Golf In The California Desert

Thanks to friends, my wife and I are spending a couple of weeks golfing in the southern California desert.

First let me say that this area, from Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs to the Palm Desert and Indio is packed with golf courses. This may be the highest concentration of golf courses anywhere in the US in such a small area. I don’t have the statistics, but I it’s every bit the equal of Phoenix. Second, everybody I’ve met so far uses Standby Golf to book tee times at reduced prices. With this service you call anytime after 4 pm to get low cost tee times for the next day. From what I can tell, most every first rate course in the area uses this service.

The first 3 days here we played Terra Lago - the old Landmark Golf Club and home of many skins games, Desert Dunes and The Classic Club - site of this year’s Bob Hope Classic. All three courses are in the middle of the valley that sits between two desert mountain ranges. Where there isn’t a watering system, you see only dirt, sand, stones, and scrub brush. All these courses sit in the middle of the valley. You definitely know you’re in the desert.

All 3 use lots of gentle undulations to sculpt the holes. In many cases the fairways are banked on at least one side by earthen berms. Bunkers are everywhere, but in general the sand is course and compacted. I was particularly surprised by the traps at The Classic. I heard the sand was soft and fluffy during the Hope, but somehow it’s developed a hard crust in many areas since then. Terra Lago has a little water, Desert Dunes a bit more and at The Classic water is everywhere – to the left, right and sometimes straight ahead. It almost seems out of place in the desert, but the many waterfalls and flowing streams are a welcome counterpoint to the surrounding desert.

Terra Lago had recently aerated their greens, as a result they were slow and not predictable. Desert Dunes looked like they were cutting back on their watering. The greens were true, but definitely not top notch. The Classic Club, on the other hand, had beautiful greens that were lightning fast. Get above the hole and you’re going to add at least a shot to your score.

All of these 3 courses are somewhere between links and parkland style. I guess you could call them desert links. The Classic Club had very few straight holes, many of the fairways trace shoreline arcs. At times, this puts water into play on almost every shot. If you can’t control your direction, make sure you bring plenty of balls!

On all 3 courses we played the gold or white tees, which seemed pretty fair for male golfers with handicaps between 10 and 20. Playing the back tees at The Classic radically changes the course. If you can’t carry your drive 289 yards, don’t bother even trying.

The Classic Club is definitely the hardest, which can mean it’s less enjoyable if you don’t have your A game. Desert Dunes was my least favorite, the upkeep just wasn’t where it should be. I enjoyed Terra Lago a lot. It’s not overly penal and has an interesting links type feel to it. All of these courses grow serious fangs when the wind blows, almost to the point of being unplayable.

Mind Control

Sooner or later (and usually sooner) every golfer realizes the game is mostly mental. Is it mental because we think too much or, because we think about the wrong things? We hear announcers say over and over how ‘mentally tough’ Tiger is and how his mental toughness separates him from most of the other players. If you watched the Match Play Championship over the weekend, you heard how Stenson had such a mental breakdown in his game in 2000-2001 that he almost quit golf. Six years later he’s one of the best in the world, because something happened with his mind that allowed his body to make a golf swing unencumbered. So what can we take from all of this?

What is it that we are supposed to do with our minds when we play golf? My own humble opinion after thinking about this for decades is that we must keep the mind out of the way. We can’t just turn our minds off, so the task becomes one of keeping the mind focused on something so it can’t try to take control of the swing. When pros are playing very well we hear about them being in ‘the zone’. You’ve probably heard that about athletes in almost every sport when they’re doing well. The basketball player that hits 8 three’s in a row was ‘in the zone’. The batter who can come to the plate with two out in the ninth and got a hit to win the game was ‘in the zone’.

Being in the zone is having your mind occupied and keeping it out of the way of your body. It’s not about your mind taking control and telling the body what to do step-by-step. It’s not about the mind focusing on how much is at stake on any given shot, putt or hit. Good mental coaches get their players to learn how to keep their minds occupied and out of the way. One approach is to learn a pre-shot routine and let your mind run the tape. That way it’s doing something but it’s not getting in the way. It doesn’t become a third person sitting on your shoulder and whispering all sorts of foul ideas in your ear.

Some players learn to occupy their minds with more esoteric thoughts that put the game in perspective. You see this with players who have suffered a recent personal loss that forces them to realign their values. What’s nerve wracking about a 3 foot putt when a loved one is facing a fight with cancer. Players that are involved in charities have many images to draw upon to keep themselves grounded in reality. In the grand scheme of things, how important is any putt, or chip, or drive? In the moment, the pressure can be almost unbearable. Perspective changes all of that.

