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Northern Ohio Advertising Sales James Lynam - Senior Advertising Director
Business Relations Stephan Roose • Jennifer Masson
Editors
Graphic Design
Brent Williams • Jeff Carpineta Michael O’Donnell • Michelle Wood Ryan Fleming
Jennifer Masson - Director of Operations Brent Williams - Director of Graphic Design Ryan Fleming - Layout Coordinator
Contributing Writers
Contributing Designers
John Carpineta • Elizabeth Evers Larry Denton • Henry Vernon Lorraine Simpson • Alan LeStourgeon Lisa Kai Lee • David Ferrers Debra Fortosis • Noel King Daniel Collins • Jim Burke
Brent Williams • Doriano Riosa Rafael Baez • Adriane Marseille
Website & New Media Blake Wilhelm - Senior Web Developer Brent Williams - Junior Web Developer
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Northern Ohio
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Origin of the Game 2013-2014 PGA Tour Schedule 3 Steps to Improve Your Swing Eastern Amputee Golf Association The Health Benefits of Golf Overcoming: The Pitfalls of 2013 - Rory McIlroy
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Driving Growth with Golf 2.0 The Walter Hagen Story Does Your Swing Tempo Need a Tune Up? How to Lower Your Scores NOW! Grip Tip for the Yips & Other Putting Woes Hawaiian Golf Getaways Business Directory
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Origin of the Game
“Dispelling the Myths” When and where did golf begin? Everyone knows golf originated in Scotland, right? Welllllllll ... yes and no. It’s definitely true that golf as we know it emerged in Scotland. The Scots were playing golf in its very basic form - take a club, swing it at a ball, move ball from starting point to finishing hole in as few strokes as possible - by at least the mid-15th Century. In fact, the earliest known reference to golf comes from King James II of Scotland, who, in 1457, issued a ban on the playing of golf and football (soccer). Those games, James complained, were keeping his archers from their practice. James III in 1471 and James IV in 1491 each re-issued the ban on golf. But the game continued to develop in Scotland over the decades and centuries, until 1744 when the first-known rules of golf were put down in writing in Edinburgh. Golf as it was then played would be easily recognized by any modern golfer. But can it be said that the Scots “invented” golf? Not quite, because there’s strong evidence that the Scots were influenced themselves by even earlier versions of games that were similar in nature. Here’s what the USGA Museum says about the issue: “While many Scots firmly maintain that golf evolved from a family of stick-and-ball games widely practiced throughout the British Isles during the Middle Ages, considerable evidence suggests that the game derived from stick-and-ball games that were played in France, Germany and the Low Countries.” Part of that evidence is the etymology of the word “golf” itself. “Golf” derives from the Old Scots terms “golve” or “goff,” which themselves evolved from the medieval Dutch term “kolf.” The medieval Dutch term “kolf” meant “club,” and Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 5
the Dutch were playing games (mostly on ice) at least by the 14th Century in which balls were struck by sticks that were curved at the bottom until they were moved from Point A to Point B. Sounds a lot like hockey, doesn’t it? Except that it sort of sounds like golf, too (except for that ice part). The Dutch and Scots were trading partners, and the fact that the word “golf” evolved after being transported by the Dutch to the Scots lends credence to the idea that the game itself may have been adapted by the Scots from the earlier Dutch game. Something else that lends credence to that idea: Although the Scots played their game on parkland (rather than ice), they (or least some of them) were using balls they acquired in trade from ... Holland. And the Dutch game wasn’t the only similar game of the Middle Ages. Going back even farther, the Romans brought their own stick-and-ball game into the British Isles. So does that mean that the Dutch (or someone else other than that Scots) invented golf? No, it means that golf grew out of games that were played in different parts of Europe. But we’re not trying to deny the Scots their place in golf history. The Scots made a singularimprovement to all the games that came before: They dug a hole in the ground, and made getting the ball into that hole the object of the game. As we said at the beginning, for golf as we know it, we definitely have the Scots to thank.
Does it Stand for “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden”? Did the word “golf” originate as an acronym for “gentlemen only, ladies forbidden”? That’s a common old wives’ tale. Or, in this case, more likely an old husband’s tale. No, “golf” is not an acronym for “gentlemen only, ladies forbidden.” If you’ve ever heard that, forget it immediately. Better yet, find the person who told you and let them know it’s not true. Like most modern words, the word “golf” derives from older languages and dialects. In this case, the languages in question are medieval Dutch and old Scots. The medieval Dutch word “kolf” or “kolve” meant “club.” It is believed that word passed to the Scots, whose old Scots dialect transformed the word into “golve,” “gowl” or “gouf.” By the 16th Century, the word “golf” had emerged. Sources: British Golf Museum, USGA Library
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What was the First Public Golf Course in the United States?
