Shawn Clement Discusses the Waggle

Here's a video by 3Jack Top 50 Instructor Shawn Clement (www.shawnclementgolf.com) on the waggle.






3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Putts Against Average 4.26.11

I've come up with a new statistic that I will call 'Putts Against Average.' It's similar to how they calculate 'Putts Gained Per Round', but since they have the resources to figure in things like difficulty of greens played and can increment putts further than 25 feet, it's not exactly like Putts Gained Per Round. What I found though was my rankings were very close to what the Putts Gained Per Round were in '09 and to some of the data I have from 2010 Putts Gained Per Round.

Here is what I have so far.

1…Nick Watney
2…Lucas Glover
3…Brandt Snedeker
4…David Toms
5…Greg Chalmers
6…Luke Donald
7…Bill Haas
8…Roland Thatcher
9…Chris Couch
10…Kent Jones
11…Jimmy Walker
12…Brian Gay
13…Rickie Fowler
14…Carl Pettersson
15…Padraig Harrington
16…Y.E. Yang
17…Aaron Baddeley
18…Jason Day
19…John Merrick
20…Jesper Parnevik
21…Brendon de Jonge
22…Steve Stricker
23…Retief Goosen
24…Ryan Moore
25…Bryce Molder
26…Ian Poulter
27…Geoff Ogilvy
28…Michael Putnam
29…Pat Perez
30…Kevin Na
31…Martin Piller
32…Marc Leishman
33…Vijay Singh
34…Webb Simpson
35…Martin Laird
36…Cameron Beckman
37…Charl Schwartzel
38…Vaughn Taylor
39…Fredrik Jacobson
40…Zack Miller
41…Ben Martin
42…Tom Gillis
43…Angel Cabrera
44…David Hearn
45…Shaun Micheel
46…Michael Thompson
47…Matt Bettencourt
48…Graeme McDowell
49…Jason Bohn
50…Steve Marino
51…Bio Kim
52…Arjun Atwal
53…Ben Crane
54…Trevor Immelman
55…Charlie Wi
56…Blake Adams
57…Justin Leonard
58…Steve Flesch
59…Tommy Gainey
60…Marc Turnesa
61…Matt Kuchar
62…Jamie Lovemark
63…Scott Stallings
64…Zach Johnson
65…Jim Renner
66…Mark Wilson
67…Joe Durant
68…Tag Ridings
69…Jarrod Lyle
70…Chad Collins
71…Cameron Tringale
72…Kevin Kisner
73…Tim Herron
74…Fabian Gomez
75…Stuart Appleby
76…Hunter Mahan
77…Steven Bowditch
78…Andres Romero
79…Jason Dufner
80…Tim Petrovic
81…Phil Mickelson
82…D.J. Brigman
83…Brendan Steele
84…Paul Casey
85…Gary Woodland
86…Jim Furyk
87…Rory Sabbatini
88…Anthony Kim
89…Michael Connell
90…Jeff Overton
91…Jerry Kelly
92…Hunter Haas
93…Robert Garrigus
94…Garrett Willis
95…Harrison Frazar
96…D.A. Points
97…John Senden
98…Brian Davis
99…Kevin Streelman
100…Charley Hoffman
101…William McGirt
102…Chris Kirk
103…Chez Reavie
104…Justin Hicks
105…Chris Stroud
106…Brandt Jobe
107…Steve Elkington
108…Johnson Wagner
109…Lee Janzen
110…Keegan Bradley
111…Troy Matteson
112…Scott McCarron
113…K.J. Choi
114…Kevin Chappell
115…Robert Allenby
116…David Mathis
117…Jhonattan Vegas
118…Chris Riley
119…Peter Tomasulo
120…Alex Prugh
121…Nate Smith
122…Ben Curtis
123…Charles Howell III
124…Ricky Barnes
125…J.B. Holmes
126…Bill Lunde
127…Stewart Cink
128…Sean O'Hair
129…Stephen Ames
130…Chad Campbell
131…J.J. Henry
132…James Driscoll
133…David Duval
134…Nathan Green
135…Spencer Levin
136…Robert Karlsson
137…John Rollins
138…Michael Bradley
139…Alexandre Rocha
140…J.P. Hayes
141…Davis Love III
142…Jonathan Byrd
143…Richard S. Johnson
144…Daniel Summerhays
145…Joseph Bramlett
146…Paul Stankowski
147…Ryan Palmer
148…Scott Gutschewski
149…Dean Wilson
150…Louis Oosthuizen
151…Scott Verplank
152…Kyle Stanley
153…Matt Jones
154…Michael Sim
155…Dustin Johnson
156…Justin Rose
157…Camilo Villegas
158…Bobby Gates
159…Bubba Watson
160…Sunghoon Kang
161…Jeff Maggert
162…Ryuji Imada
163…Rich Beem
164…Rocco Mediate
165…Colt Knost
166…Bo Van Pelt
167…Troy Merritt
168…Joe Ogilvie
169…Derek Lamely
170…Kevin Stadler
171…Kevin Sutherland
172…Mike Weir
173…Chris DiMarco
174…Kris Blanks
175…Matt McQuillan
176…D.J. Trahan
177…Boo Weekley
178…Jim Herman
179…Paul Goydos
180…Josh Teater
181…John Daly
182…Nick O'Hern
183…Alex Cejka
184…Billy Horschel
185…Ernie Els
186…Adam Scott
187…Billy Mayfair
188…Heath Slocum




3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Adj. Danger Zone Rankings 4.26.11

Here are the updated Adjusted Danger Zone Rankings.

1…Nick Watney
2…Scott Stallings
3…Peter Tomasulo
4…Billy Horschel
5…Paul Stankowski
6…David Toms
7…Phil Mickelson
8…Kevin Chappell
9…Robert Garrigus
10…Padraig Harrington
11…John Daly
12…David Hearn
13…Charley Hoffman
14…Brendan Steele
15…John Rollins
16…Rickie Fowler
17…Boo Weekley
18…Graeme McDowell
19…Kyle Stanley
20…Ryuji Imada
21…Y.E. Yang
22…Vijay Singh
23…Dustin Johnson
24…Chris Kirk
25…Jim Renner
26…Davis Love III
27…Robert Allenby
28…Chez Reavie
29…Brandt Snedeker
30…Harrison Frazar
31…Alexandre Rocha
32…Chris Couch
33…John Senden
34…Andres Romero
35…J.J. Henry
36…Marc Leishman
37…Joe Durant
38…Jim Furyk
39…Martin Laird
40…Jonathan Byrd
41…Jim Herman
42…Justin Hicks
43…Ian Poulter
44…Adam Scott
45…Ryan Moore
46…Chad Campbell
47…J.P. Hayes
48…Rich Beem
49…Jason Day
50…Pat Perez
51…Matt Kuchar
52…Ben Crane
53…Geoff Ogilvy
54…Derek Lamely
55…Ernie Els
56…Alex Cejka
57…Gary Woodland
58…Tag Ridings
59…Kevin Stadler
60…Spencer Levin
61…Paul Goydos
62…Heath Slocum
63…Justin Rose
64…Bubba Watson
65…Alex Prugh
66…Troy Merritt
67…Mark Wilson
68…David Mathis
69…Brian Gay
70…Garrett Willis
71…Jeff Maggert
72…Paul Casey
73…Louis Oosthuizen
74…Brendon de Jonge
75…Ben Curtis
76…Retief Goosen
77…Bill Lunde
78…D.J. Trahan
79…Vaughn Taylor
80…Chris DiMarco
81…Brandt Jobe
82…Roland Thatcher
83…Stewart Cink
84…Steve Stricker
85…Joe Ogilvie
86…Jason Dufner
87…Charles Howell III
88…Tommy Gainey
89…Jeff Overton
90…Sean O'Hair
91…D.J. Brigman
92…Richard S. Johnson
93…Michael Thompson
94…Stephen Ames
95…Steven Bowditch
96…Ryan Palmer
97…D.A. Points
98…Webb Simpson
99…Rory Sabbatini
100…Cameron Tringale
101…Bobby Gates
102…Fredrik Jacobson
103…Scott Gutschewski
104…Ben Martin
105…Troy Matteson
106…Zack Miller
107…Arjun Atwal
108…Scott Verplank
109…Kevin Sutherland
110…Tom Gillis
111…Tim Herron
112…Nate Smith
113…Steve Marino
114…Jerry Kelly
115…Brian Davis
116…Bo Van Pelt
117…Matt McQuillan
118…Aaron Baddeley
119…Jason Bohn
120…Marc Turnesa
121…Stuart Appleby
122…Rocco Mediate
123…Ricky Barnes
124…Zach Johnson
125…Daniel Summerhays
126…Sunghoon Kang
127…Kevin Na
128…Luke Donald
129…Kevin Streelman
130…Hunter Mahan
131…Michael Putnam
132…Dean Wilson
133…J.B. Holmes
134…Jimmy Walker
135…Michael Connell
136…Shaun Micheel
137…Kris Blanks
138…Anthony Kim
139…Billy Mayfair
140…Matt Jones
141…Nathan Green
142…Trevor Immelman
143…Josh Teater
144…Jamie Lovemark
145…Angel Cabrera
146…Keegan Bradley
147…David Duval
148…Kent Jones
149…Chris Stroud
150…Colt Knost
151…Carl Pettersson
152…Michael Bradley
153…Scott McCarron
154…Blake Adams
155…Johnson Wagner
156…Cameron Beckman
157…Jarrod Lyle
158…Justin Leonard
159…Bill Haas
160…Chad Collins
161…Lucas Glover
162…William McGirt
163…Nick O'Hern
164…Matt Bettencourt
165…K.J. Choi
166…Charl Schwartzel
167…Joseph Bramlett
168…Martin Piller
169…Jesper Parnevik
170…Chris Riley
171…Jhonattan Vegas
172…Mike Weir
173…Lee Janzen
174…Fabian Gomez
175…Tim Petrovic
176…Steve Flesch
177…Hunter Haas
178…Robert Karlsson
179…Steve Elkington
180…Bryce Molder
181…Charlie Wi
182…John Merrick
183…James Driscoll
184…Greg Chalmers
185…Kevin Kisner
186…Bio Kim
187…Camilo Villegas
188…Michael Sim



