PGAProfessional.com Blog
Archive - 2010

Question:

I'm a young golfer with a slower swing speed[.] What kind of balls should I be lookin[g] for?

Aric Wren
Covington, Kentucky

Answer:

Hi Aric,

Which ball you play is a matter of personal preference. At earlier stages in the development of your golf game you may not have enough experience to even have any personal preferences yet; so which ball you are playing is certainly not the weak link in your game and, therefore, really does not make any difference.

By the time you have gained enough experience for it to make a difference you will know which ball(s) you prefer. Also see 2 or 3 piece ball. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Well, now that Graeme McDowell has won the U.S. Open what interesting potential there is for a double whammy, with the British Open coming up. As well as he is playing, and with the enhanced confidence that surely must come from winning a major championship, he is in a good position to win the next one too, no?

And don't you just know that, as an Irishman, he would certainly love to win "The Open" even more than the U.S. Open. If he can avoid all the distractions that must come from his win at Pebble he may have a really good go at the British. I look forward to seeing it.

BTW: McDowell wins the U.S. Open (huge news) and the following day a local newspaper in my area prints (on the front page) a prominent photo and story, not about how McDowell won but about how Dustin Johnson lost. Tasteless. Inexcusable. No wonder they're going out of business.

All righty then: looking forward to the U.S. Open this coming weekend at Pebble Beach -- which is in my general neck of the woods. Though, saying that Pebble is in my neck of the woods is like calling San Diego the Los Angeles area.

But hey -- not to jinx things and turn them dull -- isn't it ALWAYS a great U.S. Open when it's at Pebble Beach?

Oh, and while I'm at it I better make sure I remember Father's Day, heh heh heh

Question:

What type of golfer would need a driver with a 2 degree hook face?

Terry Donovan
McHenry, IL

Answer:

Hi Terry,

Well, "need" is debatable. But very generally the type of player that would be recommended to a driver with a 2 degree hook face (a club deliberately made with a closed face, as opposed to square or open) would be somebody who had a slicing problem to one degree or another. It is also possible that a golfer might have a personal preference for the look, feel or performance of a driver with a closed face, which might not be related to a performance problem at all.

I would always recommend approaching a technique issue by working on your technique, rather than trying to correct it with equipment. By developing your understanding, skill and feel proper equipment becomes refinement rather than being remedial. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Question:

I use a chipper club and it takes a lot of strokes off my game. My daughter is taking lessons and the golf pro doesn't want her using a chipper. You don't see pros on TV using a chipper, how come when they are such an easy club to hit? Should I allow my daughter to use a chipper or not?

William Berry
Gaylord, MI

Answer:

Hi William,

Though you may have gotten used to the club over time and, therefore, have developed a feel for it, it's not a very versatile club because you can't really play any other shots with it. An iron, on the other hand, can also perform many other shots in addition to playing chip shots effectively.

Those chippers are basically just like 7 irons with very shallow faces and putter grips, for the most part (and, in fact, some of them are not allowed within the rules -- see this previous post on chippers). So I would recommend using an iron of your choice (6 or 7 iron is a common choice for the low running chip shots) instead of a chipper. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

The amount of wasted energy and resources, trash and waste of all kinds, consumer behavior and unconscious action is terrifying. We are just blowing it. The more I learn, the more I try to do to less negatively impact the environment and to improve my own actions. Rather than tell people what I think they should do, now and then I will just start posting what I am doing or thinking about, hoping that it will help.

I read The Story of Stuff website, then No Impact Man, by Colin Beavan. That was a great start. I thought I was already pretty conscious about conserving energy, resources, recycling, etc. But I have a long way to go.

I eat out almost never. I found out that most paper coffee cups are not recyclable. So having my own reusable mug or cup with me when I'm out will be my next step.

I have my own reusable cloth grocery bags. I do without a bag whenever even remotely possible, if I buy something other than groceries. I'm interested in learning more ways to improve.

Don't worry, I'll still post mostly golf stuff but every now and then I'll sneak in some green stuff too.

Question:

Should golfers invite themselves to play with others golfers when they are ready to tee off? There are times my family would like to play alone. What if you are discussing business or personal private matters while playing golf? I think it is rude to invite you[r]self to join others golfers. Maybe you just do not like the golfer that is inviting the[m]self. What is the best way to handle this?

