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19th Hole

7 tips for amateurs to play better golf, from PGA Tour caddies

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PGA Tour caddies have a front row seat every week to watch the best golfers in the world practice and play. If PGA Tour players are the heads chefs, then the caddies are their Sous Chefs; they help players prepare and execute week-in and week-out.

They know the ins and outs of how PGA Tour players approach the game, and they know how the proverbial sauce is made.

Caddies are also known for having especially grounded perspectives on golf and golfers, in general. They’ve seen it all, and they’ve looped for players ranging from complete beginners to the world’s best.

If you want to play better golf, it’s often best to listen to your caddie, and that even applies to PGA Tour players, too.

In recent months, GolfWRX has started a new series called the “Caddie Corner,” where we pepper a different PGA Tour caddie every week with various questions. During each interview, we’ve asked every caddie the same question: “Based on your time on the PGA Tour, what advice would you have for amateur golfers to improve their games.”

Below is a compilation of their answers, thus far.

Reynolds Robinson (caddie for Joseph Bramlett)

Play within your means. Don’t try to hit the hero shot, just focus more on course management than you do on spectacular shots. If I had the swing to go with the knowledge I had now, I’d be a hell of a player. I just don’t have the swing these guys do. The one thing I learn from these guys is that even though they have the shots, they’ve learned how to manage their way around the golf course when it’s not looking good. They won’t take the hero shot. They’ll make the smart play. So for amateurs, play within yourself and don’t make the hero play, just manage the course and you’ll probably save a lot of strokes over the course of a round.

Gerald “G.W.” Cable (Kevin Chappell’s caddie)

Ideally, it’s the time you put in. I feel like, at least a lot of the amateurs I’ve been around, they think it should just happen overnight. And it’s just not the way it is. You just have to be a little gentle on yourself. People expect a lot, and I get it, but it’s just unrealistic. At the end of the day, if you put in the time you’re gonna get better, in my opinion. You see how it is out here, these guys work their butts off, and they still, they’re not the best all time. So it’s like, you gotta give yourself a break. But that’s all. If you put in the time, you’ll get better. There’s no secrets. Put in the work.

Derell Aton (caddie for D.A. Points)

I just think to let loose and be free. I think everybody is too tight, including myself. When you’re more free and not trying as hard in a sense, which is hard to do because we’re perfectionists, but I think you’ll hit better shots.

Kurtis Kowaluk (caddie for Brendon Todd)

I think it’s time spent. You can’t play once a month and be good. That’s exactly it. If you’re going to only have a game every month, or one game every couple weeks, you have to be doing something small so the club isn’t a foreign object in your hand. It’s not easy. These guys are failing all the time. I always am teaching my girlfriend to golf, and we’ve been together 3.5 years. She didn’t know what a birdie was at first, but now she’ll hit two good ones in a row, and then hit one way offline get mad. But I use the term “Embrace the Suck.” Embrace that you suck, and with that I’m saying golf is hard. It’s not going to help getting mad, you just have to put the time into it to make small improvements.

Shannon “Shan” Wallis (Jonas Blixt’s caddie)

Don’t be like a professional golfer. You know, you’re not going to be like ‘em. Yeah, just don’t be like a professional golfer. If you’re playing off a 27 (handicap), you’re shit at golf. Just play and have fun, have a few beers.

Shay Knight (Viktor Hovland’s caddie)

That’s a really good question. It’s so difficult because there’s so many players out there who are trying to make a name for themselves and have this opportunity in life to play on the PGA Tour. You have to work your butt off, both on the course and off the course. Just be patient with it. There’s so many times I see so many golfers, they push the buttons in terms of trying to hit the perfect shot every single time. Golf’s not a game of perfect. These players, they hit bad shots, but the thing they do really well is they get out of that situation very quickly, and they put themselves in the right position to get back to score. Whether they’ve made a bogey, or whether they’ve made a few, they don’t panic. They just go out and continue doing what they’re doing, and continue playing golf and staying patient.

Zak Smith (caddie for Martin Trainer)

Practice your short game. I know it’s probably been beat in your head a lot, but it’s crazy how many times these pros get up and down from places where most amateurs would make double bogey, and the pros make par. That’s the big thing.

To read more from the caddies, check out GolfWRX’s “Caddie Corner.”

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

19th Hole

“Is it a Titleist?” – Jerry Seinfeld shares never-before-heard details of iconic scene

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On Thursday, legendary comedian Jerry Seinfeld joined the Rich Eisen Show and shared an awesome story from a “Seinfeld” episode titled “The Marine Biologist.”

In the episode, a golf ball goes into the blow hole of a whale. According to Seinfeld, that was never in the episode’s script.

Seinfeld recalls saying the night before the filming of the episode, “What if what puts the whale in distress is Kramer’s golf ball?”

“He’s hitting golf balls at the beach. George is at the beach with a girl, we haven’t connected them!”

“We write that speech the night before at two o’clock in the morning…The sea was angry that day my friend.”

 

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Kramer finishes the iconic scene by asking “Is it a Titleist?” Seinfeld told Eisen the show sought Titleist’s permission to mention its name, saying the ball had to be a Titleist. Fortunately for lovers of the iconic show, the company agreed.

If (somehow) you’re unfamiliar with the scene, check it out below.

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19th Hole

Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game ‘on a much more global basis’

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While speaking with Bloomberg, golf legend Phil Mickelson acknowledged that he is inching close towards retirement.

“I’m 53 now,” Phil said, “and my career, you know, it’s — if I’m being truthful, it’s on — it’s — it’s — I’m a — it’s towards its end.”

Mickelson added that one of his focuses now is helping other young players.

“Now, I would like to help others find the same enjoyment and fulfillment that the game has provided me. I’d like them to experience that as well.”

The six-time major champion credited LIV with reaching new markets in golf to help it grow.

“I think that’s exciting for everyone involved in the game because we are going to reach markets that we didn’t reach before. I think it’s going to inspire more golf courses, inspire more manufacturers selling clubs and equipment, but also inspiring young kids to try to play golf professionally. I just see that the game of golf is going to grow on a much more global basis because of the excitement and the presence that LIV Golf has.”

Mickelson is playing at this week’s LIV Singapore and shot a first round 72 (+1).

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19th Hole

Tiger explains why golf has ‘negative connotations’ for daughter Sam

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While Tiger Woods’ son, Charlie, has certainly inherited his father’s love for golf, his daughter, Sam, has not.

On Wednesday, Tiger made an appearance on The Today Show with Carson Daly and explained his daughter’s relationship with golf.

“Golf has negative connotations for her. When she was growing up, golf took daddy away from her. I had to pack, I had to leave, and I was gone for weeks. So, there were negative connotations to it.

“We developed our own relationship and our own rapport outside of golf. We do things that doesn’t involve golf. Meanwhile, my son and I, everything we do is golf related.”

The nine-minute interview touches on plenty of other subjects, such as Tiger’s relationship with his late father, Earl.

It’s arguably the most open we’ve seen the 15-time major champion in an interview and is most definitely worth watching.

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