3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Adj. Short Game Rankings 4.26.11

Here are the updated Adj. Short Game Rankings

1…James Driscoll
2…Ben Crane
3…Chris Riley
4…Jonathan Byrd
5…Martin Laird
6…Nick O'Hern
7…Brian Gay
8…Aaron Baddeley
9…Alex Cejka
10…Charl Schwartzel
11…D.A. Points
12…Ricky Barnes
13…Michael Bradley
14…Billy Mayfair
15…Tim Petrovic
16…Steve Stricker
17…Nick Watney
18…Fredrik Jacobson
19…Ian Poulter
20…Zach Johnson
21…Bill Haas
22…Vijay Singh
23…Rory Sabbatini
24…Heath Slocum
25…Bio Kim
26…Matt Jones
27…Anthony Kim
28…Justin Leonard
29…Kevin Na
30…Scott Verplank
31…Camilo Villegas
32…Ernie Els
33…Colt Knost
34…Stewart Cink
35…Matt Kuchar
36…Lee Janzen
37…Steve Flesch
38…Davis Love III
39…Ryan Moore
40…Hunter Haas
41…Louis Oosthuizen
42…Jerry Kelly
43…Dustin Johnson
44…Shaun Micheel
45…Kevin Sutherland
46…Mike Weir
47…Marc Leishman
48…Bryce Molder
49…Jim Furyk
50…Cameron Tringale
51…Zack Miller
52…Michael Sim
53…Martin Piller
54…Charles Howell III
55…Trevor Immelman
56…Hunter Mahan
57…Brendon de Jonge
58…Tim Herron
59…J.P. Hayes
60…Robert Karlsson
61…Rocco Mediate
62…Keegan Bradley
63…Michael Thompson
64…Justin Rose
65…Scott Gutschewski
66…Joe Durant
67…Steven Bowditch
68…Nate Smith
69…Jason Day
70…Chad Collins
71…Justin Hicks
72…Ryuji Imada
73…Scott McCarron
74…Jason Bohn
75…Kyle Stanley
76…Chris DiMarco
77…William McGirt
78…John Senden
79…John Daly
80…Chris Stroud
81…Bo Van Pelt
82…Cameron Beckman
83…Geoff Ogilvy
84…Dean Wilson
85…Lucas Glover
86…Nathan Green
87…Padraig Harrington
88…K.J. Choi
89…Charley Hoffman
90…Chris Kirk
91…Vaughn Taylor
92…Matt Bettencourt
93…Spencer Levin
94…D.J. Trahan
95…Kevin Streelman
96…Jesper Parnevik
97…Ben Curtis
98…Webb Simpson
99…Jim Herman
100…David Hearn
101…Troy Merritt
102…Johnson Wagner
103…Robert Allenby
104…Rich Beem
105…Josh Teater
106…Luke Donald
107…Pat Perez
108…Chad Campbell
109…Jason Dufner
110…Carl Pettersson
111…Greg Chalmers
112…Joe Ogilvie
113…J.B. Holmes
114…Steve Elkington
115…Tag Ridings
116…Jhonattan Vegas
117…Y.E. Yang
118…Bill Lunde
119…Daniel Summerhays
120…Brendan Steele
121…Tom Gillis
122…Paul Goydos
123…Michael Connell
124…Angel Cabrera
125…Charlie Wi
126…Brian Davis
127…David Toms
128…Chris Couch
129…Arjun Atwal
130…Marc Turnesa
131…Kevin Chappell
132…Rickie Fowler
133…Kent Jones
134…Brandt Jobe
135…Jarrod Lyle
136…Stephen Ames
137…Peter Tomasulo
138…J.J. Henry
139…Mark Wilson
140…Tommy Gainey
141…Bubba Watson
142…Derek Lamely
143…Retief Goosen
144…Richard S. Johnson
145…Kris Blanks
146…Ryan Palmer
147…Kevin Stadler
148…Scott Stallings
149…Fabian Gomez
150…Bobby Gates
151…Steve Marino
152…John Merrick
153…David Mathis
154…Phil Mickelson
155…Roland Thatcher
156…Troy Matteson
157…Jimmy Walker
158…John Rollins
159…Jeff Overton
160…Paul Stankowski
161…Jim Renner
162…Brandt Snedeker
163…Stuart Appleby
164…Joseph Bramlett
165…Sean O'Hair
166…Boo Weekley
167…Kevin Kisner
168…Andres Romero
169…Adam Scott
170…Chez Reavie
171…D.J. Brigman
172…Harrison Frazar
173…Blake Adams
174…Robert Garrigus
175…Jeff Maggert
176…Graeme McDowell
177…Michael Putnam
178…Gary Woodland
179…Alex Prugh
180…Ben Martin
181…Paul Casey
182…David Duval
183…Alexandre Rocha
184…Jamie Lovemark
185…Garrett Willis
186…Sunghoon Kang
187…Matt McQuillan
188…Billy Horschel





3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Adv. Total Driving Rankings 4.26.11

Here are the updated 2011 Advanced Total Driving Rankings

1…Boo Weekley
2…Bubba Watson
3…John Merrick
4…Tom Gillis
5…Ben Curtis
6…David Toms
7…Chez Reavie
8…Ben Crane
9…Bo Van Pelt
10…Chad Campbell
11…Graeme McDowell
12…Brian Gay
13…Joe Durant
14…Billy Mayfair
15…Hunter Mahan
16…Peter Tomasulo
17…Heath Slocum
18…Ryan Moore
19…Louis Oosthuizen
20…Dustin Johnson
21…Nick Watney
22…Webb Simpson
23…Bill Haas
24…Brandt Jobe
25…J.J. Henry
26…Brandt Snedeker
27…Jason Dufner
28…Chris Couch
29…Scott McCarron
30…Tommy Gainey
31…John Senden
32…Justin Rose
33…Martin Laird
34…John Rollins
35…Matt Kuchar
36…Keegan Bradley
37…Blake Adams
38…Gary Woodland
39…Jerry Kelly
40…Zach Johnson
41…Justin Hicks
42…Spencer Levin
43…Jason Day
44…Scott Verplank
45…Jeff Overton
46…Brian Davis
47…Charley Hoffman
48…Brendon de Jonge
49…Pat Perez
50…Bill Lunde
51…Mark Wilson
52…Stephen Ames
53…Steve Marino
54…Kevin Chappell
55…Steve Elkington
56…J.B. Holmes
57…D.A. Points
58…Adam Scott
59…Brendan Steele
60…Robert Allenby
61…Rich Beem
62…Robert Garrigus
63…Scott Stallings
64…Jim Furyk
65…Jeff Maggert
66…Josh Teater
67…Nick O'Hern
68…Johnson Wagner
69…Jonathan Byrd
70…Kevin Sutherland
71…Stewart Cink
72…Bobby Gates
73…Paul Casey
74…Colt Knost
75…Charlie Wi
76…Steve Stricker
77…Troy Matteson
78…Garrett Willis
79…Ryan Palmer
80…Angel Cabrera
81…Rocco Mediate
82…Ian Poulter
83…Rory Sabbatini
84…Charl Schwartzel
85…Y.E. Yang
86…Roland Thatcher
87…Ricky Barnes
88…Jason Bohn
89…Geoff Ogilvy
90…Nathan Green
91…Kevin Stadler
92…Ernie Els
93…Alex Cejka
94…Robert Karlsson
95…Hunter Haas
96…John Daly
97…Chris Stroud
98…K.J. Choi
99…Kent Jones
100…Carl Pettersson
101…Cameron Beckman
102…Paul Goydos
103…Tim Petrovic
104…Kevin Streelman
105…Andres Romero
106…Vijay Singh
107…D.J. Trahan
108…Sean O'Hair
109…Jesper Parnevik
110…Chris DiMarco
111…Joe Ogilvie
112…Kyle Stanley
113…David Hearn
114…Lucas Glover
115…Vaughn Taylor
116…Jim Herman
117…Steven Bowditch
118…William McGirt
119…Bryce Molder
120…Charles Howell III
121…Davis Love III
122…Jhonattan Vegas
123…Lee Janzen
124…Justin Leonard
125…Scott Gutschewski
126…David Mathis
127…Zack Miller
128…Aaron Baddeley
129…J.P. Hayes
130…Cameron Tringale
131…Retief Goosen
132…Fredrik Jacobson
133…Marc Turnesa
134…Ryuji Imada
135…Billy Horschel
136…Daniel Summerhays
137…Phil Mickelson
138…D.J. Brigman
139…Luke Donald
140…Tag Ridings
141…Chris Riley
142…David Duval
143…Dean Wilson
144…Nate Smith
145…Rickie Fowler
146…Fabian Gomez
147…James Driscoll
148…Troy Merritt
149…Alexandre Rocha
150…Ben Martin
151…Matt Bettencourt
152…Chris Kirk
153…Kris Blanks
154…Alex Prugh
155…Michael Putnam
156…Richard S. Johnson
157…Michael Bradley
158…Jim Renner
159…Arjun Atwal
160…Camilo Villegas
161…Martin Piller
162…Derek Lamely
163…Joseph Bramlett
164…Steve Flesch
165…Trevor Immelman
166…Stuart Appleby
167…Sunghoon Kang
168…Marc Leishman
169…Paul Stankowski
170…Matt McQuillan
171…Michael Thompson
172…Padraig Harrington
173…Harrison Frazar
174…Tim Herron
175…Jimmy Walker
176…Jarrod Lyle
177…Michael Connell
178…Greg Chalmers
179…Matt Jones
180…Shaun Micheel
181…Jamie Lovemark
182…Kevin Kisner
183…Kevin Na
184…Michael Sim
185…Chad Collins
186…Anthony Kim
187…Bio Kim
188…Mike Weir





3JACK

Lynn Blake and Air Airsen

Here's a video by 3Jack Top 50 Instructor, Lynn Blake (www.lynnblakegolf.com), and his work with student Air Airsen.







3JACK

Pure Grips Review

I was introduced to Pure Grips late last year because of their ‘innovative’ tapeless and solvent-less grip installation.

