Golf Magazine

Reasons to Love

2 and designs entering the
space at a breakneck clip.
AND IT’S
“The implementation of
COOL TOO! A.I. into our design pro-
cess changed the way we
Change is happening design clubs and opened
in golf apparel. Tyrrell up so many opportunities
Hatton wore an Adidas to increase performance
hoodie when he won the across all handicaps,”
BMW PGA in the UK, and Gibbs says. “The conver-
it created quite a stir. gence of these leaps in
The next week, an English design and manufactur-
club decried it, citing ing have allowed us and
its rigid dress code. But others to continue to
sales soared for Adidas, push the performance of
which sold out its entire these products in a very
inventory of the garment. short time.”
Hoodies and other hip
looks are here to stay. In other words, there’s
never been a better time
3 to be on the lookout for
new gear. (And you can
WE’RE IN A start today on page 51.)

GOLDEN AGE 4

OF GEAR YOU DON’T
HAVE TO BE
DESIGN “PERFECT”

Evan Gibbs and the Like many of GOLF’s Sling it like Ho Sung. with the driver, or who Broadie’s Strokes Gained
team at Callaway have Top 100 Teachers, Jon dropped their index by can apply to you, if you
seen a lot during his Tattersall is a swing nerd 5 five shots because they wish to apply them (@
two-decade stint in at heart. “I’ve studied hit it straighter or far- MarkBroadie). Scott
product creation. As the it from every angle, in CLUBFITTING ther or a combination of Fawcett’s Decade system
research and develop- person, on film and, for the two,” says True Spec can save your scorecards,
ment director for woods, the past 15 years, with IS NOW FOR GM Allen Gobeski. “The if you want to dive in (@
it’s Gibbs’ job to cook up 3D cameras and launch real benefit? They’re en- ScottFawcett). GolfLogix
game-changing tech that monitors. If there’s a THE MASSES joying the game like never can help you revolutionize
makes the sport more swing worth seeing, I’ve before.” So what are you your green reading and
enjoyable for all golfers. seen it. That’s why I’m Tour pros used to have waiting for? course management—all
Some designs boom, while confident in saying, this it good compared to the you need to do is use it
others bust. It’s part of isn’t a beauty contest! regular guy. Their gear 6 (golflogix.com).
the business. But lately it was handcrafted and
feels like everything Gibbs “Plenty of players perfectly tuned to fit YOU CAN GET “Most people don’t
and his team—along with from the 1950s through them, down to the gram. realize the importance
their industry rivals—have the ’80s had swings Amateurs were relegated “GOLF-WISE” data holds in their game,”
been churning out is that didn’t make sense to buying stock clubs off says Pete Charleston,
boomin’ like never before. to the eye. They were the shelf! Not anymore. IN A HURRY president and cofounder
successful by every Clubfitting has become of GolfLogix. “At all levels
“The last couple years, it measure, winning events so widely available that It’s super easy to become of golf, information is
feels like we’re able to see and making money. But it’s expected at this point a stat-savvy golfer in the power, and when you’re
yearly gains in perfor- video technology became very best way. GOLF’s capable of learning more
mance that, in the past, the teacher’s main tool “All the love letters we analytics editor Mark about your own game,
we would’ve only seen ev- of choice, and as a result get, so to speak, come it only stands to benefit
ery couple of years,” Gibbs we overemphasized style from people who indeed you.” Take advantage.
says. “It makes you stand over substance. picked up 20 or 30 yards
up and take notice.”
“Fast-forward to the
Thanks to supercom- present and we have
puters and materials engineers with Ph.D.’s
once earmarked for bal- crunching numbers to de-
listic armor applications, termine the force a player
every player in the sport applies to the grip and to
is reaping the benefits of the ground to make the
advanced technologies ball soar into the sky at
the proper trajectory.
Dizzy yet? Every part of
the swing is broken down,
from the pressure of your
right ring finger to the
flex in your left ankle.

“Does the club need
to come back in perfect,
Adam Scott–esque form?
I say no. I’m more focused
on what needs to be done
to the club at a specific
time and to what degree.
All that matters is force,
torque, speed and align-
ment, not how pretty it
looks. It’s all about how
it works.”

96 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

7 8 9 10 morning. That rush of
happiness is a mood boost
THE GAME IT’S FUN TO GOLF’S HEALTH THAT GOES caused by a release of
FOR MENTAL serotonin in response to
IS MORE FINE-TUNE BENEFITS ARE your setting and your sur-
H E A LT H T O O roundings. If ever you’re
AFFORDABLE YOUR GEAR REAL feeling down, that first
Think about the last tee might be just what
For every iconic course There are endless ways to It’s one of the world’s time you stepped up to you need. There’s more.
like Pebble Beach, where enhance your golf swag. universal truths: Walking the first tee on a dewy
green fees run north of A pushcart is a great is good for your health. “Outside of the obvious
$500, there are hundreds and affordable addi- So is walking plus golf, benefits of being out-
of fantastic courses that tion. Want to purchase which can help you burn doors and enjoying social
charge less than $50, even a club but not empty 1,500 to 2,000 calories interaction with your
at peak times. According your wallet? Wedges are over four hours. That’s partners, golf is a game
to the National Golf still very affordable and the same rate as a day that requires a full men-
Foundation, the median one of the best ways to on the ski slopes! If the tal commitment,” says
rate for an 18-hole round lower scores. The rest of course is hilly, there’s Dr. Greg Cartin, a sport
in the U.S. at the start of the golf world certainly even greater benefit. psychology consultant
2021 is just $49. Play on agrees; wedge purchases Up the ante by carrying in Belmont, Mass. “One
a weekday without a cart saw an 18% increase in your bag. Then it’ll really that, at least temporarily,
and that number drops Q3. (You can get wedges start to feel like a work- commands so much of
below $40 or about $10 an and a whole lot more at out. And you’ll be the your attention that you
hour. Not bad at all. proshop.golf.com.) better for it. can leave the rest of the
world behind.”

A walking round with your mates does a body (and mind) a world of good.

97

Reasons to Love 11

98 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1 THERE’S

MORE TIME

TO P L AY

While many of us con-
tinue to work from home,
commuting hours have
been all but eliminated.
Suddenly, there’s extra
time in the evening and
extra time in the morn-
ing—all the more time to
tend to your golf game!
Think about how great
your ball striking could
get by spending an extra
40 minutes at the range
each week. Or just 20
minutes of golf-focused
stretches and movements
before clocking in. Now
that you have more time,
what will you do with it?

12

SHORTER

ROUNDS CAN

BE A BLAST

The massive influx of golf
rounds being played has
had one unfortunate side
effect: Tee times can be
hard to come by! No need
to fear, though. Golfers all
across the country elect-
ed to play 9-hole rounds
a lot more in 2020. Ac-
cording to the NGF, short
loops (anything less than a
full 18 holes) increased by
15% nationwide in 2020.
And don’t forget par-3
tracks! When you need to
get your golf in, you’ll take
it any way you can get it.

Find yourself with
more hours in the day?
Use them to work on
your game.

