Opinion & Analysis

The revelations of golf

Published

11 years ago

Jun 15, 2013

I believe the definition of golf should be reinvention. Finding yourself. To be yourself openly and honestly. Developing character through adversity. To evolve as a human being.

Growing up, I was timid, weak and very shy. I was a product of the fear and humiliation I suffered growing up. Fear of being mentally and physically abused by my classmates. I was made fun of because of my situation in life. I grew up poor in a rich town and wore the wrong clothes, had the wrong haircut and rode a piece of junk bicycle. My self confidence could not be measured it was so low.

As a child, I would rarely engage in speaking to people I did not know. I was uncomfortable being around kids my age and found it difficult to make friends. I was self conscious about every aspect of my being.

The teasing and mental abuse grew as I waded my way through middle school.

Burned in my memory is the thought of wanting to be like everyone else, to fit in. I wanted to be accepted for who I was and not fear the first period in school. Years went by, and I only became more withdrawn.

Today, I don’t know why I wanted to be accepted so bad by these punks.

One day when I was around 12 years old, my grandfather asked if I wanted to go to the golf course with him. He had been trying to get me to play golf for awhile and I always said no.

This time though, I said yes.

My grandfather was my rock, my guiding light, my hero.

My grandfather was a relatively short man who was a tumbler (gymnast) in his younger years. He could still walk on his hands and do flips off a diving board well in to his 60s. His forearms were made of stone and he had thick beautiful silver hair.

We got in his car and drove to Lake Hefner Golf Course in Oklahoma City. I don’t remember much other than how everyone in the clubhouse and driving range knew my grandfather, as if he were a rock star or celebrity. It made me proud to know my grandfather was accepted and respected by these men.

Soon after, my grandfather appeared at my house with a cut down set of golf clubs. Nothing special, a bit rusty, worn grooves and grips that made an old set of worn tires look new. I remember just staring at them and finding them difficult to swing, let alone hit a ball where I wanted it to go.

Time passed, but my grandfather was far from giving up on me. Each time he would come over, he would give me an easy tip.

“Hold the club like this, stand like this, eventually it will all become second nature,” he would say.

In my neighborhood, our home had a tiny yard. There really wasn’t anywhere to strike a golf ball except for our local neighborhood park. I guess all those subtle tips my grandfather gave me had taken hold. I don’t really remember, but I must have practiced holding and standing with the club off an on in my bedroom.

One afternoon after school, I went down to the park with my friend Randy to hit golf balls. Neither of us had a clue what we were doing, but we played our first round of golf. We named the holes like they do at Augusta. Our holes were named more after actual objects though than flowers, “basketball pole” or the “short tree next to the big one.”

The next time I saw my grandfather, I asked him to teach me a little more.

I remember him showing me how to grip the club lightly, as if I were holding a baby bird. Then he issued a challenge,

“When you can hit the practice green at the driving range 6 out of 10 times, then we can think about playing 9 holes.”

Weeks went by. My friend Randy and I were playing almost every day after school. The driving range wasn’t a real option for us at the time due to the expense. So we practiced in our local park.

Finally, grandfather took me to the driving range. I was pretty nervous as we pulled in to the course. I was afraid I would let my grandfather down and I would embarrass him in front of his friends.

The green was roughly 50 or 60 yards away, but seemed like 1,000 miles. The green was oversized and the ground was flat. Even a skulled shot had a chance of making it. That day, I was able to hit the green almost every time.

Something began to change inside of me, although I didn’t realize it at the time. Golf was working its magic. The result of every shot is the direct response to what happens before you strike the ball. Meeting my grandfather’s challenge, easy now as I look back, was a life-changing event.

Time went by and my grandfather would praise my progress athletically. This built my confidence and enjoyment of the game. The more I practiced, the better I got. For once in my life, I felt a sense of pride.

My passion for the game increased.

Like any young boy, I would lose my temper and get angry when I would make a triple or double or even quadruple bogey. I equated the score on the card with who I was. Grandfather was quick to remind me, “Forget that last shot, all that matters is the next.”

It took years to fully appreciate the lessons my grandfather and the game were teaching me. Getting mad just makes the game even more difficult. The game is hard enough on its own, let alone pouring more difficulty on top of it.

It wasn’t until my early 30s when I figured out what a great gift my grandfather had given me. These lessons have made me strong inside and out.

The truth the ball reveals is the kindest thing it can ever do for you. Life in general isn’t perfect, neither is a round of golf.

Play it where it lies.

Everything worth having is something you have to fight and claw to get. Whenever I have a terrible round, I remember the words of my grandfather and I leave with a little smile remembering the wonderful times we had together.