This piqued my interest because I no longer had access to a garage, so I couldn’t install my own grips anymore without the fear of making a mess. When I lived in Atlanta, there was a few PGA Tour Superstores in town and they would charge only $1 per grip for labor. But now living in Orlando, golf shops can charge up to $5 a grip. So let’s say I get a 13 grips installed, that would be roughly a $50 difference. Thus, with the tapeless and solvent-less installation, I could change the grips myself as long as I had some way to use install a clamp on vise.

I then tried the grips out at the Demo Day at the PGA Merchandise Show and I liked what they felt like as well. I had some thoughts that because it was tapeless installation, the quality of the grip would suffer. But, I was wrong as they felt really good.

According to Pure Grips, they have a proprietary rubber formulation and injection mold process that creates a ‘pure rubber’ grip that helps with the quality control, life and durability of the grip. And to top it off, they back it up with a 12 month guarantee.

Our proprietary 100% rubber formula makes PURE Grips exceedingly durable in all weather conditions. Even the most avid golfers will have trouble wearing out our grips. In fact, all PURE Grips are guaranteed to remain tacky and supple and perform in all conditions for up to twelve months. If you manage to wear one out before then, we’ll happily give you a replacement for free.

Again, my interest was piqued.

And the installation looked easy as well.



However, I later found out that tapeless and solvent-less grip installation has been going on for years. In fact, Pure Grips does mention that you can use this installation process

Q. Can you install other brands of grips with your Installation tools?

A. Yes. Our gun and attachment will work for any grip with a standard sized hole in the butt end. We have tested lots of brands of grips for their ability to work without tape and solvent. The vast majority will work, but some grips with very low rubber content might be at risk for twisting.

But, that did not deter me.

For starters, I still wanted a way I could install grips myself without having to deal with solvent (I also don’t like tape, but solvent was the main issue for me). Furthermore, it’s tough to be a 12 month guarantee that the grips will remain tacky. And if I wind up not liking the Pure Grips, I can just take the gun, that they provide with their grip kits, and install other grips.


AIR COMPRESSOR

The main piece of equipment that you will need is an air compressor. I actually have one for my car, but it’s powered thru a 12 volt plug, meaning that it would have to be hooked up to my car to power on. These cost about $20 and you can find them at Target or ACE Hardward.

I was actually going to do it that way, but the garage I was going to use was no longer available to me. Plus, my main goal was to be able to do these on my kitchen counter. So I went out and purchased a 1.5 gallon Husky Air Compressor which has a power cord. I got this at Home Depot on sale for $99.


I actually had about $80 worth of gift cards at Home Depot, but I still feel this was worth the investment because I would probably make my money back off the labor it would cost the second time I decided to re-grip the entire set of clubs. Also, I can use this for inflating my bike tires, car tires and use it for tools that require an air compressor.

I would pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE DIRECTIONS. You only need about 60 psi to install the grips. But if you don’t read the directions, you could do some serious harm to yourself.

I found the air compressor to be pretty simple to work. What will happen when you turn it on, the motor will run until the tank pressure builds up where it needs to be. Then when the motor goes off, you then turn the air compressor part on until it reaches 60 PSI. As you’re doing this, the motor will probably start up again to maintain the tank pressure. And it may go off again.


INSTALLATION PROCESS

So, was it as easy to install as they claim it is?

The answer is yes. The link here has a great video on how to install the grips and some troubleshooting.

http://vimeo.com/12407977

My first grip was a bit of a tough installation. But once I got it down, I caught on to the rest. I found you need to remember a few things:

1. Keep the gun and the grip level.
2. Only about 1 second bursts, don’t hold down the air gun trigger for the entire time.
3. You don’t want the air to come out of the bottom part of the grip
4. Left hand guides, right arm pushes

Like I mentioned before, I don’t like tape under my grips that much. The part that takes the most time is getting the old grips off and the old tape off. Pure Grips recommends that you DO NOT USE THE GUN TO TAKE THE OLD GRIPS OFF. One can do it, but it risks the grip ‘exploding’ and that could cause bodily harm.

But, it was VERY EASY to install the grips. Most of the installs took less than 15 seconds for me. The only ones I had trouble with were with my 3-wood, 3-hyrid and a couple of clubs that were still sticky from a grip that was installed not too long ago.

One can keep the tape on there if they want to ‘build up’ the grip. I’ve seen people install them with the tape on, although I think it’s probably a tad more difficult.

Put it this way, if all I had to do was install the grips, a set of 13 would probably take me about 5 minutes to do with no mess, no hoping it’s aligned to my liking and even better…no wait. Yes, once you install the grips, you can use them right away. I tried to see if the grip would twist right after the install and they did not. They are good to go once they are installed.


CONCLUSION

Pure Grips has come up with a brilliant idea of marketing ‘tapeless installation.’ Even though it has been around for awhile now, their willingness to introduce it to the golfing public gives them a niche over their competitors.

The big question now is just how well the Pure Grips perform. But again, with a 12 month guarantee, it’s hard to not have these grips pique your interest. Typically, these grips go for about $7.49 a piece. The ‘installation gun’ goes for about $35. However, I got these from Rock Bottom Golf for only $50. Yes, 13 grips AND the installation gun for only $50 (supplies are probably limited). Pure Grips Web site also has these available for $99. which is still an excellent deal.

I found the installation process as easy as they claimed it to be and I do like the initial feel of the grips. I would highly recommend trying them out because at the very least, I do not see what the regular golfer has to lose with them.




3JACK

Thoughts on Anger Control...

Throughout my experience in golf I have had some anger management issues. Nothing too severe. Probably less than what Tiger goes thru these days. The past year or so I’ve thought about better ways to control my anger on the course and why I tend to get angry and why others tend to have an explosive temper.

For starters, I think many golfers tend to believe that keeping a ‘calm head’ will equate to good golf and that losing your temper will equate to bad golf. I actually do NOT find that to be very accurate. I remember playing in a club championship match play back home in NY where I went from down 3 with 5 holes to play to winning the match 2 up and going -5 on those last 5 holes (going eagle, almost eagle, 2-putt birdie, almost birdie for a par, and birdie). And that didn’t happen until I got ticked off on a 3-putt on the 13th hole.

Conversely, I have never found that ‘if I keep my temper down, I’ll start playing well.’ It just does not work that way.

One of the things that really struck a chord with me was the documentary ‘The Street Stops Here.’ This is about the #1 high school basketball program in the country, St. Anthony’s and their coach Bob Hurley, Sr.



Hurley, who has been coaching the team since 1972, has only had 2 players that didn’t make it to college.

One of the things I noticed about Hurley in the movie was how adamant he is about his players having a ‘poker face.’ And he would routinely sit players on the bench, kick them out of practice and suspend them from the game if they didn’t obey his commands about having the ‘poker face.’ IMO, where Hurley is so brilliant and why he gets thru to these kids is that the reward for following his instruction is obviously there, a good scholarship to play basketball and perhaps get on the road of making the NBA and generally having a good life. But the punishment for not following his command is he will bench or suspend the player and go on to win without him because he’s that great of a coach. In fact, they discuss one story where Hurley benched two of his star players against Kobe Bryant’s high school team and the replacements stepped up and helped them to a 14 point victory.

Hurley is a former probation officer in Jersey City, New Jersey…one of the more violent places in the New York City metropolitan area. I think he focuses on the ‘poker face’ in large part because of his experience with inner city kids and people on probation, when things get tough they tend to pout and complain which causes them to make poor, impulsive decisions. Thus, he does whatever he can to eliminate that from happening.

I think ‘keeping a poker face’ is good for golf as well for the same reasons. It’s easy to make a double bogey on the first hole and then get angry and think that now you have to go full bore to make birdies and eagles in order to ‘go low.’ Yes, making double bogeys and going low are not common. But, I always remind myself that the lowest score I ever shot was 64 (shot it twice) and the first time I shot that it came with a 4-putt double bogey. Coincidentally, it was on the same 13th hole that I 3-putted on that set me off to going ballistic in the match play in the club championship.

The point here is that if you have a bad hole and want to lose your temper, most of the time it’s going to work against you. Keep your poker face and focus on the next shot and maybe you can get the round back.


Perhaps the main reason why we are told not to lose our temper is that we don’t want to break a golf club. My parents place high value on not ‘wasting money.’ So even if I could afford to get a club re-shafted, even if I won the Powerball, they would still not like the fact that I ‘wasted’ money having to get it re-shafted.

Still though, that never really prevented me from losing my anger because it just did not seem that important to me. Instead, releasing that bent up frustration felt like having a monkey off my back.

But, that doesn’t mean that was the best thing for me either.

Instead, a couple of months ago I said to myself something that most people never want to hear.

I told myself:

I DO NOT CARE IF I BREAK A CLUB EVER. I CAN ALWAYS BUY A NEW CLUB OR A NEW SHAFT.

However:

I DO CARE ABOUT SHOOTING A BAD SCORE AND LOSING A GOOD ROUND OF GOLF

And therefore

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR POKER FACE BECAUSE I WANT TO PLAY MY BEST GOLF POSSIBLE.

For whatever reason, that made more sense to me and helped me better control my anger.



Still, I believe there are a couple of more hurdles to overcome.

What I find with myself and many other golfers is that anger is often due to worrying about what other people will think when you shoot a bad score or hit a bad shot. I think that is something the golfer, one way or another, has to overcome. I really don’t have any advice how to get thru that, but I think realizing that helps cause your anger is a step in the right direction. In Fred Couples’ case, he obviously doesn’t care what people think if he hits a bad shot.



The other hurdle for me is when I find that I am uncertain as to why I am hitting the ball poorly or playing poorly. It’s very difficult to practice almost every day and then struggle and not understand why I am struggling. That builds up frustration which turns into anger.

