Tips For Tournament Golf From Frank Bensel

When Frank Bensel talks about winning golf tournaments, we should all listen, take notes, and study them over and over. The assistant pro at Century Country Club has so many trophies he needs a full-time staff just to polish them. Bensel offered some practical advice at the Met PGA Spring Forum on how to prepare for tournament play.

"Get your body ready for the tournament," he urges "You have to have stamina when walking several days in an event so it is helpful to walk on the course in practice rounds or just at the club carrying your bag." Bensel says he works on his own flexibility far in advance of playing a tournament. "I have to do a series of exercises on my hamstrings, hips, back, and shoulders that I can't stretch the day of a tournament."

Bensel also reminds us to have our clubs and equipment ready. "Make sure you have the correct set makeup for the course you will be playing," he advises. "If you need to add a hybrid or an extra wedge, be sure to have them ready."

When it comes to practice, Bensel says we should prepare specific aspects of our game for particular courses. He cites the need for an accurate driver and long irons for Bethpage Black, for example, or the ability to put on fast, undulating greens when playing Deepdale. "I try to play more prior to a tournament rather than beating balls," he says.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Michael Breed Preaches Better Putting

Who would have thought a high-energy, rapid-fire guy like Michael Breed would have the patience for scientific research? Yet that's just exactly what he did to confirm his approach to the putting stroke. The results are in Breed's latest book, The 3-Degree Putting Solution: The Comprehensive, Scientifically Proven Guide To Better Putting. The Sunningdale CC head pro and Golf Channel star wrote the book with John Steinbreder.

After a personal epiphany on the practice green, Breed spent years teaching his pupils to change their stroke to take the putterface from the normal positive loft to a negative one. That, he knew, would eliminate backspin and produce a truer roll. He based his approach on years of practice and observation with hundreds of pupils as well as his studies of putting greats like Dave Stockton, Billy Casper, and Horton Smith. Recently he funded research into the question by a golf lab in Dallas and determined that the optimum  face angle for a putt is three degrees of negative loft. His book details that research while providing much, much more useful information for the golfer serious about improving his performance on the green.

Breed provides a comprehensive guide to grip, posture, alignment, club path, and tempo as well as putterface angle. He also talks about mental conditioning and reading greens. With dozens of practice drills and 150 instructional photos, the book is a comprehensive guide to success with the flat stick.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Crystal Springs Makes Golf More Playable And More Fun

We all know golf needs a shot in the arm, which is why Crystal Springs Resort has stepped up with several initiatives based on the PGA of America's Golf 2.0. The northern New Jersey resort, which features seven golf courses just 60 minutes from New York City, is dedicated to finding ways to bring new and lapsed golfers into the game by offering packages and programs for families as well as players of all ages and skill levels.

For families, Crystal Springs has turned its two nine-hole courses, the regulation-length Cascades and par-3 Minerals, over to junior golfers and their kin. During the week, rounds on the 2,305-yard Minerals Golf Course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., are only $15 per person all day long (slightly higher on weekends and holidays). On the 3,627-yard Cascades, afternoon rounds are as little as $79 for a twosome as long as there’s a junior in the group (rates are valid for 9 or 18 holes). Family golf also includes:

• Special tees and larger cups for young players 
• Four-seater carts 
• TaylorMade clubs available for rent ($1 per child; $15 per adult) 
• Roving golf staff to dispense advice and instruction to kids while they play 
• Kid-friendly menu items, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the dining cart 
• Children’s golf apparel in the pro shop 
• Parent-Child tournaments (http://www.crystalgolfresort.com/Golf/Events.aspx) 

The resort’s commitment to junior golfers comes naturally, says Art Walton, vice president of golf. “We’re hoping more and more parents will encourage their kids to take up the game and Minerals Golf Course offers an easy environment to accomplish this, without the pressures and restrictions found on some adult-oriented courses.”

In another Golf 2.0-influenced initiative, the resort’s new “Fast Track Golf” program promises golfers will be able to play 18 holes in under four hours with no waiting on the group ahead and getting off the course before noon. “Fast Track” is the result of talking to hundreds of Crystal Springs’ golfers, who expressed overwhelming support for a quicker pace of play. On summer weekends, designated “Fast Track Golf” tee times will be in effect on the 18-hole Wild Turkey and Black Bear courses before 7:30 a.m., and on the 9-hole Cascades course before 10 a.m. “Fast Track Golf” is available both to daily-fee players and resort guests. To keep things moving, golfers taking “Fast Track” tee times agree to:

• Maximum 7 strokes per hole 
• Maximum 3 putts per hole 
• Lost balls must be abandoned after a 60-second search 
• No “honors”—play when ready

“We want our guests to have a great time here,” says Art Walton, Vice President of Golf Operations, “even if that means we actually shorten their time playing golf.”

