Opinion & Analysis

Getting started with basic club repair, with tips from Tom Wishon

Published

11 years ago

Jun 25, 2013

My journey into tinkering with golf clubs started small. A bottle of nail polish, nail polish remover and a simple “how-to” video on how to add new paint fill to a golf club.

Soon after, I found myself at the local hobby store purchasing a variety of model paints in every color I could find. Before I knew it, I found myself stamping, torching, applying gun blue, coffee grounds and motor oil finishes to my wedges.

As fun as it was, what I am about to share with you isn’t about custom finishes or paint fills. I am going to help you get started with the basic needs for the average player to get started re-gripping your own clubs. I am also going to share the basic needs for minor club repairs and club building at the hobbyist level.

In the past, I always had my local pro shop install new grips and shafts for me. I figured it was easier to just pay someone to do the work rather than purchase all the equipment I needed to do it myself. As time went on, I found that my grips tended to feel very different after each re-grip — one time they would feel too thin and the next they seemed too thick. It was frustrating to say the least.

The final straw for me was when I had a new grip put on a driver and requested a standard grip with seven wraps of build-up tape (I prefer a mid-size grip but with a firm feel). But when I picked up my club, it felt very thin. I asked the club tech if the grip felt like seven wraps and he agreed that there was no way it could be. He then took my club to the back, removed the grip and discovered only two wraps of tape. That was enough motivation for me to take the time and learn how to do it myself.

So who am I to give advice on what is needed for club building? After all, I can tell you that I am not a professional club builder — I don’t build clubs for a living, and I don’t work in a golf pro shop. I perform all my own work on my clubs in a small work area located in my garage. So why should you listen to what I have to share when it comes to building clubs? Because I had the pleasure of speaking with Tom Wishon on this very matter.

Wishon has decades of experience in the field designing golf clubs, and is also a master club builder and fitter. We spoke in detail on all the necessities needed to do basic club building and repair and I am going to share his wisdom with you.

Click here to see the articles Wishon has written for GolfWRX on club fitting, shaft fitting and golf club design.

Before you start you need to ask yourself:

What are the essential tools needed for club repair?

According to Wishon, the answer to the question depends on what club repair tasks the person wants to perform.

That’s why I’m going to break down the tools needed for club repair into two different sections: basic repairs and advanced repairs. At the end of the story, I share tips from Wishon that will help aspiring club builders cut through the rookie mistakes of club building.

Basic Repairs

Tools Needed:

At least a 4-to-6-foot long sturdy workbench.
Heavy duty bench vise with 4-inch jaws.
Shaft vise clamp.
Razor blade knife with a hook blade.
Heat gun.
Strong blade knife.
Two-inch-wide roll of masking tape.
Two-inch-wide two-way grip installation tape.
Calipers.
Catch pan.
Grip solvent or mineral spirits.

All operations will be performed on your work bench, seeing that this will be your primary work area. If space is ample, it is better to go with a 6-foot long work bench. Your vise will be top mounted and should have at least a 4-inch jaw — be sure to use a shaft vise clamp when using the vise to hold shafts. This will prevent the metal jaws from damaging any paint or graphics that the shaft may have.

Mount your catch pan beneath your shaft vise. The catch pan will help keep your work area clean from grip solvent drippings and will aid in recycling the solvent.

Wishon believes it is better and easier to install grips with an air compressor. However, it is something that club makers only do when they have a lot of business, because of the cost of the compressor and the special nozzle device required to attach to the air hose to blow the grips on with the compressed air. If a person already has an air compressor, buying the nozzle and installing grips that much is cleaner than using grip solvent.

I have seen and heard my share of horror stories on clubs that have been ruined due to shabby work: short cuts, carelessness and a lack of knowledge. I have also had my own experiences of sub-par work performed on my gear. I once had a 3 wood re-shafted and explained that I did not want an extension placed in the butt end of the grip.

After receiving the 3 wood, I noticed that my grip felt odd. It felt as though there was a seam in it. I cut the grip off to find that not only did the club builder place an extension in my shaft, but that he used a piece of a broken shaft to extend it rather than using a real extension. That was enough to push me toward learning how to do shaft pulls and installs.

