Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i Golf Digest

“Grip down and stand closer.” More and more we’re seeing fairways that are firm and dry. That’s great for the environment (less water used for irrigation) and for getting lots of roll. But this makes hitting solid fairway woods off the turf challenging. If you’re struggling, here’s the one thing you want to do: Play a cut fade. This shot gets its name because when you swing, you cut across the ball on an out-toin path, and that produces a shot that gets in the air and curves to the right. To execute it: First, grip down a couple of inches and stand closer to the ball than normal. That will encourage a steeper downswing for solid contact, and the slightly out-to-in swing path you need to fade it. Next,…

1 OVERHEAD SQUATS To prep several key muscle groups, mostly on the backside of your body—ones needed to make an effective swing—hold a golf club over your head, and squat as low as you can until your arms begin to drift forward. Stop and hold the squatted pose for a second or two, and then stand up. Repeat eight to 10 times, trying to improve your range of motion as you go. 2 RESISTED LATERAL WALK Warming up the muscles of the hips and thighs, particularly in a golf posture, is key to a synchronized swing. And training laterally helps prep the body for proper weight shift. Place a small resistance band across your legs as shown. Take lateral steps in each direction, making sure the band stays somewhat taut…

some courses are ranked in best in state but did not receive enough ballots to be considered for national lists Has it really been 40 years? In 1977, Golf Digest first started ranking the best courses in each state, 11 years after the debut of our national list. Earlier this year, we brought you the latest version of America’s 100 Greatest Courses, and this month we honor the top courses in all 50 states. To see the rankings, including the 100 Greatest and the Best in Canada, go to golfdigest.com/go/100greatest.…

FOR HOMEOWNERS DESIRING TO PACK MORE GOLF INTO THEIR LIVES —NOT ADD A CHORE—A SYNTHETICTURF GREEN IS THE WAY TO GO. Before his daughters were born, Donny Hill, a tire salesman then living in Granger, Ind., had time to accept a challenge from his buddy, an assistant superintendent at a golf course: “There’s no way you can grow a putting green in your back yard.” Hill found a PowerPoint presentation from a turf school, decided on a base of 60 percent sand and 40 percent peat moss, and dug a herringboneshape drainage trench just like the USGA recommends. A2 Penncross creeping bentgrass seemed as suitable a seed as any. For $100, he bought a walk-behind greenmower from a course that was upgrading its fleet. All in, he spent $800. When…

‘ALL YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IS THREE FEET OF THE SWING, FROM 5 O’CLOCK TO 7 O’CLOCK’ —BUBBA WATSON ÔS wing your swing,” Arnold Palmer famously said. “Not some idea of a swing, not a swing you saw on TV, or swing you wish you had. No, swing your swing.” Sound counsel, given the source; Palmer’s was far from aesthetically pleasing, but with seven majors and 95 professional wins worldwide, it seemed to do the trick. The King is not alone. Golf’s history glitters with distinctive, self-made motions. Lee Trevino is the poster boy, constructing his function-over-fashion fade from scratch. Moe Norman, arguably the greatest and straightest ball-striker the sport has seen, never took a lesson. Calvin Peete had to be unconventional because of a childhood arm injury; his…

‘ANGER IS THE MOST UNNECESSARY CAUSE OF BAD SHOTS, AND THE EASIEST TO ADDRESS.’ 1 is a textbook-perfect grip the cornerstone of a great swing? Not necessarily. I’ve seen players with perfect grips who can’t find the planet. It’s all about matching the grip to your imperfect swing. The purpose of the grip is to hold onto the club, not manipulate it. 2 i’m not a fan of perfectly square alignment for the average player because it takes a perfect shot to hit it where you’re aiming. I’d advise most amateurs to align their feet a little left with their irons, as it favors hitting down on the ball. With the driver, they should align their feet a bit to the right, with the clubface aimed at the target. This…