13 in the process drafted a Lucky for us, architects have re-embraced classic design
winning blueprint for the sensibilities like here at Sheep Ranch (Bandon, Ore.).
QUALITY sport as we see it.
Page 95: Evan Schiller Photography; Pages 96–97: Courtesy Callaway; Stuart Franklin/Getty Images; Jeffrey Westbrook; Christian Hafer; This page: Jaanus Ree/Kjus; Christian Hafer in 2019. Take it as a hint: in front of a pint glass, merits of your hole in one
INSTRUCTION Look no further than Golf doesn’t have to be rehashing your best will be properly litigated.)
ESPN’s blazing-fast PGA played by the book every shots, silliest mistakes
IS JUST A Championship broadcast. single time! Hit it where and craziest putts from Want to work through
The network’s first year you can’t find it? Feel free a round complete. The your spiciest opinions on
C L I C K AWAY of tournament coverage to drop wherever, even in 19th hole was the psyche’s the PGA Tour? NoLay-
was brilliant, showing the middle of the fairway. saving grace, but it was ingUp’s “The Refuge”
The modern golfer has fans golf with the fervor, Want to make this par 4 oh so static. is a great place to opine
so much quality instruc- agility and shot variety of even more drivable? like Brandel and find dis-
tion available at their a Steph Curry heat check. Bounce around between Nowadays, for golf-talk course related to every
fingertips, it’s hard to tee boxes. Unless you’re purposes at least, the corner of the game. If
know what to do with it. Meanwhile, the PGA playing in an event, feel 19th hole is anywhere you you have had problems
From YouTube (see: Me Tour is steaming into free to make this game want it to be. There are a with your wedges, rest
and My Golf, Rick Shiels, the analytics age at full even more your own. number of online channels assured, 43 other “refu-
even Padraig Harrington!) speed. ShotLink data and digital clubhouses gees” have as well.
to Instagram (George means there’s more to 17 that go wherever your
Gankas, Mike Bender, know with each passing smartphone is. While these virtual
Chris Como and more) and second—both for the data GRILLROOMS golf buddies might seem
everywhere in between, geeks and the seasoned Make an ace on your fa- far away, they don’t have
teachers are putting their gamblers tapping away ARE NOW vorite par 3? Ten strang- to be. Redditors and
ideas out there more than at home. Speaking of ers will congratulate you Refugees have regularly
ever before. And largely gambling, live-betting and OPEN 24-7 from within Reddit’s used these platforms
for free. daily fantasy are creating “Golf” community by the to schedule meetups at
more opportunities than For decades you’ve sat time you’ve signed the courses somewhere in
The information shared ever to turn your Sundays there in the clubhouse, scorecard. (This assumes, between their key-
has the potential to de- into paydays. of course, you had some- boards. Now that’s
liver results even better one else take the photo. growing the game—
than in the past, thanks Techies have swooned No witnesses and the guerrilla style!
to the continued embrace over the television
of technology. When you product, and Toptracer
do find a teacher you outlining Rory’s gorgeous
like, digital lessons mean drives is just the tip of
you can actually connect the iceberg. NBC and CBS
directly with them and have experimented with
share Trackman data or futuristic audio and every
a report of your most shot from every hole
recent range session. Golf broadcasts to take fans
instruction is no longer a deeper than ever before
closed shop. It’s a network into the minds and actions
of ideas where the best of their favorite players.
rise to the top.
We all want the fans
in back, but who knew all
the silence could be so
14 damn fun?

S P E C TAT I N G 15

IS OFF THE COURSE

CHARTS DESIGN IS FOR

For most live sports, the THE PEOPLE
lack of fans in the stands
has proved quite complex. The essence of what
Socially-distant broad- makes a golf course has
casters and production receded back to its roots.
trucks? No problem. Gi- What’s important now is
ant, impenetrable bubbles not the glitz of housing
at various locations? No projects or the notoriety
worries. But no crowds? of an extremely punitive
Now that’s tricky. layout, but rather the
Golden Age absolutes: re-
Except for golf. Rather covery and openness. Less
than masking what wasn’t trees, more room to roam,
there, golf embraced more challenge from the
fan-less tournaments and rest of the property. For
all kinds of reasons, it’s
better this way.

16

YOU CAN

P L AY BY

YOUR OWN

RULES

It was great when the
USGA decided to roll back
the Rules of Golf a bit

99

Reasons to Love

18 19

TRAVEL GOLF ELITE CLUBS

HAS NEVER ARE MORE

BEEN SO FUN ACCESSIBLE

No disrespect to your Before golf boomed
grandpa’s golf getaway— in 2020, the 12 years
long hours on the links, leading up to it were
steak dinner, sauna—but pretty rough. Hundreds
today’s top destinations of courses closed their
offer all that and more, doors—public tracks and
with options that appeal private clubs alike. Ac-
to a range of ages, in- cording to GOLF Top 100
terests and abilities. It’s course rater Hal Phillips,
a shift reflected in the there’s a silver lining
proliferation of alterna- hidden within that.
tive short courses—not to
mention a wonderland of “Many private clubs
non-golf attractions—at coped with revenue
such marquee properties shortfalls by going
as Streamsong, Sand ‘semi-private,’ albeit
Valley, Bandon Dunes and very quietly,” he says. “A
beyond. At Pinehurst, number of second- and
sepia-toned traditions third-rate clubs are now
now go hand in hand with more accepting of public
Instagram-ready ame- reservations. Call them up
nities, including a par-3 on a Monday or Tuesday
track, The Cradle, and a and you might be sur-
putting course, Thistle prised what you find.”
Dhu, where the tee mark-
ers double as cup-holders Some are simply being
for your beer. reactive to the uptick in
American golfers.
“It’s not that we
weren’t having fun “Once the pandemic
before,” says Pinehurst subsides, if the rounds-
president Tom Pashley. played numbers sustain,
“It’s just that we were the laws of supply and
having a different kind demand will call for even
of fun.” more private courses to
ease open their doors
For Pashley, a telling if they haven’t already,”
moment came this spring, Phillips says.
when he overheard a
guest, dressed in shorts There is also a ground-
and a T-shirt, ask a swell of major cities
bellhop if he was properly appreciating golf’s mu-
attired to go bat around nicipal benefits.
some balls on Thistle Dhu.
“No problem, sir,” said the “To have Tom Doak ren-
bellhop, with an answer ovating a municipal course
that could pass as a new in Washington, D.C.,
industry motto: “We take instead of slaving over a
our golf seriously, but not private course that hosts
ourselves.” Tour events is a public
golf asset.” We love that.

20

URBAN GOLF

IS HELPING

COMMUNITIES

The hottest Topgolf of
2021? That would prob-
ably be in Augusta, Ga.,
during a normal Masters
week. But in 2020, even
without the hundreds
of thousands of fans in
town, Topgolf Augusta
was poppin’. It’s a great
example of golf finding
ways into our urban cen-
ters and not just being a
sport for the suburbs. A
similar trend is happening
with Popstroke. It’s mini
golf on steroids, and Tiger
Woods is designing a few
of the courses. Count us
all the way in!

100 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Ttkktktktkttkkt While access to a blueblood like Oakmont remains a tall order, you’d be
surprised at where you can book rounds during the pandemic era.