However, with learning from so many instructors since 2008 and now working with my current instructor, George Hunt (http://moradgolfgeorgehunt.com/), there is very little mystery to the game of golf anymore. I will say that I dislike it when I hear somebody say to the effect ‘you need to learn the swing because you have an analytical brain.’ While I like to be analytical, I do not find that understanding and researching the swing to be all that hard. In a basic form, it’s essentially getting me to understand where I am, where my final destination is, how to get there and troubleshoot the problems along the way. Like I said, I like being analytical. But, I don’t consider this analytical at all. It would be like calling somebody who wants directions to a new town and wants a reference point along the way to be ‘analytical.’ I think it’s the negative connotation that is most damning and ridiculous to me.

But when I understand the game, be it the swing, putting, chipping, green reading, etc, it’s easier to understand what went wrong and how to correct it immediately. That takes all that energy towards getting frustrated and angry and instead places it towards making the correct adjustments. However, if I don’t understand, after awhile the feeling of helplessness sets in which turns into frustration which eventually leads to anger.

In part, I think that is why Tiger has anger issues on the golf course. I think years of having little idea as to why he couldn’t hit the driver well started to frustrate him. And instead of putting the effort into making the correct adjustment, he instead was left with getting angry as his only way to release that negative energy. Now with Sean Foley, I think Tiger will progress beyond that in due time. If not, he could sure use Bob Hurley, Sr. in his life.







3JACK

AimPoint Experiences...

Many of my readers have gotten into the AimPoint green reading or are joining up for clinics. Here’s some things that I have experienced with AimPoint.

1. Determine the Stimp

This should be the first priority and going to the pro shop usually will not help. One course down in Florida tells me that they have a stimp of ‘9-10’ and they are more like an 8 and maybe a touch slower than that. If you have the AimCharts, you can see where the differences in break between an 8 stimp and a 9 stimp are vastly different. Plus, determining the stimp is a good way to practice AimPoint.


2. The Routine is H-U-G-E

I think this is what trips me up the most and when I get it down well, I usually putt much better. I think it takes a lot of practice to get the routine down. Early on I would botch the routine and either screw up the read or the speed of the putt. I’ve even had times where I read the AimChart incorrectly.

My routine looks something like this (we’ll assume for a planar slope)

- Find the low and the high anchor point

- Estimate if I’m below the cup or above the cup

- Estimate the amount of slope.

- Once the amount of slope is determined, place my thumb on the chart where the slope is.

- Keep the thumb on the slope of the chart while I determine the distance to the cup

- Keep the thumb on the slope of the chart while I determine the style of slope

- If planar slope, now determine where the ball is with relation to the fall line or the anchor

- Once that has been determined, look at the chart where my thumb is and determine the read

- Keep the number in mind, go thru the practice stroke routine, aim and fire.


3. Start to See How You Used to Putt

My theory was when I was in college and putted great, I had a putter that fit my eye pretty well and I used to play less break and hit it harder. In fact, the greatest putter I ever played with did the same thing. So did Tiger. But that narrowed the ‘capture width’ of the cup. I think one can putt well that way as I did and so did Tiger and my friend, but to do it consistently well over time takes extraordinary repetition and precision. I also used to have a right aim bias, but would putt left-to-right putts better (which is unique for a right handed golfer). My guess is that with the right-to-left putts, I aimed too high and hit hard so the ball wouldn’t come close to breaking enough.


4. Old Green Reading Theories….suck.


Particularly the theory that you ‘should never aim straight at the cup because every putt breaks.’ Putts almost always have break to them, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim at the cup. In fact, I find that extremely helpful on double breaking putts and triple breaking putts. Furthermore, sometimes you have to accept that you are on the fall line. Doesn’t happen a lot, but it can. But with the double and triple breakers, you’ll find yourself aiming at the cup from time to time. Convincing yourself is sometimes the issue because of stupid, old green reading theories. And it will tick you off because aiming at the cup is easier than aiming outside the cup.

Oh yeah, other dumb theories like plumb bobbing, crouching to read the green, the ‘putt breaks towards the mountain or the pond’…ugh.


5. Trusting it is also H-U-G-E

This goes with #3 and #4. For starters, years and years of playing too little break and hitting it harder make it difficult to trust that you need to play more break. If you think that you’re playing too much break, you’re probably hitting it too hard to begin with. Very difficult to trust it on those 10 foot putts on a steep (3%) or severe (4%) slope.

Also, telling yourself that you need to aim at the cup is difficult due to all of those years of being told NOT to aim at the cup. That and the concept of aiming straight, but the ball will not roll straight seems foreign.


6. If you are aware of the feedback, you should be able to improve your putting stroke.

It helps that I have an Edel Putter that fits my eyes and I now aim relatively straight. When I was at the AimPoint clinic instructed by John Graham (www.johngrahamgolf.com), there was a fellow student who would aim left, and then push the ball. Or as John referred to it, a ‘left aim pusher.’ Now that I aim pretty straight, I still have some of the old tendency to pull it. That’s because I was a ‘right aim puller’ before the Edel putter. Now I am an occasional ‘aim straight puller.’

It’s all feedback. I think if one combined this with some occasional video taping of the stroke, they could understand if they have an aim bias and if so, what type of aim bias they have.



7. I look forward to Uphill, Planar putts

As I discussed with the Golf Strategy posts, there’s a large advantage to leaving yourself with uphill putts because the ball will wobble less and stay on line better. Also, the break is typically less. Another factor is if you are say, 40 feet away, but within reasonable distance from the low anchor point, the read is very simple and the putt is easier to execute because of the lesser amount of wobble. That doesn’t mean a 40 foot putt will automatically go in or you’ll start making them left and right. You still have to aim correctly from 40 feet, which is not easy to do and have the right amount of speed. But, I think you increase your odds of making it by a lot and your chances of having an easy tap in for a 2-putt are much better than if you had a downhill putt. I honestly think that it’s safe to say that in many instances I’d take a 40 foot putt uphill over a 20 foot putt to the same cup that is downhill. Even if the slope is at 2%, which is average.


8. Low Anchors Are Not Easy to Read Perfectly

Finding the lowest point on the green is not easy to read 100% accurately. Sometimes I’ll be about 5 feet off. However, if I really look, Look, LOOK and feel, Feel, FEEL, I can become more accurate. Furthermore, if I am 5 feet off and aim at the cup…if I have decent speed I’m usually tapping in for a 2-putt. That certainly beats not understanding the anchor point and play for break that isn’t quite there and missing by a mile.


9. Practice Off The Green Can Help

One thing I’ve been practicing is when I’m walking somewhere, let’s say a street, I’ll try to feel if the slope I’m on is going down or up. I also will take a piece of paper and make it into a crown or saddle slope and pace my fingers around it in a circle to understand what it will feel like when I’m on the course and I am trying to read the type of slope.





3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Adv. Total Driving Rankings 4.19.11

Updated Advanced Total Driving Rankings




1…Boo Weekley
2…Bubba Watson
3…John Merrick
4…Ben Curtis
5…Tom Gillis
6…David Toms
7…Chez Reavie
8…Graeme McDowell
9…Bo Van Pelt
10…Brian Gay
11…Chad Campbell
12…Ben Crane
13…Hunter Mahan
14…Peter Tomasulo
15…Ryan Moore
16…Heath Slocum
17…Louis Oosthuizen
18…Joe Durant
19…Dustin Johnson
20…Billy Mayfair
21…Jerry Kelly
22…Jason Dufner
23…Nick Watney
24…Jason Gore
25…Bill Haas
26…Brandt Jobe
27…J.J. Henry
28…Jason Day
29…Chris Couch
30…Scott McCarron
31…John Senden
32…Justin Hicks
33…Justin Rose
34…Martin Laird
35…John Rollins
36…Spencer Levin
37…Tommy Gainey
38…Brandt Snedeker
39…Gary Woodland
40…Keegan Bradley
41…Webb Simpson
42…Zach Johnson
43…Matt Kuchar
44…Chris Baryla
45…Blake Adams
46…Jeff Overton
47…Charley Hoffman
48…Steve Marino
49…Mark Wilson
50…Stephen Ames
51…Brendon de Jonge
52…Bill Lunde
53…Scott Verplank
54…Kevin Chappell
55…J.B. Holmes
56…Brian Davis
57…D.A. Points
58…Adam Scott
59…Jeff Maggert
60…Pat Perez
61…Robert Allenby
62…Rich Beem
63…Jonathan Byrd
64…Charlie Wi
65…Scott Stallings
66…Bobby Gates
67…Nick O'Hern
68…Brendan Steele
69…Stewart Cink
70…Kevin Sutherland
71…Steve Elkington
72…Johnson Wagner
73…Roland Thatcher
74…Paul Casey
75…Jim Furyk
76…Colt Knost
77…Ian Poulter
78…Steve Stricker
79…Alex Cejka
80…Troy Matteson
81…Ryan Palmer
82…Angel Cabrera
83…Ernie Els
84…Rory Sabbatini
85…Charl Schwartzel
86…Kevin Stadler
87…Y.E. Yang
88…Geoff Ogilvy
89…Josh Teater
90…Rocco Mediate
91…Robert Karlsson
92…Robert Garrigus
93…Chris Stroud
94…Hunter Haas
95…Garrett Willis
96…K.J. Choi
97…Carl Pettersson
98…Nathan Green
99…Jason Bohn
100…David Hearn
101…Andres Romero
102…Vijay Singh
103…Kent Jones
104…Ryuji Imada
105…Kyle Stanley
106…Cameron Beckman
107…Joe Ogilvie
108…Vaughn Taylor
109…D.J. Trahan
110…Jesper Parnevik
111…Jim Herman
112…Lucas Glover
113…William McGirt
114…Daniel Summerhays
115…Aaron Baddeley
116…Jhonattan Vegas
117…Justin Leonard
118…Scott Gutschewski
119…David Mathis
120…Paul Goydos
121…Tim Petrovic
122…Bryce Molder
123…Zack Miller
124…Charles Howell III
125…Kevin Streelman
126…Sean O'Hair
127…Ricky Barnes
128…Chris DiMarco
129…Davis Love III
130…J.P. Hayes
131…Retief Goosen
132…Billy Horschel
133…Steven Bowditch
134…Phil Mickelson
135…Cameron Tringale
136…Marc Turnesa
137…D.J. Brigman
138…Dean Wilson
139…Fredrik Jacobson
140…David Duval
141…Nate Smith
142…Alexandre Rocha
143…Chris Riley
144…James Driscoll
145…Derek Lamely
146…Chris Kirk
147…Rickie Fowler
148…Troy Merritt
149…Kris Blanks
150…Matt Bettencourt
151…Tag Ridings
152…Alex Prugh
153…Woody Austin
154…Lee Janzen
155…Fabian Gomez
156…Jim Renner
157…Ben Martin
158…Martin Piller
159…Richard S. Johnson
160…Trevor Immelman
161…Joseph Bramlett
162…Stuart Appleby
163…Michael Putnam
164…Sunghoon Kang
165…Michael Bradley
166…Duffy Waldorf
167…Marc Leishman
168…Paul Stankowski
169…Matt McQuillan
170…Luke Donald
171…Padraig Harrington
172…Arjun Atwal
173…Harrison Frazar
174…Camilo Villegas
175…Steve Flesch
176…Jimmy Walker
177…Michael Thompson
178…Michael Connell
179…Andres Gonzales
180…Tim Herron
181…Jarrod Lyle
182…Tiger Woods
183…Matt Jones
184…Greg Chalmers
185…Michael Sim
186…Shaun Micheel
187…Jamie Lovemark
188…Kevin Na
189…Chad Collins
190…Anthony Kim
191…Kevin Kisner
192…Bio Kim
193…Mike Weir





3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Danger Zone Rankings 4.19.11

Updated Adjusted Danger Zone Rankings.




