Yesterday, by wonderful coincidence, I was in Fort Worth, TX, which just happens to be hosting the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club.

I got to stand on the grounds of Hogans Alley!

Walking in the gates, I felt like a child. I was filled with wonder and enjoyment. It seems like I never get used to standing near the players that I see on television week in and week out for years and years. Watching them hit shots on television doesn’t do them justice. Standing close by gives a better picture of the situation: the wind, hazards, trees, the contours on the green, the proximity of the crowd.

I got there before 9am and it was already very warm and really muggy. By the time I left at 1pm, it was quite hot. It was also very windy all day.

I had several things I wanted to accomplish today. I wanted to take some time to really observe the Tour pros to get a first hand glimpse at the way they operate, in hopes that I can improve my own game.

The thing that really struck me is that a good Tour pro shot isn’t much different than one of my good shots. So why am I not a Tour pro? Well, they hit those good shots most of the time, and I don’t. It’s encouraging to know that I have the shots hiding somewhere in my bag waiting to come out here and there, but at the same time I realize that there’s so much more to playing at that level that I don’t have and may never get.

Enough about what is or is not to be - I still learned a ton.

One thing I observed first hand is the amount of preparation that goes into a round. These guys don’t show up on the first tee, take a few warm-up swings and bomb away. Their routine is very methodical and not rushed.

I saw Corey Pavin on the practice green hitting putts, three in a row, just before his tee time. He wasn’t working on technique. He seemed to just be getting the feel for the speed of the green. He mixed up the lengths and was basically calibrating his putting stroke.

Other players were following similar routines. No mechanics - just calibration.

The practice tee was just as enlightening. One thing I noticed that was very prevalent was the use of something as an alignment aid. Whether it was a club or an umbrella or something else, there were players that didn’t hit a shot without checking alignment each and every time.

I saw one player that I didn’t recognize (and couldn’t read his bag) that was hitting some short iron, maybe a pitching wedge or 9-iron, over and over and over. The thing that struck me was how machine-like he was. The shots looked like they were hit by a robot - same trajectory, same distance, same everything. Something wasn’t right though, as his body language to his caddy or coach seemed to indicate that he felt like he was coming slightly over the top.

Aside from player preparation, I also got to observe their techniques when hitting a large variety of shots. I tried to recall the things that I’ve been changing in my own swing and observe those things in the swings of the pros. It was interesting to take the time to watch little things like swing plane or hip shift/turn.

Colonial Country Club is a beautiful course, though somewhat flat. However, it’s not without character. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the fairways are like carpets. And the greens are like even better carpets. They’re somewhat small, though. The rough didn’t seem to be very punishing, which surprised me.

One thing I couldn’t help thinking as I roamed around is that my perception is that my home course is shorter but in my belief it’s more difficult. At home, the fairways are higher, meaning less roll on drives. They’re also more narrow. The primary rough is 3-inch rye grass. If you get to an out of the way place, the rough gets closer to a foot in length. The greens at Colonial are faster, but that doesn’t scare me. The greens at both places are fairly small. My course gets windy at times, but the Texas wind here the last couple of days has been pretty impressive.

Of course, the Tour pros would probably tear up my home course, but I’d like to see how well I could play at Colonial under Tour conditions. Since that’s not likely to happen, I’ll just have to let my imagination run wild and delude myself into thinking I would play well there.

A few random thoughts:

• The tournament staff was amazing. They made the experience really great. Everyone was so nice.
• Phil Mickelson is definitely looking pretty fit these days.
• It wasn’t hard to find Mickelson out there, even before he took the lead - his gallery was big right from the start of the day and grew as more and more spectators showed up.
• It was a weird feeling, standing close to a bunch of major winners - Pavin, Mickelson, Weir, Lehman, Ogilvy, Toms - I’m probably forgetting others.

All in all, a great time and I’m extremely happy that I was able to go. I’m off to San Antonio tomorrow!

There are two main schools of thought about ball position for full swings. The first is that ball position is around the middle of the stance for a wedge and moves slightly toward the left foot (for a right-hander) for each longer club, through the driver where the ball position would be somewhere near the left heel. The stance also widens slightly for each longer club.

The second is a relatively stationary ball position near the left heel but with the width of stance narrowing a little more for each lower club. (Note that we’re talking about full swings here, not short game shots within 100 yards. Being a Pelz follower, I play those shots in the center of my stance.)

I was introduced to the stationary ball position in a lesson several years ago. At that time I had been employing the moving ball position technique for several years. It took some getting used to, but my perception is that it made me a little more consistent.

