I was kind of surprised when I tuned in near the end of the Zurich Classic on Sunday, to hear Woody Austin utter the words, “I choked my guts out” in his post-round interview. He seems like a straightforward, honest guy, but I was surprised to hear that coming out the mouth of any professional golfer. I was even more surprised that he uttered similar comments to himself on the course while the walls crumbled around him.
Choking is [...]
posted in Mental Game • 3 Comments
This month, as I was leafing through the current issue of Golf Magazine (Feb. 2008), I came across an article featuring Retief Goosen about how to dominate par three holes. It’s a nice article with some good tips, but there was one bit of information in there that blew me away.
Now, I should preface that by saying that I’m amazed sometimes at what I think I understand but really don’t, at least until something clicks. This article gave [...]
posted in Course Management • 5 Comments
In the December 2007 issue of Golf Magazine, there was an interesting piece of instruction by Charlie King that I’m not sure I agree with.
In the “Your Game” section (p. 68) in an article titled “How to Putt for Birdie Every Time“, King brings up an interesting concept in target selection in golf.
He says that instead of shooting for the pin (in a situation that calls for it - fairway lie, center-cut hole), that you should instead give yourself a [...]
posted in Mental Game • 5 Comments
In July, I wrote a post concerning my move to four wedges to create better yardage gaps from within scoring range (100 yards).
You might recall that I dropped my 4-iron and got a few new wedges, replacing my existing pitching wedge in the process. You may further recall that replacing the pitching wedge from my Callaway X-16 set with a Cleveland 588 left me with 3 additional degrees of loft on my pitching wedge.
At the time, I had intended [...]
posted in Equipment, Mental Game • 3 Comments
Back in June, I did a post about what separates the best from the rest, a look at what elevates tour pros above scratch (or better) players.
With that always in the back of my mind, I was recently reading Johnny Miller’s book, I Call the Shots while I’ve been recuperating from surgery.
There’s a chapter in there about players that could give Tiger Woods a run for his money. The book was published in 2004 with most of the information [...]
posted in Golf Psychology • 3 Comments
That was the question I asked myself on Sunday when I managed to get out for 9 holes. My own answer was “no”. I guess I should really revise that question. If you don’t break tees, do you at least knock them over or out of the ground?
One of the nuggets of wisdom that Harvey Penick shared in his Little Red Book was “clip the tee“. I’ve mentioned that one before and it’s one of [...]
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My name is Mike Gray and I'm a software engineer pursuing my dream to become a golf pro.
Life in the Rough is a chronicle of my journey. It covers my progress, my successes, my setbacks. I'll share everything I learn and do along the way, including reviews and tips. Maybe what I learn can help you too.