1…..Scott Stallings
2…..Nick Watney
3…..Peter Tomasulo
4…..Billy Horschel
5…..Paul Stankowski
6…..Robert Garrigus
7…..David Toms
8…..Jason Gore
9…..Phil Mickelson
10…..Kevin Chappell
11…..Lee Westwood
12…..Padraig Harrington
13…..Ryuji Imada
14…..Graeme McDowell
15…..Brendan Steele
16…..Charley Hoffman
17…..Rickie Fowler
18…..John Rollins
19…..Jim Furyk
20…..Kyle Stanley
21…..Davis Love III
22…..Y.E. Yang
23…..Vijay Singh
24…..Dustin Johnson
25…..Chris Kirk
26…..Boo Weekley
27…..David Hearn
28…..Jim Renner
29…..Chris Couch
30…..Robert Allenby
31…..Ben Crane
32…..Chez Reavie
33…..Brandt Snedeker
34…..Marc Leishman
35…..Jonathan Byrd
36…..Harrison Frazar
37…..Alexandre Rocha
38…..John Senden
39…..Andres Romero
40…..J.J. Henry
41…..Jason Day
42…..Martin Laird
43…..Joe Durant
44…..Pat Perez
45…..Woody Austin
46…..Stewart Cink
47…..Jim Herman
48…..Matt Kuchar
49…..Ernie Els
50…..Mark Wilson
51…..Adam Scott
52…..Derek Lamely
53…..Ryan Moore
54…..Heath Slocum
55…..Rich Beem
56…..Ian Poulter
57…..Tag Ridings
58…..Geoff Ogilvy
59…..Chad Campbell
60…..Kevin Stadler
61…..Paul Goydos
62…..Spencer Levin
63…..Gary Woodland
64…..Jason Dufner
65…..Brian Gay
66…..Justin Rose
67…..Alex Cejka
68…..Bubba Watson
69…..J.P. Hayes
70…..Alex Prugh
71…..David Mathis
72…..Steven Bowditch
73…..Sean O'Hair
74…..Troy Merritt
75…..Roland Thatcher
76…..Andres Gonzales
77…..Paul Casey
78…..Louis Oosthuizen
79…..Bobby Gates
80…..Retief Goosen
81…..Bill Lunde
82…..Richard S. Johnson
83…..Vaughn Taylor
84…..Jeff Maggert
85…..Brandt Jobe
86…..Garrett Willis
87…..Ben Martin
88…..Steve Stricker
89…..Joe Ogilvie
90…..Cameron Tringale
91…..Ben Curtis
92…..Jeff Overton
93…..Chris Baryla
94…..D.J. Brigman
95…..Brendon de Jonge
96…..Charles Howell III
97…..Aaron Baddeley
98…..Daniel Summerhays
99…..Arjun Atwal
100…..Marc Turnesa
101…..Chris DiMarco
102…..Ryan Palmer
103…..Ricky Barnes
104…..Justin Hicks
105…..D.A. Points
106…..Rory Sabbatini
107…..Tommy Gainey
108…..Steve Marino
109…..Scott Gutschewski
110…..Tim Herron
111…..Troy Matteson
112…..Kris Blanks
113…..Stuart Appleby
114…..Webb Simpson
115…..D.J. Trahan
116…..Zack Miller
117…..Scott Verplank
118…..Kevin Sutherland
119…..Tom Gillis
120…..Nate Smith
121…..Luke Donald
122…..Matt McQuillan
123…..Stephen Ames
124…..Michael Thompson
125…..Brian Davis
126…..Tiger Woods
127…..Edoardo Molinari
128…..Shaun Micheel
129…..Fredrik Jacobson
130…..Josh Teater
131…..Billy Mayfair
132…..Sunghoon Kang
133…..Zach Johnson
134…..Michael Bradley
135…..Kevin Na
136…..Jason Bohn
137…..Bo Van Pelt
138…..Chris Stroud
139…..Nathan Green
140…..Trevor Immelman
141…..Rocco Mediate
142…..Hunter Mahan
143…..J.B. Holmes
144…..Jimmy Walker
145…..Michael Connell
146…..Anthony Kim
147…..Matt Jones
148…..Dean Wilson
149…..Jerry Kelly
150…..Duffy Waldorf
151…..Kevin Streelman
152…..Jamie Lovemark
153…..Angel Cabrera
154…..Michael Putnam
155…..David Duval
156…..Justin Leonard
157…..Chad Collins
158…..Colt Knost
159…..Jarrod Lyle
160…..Blake Adams
161…..Kent Jones
162…..Chris Riley
163…..Keegan Bradley
164…..Scott McCarron
165…..Johnson Wagner
166…..Tim Petrovic
167…..Bill Haas
168…..Cameron Beckman
169…..Lucas Glover
170…..Matt Bettencourt
171…..William McGirt
172…..Nick O'Hern
173…..Carl Pettersson
174…..Jesper Parnevik
175…..K.J. Choi
176…..Charl Schwartzel
177…..Joseph Bramlett
178…..Fabian Gomez
179…..Martin Piller
180…..Mike Weir
181…..Jhonattan Vegas
182…..Bryce Molder
183…..Steve Flesch
184…..Bio Kim
185…..Robert Karlsson
186…..Steve Elkington
187…..Hunter Haas
188…..James Driscoll
189…..Greg Chalmers
190…..John Merrick
191…..Charlie Wi
192…..Lee Janzen
193…..Camilo Villegas
194…..Kevin Kisner
195…..Michael Sim



3JACK

2011 PGA Tour Adj. Short Game Rankings 4.19.11

Updated Adjusted Short Game Rankings




1….James Driscoll
2….Chris Riley
3….Ben Crane
4….Jonathan Byrd
5….Michael Thompson
6….Aaron Baddeley
7….Martin Laird
8….Brian Gay
9….Charl Schwartzel
10….D.A. Points
11….Nick O'Hern
12….Billy Mayfair
13….Stewart Cink
14….Davis Love III
15….Steve Stricker
16….Shaun Micheel
17….Nick Watney
18….Ian Poulter
19….Bill Haas
20….Ricky Barnes
21….Mike Weir
22….Zach Johnson
23….William McGirt
24….Vijay Singh
25….Charles Howell III
26….Scott Verplank
27….Rory Sabbatini
28….Michael Bradley
29….Andres Gonzales
30….Matt Jones
31….Anthony Kim
32….Fredrik Jacobson
33….Steven Bowditch
34….Alex Cejka
35….Rocco Mediate
36….Marc Leishman
37….Colt Knost
38….Justin Leonard
39….Camilo Villegas
40….Michael Sim
41….Ryan Moore
42….Kevin Na
43….Tim Petrovic
44….Louis Oosthuizen
45….Bryce Molder
46….Dustin Johnson
47….Jim Furyk
48….Kevin Sutherland
49….Ernie Els
50….Steve Flesch
51….Hunter Haas
52….Jerry Kelly
53….Matt Kuchar
54….Brendon de Jonge
55….Cameron Tringale
56….Martin Piller
57….Hunter Mahan
58….Rickie Fowler
59….Robert Karlsson
60….Chad Collins
61….Justin Rose
62….Zack Miller
63….Cameron Beckman
64….Bio Kim
65….Nathan Green
66….Scott Gutschewski
67….Heath Slocum
68….Nate Smith
69….Keegan Bradley
70….Lee Janzen
71….Dean Wilson
72….Ryuji Imada
73….Trevor Immelman
74….Scott McCarron
75….John Senden
76….Chris Kirk
77….Tim Herron
78….Geoff Ogilvy
79….Lee Westwood
80….Padraig Harrington
81….K.J. Choi
82….Charley Hoffman
83….Lucas Glover
84….Vaughn Taylor
85….Ben Curtis
86….J.P. Hayes
87….Matt Bettencourt
88….Chris DiMarco
89….Kyle Stanley
90….Jim Herman
91….Bo Van Pelt
92….Jesper Parnevik
93….Joe Durant
94….Kevin Streelman
95….Robert Allenby
96….Jason Dufner
97….Rich Beem
98….Spencer Levin
99….Jason Bohn
100….Chad Campbell
101….Josh Teater
102….Justin Hicks
103….Steve Marino
104….D.J. Trahan
105….Johnson Wagner
106….Woody Austin
107….Chris Stroud
108….Joe Ogilvie
109….J.B. Holmes
110….Jhonattan Vegas
111….Y.E. Yang
112….Jason Day
113….Brian Davis
114….Tom Gillis
115….Webb Simpson
116….Michael Connell
117….Bill Lunde
118….Angel Cabrera
119….Arjun Atwal
120….David Hearn
121….David Toms
122….Derek Lamely
123….Luke Donald
124….Tag Ridings
125….Kent Jones
126….Kevin Chappell
127….Steve Elkington
128….Troy Merritt
129….Pat Perez
130….Brandt Jobe
131….Paul Goydos
132….Carl Pettersson
133….Stephen Ames
134….Jarrod Lyle
135….Peter Tomasulo
136….J.J. Henry
137….Kevin Stadler
138….Tiger Woods
139….Bubba Watson
140….Marc Turnesa
141….Brendan Steele
142….Retief Goosen
143….Ryan Palmer
144….Roland Thatcher
145….Chris Couch
146….Fabian Gomez
147….John Merrick
148….Bobby Gates
149….David Mathis
150….Phil Mickelson
151….Kevin Kisner
152….Daniel Summerhays
153….Charlie Wi
154….Troy Matteson
155….Jimmy Walker
156….John Rollins
157….Greg Chalmers
158….Jeff Overton
159….Scott Stallings
160….Kris Blanks
161….Chris Baryla
162….Paul Stankowski
163….Jim Renner
164….Mark Wilson
165….Joseph Bramlett
166….Richard S. Johnson
167….Tommy Gainey
168….Jason Gore
169….Duffy Waldorf
170….Stuart Appleby
171….Andres Romero
172….Adam Scott
173….Edoardo Molinari
174….Jeff Maggert
175….Chez Reavie
176….D.J. Brigman
177….Harrison Frazar
178….Michael Putnam
179….Sean O'Hair
180….Brandt Snedeker
181….Gary Woodland
182….Alex Prugh
183….Robert Garrigus
184….Paul Casey
185….David Duval
186….Alexandre Rocha
187….Jamie Lovemark
188….Boo Weekley
189….Blake Adams
190….Sunghoon Kang
191….Matt McQuillan
192….Ben Martin
193….Graeme McDowell
194….Garrett Willis
195….Billy Horschel