Essentially, the only thing that changes is the position of the right foot, depending on the club. There will be more width between the feet with the driver and less width progressively down to the wedges. That keeps the head a little further behind the ball when hitting drives and long irons (ball closer to the left shoulder), promoting more of a sweeping motion. The head is a little closer to the ball on short irons, promoting more of a descending blow.

Ben Hogan discussed the technique in his book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf (actually a collection of articles he wrote for Sports Illustrated). Hogan also recommended that the stance be somewhat open for a pitching wedge and become increasingly less open for longer clubs, getting square for a five iron, and finally somewhat closed for a driver.

These days, I’m working on the Jim Hardy one-plane swing. His technique involves using the more traditional moving ball position technique, so that’s what I’ve been doing. It’s pretty much the same as we’ve all been taught at some point: ball off the left heel for the driver with each lower club moving further back until the ball reaches the center of the stance (or slightly behind center) for a wedge.

This is one of those techniques that’s probably more of a personal preference than anything. One advantage the stationary ball position provides is that only the width of the stance need change, whereas in the other method, both the width of the stance and ball position change, leaving twice as much chance for error and inconsistency.

Maybe next time you’re at the range, give the alternate ball position a shot and see what you think (whichever you don’t currently do). Next time you tune in for a Tour event, observe how the different pros position the ball at address, as well. You might be surprised at what you see.

It’s time for a vacation!

I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do: taking a road trip west, to the Lone Star state. I’m off for two weeks of sightseeing, enjoying the scenery and the wonder of the open road (anyone who has been to New Jersey will appreciate why the open road is so appealing).

It’s not a golf vacation, but I intend to play at least twice while I’m gone and maybe track down a driving range or two so I can stay sharp. Bogey McDuff from over at Texas Golf was kind enough to make a few great recommendations for courses to play around Fort Worth and San Antonio.

Oh, and by awesome coincidence, I’ll be in Fort Worth later this week and will try to spend half a day or so at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. That should be a lot of fun, since I haven’t been to a Tour event in 5 or 6 years. I hope to spend a little time observing the driving range and practice green to absorb some information about how the pros do their thing.

I have several non-golf things planned, the most interesting (for me) of which is a visit to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Of course, no trip to Texas would be complete without a trip to the Alamo. I’ll also make a visit to Lake Buchanan.

I have a couple of posts prepared for while I’m gone and I expect to do a couple more from the road, depending on how things work out. New commenters, don’t fret - your comments will show up whenever I’m able to find a Wi-fi connection for my laptop. I’ll try to respond to e-mail while I’m gone, but if you don’t hear back right away, I’ll probably be catching up when I get home.

Have fun while I’m gone and please turn the lights off if you’re the last one to leave.

-Mike

It’s been a rough couple of weeks. Not so much with respect to golf. It’s one of those times when “real life” interrupts dreams. Nothing drastic, just a tight deadline at work that led to a good deal of stress.

It’s interesting that I really didn’t work much more than the normal number of hours, but the constant stress just turned me into a lump of worn out couch potato. It’s amazing how much fatigue can come from a mental drain.

Well, all that is behind me now, so it’s back to work (the golf kind).

I managed to get in a few range sessions and a couple of rounds on the weekends. The weather has been uncooperative as well, bringing rain at all the wrong times (like right now, when I’m really itching to play).

Short game and putting need more refinement, but that’s pretty much always the case. I’ve been having some trouble with my finesse wedges, as well. I’m not quite sure what’s going wrong, but on some shots, all is well. On others, the top of my back swing feels all wrong. When that happens, the result is usually a big pull to the left. I’m getting that with my iron play also, but not as much anymore.

I was having some serious trouble with my driver recently, but I broke it out for 10 to 15 shots at the range yesterday and I was hitting it quite well. So, either I fixed the problem, or my reduced golf time over the last couple of weeks rebooted me and I’m good to go now.

I’m starting to hit everything better. I think it’s just about time to get back on video and see where I’m progressing with the one-plane swing. I feel like I’ve eliminated some of the hip slide I was experiencing, but I’m sure I’m stuck in a “feel versus real” situation where I’ve only slightly improved even though it feels like a big change. I’ll need to keep on top of that to make sure I’m emphasizing by hip turn and getting rid of the slide.

I had a bit of a sinking feeling when I got out of my car at work early this week and suddenly my back was in pain, just like when I was rehabbing a herniated disk. I immediately renewed my commitment to my back strengthening and overall fitness program, despite my stress-induced couch potatoism. Within a few days, I felt pretty decent again, up to the point where I was able to have a great range session on Saturday.

