playing the game

Double Bogey Avoidance

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Oh, those double bogeys. They just ruin our day. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find a way to not get any. Just once?

I did that once in my memory. I shot an 85, a few strokes above average, but with not one DB. In my golfing heyday, breaking 80 was always a possibility, and I never did it without having a double on the card.

On a golf forum that I used to belong to, until I got tired of the know-it-all proprietor, I asked the 80± golfers which was harder, breaking 80, or playing 18 holes without a double bogey. No DB won hands down as the harder one to do.

Yesterday I saw Rickie Fowler put his drive smack in the middle of the fairway and up with one. Also yesterday, Sebastian Muñoz of the LIV Tour shot a 59–with a DB on his card.

So don’t worry about it too much. You’re going to get them. But you don’t want to get the too often. Here are a few ways to get the less often.

– Hit fairways. Use a club off the tee that is a fairway finder, no matter how much distance you have to give up. If you miss the fairway, switch from thinking about par to bogey. That doesn’t mean giving up on par, it generally means salvaging a good score (bogey) and leaving par in play at the margin.

– Greens are smaller targets than fairways, generally. Play onto the green if you’re sure you can hit it. Otherwise, plan on playing up to the green and chipping on.

– Play away from trouble. Get out safely, then play to the green. Death to penalty strokes.

– Don’t get too precise around the green unless you have a short game to back it up. Just get the ball on the green with one shot and let your putting take over.

– If you make a double bogey, forget about it by the time you have picked the ball out of the hole. Keep your mind moving forward to the next hole.

All this sounds like stuff you have heard before, and it is. I didn’t make it up. Let’s just call it a reminder that you shoot lower scores if you play smart and play within yourself.

driver

The Senior Golfer vs. the Driver

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As we age, the driver gets harder to hit well. Up to my early 60’s, I hit my driver great. It went high and straight. And far enough to get me into single digits.

But now I’m in my mid-70’s. It’s gotten harder to hit a drive up in the air, and trying to launch it just makes things worse.

So I had a little chat with my ego and swapped my driver for a 12.5* fairway wood (Titleist 975F). Now I hit the ball high and straight again, and just as far all the time as the occasional times when I can nail my driver.

They say recreational golfers shouldn’t trade their driver for a fairway wood because if they can’t hit their driver straight, they can’t hit a fairway wood straight, either. That is advice to consider if you’re in the in the prime of your life.

But if you are a senior golfer, and I mean senior senior, there was the game you once played, and there is the game you play now. It’s a different game. Adjust and Make Golf Fun Again.

golf swing

A Conception of the Golf Swing

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Bobby Jones gave us these two thoughts as the basis for building our golf swing.

“Very often, what a man feels he is doing is more important than what he does. The feel, the experience, is so much easier to remember and repeat.”

And what is that feeling?

“The downward or hitting stroke is intended to culminate in a well-timed, powerful contact between clubhead and ball. There is no way to argue that the successful accomplishment of this purpose is not the most important part of the stroke; but the backswing has for its purpose, the establishment of a perfectly balanced, powerful position at the top of the swing from which correct actions of the downstroke can flow rhythmically without the need for interference or correction. In the end, on the basis of consistent reproduction of the successful action, the preparatory movements become just as important as the actual hitting—the entire swing, a sequence of correct positions, following naturally and comfortably one after the other.” [emphasis added]

If you’ll allow me to be poetic, find a backswing from which your forward swing can flow through the ball like a clear, running stream.

Bobby Jones on Golf, p. 212 and p. 41-42.

people

Wyndham Clark Banned From Oakmont

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Following an outburst of temper when he missed the cut in last month’s U.S. Open, the 2023 champion Wyndham Clark seriously damaged two lockers in the historic Oakmont locker room.

Upon being called to publicly apologize, Clark made this lame attempt:

“I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year, some lows. I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened. But I’d also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of the year and things that come up.”

Sorry, Wyndham. You might want to move on, but the OCC and USGA don’t.

