The Career of Jean Van De Velde
I happened to run across the video above of Jean Van De Velde talking about his collapse in the 1999 British Open and later another collapse after leading by 1 stroke in the 2005 French Open.
Even listening to this interview I somehow still have the impression that he just doesn’t get it – that it *might* have been more prudent to take another club off the 18th tee rather than hit driver. But I’m not sure “the story” he tells himself about that event has done much to help his golf game or his career for that matter.
It’s interesting to think about how “the stories” you tell yourself about your golf game can shape your perceptions and ultimately your future outcomes on the course. Heck, any story you tell yourself is made up so why not make up one that supports what your up to or where you want to go.
I can’t help but think maybe Jean should have told himself a different story to himself about that fateful day – one that embraced faulty decision making and unsound strategy. He could have then “owned” what happened, causing less internal resistance – perhaps causing his career to spiral upward rather than downward.
Not doubt, the guy at that time of his career (he was 34 in 1999 at the British Open) he had game. But now it’s 10 years later and just a few weeks ago came in 67th missing the cut at the Asian Tour Qualifying School.
He has been plagued with recent nagging health issues for a number of years including a recent bout of food poisoning so it appears his golf career is coming to an anti-climatic end.
Van de Velde, however, will be always be known as the golfer who gave away the 1999 British Open but to his credit he played some splendid golf in his career (amassing 4 Professional wins) and putting French golf back on the map.
I’m not sure what next for Jean but maybe it’s time to move on to other ventures and just enjoy all the splendid golf in France.
Phil Did The Right Thing
I’m all for Phil sticking the Ping Eye 2 wedge in his bag at Torrey Pines. Please, save me from the ranters who decry him as a cheat. Golf is, always has been and hopefully will continue to be about following the rules!
In what other sports do players call there own fouls and infractions? That’s one of the greatest things about this game. Players have disqualified themselves even after looking like they’d won a tournament. That’s a great game ladies and gentlemen.
If Phil were cheating, he’d be disqualified, plain and simple. That’s the way golf works. It’s not like he’s hiding the Ping wedges in his bag or has masked out the logo. He’s merely playing ‘by the rules’. Remember, any other player can play the Ping Eye 2 wedges too.
Listening to Phil’s interview this past Friday made it pretty clear why he has the wedges in his bag. He doesn’t like the loophole. It’s one of those irritating things that golf’s ‘rules’ foment sometimes.
If you want unfair, how about being penalized on a steeply sloping green, rolling 12 on the stimpmeter on a very windy day after you have grounded your putter and your ball moves before you’ve contacted it.
That may seem unfair, but it’s the rules of golf. The players on Tour can’t all get together and decide to ignore that rule. Back to Phil. He’s playing the Ping Eye 2 to make a point and, I believe, an important one. He’s drawing everyone’s attention to the problem so it can be corrected before the Ping wedge fiasco impacts a Major.
Look, Phil didn’t create this problem, it was the USGA, but he’s smart enough to realize that it’s going to affect the game, at least in the minds of the media. Phil actually said he didn’t think there was much difference between the old Pings and modern wedges available to the pros. Maybe you have better eyes than I do, but I didn’t notice anything especially different about Phil’s wedge play versus the rest of the field.
Bottom line, do the Ping Eye 2 wedges make a real difference? Not in play, but they do in the media. The USGA has created a monster and now they, like Tiger, must ‘do the right thing’ and clean this mess up. Right On Phil!
Values and Golf
I was just reading this piece on the Golf Channel site on how Tom Watson expressed his concern about how Tiger’s off-the-course behavior is affecting the game:
“It’s bad for our game,” Watson said of the Woods’ sex scandal in an interview with KSHB-TV, a Kansas City NBC affiliate. “It’s something he needs to get control of and a handle on and make some amends and show some humility to the public when he comes back.”
Watson said some of Woods’ questionable behavior on the course can’t be ignored, either.
“His swearing and his club throwing, that should end,” Watson said. “That’s not part of what we want to project as far as the professional golf tour is concerned.”
I love listening to guys like Trevino, Watson, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player and others of this generation talk about values and golf – maybe because they remind me of my father. They tend to be very black and white, resolute and, by golly, KNOW the difference between right and wrong.
