What does angle of attack mean?

Angle of attack is the vertical path your clubhead travels before impacting the golf ball. Angle of attack influences trajectory as well as spin of a shot, which affects distance and accuracy. A steeper angle of attack increases spin and creates a higher trajectory, while a shallower angle of attack decreases spin and creates a lower trajectory. For a shallower angle of attack, move the ball up in your stance (like you would when teeing up your drive). This allows the swing to flatten out, producing the low-spin trajectory that you want. Conversely, to achieve a steeper angle of attack, position the ball closer to your trail foot, which allows for a descending blow into the ball. For a shallow angle of attack, keep your weight evenly distributed throughout the swing. For a steeper angle of attack, have more weight shifted to your lead side all the way through impact.

When your clubhead has a shallower angle as it approaches the ball, this promotes a sweeping motion and is good for driver, fairway woods, hybrids, uphill lies and when the ball is sitting up in the rough. A steeper angle of attack is more important with short irons, punch shots, balls sitting down in the rough and hard pan lies. 

What is launch angle? 

Launch Angle is the angle measured in degrees at which the ball leaves the clubface, relative to the ground. It is measured in the first few inches of flight, before gravity has had a chance to modify the path of the ball.  

Here is a drill if you struggle having too shallow of an angle of attack. Place a towel, or anything behind your golf ball on your target line that is a half inch to one inch in thickness. Here, I used a lie board, but anything that is a half inch or one inch in thickness will work. Place your aid down six inches behind the golf ball and practice hitting shots without hitting the aid you placed behind your golf ball. I like students to practice hitting shots with no more than hip high to hip high-length swings, so they are not changing their club path on the start of their downswing.

Here is a drill if your angle of attack is too steep. Place a tee in the ground with the ball teed up in height to hit a driver. From here, hover your clubhead next to the ball teed up high and hit some shots, sweeping the ball off the tee with an iron without hitting the tee. If you hit the tee, that means your angle of attack is steep. If you don’t hit the tee, your angle of attack is shallow. 

Drills that influence launch angle: this one is to promote a lower launch angle. For this shot, place a ball in line with the heel of your trail foot (right foot, for right-handed golfers). From here, have your hands slightly higher at address where the grip points above where it normally does at setup and have the grip pointing slightly toward your lead hip as well. From here, hit some shots with a swing in length, hip high to hip high, and practice finishing with the back of your lead hand flat and clubhead finishing lower to the ground after impact. One thing to pay attention to in the picture above is my hands finish in front of where they started, and my hands and grip are slightly in front of the clubhead at impact. 

This drill promotes a higher launch angle and ball flight. Start with the ball position in front of where it normally is for that club (ex: ball position is normally in the middle of my stance with my six iron, for the shot I am placing the ball more toward my left foot at setup). From here, have the grip pointed slightly lower than normal at address and the grip pointing to the center of your sternum instead of toward  your lead hip. From here, feel like the clubhead passes your hands through impact; this will create a higher ball flight. 

Where your grip points at setup will help determine the direction the ball goes, as well as trajectory. Typically, if the grip is higher than normal at setup, the ball will launch lower in trajectory and the ball will go more right in direction. Typically, if the grip is lower than usual at setup, the ball will launch higher in trajectory and go more left in direction. 

Being a PGA golf professional, I’m constantly looking for new training aids and technology to try. 

Full disclosure: Full Swing launch monitors are not given to me and I am not paid to market for them. This year I went to a seminar for Full Swing golf launch monitors and tested the launch monitors against TrackMan. I was utterly shocked to find out the data they both pick up is equivalent to one another, yet the Full Swing Kit is less than half the price of TrackMan. I ended up purchasing a Full Swing Kit launch monitor myself and have loved it. I love sharing training aids and technology I love with others. If you or someone you know is looking to get a launch monitor, I would highly recommend the Full Swing Kit after spending a year with it. If you or someone you know would like to purchase one, reach out to me directly as I can get $550 off the retail price for you. 

For more instruction tips, lesson programs, training aid discounts, or launch monitor discounts, reach out to me at 972-399-9040 by calling, texting or e-mailing kpikegolf@gmail.com.