3JACK

Golf Strategy Followup

I’ve received plenty of questions and arguments with regards to my Golf Strategy thoughts that I wanted to address. Here are some of them.


1. How would the average amateur use your Golf Strategy?

In part I it was stated that it more applies to golfers with a 3 handicap or less. The reason being is that higher handicap golfers become more unpredictable and thus they are probably not consistently hitting drives that go long or are not impeded. I will say that this chart seems to work with from what readers have told me.

Yards….Long……Mid1…Mid2…Short1….Short2…DZ1……DZ2

7600……315……314……298……297………..277……...185……235

7500……310……309……294……293……..…273…...…175……225

7400……306……305……290……289………..269…...…175……225

7300……302……301……286……285……..…265...……175……225

7200……298……297……281……280……..…260…...…175….…225

7100……294……293……278……277……..…257…...…175….…225

7000……290……289……275……275….....…255...……175….…225

6900……286……285……270……269………..249…….…175……225

6800……281……280……265……264………..244……….175……225

6700……277……276……260……259………..239…….…165……215

6600……273……272……257……256………..236…….…165……215

6500……269……268……253……252………..232…….…165……215

6400……265……264……250……249………..229…….…165……215

6300……261……260……245……244………..224….……150……200

6200……257……256……240……239……..…219…….…150……200

6100……252……251……235……234………..214…….…150……200

6000……248……247……232……231……….211…..……150……200

5900……244……243……228……227……….207……..…150……200

5800……240……239……225……224……….204……….140….…190

5700……236……235……220……219…….…199…….…140…….190

5600……232……231……215……214…….…194…….…140….…190

5500……228……227……212……211……..…191……….140……190

I would just consider the Birdie Zone to be about 100 to 120 yards less than the Danger Zone (DZ1). So in the case of a 6,400 yard with these parameters, I’d say that the zones look like this:

Birdie Zone: 50 yards or less
Safe Zone: 51 yards to 164 yards
Danger Zone: 165 to 215 yards

With the Golf Strategy thoughts, I think it helps better golfers get a better understanding why they did or did not ‘score’ well. Was it poor execution? Was it poor strategy? With higher handicap golfers, it’s usually going to be an execution issue.

I will say this, I believe that if a higher handicap golfer could do the following:

- Cut down on their 3 putts
- Consistently find the green on shots around the green from 50 yards in.
- Make a commitment when they have an impeded shot to the green that they make sure they will have an unimpeded shot on the following shot.

Those 3 things would dramatically lower their scores. Particularly the last one as usually a higher handicapper will hit a poor tee shot and then try to hit a shot that they might hit once in a lifetime.



2. This sounds like an awfully conservative approach off the tee, especially if you’re good with the driver.

It’s actually the opposite. I am very bias towards hitting the DRIVER off the tee and I don’t like a golfer hitting anything less than a driver off the tee unless they HAVE to. The golf strategy thoughts should help the golfer understand when they HAVE to his something else besides a driver off the tee.

#3 at Windermere Golf Club, just outside of Atlanta is a good example. It’s a par-5 and it’s not very long. You’re teeing off a cliff of sorts and the ball will not get much, if any roll. It doglegs to the left and there’s hazard left and trees to the right. However, a high percentage of low handicappers take a 3-wood off the tee. The advantage of taking a 3-wood off the tee is that you can take a mediocre swing and still be okay.

The problem with a 3-wood off the tee is that you’re not likely to hit the second shot into the Birdie Zone and hitting it on the green in two is almost out of the question. But, if you hit a driver and find the fairway, there’s a decent shot at only having a long iron into the green.

My belief is that a low handicapper should take the DRIVER out on this hole. Why? Because for the majority of low handicappers, a decent pass at the ball with the driver will be okay. Remember, the ball really doesn’t roll on this hole because you’re on such a highly elevated tee. So if you’re a bit off line, you still will likely be fine. It’s just when you miss pretty badly you will get penalized.

And that’s the crux of the situation. You don’t do all of that practice so you can play safe in case you take a bad swing. You practice so you can consistently make good swings and hit it well when you do and still hit it pretty well when it’s a less than good swing. And as I’ve mentioned with par-5’s, it is EXTREMELY FAVORABLE to have a ‘go-for-it.’


3. I like to shoot at the pins from 100 yards in.

I do, too. But not all of the time. I like to be AWARE of the situation before I hit the shot. A good example was yesterday on #17 at Stoneybrook East. I have 68 yards into the flag. I wasn’t quite hitting my Lob Wedge well that day, so I basically wanted to be aggressive and go at the flag. And I just missed the flag, but I wound up 12 feet past the cup. This left me with a downhill putt that broke about 18 inches. Had I played it a bit smarter and kept the ball below the cup, I could’ve had a putt that would’ve broke half as much and I wouldn’t have worried about the wobble effect.


4. I have a hard time remembering what to do.

This is an issue I have occasionally as well. Sometimes when you have a tricky shot with a 5-iron and the wind is swirling a bit, you start to focus on those factors instead of thinking to yourself ‘let’s make solid contact and just find the middle of the green.’

One thing I started to experiment with is on the scorecard I would keep track of things like this:

Zone (Birdie Zone, Safe Zone or Danger Zone)
GIR
Score
Impeded Shot

In the Zone part, I will write down what Zone my approach shot is in. GIR and Score are self explanatory. Impeded shot is just something I mark down if the shot is impeded or not. For instance, I had a shot on #13 at North Shore where I had to hit a shot over some trees. Now I hit it to 10 feet, but to me that was an impeded shot to the green. I just hit a tremendous shot. But it’s no different to me than if I had to punch a shot under the trees and missed the green.

Anyway, I’ll write down on the scorecard what Zone I am in as I get up to the ball and get the yardage. If I’m 185 yards away, I’ll write down ‘DZ.’ That reminds me ‘focus on making solid contact and just try to find the middle of the green.’


5. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face

I can counter that with ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail.’

My feelings are that you’re going to have to make adjustments in anything you do because situations are always bound to change. However, if you completely abandon a strategy then your strategy probably wasn’t very good to begin with.

The other day at North Shore we had winds gusting up to 35 mph. This is ‘getting punched in the face.’ But I was able to hit 12/18 GIR and shoot 68 because I was aware of the changes that needed to be made and was still able to keep much of my strategy in tact.

For example, #4 is typically a tough hole for me.


But now with a 35 mph tail wind, I adjusted my strategy from hitting a stock driver to making sure I hit a driver high and made decent contact and not even worry about how straight it goes. That would allow me to easily fly the bunker on the right and have a wedge into the green. Which I did, then I drained a 15 foot birdie putt.

Then on #12 where I was planning to originally hit a 3-wood


With the wind in our face I had to hit driver or 3-wood would leave me too far away from the green. I did and I got a little lucky and then hit a great 6-iron to 5-feet and made birdie.

Obviously, it doesn’t always work out this well, but for me if I understand the situation before I tee off, then I know how to approach it. If I know a hole where I’m typically going to be in the Birdie Zone off the tee, now has a 40 mph wind in my face and will leave me 150 yards away and having to hit a low punch shot into the wind with a longer club, I’ll focus my efforts on keeping the ball in the fairway and making solid contact and understanding that I probably won’t birdie the hole and there will probably be some holes later on in the round that I typically don’t birdie where I will have the chance because of a tailwind.





3JACK

Golf Strategy Thoughts Part III

In part III, I will discuss approach shot strategy. In the previous parts, I discussed par-4 and par-5 strategy. Since I’m discussing approach shot strategy here, you can include par-3 strategy as well because the tee shot on a par-3 is an approach shot.

A long time ago, on 3Jack Top 50 Instructor Dave Orr’s old forum (www.orrgolf.com), he asked the question ‘why did we as young kids playing golf, make so many long putts?’

I’m sure there were some good reasons for it that dealt with the putting stroke and how our mind thinks. But I have another theory to add to this.

As kids, we struggled to get the ball to the flag on approach shots and pitches. We usually wound up hitting the ball short of the flagstick. Since greens tend to slope upward from front to back, we were leaving ourselves with a lot of uphill putts. As we got older, we started ‘having enough club’ and constantly hitting shots past the pin and we may have closer putts, but they are more downhill.

It reminds me of the first time I watched a golfer from my hometown play. He was the #1 player for an SEC university, then he went on to play mini-tours and the Canadian Tour for years. This was well before the Hogan Tour (now the Nationwide Tour) was available. He eventually gave up his pro status and started working 3 different jobs.