And, I’m not saying they’re perfect at all, but as far as I can see, have practiced living these values in a commendable way.
After all, they are keepers of the golf’s values and traditions and they are serious and steadfast about defending these values. I find it very refreshing. I wish there were more players who were steeped in values that are not only good for the game but good for families and good for society.
Values like honesty, integrity, responsibility, and professionalism. What did we do, forget about these? Maybe – but I know one thing – if you don’t practice them, you won’t live them either. Guys like Watson live these principles because they’re bigger than themselves – they are guideposts on how to live a principle-centered life
So much of this seems lost nowadays. It’s just a different culture. There are a lot more single parents today and often, can’t (or won’t) spend the time instilling these values.
And Tiger had a father who came from the military and had good values – although there is questionable information on how he conducted his relationships.
So what happened? Tiger made some poor decisions in moments he could have practiced integrity and doing the right thing – for his reputation and his family. He had that choice.
You might say “Who cares what Nicklaus or Watson or Trevino or Palmer have to say about the modern game” well, I would listen to these guys over *most* any of today’s modern players, why? because they know what they’re talking about.
Pro Golf Takes, But Does It Give Enough?
Who can question the taking, with record professional purses and at least one golf superstar earning in excess of $100 million a year. To put that in perspective, that’s the amount that the U.S. government has pledged for Haiti relief, a country were it is estimated 200,000 people may have lost their lives in an earthquake and its aftermath.
And what do we, the public who ultimately funds the PGA Tour and professional sports in general, get out of these businesses that throw off fantastic wealth for a few? For one, the privilege to watch professional sports on TV. Is that about it? How about insight into the lives of the golfing heroes we strive to emulate in vain on the course. How about some honesty into who they are, what they really think about the game, their fellow competitors and themselves.
Unfortunately Tiger is the poster child now for a sport that seems bereft of soul. Professional golf is now too often a sport where players with cookie cutter personalities have all gotten the message to keep individual thoughts to themselves. Don’t let the occasional aberration, like John Daly fool you. 99% of today’s tour players are on message all the time.
In Tiger’s case, his pre and post game interviews could have been written by Bill Belichick and reviewed by an IMG attorney. Add them all up and what do you know about Tiger and how he really sees the sport and his role. The unsatisfying answer is – NADA.
If you believe the stories that pop up in local papers these days, then Tiger’s fellow competitors didn’t really know him either. Apparently in pro golf it’s easy to be the reigning star of the decade and have almost no contact with any other competitor except on the course, and we know how much talking goes on there. If players have to learn to keep their emotions in check when they play, is it a surprise that they become disciplined talking robots for the public when they’re in front of reporters?
But let’s not get down on the individuals players, afterall they have been bred for their roles from an early age. The message is just play golf and blend in and you too can live a life that 99.99% of the world can only dream about. If I had the talent to be offered that deal, I doubt I’d turn it down either.
My question is how did it get this way. If you’re like me, you spend too much time seeing what’s wrong with the modern world, trying desperately to convince yourself that it’s your thinking that is out of whack, not the reality of what you see. I still can’t rationalize that a pro golfer can make more in a year than the government of this country is willing to give to a nation that has been virtually destroyed by a natural disaster. I don’t care how good the golfer is, it’s not right just like Wall Street 2009 bonuses aren’t right.
Maybe it’s time for the millions of us who ultimately fund the fiascos we call modern professional sports to start demanding more, demanding that the recipients of our largesse show us who they really are. Maybe the coach of one of the best football teams of the decade owes us more than one sentence answers that are completely devoid of anything insightful or real.
How do we let these people get away with double talk that would have made Satch Mahoney of the Bowery Boys proud. And how is the best golfer in the world able to keep a trunk full of secrets from everyone as his corporation deftly picks our pockets. Maybe it’s time for us – the spectators who supposedly drive the train - to demand some real and in-depth answers from modern sports royalty. Maybe it’s time for us to put some mouth with our money is!