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To better understand golfers and lo-back pain and the options they might have to reduce or eliminate their pain, it was therefore very useful to get Dr. Qureshi’s perspective on how  a leading surgeon deals with patients, especially golfers, who have back issues (be it in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar regions).

Dr. Qureshi is a 48-year-old with almost two decades of spinal surgery experience. A New Jersey native, both his parents worked in a hospital setting and had a great deal of respect for healthcare, making it a no-brainer for the young Sheeraz to get into medicine. Why surgery? To him it appeared to combine the cerebral part of medicine with a certain athlete-like ability – that of hand-eye-coordination. Moreover, it is an art as well as a science. The creativity comes from formulating the specific treatment plan for a patient, based on their health situation, as well as their expectations and what they enjoy doing.

Is he a surgeon specializing in golf athletes and did that happen by design? He, personally, played baseball growing up, along with some basketball, and only came into golf in his fourth and fifth decades. “I play it very badly,” he said modestly, while claiming to be a mere weekend warrior. As to who his patients are? He would guess that 80 percent of them play golf at some level, and that is probably for two reasons. Firstly, patients mainly come to him through word-of-mouth referrals, probably a result of his taking good care of them and doing the job well. Secondly because he specializes in minimally invasive and robotic surgeries with the expectation of faster recovery times, and most of his patients are those who are athletic and in sports, not merely those who try to “stay active.”

So, as a much-in-demand spinal surgeon, what is Dr Qureshi’s modus operandi? He has kept very detailed records of all his patients over the years – there are currently 5,000 in his database – beyond what most people might. He has recorded not merely their histories, but also their radiographic results, his interventions, and follow-up data for as long as possible, even up to four years post-surgery. He hopes one day to be able to use AI to input patient information and get suggestions for the best intervention to perform.

In the meantime, Dr. Qureshi says, surgery is only warranted if one of three conditions exists: there is neurological impingement, there is instability in the spine (as a result of conditions like arthritis or a fracture), or there is a problem with spinal alignment. He would certainly avoid a fusion unless the above conditions existed, even though he has research that shows that as long as the procedure is minimally invasive, a fusion and a decompression have similar outcomes. When asked whether fused spines (which Tiger has been reported to have had in the past) can cause back spasms, he said no. However, he added that top athletes are so in tune with their bodies and use their muscles in such specific ways that they might feel aggravated in certain areas.

Does fusion reduce range of motion? Not typically if it’s a smaller one or two-level fusion. In fact, as a fusion is undertaken only when some misalignment or deterioration of tissue exists, typically some reconstruction is also involved, thus resulting in a promising outcome. If the fusion is at seven to eight levels, as with a scoliosis condition, it might reduce range of motion. While bending is typically not an issue, twisting or torsion is, such as that seen in golf. 

What might be the recovery period after a spinal procedure, even a minimally invasive one? While it depends, to a great extent, on the patient’s condition and the team helping with recovery, very broadly he would say eight weeks, which, under some circumstances could become as little as three – it all depends. 

What movements should golfers avoid to reduce the risk for future injuries? Twisting has a significant impact on stress at the L4-L5 and the L5-S1 lumbar levels, says Dr. Qureshi. If they have damage to lower lumbar discs and pain from that region, they might increase flexibility which they probably have lost, especially with respect to rotation. They could also do core stabilization, thoracic rotation, and perhaps change something around that. And, naturally, warm-up before playing.

That is some wonderful information and advice from someone who should know. To complete the picture for a golfer with low back pain, from the perspective of a biomechanist and golf swing coach – you might also consider a switch to a swing which reduces forward bend, side bend and rotation ranges of motion at the lumbar/pelvic level, as all of them have been shown, in the golf swing literature, to cause low-back pain. Why risk recurrence of lumbar disc herniation that can take place in about six percent of patients, especially in those who do “heavy work,” such as make lots of golf swings? (Wang et al. 2022).

And as for Tiger? May it stop at six – your fans await!

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Jared Doerfler’s story began when his dad taught him the game of golf at age five in Northern Iowa. On summer nights, father and son would go out for a round, and soon Jared began playing a lot of golf with his grandfather, Harry Doerfler, as well. Harry was a typical product of his times. He grew up dirt poor in the Texas panhandle, was dropped into World War II, and subsequently “worked his tail off,” in Jared’s words, to give his kids a better life.