When Van Cortlandt Golf Course opened in New York City in 1895, it became the first public golf course in America. There were other golf courses in the U.S. by that time - perhaps 100 or more - but Van Cortlandt was the first built for the masses. And Van Cortlandt Golf Course is still in operation today, the centerpiece of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The park also boasts a lake and two nature trails. In Van Cortlandt Park you’ll also find the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. The aqueduct, built during the 1830s and 1840s, was New York City’s first major water supply project.
How Did the Size of the Golf Hole Come to Be Standardized at 4.25 Inches?
Question: How Did the Size of the Golf Hole Come to Be Standardized at 4.25 Inches? Answer: How many times have you lipped out a putt and wished that the size of the hole on the green was just a smidge larger? Why is the hole that size to begin with? That’s one of our most frequently asked questions: How did the hole come to be standardized at its current size of 4.25 inches in diameter? Like so many things in golf, the standardized size of the hole comes to us courtesy of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, with an assist from the links at Musselburgh. In new rules issued in 1891, the R&A determined that the hole size should be standard on golf courses everywhere. So the R&A discussed just what exactly that size should be. The size they decided on was 4.25 inches in diameter. The reason is that the folks at Musselburgh (now a 9-hole municipal course and called Royal Musselburgh Golf Club) had invented, in 1829, the first known hole-cutter. That ancient hole-cutter is still in existence and is on display at Royal Musselburgh. That first hole-cutter utilized a cutting tool that was, you guessed it, 4.25 inches in diameter. The folks running the R&A apparently liked that size and so adopted it in their rules for 1891. And as was usually the case, the rest of the golf world followed in the footsteps of the R&A. The exact reasons for why that first tool cut holes at the now-standard diameter are lost to history. But it was almost certainly a completely arbitrary thing, a notion supported by the story that the tool was built from some excess pipe that was laying about the Musselburgh links. Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 7
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STEPS
TO IMPROVE YOUR SWING
After you set your golf club behind your golf ball and your hands onto the grip of the club, you should be a stepper. Your feet have three responsibilities and in order to accomplish each of these it can and should take as many steps to do so:
#1 Ball Position.......................... W
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hen stepping your feet, it is imporhe ball position should be more in tant that you accomplish proper ball line with the forward instep, the left position for the club and the situation step should be smaller and the right, at hand. widening step should be wider.
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f you are hitting an iron, hybrid or fairway wood, with your golf ball on the ground in a relatively flat lie, you should he proper foot work will accomplish step your feet equidistantly apart as you widen them so that the club is cen- the right ball position, making proper tered in your body at the completion of contact possible. your stepping.
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STEPS
TO IMPROVE YOUR SWING
#2 Proper Distance
When stepping your feet, you must also adjust your distance from your club and ball so that you are in the proper posture (bowing forward from your hips) and adjusting your feet to the point where you feel your hands hanging directly below your shoulders. With each club, you should consistently be the same distance from the end of the grip of the club to your body. This is the measuring point, rather than to the ball, which should change as the length of each club changes.
#3 Alignment
When stepping your feet, after you’ve properly aimed your clubface to the target, you need to stand so that the line through your toes is parallel to the target line, thus left of the target. This line through your toes should be “parallel left.” This line is parallel to the target line but left of the target, much like railroad tracks. As you can see, your feet have many responsibilities during your set up routine. Therefore, I like to see a minimum of four steps to adjust and prefer six to eight steps. The first couple of steps may be larger to get you in the rough vicinity of the right distance, and the remaining make the smaller adjustments necessary to be particular about ball position, proper distance from the golf club and proper alignment. You will also tend to see better players taking more steps. Besides accomplishing each of these responsibilities, it can also serve to relax the body and help with rhythm. Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 15
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The Health Benefits of golf by: Norleen Gray
BELIEVE IT OR NOT... golf is actually good for your health. Even the United States Golf Association thinks so; they also advise that you should walk the golf course and try to avoid – as much as possible – riding golf carts. Although riding golf carts is the most convenient way to get yourself from one hole to the next, it will actually be good for your body if you walk your legs along the greens. Doing so pumps your heart, circulates the blood all over your body, and is a good and fun way of exercising. David Fay from the United States Golf Association also thinks that the most pleasurable way to play golf is by walking. Riding carts, he said, should as much as possible be stopped now. Walking is a good form of exercise. It is the most basic and easy program of getting fit which almost anyone could do. Simply put, walking is good for you. Although some believe that walking the golf course is a very unhealthy thing to do because of the nature of the game – the start and stop process of golf playing. In actuality though, there have been scientific studies as well as evidence of people actually telling their personal experiences on the positive effects of walking through a game of golf.