Golf and the Haiti Tragedy
I’m sure that you, like me, are moved beyond belief by what’s happened in Haiti. Today it’s about the immense scale of human tragedy that is unfolding. Tomorrow it needs to be about what the Western Hemisphere let Haiti become and how to fix it. Our failure took place decades, if not centuries ago. So what does this have to do with golf?
Could the Haiti earthquake be a tipping point for the way professional sports interact with the ‘real’ world? Golf has a tremendous track record of raising money for worthy causes. Everyone involved deserves credit and profuse thanks. But….. as I’ve written before, the professional game seems to be getting further and further from the real world in which most of us live.
If you’ve been watching the news this morning, you know about many of the fund raising events that are underway, particularly the joint effort of presidents Clinton and Bush. Addressing the immediate crisis is the tip of the iceburg, that small 10% of a much larger problem that is mainly hidden from view.
Long term, we have to rebuild and remake an entire country and this takes a concerted effort over years if not decades. I’m wondering if professional sports can’t be a big part of that. Just as people like to identify many aspects of their lives with their favorite sport, why can’t this human tendency be tapped to do more good for the planet.
How about professional golf, the commissioner and its superstars adopting some project in Haiti which all of us fans can help fund. I can envision Tiger, Phil, Sean, Anthony, Tim Finchem and the rest commit to something like building a hospital. Then make it a public campaign by asking all of us golf fanatics to tap into our love of the game and get on board to make it happen.
This wouldn’t replace any of the good works, of which there are lots, that golf and golfers already do. This would be in addition to. I think we have it in us. I’d like to see the NBA, NFL, and NHL and other sports organizations around the world do the same thing.
Call me a dreamer or just over stimulated by the magnitude of the suffering that’s being broadcast, but I think it would get more of us involved. We could get our golf foursomes to buy hospital beds. Why couldn’t the golf industry start making some of our equipment or accessories there?
Together we could do a lot, but what’s critical is for an organization like the PGA to be a focal point in the longterm and sustained effort that will be needed to fix what was broken in Haiti long before the earthquake. I don’t believe Alister MacKenzie was a dreamer when he said that golf can change societies for the better.
Left Arm in Golf Swing – Straight or Relaxed?
Anytime I hear the “straight left arm” in the golf swing I cringe. Just the visual of it will put your mind in an un-dynamic position. It’s like a shortstop waiting for a ground ball with straight legs – kinda hard to be agile from that position.
I think there’s a lot of mis-understanding about keeping the right arm straight in the backswing and downswing. My GolfDash partner, John, even mentioned it in a recent article titled Golf Resolutions for 2010 mentioning:
“Keep the left arm straight from takeaway to well past impact. If I bend the arm I lose consistent contact because the width of the arc of the swing changes. This is equally important for chips as well as full shots”
Now I’m not picking on John or anyone else about this. After all, there are degrees of this. What feels and looks “straight” to you might feel “hyperextended” to the next chap – no matter, this is just something to experiment and test in practice and play for the betterment of your game.
I started to think a lot about this when I read the great golf instruction book, “The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing” by Nick Bradley. (it was even one of my “Top 10 Best Golf Books”)
At the time I first read the book and hit the 4th “Law” in the book “Synchronicity”, then looked at the picture of the left arm “relaxed” versus straight something clicked for me. And, really, it was all because of the “crescent moon” image shown above.
Here’s what Mr. Bradley says about it in the book:
“One of the most common faults in the backswing stems from the belief that you must keep your left arm rigid and straight during the swing in order to create width, precision, and power. Unfortunately, this normally has exactly the opposite effect.
While it may feel powerful, attempting to keep your left arm as straight as possible as you sweep the club straight back away from the ball on a wide arc will actually limit the amount of power you can create in the swing.
The result of keeping your left arm rigid and tense is two-fold. First, the clubbed will travel on an unnaturally wide arc on the backswing and will probably cause the clubface to remain closed or hooded during the takeaway.
During the change of direction between backswing and downswing, the forces exerted on your left arm will cause your wrists to flex excessively, leading to narrow, steep arc that creates a whole array of ball-striking problems.
The second problem is that forcing your left arm to remain straight causes your body to turn too early in the backswing.