It’s one thing to pure it off a range mat or spongy grass in the middle of the fairway, but you’re really not playing good golf until you can hit good shots from the tough lies. I’m talking about when your ball is sitting in the rough, or when it’s in a depression like a divot hole, or when the lie is bare or super tight. Knowing how to handle those situations will make you a better player because, let’s face it, more often than not your ball isn’t going to be sitting pretty. ? With an assist from my swing coach, Randy Smith, I’m going to walk you through the adjustmenhen the lie is bare or super tight. Knowing how to handle those situations will make you a better…

“Pushing against the ground generates power for the shot.” I really like what I see in these photos. They were taken during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Torrey Pines’ South Course in January. I averaged 303 yards off the tee that week, and a big reason for that is what you can see me doing here. I believe power comes from the ground. When you swing down into the ball, energy from pushing off the ground moves upward through your feet, legs and then the rest of your body and finally transfers into your arms and club. Look at how my left leg is not bent and my arms have rocketed past my body. That comes from momentum; the momentum I created by staying connected to…

“Better to make a mistake with your second shot than your first.” TOO TIGHT A SQUEEZE Want to try to fit your tee shot into this narrow area? I’ll assume you were absolutely striping your driver on the range 10 minutes ago. Because righthanders will probably be trying to hit a draw to follow the shape of the fairway— and left-handers a fade—a lot of misses here go left (out-of-bounds on the right also plays a role). The thick grass on the left can be as bad as the bunker. Chop it out, and now you’ve got 200 yards for your third shot. TAKE THE STRESS OUT OF IT On an opening hole like this, a long par 4 with serious trouble on both sides, it makes a lot of…

The height of your iron shots depends on the sole width. srixon z 965 Forgiveness in a muscle-back design? Yes. Subtle angles and less material in the sole help the club move cleanly through the ground. $1,100 callaway epic An exoskeletal structure in the back supports a very thin cupface, and an internal tungsten weight launches long irons high and controls short irons. $2,000 taylormade p750 tour proto This compact forged design has tungsten in the sole of the 3- through 7-iron to give even the best players optimal trajectory. $1,600 titleist c16 The extra tungsten weighting (the most in Titleist’s line) works with a steel wraparound cupface for more height and distance. $2,700 Most players prefer irons that make it easy to get the ball in the air. A…

1 JORDAN SPIETH T-2 TONY FINAU & ADAM SCOTT 4 STEWART CINK 5 RICKIE FOWLER 6 BILLY HURLEY III 7 GEOFF OGILVY 8 BRANDT SNEDEKER 9 JUSTIN ROSE 10 ANDREW (BEEF) JOHNSTON 11 AARON BADDELEY T-12 MATT KUCHAR & RORY MCILROY 14 MARK WILSON 15 ZACH JOHNSON 16 GRAEME MCDOWELL 17 JASON DAY 18 BRENDON DE JONGE 19 HAROLD VARNER III 20 BRENDAN STEELE 21 HENRIK STENSON T-22 ERNIE ELS & RYAN PALMER 24 RAFA CABRERA-BELLO T-25 PADRAIG HARRINGTON & CHARLES HOWELL III 27 BILL HAAS 28 LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN T-29 K.J. CHOI & ADAM HADWIN…

Drop three putts in a row over 20 feet, and what can anyone say? Other than maybe you had a strong feeling each was going in, probably not much. But I recently hit upon a term that, at least, begins to describe what I feel when I’m putting great: blackout. When I’m in “blackout,” I have zero thoughts about my setup or stroke. I’m not even thinking about speed. There’s no challenge in my stance, no body parts pushing for position. I just step in and I’m immediately comfortable. All I see is the arc of a putt withes, but I can show you how I’ve been able to get there. Maybe you can, too. —with max adler THE READ When I read a putt, it’s anything but blackout.…

One of the first real scenes from Tiger Woods’ 2016 comeback was of the superstar in shorts, hitting a careful 9-iron into a wall-height screen on a fancy in-home simulator. It isn’t hard to imagine that a $50-million mansion would have the finest technology (and finishes) money can buy, but you don’t have to have a nine-figure income to work on your game in the comfort of your basement or garage. Mike Rohr and Kyle Morris each did it from scratch— Rohr in unused warehouse space at his company outside Detroit, and Morris for his teaching studio in Dublin, Ohio. Depending on the level of technology you want, a complete build-out with turf, netting, screen, computer, software and projector will run you $3,000 at the low end and upward of…

