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SNIFF, COUGH, WRITE: There are traditional clues to the change of seasons. Summer’s heat is gone. Leaves change color. People throw a sweater in the car for chilly nights. And I get a cold. It’s between sniffs, sneezes and hacks that I pen this month’s column. My cold and the arrival of fall is also a signal to work on my game, which I annually do October-February. Spring and summer are for playing golf. Fall and winter are for practicing. I’ve learned that if you really want to work on your game, you really have to work on it. Which often means that your game gets worse before it gets better. Ask Tiger. So I don’t take a new swing out on the course until it’s ready. If I do and the new swing isn’t ready, I lose faith and revert to old habits. So it’s during the fall and winter months, when playing conditions aren’t perfect, that I practice to make things perfect. Or, as former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda used to say: “It’s not practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice that makes perfect.” That means you have to have a plan. Put lessons on your calendar and treat them like appointments. Ask your teaching professional if he’ll discount his fees if you buy a series of lessons. Now you have a financial commitment. I’m also a big proponent of golf schools. The greatest improvement in my game happened after attending my first school. Since then I attend a golf school every three to four years. Here are a few I like: GOLF DIGEST: Southern California’s Golf Digest Golf School is in Rancho Mirage. Tuition for the three-day school can include lodging at the Westin Mission Hills (from $1,500) or you can enroll as a commuter ($900). If you think how much your local pro charges for half-hour or hour lessons and compare that to three five-hour days of intense instruction and practice, you’ll see that there is good value in the investment, especially when you consider the quality of Golf Digest’s teaching pros. This was the first school I attended about three years after I started playing golf and I went from a 22 handicap to a 16. Check it out at www.golfdigestschool.com. KIP PUTERBAUGH AVIARA GOLF ACADEMY: Kip Puterbaugh may be one of the best golf instructors you never heard of. That’s because he doesn’t have a segment on The Golf Channel, doesn’t live in Florida and doesn’t wear a funny hat. But if you look at the list of PGA, Champions Tour and LPGA players coached by Puterbaugh, it’s impressive. Chris Riley, Dennis Paulson, Scott Simpson and Natalie Gulbis are just a few. Puterbaugh used video before it became commonplace. His library of professional golf swings and how they work are a tremendous teaching aid. Puterbaugh consistently shows up on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Teacher list and his school is on Golf Magazine’s Top 25 Golf Schools list. This is the school I recommend if your handicap is 18 or below. Puterbaugh challenges your mind as well as your body. Phone xx number or xx Web xx site here xyx. ESPN GOLF SCHOOLS: Although I haven’t attended an ESPN Golf School, I have a number of acquaintances who have. I hear nothing but good things, and any golf school that includes Hank Haney, architect of the new and improved Tiger Woods swing, can’t be all bad. ESPN has three-day resort schools in Las Vegas, Scottsdale and Florida, and has a 3-Club Tour that will be in Orange County this month. The one-day schools at Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda will concentrate on the driver, wedge and putter. If this month’s schools are sold out, they’ll be back in December. The $495 tuition includes a Nike Ignite driver and a dozen golf balls. Visit www.espngolfschools.com. DAVE PELZ SHORT GAME SCHOOLS: I’m an unabashed Dave Pelz devotee. I like his style. I like his stuff on The Golf Channel. And I like the science behind his teaching. The story goes that he played college golf in the Big Ten at the same time as Jack Nicklaus. Never beating the soon-to-be Golden Bear, Pelz saw the writing on the wall and became a rocket scientist. When he returned to the game as an instructor, he brought a scientific and analytical approach to the short game. I gleaned a tremendous amount of knowledge at his one-day Scoring Game Clinic ($375). Pelz also has three-day Scoring Game Schools at Cimarron Golf Resort in Cathedral City nine months a year. Pelz doesn’t teach at the clinics, but his instructors follow his techniques. There are five one-day clinics this month at Lost Canyons in Simi Valley and five more in November. Visit www.pelzgolf.com. GOLFTEC: If golf school isn’t for you and you’re looking for a new way to improve your game, check out GolfTEC. The Denver-based company has teaching centers in many U.S. cities, including Woodland Hills, Pasadena, Irvine and El Segundo. The company’s teaching professionals use digital video and motion analysis to show students how to improve their swings. If you want to get a bigger shoulder turn, for instance, they can program a “beep” to go off when you turn your shoulder the proper number of degrees on the backswing. If you take the club back and don’t hear a sound, you know more turn is needed. Every swing is taped and every lesson is put on a website for your review. See you on the driving range. N Eric Tracy can be reached at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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