If your upper-body coil is already complete when your arms have not even reached their halfway-back position, your arms will inevitably have to complete the rest of their journey to the top on their own, resulting in poor strikes and directional problems”
You can quickly test this out on your own with your left arm. Just extend your left arm straight in front of horizontally across your chest (like you are taking a backswing) and notice how that “feels” Now just bend the elbow slightly (so it feels like a “crescent moon”) and notice how that feels.
It should feel much more soft, alive and “whip-like.” That is really the feeling your after – light, soft, free-flowing and ready to snap the club into the back of the ball.
By the way, Nick also includes a few great “crescent moon” drills to ingrain this feeling even further. But you’ll have to get the book to check them out. Pretend you paid $5000 for the book. That’s how you should treat the instruction in it. It’s that good.
I have experimented with this A LOT – in practice, during competitive tournaments and it has made tremendous amount of difference in my ball-striking and ultimately scoring.
Disconnect In World of Sports
Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal
Excuse me, but every once in a while I actually open my eyes and think I see what’s going on and then I get up on my high horse. Ever feel like that?
First a quote from one of my favorite local sports writers – Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal. This is from a piece he wrote last Saturday. Remember that without sports Bill would be out of work and that’s why I love it when he’s not afraid to say ‘the emperor has no clothes’! From Bill’s pen:
“We live in a parallel universe, of course, a severe disconnect between the real world and sports world. And it’s never seemed more obscene. In these troubled times of high unemployment and daily stories of true heartbreak, the sports world continues to operate as if it lives on Fantasy Island, complete with endless stories about $50-million contracts, $80-million contracts, you name it. All paraded around with not even a smidgen of shame. And all in a culture where the prices for tickets and parking and everything else keeps going up, the money always in our face.” click here for more
Admit it, you see it too sometimes. I love golf and I’m not here to knock it down… But there’s trouble in River City and golf isn’t immune. There’s too many guys chasing (and making) too much money. I’m always shocked when I hear how much Glover, Rose, Watney, O’Hare, Poulter and the like make when they don’t win that much. These guys make average Wall Streeters look like paupers. Right now, if you’re in the top 100, you can play 10 years on Tour and retire like a king for the rest of your life. And if you out spend your bank account you can join the other ‘Champions’ and fill it right back up again.
Why does this upset me? To be honest, it doesn’t most of the time. I tune in and enjoy the scenery and shot making and sometimes even the drama. That is until I get a bucket of cold water in my face courtesy of reality. Just imagine for a moment how much someone makes who has to change and clean someone’s elderly mother lying in a hospital bed. It’s not pretty, but boy is it important!
I love golf for what it is, for what it has stood for over the centuries, and for what it demands from everyone who trys to come to terms with it. I don’t want it to get distorted and disfigured like most other major professional sports where the original essence of the game doesn’t really matter anymore and it becomes mostly about human misdeeds and extravagance instead of human dignity and accomplishment.
How do we know when the sport we love is being changed and taken from us? I’m not sure, but it seems to me that a telltale sign is when it starts worshipping money instead of achievement, when players tell sports reporters they are not role models, when the stars start self-destructing and when spoiled rich kids can build a golf course and then think they can buy its way into The Open rota.
My prediction is that golf as a sport will not grow in its old first world stomping grounds. However, professional golf will be able keep its coffers overflowing by an influx of third world sponsors. I submit to the jury that they look at who’s sponsoring the season’s first PGA Tour event in Maui for a taste of the future.
That will keep the big wheels turning for awhile, but what happens if global government stimulus doesn’t really keep the bottom from falling out, when unemployment funds dry up, when state governments start cutting back on everything because they’re bankrupt and penny ante poker with the boys looks prohibitive?
Wouldn’t it be nice to see the folks who run professional golf make some healthy changes before the walls come tumbling down. And wouldn’t it be nice if golf course builders stopped building monuments to themselves as Lee Trevino recently commented and started building level courses of moderate length with tee boxes next to greens so walking is enjoyable and with fees that employees from WalMart, Home Depot and Starbucks can afford?
Call me crazy, but I really believe, as Alister MacKenzie did, that golf can transform lives and cultures for the better if it’s stewards respect and protect its core values. Getting rid of U grooves is a step in the right direction, but there’s an awful long way to go. Now if we can just keep Tiger and John Daly from drawing guns in the locker room…..