101

Ways to Take Advantage

A road trip to Sand Valley (or anywhere!) with your crew creates lifelong memories.

1 trying to improve your learning center on your 2 3
game, you must find it local range, rather than
GET SERIOUS out there, on the range, simply watching the ball BECOME A DIAL IN YOUR
in the dirt between your fly with the naked eye.
ABOUT YOUR feet. Well, range sessions MENTOR D I S TA N C E S
these days look a bit Kick things up a notch
RANGE TIME different. Generally, with a LiveView Pro de- Instead of focusing on AND FIX GAPS
there’s some technology vice, which allows you to yourself and grinding to
As Ben Hogan once involved, sometimes a lot. see, analyze and improve get better on your own, Perhaps your swing got
famously said, “The se- your swing in real time look outward. Find a longer last year. Perhaps
cret is in the dirt.” What Portable gadgets such with its Digital Swing non-golfer who is inter- you struck it more consis-
he meant is if you’re as the FlightScope Mevo, Mirror technology. It sells ested in dabbling with the tently. Perhaps you took
Rapsodo Mobile Launch for around $400, can fit game (or maybe never six months off with an in-
Monitor or Voice Caddie’s in your pocket and pairs knew he or she would jury or paternal golf leave.
Swing Caddie SC300 with your phone or tablet enjoy it). Start them at It’s a good idea to press
(pictured) provide some for easy use. the driving range. Gift reset and take stock
of the same data points them the backup clubs of how far you hit each
that launch monitors 20 If that somehow isn’t you have in the garage. club—not how far you hit
times their price provide. enough tech for you, Caddie for them at the one perfectly, pured at
Although these portable further customize your pitch ’n’ putt. Buy them the flag, but how far you
launch monitors each own learning center an intro lesson with a lo- hit most shots. Changes
sell for less than $500, with a metronome for cal teaching pro. Helping can creep up in your
they still capture crucial tempo, a rangefinder to someone else get hooked game, and there might be
data such as ball speed, confirm distances and on this game is twice as a gap that’s worth filling
spin, carry distance and a Bluetooth speaker to rewarding as lowering with a simple, fun swipe of
more. You can receive the help curate your desired your own handicap. the credit card.
experience of a high-end vibes. That ought to do
the trick.

102 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

5 can be the coolest kid in your weekend foursome. 10
your foursome by master- While your buds are walk-
REBOOT YOUR ing your own “pond skip- ing around thinking they MAKE YOUR
per” approach shot. Here’s know your home track,
BUDDY TRIP the secret sauce from Top cozy up to a state-of-the- OWN COURSE
100 Teacher Brady Riggs: art green book made just
Call your pals, pack for you. GolfLogix, one of Who says you need to
your bags, fill up the gas “First, find a downslope GOLF’s sister companies, play the same set of tees
tank and get ready for near the water’s edge— has charted more than the course superinten-
your revamped buddy that’s where this shot 14,000 courses with 3D dent has set up for you?
trip. There’s really no works best from,” Riggs mapping... down to the Next time you play, start
wrong way to do a golf says. “Next, choose either centimeter. You could get with the championship
trip with your friends, but a 6- or 5-iron. Too much a read on all 18 greens tees on the first hole and
there are certainly ways loft won’t skip enough for about $30 and win it the forward tees on the
to crank it up a notch. and too little won’t have all back during your first next. Scout the course
enough backspin to get round out (golflogix.com). the night before and fig-
Add a trophy. Perfect out of the water. ure out which short par 4
for bragging rights in the 9 can become even more
off-season. “Try to hit down a little drivable from the senior
more than normal and cut HAVE A NON- tees. You’ll learn more
Introduce a ceremony. off the follow-through. about the designer’s in-
Start the trip off right Make sure you add a little TRADITIONAL tentions in the process.
with a formal dinner the speed at the bottom and
night before the first try to hit a fade. That SET OF CLUBS 11
match. Announce teams, skips the best. If the lip on
honor past champions, the far side of the pond We’ve all reached that TUNE IN TO
maybe even let the previ- is too high, it’s almost fork in the road at some
ous year’s winner pick the impossible to pull it off, point, where our current THE LPGA
menu. It only heightens so choose your target set just isn’t cutting it.
the anticipation. wisely.” You’re the coach here— For sure, the average
put it on the bench for a amateur can learn more
Mix up the rota. While we can’t guaran- month! Having a Sunday from the women’s pro
Nothing wrong with a tee you’ll jar it like Rahm bag or a half set of clubs game than the men’s.
few 18-hole rounds, but did, your friends will still ready to go at a moment’s LPGA Tour players use
broaden your horizons be impressed. Unless you notice is more valuable more flexible shafts, have
and see if there’s a lively dunk it in the drink. than you might think. more relatable swing
par-3 course or hidden Clubs you’ve trusted in speeds and don’t bother
gem nearby that will alter 8 the past that you didn’t much with 2- or 3-irons.
the pace. Think “10-some want to get rid of? Repur- Hybrids all the way! Sound
at twilight.” That’s the EMBRACE pose them when you need like you? Watch the next
good stuff. them most. You never LPGA broadcast to catch
A DVA N C E D know, you might find out some great golf and im-
Call an audible. Put there’s a little magic still prove your own game.
the extra wedges and TECHNOLOGY left in them.
long irons away and call Sophia Popov in full bloom.
a changeup for one of Believe it or not, there’s
the rounds. Four-club room to get a leg up on
challenge? Yes, please.
4 Pick your opponent’s club
off the tee? Intriguing!
P L AY A Anything to spice it up
just a touch. You can
“DIFFERENT” thank us later.

GAME 6

It’s time to change things P L AY S O M E
up. Even if you enjoy play-
ing a scramble every now TUNES
and then, make it a re-
curring game on the first Between the lawn mow-
Thursday of every month. ers, the “Fore!” calls and
The bothersome truth is the starter shack shout-
most amateur golfers play ing out tee times, whoev-
this game just one way: er said this sport has to
counting every stroke on be a quiet one? Only the
every hole. That’s stale. most traditional clubs de-
Remember, this game was mand that music-free is
built on foursomes and the way to be. Elsewhere,
fourballs, with stableford music player companies
as a dominant format like Bose, Rokform and
overseas. There are end- Wingman have designed
lessly enjoyable ways to speakers with modern
get the golf in. golfers in mind. Music has
become a wonderful part
of the game.

7

LEARN A

TRICK SHOT

Like Jon Rahm on 16 at
last year’s Masters, you

103

Ways to Take Advantage Pages 100–101: Patrick Koenig; Pages 102–103: Courtesy Voice Caddie; Jacob Sjoman; Richard Heathcote/R&A via Getty Images; This page: Courtesy The Pinehurst Resort

12

EMBRACE

P L AY I N G

ALONE

As you look toward a
new golf season, there’s
no better way to continue
celebrating the power
of open spaces than by
playing golf alone. First
off in the early morning?
Perfect. Last one out at
dusk? Even better.

How do you play golf
alone? You just do. Grate-
fully. Mask- and anxiety-
free. With one golf ball or
two or five.