With all those years of golf, Jared walked onto a small Division I school’s golf team when he attended the University of Northern Iowa. His time there, he said, had a profound effect on his life. While in college, one of the stand-out experiences was when the coaches took team members to their putting lab to evaluate their strokes. He was told that the putter he was using – a blade – was not the ideal one for him and that he needed a putter with a mallet-shaped head. Doerfler’s coach then handed him an old prototype of a mallet putter he had once found in an equipment truck at some PGA TOUR event. 

Upon graduating from Northern Iowa, Doerfler returned the putter to the coach, then spent the next 10 years searching everywhere for that type of putter, including on Craig’s List, eBay and everywhere else. Eventually he gave up, sketched the putter from memory, then had the putter milled at a machine shop. “I didn’t do a very good job; the putter was too heavy and looked terrible,” Doerfler said. “But I enjoyed that process. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to do it full time a year and a half later. And I quit my job to do it.”

How could someone who had been in medical and manufacturing sales all his life consider such a big change, especially with a young family to support? He had only dipped his feet into golf in a small way when, during an entrepreneurship course for his MBA, he was encouraged to write online. That’s when he started a weekly newsletter – Perfect Putt – which, with its weekly insights into the business side of golf, is now three years old and has 10,000 subscribers.

But a weekly newsletter is nowhere near as scary a proposition as emptying out the family’s bank accounts and setting up in the business of making putters! It was not as if Doerfler was a golf-industry veteran with some skill in manufacturing – even on a small scale – a golf-related product.

“I didn’t know if I could make a putter. I saw other people doing it on YouTube, and thought if they can do it, I can,” Doerfler said. “So, I quit my job and bought a CNC mill before even having a putter head designed in CAD (computer-aided design) or having milled a putter. I was confident I could figure it out, and I did. Although it was much tougher than I anticipated – it was a very humbling process. I taught myself CAD and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing); YouTube is a great resource. CAD isn’t so difficult as CAM. I am still learning new things about CAM every day.” 

The business began in Jared’s garage in Mason City, Iowa, and has subsequently – in February – moved to a 1,500 square foot shop. The process started with personal preference, and then he leaned on former teammates and coaches after trying out prototypes. Several tweaks subsequently were made. “A lot of the design process is based on trial and error until we get the right feel and sound,” he said. “I wasn’t so concerned about hitting an exact weight when designing. My main requirement was to be a little heavier than we see with traditional putters, and we have achieved that.” 

The putters had their soft launch in May 2024, and already 200 have been sold. They currently come in three models and are one-piece milled out of 303 stainless steel. There are no weights, bolts or inserts. “I am very happy with the designs of the putters; they test well in terms of MOI in comparison to competitive putters in the market,” Doerfler said. “I design the putters and mill them myself. No outsourcing of that. To make this business work, I had to teach myself rather than rely on someone else.”

What does Jared Doerfler hope to achieve, eventually? In his words, “This isn’t a get rich quick thing. It isn’t a sell for tens of millions of dollars thing. This is chasing a dream and a passion and to create a small business. I believe there is room in the market to carve out a small niche to build a small business. And that is what America is founded on – it is built on the backbone of small businesses.”

Remember that this story promised a sweet ending? What could give one more of a warm, fuzzy feeling than a company named for the owner’s daughter, with putter models named for places grandfather Harry had lived in? This, then, has been the story of Hanna Golf and its El Reno, Amarillo and Denver putters. 

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Full Swing Club Fittings 

(Done with the customer’s needs put first)

If you are in the market for the best equipment fitted properly, using the highest-tech equipment to do it, then you owe it to yourself to come into The Golf Lab and meet Aarik Greenley. Aarik is an industry veteran and has a well-earned reputation as a Master Fitter. Don’t let his calm and quiet personality fool you; he listens, watches and makes what he does look easy with the efficiency required to make the right decision for his customers. Over the past decade, he has fitted and built clubs for everyone from the best players on the PGA, LPGA and Korn Ferry Tours, to name just a few. He won’t tell you who they are unless you ask, but he worked in the Tour department at Adams Golf and built clubs for Hall-of-Fame players daily. Satisfied thousands more have worked with him just to get more enjoyment from the game, by getting equipment that matches their individual needs.

