Month: September 2007

Range Tips: Practice Nine Holes

The reality of being a law student is that I don’t play as much golf as I used to. I’ve been hitting a lot of range balls lately, though. And to combat the rather monotonous activity of hitting ball after ball into a wide open field, I visualize holes that I’ve played many times and hit shots accordingly.

E.g., The country club in my home town starts with a par four with a large Oak Tree overhanging the left landing area of the fairway. So, on the range I would be looking to hit a draw with my driver, which would leave me a wedge in.

It is best to be specific when doing this. Take note of the wind, where the pin is on your “imaginary” green, and what type of shot you want to hit. You’ll be switching clubs a lot, but see this is a great approach to hitting range balls that makes your practice count.

Drug Testing in Golf

Several major golf tours around the world signed on to a performance-enhancing drug program yesterday. This move is at best something that needed to be done to conform with today’s “sporting mentality.” Golf is more of a sport than ever. Professionals are working out to increase their strength and endurance and looking to gain any possible advantage on the field they can.

The list of banned drugs includes the typical steroids and narcotics, but it also includes beta blockers, which are used to stay calm. Reduced anxiety seems far more valuable than increased strength, the later of which does little for one’s golf game without the touch and feel to control it.

It is curious to note that the drug policy as described at the PGA Tour.com, although adopted for several U.S.G.A. sanctioned events, is not applied to any amateur events. Perhaps this was an oversight in the reporting.

High School Golf Practice

Yesterday was sixty-five degrees, calm, and sunny so I went to the golf range to practice. I bought my seven dollar large bucket of balls, laced up my golf shoes, and started hitting easy sand wedges to the red flag on the right of the range about 85 yards away. I was trying to keep the trajectory of my shots down so I could control my distance better. About thirty minutes into my session high school golfers began setting up shop on the range. Then what looked to be the junior varsity team hopefuls came over. These kids didn’t look a day over pre-adolescence, but they talked a big game. They talked it loudly, as if they were addressing a elderly foreigner. Naturally, they started their warm-up by trying to smash drivers to the edge of the woods. I felt compelled to get my driver out and hit the ball well into the woods. I did, easily. Having satisfied my ego, I returned to hitting easy eight irons to the yellow flag 160 yards away. But, the range was filling up too fast for all of us to hit. These kids were moving in on my nice patch of grass. A runt of a boy directly in front of me swung a driver equal to his own height. A lanky youngster was joyously topping, slicing and shanking balls behind me. I feared for my life. Instead of visualizing the shot I wanted to hit, I began imagining what it would feel like when cold steel met my skull. Not good. It was like I was standing it the middle of a chinook helicopter. Clubs were spinning, balls were flying. The kid in front of me actually lost his grip and his club flew over my head. The kid said woops then blindly walked in front of me. I decided it was best for me to leave at that point, so I hit my last ball, tucked in my clubs and shook my head. This was chaos – unlike any golf practice I had ever participated in, but it still made me miss high school golf.

Fall Golf Highlights

The Fall Series – a.k.a. the FedEx Cup leftovers. Yes, that’s right. There are still official tournaments to be played that count towards the PGA Tour money list, although no one that’s likely to play in all seven of the remaining events can possibly catch Tiger Woods as the money leader. There is still room for improvement, and players can gain exemptions while climbing the money list. The Turning Stone Resort Championship starts tomorrow and will be thoroughly covered by the Golf Channel.

Dates played: Weekly starting tomorrow. Final tournament ends on November 4, 2007.

The Presidents Cup is a three-day team competition between the United States and the Internationals and will be played at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. Due to the similarity between golf clubs and hockey sticks large crowds will likely gather to watch this event. It remains to be seen if the Presidents Cup (Presidents is pointedly not possessory of the cup) can outshine the FedEx Cup. The U.S. currently holds the Presidents Cup, having defeated the International team 18.5-15.5 in 2005.

Dates played: September 28 – 30, 2007

The Seve Trophy is Europe’s answer to The Presidents Cup. It is a team competition that pits Continental Europe against Great Britain and Ireland during non-Ryder Cup years. Seve Ballesteros himself is captaining the Continental team while Nick Faldo is leading GB & I to battle. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this tournament before yesterday. Apparently it’s been played before – four times to be exact.

Dates played: September 28 – 30, 2007

Caddie Cash-In

The winner of the FedEx Cup receives a $10 million annuity. The winner of the Tour Championship receives $1.3 million. Tiger is poised to win both of these today. That means his single-day take home is $11.3 million. That’s a lot of bacon, especially when you consider that he can’t touch the $10 million annuity until the miracle of compound interest has turned it into something like $30 or 40 million.

A caddie may get 10% of a players winnings on a “normal” week. There may be a bonus when his player wins. So, a conservative estimate of what Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams will potentially earn today is $1.13 million. That’s good pay for carrying a bag for four hours.

So, 64 is Normal?

Tiger’s last five rounds are 65, 63, 64, 63, and 64. It doesn’t even look like work on the part 70 courses on which the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship are played. The rain helps, I suppose. These guys can just toss the ball up in the air and have it stick where it lands next to the cup. But that’s assuming a lot. First, that they are hitting it in the fairway. Second, that they’re hitting it close to the pin, which isn’t supposed to look as easy as it has these last few weeks. I mean, did you see Stricker and Woods staking ever single approach shot at the BMW? And this week at the Tour Championship, the 18th hole played 223 yards for the final round and most of the tee-shots landed within ten feet. That’s ridiculous.

Anyway, how often does a player shoot five sub-65 rounds in a row? Tiger may have to post another sub-65 round if Calcavecchia keeps his gut out of the way for another day and can stake some more zippers close enough to tap them in on those shaggy greens at East Lake.

Oh, and let’s not forget that the reigning Masters champion, Zach Johnson shot a 60 today.