In Sweden in particular, there are researchers who discovered that walking through a game of golf equals to about forty to seventy percent of intense workout in an aerobics class. This is assuming that about eighteen holes were played. In another study by a cardiologist named Edward Palank, golfers who walked were found to be in a better state of health because the level of bad cholesterol in their body decreased. Meanwhile, the level of their good cholesterol was steady. Those golfers who settled to ride their way across the golf course on golf carts, however, did not show these same positive health results. Also, according to Golf Science International, four hours of golf playing was found to be comparable to attending a forty five minute fitness class.
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The Health Benefits of golf by: Norleen Gray
Another golf association, specifically the Northern Ohio Golf Association, stated that when a golfer walks across a course, it is roughly equivalent to walking for three to four miles. This included walking around hills, over greens and tees. Not convinced yet? Maybe you should try doing the following activities and see, as well as feel, the difference for yourself. During a round of golf, try to walk along alternating holes so that by the end of your round of golf you should be able to have walked through a total of nine holes. If you are feeling not up to it yet as fully as you should, that is okay. Maybe you could try walking on a set of nines while you can ride the other set. If you have a golf partner and he or she insists that you ride along with him or her, make sure that you only ride on the path of the cart. You can then walk down to the fairway towards your ball and then your partner could bring the golf cart up. Are you convinced yet? If not, try to look at it this way. If your health is not good enough for you to settle to walk those legs and pump that good old heart of yours, then at least take pity and be considerate of the damage that golf carts do to fairways. 20 | Priority One Marketing Group, LLC
Are You Convinced Yet? Believe it or not, golf carts do create damage around sand traps and around the greens. Even if carts are not supposed to ride along these areas, sometimes though, depending on who is behind the golf cart’s wheel, they still at times do. For the sake of the greens, go walk! Because of advances in technology, there are now grasses that are able to grow on areas that they originally are not supposed to grow on at all. As a result of this, golf courses look as amazing as they were before. Unfortunately, these same golf courses are as subject to a lot of wear and tear as well. Driving a golf cart along these beautiful greens subjects them to unnecessary damage. So now that you know, it would not hurt you to consider walking along, across, over, or through those greens now would it?
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The Walter Hagen Story
Walter Hagen (1892-1969), often referred to by golf fans as “Sir Walter” or “The Haig,” was the first superstar of American golf. Hagen earned his fame by winning tournaments with spectacular recovery shots and unmatched putting ability, skills that made up for his unpredictable tee shots. He is remembered as a master gamesman with an uncanny ability to remain relaxed and make the game of golf fun.
Hagen was born in Rochester, New York, on December 21, 1892, into a middle-class family of Dutch descent. His parents were William, a blacksmith for auto shops, and Louise Balko Hagen. As a child Hagen excelled at both golf and baseball. He became the leading baseball pitcher in the district, honing his fastball in his backyard after teaching his sister to catch for him. He was also exposed to golf at an early age, shagging balls at the Country Club of Rochester by the age of seven. During his teenage years Hagen wavered between pursuing a career in baseball or golf. Finally, speculating that baseball required the skills of eight teammates, Hagen decided to choose the sport over which he alone controlled his destiny.
