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Five of the most unusual golf course settings in the world

Source: GOLF.com
By Evan Rothman

Uummannaq
Greenland
It’s not pronounced “you maniac,” but maybe it should be. Nor is Uummannaq, a small island in Greenland, a traditional golf course; a “greens committee” would be oxymoronic, given there’s no grass, simply ice and snow, and you roll the rock on “whites” (yeah, that’s what they call the greens).

Royal Thimpu Golf Club
Thimpu, Bhutan
Talk about rare air. Overlooking the Tashichho Dzong Buddhist monastery and fortress, Royal Thimpu GC rests more than 7,700 feet above sea level and is believed to be the highest course in the world. Cows and dogs are not uncommon sights on the fairways and greens of this remarkably scenic nine-hole par-35.

Brickyard Crossing
Indianapolis, Ind.
Winning the Indy 500 at the “the Brickyard” (aka the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) is straightforward—go fast and make a lot of left turns. Navigating this Pete Dye layout, which features four holes inside the famous racing oval, offers somewhat more complex fare—and many thrills of its own.

Ile Aux Cerfs Golf Club
Mauritius
Island greens? Meh. An island course? That’s rare. Ile Aux Cerfs GC isn’t a course on an island—it essentially is the island. Reached by boat and composed of 18 holes of Bernhard Langer–designed golf, it sits in the largest lagoon off the island-nation of Mauritius.

Merapi Golf Course
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
If golf next to an active volcano brings to mind a pairing with Pat Perez after he three-putts, you haven’t seen Merapi GC throw a fit. The course is nestled in the shadow of Mt. Merapi, and when that last erupted, in 2013, dust and ash rocketed nearly a mile skyward. When these contents returned to terra firma, they blanketed the adjacent countryside, including the course. Lift, clean and place—or, better yet, just run for it.More Travel

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Cameron Smith’s trick for tight-lie chips: Turn more!

Source: GOLF.com
By Luke Kerr-Dineen

TOUR-TESTED TIPS: Golf’s best players make the game look effortless. How do they do it? That’s what we wanted to find out. Luckily, these guys were more than willing to talk. We tracked down Cameron Smith to teach us the secret to tight-lie chips.

Cameron Smith:

“Weekend players fear tight lies, but the setup is really the same as a basic high chip. My keys are to open the face, position the ball just forward of center in my stance, and make sure that my spine angle is perpendicular to the ground.

From there, I pick out a spot where I want to land the ball on the green then take a final moment to soften my arms and release any tension. From this relaxed position, all you need to do is rotate around your body, back and through, at a smooth pace. There’s no need to lift the ball into the air. The loft on your wedge does it for you.

Link to article: Click here

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4 Ways To Reboot Your Putting

Source: GolfDigest
By Cameron McCormick

Pull yourself out of that rut and hole more putts

Was your performance in 2016 slightly less than satisfying? I know it’s not enough to hear it happens to everyone from time to time. You want to shake off the year of stubs, lip-outs and three-jacks before golf season rolls back around and you’re racking up missed putts again like a kid catching Pokémon. Well, if you really want to fix this flat-stick fiasco, you’re going to need a bit more than a 30-minute session rolling balls into those tiny golf cups. I recommend a full reboot. Here I’m going to give you four ways to pull yourself out of that putting rut. Sometimes only one of these will do the trick, but be prepared for the reality that you might need all four. Best get started. –With Ron Kaspriske

1.) BENCH YOUR PUTTER
If you’re the kind of golfer who talks to a putter, gives it a good spanking when it isn’t performing, and even threatens to back the pickup truck over it in the parking lot, it’s time for the “we need to take a break from each other” conversation. Bench your putt-er for something different. Use a blade? Switch to a mallet. Always preferred heel-shafted putters? Try a centershaft. Everything from club length to grip circumference is up for consideration. Go get fitted (View: Your Ultimate Guide To Finding A Better Game). The big switch works for two reasons. First, there are no bad memories with a new putter. It’s a new day. Second, assuming the old one isn’t now residing in a scrap-metal yard, you’ll make it just jealous enough that it will perform its best when you rekindle your relationship.