 “A fitting starts from paying attention and listening to the customer,” Greenley commented. “Good fitters know the numbers, but great fitters also ask the right questions and then actually listen.” 

That process takes patience and experience, and Greenley has both. Fitters must know what the latest shaft technologies do and how they work with each new head that comes out. They must know which head is a match for you, and there is only one way to get that information … through hard work, countless repletion and testing. 

There are many other companies that say they do golf club fittings, and there are some very competent businesses in the DFW area, but when you come to The Golf Lab, you will be getting access to the newest and best club/shaft combinations, all fitted with special attention from industry veterans who understand how to treat any customer. 

Putter Fittings

Which putter suits you? Where do you even start to get that information? You can go to YouTube, but that is a collection of rabbit holes that will end up confusing you more than helping. Why not book a one-hour fitting and know for sure that your putter is right for you? 

The Golf Lab has another Master Fitter under its roof, and his career has been dedicated to understanding putters and putting. Blair Philip brings a background that is unique. He played professionally in Japan, Asia and Canada, then began working for PING Golf Japan as GM of their Japan office. After that, he moved to Denver and designed putters for YES! Golf for seven years. After that, Adams Golf bought YES! and he moved to Dallas to oversee putter development in their R&D department. Philip built putters for some of the biggest names in golf and spent the last nine years working at a shaft company he co-founded, called Breakthrough Golf Technology in Richardson, where he fitted putters and taught putting. In other words, he is a professional at putter fitting and teaching. 

“Most of the public, around 85 percent, are using a putter that does not fit them,” Philip stated. “About 50 percent of professionals are also not in the right putter, either. It is sad if you think about it, all those unnecessary bogeys.”

Philip uses a combination of experience and high-tech tools like the high-speed camera Quintic Ball Roll system to diagnose and remedy your putter mismatch. On rare occasions, he will verify that you need no adjustments at all, but that is rare. If you need a different putter, then you will know which one will work for you and why. You also have the resources of the Clubfinder’s Golf business right next door to choose from a huge selection of putters that will work better for you. Putters are adjusted right there in-house, and you will leave your fitting with a putter that has the right look, length, lie angle, loft angle and correct grip. You can even have sight lines and dots milled onto your putter when needed. 

Putting Lessons

If the answer to the question “How is your putting?” is one of the following, then you might consider a putter fitting or a lesson.

Bad

Average

Inconsistent 

Why do I even TRY?

You will get the same Quintic Ball Roll system analysis, which includes a comprehensive report showing the set of individual issues you need to focus on to become a good putter and remain a good putter. 

You will leave The Golf Lab with the equipment and knowledge you need to play your best, with the best equipment you can buy. It is not rocket science, but it IS science and explained in a way that you will understand and be able to apply. 

The post Golf Tech – Club Fitting With The Golf Lab appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

A common fault I see when people shank the ball is their pelvis and trail knee move toward the golf ball on the downswing, causing the hosel of the golf club to get closer to the ball causing the shank. If this is your tendency, here are a couple drills to help you gain consistency hitting the ball in the center of the clubface and the direction you want. 

Grab an old wedge if you have one and place the clubhead under your trail heel, practicing hitting shots not allowing the club to fall to the ground until after you make impact with the ball. In order for the club to not fall to the ground, your pelvis cannot move toward the golf ball and your trail heel must stay on the ground. The club can fall to the ground after you make contact with the ball, but not prior. 

The bucket drill is probably one of my all-time favorite drills if you struggle with how your lower body moves on the downswing. 

Place your trail foot inside a bucket, leaving a ¼-½ inch space between the lip of the bucket and your trail shin. Hit some half swing shots, not allowing your trail shin to hit the lip on the bucket. In order for your trail shin to not hit the bucket, your pelvis and trail knee must stay back. At impact, weight shifts from the ball of your trail foot into your lead heal, not into your trail toes. Another way to think of it is your trial knee moves toward your lead knee at impact and the follow-through almost kissing your lead knee, rather than moving toward the golf ball and finishing with space between your knees on your follow-through. 