Became a Golf Professional When the National Open came to Buffalo, New York, in 1912, 20-yearold Hagen, having been promoted to working in the pro shop, asked his boss, club pro Andy Christie, for time off to play the tournament. Christie, afraid Hagen would be easily out-played by the professionals, refused to allow him to enter, but afforded him time off to watch the tournament. When Hagen returned from watching Johnny McDermott win the Open, he was wholly unimpressed with the play of the field. The following year Hagen was determined to enter the ranks of the golf greats. In his first outing at the 1913 Shawnee Open he played respectably but failed to finish in the money. Hagen’s brash personality first came to the attention of the pros in 30 | Priority One Marketing Group, LLC
the same year when he entered the National Open in Brookline, Massachusetts. The odds makers were favoring Harry Vardon or Ted Ray to win the tournament. Hagen made a legendary entrance into the locker room prior to the start of play and introduced himself to McDermott amidst a group of onlookers, explaining that he had come down from Rochester to help him stop Vardon and Ray. The golfers chuckled, but Hagen won new respect by finishing in a tie with McDermott for fourth place, with Francis Ouimet taking the victory away from Vardon and Ray. In 1914 Hagen won his first tournament, the U.S. Open at Midlothian in Chicago. Hagen led from first round, shooting a new course record of 68. Going into the final day of play, Hagen held a four-stroke lead over crowd favorite Chick Evans, an advantage that Evans reduced to one by the time Hagen reached the final hole. According to Herbert Warren Wind in The Story of American Golf, “All Chicago, it seemed, was following Evans. Playing about three holes ahead of Chick, with no gallery to speak of, Hagen heard one mighty roar after another come from Evans’ mob. All the way in Hagen heard the bursts of applause from Evans’ gallery telling him that Chick was still coming.” Hagen showed the first signs of his uncanny ability to focus and stay calm despite unnerving pressure, sinking an 8-foot putt on the final hole to win by one stroke.
Wins and Losses Many were skeptical that the new champion could maintain his place among the leading golfers. His swing on his tee shots was unorthodox at best, and whether his drive would land in the fairway or in the rough to the left or to the right, no one, not even Hagen, was ever sure. But his putting skills, deft short iron play, and ability to get himself out of the trouble caused by his regular miscues gave him the ability to win tournaments. Grantland Rice, a sportswriter who followed Hagen throughout his career, wrote in The Tumult and the Shouting: My Life in Sport, “Walter Hagen, a dazzling ornament to the history of sport, had the soundest golf philosophy I’ve ever known. More importantly, he applied it. ‘Grant,’ he said, ‘I expect to make at least seven mistakes each round. Therefore, when I make a bad shot I don’t worry about it. It’s just one of the seven.”’ According to Rice, “A mistake meant nothing to him. Neither did defeat. He scorned second place. ‘The crowd remembers only the winner. I’d as soon finish tenth as second,’he said.” Hagen’s distracters were not entirely wrong. Hagen’s career performance was, in fact, a series of peaks and valleys. He always went for the win when other golfers opted for safer play to place in the money. He won in spectacular fashion, and sometimes he lost in similar style. In 1915 Hagen failed to defend his U.S. Open crown, and the following year was not even in contention. He took an even bigger blow in 1920 during his first attempt to play in the British Open, characterized by barren, bunker-filled courses and strong winds. Because Hagen lofted his shots high in the air, some predicted that his basically unsound game would be completely dismantled by the winds and bunkers. Confident as always, Hagen teed up the first day of play but ended with an abysmal score of 83 and finished the second day in last place of the field of 53. However, nothing could shake the unshakable Hagen. The next year he finished in sixth place at St. Andrews. In 1922 he won at Sandwich, becoming the first American to win a British Open. He would return to win again in 1924, 1928, and 1929. Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 31
By the end of the 1920s, Hagen had established himself as one of the greatest and most colorful golfers of his time. During his career he won the U.S. Open twice (1914 and 1919), the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship five times (1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927), and the British Open four times (1922, 1924, 1928, and 1929). He also won the French Open (1920), the Belgian Open (1924), and the Canadian Open (1931). Preferring to have a major title to his name throughout the year, Hagen did not mind working his way around the U.S. circuit. He won opens in Massachusetts (1915), Michigan (1921 and 1931), New York (1922), and Texas (1923 and 1929); three Metropolitan Opens (1916, 1919, and 1920); two North and South Opens (1918 and 1923), five Western Opens (1916, 1921, 1926, 1927, and 1932); one Eastern Open (1926); and the Gasparilla Open (1935). He was also selected to play as a member of the American Ryder Cup team, which played golf against teams from other nations, in 1927, 1929, 1921, 1933, and 1935. He was the nonplaying captain of the Ryder Cup team in 1937.