Tour 18 Houston, Lakeside CC Reviews
A promise is a promise, so here are my reviews of the two golf courses I played in Houston; Tour 18 Houston and Lakeside Country Club.
Tour 18 Houston
Tour 18 is a composite of great holes from great courses. The idea here is that the average amateur can get a taste of what some of pro golf’s most famous and most storied holes are about. The course isn’t ridiculously pricey, which means it gets a lot of play. When I was there in December the big fall golf season in Houston had just ended. The course was in good shape, but you could tell it had been played hard.
First and foremost, this course is fun just for reading the history and stories of each hole on the tee box plaques. If you watch much pro golf, you’ll conjure up your own memories. Each hole is a classic, like the famous island 17th at TPC Sawgrass. It’s a kick just to make up your own scenario – say to go one up on Tiger on Sunday - and see if you can hit the green. I played in a threesome and I can say we all had a great time playing the course while walking down memory lane.
If you’re looking for an exact replica of each hole, you’ll be disappointed. There’s no way a public course can match the quality of the greens for one. But they were all in good enough condition to take nothing away from the round.
The last hole is a replica of the 18th at Doral’s Blue Monster. I checked scorecards and found the back tees to be 26 yards shorter in Houston. Other things that are different; elevation changes, bunkering, some of the water and foliage. Hey, who would even dream of trying to replicate the magnolias at Augusta!
The first hole is a copy of the 18th at Harbour Town. Here again the distance is a bit shorter, the tall pines are missing as well as some of the water surrounding the hole. While the holes aren’t ‘exact’ replicas they are close enough to make for an enjoyable round. The next time I watch a pro event, I’ll have a different perspective for some of the classic holes like Augusta’s 12th. This is a fun course to play at least once, probably more if you live in Houston.
Lakeside Country Club Houston
Lakeside Country Club is a private Houston club and I was fortunate enough to have a friend who is a member there. This club is one of the top four or five private clubs in the Houston Area and is built around a lake/river as the name implies. As you would expect of a private course, the facilities, practice area and course conditions are impeccable. There are lots of tree-lined fairways and plenty of water, sometimes appearing as a lake and at other times a meandering stream.
The greens are first-rate and add a lot of character to the course. I understand that the club is in the process of rebuilding many of their bunkers, but I found most of the existing ones to be good. While the land is flat and definitely park like, the course is very well laid out. You almost always feel separated from the other holes and for a Texas course, the plantings are very lush.
A couple of holes really stood out. If I hadn’t misplaced my scorecard I could tell you what number the par 3 was that is flanked by water on the left and in back, while the narrow green is well protected by traps in the front. This one is a real challenge and plays harder than the replica of Sawgrass’s 17th at Tour 18.
I absolutely loved the last hole. It’s a fairly long par five that turns right from the tee and then slightly back left at the hole. Add to that an elevated green with steep banks and water on the front and left and it’s nearly impossible to reach in two. It’s as interesting an 18th hole as I’ve seen in a long time and must make for some dramatic finishes. I’m sure many a club player has gone down in flames on this one. By yourself a beer if you par it.
Bottom line on Lakeside, it’s a first rate course that has to make no apologies to anyone. With difficult greens, challenging hole layouts, and varying tee boxes this is one you’d be happy to call home. If you’re in Houston and know a member at Lakeside, it’s a must play. If you haven’t played a Tour 18 course, be sure to try one out.
Sheer Golf Power!
This guy Jamie Sadlowski is incredible to watch in this long drive contest video. Talk about sheer power! The guy is 5′10″ tall and 165 lbs!
A couple things I noticed when watching his swing. First, it is so well balanced. Not some sort of wind up and casting at the ball – like your trying to kill a squirrel with a hockey stick!
Therefore, consider going slightly wider in your stance when hitting the driver. You need a solid base when you generate greater speed by swinging the driver.
Second, the takeaway and backswing are very deliberate and not rushed. It takes time to build energy and power – which is a good reminder for anyone.