Advanced Repairs

Tools Needed:

A reasonable quality graphite shaft puller tool.
A Lock-Tite shaft holder.
Heavy duty leather work gloves.
A 1-by-30-inch small belt sander.
A 48-inch ruler.
An abrasive shaft cut off wheel to mount to a 5- or 6-inch bench grinder.
Small butane torch.
A stiff wire brush wheel.
Bamboo skewers cut in half lengthwise.
Cut up squares from a cardboard box, at 4-by-4.
OVERNIGHT CURE Two-part shafting epoxy with a lap shear strength of at least 3,000 psi.
An assortment of ferrules for 0.335 parallel, 0.355 taper tip and 0.370 parallel shafts.
An assortment of tip weights in different weights (2 grams, 4 grams, 6 grams, 9 grams) in different sizes.
One-half-inch wide roll of lead tape.
A 14-inch fulcrum Lorythmic or Prorythmic swingweight scale.

As you venture into a more detailed roll of a club builder, you will soon learn how valuable leather work gloves are — just ask any builder who has accidentally touched a heated hosel with a bare hand.

Working with a propane torch works fine, but its flame is larger and hotter than a small butane torch, and therefore is easier to burn the paint at the base of the hosel on metal woods, or to scorch the metal surface of the hosel. Heat guns will work as well, although Wishon said using one for softening the epoxy takes much too long, and it is difficult to control where the heat goes on the hosel to prevent scorching the paint at the base of the hosel on metal woods.

For prepping the tips of shafts, Wishon recommended a small belt sander, which he said is best for roughing up all shaft tips.

“(For experienced club makers) The small belt sanders are inexpensive and do the job so much faster and more consistently,” Wishon said.

But he said that beginning club builders should rough up the tips of graphite shafts by hand using strips of 100 grit cloth back sand paper. This is better for beginning club makers to do until he or she learns the “touch” required to abrade a graphite shaft tip using the belt sander. To prevent sanding too much off a graphite shaft tip with a belt sander, the use of a TRizac belt is often better better. However, with practice the club maker can use the 100 grit sanding belt to rough up the tip of graphite shafts.

Wishon also recommends abrading the tip of steel shafts with a small belt sander with 100 grit or medium grit sanding belts, because even for beginners hand sanding steel shafts is tedious, time consuming and more difficult.

The 1-by-30 belt sander can also be used to finish ferrules to make the bottom of the ferrule flush to the top of the hosel.

“Doing this requires the belt on the small belt sander to be switched to one of the special ferrule turning belts offered by the larger component supply companies,” Wishon said. “The best ferrule turning belt is the BLUE fabric belt sold by some of the larger component repair supply companies.”

Ferrules can also be finished using narrow strips of 180 grit cloth back sandpaper, followed by wipe finishing the ferrule with a paper towel wetted with acetone. Wishon describes this simple process:

“The club is secured in the vise clamp in the vise with the club head end protruding out toward the club maker. Protective tape is wrapped around the very top of the hosel to prevent the sandpaper from scratching the top of the hosel. As like buffing shoes with a cloth, the sandpaper is used to sand the bottom of the ferrule flush to the top of the hosel, followed by steel wool rubbing the ferrule to smooth the sanding scratches, followed by an acetone wipe to restore the shine of the plastic ferrule. Thin protective gloves should be worn when using acetone.”

Abrasive cut off wheels are the best way to cut any shaft, whether steel or graphite, Wishon said.

“A rotating tubing cutter can be used to cut steel shafts, but really, they are a real pain in the a** to use, they wear out quickly and they cannot be used on graphite shafts of you will splinter and damage the graphite shaft., Wishon said. “Bench grinders are cheap.”

Also, acquiring a stiff wire brush wheel to put on the other end of the bench grinder is recommended.

“This is used to de-burr the steel shafts after they are cut with the abrasive cut off wheel that would be mounted to the other end of the bench grinder.” Wishon said.

When choosing epoxy, you want an OVERNIGHT CURE two-part shafting epoxy with a lap shear strength of at least 3,000 psi.

“It is OK to have fast cure epoxy for quick jobs, but only buy the fast cure epoxies from reputable club making suppliers and NOT, NOT, NOT from a hardware store,” Wishon said. “While there are some hardware fast cure epoxies that can work, unless you know for sure they have adequate lap shear strength, you are risking a lawsuit by using any epoxy that you do not know is made with an adequate lap shear strength.”