2.) REALLY BENCH YOUR PUTTER
“It’s not you, it’s me” won’t fly as a break-up excuse after the second Tinder date, but it’s probably true of your relationship with the putter. It showed up ready to bury every five-footer–but sometimes you didn’t. You need a refresher on mechanics. So I suggest you practice putting with your sand wedge. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. A good stroke is propelled by the shoulders and requires minimal hand or wrist action. To get the ball rolling with a wedge, you have to make that kind of stroke hitting the ball at its equator with the leading edge (above). This type of practice elicits precision and is good for the ol’ ego. You’re more apt to forgive yourself for a miss, which helps reduce those anxious feelings that turn you into a puddle of goo when the putts actually count.

3.) GRAB AND GO
You’ve held your putter the same way for so long the grip is starting to look like one of those training clubs that has grooved channels for your fingers. It’s time to switch it up, because what you’re doing, as they say here in Texas, is as pitiful as a three-legged dog. The easiest switch would be to flip hand positions so the higher one is lower. But I think you should take it a step further. Get crazy with it. Try the saw, the claw, the paintbrush, the non-anchored belly grip. Sometimes all you need is a dramatically different way of holding the club to reset your brain and start rolling the ball the way you used to.

4.) HIT SOME BOMBS
On the putting green you need to be more Picasso than Pythagoras. In other words, knowing the math behind a putt is important (speed, slope, etc.), but don’t let it squelch your right-brain artistry. You probably aren’t crunching numbers when you ball up a piece of paper and try tossing it into the garbage. You just use your feel. My suggestion? Go deep. Find the longest, craziest putts on a green and try to make them. Even putting from well off the green will help you get your feel back. You know you have to hit the ball hard, and you know it’s going to break, but when you try these long-distance putts, you become less concerned with the mechanics and tap back into the hand-eye coordination you thought you lost. Another benefit? It will free up your stroke. No more trying to steer them in. You’ll putt without fear of missing. Reboot complete.

Cameron McCormick is Jordan Spieth’s instructor and teaches at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.

Link to article: Click here

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Dave Pelz: The science proves you should leave the flagstick in when you putt

Source: GOLF.com
By Dave Pelz

Thanks to a rules change by the USGA, golfers will now have three options when putting in 2019: Remove the pin completely, have someone tend the pin, or leave the pin in and unattended. If your putt hits the pin in the third scenario, there’s no penalty (formerly two strokes or loss of hole).

It’s a major change in the name of speeding up play. While I certainly applaud that effort, I’m more excited about something else: I can’t wait to see the PGA Tour ShotLink data that will be generated by this rule change, because I think it will help golfers hole more putts.

In a statement on its website, The USGA says there “should be no advantage in being able to putt with the unattended flagstick in the hole.” It continues by saying that “In some cases, the ball may strike the flagstick and bounce out of the hole when it might otherwise have been holed,” while “in other cases, the ball may hit the flagstick and finish in the hole when it might otherwise have missed.”
But before you decide how you want to putt, let’s review some facts:

  1. Assuming the pin is securely in place, standing vertical and not swaying in the wind, the hole is 4.25″ wide.
  2. The diameter of a standard flagstick is 0.5″ (some pins taper to ¾” and even 1″ above the hole).
  3. If you look at the space left for a golf ball, the 2.125″ half-hole minus the 0.25″ half-pin, leaves 1.875″ between the cup edge and the pin.
  4. Golf balls are 1.68″ in diameter. This leaves a .195″-gap of open space for the ball to fit into the hole with the flagstick in place.

This doesn’t sound like much space, especially if the pin is leaning slightly toward the golfer. This effect, however, has been tested, and my studies show conclusively that you should putt with the pin in!
I conducted my original Pin In/Pin Out test in 1990, and published the results in the December issue of GOLF Magazine. The testing was performed with a special putting device built to roll putts accurately aimed with a laser–and a true, pure roll–from two feet away. We rolled putts at different speeds hitting different parts of the pin on flat, uphill and downhill sloping greens. The test results were conclusive: You will hole a higher percentage of putts when you leave the flagstick in.

