When speaking about the sort of attitude you wanted to cultivate on the greens, he wrote:</div><div><br></div><div> "It is worthy of observation that nearly everyone finds it easier to stroke properly putts of twelve to fifteen feet than those from less or greater distances. There is a very good reason why this should be true. The player fears he will miss a shorter putt, and fears he may fail to lay a longer one dead, but when he is putting in the middle distances, he merely hopes he may hole out, without feeling that he must guide the ball into the hole--and he knows that he will not likely take three putts.</div><div> We would all profit greatly if we could cultivate this attitude toward putts of all lengths; it ought to be easy, too, for we all know, or should know by this time, that worry does very little good. If we must be wrong, we may as well make our mistakes gracefully by choosing the wrong line as by allowing a nervous, overcareful stroke to pull the ball off direction."</div><div><br></div><div>I think this is the one thing I've actually improved upon with age. By taking this advice, and looking at every putt the same way, be it three feet or thirty, I now make more putts; and suffer less when I miss them. You are not supposed to make every putt. Even great putters miss the odd short one. There are so many things that can go wrong, even over three feet of imperfect turf. So, why not just stand up there, put your best stroke on it, and if it decides to miss just "let it go hang," as Bobby wrote. </div><div><br></div><div>Putting can drive you crazy. But it doesn't have to.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qb4MCh65Ur0/Wi7C0xBuerI/AAAAAAAAHQ8/9lM48sCIucI6dEHtPlQHWiCJ6XjvdzR3wCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-870725790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qb4MCh65Ur0/Wi7C0xBuerI/AAAAAAAAHQ8/9lM48sCIucI6dEHtPlQHWiCJ6XjvdzR3wCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-870725790.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-59185114786450142552017-12-01T09:32:00.001-08:002017-12-04T07:50:19.057-08:00Tiger Woods Greatest " By Far"?If you were to listen to the talking heads gush over Tiger Woods this past week, you might reasonably conclude that no one who played this game before Tiger, and no one who has teed it up since, could hold a candle to Tiger in terms of golfing greatness or ability. Brandel Chamblee, who is a golf historian of sorts, went so far as to assert that Tiger was "by far" the greatest player ever to play the game.<div><br></div><div>Let me just say, Tiger Woods was one of the greatest players we've ever seen. It's undeniable. His record speaks for itself. But why all this hyperbole surrounding him? Was he really that much better than anyone we've ever seen?</div><div><br></div><div>Bobby Jones won 13 Majors in seven years, while essentially playing part time. He retired at 28 after winning all four in one year. He would have undoubtedly won more had he not decided he needed to retire and start earning a living.</div><div><br></div><div>Byron Nelson won 54 times on the PGA tour, including eleven in a row, and 18 in all in 1945. He retired the next year at the top of the game. And, before you argue that no one was playing in 1945, you might want to know that both Hogan and Snead were released early from wartime service that year. Hogan played 18 events and Snead played 26. And Byron's scoring average was 68.33. That average wasn't beaten until Tiger came along fifty odd years later. </div><div><br></div><div>In terms of dramatic comebacks, Tiger has come back from well-documented injuries and personal issues. Ben Hogan came back and won Major championships after getting hit by a damned bus. They thought he'd never walk again.</div><div><br></div><div>Jack Nicklaus still has the most Majors. Snead still has the most victories. Byron owns the most victories in a row and the most in a season. Spieth is now the youngest to win the Masters and has equalled Tiger's scoring record at Augusta. I believe he's also the youngest to get to 10 wins on the PGA tour. These players are not chopped liver. Tiger was not better "by far" than them.</div><div><br></div><div>Tiger beat everyone in sight when he was in his prime. He was a phenomenal player. But the same can be said for <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Jones, Nelson, and Nicklaus. Tiger was so good, it initially looked like it would be inevitable that he would break every record worth breaking. He hasn't. And, barring a stunning return to competition, he won't. It won't change the fact that he was great.