I’ve always been intrigued with the idea that stress and other strong emotions can cause physical pain. I wonder if it was a coincidence that this episode happened during the height of my stress at work, right when I got out of my car to face a day that I didn’t really want to face. Hmmmm….

Either way, I feel a lot better now, and my renewed discipline in getting my workouts in can only help.

I had a great workout this morning, and it looks like the day is going to be a washout, so I think I’ll just relax and get ready for a long vacation (more on that later). Hopefully it’s sunny wherever you are.

We’ve been getting a lot of rain around here recently. When that happens, even if the sun has started shining again, the course gets saturated and the game changes some. With an awareness of the issues and a few adjustments, you’ll be ready to tackle a round on a wet course.

Length Becomes a Premium

Without a doubt, when a golf course is wet, it plays longer, sometimes significantly. Just about all shots will roll less after landing, if they even roll at all.

On a wet course, club selection is critical. Depending on how much water the course is holding, it may make club selection very easy. If it’s wet enough where you’re seeing little or no roll on shots, then you simply play to the full shot distance. In other words, if you normally account for some roll after a shot lands, you’re going to want to play the shot to land where you would normally expect it to finish rolling.

Adjust Your Course Management Plan

You really need to consider the makeup of your course and how it handles water when you’re trying to come up with a course management plan for the round.

Consider my course, for instance. When it’s holding a lot of water, the fairways and rough get very saturated. So much so, that you can hear the turf squishing as you walk. On the other hand, the greens were very well made and drain well. Most times, the greens dry out much faster than the rest of the course.

This adds a wrinkle to my course management plan on wet days. I have to account for shorter shots off the tee and less distance on lay-ups. When it comes to approach shots, though, unless the rain was very recent, the greens will react much like they would on a normal day (at least until they get hard during the hottest stretches of summer).

It’s a minor point, but something worthy of consideration. You have to adjust your plan to your course and to the way it plays during wet conditions.

Tend to Your Hardware

Water and mud can have a serious effect on the quality of the shots you’re able to hit. The big thing to be aware of is the presence of mud on the ball. See below for some of the rule implications, but in general, if the Rules allow you to clean the ball, then do so. Mud stuck on the ball will affect its flight.

On the putting green, a little mud on the ball will have a more profound effect. It will tend to pull a putt off line, and with such a small target, it can mean the difference between missing a putt or making it. In Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible, he describes his experiments where he moved a ball’s center of gravity (from mud being applied to the surface). He showed that, depending on how drastic the center of gravity moves (how much mud is on the ball), a putt of 9 feet can be guided several inches off line. That is more than sufficient to miss a putt.

Another thing to consider when playing in wet conditions is that you’re keeping the grooves on your clubs clean. The grooves will tend to fill with water and mud, reducing the amount of spin that they impart on the ball. Make it a habit to clean your club’s grooves after each shot, making sure to towel off excess water. One gotcha to avoid - picking up water, mud, and grass on practice swings. Be sure that you clean off anything picked up during a practice swing before attempting the real shot.

Rules Implications

When the course is wet, there are a few rules implications to keep in mind.

One situation you’re much more likely to encounter on a wet golf course is an embedded ball. Luckily, Rule 26-2 addresses this. When a ball is embedded in its own pitch mark in any closely mown area through the green (basically anything mowed to fairway height or less, except for the tee or green), you can lift, clean, and drop the ball.

You may have noticed sometimes when watching golf on television, that they play “lift, clean, and place” when the course is wet. The Rules of Golf provide for the ability for the Committee to create a local rule to handle this situation. It is covered in Appendix I, Section 4b. Remember that in the absence of a local rule, you must play the ball as it lies.

Another provision in the Rules that you definitely want to be aware of is the allowance for relief from casual water. Casual water is temporary water on a golf course that is not within a hazard. Casual water may be visible either before or after you take your stance. Just to confuse things a little, snow and natural ice are either casual water or loose impediments, artificial ice is an obstruction, and dew and frost are ??????not considered casual water.

If you find yourself affected by casual water, refer to Rule 25-1 for the proper relief procedures. Depending on the extent of the casual water, you may prefer to play the ball as it lies. For instance, if the nearest point of relief puts you at a disadvantage, you might just choose to not take relief.

Knowing is Half the Battle

Playing golf in wet conditions holds the possibility for bad scores, but nothing is written in stone. Understand the situation and adapt. Adjust your course management plan, tend to your equipment, and let the Rules work for you and you’ll be able to overcome the little twist that the weather has thrown at you and shoot a good score.