S. Olson
Rocky Face, GA

Answer:

It's pretty common practice for golfers to ask to join groups of less than four. But if you prefer to play alone simply let the person asking know and, if you feel so inclined, you could also offer to let them go ahead of you if there are more of you than there are of them. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Back to most recent

Question:

Why do golf club manufacturers fit grips .580 on .600 butt shafts?

Brin Leah
London, U.K.

Answer:

Hi Brin,

Maybe it's just convenience, or economics, or maybe they figure the average person's hands are getting slightly larger. Club fitting and repair is not really "my thing," but let's clarify some of the basics here. The numbers .580 or .600, etc., are diameters, in inches, either of the butt end of shafts or the inside of grips. These sizes can vary between different types of shafts and grips.

In the olden days a .580 grip on a .580 shaft was a "standard" sized grip. Apparently now it is becoming very common for .600 shafts to be fitted with .580 grips, making the overall diameter slightly larger. If you are concerned with having your grip sizes be consistent throughout your set it's a good idea to have a club fitter or club repair person measure them and adjust, if necessary, by replacing the grip with one of a different size, or building up the shaft diameter (typically with tape) before putting the grip back on, etc.

I'm a proponent of putting your time and energy into understanding, technique, feel and experience rather than looking to equipment for improvement (I'm almost positive that my grip sizes do not match completely throughout my set). But having equipment that you like, and that fits you properly, is a good idea. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Question:

What's meant by "working man's four?" What does a working man have to do with it?

Yasu Komuta
Kurose-Gakuendai, Hiroshima, Japan

Answer:

Hi Yasu,

A "working man's four" implies a hard-earned four, suggesting some kind of trouble along the way (almost always including a sizeable par putt). Other similar expressions might be a "grinding four", "making four the hard way", etc.

A working man's anything (a cliché and therefore a generalization) typically implies something associated with someone from the working class (a laborer rather than a scholar or executive), relative roughness rather than elegance or sophistication, etc. Webster's definition of working class is "the class of people who work for wages usually at manual labor."

By way of comparison, on the other side of the coin you might hear the phrase a "text book four", or a "routine four", which would suggest a tee shot into the fairway, an approach shot onto the green, and two putts to hole out to make a par 4. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Congratulations to Mr. Mickelhoffer for a nice finish. Great par on 11, great birdie on 12, great... wait a minute, that shot from the trees on 13 was very entertaining, and turned out very well (even though it only yielded an anti-climactic birdie), but we know that it could have turned out virtually any old way at all -- like, say, the 18th at (what was it, Winged Foot?), so we'll go ahead and call it like it is: unnecessarily risky, and thank your lucky stars you got away with it, P.M. Those stars know you have had your share of incidents where it did not turn out so well. I guess if you roll the dice enough times some of them are bound to be winners, right? (Especially if you have that kind of raw material to gamble with.)

A very uncharacteristic display of impatience and assumption on that second putt on 14 for Tiger... not that it would have made any difference in the end, but... that's not him. Fourth with a disgusting (by his standards) performance -- huh.

Anthony Kim - whoah!   Dude was on FIRE!

It rained around here all day, so the entertainment was well appreciated. On to the next...

Hooah, the Masters! Here we go. Like there was ever any doubt that Tiger would show up. As if somebody that maniacally goal-driven would ever let something as insignificant as public badgering and bad vibes interfere with his objective.

If you want to dramatically increase the chances of his winning just try to make his life a living hell. Pile on the media attention and the negative comments. Upset him with pathetically petty questions in interviews and basically demand that he cower and grovel and apologize for his behavior from now until forever. Doing that will almost guarantee that he will win. If you want to increase the chances of anybody else winning, leave him alone immediately.

I look to Tiger to show me the best golf he can produce. He comes through on that. I do not look to Tiger to be a role model for me or anybody else. To expect anything further of somebody who is that accomplished in one aspect of life is asking too much, I think. Humans are imperfect. But in one area, he is the closest thing to perfect that we are aware of so far. I say leave him be and let him keep doing it.

Here's hoping this will be a spectacular Masters! Enjoy.

Question:

I have a friend [who] is a good golfer, 1 or 2 handicap. He is in a huge slump. I noticed at the top of his swing the club is pointed way left of the target. [I'm] not sure what this is called but he can't seem to fix it. The practice swing looks fine. I have played with him for years so I know this is new to his swing. Any tips to cure this? With this move his shots go right and left. Please help. Thanks.