Tips From A Master

So what can we expect as a beginner?

According to Wishon, he said that simple mistakes can and will occur in our first few attempts and these can be and not limited to the following:

Over-sanding the tip end of graphite shafts in preparation for shaft installation. “Only a very light sanding to rough all surfaces of the tip is necessary.”
Over heating the hosel to soften the epoxy for shaft removal to the point the metal or paint or both are scorched. “With the lower temperature butane torch it is FAR easier to control the amount of heat and the location of the flame to avoid overheating.”
Not fully wetting both the inside of the grip and all surfaces of the grip tape before trying to install the grip. This lack of solvent will allow the grip to get “stuck” and does not slide fully on the shaft.”
Not being sure that the grip is fully pushed all the way on the shaft so that the butt of the shaft meets the very end of the grip.
Using too much epoxy in the hosel and on the tip end of the shaft when the shaft is installed. “Only a thin coating of epoxy is required on all surfaces of the shaft and on all surfaces of the hosel walls. If too much epoxy is used, most all of it ends up being pushed up the inside of the tip of the shaft, which presents the risk of it breaking loose later on to cause a rattle in the shaft. Also, too much epoxy adds to the weight of the head and could cause your final swing weight to be higher than what you wanted.”
Not roughing up the tip of STEEL shafts enough, and then having the head come off the shaft in play. “Steel shafts are tough as nails. The chrome plating on them is very tough and wants to resist sanding. So you can be rough with your tip sanding on steel shafts and never worry about damaging the shafts.”
Improper cutting of graphite shafts so they develop a split lengthwise. “When using an abrasive cut off wheel, as the wheel is about to cut fully through the shaft, always ROTATE the shaft a little to prevent this problem.”
Not measuring the two parts of the epoxy accurately enough or not mixing the two parts thoroughly enough and then not having the epoxy cure to proper hardness and strength.
When shaft cutting, measure TWICE and then cut only ONCE!

Practice… Practice… Practice and More Practice

If you have the time and extra money, attending one of the week-long club making and club repair schools that are offered by Golf Works and Mitchell Golf will definitely shorten the learning curve a lot and will also give the beginning club maker a good dose of confidence in the development of his skills.

When the time comes where the beginning club builder feels confident and a sense of skill have developed, “DO NOT do any club work for golfers who are not a close friends or family members until you get GOOD at all the workbench skills,” Wishon said.

“It takes 50 good jobs to overcome the damage that can be done to your reputation from one bad job done to the wrong player’s clubs,” Wishon said. “Do not allow yourself to get what we call “sophomore-itis” in your club making. What we mean is that it is VERY common for a person to get overconfident and think they are a top-quality club maker when in reality they do not know as much as they think they do.”

Taking the plunge from player to club builder can be a hesitant one. From my experience I can say this much, it’s not as hard as you think. You don’t need to spend a fortune to get started. Start small with simple re-grips.

If the time comes and you want to proceed a little further into club building, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen, it’s a part of the learning process. During my first shaft install, I was so excited that I forgot to place the ferule on the shaft before installing the head.

But stick with it, because after all is said and done, there is nothing more rewarding than playing with gear that YOU built.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Wells Fargo Championship betting preview: Tommy Fleetwood ready to finally land maiden PGA Tour title

Published

6 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA Tour season ramps back up this week for another “signature event,” as golf fans look forward to the year’s second major championship next week.

After two weaker-field events in the Zurich Classic and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, most of the best players in the world will head to historic Quail Hollow for one of the best non-major tournaments of the year.

Last season, Wyndham Clark won the event by four shots.

Quail Hollow is a par-71 measuring 7,521 yards that features Bermudagrass greens. The tree-lined, parkland style course can play quite difficult and features one of the most difficult three-hole stretches in golf known as “The Green Mile,” which makes up holes 16-18: two mammoth par 4s and a 221-yard par 3. All three holes have an average score over par, and water is in play in each of the last five holes on the course.

The field is excellent this week with 68 golfers teeing it up without a cut. All of the golfers who’ve qualified are set to tee it up, with the exception of Scottie Scheffler, who is expecting the birth of his first child.