Another common fault is early extension. This refers to when your hips move toward the golf ball in the downswing, and one stands up getting out of posture. Just as with the “sliding” issue above, it has the effect of cramping you through impact and forcing the hosel to lead into the ball. Sometimes those who early extend lack core strength. Having strength in your core helps to maintain posture throughout the swing. Performing some simple golf core exercises should help.

You can do this drill on the driving range or at home without a club. If you do this at home, stand upright with your butt against a wall, then take your normal golf stance and posture having your butt against the wall at address (if you are doing this at the range, place an alignment stick behind you). Now practice making swings or hitting balls, ensuring your butt is staying against the wall or alignment stick through impact. If you tend to move your hips toward the ball, this drill will highlight it. This drill will quickly give you a sense for what it feels like to stay in your posture. 

Another fix for the dreaded shank is path. If your club path is too much out-to-in, it can cause the shank. Here is a simple drill to see if this is the reason why you are shanking the ball. 

For this drill, place an object ½ inch outside of the ball and if you hit the object your path is too out-to-in, causing you to hit shanks or slices. Practice hitting shots without hitting the object. 

For more tips and information on instruction, reach out to me at 972-399-9040 or kpikegolf@gmail.com

The post Instruction – No More Shanks appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Clubface is the easiest thing to change to see improvements in your ball flight. You can change your clubface at setup by opening or closing the clubface, strengthening or weakening your grip, your wrist angle on your takeaway and the top of your backswing as well as your downswing, but I would recommend making the changes prior to hitting the ball in setup. And if that doesn’t work, then move to takeaway and then the backswing. It is much easier to make a change in your clubface angle in these points of your swing, rather than the downswing and impact where you are at the maximum speed in your swing. 

The middle club demonstrates a square clubface, while the club on the left demonstrates an open clubface (points to the right of your target for right-handed golfers), and the club on the right demonstrates a closed clubface (points left of your target for right-handed golfers). You can close the clubface by strengthening your grip, moving the grip of your club to the right of your sternum, or by simply turning the clubface to where it points to the left of your target at setup. You can open the clubface by weakening your grip, moving the grip of your club to the left of your sternum, or simply by rotating the clubface to where it points to the right of your target at setup. These are all important reminders if you are hitting the ball left; make one adjustment that opens the clubface and that will help get rid of the left miss. If you are hitting the ball right, make one adjustment that helps close the clubface; that will help get rid of the right miss. Make one adjustment at a time until you find the one that works for you. Remember, golf is an individualized sport, meaning not everyone is the same in the way they set up to the ball, grip the club or swing. Everyone moves differently. 

Wrist angles are going to open or close the clubface. Having a more bowed wrist, as in the picture on the left, will close the clubface, and having a more cupped wrist, as in the picture on the right, will open the clubface. 

A drill I love to have students do to practice clubface control and awareness is to lay an alignment stick down a few feet in front of the ball on the ground pointing to your target, and from there have students aim at the alignment still but practice making the pre-swing adjustments to make the ball go left or right. That way, when they get on the course and everything is going right, they know what adjustment to make that helps them hit it left and can make that adjustment, and it will help the ball go straight. 

Here is an impact drill I love to have students practice getting in the correct impact position to help them have a consistent clubface angle at impact, as well as consistent contact. Grab a resistance band and wrap it around your clubhead. From there, place the other end of the resistance band under your lead armpit (left armpit for right-handed players) and practice making swings hip high back and then moving into impact, keeping the resistance band under your armpit. At impact, you want the lead armpit to squeeze the side of your chest; there should be no space at impact between the lead armpit and the side of your chest. Another key point to pay attention to at impact is the trail elbow should be close to the body. 

For more tips and best practices, reach out to Kirsten Pike, PGA, at 972-399-9040.

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Originally opened back in the mid-1990s, Rusted Rail features meandering streams and water features that come into play on several holes, adding to the aesthetic, along with the mature oak trees that frame fairways beautifully and provide not only challenge, but plenty of shady spots to escape the brutal summer heat. Fairways, bunkers and greens are all finely manicured and, despite the recent run of triple-digit temps, the course is in very good condition and should only improve as the cooler fall months approach. 

The opening hole of this 7,249-yard, par-72 layout offers a look at some of the unique topography, as the players descend from the clubhouse down to the meadows below. The 426-yard par-4 doglegs slightly left and requires a tee shot that splits a pair of fairway bunkers. A prevailing south wind can mean the approach plays a bit more than the number, so be aware that you might need to take an extra club. 