There’s a temptation
to turn solo rounds into
practice sessions. We’d
encourage you to just
play. There’s no better
time to learn about your-
self as a golfer. Do you
play better on your own,
or do you require outside
scrutiny to keep concen-
tration? Do you need a
full scorecard, properly
kept, with an official score
recorded? Or are you con-
tent with a flushed iron
into the sunset, birdies
and bogeys be damned?
Alone is the best way to
truly play the game on
your own terms.

13

UP YOUR

GOLF SOCIAL

GAME

Endlessly scrolling on
your phone might not
help your game much,
but if you follow the right
accounts it’ll serve as
great inspiration to get
out there and play. Here
are 10 feeds from people
who play a ton and will
get you back in the mood
by proxy:
@NoLayingUp
@RiggsBarstool
@ShaneBacon
@roger_steele
@jeffkmarsh
@erikanderslang
@alexandra.olaughlin
@kiradixon
@hannahbggg
@someguysbackyrd

Solitude on the links is a
gift that keeps on giving.

104 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

THE BAR HAS © 2021 TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
BEEN LOWERED.

WITH V STEE L™ SOLE

WHEN WE BROUGHT BACK V STEEL™ AND COMBINED IT WITH SIM, OUR GOAL WAS SIMPLE - TO LOWER CG AND IMPROVE TURF
INTERACTION WITH THE V-SHAPED SOLE PLATE. IN 2021, WE 'VE MADE SIM2 EVEN EASIER TO HIT, WITH MORE FORGIVENESS,
THAT WILL TAKE YOU HIGHER, MORE OFTEN.

14 poised to win or contend in Southern California in 18 19 From top: Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Christian Hafer
in any given week as the ’90s. They hosted a
PLACE YOUR well as other odds you season full of events and FIND ROLE BECOME A
may want to avoid. It amassed a total member-
BETS! never hurts to have a little ship of 70 players. Take it MODEL(S) VOLUNTEER
guidance, right? from us—it can be done,
Anyone who has lifted a and it’s a ton of fun. AROUND YOU St. Louis native Randy
remote to watch the PGA 15 Ochs is proud of his city’s
Tour from home knows 17 As comfortable and reas- golf culture and wanted to
that gambling is on the G E T F I T. suring as it is to play with do his part to show it off
rise in golf. Some indus- EAT BETTER, similarly skilled golfers, to the world. So he volun-
try leaders would even N O , R E A L LY. are they helping you get teered as a marshal at the
tell you golf is one of the P L AY B ET T E R better? Maybe some- 2018 PGA Championship
best sports for wagering. If there’s one thing the times. Playing with defini- at Bellerive. He was sta-
Between tempting props, entire golf industry has Prep for your next round tively better golfers helps tioned at the 10th tee and
low-man-in-the-group agreed upon in recent like a pro would. Dial it in your game every single ended up a front-and-cen-
bets and some juicy odds years, it’s customization. to the minute, like so: a time. So schedule an ter witness to Tiger’s epic
to win, it has never been You can make this game not-too-filling breakfast extra round each month charge on Sunday that
more tempting (and easi- yours, and the best way is 75 minutes before tee with your buddy who plays fell just short. He texted
er!) to get involved in golf to get fit. Fit for a driver, time, peanut-butter sand- to scratch. Or introduce a picture of the mayhem
gambling. fit for irons, wedges, wich after the 6th hole, yourself to the club cham- to his wife, who replied,
even the golf ball you tee full bag of trail mix after pion on the driving range. “I guess it was worth the
You can whet your up each week. True Spec birdie on 12, Gatorade to You’re sure to pick up week’s worth of sweat!” It
appetite for it by first Golf is one of the fitting wash it all down. Feeling some helpful habits. And was quite an understate-
experimenting on the companies that make it your best often leads to you might be surprised ment. “The fans all got
Chirp app. Developed by super easy on the golfer. playing your best. how willing people can be their money’s worth in the
GOLF’s parent company Show up, hit some shots, to share their secrets. end,” Ochs said. “Don’t you
8AM Golf, Chirp allows dial in what works for think?” And Randy’s free
you to place future and you and they deliver the time was also well reward-
live bets with virtual equipment that perfectly ed. You never know when
funds. Rack up the big matches your game. something special is going
bucks and you’ll be in line to happen.
for weekly prizes that are 16
anything but fake. From a 20
brand-new set of clubs to FORM YOUR
a trip to Cabot, there is BUILD THAT
plenty of loot to be won. OWN WORLD
SHORT-GAME
Once you get the hang OF GOLF
of things as a golf gam- AREA
bler, immerse yourself Who said you need a
even further through country club member- Work from home has
sites like DraftKings or ship? Not us. You can changed our lives, but
FanDuel. And when you’re create a fully sanctioned could it change your
truly ready to go all-in, club of your own with short game too? With a
plan your next Vegas trip the USGA or a regional backyard practice facility,
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21

P L AY

V I R T U A L LY

WITH

FRIENDS

Advances in technology
have made simulators
as real as ever. The NGF
estimates that four
million people engage in
the virtual experience—a
number sure to increase.
Simulators function as
winter options at country
clubs, pop up in high-
end sports bars, even as
luxury amenities in some
apartments. Find a go-to
virtual outlet in 2021. It’s
closer than you think.

106 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1



THE

KATHY WHITWORTH IS THE WINNINGEST GOLFER IN THE GAME’S

SOUL

HISTORY AND, AT 81, STILL A ROAD WARRIOR. WITH THAT DRIVE AND

OF
SUCCESS COMES LIFE LESSONS—IF, LIKE MICHAEL BAMBERGER,

WHIT

YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO TAKE THE RIDE WITH HER.

108 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Whitworth
in 1983, shortly

after win 84.

