Opinion & Analysis

The Weather Delay

Published

9 years ago

Jul 23, 2015

The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms across the area and the clouds were already building from the south when we teed off at 8:30 in the morning.

By the time we’d played four holes, the sunshine had disappeared, the wind had picked up a bit and, while watching Jacob’s wedge shot fly to the fifth green, I thought the clouds looked angrily dark as though I were looking at them through deeply tinted sunglasses.

“Yep, it’s coming,” Alex said, apparently reading my mind. “But we can use the moisture.”

Even more than many others in southern California, golfers are acutely aware of the area’s drought and the steps being taken to ameliorate the now four-year water shortage.

“Yeah, but why can’t it rain on Monday, or Friday?” Jose asked on the sixth tee. “Why’s it have to be the day I can play golf?”

=====

By the time we reached the sixth fairway, the wind was a full club, maybe two clubs, in our faces and we heard the first faint, though distinct, rumbles of far-off thunder. Jose pulled an umbrella out of the side of his bag and put it unopened in the cart.

[quote_box_center]“I carry this for insurance,” he said. “It only ever rains when I don’t have it with me.”[/quote_box_center]

Standing on the seventh tee waiting for the fairway to clear, we saw the first unmistakable lightening flash across the sky, quite a distance away.

“We’ll get nine in before it gets here,” Alex said.

Two heartbeats later there was another flash, closer, much-too-much closer, and then two seconds after that a thunderous boom shattered the morning quiet and rain began to fall softly.

“That’s it,” Alex said. “Back to the clubhouse.”

=====

Instantly, it seemed, the front nine cleared as golfers melted off the course crossing fairways and rough in carts heading toward the safety of the clubhouse.

I saw two walkers climb on the back of another twosome’s cart. They balanced unsteadily, one holding his bag by the handle strap, the other dragging his bouncing pull cart behind the speeding electric cart.

======

Not everyone stopped playing.

As we drove by the eighth green, a fivesome was putting out there while a group was teeing off on No. 9.

“You saw the lightning, right?” Jose yelled to the group on nine.

“I have graphite shafts,” one of them answered while I heard someone else say something about holding his one-iron as they walked down the fairway.

“You don’t even have a one-iron,” his buddy said.

======

The area around the clubhouse was crowded with golf carts parked at every angle, bags were being manhandled out of the straps and hustled under protection. Most guys were hurrying, but a few were moving slowly, the water pouring off the front of their caps.

[quote_box_center]“It’s only rain,” I heard one wet 40-year-old say.[/quote_box_center]

Another blast of lightning, looking like it touched down somewhere on the back nine, sent everyone scurrying quickly under the awning outside the halfway house, or into the protection of the pro shop as the thunder went off almost instantly after the lightning flashed.

Now the last guys were driving in, or in some cases running, maneuvering their three-wheeled push-carts through the parked cart confusion while they held on to their golf hats with one hand.

======

At most golf courses in southern California there is no lightning detection or early warning system. Most don’t have sirens or any other way of telling reluctant golfers that they need to come in out of the rain.

[quote_box_center]“We don’t need it,” Jim behind the pro shop counter explained the lack of weather warnings to me. “Well, maybe a few times a year we could use it, but we’re not required to have it and, besides, most golfers are smart enough to come in when there’s lightning obviously in the vicinity.”[/quote_box_center]

“There are still guys out there right now playing, I’ll bet,” someone I didn’t know said to us.

“I said ‘most golfers,’” Jim answered, “not all golfers.”

=======

After about 40 minutes of rain, wind, occasional lightning and recurrent thunder, the sky started to lighten a bit.

A few guys walked the 30 yards to the practice green to see how the water affected the speed of their putts. Or maybe they were just tired of listening to everyone else’s bad jokes and old stories.

By then quite a number of would-be golfers had given up and gone home knowing that with the rain and lightning at least they wouldn’t have yard work waiting for them.

Another guy I didn’t know walked by on his way to the practice chipping green carrying a half-bucket of yellow range balls. He strode behind the deep practice sand trap and flipped the basket forward with both hands like he was emptying a bucket filled with water. The dozen balls flew into the bottom of the bunker.

He dropped the bucket and climbed into the trap holding his sand wedge.

In the still-steady rain, he took two or three practice swings, the club staying nicely above the sand as he worked into a perfectly balanced follow-through.

Then he took a swipe at a ball and it flew out of the bunker, over the practice flag, and over the practice green before finally landing near a tree some 40 yards away.

He took another swing and a ball rose to the top of the bunker, hit the lip and rolled back down to his feet. He took another swing; this ball ran up the sand, hit the lip, popped in the air and fell back in.

He took two more swings and I saw sand fly, but no balls move. He took another swing, a ball squirted sideways out of the bunker and hit the driving range netting off to the right.

Once more he stood over a black-striped yellow range ball in the bunker. He went back and through, the ball flew out, barely cresting the lip. It bounced once, twice, and rolled onto the green at the flag. It stopped about six inches short of the pin.

The practicer reached down and in a quick motion threw about six balls out of the sand and into the grass at the side of the trap. Then he climbed out of the bunker, his work there accomplished.

======

The thunder had died away, the wind had calmed down and the rain had diminished to drizzle when Jose came over to the table where I was sitting with Alex and three others.

[quote_box_center]“It’s pretty much stopping out there, I think we should head back out,” he said. “Unless you don’t want to play anymore?”[/quote_box_center]

“If I went home now,” Alex said, “my wife might expect me home when the weather isn’t good. That wouldn’t work.”

Five minutes later three of us were back in our carts heading out to the seventh tee.

“Lift, clean and place from here, boys,” Jose yelled from his cart. “This course is ours today!”

Do you have a rain delay experience? Let us know in the comments section below. And check out the inspirational story of one golfer trying to shoot the round of his life at 7-ironpress.com. The book is called A Perfect Lie – The Hole Truth and you can get free shipping on the paperback with the code GOLFWRX, or $4 off the e-book when you enter the code GOLFWRX1 at check-out.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

3 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

3 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

1 week 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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