No. 2 is arguably one of the toughest tee shots on the course. Playing across Buffalo Creek, this hole runs parallel to US-175 and features a large net to the left of the fairway to prevent errant shots from careening down the highway. A small grove of trees just in front and to the left of the teeing area makes this a bit of an awkward tee shot, as most right-handed players will need to launch a slight draw to avoid them, as well as another large tree that hangs over the right side of the landing area. A fairway metal or hybrid is a good choice to play for position, but be aware that as with No. 1, the second also plays into the wind, so choosing a more conservative play off the tee could lead to a long approach. 

The front nine at Rusted Rail features several risk/reward shots, and with a pair of par 5s at No. 3 and No. 5, you can see early in the round that being aggressive can definitely lead to lower scores. The short par-4 sixth also offers an opportunity to add a circle to your scorecard. Playing at just 334 from the tips, longer hitters can mail a driver up near the green. However, be aware there is significant bunkering near the putting surface that can erode your opportunity at birdie, should you find one. Should you choose to lay up with something more conservative, a shot that plays just right of the small water tower in front of the tee is a great target line.  

No. 8 is one of my personal favorites on the outward nine. The tee shot will usually play down-wind, meaning the 383 yards on the card actually plays a little shorter. There is a speed slot just over the far fairway bunker on the right, meaning a well-placed tee shot can chase up close to the green. But beware, there is a small pond guarding the front left of the putting surface, so anything down the left side of the fairway can tumble all the way to the water. There is a bit of room right, but be prepared to find some tough lies and some difficult wire grasses in that direction should you miss on that side. 

The ninth is another par 3 that plays back up the hill to the clubhouse. This 177-yarder plays a little longer than it appears on the card. This hole usually offers a right-to-left wind, which can send balls toward the pavilion behind the green or even the parking lot, should you happen to catch one a little skinny. A pair of bunkers short right and short left guard the green, so coming up short is no bargain either. It requires a solid shot should you want to walk away with a par. 

I would have to say my personal favorite stretch on the inward nine would have to be Nos. 13-15. The par-3 13th hole can stretch its legs to 211 yards from the back tees, and a large pond on the right adds visual stimulus and difficulty. This hole plays back into a predominant quartered off the right wind, which helps players keep balls out of the drink, but it also means a lot of iron shots will come up short. A small tree blocks out the green, so the tee shot can be a bit of a guessing game. The goal here should be taking enough club to hit the middle of the green and try to hole a putt. Being too aggressive can lead to bigger numbers.

The par-5 14th doglegs along the edge of the course to the left and requires those who hit a cut-shot off the tee to almost start their tee shot over the corner of the adjacent property. Those players who can hit a long draw are at an advantage here, as the extra roll helps any potential chance to reach the green in two. Beware of the trio of bunkers down the left side, as any tee shot that ends up here means an automatic layup. Those players who choose to lay up will need to make sure they have an accurate yardage for their third, as the green is deep from back to front, meaning a wedge that comes up short could leave a difficult two-putt. 

A final par 3 rounds out this trio. This is the longest par 3 on the property, playing a muscular 221 from the back set of tees. Although this is a big boy par 3, it does typically ride the prevailing south wind, so at times it doesn’t play quite as long as it reads. Even with that being the case, it will still likely require a long-iron or even a hybrid for most everyone but the long hitters. 

No. 16 is the final par 5 of the round and offers a chance at another birdie on the card. There is out of bounds left, so be aware to keep any tee shots up the right side, even if you miss the fairway. This hole plays 561 from the tips, so it will likely be a layup for everyone but the true apex predator long hitters. Choose a proper number and try to stick a wedge for your best chance to secure a four.  

No. 18 on this Dick Phelps design is a dogleg right back up the hill toward the clubhouse. It is almost like playing No. 1 in reverse. A driver up the left center of the fairway is perfect, but the approach plays uphill to a massive green, so players really need to be sure of the number they choose on approach and make a final good iron swing or risk a tough up-and-down or a lengthy effort that could lead to the three-putt finish. 