(Above) Walter Hagen holds the Claret Jug, which he retained after winning the 1929 British Open at Muirfield
More than a Superstar
Hagen did more for golf than win tournaments. He was the sport’s first superstar, ambassador, and flamboyant personality. According to Stephen Goodwin in Golf Magazine, “Hagen could have been a poster boy for the 1920s. As a professional golfer, he became an international celebrity, known not only for his accomplishments on the golf course, but his extravagant lifestyle. His story wasn’t exactly a tale of rags-to-riches, but he made pots of money and spent it with legendary abandon. He liked to travel in chauffeur-driven limousines, and he once showed up on the first tee of an exhibition match in top hat and tails, and a wee bit tipsy.” Hagen enjoyed drinking and was known to occasionally arrive at a tournament or exhibition match slightly late and still wearing the clothes from the day before. His love of show did not bode well for his two marriages. He wed Margaret Johnson in 1917. They had one child and were divorced in 1921. He married Edna Strauss in 1924, and they divorced in 1934. Financially, Hagen was the first professional golfer to reach 1 million dollars in earnings and spent it all on extravagance as he went. He was also the first golfer to hire an agent to represent him. Hagen, like no other pro before him, knew the power of image and appearance. 32 | Priority One Marketing Group, LLC
The King of Match Play Match play was where Hagen was the king of his domain, which included the PGA Championship. He won 29 consecutive matches in the PGA Championship and 34 out of the 36 he played. He also played in some legendary match play exhibitions. Perhaps the most famous was the 1926 challenge match between Hagen and the great amateur golfer, Bobby Jones. Publicized as a battle between amateur and pro, Jones was considered by most to be a better golfer; however, Hagen was the supreme match player. According to Pat Seelig in Golf Magazine, Jones, who was already considered a great golfer and a favorite of the press, represented golf in its unsullied purity as an amateur, whereas “on the other hand was Walter Hagen, a brilliant showman for whom money was nothing more than something to spend-and the only way to get it was by playing golf. In other words, professional golf at its best-or worst.” In his usual manner, Hagen combined ridiculously poor shots with brilliant recoveries and spectacular putting to take the lead. Jones, who agonized over every errant shot and bemoaned each Hagen recovery, lost his focus, and Hagen won the two-round match, 12 and 11. He was not only a master of playing golf, he was also a master at playing people. This made match play, in which score is tallied by the number of holes won, not total shots, a perfect venue for Hagen who loved to play with the minds of his opponents. John M. Ross described Hagen’s “applied psychology” in Golf Magazine, “One of Hagen’s most successful tactics was to lull an opponent into swapping banter between shots, getting him so amused he was vulnerable to a crack in concentration when important shots were played. Hagen, on the other hand, could turn off the fun like a light switch and devote total attention to the task at hand.” Hagen would distract younger opponents with conversations of a possible invitation to a future exhibition tournament. He acknowledged in his autobiography The Walter Hagen Story (1956): “Through the years I’ve been accused of dramatizing shots. Of making the difficult shots look easy and the easy shots look difficult. Only that last came naturally, believe me. Well, I always figured the gallery had a show coming to them. I deny I ever held up a game by any such shenanigans, but I don’t deny playing for the gallery. I don” deny trying to make my game as interesting and as thrilling to the spectators as it was possible for me to make it.”
Sir Walter Despite his love for flashy clothes, limousines, and nightclubs, Hagen was the consummate gentleman, always charming and at ease, making others, including Hollywood stars and British royalty, desire to be in his presence. As Sir Walter, Hagen was both golf star and entertainer. Wind concludes, “Great as he was as a golfer, he was even greater as a personality-an artist with a sense of timing so infallible that he could make tying his shoelaces seem more dramatic than the other guy’s hole-in-one.” Hagen was named a charter member of the PGA Hall of Fame in 1940 and retired the following year. He died in Traverse City, Michigan, on October 5, 1969. Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 33
fast, medium or slow. You have a natural swing tempo, one that feels smooth and rhythmic, that gives you optimal ball-striking ability. When you swing in tempo it feels effortless, while the ball flies straighter and farther than usual.