Past Winners at Quail Hollow

2023: Wyndham Clark (-19)
2022: Max Homa (-8)
2021: Rory McIlroy (-10)
2019: Max Homa (-15)
2018: Jason Day (-12)
2017: Justin Thomas (-8) (PGA Championship)
2016: James Hahn (-9)
2015: Rory McIlroy (-21)

Key Stats For Quail Hollow

Strokes Gained: Approach

Strokes gained: Approach will be extremely important this week as second shots at Quail Hollow can be very difficult.

Total SG: Approach Over Past 24 Rounds

Akshay Bhatia (+1.16)
Tom Hoge (+1.12)
Corey Conners (+1.01)
Shane Lowry (+0.93)
Austin Eckroat (+0.82)

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Quail Hollow is a long course on which it is important to play from the fairway. Both distance and accuracy are important, as shorter tee shots will result in approach shots from 200 or more yards. With most of the holes heavily tree lined, errant drives will create some real trouble for the players.

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee Past 24 Rounds:

Ludvig Aberg (+0.73)
Rory McIlroy (+0.69)
Xander Schauffele (+0.62)
Viktor Hovland (+0.58)
Chris Kirk (+0.52)

Proximity: 175-200

The 175-200 range is key at Quail Hollow. Players who can hit their long irons well will rise to the top of the leaderboard.

Proximity: 175-200+ over past 24 rounds:

Cameron Young (28’2″)
Akshay Bhatia (29’6″)
Ludvig Aberg (+30’6″)
Sam Burns (+30’6″)
Collin Morikawa (+30’9″)

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs

Players who thrive on Tom Fazio designs get a bump for me at Quail Hollow this week.

SG: Total on Tom Fazio Designs over past 36 rounds:

Patrick Cantlay (+2.10)
Rory McIlroy (+1.95)
Tommy Fleetwood (+1.68)
Austin Eckroat (+1.60)
Will Zalatoris (+1.57)

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass)

Strokes Gained: Putting has historically graded out as the most important statistic at Quail Hollow. While it isn’t always predictable, I do want to have it in the model to bump up golfers who prefer to putt on Bermudagrass.

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermudagrass) Over Past 24 Rounds:

Taylor Moore (+0.82)
Nick Dunlap (+.76)
Wyndham Clark (+.69)
Emiliano Grillo (+.64)
Cam Davis (+.61)

Course History

This stat will incorporate players that have played well in the past at Quail Hollow.

Course History over past 36 rounds (per round):

Rory McIlroy (+2.50)
Justin Thomas (+1.96)
Jason Day (+1.92)
Rickie Fowler (+1.83)
Viktor Hovland (+1.78)

Wells Fargo Championship Model Rankings

Below, I’ve compiled overall model rankings using a combination of the five key statistical categories previously discussed — SG: Approach (27%), SG: Off the Tee (23%), SG: Total on Fazio designs (12%), Proximity: 175-200 (12%), SG: Putting Bermuda grass (12%), and Course History (14%).

Wyndham Clark
Rory McIlroy
Xander Schauffele
Shane Lowry
Hideki Matsuyama
Viktor Hovland
Cameron Young
Austin Eckroat
Byeong Hun An
Justin Thomas

2024 Wells Fargo Championship Picks

Tommy Fleetwood +2500 (DraftKings)

I know many out there have Tommy fatigue when it comes to betting, which is completely understandable given his lack of ability to win on the PGA Tour thus far in his career. However, history has shown us that players with Fleetwood’s talent eventually break though, and I believe for Tommy, it’s just a matter of time.

Fleetwood has been excellent on Tom Fazio designs. Over his past 36 rounds, he ranks 3rd in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on Fazio tracks. He’s also been incredibly reliable off the tee this season. He’s gained strokes in the category in eight of his past nine starts, including at The Masters, the PLAYERS and the three “signature events” of the season. Tommy is a golfer built for tougher courses and can grind it out in difficult conditions.

Last year, Fleetwood was the first-round leader at this event, firing a Thursday 65. He finished the event in a tie for 5th place.

For those worried about Fleetwood’s disappointing start his last time out at Harbour Town, he’s bounced back nicely after plenty of poor outings this season. His T7 at the Valero Texas Open was after a MC and T35 in his prior two starts and his win at the Dubai Invitational came after a T47 at the Sentry.