During the 2017 renovation, the clubhouse was expanded and is a perfect spot for drinks and dining before or after the round. Rusted Rail is also a great course for your next corporate event or charity scramble, with their large outdoor pavilion called The Venue, that can serve as the staging area for tournament check-in and for awards and dining afterward. 

The Venue can also host weddings and other events. Just 30 minutes from Downtown Dallas, The Venue and Rusted Rail offer a great and budget-friendly spot for a wedding that has some country feel, without making your Metroplex guests travel too far. There are outdoor and indoor options, so no matter what time of year you are planning your event, your guests will be comfortable. 

In addition to hosting your special event, this family friendly property also offers regular events like craft nights, live music, skins and scramble games and even karaoke. 

Rusted Rail is a course that presents players with fun routing and a great collection of challenging holes. Course conditions were very good considering the recent heat, and the staff is friendly and accommodating. Despite being a little bit outside the Metroplex, don’t expect this to be a place you can zoom around in three hours. There are plenty of local regulars who play often, which makes this your pretty standard four-hour round, especially during peak hours. 

Overall, Rusted Rail is one of the better values in the area, should you be willing to make the drive. At just $60 to play at peak times, this is one of the better layouts and is in great shape for that price point. Ownership at Rusted Rail has worked tirelessly over the last several years to make this a great overall experience, and I must say, it is definitely paying off. Don’t miss Rusted Rail for great golf and a great experience at a budget-friendly rate. 

The post Course Review – Rusted Rail appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Born in Canada, Sean’s family moved all over the U.S., and he was 10 years old and living in Los Angeles when his father first took him out to the driving range at the Vista Valencia golf course. That is how his early golf background was in The Golfing Machine style of golf swing, because one of its great proponents – Gregg McHatton – was and is – one of the principal coaches there.

Foley’s father, a chemist, had found that in those days golf was full of a lot of opinions without much research. Which is why he believed that The Golfing Machine would be a good place for Sean to start as, at least, it had some structure along with some specific ideas. 

College opened Sean’s mind to many more swing ideas as well as life beliefs, because he went on a full scholarship to a Division I university to play golf and study political science and philosophy. Even his choice of college was as unique as he is, because Tennessee State University is an HBCU (Historically Black College /University). “I think I just learned to think differently,” Foley said. “I think philosophy really helped my career because I’m very open to different points of view … never really having a solid point of view, just kind of figuring things out and adding to it and taking things out.” 

Moreover, Foley adds, “I was literally the only white kid who lived on campus. I just think I had so many Petri dishes of places to observe life from.” He also believes his family’s many moves from Canada to America to the South (of USA) to Los Angeles made him really lucky because he was able to see how different people felt about different things.

So how did this intriguing golf teacher, mentor and coach originally get all the ideas that he used when he first started teaching golf? “I probably read every Golf Magazine and Golf Digest, and I would also say that the fact that I hit like 300 to 400 balls a day for probably a decade. I learned a lot through trial and error.” And, he adds, “We’re all unique but we’re not that unique – what makes us human beings is pretty much all the same.” Sean believes that there might be two or three ways, but definitely not four, of getting the club square after all!

Over the years Foley has sought and found “his people” – the experts that he trusts for a scientific opinion including physiologists, osteopaths, chiropractors and two special mentors, Dr. Mark Bull and Chris Welch. Others he has spent time learning from include Dr. Sasho Mackenzie, Dr. Young Hoo Kwon and many golf teachers, including Kelvin Miyahara and George Gankas. He believes he has consulted a lot of people “smarter than me” and then put all of their information into his toolbox of ideas, besides all that he originally learned on the driving range.

From this entire vast potpourri of ideas, what does Sean Foley consider to be his basic swing philosophy, and has it changed since he first started teaching golf? “I would say I’ve grown a lot but that when I was 22 versus now, I can’t really produce great shots in many different ways,” he said. 

“My philosophy is that, obviously, the hands and arms are the most important part because they’re holding on to the club. The club is not that heavy, so it doesn’t really require that much. To me, it starts with the hands and arms, then obviously the hands and arms are connected to the trunk (this is my kind of vertical structure), and obviously we have contact with the ground so we’re able to create friction that gives us a stable base to create the movement. I think if you look at human movement when you go back to the days of our ancestors throwing spears and using swords – that’s pretty much where it all stems from.”