Following consultations between the two organizations, Clark is banned from the Oakmont property until 2033. Oakmont Country Club president Johhn Lynch sent this letter to OCC members:

“Several of you have inquired about the situation involving Wyndham Clark and the steps being taken in response to his recent behavior. Following multiple discussions with the USGA and the OCC Board, a decision has been made that Mr. Clark will no longer be permitted on OCC property. This decision will remain in effect unless formally reconsidered and approved by the Board.”

Clark can be reinstated by paying for the damages, making a “meaningful contribution” to a charity selected by the country club’s board, and undergoing some type of counseling or anger management therapy.

Earlier this year, at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, Clark threw his club, snapping off the driver head. To make matters worse, Clark broke a T-Mobile sign, which is his sponsor.

equipment

Golf Ball Rollback

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It looks like the powers that be are intent on rolling back the golf ball, though it appears that will have little effect on recreational golfers. This bit from Tom Miranda at Golf Business Review tells the story.

“Announced in December 2023, the new regulations will apply to elite professionals from January 2028 and to recreational golfers by 2030. The new rule mandates that balls must conform to a maximum distance of 317 yards (plus 3-yard tolerance) when tested at a clubhead speed of 125 mph—up from the previous 120 mph limit, CBSSports.

“The average PGA Tour pro is expected to lose between 9 and 11 yards. For the longest hitters, it could be 13 to 15 yards. LPGA players may lose 5 to 7 yards, NBCSports.

“The rollback is being driven by sustainability concerns. Courses are getting longer, maintenance costs are rising, and the environmental toll of mowing, watering, and managing larger layouts is growing. There is also a desire to maintain the challenge posed by classic course designs without stretching them beyond their original intent…”

The LPGA hits the ball a lot farther than you might think they do, so a 5 to 7 yard rollback for them might mean a 3 to 4 yard rollback for the rest of us.

IOW, don’t sweat it. If you hit it straight, and you can chip and putt, you won’t notice a thing.

grip

The Ten-Finger Grip

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For years, I have had trouble with my clubface staying square in my backswing. It likes to close, and though I made great contact, the ball would careen to the left.

After trying everything I could think of to make it a habit to keep the clubface square, I thought, maybe it’s in my grip. Not whether I have a strong, neutral, or weak grip. but which kind of grip I use.

Everyone uses an overlapping grip by default. Something different would be a ten-finger grip.

It didn’t take much time to find out that I had much more control of the clubface with this grip, and it was easier to feel when the clubface was square as I took the club back, or whether it had closed.

And easier to keep the clubface square.

I’m hitting the ball much straighter now, and making more authoritative strikes.

There’s a piece in Harvey Penick’s blue book (p. 148) about Jimmy Demaret saying,

“In a reasonable swing, the right hand won’t take over from the left in a full-fingered grip. The two hands will work together. You get more power and better control.”

To which I say, yes, yes, and yes.

Give it a try. It’s not hard to get used to and you might be pleased with what you get.

supporting your golf

The Number One Amateur Mistake

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I get several golf messages in my e-mail inbox every morning. One of them is The Morning Read. This morning’s message contained a comment from professional caddies about the mistake recreational golfers make most often.

It is that they think they hit the ball farther than they do.

If you want to have the shot after your 6-iron be a putt, you have to know how far you actually hit that 6-iron. How do you do that?

Find a range that has a launch monitor and pay for some time with it. Hit your 9-, 7-, and 5-irons. Hit them using the ball you play with, and do not try to see how far you can possibly hit them. Use your playing swing. If that leads to shorter distances than you thought, so be it. Interpolate the distances for the rest of your clubs.

When you take these distance to the course, monitor your results and adjust them to what you really get under playing conditions.

Now when you’re playing, please do not be concerned with how far. If you need a 6-iron to get on the green and your buddies are using a 7, what do you care? Your ball is on the green!

What about your driver? How far you hit your driver is pure ego. Use it to get the ball in the fairway, period. After a while you’ll know how far you can count on hitting it when you play, anyway.

Little Differences That Make a Big Difference in How Well You Play