Given that the latest drivers are easier to find than ever, and custom-fit irons are accessible with a couple of mouse clicks, the idea of making your own clubs seems about as worthwhile and archaic as building model trains or canning your own vegetables. But component clubmaking beats to a different logic. The passion isn’t about arithmetic or economics or even lucid calculations of cost-benefit analyses of time commitments. No, it’s a hobby fueled by a ravenous quest for self-knowledge. The whys don’t really enter into it. For Glenn Weatherspoon of Arvada, Colo., who has been making his clubs for four decades, no other way makes sense. His voice echoes with the experience of a basement workshop full of chop saws, belt sanders and enough two-step epoxy to shingle a…

most golfers have selective memories. Ask us to recount our best shots, and we can tell you the club we hit, where we hit it, and whatever it was we just had for lunch. It’s everything else that tends to be a blur. The implication of needing just one great shot to “bring you back” is that you’re choosing to repress all the mediocre shots that came before and after. ? Even the best in the world can filter the game this way. Consider the eventful September that Billy Horschel had in 2014, when he won the BMW Championship ao “bring you back” is that you’re choosing to repress all the mediocre shots that came before and after. ? Even the best in the world can filter the game this…

O n the surface, golf is the most individual of sports: a lone player lost in thought and in sole control of the outcome. But at the highest levels, its biggest stars operate more like a Fortune 500 company. Jason Day is the CEO, but behind the scenes an efficient support group is at work. Closest to Day is his wife, No. 1 fan, chef and psychologist, Ellie Day. Colin Swatton, a fellow Aussie who has worked with Day since he was a teenager, is his caddie and swing coach. Among the inner circle: agent Bud Martin, who has been around the game for decades and signed Day when he first turned pro. Day has a medical team, including chief medical officer Jim Bradley, team doctor for the Pittsburgh Steelers;…

Briton #001 we’d like to have seen win the Open Championship. Chipping isn’t complicated, but a lot of golfers make it so. One issue I see is that they stand too far from the ball, like they’re hitting an iron shot (above, right). From there, the club swings around the body on a circular arc—good for the full swing but bad for chipping. That bigger motion makes you slow the club down before impact for fear of hitting the ball too far. You wind up chunking it. To simplify things, get closer to the ball with the shaft more vertical. Feel like the clubhead is up on its toe (above, left). This sets up a straighter swing path, with the clubface always looking down the line you want to hit…

Briton #268 we’d like to have seen win the Open Championship. The biggest problem amateurs have with breaking putts is that they really don’t practice them all that much. Even golfers who roll a few before they go out to play usually stick to straight-and-flat scenarios. Rarely will you have a putt of any considerable length that doesn’t break at least a ball or two—and usually a lot more. If you’re struggling to hole these, or at least get the ball close enough for tap-ins, use these four steps to improve your putting stats. David Leadbetter operates 34 golf academies worldwide. 1. DOUBLE UP ▸ Experienced golfers talk about missing on the “pro” side of the hole, meaning they overestimated the amount of break on a putt. Amateurs rarely miss…

There’s a well-established principle in learning called reverse chaining that can be applied to improving your golf swing— especially if your goal is to curve the ball or alter its trajectory. The concept is that if you know the type of finish position your body and club should be in to create a certain ball flight, your mind intuitively adapts, so your body and club know how to move to reach that destination. In other words, the downswing and through-swing happen simply as a result of trying to get into the proper finish position. Reverse chaining allows you to swing with an uncluttered mind and fearless execution. Here I’ll teach you the elements of a good finish for a draw, fade and a knockdown. Pose these positions first, then make…