The reason for this effect is that a significant amount of energy is lost from a putt’s speed when the ball hits a fiberglass flagstick. The speed-loss enables gravity to pull the slower moving ball down into the hole more often. Even though balls have changed since my testing, holes and flagsticks have not, and the “energy-loss” effect will still win the day.

To make you feel better about leaving the pin in, think about how many long putts and chips you’ve seen crash into the pin and still stay in the hole. If you’re watching golf on TV, you’ve also seen several shots fly into the hole directly from the fairway and stay in.

After the new rule change was announced, Bryson DeChambeau told GOLF Magazine that he planned on putting with the pin in this season.

Keep an eye on his performance, and for your own good, test this new rule for yourself. Putt 12 balls from a three-foot circle all the way around the hole. Do the same drill for six-foot putts. Repeat this drill 10 times on 10 different days, and keep tab of your results. Share your results with us on social media (@Golf_com). I’ll tabulate the “amateur” results against the Tour’s ShotLink numbers, and let you know the overall results.

Whether or not this test makes a believer of you, you will have forced yourself to practice your putting, putting you a solid step ahead of your foursome.

Link to article: Click here

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How to handle a downhill lie and hit the green

Source: Golf.com
By GOLF WIRE Monday, July 16, 2018

If you play a lot of hilly courses, you’re already familiar with uneven lies, including those of the downhill variety. This tricky position—in which your leading foot is below your back foot at address—can be very challenging, especially from short fairway grass. To ensure solid contact and a pin-seeking approach shot from a downhill lie, you’ll need to make the following three basic setup changes.

SET SHOULDERS PARALLEL

Your normal iron setup won’t work for this lie—the clubhead will bottom out too soon and you’ll make contact with the ground behind the ball. Instead, hold your club across your shoulders and tilt your spine toward the target until the shaft matches the slope of the hill. Once your shoulders are parallel to the slope, move on to step 2.

MOVE YOUR WEIGHT TO YOUR DOWNHILL FOOT

It’s critical to make ball-first contact from this lie, so play the ball in the middle of your stance (or at least slightly farther back than normal) and shift about 75 percent of your weight to your front, or downhill, foot. This will encourage your body to move in the direction of the slope, rather than hang back.

TRACE THE SLOPE

Last, extend your arms through impact so that the clubhead travels as low to the slope as possible. By swinging on the same plane as the hill, you’ll ensure ball-first contact and a smooth, full finish— and maybe even a birdie opportunity.

Link to article: Click here

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A simple way to power up your golf swing

Source: GolfDigest
ByRon Kaspriske

Three important physical attributes that lead to more power in the golf swing are strong gluteal muscles, core stability and ankle mobility. Strong glutes should be obvious. They are prime movers in the golf swing and control the action of the pelvis. You also need strong muscles around the mid-section of your body to stabilize it as you swing a club, especially at faster speeds. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to keep your balance and hitting the ball with the center of the clubface would be a real challenge. The third attribute might have surprised you, but it’s just as important. Ankle mobility matters particularly in transferring weight from your back foot near the top of the backswing into the front foot as you swing down. If you think of the footwork of players such as Tony Finau, Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas—very big hitters—you might have an easier time understanding why functional movement in the ankles is a crucial part of power generation. They have active feet and extremely mobile ankles. Most long-ball hitters leverage the ground to store up power and then spring upward through impact. A good example of this was Tiger Woods’ swing while working with Sean Foley.

So what exercise can you do in the gym to improve function in your power-generating muscles? Squats. But not just any squats. In fact, the majority of people should avoid doing most types of squats—especially traditional barbell squatting—as it is one of the easiest ways to injure your lower back. Instead, try goblet squats. This exercise is great because it’s amazingly self-regulating, both in terms of form and safety. If there are issues with core stability or ankle mobility, you’ll know it the minute you try a goblet squat. If your trunk lurches forward or you can’t drop your butt down until your elbows are about knee height—or lower—then you’ll know you need to spend some time on core stability exercises and ankle mobility exercises. Continuing to practice the goblet squat will help, but you need some extra work on the exercises provided in the links, too. As far as how much weight to use, I recommend starting with a lighter dumbbell or kettlebell and then progressing to heavier weight as your form and range of motion improve. If you can’t easily pick up the weight with one arm, start with something lighter.