Kathy Whitworth lives in a ranch house on a big (the Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic) late last year, Previous page: George Tiedemann/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images; This page, from left: Chris Prince; USGA Museum; Courtesy Kathy Whitworth; Phil Sheldon/Popperfoto via Getty Images
Kathy could cite to you, chapter and verse, the various swing
property (five acres), near a big lake (Grapevine), on the out- changes Stanford had made with her instructor, Todd Kolb,
skirts of Big D (Dallas). She lives with her partner, their two in recent years.
rescue dogs and a handful of trophies from her ridiculously
long and wildly underappreciated career. Most of her hard- The following week the U.S. Women’s Open was played at
ware—she won a record 88 LPGA events—is nearby, on dis- Champions Golf Club in Houston, a club cofounded by Jackie
play in Whit’s 88, a pub at the Trophy Club, where one course Burke, now 97. Whit has known ole Jack for 50 or 60 years,
is named for Ben Hogan and the other for Kathy Whitworth something like that. She followed with particular interest the
her own self. Some one-two punch. So fitting. golfing exploits of the Korda sisters at that Open, as well as
Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang, among other KWI alum-
For years, Kathy Whitworth would drive five hours to nae. She’s got skin in the game.
Houston for a golf dinner like you bop down to your 7-Eleven
for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She’d drive to Austin for a lesson, If there’s a hole in her professional résumé it is this: like
to El Paso for an exhibition, to—wherever, for whatever. She’s Phil Mickelson and Sam Snead and Nancy Lopez, Kathy Whit-
put ruts in Texas 121, the straight-shot highway that takes her worth never won her national championship. She’s fine with
from her house to the Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth, it. Turns out, you can have a rich and rewarding life without
where the Kathy Whitworth Invitational, a national junior ever winning the U.S. Open. Kathy’s golf stories are seldom
tournament for girls, is played each March. about how she won this event or that one. They’re about how
she and her contemporaries got on tour in the first place, and
So if you’re driving in the Lone Star State and you see a what they did there once they did. You’d be hard-pressed to
square-jawed lady of a certain age with a perfect helmet of find any Hall of Famer (name your hall) more modest than she.
white hair in a late-model GMC Terrain who looks like Kathy
Whitworth, you can bet the farm it is Kathy Whitworth. There’s We spoke for hours.
only one. “Nancy Lopez was our Arnold Palmer,” she told me.
“Mickey Wright was our Hogan.”
Miss Whitworth is 81 and very much au courant. Because of “Who does that make you?” I asked.
her junior tournament and her involvement with the annual “The chorus line,” the great Whitworth said.
LPGA event in Dallas, Kathy—Whit, to anybody who has ever She was cackling.
played even nine holes with her—knows a host of female golf- Her admiration for Mickey Wright runs to her bones. She
ers who are half her age, a third her age, one-fifth her age. once told Jack Nicklaus, “No offense to you, but Mickey Wright
After the veteran golfer Angela Stanford won the Dallas event was the best I ever saw.” Mickey won 82 LPGA events, between
1956 and 1973. The first of Whit’s 88 was notched in 1962 and
the last in 1985. If Kathy even knows she faced Mickey Wright
three times in playoffs and won all of them, she would never
let on. She does know that Mickey Wright won her first U.S.
Open the year Kathy played in her first pro tournament, in
1958. Then again the next year. For a third time in ’61. For a
fourth time in ’64. That’s going to leave a stamp on you.
Last year, when the Open was the final major of a dismal
year, Kathy found herself rooting for Amy Olson down the
stretch. Olson was one shot back through 54 holes and played
the final round through the grief wrought by the unexpected
death of her father-in-law on the tournament’s Saturday night.
I asked Kathy if Amy’s experience reminded her of any-
thing from her own career.
“Nothing like what Amy went through,” she said.
But eventually one event did come to mind. Miss Whit-
worth turned the clock back 29 years to unearth it, to 1992,
when she was the captain of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, held
near Edinburgh. She had also been the captain of the inaugu-
ral team, in 1990, when the Americans won handily in Florida.
“I left for Scotland knowing Mother was sick,” she said.
Kathy refers to her late father, the former mayor of Jal, New
Mexico, and the owner of a hardware store there, as Dad. Her

mother is always Mother. “I got a call in the middle of the Opposite: Whitworth at her home in Dallas in January.
night, at the hotel, that Mother had died. That was before the Left, clockwise from top: In 1962, rocking a courtesy
event had begun. I told the team that I had to fly home and Oldsmobile Starfire; hoisting the Solheim Cup in
I turned the reins over to one of my assistants.” The Ameri- 1990; with Harvey Penick, whose winning partnership
cans were trounced. “I didn’t handle it well. I shouldn’t have with Whitworth began in the late 1950s.
gone in the first place, that was my big mistake. I take full
responsibility for that loss.” necessity the schedule had geographic logic
built into it. Kathy drove in an era when all
Can you imagine any losing Ryder Cup captain saying some- the LPGA players drove, often two to a car.
thing similar? The tour was a tour. She made $1.7 million
in her LPGA career.
As best she can remember, she flew from Edinburgh to
Heathrow, Heathrow to JFK, JFK to Midland, Texas. From Curiously, one of the biggest checks of
there she drove to Jal. her career came in 2000, when Kathy was
61 and playing with J.C. Snead in a glorified
A lot of Kathy Whitworth stories start or end in Jal, a city exhibition. J.C.’s uncle is Sam, and over the
of 2,100 people and half that number in the 1940s, in the years Kathy had barrels of fun with The Slam-
straight-lined southeastern corner of New Mexico, just over mer at various clinics and receptions. But
the Texas border. A lot of Kathy Whitworth stories feature K-Whit’s fondness for Sam did not extend
Kathy Whitworth in a car, going here, coming from there. to J.C., a taciturn (some would say grumpy)
LPGA prize money was never gaudy in her era and out of man. Still, the organizers of that 2000 event,
the Hall of Fame Golf Challenge, paired them
anyway. Despite being a combined 24 years
older than the winning team of Beth Dan-
iel and Johnny Miller, Kathy and J.C. man-
aged to finish only five shots behind them,
good for second place. They split $120,000.
Kathy set aside Uncle Sam’s cut (don’t get
her started!) and bought herself a Lexus
with leather seats, no payment plan needed.
“I’d always wanted one,” she said. She got
herself one. She drove it for a decade.
When she first got on tour in 1958, at age 18 and after one
year at Odessa College, she drove the family car, a green,
four-door, manual-transmission Plymouth from the early
1950s. The car was already a road warrior before it logged its
first LPGA mile. While still in high school, Kathy and Mother
made a series of trips in that green Plymouth “to Austin, to see
Harvey.” Harvey Penick, of course. The Austin Country Club.
Four hundred miles there, U.S. 87 all the way. Three days of
golf. Four hundred miles home. A five-day trip.
“We had a pro at our nine-hole course in Jal, Hardy Louder-
milk,” she said. “Most pros, if they have a kid with some tal-
ent, they want to hold on to that kid. Hardy thought I needed
to see Harvey. He called him.
“The first time I saw Harvey, he changed my life forever.
That’s when I became a golfer. We spent the whole first day
working on the grip. He said, ‘It’s not the most important thing
but it’s the first thing.’ He said, ‘You place your hands on the

“The first time I saw Harvey, he changed my
life forever,” Whit says about Penick.

111

club, you don’t twist them.’ My mother was Left: At the 1967 LPGA Midwest Open in Columbus, Ohio, Whit schools a From top: AP Photo; USGA Museum
taking notes on a paper bag—it was the only trio of awestruck bros. Below: The golfer whose talent most dazzled her
piece of paper we had. Harvey gave me a was Mickey Wright. By 1995, the competitors looked like besties.
molded grip. I held it all night.
Kathy said. “That night—with friends, at dinner—I said, ‘When
“Eventually, Harvey gave me the magic you throw a toy for the puppies, you let that arm go. Same in
move. You don’t start the downswing from golf. You gotta let those arms go.’ ” It was a breakthrough, for
the top. You start it from the bottom. He’d teacher and student. In golf, the arms must go. Harvey talked
say, ‘You swing from the ground up.’ You about taking dead aim. Fine. A keeper, for sure. Kathy’s motto
don’t hear instructors saying that anymore.” is more basic yet: Let it go.