The trick is learning to focus your mind where and when you want. This is more than an act of will, it can be practiced in the same way you practice any golf shot – through repetition. Make your practice time be both physical and mental. Learn to focus your mind on something other than swing mechanics on every shot. Even when you’re trying to learn a particular move - like a one piece takeaway – use your mind as an observer during the actual move, don’t let it try to run the show. Use it to gather data. Or focus it on the target. And then practice, practice, practice.

If you’re like me, you get into the zone every once in a while when you putt. It can be for a few holes, a few rounds or even a few weeks. Think back to that time, was your mind guiding you how to make each putt? No way! More than likely the confidence you had allowed your mind to relinquish control and be peacefully at rest just focused on the hole or maybe even the smell of a freshly cut green. Tiger has perfected his mind control as much, or even more, than he has perfected his swing. And I believe the average golfer has a better chance at learning Tiger’s mind control than his swing.

Industry Wish List for 2007

I love the game of golf and want to see it prosper. Here's what I hope the golf industry accomplishes in 2007 to improve the game for the average amateur golfer:

Build good courses with 18 hole fees less than $35. Make courses environmentally friendly. Encourage designs that follow natural contours, disturb as little of the natural vegetation as possible. Promote links style courses over target golf. Use more pot bunkers in the US.

Speed up play so that 18 holes can be played in less than 4 hours. I suggest educating the public during pro tournament broadcasts, using course rangers, and generally shortening course length for normal play. Consider restricting tee boxes by handicap.

Build courses that promote walking. Keep greens and adjacent tee boxes in the same zip code.

Take the mystery out of club fitting and launch monitors.

Give us golf ball testing data so that we can let the data point us to a golf ball that has good distance and spin characteristics for $25 or less per dozen.

Create a website that lists private clubs by location along with their initiation fees, monthly dues, length of waiting list and application process.

Create a website that lists all the charity tournaments by location. This would make it easy for players to signup for a tournament at the private courses they would otherwise never get to play. This would also help charity tournaments fill their fields.

Encourage all golfers to keep a handicap. Enforce the handicap rules. Require handicap groups to provide the service year round. Golfers in gold climates should be able to enter their scores when they play in warmer climes during winter vacations. And, golfers should feel obligated to enter these scores.

Create statewide golfer discount cards that allow one or two rounds a season at public and semi-public courses for one annual fee. Some states used to have such things that also raised money for charity.

Build better practice facilities, focusing particularly on improving the short game.

Provide more swing and shot analysis during pro tournament broadcasts. Video analysis is particularly helpful. And sell broadcasts rights for a fee that allows fewer commercials, otherwise you're going to kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs.

Take some of the broadcast revenue and use it for introductory teaching clinics for children, women and the short game for everyone. There are plenty of good pro golfers playing the game these days, you don't need to keep fattening the purses.

Course operators, use the online tee time services to bring in players during your slack times and to generally allow more efficient booking of tee times.

That should be enough for 2007. I'll save the rest for 2008. Let me know what you'd like to see.

FedEx Cup Underbelly

As far as pro golf goes, the FedEx Cup looks pretty interesting. It may transform 'silly season' into an exciting series of competitive events. With $10 million for first place, it's going to keep everyone interested. You won't see Tiger or Phil opting to stay home and practice their game in the backyard given those stakes. The rest of the tour will be there too, with next year's tour eligibility on the line. On paper, it certainly appears it could be quite entertaining, though you can never be sure what exactly what will happen in a newly designed competitive format until you try it.

So why would anyone be negative about something that holds so much promise. Is there something dark lurking just under surface, ready to ruin a good thing. Here's what I'm thinking:

I'm not a big fan of TV, but I do get excited about watching golf. My primary complaint against programming is the commercials. I remember when they use to come only on the quarter-hour, half-hour and hour. I wasn't crazy about them, but it was clear we all had to do a little suffering so someone could cover the costs of this great form of entertainment. That was the 50's and 60's.

I don't know where things really went wrong, but commercials have infiltrated every form of programming like a computer virus on steroids. On most every channel, you now have to watch more commercials than programming. On top of that, we generally have to pay to have someone stand in front of us and pitch us the same crap ad infinitum and at a higher volume.

So why should the Fed Ex Cup be different than any other golf coverage. Just consider for a moment - where is all this extra purse money coming from? Someone has to fund this new competition. In the end, it's always you and me. We pay for it by listening to commercials. And bigger purses, mean more advertising, which means more commercials and less real coverage.

I hope the FedEx Cup at least has a chance to succeed, but if it ends up meaning that I have to sit through 3 minutes of commercials for every 1 minute of golf, then they'll have one less viewer in Rhode Island.

Better Golf Through Managing Spinal Tilt

I'm convinced that improperly managing spinal tilt versus the hips is one of the biggest problems that amateur golfers have. It's made a huge improvement in my own game. I first got turned onto this concept in Nick Bradley's book; 'The Seven Laws of Golf'. (I urge you to check it out at your local bookstore.)

As you address the ball you line the ball up in your stance, flex your knees and then bend forward at the hips. So far so good. I think most golfers have this idea down. Next comes the critical piece. Gripping the golf club puts your right hand lower than your left (reverse for lefties) and your spine has to tilt towards your back foot to accommodate this. And this is where most of us get into trouble.

It's important to keep your hips level when you do this. Only your shoulders tilt down towards your back foot, your hips must remain level. Your left side will feel stretched and your right side contracted (or shortened). Now start your backswing and make your turn while maintaining both the forward and backward tilt of your spine. Both of these tilts must be kept throughout the entire swing. At the completion of the swing the forward lean may disappear but a good golfer will still be holding the backward tilt of the spine that was established at address.

Try this without a club at home. Really focus on keeping the hips level and not allowing the spine to lose either tilt. If you haven't been doing this you are going to feel a real turn for the first time. If you can maintain this habit at the driving range, you're going to find it much easier to attack the ball from the inside, eliminating one of the main causes of a slice. Let me know how it works out!

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Pace of Play

We've all been a victim of slow play, but never have been responsible for it ourselves. Or so most of us think. But if there is so much slow play out there, then it stands to reason that quite a few of us must actually be playing slow. Not all the time, mind you. It doesn't take more than a slow hole or two for each foursome for the entire course to be backed up. So how do we fix it? And fix it we must or this sport will never grow.

First, what is slow play. I think that most would agree that the international standard for playing 18 holes is 4 hours. I'll bet 99 out of 100 golfers out there would love to get 18 holes in over the weekend in 4 hours. 5 hours is probably more the norm here in the US, with many rounds pushing the 6 hour mark. Ugh! And it's no fun having to wait before hitting almost every shot. You're playing well for a few holes, then you start having to wait and the birdies turn to bogeys.

So why does it take so long. Is it one slow foursome that plays slow early in the morning and screws everything up for the day. If so, then the fix is to get rangers on the course and have them do their job. I've heard of courses where you are told to 'pick your balls up folks and proceed to the next tee' if your deemed to be playing slow. Maybe a bit harsh, but it probably only happens once to you before you decide that keeping up is more important than finding that lost ball that will be unplayable anyway.

Some think it's courses that are too long for amateurs or looked at another way, too many amateurs play off the back ties when they have no business being there. Perhaps you should have to show your handicap card before attempting the tournament tees and then demonstrate you have a 300 yard drive if you want to play something 7000 yards or more.

I've been behind my share of slow foursomes and even threesomes. From what I observe, I'd say the following are the biggest problems. 1)Looking for lost balls. If you're playing on a course that's crowded, then be prepared to hit provisionals and keep play going. And if you hit a lot of shots where they can't be found, buy the cheap balls until you get better so you won't feel bad about leaving that Pro V behind. 2)Not playing 'ready golf'. If you don't know what that is, then you're part of the problem. Too many weekend golfers stand on ceremony when it doesn't do anyone any good. If you're ready to hit your shot and the guy further back is still mucking around for his ball, you have my permission to go ahead and hit. 3)Taking way too long to line up and hit putts. I'll admit that we are all probably negatively affected by what we see the pros do. But remember, these guys are playing for hundreds of thousands and in most cases they're on the green in regulation. They've earned the right to take some extra time to putt. For the rest of us, line up when someone else is putting and then step up and wack it when it's your turn. It may even help your putting if you reduce the time you have to think about that gnarly little 4 footer.

My suggestions are all well and good you might be thinking, but how do we get the golfing public in general to start putting them into practice. I think the best way is for the national organizations like the USGA and the major club manufacturers to take this on. It's in their best interest because faster play means more people will ultimately take up the game and fewer will drop out. And that sells rounds and equipment. After all, it's been decades since there was any growth in golf. They should get the message out with commercials during TV coverage of the pros. Get the golfing superstars to tell us that slow play isn't cool. Let the USGA lead the way by telling people that slow play hurts the game for everyone and that rangers will enforce the rules for the good of the game.

Too often the official bodies that manage sport have neglected their duty and, as a result, sports like soccer, basketball and hockey are withering before our eyes. Please don't let it happen to golf! And let each of us who does care set an example, it just might be catching. If you think it can't be done, then go to Scotland and try taking more than 4 hours for 18 holes - I pitty you laddy if you're foolish enough to attempt this life threatening stunt.