</span></div><div><br></div><div>This is definitely not a "hate on Tiger" exercise. Tiger was great. He was fantastic. No doubt about it. But all you sycophants, who can't stop gushing every time he hits a fairway, need to remember that there have been other truly great players, and there are some pretty damned special ones playing right now who aren't named Tiger Woods. They deserve some respect for what they have accomplished in this great game as well.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_H1JeNymh60/WiVuuRoH4MI/AAAAAAAAHQM/kNPfQWQY_espq1FuNLmeb55ZvpAYD1MbACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1028968876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_H1JeNymh60/WiVuuRoH4MI/AAAAAAAAHQM/kNPfQWQY_espq1FuNLmeb55ZvpAYD1MbACHMYCw/s640/blogger-image-1028968876.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394079535868265341.post-85064819104838327442017-11-30T07:58:00.001-08:002017-11-30T08:27:38.205-08:00Stewart Maiden: Bobby Jones' Teacher?Stewart Maiden is regarded as Bobby Jones' teacher. But it's interesting to note how Bobby described their relationship in his book, <i>Down the Fairway</i>. Bobby wrote:<div><br></div><div> "Stewart Maiden universally is termed my teacher, and the general idea is that Stewart started teaching me as soon as I was able to fall out of a cradle. This is quite wrong. Stewart never gave me a lesson in golf, though he has spent many hours, most of them profane, coaching me when I was in a slump with one club or another. I picked up my game watching him play, unconsciously as a monkey, and as imitatively. I grew up swinging as precisely like Stewart that when I was 15 years old and a chunky kid about Stewart's size and shape--I was playing in long pants in those days, as Stewart always has played--an old friend of Stewart's mistook me for him on the Roebuck Country Club course at Birmingham. I was playing in the southern amateur championship, or rather, I was playing a practice round before that tournament, and this man, who had not seen Stewart since he left Carnoustie, was standing by Dad as I was driving off the tenth tee in the distance.</div><div> 'When did Stewart Maiden get here?' he inquired.</div><div> Dad told him Stewart was not there at all.</div><div> 'You can't fool me,' was the rejoinder. 'I saw Stewart drive just now from the tenth tee. Think I don't know that old Carnoustie swing?'</div><div> 'Nevertheless,' Dad told him, 'that happens to be my son Rob under that swing.'</div><div> Stewart taught Alexa Stirling at the beginning of her golf career, and she too had 'the old Carnoustie swing.' Indeed, Alexa plays a good deal more like Stewart now than I do. I have changed some points in my swing, due to increasing differences--I am heavier than Stewart and wider across the shoulders and thicker in the chest. Perhaps in the head, too, as some of my alterations seem not to have worked out advantageously. In one regard, certainly, I went back two years ago to the old original Carnoustie style and got my drive just when it seemed an attack of smothering would drive me crazy."</div><div><br></div><div>I get a couple of things from reading this from Bobby. First, having a fine player as a model to imitate as a kid is very important. Secondly, Maiden was not only his swing model, but his coach when something in his game was "off." But Maiden never actually gave Bobby a "lesson." So Stewart may not have been Bobby's teacher per se. But he was his model and his coach. And, after all, what's in a name anyway?</div><div><br></div><div>You are fortunate if you start young and have a good swing to imitate. And you might also be sorry if, later on, you decide to alter that swing. My first swing model was my father, who was a pretty decent player. I then tried to swing it more closely like Jack, which wasn't a big change from my father's swing. I could really hit it from an early age. And I might have been a pretty good player had I been somewhere where I had good competition--and maybe been a bit more intelligent--and had golf not really just been more of a sideline for me when I wasn't playing baseball, and soccer, and rugby, and especially hockey. I really loved playing hockey.</div><div><br></div><div>In later life I made some swing changes to conform, in my mind at least, more to the modern tour swing--if there really is such a thing. My swing became flatter and more rotational. And I actually lost distance and ultimately buggered my back. I sure wish I could go back to swinging it more like Jack. If my back allows, I'm going to try to do just that next season.</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1q9PDjk4bsM/WiAxeBzZNmI/AAAAAAAAHPs/_J-5ypiM2lsalO-BTOnQEUXZyX0vKVtBgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--2026041431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1q9PDjk4bsM/WiAxeBzZNmI/AAAAAAAAHPs/_J-5ypiM2lsalO-BTOnQEUXZyX0vKVtBgCHMYCw/s640/blogger-image--2026041431.jpg"></a></div>John Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545442148643455026noreply@blogger.com0