I know, it can sometimes be depressing to watch these guys hit it so far while we struggle with our own game BUT try to look at this video and really SEE how these guys generate this explosive power. I find the slow motion really help me visualize certain swing “positions”
Let’s face it, hardly any of us will ever come close to hitting it anywhere close to these long drive champs but we can learn from them – learn about using your legs, learn about using lag correctly, learn the value of a slow, smooth and complete backswing, learn how to build core strength (and much more) – so we can learn how to drive a golf ball the best we are capable of.
Golf Resolutions for 2010
My resolution, is to not have to start my golf game at square one each year. At the end of each season I try to make a list of the key things I learned about my game.
The hope is that I can start the spring at square ten, but I can’t say it’s always worked. I’m not sure my current list will help anyone else, but it might be interesting to at least compare notes.
No less than Harvey Penick said slow swing rehearsal in front of a mirror without a club was key to improving your swing.
FULL SWING:
Keep both shoulders in their sockets while swinging. I know some anatomy expert is going to go after me on that one. All I know is that as you swing you can hold your shoulders ‘in tight’ or relax them and let them stretch out a bit.
At least that’s the way it feels. I makes a lot of difference in consistency. It also keeps my arms in front of my body and makes ball/clubface alignment at impact more consistent. I’ve heard this was the secret to Babe Ruth’s power.
Keep the left arm straight from takeaway to well past impact. If I bend the arm I lose consistent contact because the width of the arc of the swing changes. This is equally important for chips as well as full shots.
The takeaway has to be slow and controlled, especially the first 18 inches. It also has to be wide and not inside. Said another way, keep the distance between my left elbow and my torso the same through the entire backswing. I have a tendency to take the club ‘inside’, and that’s the kiss of death.
Don’t get too flat on the backswing, particularly with irons. Keep the club mainly above the ball and not too far behind it. When I get flat I start hitting the ball both left and right.
Keep the grip light so that the wrists can hinge (thumbs point towards the sky, back of the left hand and wrist are flat). When my swing starts to wobble, the tendency is to grip the club too tightly in order to manipulate it. Bad things happen when I do that and distance suffers considerably. It’s not as easy as it sounds to keep the left arm straight with the wrist hinge flexible and the grip light.
Keep the right leg bent slightly through contact. I have a bad habit of straightening my right leg on the backswing. I can’t tell you how much contact suffers when I do that.
Don’t let the lower body sway, particularly in the backswing. Make sure the hips resist the torso as I turn my back to the target. Sometimes in an attempt to keep the swing arc wide I end up swaying instead.
This is a big one for me; make sure the left wrist gets to vertical (not pointing at the sky or the ground) on the downswing by the time the club is waist high. When I don’t do this, my left wrist is likely to be tilted slightly toward the sky at contact. I don’t ‘cover’ the ball and the clubface at contact is open and pointing slightly up, just like my wrist. This is a sure formula for pushes, loss of power and worse.
Keep my hips and shoulders aligned at setup. I got into some poor setup habits this year and I ended up aiming right when I thought I was dead on. I also had my hips/knees going one way and my shoulders another.
I started practicing with two clubs at right angels on the practice tee to get myself back on track. Jim Furyk says he never hits a practice shot without an alignment aid because it’s the easiest thing in the world to start drifting. Jim, I’m now a believer!
IN GREENSIDE SAND:
Setup open to the target and swing across the body and not towards the target. If you hit shanks out of the sand, this is probably why. I’ve known this for a long time, it’s just mentally hard for me at times to swing one way when I want the ball to go another.
CHIPPING AND SHORT PITCHES:
Keep most of my weight on the left foot (I’m right handed). There’s no time for weight transfer in a short swing and this will help you from chunking them because your weight is behind the ball. It also helps insure a descending blow, which is what you need to get the ball up.
PUTTING:
Unfortunately my putting was all over the place this year, sometimes great, sometimes horrible and too often not that good. I do have a couple of things to start with this winter. Keep the shoulders level. Find a consistent rhythm both back and through. Grip the club lightly! I know I don’t consistently hit the ball in the center of the putter so I’ll try to work on this by putting rubber bands on each side of the sweet spot to train myself to be more consistent.
If anyone else has some real gems you’ve uncovered for yourself during this past season, send them in – particularly for putting!