I expect Tommy to bounce back this week and contend at Quail Hollow.

Justin Thomas +3000 (DraftKings)

It’s been a rough couple of years for Justin Thomas, but I don’t believe things are quite as bad as they seem for JT. He got caught in the bad side of the draw at Augusta for last month’s Masters and has gained strokes on approach in seven of his nine starts in 2024.

Thomas may have found something in his most recent start at the RBC Heritage. He finished T5 at a course that he isn’t the best fit for on paper. He also finally got the putter working and ranked 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week.

The two-time PGA champion captured the first of his two major championships at Quail Hollow back in 2017, and some good vibes from the course may be enough to get JT out of his slump.

Thomas hasn’t won an event in just about two years. However, I still believe that will change soon as he’s been one of the most prolific winners throughout his PGA Tour career. Since 2015, he has 15 PGA Tour wins.

Course history is pretty sticky at Quail Hollow, with players who like the course playing well there on a regular basis. In addition to JT’s PGA Championship win in 2017, he went 4-1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup and finished T14 at the event last year despite being in poor form. Thomas can return as one of the top players on the PGA Tour with a win at a “signature event” this week.

Cameron Young +3500 (DraftKings)

For many golf bettors, it’s been frustrating backing Cam Young this season. His talent is undeniable, and one of the best and most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. He just hasn’t broken through with a victory yet. Quail Hollow has been a great place for elite players to get their first victory. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark all notched their first PGA Tour win at Quail.

Throughout Cam Young’s career, he has thrived at tougher courses with strong fields. This season, he finished T16 at Riviera and T9 at Augusta National, demonstrating his preference of a tough test. His ability to hit the ball long and straight off the tee make him an ideal fit for Quail Hollow, despite playing pretty poorly his first time out in 2023 (T59). Young should be comfortable playing in the region as he played his college golf at Wake Forest, which is about an hour’s drive from Quail Hollow.

The 26-year-old has played well at Tom Fazio designs in the past and ranks 8th in the field in Strokes Gained: Total on those courses in his last 36 rounds. Perhaps most importantly, this season, Young is the best player on the PGA Tour in terms of proximity from 175-200 in the fairway, which is where a plurality and many crucial shots will come from this week.

Young is an elite talent and Quail Hollow has been kind to players of his ilk who’ve yet to win on Tour.

Byeong Hun An +5000 (FanDuel)

Byeong Hun An missed some opportunities last weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He finished T4 and played some outstanding golf, but a couple of missed short putts prevented him from getting to the winning score of -23. Despite not getting the win, it’s hard to view An’s performance as anything other than an overwhelming success. It was An’s fourth top-ten finish of the season.

Last week, An gained 6.5 strokes ball striking, which was 7th in the field. He also ranked 12th for Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th for Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. The South Korean has been hitting the ball so well from tee to green all season long and he now heads to a golf course that should reward his precision.

An’s driver and long irons are absolute weapons. At Quail Hollow, players will see plenty of approach shots from the 175-200 range as well as some from 200+. In his past 24 rounds, Ben ranks 3rd in the field in proximity from 175-200 and 12th in proximity from 200+. Playing in an event that will not end up being a “birdie” fest should help An, who can separate from the field with his strong tee to green play. The putter may not always cooperate but getting to -15 is much easier than getting to -23 for elite ball strikers who tend to struggle on the greens.

Winning a “signature event” feels like a tall task for An this week with so many elite players in the field. However, he’s finished T16 at the Genesis Invitational, T16 at The Masters and T8 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 32-year-old’s game has improved drastically this season and I believe he’s ready to get the biggest win of his career.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again

Published

7 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.

Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.

Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”

Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.

“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.

Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.

“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”

“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”

As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.

In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.

“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”

Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.

Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:

Fairways Hit

1.) Louis Oosthuizen

2.) Anirban Lahiri

3.) Jon Rahm

4.) Brendan Steele

5.) Cameron Tringale

Greens in Regulation

1.) Brooks Koepka

2.) Brendan Steele

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Cameron Tringale

5.) Anirban Lahiri

Birdies Made

1.) Brendan Steele

2.) Dean Burmester

3.) Thomas Pieters

4.) Patrick Reed

5.) Carlos Ortiz

LIV Golf Individual Standings:

1.) Joaquin Niemann

2.) Jon Rahm

3.) Dean Burmester

4.) Louis Oosthuizen

5.) Abraham Ancer

LIV Golf Team Standings:

1.) Crushers

2.) Legion XIII

3.) Torque

4.) Stinger GC

5.) Ripper GC

LIV Golf Singapore Picks

Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)

Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.

This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.

Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)

Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.

This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.

It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.

Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)

Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.

Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.

Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.

Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)

Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.

Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.

If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.

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Opinion & Analysis

Ryan: Lessons from the worst golf instructor in America

Published

7 days ago

Apr 30, 2024

Brendan Ryan

In Tampa, there is a golf course that boasts carts that do not work, a water range, and a group of players none of which have any chance to break 80. The course is overseen by a staff of crusty men who have succeeded at nothing in life but ending up at the worst-run course in America. However, this place is no failure. With several other local courses going out of business — and boasting outstanding greens — the place is booked full.

While I came for the great greens, I stayed to watch our resident instructor; a poor-tempered, method teacher who caters to the hopeless. At first, it was simply hilarious. However, after months of listening and watching, something clicked. I realized I had a front-row seat to the worst golf instructor in America.

Here are some of my key takeaways.

Method Teacher

It is widely accepted that there are three types of golf instructors: system teachers, non-system teachers, and method teachers. Method teachers prescribe the same antidote for each student based on a preamble which teachers can learn in a couple day certification.

Method teaching allows anyone to be certified. This process caters to the lowest caliber instructor, creating the illusion of competency. This empowers these underqualified instructors with the moniker of “certified” to prey on the innocent and uninformed.

The Cult of Stack and Jilt

The Stack and Tilt website proudly boasts, “A golfer swings his hands inward in the backswing as opposed to straight back to 1) create power, similar to a field goal kicker moving his leg in an arc and 2) to promote a swing that is in-to-out, which produces a draw (and eliminates a slice).”

Now, let me tell you something, there is this law of the universe which says “energy can either be created or destroyed,” so either these guys are defying physics or they have no idea what they are taking about. Further, the idea that the first move of the backswing determines impact is conjecture with a splash of utter fantasy.

These are the pontifications of a method — a set of prescriptions applied to everyone with the hope of some success through the placebo effect. It is one thing for a naive student to believe, for a golf instructor to drink and then dispel this Kool-Aid is malpractice.

Fooled by Randomness

In flipping a coin, or even a March Madness bet, there is a 50-50 chance of success. In golf, especially for new players, results are asymmetric. Simply put: Anything can happen. The problem is that when bad instructors work with high handicappers, each and every shot gets its own diagnosis and prescription. Soon the student is overwhelmed.

Now here’s the sinister thing: The overwhelming information is by design. In this case, the coach is not trying to make you better, they are trying to make you reliant on them for information. A quasi Stockholm syndrome of codependency.

Practice

One of the most important scientists of the 20th century was Ivan Pavlov. As you might recall, he found that animals, including humans, could be conditioned into biological responses. In golf, the idea of practice has made millions of hackers salivate that they are one lesson or practice session from “the secret.”

Sunk Cost

The idea for the worst golf instructor is to create control and dependency so that clients ignore the sunk cost of not getting better. Instead, they are held hostage by the idea that they are one lesson or tip away from unlocking their potential.

Cliches

Cliches have the effect of terminating thoughts. However, they are the weapon of choice for this instructor. Add some hyperbole and students actually get no information. As a result, these players couldn’t play golf. When they did, they had no real scheme. With no idea what they are doing, they would descend into a spiral of no idea what to do, bad results, lower confidence, and running back to the lesson tee from more cliches.

The fact is that poor instruction is about conditioning players to become reliant members of your cult. To take away autonomy. To use practice as a form of control. To sell more golf lessons not by making people better but through the guise that without the teacher, the student can never reach their full potential. All under the umbrella of being “certified” (in a 2-day course!) and a melee of cliches.

This of course is not just happening at my muni but is a systemic problem around the country and around the world, the consequences of which are giving people a great reason to stop playing golf. But hey, at least it’s selling a lot of golf balls…

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