Golf has been paramount for building my self esteem, my self worth, my self pride.

I have never met a good golfer who does not have a high level of self respect and pride. Golf has made them stronger mentally. When I play with golfers who kick their balls out of trouble, or fudge the scorecard, I see them exposing their true inner being, their character.

These people have not learned the lessons golf is trying to teach them. Perhaps they did not have a wise grandfather guiding them on their golf journey.

A low score is just for ego. Score doesn’t really matter. How you carry yourself during a match is the true revelation. How you respond to adversity, pressure and even a lousy round is what matters.

This game of golf has taught me self confidence and pride. Through golf, I was able to reinvent myself.

Thank you Bill Lewis, words can not express my gratitude for the gifts given.

Happy Father’s Day.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

7 days ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 LIV Adelaide betting preview: Cam Smith ready for big week down under

Published

7 days ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.

For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.

The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.

The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.

*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*

Past Winners at LIV Adelaide

2023: Talor Gooch (-19)

Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami

Green in Regulation

Richard Bland
Jon Rahm
Paul Casey

Fairways Hit

Abraham Ancer
Graeme McDowell
Henrik Stenson

Driving Distance

Bryson DeChambeau
Joaquin Niemann
Dean Burmester

Putting

Cameron Smith
Louis Oosthuizen
Matt Jones

2024 LIV Adelaide Picks

Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)

When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.

At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.

The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.

Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)

Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.

In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.

For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.

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Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: What really makes a wedge work? Part 1

Published

2 weeks ago

Apr 18, 2024

Terry Koehler

Of all the clubs in our bags, wedges are almost always the simplest in construction and, therefore, the easiest to analyze what might make one work differently from another if you know what to look for.

Wedges are a lot less mysterious than drivers, of course, as the major brands are working with a lot of “pixie dust” inside these modern marvels. That’s carrying over more to irons now, with so many new models featuring internal multi-material technologies, and almost all of them having a “badge” or insert in the back to allow more complex graphics while hiding the actual distribution of mass.

But when it comes to wedges, most on the market today are still single pieces of molded steel, either cast or forged into that shape. So, if you look closely at where the mass is distributed, it’s pretty clear how that wedge is going to perform.

To start, because of their wider soles, the majority of the mass of almost any wedge is along the bottom third of the clubhead. So, the best wedge shots are always those hit between the 2nd and 5th grooves so that more mass is directly behind that impact. Elite tour professionals practice incessantly to learn to do that consistently, wearing out a spot about the size of a penny right there. If impact moves higher than that, the face is dramatically thinner, so smash factor is compromised significantly, which reduces the overall distance the ball will fly.

Every one of us, tour players included, knows that maddening shot that we feel a bit high on the face and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not your fault.

If your wedges show a wear pattern the size of a silver dollar, and centered above the 3rd or 4th groove, you are not getting anywhere near the same performance from shot to shot. Robot testing proves impact even two to three grooves higher in the face can cause distance loss of up to 35 to 55 feet with modern ‘tour design’ wedges.

In addition, as impact moves above the center of mass, the golf club principle of gear effect causes the ball to fly higher with less spin. Think of modern drivers for a minute. The “holy grail” of driving is high launch and low spin, and the driver engineers are pulling out all stops to get the mass as low in the clubhead as possible to optimize this combination.

Where is all the mass in your wedges? Low. So, disregarding the higher lofts, wedges “want” to launch the ball high with low spin – exactly the opposite of what good wedge play requires penetrating ball flight with high spin.

While almost all major brand wedges have begun putting a tiny bit more thickness in the top portion of the clubhead, conventional and modern ‘tour design’ wedges perform pretty much like they always have. Elite players learn to hit those crisp, spinny penetrating wedge shots by spending lots of practice time learning to consistently make contact low in the face.

So, what about grooves and face texture?

Grooves on any club can only do so much, and no one has any material advantage here. The USGA tightly defines what we manufacturers can do with grooves and face texture, and modern manufacturing techniques allow all of us to push those limits ever closer. And we all do. End of story.

Then there’s the topic of bounce and grinds, the most complex and confusing part of the wedge formula. Many top brands offer a complex array of sole configurations, all of them admittedly specialized to a particular kind of lie or turf conditions, and/or a particular divot pattern.

But if you don’t play the same turf all the time, and make the same size divot on every swing, how would you ever figure this out?

The only way is to take any wedge you are considering and play it a few rounds, hitting all the shots you face and observing the results. There’s simply no other way.

So, hopefully this will inspire a lively conversation in our comments section, and I’ll chime in to answer any questions you might have.

And next week, I’ll dive into the rest of the wedge formula. Yes, shafts, grips and specifications are essential, too.

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