Precious metals This coin came from three inspiring Marines I played with in the Kia Classic Pro-Am. The other is for where I was born and raised, South Carolina. AUSTIN ERNST age 25 lives Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. story 2011 NCAA individual champion as a freshman; one LPGA win (2014); currently top 10 in U.S. Solheim Cup standings. team player I really want to make the Solheim Cup. If I keep playing solid, I’ll be in contention. the right advice My dad, Mark, is a club pro, and has taught me since I was 6 years old. When I got on tour, I picked Stacy Lewis’ brain and she answered any question I had. On the course, my brother, Drew, is my caddie. He knows what not to say. —with…

“AFTER A WHILE I REALIZED I’D ALWAYS STINK. AND THAT’S WHEN I REALLY STARTED TO ENJOY THE GAME.”—don rickles / 1926-2017 PROBLEM : GLOVE RIPS SOLUTION : TAPE IT! You’re supposed to grip the club across the fingers, but it feels so much better resting in the middle of the palm. Unfortunately, holding a club that way causes slices and creates friction between the grip and glove, which destroys the leather. Rather than fork over $18 every few weeks for a new one, get more use out of the one you’re wearing by placing a sliver of athletic tape on the heel-pad section. It’s perfectly legal, rules-makers say, and it’s a great little hack to keep you from carving a hole in your glove after 30 minutes on the range.…

‘There are maybe 20 guys who deliberately fudge their mark within a half-inch.’ I ’ve played in only one Masters, and this year I watched from home. Half my life I spend at golf tournaments, so usually the last thing I want to do is tune in, but the limited commercials and the beauty of that place get me. The world was excited about all the stars on the Sunday leader board—Serge, Rosey, Scotty, Rickie and Jordan—but I was pulling for Charley Hoffman. He’s a friend, and I think it’s a more amazing story whenever a journeyman wins. Earlier in the week, I remember nearly spitting out my drink when I read what Phil Mickelson said in his press conference. His quote was, “I know a number of guys on…

If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t replicate that swing you grooved on the range when you play golf, it’s because traditional practice habits have about as much to do with performing on the golf course as running on a treadmill does to completing the Boston Marathon. Sure, to play better golf, practicing your swing mechanics is important. But at some point, if you’re not preparing yourself for what a round of golf is really all about, your time on the practice tee will be little more than just that—time on the practice tee. This is a sad statistic to consider, but more Navy SEALs have died in training in the past four years than they have in combat. What that should tell you is their preparation for battle is…

1. Take your favorite stuffed animal—OK, maybe not your favorite because this is gonna get gory— and rip a seam at the bottom wide enough for your clubhead of choice to fit. Pull out the stuffing. 2. Turn the stuffed animal inside out. Take a sock and sew the toe to the head of your animal. 3. Turn the stuffed animal right-side out, put your club into the sock, and re-stuff the animal around it a bit so it won’t look so lifeless. 4. Sew the base of the stuffed animal to the sock, and you’ve got a new headcover that might also be a lucky charm.…

1. Locate a sewing machine and pair of jeans you can live without. 2. Starting at the cuff, cut one leg vertically along the inseam to the waist, avoiding the zipper, to create a rectangle of fabric. 3. Fold lengthwise so the inside of the denim is showing, and trim the length to 33 inches. 4. From the other leg, cut a six-inch-wide, 33-inch-long strip. Fold to create a threeinch- wide strap, and sew the long sides together. 5. Hide the strap inside the folded rectangle, placing one end even with the top and the other a foot from the bottom. Double-stitch along the perimeter (except for the top!) to close the bag, and affix the strap. Turn it inside out, and now you’ve got a Sunday bag for casual…

IN P.G. Wodehouse’s short story “The Clicking of Cuthbert,” the protagonist meets Adeline Smethurst of the Wood Hills Literary and Debating Society—a rival organization to the local golf club—and is instantly smitten. This has a salutary effect on Cuthbert’s golf: “Twenty minutes after he had met Adeline, he did the short eleventh in one.” ♥ But love has two edges. There is no rose without thorns. In another Wodehouse story, the “Oldest Member” warns that love is something that golfers should always treat with great suspicion. “I am not saying that love is a bad thing,” he adad met Adeline, he did the short eleventh in one.” ♥ But love has two edges. There is no rose without thorns. In another Wodehouse story, the “Oldest Member” warns that love is…