Bump and run: Use an eight or nine iron on chip shots around the green where you have plenty of room. Make a stroke similar to a long putt. Rock your shoulders back and through with an accelerated stroke and no wrist action. This shot both minimizes the chance of a miss-hit and is fairly easy to control.
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Greenside bunker shot: It is inevitable; at some point all of us will end up in a bunker. Therefore, we all need to have the tools to escape with a decent shot. Play the ball in the middle of your stance. Use a highly lofted club like a sand or lob wedge. Open the face up as much as possible and slide the club under the ball using a full swing.
By Henry G. Lucero Photos Caitlin Elizabeth
Before you can achieve perfection, you must catch the momentum that anything is possible. This requires a deep mindset that can satisfy the soul and yet, without a doubt, frustrate the intellect. And when it comes to learning the game of golf, Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe’s PGA head pro, Julio “Alo” Brodsky, goes the extra mile to keep the course on par by helping golfers achieve their very best.
The “knockdown:” Playing golf in New Mexico, where the wind can blow excessively—especially in the springtime, it is essential to learn how to hit a low shot called a “knockdown,” even with higher lofted clubs. First, take one extra club—if the wind is really in your face you made need two or more extra clubs. Take the club back a little more to the inside than normal. When you follow through, turn your hips and accelerate through as you would on a typical swing, but try to abbreviate the follow-through with the club as much as possible by finishing low and not letting the club head go higher than your waist.
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native Santa Fean and die-hard golfer, Brodsky grew up with a love to play the game. His focus has always been on building consistency and confidence in someone’s ability to play the game. “If you’re going to take up golf, be sure to get instruction from a certified professional,” Brodsky encourages. “Learn the fundamentals of grip, alignment, posture and ball-striking. Don’t develop bad habits.” After living in Colorado for a few years, he moved back to Santa Fe in 2009, and soon found himself following his passion by working at Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe. “I really enjoy working in the community I grew up in, and am grateful to be the head pro at our municipal golf course,” he says. “I get a lot of intrinsic value out of working with the community and teaching golf to locals.” The course offers individual private lessons, as well as group clinics for up to eight people. For youth, junior lessons are available through the Little Linksters junior golf camp, which runs throughout the summer.
In thinking about what makes the city course unique, Brodsky reflects: “In addition to our championship 18-hole course, we have a great par three course. It’s accessible and straightforward for a beginning golfer; you can see the layout of the course in front of you from start to finish. Conversely, it can be challenging
for a more experienced golfer as you go back in distance. We have a particularly high quality public course for a very reasonable price.” For those of you ready to hit the course, here are three basic shots Brodsky believes every golfer needs to know:
If history has taught us anything, this sport is both maddening and rewarding at the same time. It’s why people spend so much time perfecting their game. It’s reenergizing. It’s satisfying. It’s relaxing. It’s a love that sparks for total and ultimate perfection. Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe 205 Caja del Rio Rd. 505.955.4400 LinksdeSantaFe.com