Opinion & Analysis

Williams: Want to hit straight golf shots? Try learning to shoot straight!

Published

5 years ago

Nov 26, 2018

Phil Mickelson got a lot of attention for a tweet that showed him spending time on a firing range to prepare for the Ryder Cup. Mickelson wrote, “How is today’s long-range sniper shooting preparing me for the Ryder Cup? Meditation, controlling my thoughts, breathing, heart rate and connecting with the target are critical for both!” While it ultimately didn’t do him a lot of good in France, the theory was a sound one. The roles of equipment, technique, and mindset are almost identical in shooting and golf. These crossovers exist between golf and most shooting sports, but Phil should have been practicing at a sporting clays course instead of a sniper range.

Per the National Sporting Clays Association, sporting clays is the fastest growing sport in America. The sport dates back to England in the early 1900s but gained in popularity with the introduction of low-cost clay targets and automatic clay target throwers. It’s recently become known as “golf with a shotgun,” and for good reason. As in golf, sporting clay facilities are arranged as courses, with between 10 and 20 stations comprising a course. Each station has machines that launch clay discs into the air and participants attempt to hit the clays using shotguns. Each station is unique, with varying levels of difficulty achieved by combining various speeds and angles of flight of the clay targets. And like golf course architecture, the quality of a sporting clays course is determined by terrain, course conditions and the imagination of the course designer to engage and challenge the player.

I first had the chance to try sporting clays a couple of years ago at a golf resort in Florida. It did not go well, partly because the coach was a post-divorce emotional wreck, but also because I sucked. While I was not afraid of guns, I was definitely unfamiliar with them so there was a steep learning curve. But eventually I did hit one of the clays, shattering it into a gazillion pieces. The tuning fork had gone off, just like the first time I hit a golf ball well. I was hooked.

My second opportunity was at Gleneagles, the posh resort in Scotland that has hosted everything from world political summits to Ryder Cups. I was determined to redeem myself, but I got off to a bad start, hitting only one of the first ten or so targets. Just like when your confidence leaves your golf swing, I had the feeling that I had no idea what I was doing.

Alan Dickson, the Director of Shooting Sports at Gleneagles, is a former British Marine who has been involved in shooting sports his whole life and has seen a lot of bad shooters. He stood behind me and asked me to shoot at a target that was arcing upward from left to right. After three of those, all misses, he asked me to shoot at the same target going in the opposite direction and I hit two of three. Dickson took a roll of black electrical tape from one of the 200 or so pockets in his shooting vest and covered the left lens of my protective eyewear with black tape. He gave them back to me and had me shoot the same six targets…I hit all six. It was like one of those days on the golf course when you figure something out and suddenly everything works.

From that point on, I took the opportunity to shoot whenever I could, and just like golf, I had good days and bad days. On a visit to The Omni Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, the Director of Shooting Sports David Judah explained to me that part of the reason that I had been erratic was that I hadn’t had a gun that truly fit me. “It’s just like with a golf club,” Judah explained. “Shotguns have different weights, dimensions and balance points. If you don’t have a tool that fits you, you will struggle to control it. With a tool that fits you, you will make a much more natural move to the target”. He had me try a number of shotguns of different brands, sizes and configurations before finally settling on a Beretta Silver Pigeon, a 12-gauge shotgun with a 35” over/under barrel. It felt just like a fitted set of irons. I took the Beretta out to the range where Judah had set up several stations with clays going everywhere. With a shotgun that fit perfectly I hit nine out of the first ten clays, “powdering” most of the them (powdering is when you hit the target so perfectly that it turns into a cloud of orange powder, and the feeling is identical to hitting a 3-iron on the center of the clubface). I shot at 50 clays that day and hit 44; for me, that’s about like shooting a 69 at Congressional from the tips. I was determined to carry my rhythm from the shooting range to the golf course. I played a round of golf in the afternoon on the beautiful Cascades course and I shot a 78. I was convinced that the rhythm and timing that I had developed earlier in the day on the shooting range was the reason.