George Sakadales
Port Charlotte, Florida

Answer:

Hi George,

If he is right-handed what you are describing is called "laid off" (see laid off in my Golf Glossary). From that position the chances increase of active use of the hands with associated (and possibly wide) variation in club face position at impact. The general solution is to achieve a better position at the top of the backswing so the club can be allowed to release more freely. But there might be endless details involved in what he is doing.

Technique is covered in detail in my books "The Full Swing" and "Hitting it Longer." Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Question:

When two players are playing from different tee[s] what is the Handicap rule?

Robert Pike
Holly Springs, NC

Answer:

Hi Robert,

Sounds like you each need to know your index and course handicap from the specific tees you are playing from. Aside from that it is a negotiation between you. See handicaps. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Question:

I play in a weekly women's tournament. We have a shotgun start. I proceeded to my hole and while waiting for the others to arrive, I went to the putting green next to my tee box and was practicing putting. The tournament had not yet started as no one had teed off and we were still waiting for people to arrive. One lady passed me by and said I could be disqualified from the tournament for practicing putting on the green. Is this correct?

Amy Correale
Sacramento, CA

Answer:

Hi Amy,

Yes, that is correct. It is not allowed within the rules to practice on the course before playing in a stroke play competition. Also see the Golf Rules FAQ. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Question:

My wife swung at the ball on the tee box and missed. She swung a second time and it went in the hole (par 3) is this a hole in one?

Eugene Jeanson
Brownsville, TX

Answer:

Hi Eugene,

No, it's a birdie (the first stroke counts). But talk about covering the full spectrum of possible performance in the shortest time... wow! All the way from a whiff to a hole-out from one swing to the next. Go figure. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

That reminds me of something that happened to me one time (not the whiff part ). I was playing a par 4 that was a 90 degree dogleg left with the second shot over a lake. Being the thinking golfer that I was I played a long iron off the tee to be more accurate... and proceeded to pull it into the lake. I had to drop out in thick rough on a steep downhill slope back toward the lake, and the green was on much higher ground on the other side of the lake than where I was standing (if you could call what I was doing standing -- more like fighting to keep my balance and wishing I was a mountain goat). Anyway, good thing the shot was only 120 yards or so. I made good contact with my wedge and holed the shot. Weirdest birdie I ever made.

If any of you have a really weird birdie or lower in your history that seems like a worthy tale to tell .

At this year's Monterey event there were some negative comments about Poppy Hills and some positive comments about Monterey Peninsula Country Club. It has been many years since I have played MPCC, but it was always my favorite course on the Monterey Peninsula -- and the best greens I ever putted on in my life (didn't actually help me MAKE any more of the putts but the experience was a 10 on a 10 scale). So I would agree that MPCC rocks and it's really great that it is back in the tournament. But Poppy Hills is a great golf course too. If it doesn't drain well or something, just fix it, right? I have always thought very highly of Poppy Hills, so I would cast a vote to keep it in the mix as part of the event somehow, even if just rotationally. Thumbs up for Poppy.

Question:

If my index is 13.2 and my playing partner is 7.8, should he be giving me 5 or 6 stokes in a match play event? I think it should be 6, he believes it should be 5.

William Ross
Palm Springs, CA

Answer:

Hi William,

Always refer to the tournament committee for administration of competitions. But I suspect that in most cases the course handicap is used, which is a whole number, and which will vary from one course to another. So that means how many strokes you get will vary from course to course too.

In informal cases, like betting situations, you'll have to decide matters like this through negotiation between yourselves (e.g., though you each have concrete indexes one of you may be more "on his game" lately than the other, or one of you may be hungover or recovering from food poisioning, a hangnail, etc. -- not to give you any creative ideas for attempting to sway the negotiation via "modified reality"). Looking at it from a simple math perspective seems sensible. If you round off the indexes then yours would be 13 and his would be 8 (5 strokes difference). And if you round off the difference between your indexes (13.2 - 7.8 = 5.4) it's still 5. So from the math perspective your playing partner is correct. (Unless you make a huge stretch to assume that any fraction of a stroke (.1 or more) means you should get a whole stroke. That seems ridiculous to me -- like the phone company charging you for a full minute when you only used 4 seconds.)