Have you ever wondered how you play your best one day and the next time you can’t play worth a hoot? You would think that you would be able to take that same swing back to the course and get nearly the same results. How is it that there can be ten strokes or more difference between back to back rounds? Is it that the course is different? Yes, tees and pins are in different positions each day. Conditions can vary day to day as well; things like wind and rain will affect your play. The biggest reason though is that your body is different each day and that makes your swing different as well. The difference can be attributed to your swing tempo. You need to stay in sync and in rhythm from round to round to consistently play your best. It makes sense to pay careful attention to this aspect of your golf swing. So many overlook this swing fundamental, becoming frustrated and confused with an unreliable golf swing. Tempo can be a hard subject to explain because there is a huge “feel” aspect to it. It is not just about speed;
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It might help to define tempo. The best definition I’ve heard is that tempo is the time it takes to complete a full swing beginning at takeaway all the way through to the follow through finish position. It is true that tempo varies from player to player. It is also true that it varies from day to day with the same player. The key here is to recognize when your tempo is either faster or slower than it should be and make the proper adjustments. Wouldn’t it be great if your tempo were at its peak every day? Golf would be a lot easier and handicaps would be lower too. Enough with the daydreaming. The truth is that to be aware of the changes in swing tempo and to know how to adjust or correct is the difficult part. We focus so much on mechanics that we overlook this key aspect of the golf swing.
THE KEY HERE IS TO RECOGNIZE WHEN YOUR TEMPO IS EITHER FASTER OR SLOWER
Follow Through Drill
This is another range drill. Address Four Ball Drill
You should tee up four balls in row at
the range. Begin by hitting one using just 25 percent of you full swing speed. Move to the next and use a 50 percent swing, then 75 percent on the third and full speed on the last. Focus in on the difference in feel for each of the swings. Remember you are to adjust your speed from the beginning to the end. Don’t decelerate on the downswing just pick a speed and stick to it throughout the swing. How did those swings feel? Did you make solid contact with all of them? Notice the distance for each shot?
Melody Drill
Put your swing to the tempo of a song
you enjoy. Choose a song that fits with the desired tempo of your golf swing. I have done this with much success. One is takeaway, two is the top of the backswing, three is impact and four is the finish position. Try singing this in your head in the manner “One and two and three and four”. It will help you find and maintain your swing rhythm.
the ball. Raise the club head off the ground enough to swing it over top of the ball. Swing it forward past the ball about a foot. Then start your backswing back over the ball to a full and complete backswing and then execute the downswing into the ball as normal. Repeat often. You should pay particular attention to the feel of the weight of the clubhead. At the two points where the club changes direction the transition should be smooth and in time with the club. This will help you to get in tune with the club and the proper swing tempo. Swing tempo is an essential but often ignored fundamental. If you want to play well consistently you will need to be in tune with your body and the swing tempo it is producing. Know your best swing tempo and adjust on those days when things just aren’t all in sync as they should be. These drills will help you tune up your swing tempo. We all need a tune up now and again. Improved ball striking and scoring is sure to follow. Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 35
NOW!
HOW TO LOWER YOUR SCORES…
Do you want to lower your scores? Silly question isn’t it? Everyone wants to lower his or her scores. High handicappers and low handicappers alike want to shoot lower scores and it’s the lifelong quest golfers search for. The search goes on to develop the ideal swing and lower scores. There are 3 Keys to shooting lower scores and they are keys you can use to shoot lower scores NOW! Here are the 3 Keys #1 PLAY THE SHOT THAT NEEDS TO BE PLAYED... NOT THE ONE YOU WANT TO PLAY
The first way to lower your scores is to be honest with yourself. You need to know your game; wherever it is right now; you need to know what clubs to hit and when. There is no point in using what other golfers are using. If they hit an 8-iron from 155 and you should hit a 6…hit the 6-iron. More scores balloon because players are playing what I call “EGO Golf” instead of “Scoring Golf”. If you want to score well, you must put yourself into the best position to do that. Hitting an 8-iron because someone else is doing it won’t get you what you want. (Continued) 36 | Priority One Marketing Group, LLC
You will lower your scores when you begin playing the BEST shot instead of the shot you want to hit. Hitting the shot you want to hit is not always the BEST shot to hit at the time. Play the percentages. Play the correct shot even if you want to go for the risky or low percentage shot. Take a look at how many times playing the shot YOU wanted to hit has gotten you in trouble. Each time it has, you’ve added strokes to your round. Play the shot that needs to be played in every situation, not the one you want to play. If you don’t have the distance then lay-up and take a bogey if that’s what it means. How many times have you “gone for it’ only to add 2 or more strokes to the hole? You must play the game you know how to play and play within that game. Take an honest look at how far you hit each club right now. As you improve your game, this will change but you must play the game you have RIGHT NOW! #2 KEEP IT SIMPLE: PROCESS VS. OUTCOME Simplify your round of golf. Each hole is presenting you with the exact information you need to make the right choices…for your game! The architect has laid out all the obstructions for you so you know exactly where NOT to go and where TO go. Focus on WHERE TO go.. Simplify your round by thinking simple. “Fairways and greens” is such a simple idea that players tend to either forget it or get TOO caught up in it trying to be too perfect. Simplify your round by thinking fairways and greens. It doesn’t matter whether you are a 30, 15 or 5 handicap. Hit the shots you are capable of hitting and no more! When you try to “outwit” or “outplay” the course or other golfers, you will get into trouble. How can you simplify your round? Easy. Focus on process versus outcome. Process thinking is focusing on what you have 100 control over; at all times. Focus on your routines, your breathing, your pace between shots, visualization, rhythm and balance in your set up and swing. You have complete control over ALL of these things. You don’t have control over things like conditions, course layout, playing partners attitudes, score or any other outcome or result type of thought. You’ll find that when you focused on outcomes in the past, you probably didn’t play as well and your scores reflected that. Keep it simple. Focus ONLY on what you have control over. These are PROCESS THOUGHTS.