I became determined to make a direct connection between the methodologies of shooting sports and golf. Enter Jason Gilbertson, Marketing Director at Winchester, one of the oldest and most respected names in firearms and shooting sports. We met at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri, one of the nation’s best destinations for golf and outdoor sports. I told Jason about my experiences in golf and shooting, and my idea that there were definite crossovers between the two sports. He asked if I had spent any time with world-class marksmen and I acknowledged that while I had played with top professional golfers, I hadn’t spent any time with the best of the best in shooting sports. With that, Gilbertson arranged for me to spend time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where the best athletes in the country go to dedicate their lives to excellence in their chosen sports, including the shooting sports.

At the U.S.O.T.C., I learned that as with golf, there are different mindsets and personalities in the shooting sports. The air pistol people are very quiet and methodical; they reminded me of great putters like Ben Crenshaw. The rifle specialists reminded me of gearheads like Phil Mickelson, always looking for just the right equipment tweak. But the trap shooters were the most interesting to me, since trap is the closest discipline to sporting clays. Trap shooting involves shooting clays that are moving much faster and at more severe angles than sporting clays. Like golf, a good trap shot “happens” before you make a move. A proper grip, balanced stance and consistent alignment assure that you will make a good shot. And like golf, it is important to keep the hands moving through the “swing” after the point of impact. And the best golfers and trap shooters in the world have a pre-shot routine that involves visualizing a desired result, slowing down the breathing, controlling your adrenalin, then executing. I had found the connection that I was looking for.

After a year of visiting first-class golf and shooting facilities I came to the Sandy Creek Sporting Grounds, the brand-new sporting center at Reynolds Lake Oconee. Located halfway between Atlanta and Augusta and boasting an established reputation as a golf destination, Reynolds recently added a shooting sports center that is among the finest I around. I met up with the director of the sporting center, Justin Jones, a decorated shooting champion who opened the very first shooting center based at a golf resort, the aforementioned Gleneagles.

There is a decidedly British feel to the structures and the landscape at Sandy Creek, with stacked stone shooting stations and lush landscaping that makes you feel like you are on the set of Downton Abbey. I shot well, bagging the easy clays on the first try and getting most of the difficult ones on the second try. Jones watched me quietly and then asked if I was willing to make a couple of changes. I was reluctant since I had been shooting well, but I remembered that golfers with bad habits can have a good day and listened to his advice. He adjusted my grip, stance and alignment; it felt more comfortable, and I turned clay after clay from disk to powder in rapid succession. Then came the final station, a pair more difficult than any I had faced. The first clay was a high lob to my right, followed by a “water rabbit”, a diabolical creation of Jones’. A rabbit is a clay that skips rapidly across the ground and is very hard to hit. The water rabbit skipped evasively across a pond for a second or two before diving under water like, well, like a scared rabbit.

“Not a lot of people can do this one,” warned Jones, which was all I needed to hear to know that I wasn’t leaving without bagging that pair. The first shot was a relatively easy one, and I powdered that clay almost every time. But the water rabbit eluded me time after time. After the fifth or sixth attempt I could almost swear that I heard the rabbit laugh as it slipped intact under the surface. I was down to my last couple of shells and feeling like Roy McAvoy in Tin Cup trying to get that 3-wood over the water. I took a deep breath and Jones reminded me, “Don’t aim at the target, point at it.” I took my stance and tried to remember what I had learned from Jones and from the U.S. Olympians. “Pull,” I said firmly, and I hit it the first clay dead center. I swung my gun to the point just ahead of the water rabbit on its third and final skip. I fired, and the target turned into a combination of orange powder and pond water, a sort of ballistic Tang. I looked at Jones, who was smiling like Obi-Wan Kenobi. I took a deep breath and bellowed, “Yeeeeeesss!!!” Not very British of me, but the feeling of nailing that pair was what I imagine a hole in one feels like. Hopefully I’ll get to make the comparison soon.

Golf and sporting clays are a natural fit, and even if you have never touched a firearm in your life you will enjoy the thrill of a shot well executed, just like golf.

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19th Hole

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

Published

3 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

3 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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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

2 weeks 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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