Again, always refer to your tournament committee for specific details. And your local golf association -- in your case the Southern California Golf Association (SCPGA) -- can help you with matters of this type also. Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best of luck with your game. MB

Grooves shmooves... snooooze.

Speaking of grooves, though, here's an idea. Professionals should have to start playing with NO grooves on ANY club -- completely smooth faces side to side and top to bottom.

It would actually have very little impact in most situations where the grass was short and dry. But where the grass was long and/or wet HOOAH! The ball would shoot off the face in much more random directions, making the game even more unpredictable and exciting -- like what most golfers typically experience.

I can just hear the interviews... "Well, luck just wasn't with me today."  Oh... wait... that sounds kind of like what they say already, sometimes. Nevermind, I guess.

Question:

A dog steals a golf ball while we are playing. Happened more than once. What are the PGA [sic] rules? Do I have to take a penalty stroke or can I shoot the dog? Thanks.

Erich Serrano
Sacramento, CA

Answer:

Hi Erich,

Here's the answer but (for you and all others interested enough to ask rules-related questions) please look at this FAQ on golf rules questions before sending in questions of this type. There is only one of me, but thousands of golfers with questions.

First, it is the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) that jointly write, interpret and maintain the rules of golf; not the PGA. If a ball is moved by an outside agency (e.g., a dog, a spectator, a dinosaur) it is to be replaced, no penalty. If you don't know exactly where the ball was

***** quote from the Decisions *****
"...drop the ball in an area which was neither the most, nor the least, favorable of the various areas where it was equally possible that the ball originally lay."
***** end quote from the Decisions *****

That's pretty vague, I suppose, but it just means be reasonable or fair (also vague, but there it is - see Rule 1-4 and the Dictionary definition of "equity" for more). Thanks for visiting PGAProfessional.com and best wishes for success with your game. MB

Wow, it's raining a lot around here lately. Glad to know that all my students are working on their strength, flexibility, mental games, etc., during this relative "down time" -- and reading and re-reading my books to deeply ingrain the right concepts, for ongoing reference and to reinforce the things we've been working on. Of course, even though it is damp chilly, uninspiring weather, I too have been hitting the gym, eating high quality food, stretching and doing Qigong -- generally setting a glowing example. It's an ideal world.

And on a less facetious note, certainly we are all sending positive chi in various forms to the people in Haiti. Best wishes for speedy recovery and healing.

So it appears that I am now the last person in my vast sphere of interaction that does not own (and has never owned) a cell phone -- quite an accomplishment, really. And, of course only from this vantage point, can I see the complete insanity of the entire rest of the world. To wit, I briefly glanced at the television while standing in someone's living room the other night. In the miniscule time I was there I witnessed 2 commercials for cellular service (different companies), one for a video game which showed people on cell phones in the background, and then back to the main program, which was a stand-up comedy routine all about texting and using the cell phone. When I pointed this out to one person there they looked at me like I had told them I was breathing. "And your point?" their look seemed to say. (If you're thinking the same thing nevermind, you can stop reading this.)

Then, when I got home, I put in a rented DVD movie and literally had to sit through 13+ infuriating minutes of advertisement before getting to the actual movie (I won't say which movie it was, but it sounds kind of like Horace Papsmear and the Horrible Fear -- this is a movie that I had paid to rent, and the introductory material was not able to be forwarded through -- I hate that!). We accept this as okay? No, how about if you pay you are shown the movie - only. If you are willing to sit through the mass of commercials then you get the whole thing for free -- in other words they pay YOU to watch the commercials. I have not stopped shaking my head yet (hopefully at least I am burning some calories by doing so).

Jeev Milkha Singh and the homemade swing. That's got a pretty nice ring. Don't you thing?

Just around kidding, and certainly no disrespect intended to Señor Singh, who seems to be rather well-functioning, if not exactly the owner of a move of beauting.

Anyway, I can't remember who it was that I heard on TV talking about him and his homemade swing. But he just kept making that weird move and doing well... go figure.

Let's R-O-O-O-O-CK!

Okay, so I'll start a blog and see how it goes. Let me know what I can do to make it better.

Golf Instruction with Mark Blakemore - PGAProfessional.com

Work on any part of your game with PGA Professional Mark Blakemore, author of this website, in person at two locations in the east bay area of San Francisco. Or get the books (see below or in right column).