In his first year with his amateur status, in his mid-30’s while working 3 jobs, he made the finals of the New York State Amateur and eventually made the quarterfinals of the US Amateur, beating then #1 ranked Manny Zerman before eventually losing to the winner, Justin Leonard.

Again, all while in his mid-30’s and working 3 different jobs.

The thing is we really couldn’t figure it out. He wasn’t long off the tee. He wasn’t what we would call a great ballstriker. He seemed like a great putter, but he would miss way too many short putts to be considered great. He did seem like he had a great chipping and pitching game.

I remember telling my dad when I watched him for the first time that ‘he only hits it short of the flag if it will leave him an uphill putt.’ Meaning, he would try to hit shots ‘pin high’ or maybe a little longer. But if it was going to leave him with a downhill putt, he’d make sure he left it short of the flag. And his ability to do that was pretty special.



THE WOBBLE FACTOR

I asked AimPoint Golf creator (www.aimpointgolf.com) Mark Sweeney about uphill and downhill putts and the percentages of made putts and he told me that he actually had data for the Tour players and yes, Tour players make much less downhill putts compared to uphill putts. IIRC, David Orr’s ‘Spider Studies’ came to the same conclusion.

Why is this?

1. Uphill putts (provided everything else is equal) will have less break than downhill putts

2. The roll of the putt is more predictable on an uphill putt than a downhill putt.

#2 I’ll explain further.

If you hit a downhill and an uphill putt the same distance, it will take a longer amount of time for the DOWNHILL putt to reach its destination. In other words, the downhill putt will go slower than an uphill putt.

The slower the ball rolls, the more likely it is to WOBBLE.

It’s much like a bicycle wheel wobbling when it starts to go slower. The problem that the wobble causes is it can change the roll of the putt and allows things like spike marks, indentations, etc to influence where the ball goes. With the uphill putt, since it’s moving at a faster speed, the wobble factor is much less than with a slower moving, downhill putt. And that’s a huge reason why golfers are more likely to make an uphill putt than a downhill putt.

And with the spring-early summer season coming up on us, this is very important to understand as golf courses start to use aerify the greens. A golfer stands little chance of making downhill putts on aerified greens because of the Wobble Factor and the aerification holes having a major affect on the roll of the ball.


GOALS ON APPROACH SHOTS

The point about the Wobble Factor is that you’re much more likely to make uphill putts than downhill putts, but that does not mean that is your only goal on approach shots. It’s certainly something to keep in mind. But, if I had the choice between a 6 foot downhill putt and a 20 foot uphill putt, I’ll probably take the downhill putt more often than not because it is significantly closer. Where it starts to get closer is when you have something like a 12 foot uphill putt vs. an 8 foot downhill putt and with a slope of 3.5% on a 10 stimp green.

A lot of this depends on the golfer’s skill and their distance to the hole.


DANGER ZONE STRATEGY


As I’ve discussed in the previous 2 parts, we generally consider the ‘Danger Zone’ to be shots from 175-225 yards on par-4’s and par-3’s. On par-5’s, due to the way most of them are designed, the Danger Zone moves up a bit into the 150-200 yard range.

I like Tom Watson’s thoughts on what his goals are when he has a long iron in his hand. He has stated that he just focuses on making good contact and finding the green.

As I’ve mentioned before, Danger Zone play is very important because this is where golfers usually lose all of their strokes. This is where making bogey or worse is very likely. Simply put, even the top 10 ranked golfers in the world do not ‘score’ from the Danger Zone. It’s usually a place where they typically make par. And because they are so good, they find a way to cut down on bogeys, probably make a few more birdies and do a good job of practically eliminating doubles and triples. Usually the top player in the Danger Zone on the PGA Tour has an average proximity to the cup of 34 feet or so. Remember, that is the *top* player. The average is about 40 feet. And there’s about a less than 2% chance of making a 34 footer or a 40 foot putt.

So Danger Zone play becomes a game of not hitting a shot that will cost you extra strokes and having makeable up and downs when you do miss the green.

In the Danger Zone I would not worry about leaving myself with an uphill putt. Like Watson said, just be happy with finding the green. Of course, there are some times you get on a hole where you can find the green, but you’re almost guaranteed to 3-putt, so I would avoid that part of the green in that situation.

But from the Danger Zone we need to start thinking about where the best location is for us to get up and down if we miss the green. And if you guessed, chipping to an uphill slope…you guessed correctly.

However, from the Danger Zone it may not be quite that easy. If that is the case, I would focus on the spot that you know would be the most difficult spot to get up and down from and try to avoid that at all costs.

#11 (208 yard par-3) at Walkabout is a good example


The only uphill chip/pitch is over to the left. But, if you miss left you risk hitting it into the bunker. While that isn’t exactly bad, if you miss the greenside bunker on the left, it’s actually a tough chip/pitch because there’s a hill you will have to hit over. And if the flag is tucked over to the left, getting up and down is extremely hard. While the right side doesn’t leave for an uphill chip, the slope isn’t too severe and thus the shot isn’t *that* hard. So the best play is to lean towards missing to the right. If you’re a push-draw type player whose misses are usually a push, that’s a good way to play the hole.

Overall, Danger Zone play should be rather conservative and the golfer should think ahead as far as where they want to leave themselves if they miss the green (which is much more likely from this position).


HANGTIME

Obviously, the closer a golfer gets to the pin the more precise the golfer should be. However, it’s important to differentiate the strategy behind how far away a golfer is to the pin versus what club they are using.

For example, one of my friends legitimately hits their 7-iron about 210 yards long. For me, that’s a 4-iron. But if he has a 200 yard shot to a flag that is tucked behind a bunker and everywhere else surrounding the pin would be a very hard up and down, he would be a bit foolish to fire right at the flag even if he’s using an 8-iron.

I believe that’s because that even though he has less club, he’s still hitting a shot 200 yards long and that will have more hangtime. And in that time the ball is still up in the air, anything that has an affect of the flight of the ball (i.e wind) it will have a bigger impact on the ball flight than if he was 150 yards away. Furthermore, since he’s using more lofted club and still hits it the same length, he’s going to have more hangtime than myself hitting a 4-iron. So that is where he’s at a slight disadvantage.

That doesn’t mean I would recommend cutting down your power with irons just so you can cut down the hangtime. My friend still has some sizeable advantages being able to hit it this long with his irons.

For example, if he chooses to aim for the middle of the green, in general hitting a 7-iron is easier than hitting a 4-iron. Also, if he really needs to hit one close because he needs to hit a birdie, I think his odds would be better with a 7-iron than me hitting a 4-iron. And the other big factor is if the shot calls for something with a high trajectory and will land soft. Again, advantage longer player.


WIND

Wind is usually the weather factor that causes scores to rise, regardless of handicap. This is because it’s hard to control the ball’s flight and there is more guessing of where to aim. If you watch the PGA Tour enough, you start to see the days that the golfers tend to go really low out is when it just got done raining and it’s not windy. Drivers start to find the fairway more often because they can’t roll thru the fairway into the rough. And now with approach shots, they can fire right at the flag.


Wind has a similar type of affect that the incline/decline slope has on a shot. If you own a laser rangefinder with slope, you should notice that the slope has a bigger impact the further away from the hole you are. Let’s take the picture above. From 181 yards, there’s a 14* slope. This means the hole plays more like 153 yards, which is a 28 yard difference. But, if we were to take a shot from 100 yards with a 14* decline, it may read like an 85 yard shot which is a 15 yard difference.

I believe wind works the same way. If you feel a ‘2 club wind’ from 150 yards out, then from 210 yards out it’s probably more like a 3-club wind. And from 90 yards out it’s probably more like a 1 club wind.

Still though, your chances of hitting a lot of greens and hitting shots close on windy days is pretty slim. That’s why from a strategic standpoint, you need to mentally prepare yourself to have your short game ready. And as we discussed, if we can keep putts, chips and pitches below the cup, we will likely have better success.


UNDERSTANDING TERRAIN

Where golfers also tend to mis-club themselves is when they do not accurately judge their terrain. #6 at Windermere Golf Club just outside of Atlanta is a perfect example. If a golfer hits a tee shot in the fairway, they will have a downhill lie hitting into an elevated. However, it’s a bit deceptive to judge the downhill lie and the elevated green. Because the green is elevated, we need to hit it a little longer. And because the lie is downhill, the ball will go shorter because it will have a lower trajectory. This leads to most golfers needing 1 extra club.

From talking to the architects, they obviously design holes with the terrain in mind and also design bunkers, water, etc. around the green with the types of shots caused by the terrain.

I think many golfers, including myself, tend to fall into the trap of when they have a somewhat difficult lie of thinking ‘I should aim at the flag and just worry about hitting a good shot from this tough lie.’ Instead, I think it should be more of a ‘aim for the middle of the green and focus on making solid contact, 2-putt and make your par’ type of mindset.

Sometimes golfers have to worry about the terrain of a green, like a tiered green. Most tiered greens are on holes with short approach shots because it’s too difficult for golfers to have to hit into a tiered green with a mid-iron. If the flag is on the top tier, my recommendation is to try and carry it to the pin instead of hitting a low shot and trying to get it to run up to the pin. The reason being is that the bounce and roll is probably too unpredictable. A golfer could hit a shot on the bottom tier and it could take a hop over the top tier and go well off the green. Or the golfer could hit the tier and spin back to the bottom tier. With tiered greens, making birdie becomes much harder, but I think the goal is to put the ball on the correct tier and at least give yourself a run because putts to the opposite tier rarely go in.


WHEN ANNOUNCERS GO WRONG

On the Sunday of this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, I decided to watch some of the first few holes played early that morning on TV. On one hole, Bubba Watson blasts a driver about 370 yards, but in the right rough. He’s only about 10 yards from the fairway, but that had the deep rough close to the fairway on that hole.

Bubba has a PW into the green and out of the deep rough, he catches it a bit thick and winds up just short of the green, with an uphill chip. The announcers sorta ‘scold’ Bubba for not finding the green. However, from what we know, even if you just have a PW into the green, getting it on the green from the deep rough is no easy task. I believe that Bubba played the shot pretty well. He didn’t find the green, but odds weren’t in his favor and he wound up with a very makeable up and down.

But then Bubba hits a chip that burns the edge and goes about 3.5 feet past the cup. Before the chip, the announcers discuss how ‘you don’t get much better from here than Bubba Watson.’ And after the chip they basically state ‘good job of giving it a run there’ and more or less concede that he’ll make par and he ‘made a good effort’ on that chip.

However, that 3.5 foot putt is a downhill putt. And Bubba misses the putt and once again he’s ‘scolded’ for missing an ‘easy putt.’

The truth is that Bubba probably would’ve been much better with a 5 footer uphill and not ‘giving it a run’ than his 3.5 foot downhill putt.

Now, that does not mean you should never try and chip it in, but in Bubba’s case, it was really a poor chip. Had he knocked it 2 feet past, he’s almost likely to make that putt even if it is downhill. But now he’s 3.5 feet and downhill, he’s probably got the odds in his favor of making it, but the odds were better with an uphill putt.


SYNOPSIS

Statistics are not about certainty, they are about probability. The argument I hear from critics usually revolves around incomplete statistics and those occasions where something defies the statistical odds. For instance, if I had a quarter and flipped it ten times in a row, theoretically it could land on heads each of the ten times. But the odds of that happening are at 0.098%. So, would anybody bet $100 on a quarter being flipped and landing on heads 10 times in a row? Or would you like your chances of it landing on heads on one flip?

Probability…not certainty.

Another good example was this past weekend at the Masters. The golfer who led the Masters in fairways hit?


Angel Cabrera is usually the player who has the lowest percentage of fairways hit on Tour. So yeah, theoretically it did happen, but it was a gigantic long shot given Cabrera’s history with his driver accuracy. And that’s why he played so well despite having a rough year, he got hot with the driver and with his power off the tee, that put him at a sizeable advantage that he almost never gets.

With that, scoring isn’t really about ‘putting and chipping well’ as much as it is made out to be. That *can* be part of it, but in general a golfer is not going to putt and chip abnormally better than they typically do.

Scoring is about the golfer putting themselves in position to get the ball in the cup with the least amount of strokes needed as it is about actually putting and chipping well.

The great rounds usually don’t consist of golfers making bombs as they do with golfers hitting shots closer and I believe leaving themselves with uphill putts.

People often say that golf is like chess. If that’s the case, you better start practicing what you preach.






3JACK

Golf Strategy Thoughts Part II

In part II of ‘Statistical Golf Strategy’, I’ll examine the strategy for par-5’s.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GO FOR ITS

Here’s how the PGA Tour defines a player going for a par-5 in two.

A player is assumed to be going for the green if the second shot on a par 5 lands on or around the green. If the second shot on a par 5 lands in the water, it is included as well. Note: 'Around the green' indicates the ball is within 30 yards of the edge of the green.

Going For It percentage also has a very strong correlation to the player’s scoring average on par-5’s. Take a look at the top 20 players in Go For It Percentage in 2010 and their score, Relative to Par, on those holes that they went for the green in two.

1…Dustin Johnson……..71.85……-98
2…Rory McIlroy………...68.28……-52
3…Graham DeLaet….…..67.7……-99
4…Robert Garrigus……..67.62……-72
5…J.B. Holmes…….…..67.31……-140
6…Angel Cabrera…….....66.15……-73
7…Charley Hoffman……..66.08……-111
8…Chris Couch……...…..65.74……-76
9…Brett Wetterich…...…..65.41……-57
10…Charles Warren…..…..65.33……-68
11…Martin Laird……...…..64.93……-105
12…Phil Mickelson…….....64.84……-88
13…John Daly………..…..64.24……-53
14…D.J. Trahan……….....64.09……-110
15…Aaron Baddeley……..63.88……-123
16…Bubba Watson……...61.69……-114
17…Nick Watney…….…..61.45……-90
18…Lucas Glover………...61.36……-79
19…James Driscoll…...…..60.75……-91
20…Hunter Mahan…...…..60.32……-77

Now take a look at the bottom 20 players in 2010.

173…Michael Bradley……..33.86……-46
174…Skip Kendall………....33.52……-20
175…Michael Connell……..33.33……-56
176…Vance Veazey……....33.14……-28
177…Tom Pernice, Jr.……..33.00……-34
178…Jeff Quinney………....32.84……-51
179…Justin Bolli…………...32.67……-25
180…Justin Leonard…….…..32.3……-42
181…Luke Donald…….…..32.09……-42
182…Jay Williamson……..31.73……-31
183…Ben Curtis…………..30.53……-33
184…Bryce Molder…….…..29.92……-47
185…Paul Goydos……..…..29.37……-30
186…Greg Kraft…………....28.15……-18
187…Brent Delahoussay.....27.61……-20
188…Tim Clark……………...26.18……-37
189…Omar Uresti…………...25.12……-18
190…Brian Gay………….…..22.97……-34
191…Brad Faxon………..…..21.11……-17
192…Craig Bowden………....21.02……-17

Remember, just because a golfer goes for it in two, doesn’t mean that they actually hit the green. It also doesn’t mean that they didn’t go in the water. It just means that they went for it.

Part of the skill it takes to have a high ‘go for it’ percentage is obviously power. But don’t judge that too much because like the statistic says….if you get the ball within 30 yards of the green on the 2nd shot, that’s considered ‘going for it in two.’ So let’s say you hit driver down the middle and you have 300 to the flag stick. Let’s say you hit your 3-wood on the 2nd shot and the ball winds up 25 yards from the edge of the green. You may have a 50 yard pitch shot to the *flag*, but it’s considered a ‘go for it’ because your ball was within 30 yards of the *edge of the green.*

This tells me one big thing, laying up is vastly overrated and most of the time if you lay up just show you can have a full shot into the flag instead of a half shot, you’re making a very dumb decision.



FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

In golf course design, there’s a rule called ‘form follows function.’ In layman’s terms, we don’t want to design a hole with a tiny green if we have long irons coming in on the approach shot and vice versa. Typically a par-5 is designed to have a short iron into the green. With that, our ‘Birdie Zone’, ‘Safe Zone’ and ‘Danger Zone’ differs.

Now, one could argue that ‘well, your Danger Zone rankings are obsolete because they don’t take into consideration the change in the par-5 Danger Zone.’ I can agree with that notion somewhat, but I would imagine that the Tour pros are very rarely ever in the par-5 Danger Zone.

Danger Zone par-5 = 150-200 yard approach shot
Safe Zone par-5 = 61 – 149 yards approach shot
Birdie Zone par-5 = 60 or less yards approach shot

Also, from my correspondence with the course architects, they generally have two distinct par-5 designs.

1. 520 yards or less par-5 usually with water in front of the green.
2. 570 yards or more par-5

The shorter par-5 is another ‘risk vs. reward’ type of par-5. The statistics tell us that we want to be able to go for that one as often as we can. The 570+ yard par-5 is designed to *not* be a birdie hole as a par-5. From there, anything between those yardages are par-5’s with different purposes.


THE DRINK


Most par-5’s under 570 yards usually will have some sort of water by the green to scare golfers for going for it in two. Sometimes they may use bunkers or O.B instead.

In the par-4 strategy, I discussed how we really need to minimize our risk of going O.B. or in the water off the TEE to almost nil. On par-5’s, my theory is that we can risk the water on the 2nd shot a lot more than on the tee shot in a par-4.

Why?

Because if we do find the drink on the 2nd shot, it’s usually going to be a drop close to the green where we should likely make no worse than bogey and can still have a chance at par because it’s usually just a wedge into the green. Hit one in the water on a par-4 tee shot, then you have a drop and a longer club into the hole and now double bogey is likely to come into the equation.

That does not mean to blindly go for every green. It just means that you should risk it more. For instance, #6 at Eastwood will likely leave me with at least a carry of 250 yards over water. I just do not have 250 yards of carry with a 3-wood off the deck in my game. So instead I lay up and understand that it is likely a par hole because the pond is so large that it’s difficult to get the ball within 60 yards of the green. The goal is to get the lay up shot within 60 yards, but that is usually a tall task because then you risk hitting your layup shot in the water.


TEE SHOT STRATEGY ON A PAR-5

In the par-4 tee shot strategy, I stated that if there’s a good chance your approach will wind up being in the Danger Zone (175-225 yards), you’re better off on focusing on making solid contact and finding the fairway because even the Tour pros are much more inaccurate from the rough than the fairway from this distance.

However, I believe that since going for it is so beneficial on a par-5, golfers should be more inclined to really bomb one off the tee here. However, there are some caveats to this rule.

I would be more inclined to try and hit it longer and harder than I would be to try and cut corners off the tee. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule. #10 at Eastwood is a 610 yard par-5 that has a 90* dogleg left. The golfer has to cut the corner to some degree off the tee. If they shy away from the corner, they’ll likely wind up in the par-5 Danger Zone (150-200 yards).

But like par-4’s, if you impeded your second shot it’s an easy way to add strokes to your score. On par-5’s that are relatively open, I’d be more inclined to swing more aggressively and focus on hitting up on the ball more to gain more distance. If I execute decently enough, now I’m left with a shorter 2nd shot and a better chance of going for it in two. However, I would first try to figure out the hole itself.

Again, #6 at Eastwood is a great example. I know that I can bomb one and still have a 250 yard carry over the water (the hole is a dogleg right, so it requires power and being able to cut the corner just enough). Assessing the risk vs. the reward, my feeling is that I’m better off on concentrating on making good contact and finding the fairway, then laying up and having a short wedge into the green. It’s not a good idea to let the shaft out on that drive.


SYNOPSIS

- 520 yards or less = risk vs. reward hole

- 570+ yards = not intended to be a birdie hole

- Going For It in two is usually a very good thing

- Birdie Zone, Danger Zone and Safe Zone all change due to form following function

- Don’t get too scared about water up by the green

- Be more inclined to let the shaft out on the tee shot

- Be more inclined to hit it hard over cutting the corner.





3JACK