We spoke of her trips to see Harvey for There’s a whole world in these little scenes Kathy chose
at least an hour. Kathy talked about her father in the drive- to share. An athletic life, a social life, a teaching life. A home
way, her mother at the motel, the car in need of parts. She life, backed by a soundtrack of barking dogs. Kathy and Bettye
was in a reverie. have two black lab mongrels from an animal shelter, Lillie and
Jetta. Jetta has only one eye but gets along just fine.
Over the past 20 years, now and again, Kathy has tried to
teach her partner, Bettye Odle, something about playing golf. Kathrynne Whitworth gets along fine, too. She’s in good
They had some challenges. health. She’s managed her money well. She’s been most of the
places she ever wanted to see. She was last in Jal, her home-
“I did the one thing Harvey said not to do,” Kathy said. town, about five years ago. Drove there from Dallas, of course.
“ ‘Don’t give somebody more than two things to work on at Another 400-mile drive, in the opposite direction from Aus-
a time.’ But I loaded Bettye up. And it wasn’t going too well.
Finally, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I said, ‘I’m going to put tin. It’s a big country. Kathy Whitworth has
your hands on this club. Do not change this grip.’ She didn’t, logged a lot of weeks in Rochester, N.Y. In
and she actually started hitting some pretty good shots. Sylvania, Ohio. In Augusta, Ga. LPGA cap-
itals to Kathy Whitworth.
“Then one day we were in the backyard, hitting shots, and
I could see she wasn’t getting her arms away from her body,” She doesn’t know many people in Jal any-
more. Her parents and her two siblings, Car-
lynne and Evelynne, are dead. The aunt who
logged thousands of holes with Kathy, on
the nine-hole course in Jal, is still alive but
now living in Sacramento. (She and Kathy
speak every day.) The Whitworth family’s
small, wood-frame home, on South Fourth
Street in one of Jal’s first postwar devel-
opments, is still there, but nobody named
Whitworth has lived there for years.

Kathy told me about her last trip there,
alone. Staying in a hotel. Playing the Jal
course, or some of it, with a few clubs in
a carry bag, on a slip-out basis. Six holes,
some good shots, no birdies. Golfers know.
Golf is some teacher. This is Kathy Whitworth’s educa-
tion: four years at Jal High, one year at Odessa College, 35
years playing the LPGA Tour, sitting on its boards, promot-
ing its tournaments, helping players older and younger than
she. Getting help, too.
As we wound down a series of long interviews, I asked
Miss Whitworth if she had a philosophy of life she could
share, an insight into the human condition.
“We can all be honest with ourselves,” she said. “We can
accept who we are. But we can change the things we think
need changing.”
Then, after a brief pause:
“You should like yourself.”

112 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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FO R M O R E O N G O L F P O D C A S T S , V I S I T G O L F. C O M / N E W S / P O D C A S T S

THINK / PL AY / LIVE: THE ENLIGHTENED GAME

Lessonsin

Like Snead, “shal-
low,” or drop, your
arms down from
the top...

PGA of America via Getty Images ...then picture Ultimate Tips:
your midsection
moving slightly Six Great Moves
away from the from History
target...
By Lucas Wald, PGA
...while continuing
to rotate your lower MODERN SWING RESEARCH has been a
body (without slid- boon to instruction. Science now tells
ing). You’ll get that us what works and why. Yet sometimes
Snead-like “snap” it’s worth looking at ways players got
at impact and a things done before all this data began
power-rich inside- piling up, or how they “felt” their way
out delivery. to perfection. Here’s what to copy.

1. Sam Snead’s Sequencing
All great drivers follow a sequence using
what I call the “dance move.” Sam Snead
may have done it best. Make a big turn
on the backswing, plant yourself on the
ground, then rotate hard with very little
lateral movement. As part of this tran-
sition, your right knee will kick in, your
right heel will begin to lift and your lead
hip will stay well inside your lead heel—
just like The Slammer. Boom!

LOOK FOR THE DOTS: Each tip Shaky Low Short-game Short Swing High
throughout this section features putter hitter student handicapper
a corresponding color code to help Slicer handicapper sufferer
you understand which part of
your game it will improve the most.

115

Jack’s left heel 2. Jack’s Internal Turn Leonard Kamsler/Popperfoto via Getty Images (2)
lifts because he’s Certainly you’ve been told to “turn”
turning without on your backswing, but what does that
tension. really mean?

116 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1 Your swing has an “engine”—your
middle. How you move your middle—
pelvis, hips and upper legs—ultimately
decides the quality of your turn. Check
out how the great Jack Nicklaus is turn-
ing his pelvis clockwise in the photo at
left. Also notice how his right hip has
remained inside the heel of his right
shoe. This is important, because turn-
ing your right hip internally like this
gives you a full range of motion (and
Jack is certainly “ranging” here). Too
much side-to-side sliding restricts your
backswing turn and costs you power.

Copy Jack to properly keep the mid-
dle of your swing centered while max-
imizing your turn. Nicklaus’ hallmark
front-heel lift happens because he’s
turning freely, with no hint of ten-
sion, but his middle always stays cen-
tered.

Short Swing High
hitter student handicapper

Make as long a 3. Daly’s Long, Free-
backswing as
your body can Flowing Backswing
muster. Not only Just like a plane uses a lengthy runway
does it boost to build speed before taking off, a longer
swing speed, backswing increases swing speed and
it avoids injury adds power to your drives. It’s really
that often comes that simple. Here we see a young John
from swing- Daly, one of the longest hitters in his-
ing fast from tory, ready to let one loose. Not only is
a shorter top his backswing long, it’s way past par-
position. allel, something that even Ben Hogan
proved was perfectly suited for the
power game a generation prior.

The idea that a shorter, more “con-
trolled” backswing is better isn’t what
we see from the world’s best—not in
this generation or the past. Some say
it may improve your accuracy in the
short term, but it robs you of distance.
And if you swing hard from a shortened
backswing, you’ll risk an injury. A full,
unrestricted turn with a long backswing
is better for your drives—and for your
body.

117

Lessons THINK / PLAY / LIVE 4. Bubba’s “No-Slide”

Never stop rotat- Transition
ing your left hip— Just as in the backswing, sliding too
but don’t let it much on the downswing limits your
slide outside your ability to rotate through the ball and
left foot. create enough clubhead speed. If you
look at long drivers throughout history,
such as Sam Snead, Justin Thomas or
Bubba Watson (left), you’ll see how
their front hip remains well inside their
front foot as they swing through impact.
If you slide and move your front hip
over or outside your front foot, your
turn will stall—and your swing speed
will plummet.

Do this: As you start your down-
swing, shift your weight slightly for-
ward, but as you near impact, favor your
rear side as Bubba’s doing here. It’s this
“backward” shift near the moment of
impact that allows you to continue to
rotate and hit up on the ball with max-
imum velocity.

After shifting From left: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images; Alan Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
left from the top,
shift right like
Bubba does here
and prepare for
liftoff.