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#3 PRACTICE YOUR SHORT GAME!
It’s important to spend time on your short game skills. The tendency is to go to the range, hit the driver and other irons, and then call it a day. Take a close look and you might find that chipping, pitching and putting is where your strokes add up during a round. Imagine what your scores would be like if you learned to chip and pitch the ball closer to the hole? You can lower your scores by taking the time to practice chipping and pitching the ball closer to the hole. The more you do it, the more confidence you gain as well. In addition, your putting can improve because of the confidence gained by getting closer to the hole more often. Great players spend a lot of time on this part of their game because they understand that this is where their strokes can add up. There are professional golfers on the developmental tours who still don’t work on their “weaknesses” in practice and it costs them dearly when they compete. While the long ball looks beautiful, it’s the short ball that brings the numbers down on your scorecard.
You can lower your scores by acting on these 3 Keys right away. Good Luck!
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HAwaiian Golf GetAways: Enjoy Year-Round Fantastic Weather and Picturesque Settings
Hawaii is certainly one place on this planet that most tourists would consider as being an ideal holiday destination. There is so much to entice visitors including the excellent golf courses that make it an ideal Hawaii golf vacation getaway. With year round weather that is perfect for golfing, there are few players that would pass up the opportunity to enjoy a Hawaiian golf vacation and because golf in this part of the world can be played three hundred sixty-five days in the year, you can visit whenever you have free time.
A Unique Experience
Without a doubt, the Hawaiian islands boast of some very exquisite courses; but that is not all. Just being on the islands is a unique experience by itself. You can choose to visit a number of places when you plan 42 | Priority One Marketing Group, LLC
your Hawaii golf vacations: The excellent Kapalua Plantation course where the well known Mercedes Championships are held. Also, you may not want to miss playing on the Wailea Gold course that hosts the Senior Skins Game.
Golf in this part of the world can be played three hundred sixty-five days in the year Choosing Hawaii golf vacations is like choosing a bit of paradise, and it is here that you can live out your fantasies of playing excellent golf on the best courses and in the most ideal weather conditions. To make matters easier for you, there are a plethora of travel agencies that provide you with excellent Hawaii golf vacations packages and the fare includes: the green fees to and from, fare of transportation from the pier, as well as rent for a golf cart.
There is no doubt that Hawaiian golf vacations are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which if you plan ahead, can give you some of the best golfing experiences you can ever hope to achieve in your lifetime. Each of the different Hawaiian islands boasts their own unique golf courses, where there is lush greenery. Some may even be situated on top of some amazing lava flows. A good example would be the incredibly popular Mauna Lani, which has a couple of golf courses that will test your abilities, as you swing away while the winds blow at you fiercely. Then, there is Maui, which is another outstanding place where you could plan to play golf on your Hawaiian golf vacation . Not visiting here is akin to going to Paris and missing out on a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Other destinations in the Hawaiian islands for your golf vacations include places such as Kauai, Oahu, and Lanai. Whichever place you do choose, there is plenty to endear you. You just can’t go wrong here, whatever your golfing abilities are. You will find that your golf vacation will not be cheap in Hawaii, though. Many courses’ greens fees can exceed $100. So, do your research ahead of time and make your golf vacation dollars go as far as possible.
By: Ryan Kaufman Priority One Marketing Group, LLC | 43
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