The resort is doing even more to bring new players into the game. For those not ready to make a big investment in golf, starting in May Crystal Springs is initiating a “Pay Per Hole” program at Cascades Golf Course, charging just $4 per hole played with rental clubs included. And there’s more, including:

• Free golf clinics from the David Leadbetter Golf Academy (Crystal Springs is Leadbetter’s northeast headquarters), held on the newly renovated Leadbetter practice range 
• Use of the resort’s one-of-a-kind natural grass putting course. This massive, 18-hole putting green—home of the annual New Jersey Putting Championship—features multi-tiered greens, rolling terrain, rippling streams, and colorful landscaping. It’s perfect for fun and games or serious practice with the flagstick 
• Coming this summer, the new Skills and Obstacles Challenge 

Purists may shudder at the thought of hearing childish giggles on the green or giving up on a lost ball with less than a full five-minute search while the rest of the course backs up behind you, but I'm delighted to see a facility take these creative steps to keep golf alive. In case you haven't noticed, golf is teetering on the brink--we need more places like Crystal Springs to bring more players into the sport and make it more playable for the rest of us.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

MGA Tees Up 2012 Season

The Metropolitan Golf Association put the ball in play yesterday at Plainfield Country Club. The annual MGA Media Day featured a review of a very full calendar of competitions as well as a panel discussion featuring 2009 Met Open winner Andrew Giuliani, PGA Tour winner Bill Britton, and Plainfield head pro Scott Paris. Some notes from the event:

MGA Director of Competitions Brian Mahoney is praying for clear skies since there just aren't any dates to make up rainouts in a calendar packed this year with 22 events. The year begins with the MGA Senior Amateur Championship at Metedeconk on May 7-8 and ends with the French-American Challenge October 16-17 at Sebonack. Highlights include the Met Open to be played at Plainfield August 21-23, the Ike June 25-26 at Atlantic, the Met Amateur August 2-5 at Hollywood, and the MGA Senior Open August 27-28 at Garden City. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Met Junior Championship, which will be celebrated at Nissequogue Golf Club. Mahoney also pointed out that the MGA has teamed up with the Met Women's Golf Assn to present three events including the Women's Met Amateur June 5 at the Stanwich Club and the Women's Public Links Championship July 11 at Flanders Valley.

Plainfield CC head pro Scott Paris said that the Barclay's will return to the club in 2015 with another spot on the rota scheduled for either 2018 or 2019. The 2011 FedEx Cup event was shortened to 54 holes by Hurricane Irene. Paris explained that the Donald Ross masterpiece underwent a ten-year reconstruction under architect Gil Hanse, who also masterminded the Sleepy Hollow restoration. Using Ross's original drawings and photos of the course in its early days, Hanse removed a forest of trees, stretched the greens back to their generally expansive size, restored fairway widths and lines, removed two water hazards that were really just there to handle drainage anyway, and added a scant 150 yards to the course. The green contours weren't changed although seven collection areas were restored to add variety to the approaches that can be played.

Bill Britton, who won the 1979 Met Open at Plainfield as well the 1989 PGA Tour Centel Classic and tied for seventh in the 1990 Masters, pointed out that while the course has been substantially improved, the angles into the greens remain crucial to shooting a decent score. Britton is currently head pro at Trump National Colt's Neck

In addition to his victory in the 2009 Met Open, Andrew Giuliani won the 2005 Ike Championship at Plainfield. He also starred in the Golf Channel's Big Break series shortly after turning pro. The ebullient Giuliani said the experience was a positive one despite the reality TV sturm und drang that viewers see on the screen in their living rooms. "In regular golf," he says, "you have a few holes to settle into your game. On the Big Break, you warm up then sit on the bench for two hours before you have to hit one shot--perfectly. It was actually a good way to learn to focus on playing one shot at a time."

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Danny Balin's Recipe For Winning Tournament Golf

Want to play like a winner? You'd be hard pressed to find someone better to emulate than Danny Balin, assistant pro at Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, and winner of the 2011 Lincoln Met PGA Championship. Balin was one of several panelists at this spring's Met PGA Best Practices Forum who had excellent advice for those of us who want to score better in tournament play--or anytime.

"During your practice rounds, spend 80% of your time on chipping and putting and 20% on everything else," Balin recommends. When it comes to putting, he suggest using a chalk line to help train your eyes and a tee gate made just wide enough for your putter to fit through to groove your stroke. He also only practices straight putts since playing a break starts by rolling the ball straight on the proper line. Finally, he reminds us to train our eyes to see the ball go into the hole. "Do your eyes focus on one target, or flit around?" he asks.

When it comes to course management, Balin says, "Par is a great score." He believes a big part of the mental game is understanding that fact and knowing when (and when NOT) to go pin hunting, be too aggressive, be too conservative. To help your mental game, Balin recommends reading books--not just about golf--dealing with training athletes' minds. One he favors is Mind Gym by Gary Mack.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Sharon McQuillan Clicks With Golfers

Bubba Watson may not need golf lessons, but I bet you do. Why? Because you're not Bubba Watson! You probably didn't start swinging a club at age six, nor do you practice--with or without a teacher--six or eight hours every day, work out every day, and play five or six rounds of golf every week. Maybe that's why you've not only never won the Masters, you've never even been invited. Trust me, you need a lesson or two or three. So how do you find a good teacher?