To watch me demonstrate a goblet squat, click on the video below. Add these to your workout and you’ll be priming your body for better power generation when you play.

Click here to watch the video.

Link to article: Click here 
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Michelle Wie’s Four Moves to Knock It Close

Source: Golf.com
By Mark Steinbauer

The 2014 U.S. Women’s Open champ is known as a power hitter. She can also pound greens. Here are four moves to make knocking it close extra Wie-sy.

1. PLAY A HEAD GAME
Wie’s head is behind the ball at impact, with her eye line parallel to the ground. This combination allows her arms and right shoulder to work under her instead of working too much around. The result? Ultra-pure impact.

2. GET A LEG UP
Wie committed to strengthening her lower body a few years back, and it paid off with a U.S. Open trophy. Swings need leg power. Even doing simple squats while watching television will strengthen your legs and improve your swing.

3. LET’S KICK IT
This perfect divot indicates ball-first contact. To turn your mis-hits into pure strikes, copy Wie: Kick your right knee toward your left foot on your downswing. It’s a Hogan move that still works wonders.

4. START AT THE BOTTOM
Wie’s feet trigger her downswing. She shifts her weight to her left side, keeping her left foot rooted to the turf. Engage your lower body first. It helps your entire motion fall into place, almost by magic.

Link to article: Click here

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Golf By The Numbers: Jon Rahm stacks up well against other recent young Tour stars

Source: Golfweek
By:  | December 9, 2018 2:51 pm

In November 2017, after Jon Rahm’s rookie year, the Spaniard compared favorably to PGA Tour stars Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth during their first seasons.

At that time, Rahm was better than those players off the tee, was the second-best iron player in the group, had a solid short game and was the best putter. Having just turned 23, he ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

On Dec. 2 in the Bahamas, Rahm won the Hero World Challenge, a no-cut event hosted by Tiger Woods that brings together one of the most elite fields in golf. With the taste of champagne probably still fresh after helping Europe win the Ryder Cup in Paris, a 69-65 weekend gave Rahm a four-shot win over Tony Finau and earned him a $1 million check. That money does not go toward his official earnings for the 2018-19 season, but Rahm and his accountant probably don’t care.

Before his season-ending win, Rahm’s year had plenty of ups and downs.

On the bright side, he won the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, had five top-10 PGA Tour finishes and placed in the top five at the Masters and the PGA Championship.

But he missed the cut at the U.S. Open and British Open, and his strokes gained putting average slipped by 0.37 strokes, falling to -0.087 (135th). His iron game was not as sharp, either, leading to a fall in strokes gained total from an elite 1.871 (fourth) to 1.026 (19th).

So Rahm’s game is still solid and he is ranked No. 6 in the OWGR. How does the 24-year-old’s career compare to other elite players at that age? The chart below gives some perspective.

Looking at wins, top-10 finishes, earnings and position in the OWGR, Rahm is much farther along than Johnson was. And he has earned more money than Johnson, Fowler and Thomas.

The player whose results most closely match Rahm’s is Day, who has won two World Golf Championships, a Players Championship and the 2015 PGA Championship.

The only player who was significantly better than Rahm when he turned 24 was Spieth, who counted three major wins among his 11 titles, as well as a FedEx Cup championship and a $10 million prize that came with it.

Among the seven players in the table, five have reached the No. 1 spot on the OWGR: Day, Johnson, McIlroy, Spieth and Thomas. Rahm reached No. 2 after winning last season’s CareerBuilder Challenge.

With experience and improved putting, Rahm has the power to contend at Augusta National. Bethpage Black, site of May’s PGA Championship, could be ideally suited for Rahm too. Pebble Beach plays host to next year’s U.S. Open, and last year Rahm finished sixth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, so that fabled course also could set up nicely for him.

At 24, Rahm appears to have made himself a fixture in the OWGR’s top 10 while his statistics and results compare favorably with golfers who have won majors and attained the No. 1 ranking. Gwk

Link to article: Click here

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