118 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Slicer Low Short Swing High
handicapper hitter student handicapper

Move the club Tiger’s “posting”
from low after on a straight left
impact to high leg. This allows him
in the finish. to clear his hips for
This ensures an maximum rotation.
upward angle of
attack, which 5. Tiger’s AOA
reduces unwanted Most of today’s big bombers—McIl-
backspin. roy, DeChambeau, Rahm and even
Tiger Woods (left)—optimize launch
A classic back toe angle off the tee. One of the ways to do
in the ground, this is to purposely hit up on the ball,
indicating his hips or increase your AOA (angle of attack).
have completed a Modern drivers are built to encourage
full rotation. an increase in AOA without adding too
much spin, producing a high launch that
maxes out carry. For decades the goal
for any elite player was to get the ball on
the ground and running quickly. Not any
more. Some pros swing up as much as
4 degrees. That’s taking serious advan-
tage of the modern driver design. Tee
it high, picture the clubhead moving
up on the ball and watch it fly!

119

Lessons THINK / PLAY / LIVE

6. Hogan’s Perfect Tempo From left: J. R. Eyerman/The Life Picture Collection via Getty Images; Courtesy Google Earth
We know the best and most dominant
golfers of all time swing fast. An over-
looked component of swinging fast is
tempo. What is tempo? In a word, it’s
the pace or speed of the swing meas-
ured in time. A good way to think of
the tempo of your swing is to look at
the ratio of backswing time to down-
swing time. According to Tour Tempo,
the magic ratio is 3:1, meaning that your
backswing should be three times longer
than your downswing. In other words,
if your backswing takes three seconds,
your downswing should take just one
second.

Try it yourself and you’ll realize
that 3:1 is fast! But none other than Ben
Hogan and a young Nicklaus instinc-
tively applied this ratio. The key here is
to make sure your backswing isn’t too
slow—a lot of rec players I see swing
more like 4:1 or even 5:1. Low and slow
won’t cut it. Add a little speed to your
backswing and see if you don’t see a
bump in accuracy and distance.

Crave effortless
power? Try to
make your down-
swing three times
faster than your
backswing. The
trick: Make a fast-
er backswing.

120 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Swing High
student handicapper

1. DRY LINE

It may take three

or four shots to get

home, but you’re

avoiding forced carry.

2. SENSIBLE LINE

You’re taking on some

water; be sure you’ve

4 got the distance.

3. HERO LINE

If you’re Rory, you can

take on this 295-yard

3 carry and leave less
than 200 yards in.

4. BRYSON LINE

As the crow flies,

No. 6 is only about 330
2 yards. You game?

31

Course Logic: How Much Can I Bite Off?

By Dylan Dethier, GOLF Senior Writer

THERE ARE PLENTY OF RISK-REWARD par 5s on the PGA your yardages. How far do you really carry driver? Give
Tour, but none looks quite like the boomerang, the 555-yard yourself room for error and pick a line accordingly.
6th at Bay Hill, Fla. (Arnold Palmer Invitational, March 4–7).
This mega-Cape hole creates quite the dilemma for players 3. Check your through line
off the tee: Pull off an aggressive drive and you have just
an iron approach, but fail to clear the water and you’re re- Yes, carrying the water should be your main concern. But
teeing, hitting 3. How to best manage a high-risk tee shot? that doesn’t mean you can completely ignore the far side
of the fairway, where bunkers, rough and worse are lurk-
1. Play the correct set of tees ing. Plan a proper yardage. If you make solid contact and
hit it where you’re aiming, you should be rewarded—not
The risk-reward element of a tee shot like this only works punished by scampering through the fairway.
if you’re playing the course from the correct length. Cam-
eron Champ hit a 9-iron into this green in 2020, but that’s 4. Play the game you’ve got
because his tee shot flew 356 yards. If you’re not a Tour
superhero, feel free to move up a box. Or two. If you’re a righty, the ideal tee shot here is a draw, which
starts away from the water and runs closer to the hole when
2. Know your carry it lands. But if you always hit a fade, don’t suddenly switch
things up now. Instead, focus on going through your rou-
Plenty of golfers “hit it 250” off the tee—but that doesn’t tine, getting your fundamentals in order and making solid
mean those same golfers can take on a 250-yard carry over contact. That will help encourage your ball to land on solid
water. A hole like this one is the perfect reminder to learn ground.

121

Lessons THINK / PLAY / LIVE

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BRYSON DECHAMBEAU transformed the clubface, one off the left. Repeat with your feet swinging as hard as you
himself into a bomber, and with a lit- heel and one off the center together. Then, three more possibly can. Break a sweat!
tle practice you can too. With the help (checking the face after swings while stepping into Keep track of your fastest
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122 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Low Short High
handicapper hitter handicapper

Keeping your
spine vertical and
your shoulders
level helps you
release the center
of mass with
maximum velocity
and max out the
transfer of energy
into the ball.

The orange ball
represents my
club’s center of
mass. The old-
school method
of “lagging” the
clubhead has since
been proven to
limit the speed at
which the center
of mass travels.

PRACTICE TEE

A NEW WAY TO TRANSFER MAX ENERGY

FOR A LONG TIME golfers assumed By Rick Silva, PGA the target is okay but too much costs
delaying the rotation of the club you power and invites potential pain.
and getting the shaft to lean for- now know that the clubhead should
ward at impact (the elements in “lag- rotate through impact rather than Keep it simple: Work toward a
ging” the club) was the best way to being held off for as long as possible. vertical spine with your shoulders
hit solid shots. Instructors worked (By the way, trying to force excessive relatively level to the ground as you
hard with students to develop this lag typically causes your spine to lean swing into the ball. Doing so aligns
dynamic, which also included delay- backward, trapping and suffocating the major joints of your body so that
ing the release of the hands and tim- the speed generated by your swing.) you can pull on the club and release
ing things so that everything would it with maximum efficiency and
“unload” right at impact. Thanks to The key to maxing out the release velocity.
the advent of 3D swing analysis, we of energy from your swing to the ball Rick Silva is the founder of Movement3
is in your spine and shoulders. As you Golf and is based in Chicago, Ill.
approach impact, your spine needs
to be vertical—a slight tilt away from

123

Lessons THINK / PLAY / LIVE

Drill Skills: How to Check that Your Swing Is on Track

By Top 100 Teacher Mark Hackett

GETTING YOUR BACKSWING moving in the right direction Keep in mind that the roller is a visual cue positioned
is an important part of getting your drives moving in the to help you, not scare you. Use it as a guide for your swing.
right direction too. Here’s a way to work on it.
The goal here is to keep the clubhead flush with the
Place a foam roller (or alignment stick) parallel to your roller or alignment stick as you take back the club. Keep
target line. Put a ball an inch from the roller, then address it, your hands in while moving the club along the foam roller
aiming your club toward the target and setting your stance (representing your target line) throughout your takeaway.
line parallel to the roller. You’re set to get all-important feed- You’re doing it right if you feel your left arm swing across
back on your aim, alignment and swing direction. your chest with the club more in front of you.

Now swing. If your motion is too much from in-to-out, Coming through, smoothly rotate your body into a full
you will hit the inside part of the foam roller. If it moves finish. When you miss the roller or rod, you know your
too much from out-to-in, you’ll strike the outer portion of
the roller. Both of those moves can cause inconsistent con- swing is back on track.
tact and directional issues.
Mark Hackett is the director of instruction at Old Palm GC in

Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Keep your hands
in and your club-
head out so it
tracks down the
target line as you
start back.