Plenty of golf professionals know a lot about the game, but the really good teachers are the ones who can transfer their knowledge to their students. Sharon McQuillan is one of those. I spent an hour with her on the lesson tee and came away knowing a lot about my swing--and how to fix it.

McQuillan, who teaches primarily at the Westchester Driving Range, taught with some of the best in the business, including Jim McLean and David Ledbetter. I first met her a few years ago when she was the head pro at Bonnie Briar Country Club, one of the few women to hold that position anywhere in the country. In addition to teaching, she currently is Tour Director for US Kids Golf for Southern Westchester and Long Island.

When I arrived for my lesson, McQuillan took the step that many teachers skip--she tried to learn something about me. I didn't fill out any forms, but we had a very useful conversation about what my game is like, what I'd like it to be, what kind of clubs I play (and whether they were fitted to me), as well as whether I have any physical limitations--including what kind of glasses I wear on the course. Then I warmed up a bit and hit a few balls.

McQuillan uses the JC Video system, which has two cameras (one down the line and the other face-on) that capture your swing in high-speed video. Like any good teacher, McQuillan probably doesn't need the high-tech gizmos to spot what's happening in the golf swing, but it makes a great tool to show the student what's really going on when they swipe at the ball. As opposed, that is, to what they THINK is occurring. McQuillan patiently showed me two problems, one with my grip (I'd unconsciously slipped into a bad position) and one with the way my lower body was moving during the swing. It's the kind of thing I may have suspected, but I'd never have seen it without her help.

Working with the video, we went through several more swings as I tried to correct the faults. McQuillan was extremely supportive throughout the process of critiquing each swing until I finally got it right. In addition to the swing analysis, McQuillan discussed several drills I could use in the gym or even in my office to work on the move I'm trying to approve.

One of the big advantages of her approach is that I'll be able to refer back to the lesson as often as I want, since the video is available on her website in a password-protected section for students. She also sent the video lesson to me so I could load it on a mobile video device like an iPhone if I chose. The video shows both my "before" and "after" swings complete with telestrator-type lines, stop-motion, and even a clip of Tiger Woods hitting a similar club. The most useful feature of the video, though, is McQuillan's commentary, which repeated the points she made during the lesson. It makes for a very effective learning experience.

There's no question that having another set of expert eyes (NOT just your buddy or the guy next to you on the range unless he happens to be a PGA professional) can help you play better golf. If you're looking for a knowledgeable, accessible, easy-to-work-with pro, turn to someone like Sharon Mcquillan.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Brad Faxon's Putting Wisdom

Eight-time PGA Tour winner Brad Faxon shared his thoughts on putting with an eager audience of PGA club professionals at the Spring Education Forum presented by the Metropolitan Section of the PGA this week. In a golf world awash in mechanics and digital diagnostics, his words were refreshing, to say the least.

photo courtesy of the Met PGA

"Players spend too much time working on their stroke and not enough time hitting the ball into the hole," Faxon said at the beginning of his conversation with NBC's Jimmy Roberts.

Faxon went on to say that there aren't really many absolute fundamentals in putting. "Everyone grips differently, especially these days. Where you aim your feet, where your eyes are over the ball, do your shoulders have to be square? Not necessarily. You don't even have to hold your head still," Faxon said as he talked about the many variables he's seen among the great putters he's observed.

There are some things he recommends, though, and they're hard to dispute. "You can have the best stroke in the world, but you'll never be a great putter unless you have confidence," he said. "You have to look at the putt and know you're going to make it." He adds, "You can't be afraid to miss. As long as I give the ball a chance to go in by executing well, I know I will make a lot of putts."

Setting the mental aspect aside for a moment, Faxon talked about keeping his arms soft when he putts. Many players, myself included, try to putt with soft hands, but Faxon points out that your arms need to be relaxed, too, if you want to take tension out of your stroke. You need to hold the putter just firmly enough to keep it from twisting--maybe a three on a scale of ten.

When it comes to practice, he stressed the importance of working on your pre-shot routine as well as your stroke. His routine, like that of all good players, doesn't vary, nor does it take all day. "I start lining up my putt as soon as I walk on the green," he says. "Subconsciously, I know which general direction it's going to go. I look at the putt from both sides of the hole, then put my ball down with the center line on the path I want it to follow. I visualize the curve of the line."

"Once I have my read, I don't waste time," Faxon continued. "I walk up to the ball from behind, take a practice stroke to feel the length before I take my stance, put down the putter face, take one look at the hole, and go."

During his PGA career, Faxon was known as one of the best putters in the game. He led the PGA Tour in Putting Average in 1996, 1999, and 2000, the year when he set a single-season record with an astounding 1.704 putts/greens in regulation. It was great to hear him say something I've always believed: "Putting should be the easiest part of your game."

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf