Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Working Vacation

Just back from 10 days of vacation in Northwest Indiana.  My wife's family is from the area.  The vacation actually was a working vacation as The Northern Amateur was being played at Sand Creek CC.  I had six of my college players participate in the three day event.
I've taught each of them for at least 4 years so it was a fantastic opportunity for me to see them compete.  Having spent time coaching college golf and teaching Tour Professionals from all the Major Tours in the world I can safely say there's a few glaring differences between the levels of play.
The two biggest areas that really stood out from watching all the players are the ability to lag putt and maintain their emotions/attitude for the entire round.  These two areas added strokes to almost every players  scorecard each day.  Lag putting is important on every putt that's struck.  Most players are good with starting the putt on line but don't put enough attention to the speed of the putt.  This really should be the last thought or feeling before the putter is taken back.
On the emotional side, few college players are able to battle through a bad shot or bad hole without it effecting them on the next shot or hole.  As a result, they aren't able to battle through tough stretches during the round.
Improving these two areas will undoubtedly lower any golfers score.  Both take attention and practice.  But it's certainly worth the reward.

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