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 Photo: © Moodboard - Fotolia.com When I took the invitation to play in a tournament in Michigan this summer, I knew I’d have to make changes in my life and the way I approached golf or risk the embarrassment of being lousy in front of other golfers. After discussing my goals with my team of PGA professionals, I identified fundamentals, fitness, equipment and preparation as the key ingredients to playing better golf. Last month, we covered fundamentals and fitness. Here, we take a look at how equipment and preparation affected my play. EQUIPMENT I’ve had Ping Eye 2s since Ronald Reagan was president, and despite working in and around the golf industry for the past 15 years, I’ve never hit a club that felt any better than what I had in my bag. I went through a clubfitting experience at Callaway and discovered that the only thing that should lead you to changing irons is finding a set that performs better than your existing clubs. Despite hitting dozens of shots with demo clubs and dozens more in the fitting process, my Ping Eye 2s still felt and worked the best. I’m sure manufacturers cringe at the idea that I can’t see any drastic difference between a 20-year-old golf club and one fresh out of the lab. I just can’t, so the Ping Eye 2s will stay in the bag for another year. Where I see the biggest impact from technology is the feel and accuracy of new drivers. Every few years I find one that seems to hit the ball a little farther and straighter, but some of the new shapes aren’t very appealing. Hybrids are a different story, however. I added a Callaway FT 2h that is roughly the equivalent of a 5-wood and an FT 4h that allowed me to remove the 3-iron from my bag. Both clubs are light years easier to hit than a long iron or a fairway wood. The 4h versus the 3-iron isn’t a fair fight — and I’m a traditionalist who loved hitting long irons. PREPARATION PGA professional Dale Abraham, the director of instruction at Beaumont’s East Valley Golf Club, did an amazing job fixing my grip, alignment and posture. He also wanted me to practice up to five hours a week and play at least once, which wasn’t always possible. To supplement my practice time, we made an agreement that I would swing a club every day for about 15 minutes, which I did in my backyard with some Wiffle balls and a wedge. I also put a premium on the short game and found a practice site where I could hit short pitches to a green and made up games to keep it interesting. If I didn’t get five out of 10 balls up and down, I’d do it again. Then I’d move to a new location and play different pitches and flop shots. The most important things Abraham taught me about putting were to have good posture, keep my eyes over the ball and let the putter release. To illustrate this, he had me stick the putter in my belly button, grip down on the shaft, and allow the club to swing open on the backswing and closed after impact. Putts soon started dropping and even my misses were around the hole. EPILOGUE Since I started this process in January, my consistency has improved and my handicap index has dropped from 7.9 to 6.9. I’ve shot great rounds on hard courses and held my score together on days where it could have been a disaster. I even fired my first under-par round in nearly 20 years. PGA professional Jamie Mulligan loves to say that we’re either getting better or worse. Nobody stays the same. If you want to play golf consistently well, don’t just wish and hope. It takes a plan. Just don’t wait 15 years to figure it out like I did. |
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