I spend a couple of very “short” days at the Open this week. All I can say is, WOW. I was there this morning and the golf course is under water. What is already a very long and challenging golf course, just go a lot longer. Granted the greens are going to be much more receptive than normal, but the players will be hitting even longer clubs into the greens. Harrington hit 3 wood into #15 yesterday. Anyone that’s played that hole knows that hitting an 8 iron into that green is a challenge! This golf course is so hard; it’s difficult to see how hard it is on TV. I’ve played almost a dozen NY State Opens at Bethpage black and they always set the golf course up very difficult – and we do use some of the Open tees. But this course is like its on steroids. Power players have a HUGE advantage this week and I would be very surprised to see any average, driving-distance player walks away with the championship.
I did get to spend a few minutes watching some players hit balls on the range, not looking for anyone in particular. In fact a lot of the player I watched, I didn’t even recognize their names. But there’s one common denominator in the golf swings – they exhibit a very smooth rhythm with every club they swing. Their tempos may look different, but they all swing the club, from start to finish, very smoothly. No sudden starts or stops, nothing looks jerky. We could all benefit by improving our rhythm.
Something we can learn from watching an Open is how the players, when they get a bad lie, take their lumps and layup. They’re not trying to hit 3 woods out of buried lies in the rough. Or if they have a bad lie greenside, and the pin is cut close, you’ll see them hit pitch shots that sometimes go ten feet past the hole – a well planned and smart shot. These players all exhibit, for the most part, very good course management, but in the Open, you get to see it even more – because the penalty for a bad choice is very penal. And you’ll also see what happens when they make a bad decision. I have this saying that I always tell my students (and myself) – “never follow a bad shot with a bad decision”. You will almost always pay the price.
Enjoy the Open! I know I will – it’s one of my favorite tournaments, along with the Masters.
And Happy Father’s Day!
Subscribe
Couldn’t agree more with your comments about the pros’ swings Joe. Went Saturday and Sunday and couldn’t get over how free and easy their swings look. Watched Adam Scott for a while on the range yesterday and his full iron swing was so smooth and rhythmic, he looked like he was hitting small pitch shots, with the exception that he was rocketing his ball down the range.