124 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Shaky Slicer Swing High
putter student handicapper

PERFECT PRACTICE PLAY SMART

From left: Josh Ritchie; Illustration by Ben Mounsey-Wood; Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images UNDERSTAND HOW TO RAISE A MAJOR CHAMP
YOUR MISSES
By Luke Kerr-Dineen, GOLF’s Game Improvement Editor
By Luke Kerr-Dineen
TIGER WOODS and establishing confidence, creativity and
The clubface sends it and his 11-year-old son, a love for the game.
the path bends it. It’s a simple Charlie, made their
phrase that you’d do well to keep much-anticipated de- “Part of this means not getting
in mind, because it helps diag- but at the PNC Father/ overly concerned with technique.” Yar-
nose the issues facing your game. Son Challenge late last year. It was a wood points out that Charlie’s swing
All you need to know is your club heartwarming display but also an is a little “steep” from the top. “That’s
path (which is the direction your informative one. What can you learn okay,” he says. “A young golfer’s swing
club is traveling into impact) and from how one of the greatest players in will change as their body continues
your face angle (the direction history teaches his own son? For that, to develop.
your face is pointing at impact). we consulted the director of instruc-
The way those two elements tion at the International Junior Golf “Like a lot of kids, Charlie’s body
combine determines the type of Academy and GOLF Top 100 Teacher will outrace his arms on the down-
shot you’ll hit. Jonathan Yarwood. swing,” he says. “He’s probably not
Straight: When the club path “The first and most important rule strong in his core just yet, but it’s some-
is traveling down the target line of teaching your kids to play golf is to thing he’ll develop over time.”
and your face angle is zero at make sure it’s fun. Don’t layer them
impact, the ball will go straight. with expectations and pressure,” Yar- A final note: Train your young golfer
Ideal combo. wood says. “The early years are about to swing hard. Training for speed in the
Push/Pull: A push or pull happens early years will last a lifetime. “It’s a
when your clubface is square to skill that becomes harder to develop
your path, but your path is mov- as you grow older,” Yarwood says.
ing either left or right to your tar-
get. So a pull is when your club
path is moving left of your tar-
get (out-to-in for right-handed
golfers) with a closed clubface; a
push is when your club is moving
to the right of your target (from
in-to-out) with an open clubface.
Hook/Slice: Hooks and slices
happen when the clubface and
path are moving in different
directions. If your clubface is
open but your club path is moving
out-to-in: slice. If your clubface is
closed and your path is in-to-out:
hook.

125

Lessons Slicer Short High
hitter handicapper
ROTATE
It’s better to imagine Play your wedges
a heavy basket than to and short irons
actually hold one full slightly behind
of balls. As you rotate the middle of your
and pass the basket to stance and closer
your side, keep it level to your body.
to the ground.

DON’T DIP OR RISE
If you lift more than you
rotate on either side of
the basket, not only will
you spill the imaginary golf
balls in front of you, you
might develop a sore back
in the process, to say noth-
ing of a forgettable shot.

SWING THOUGHT

DON’T SPILL THE BASKET!

By Top 100 Teacher VJ Trolio

SOMETIMES IT HELPS to put your clubs You wouldn’t lift up, arch your back the same. It’s when you add unneces- Christian Hafer
aside and get back to the fundamen- or heave the basket upward with your sary motions (bending, arching, lift-
tals for how your swing ought to look arms—all legitimate backswing errors. ing up) that your swing goes kaput (and
and feel. I’m not saying you have to Instead, you’d rotate to your right while you lose some balls from the basket).
leave the driving range, but instead keeping the basket level and directly in
of swinging a club swing a large range front of your chest. (If that’s not what Use this drill as a warm-up when
basket (or similarly sized item if you’re you’d do, it’s what you should do.) you visit the range and then repeat it at
at home). Hold the basket in front of the midpoint of your practice session
you while standing in your golf pos- “Passing” the basket like this mim- to ensure that you’re turning correctly
ture. Imagine the basket is filled with ics the moves inherent in a fundamen- and not tilting or lifting excessively
golf balls up to the rim. As you begin tally sound backswing with the correct on both sides of your swing. You’ll
to think about your backswing, ask amount of rotation and connectivity develop a better rotation back and
yourself, How would I pass the bas- between your arms and torso. Sure, through the ball while mitigating the
ket to someone on my immediate you use more joints and connected chance of injury.
right without dumping out any balls? parts when swinging a club for real, VJ Trolio runs The Teaching Center at
but the basic motions are essentially Old Waverly GC in West Point, Miss.

126 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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Last Off

Michael Strahan

THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER IS NOW THE HARDEST-WORKING MAN IN SHOW
BUSINESS. BUT HE STILL HAS TIME TO TAKE YOUR MONEY.

By Chris Nashawaty

G: When did you first pick get in the way of your swing? Michael Schwartz/Trunk Archive
up a club? MS: Absolutely gets in
MS: In 1996. I kept being the way. It’s hard to wear
asked to play and I didn’t that thing just walking
really want to, but I down the street! When
thought it might be a good we were designing the
way to meet people. I got ring, they were asking if
hooked immediately. we wanted it big or small.
G: How decent are you? I raised my hand and said
MS: I don’t embarrass I wanted a ten-table ring.
myself. My average is 81, And they said, “What’s
but I’ll shoot in the 70s. a ten-table ring?” It’s a
G: Do you bet? ring you can see from ten
MS: Every time. But it’s tables away when you
not about the money; walk into a restaurant.
I can wager a buck a G: You have your athlei-
hole. It’s more about the sure line coming to Men’s
competition. I just want Wearhouse this month.
something to hold over Do you have golf wear?
your head at the end. MS: Oh, yeah. Polos, pull-
G: What’s the most money overs, you name it. To
you’ve ever bet on a round? quote my friend Deion
MS: Probably about three Sanders, “You look good,
grand. I don’t want to you feel good. You feel
make it to the point where good, you play good. You
anyone’s shaking to death play good, they pay good.”
over a one-foot putt. G: Would you like to design
G: With all of your jobs— the Masters’ green jacket?
Fox NFL Sunday, GMA, The $100,000 Pyramid—and your MS: Absolutely! That would be the sweetest Masters jacket
various businesses, where do you find the time to play? you’ve ever seen!
MS: What I’ve learned to do is look at the weather for the week G: Who plays you in the movie biopic of your life?
and allocate certain days. Like on a Thursday, I will leave MS: I would say Denzel, but he’s a little older than I am.
GMA, play a round, go to my garage in Jersey, then go straight I guess whoever’s willing to put a prosthetic gap in their teeth.
to Thursday Night Football. I’ll plan my days around golf. G: How much would you pay to shave ten points off your golf
G: What feels better, sacking Tom Brady or making birdie? game forever?
MS: Oh, Tom Brady, for sure! A birdie feels fantastic, but MS: More than I have in the bank.
sacking Tom Brady feels incredible. You get to hit another
man, get paid for it and not go to jail. That’s fantastic. Chris Nashawaty has written for Vanity Fair, Esquire and Sports Illustrated,
G: Can you wear a Super Bowl ring when you play golf or does it
and is the author of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story.

128 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1