Foley also believes that understanding the ins and outs of Trackman and every single number, and recognizing what it is measuring, is important because when people go to him. “It is not because they’re bad or it’s not because their swing is not good, it’s because they’re not hitting the ball the way that they want to, based on flat surface hitting around the object at high velocities,” he said. 

Being a philosopher, does Foley coach the “mental game,” as well? He does not believe talking about self-belief and positivity actually helps, because the human brain “Is not like that.” It’s almost naive and cavalier, he believes, to tell someone to go on the golf course and “play free” or to be in a “good mood” or have a good “attitude.” 

“I don’t really care about the attitude of my surgeon, I just hope my surgeon is incredibly efficient at the surgery,” he said. 

Foley believes in a more practical solution for reducing anxiety as well as for making better decisions is through better breathing and exercising. Moreover, patience, to him, is the consequence of people understanding the difficulty of the game and where their skillsets lie.  

Does Foley believe training aids can help regular golfers who might wish to get access to his philosophy? “I have almost never used them, and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to be the face of many training aids, but if I didn’t think it could benefit golfers then the money’s not worth it to me,” he said. So how did he happen to become involved in the development of the ProSENDR? 

“If you just look at your stock 18- to 25-handicap golfer, which pretty much makes up the massive amount of golfers in the world, you know their ability to get back to impact with the clubface square is pretty nonexistent,” he said. They have probably, he believes, lost the ability to have any kind of downswing counter-rotation or be able to “separate” (thoracic rotation from pelvic rotation). Then they have just two one-hundredths of a second to get to impact and so, in many cases, the clubface is wide open. The ProSENDR gives them a head start on being able to get the clubface closed enough to get it to square at impact. It basically helps people avoid an open clubface and a narrow swing-arc radius in the downswing.

Does that mean he believes in the same positions for all golfers? “It’s not so much the same position, but if you look at how the right wrist, forearm and shoulder should work, how we would have thrown spears 100s of thousands of years ago, or how do we throw a football or baseball today, it’s all very similar,” Foley said. “It’s the same type of evolutionary action, so it’s not really that difficult to get people into that position, and I don’t really think that every golfer needs individual detailed information.”

It must be quite an exciting journey to take a lesson from a philosopher-physiologist who has such a deliberate, calm way of explaining things! Much of it was learned during his youth because he said he “had the most amazing childhood, growing up in an incredibly diverse culture with two incredibly kind and open-minded parents who only ever wanted me to be educated, well-read, kind and compassionate.” And, by the way, the hip-hop guess was not too far off, because it is a type of music that our man-of-eclectic-tastes really loves!

The post Golf Science – Foley’s Philosophy appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

The Patriarch

Eugene Claude Harmon Sr. was a true patriarch for the Harmon family. After having spent much of his boyhood in the Orlando area, he eventually went on to become a golf instructor at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York and, during the winters, at Seminole Golf Club, Florida. He also did stints at Rancho Mirage, California and, eventually, at a golf club in Houston. Despite being a busy club pro with a lot of lessons to give and not enough time to practice, Claude Harmon won the prestigious Masters Tournament in 1948, was a PGA Championship semi-finalist three times, and had a third-place finish at the U.S. Open.

The “Boys”

No wonder that, after their amazing childhood spent around golfers and golf courses, Claude Harmon’s four sons knew, growing up, that they’d like to be golf teachers, too. They were weaned on stories of Harmon’s exhibition game with Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen when he was a mere 13 years old, exciting tales of famous golfers, and snippets on how best to teach the great game. They all – Claude Jr. (the famous Butch Harmon), Craig, Dick and Bill – did become top teachers, as did grandson Claude Harmon III. Three of the “boys” went on to become Golf Digest Top 50 teachers.

The youngest of the Boys – Bill

Claude Harmon’s youngest son is Bill Harmon, who has played professional golf, been a coach to professional golfers, and caddied on the PGA TOUR, most famously for Jay Haas.

One of Bill’s early memories of Dad’s golfing tales was how, after a great hook around a tree with the ball ending up 3’ from the hole, Winged Foot’s famous pro Craig Wood told Claude it was “the worst golf shot” he’d ever seen. When he later hired Claude to be his assistant at Winged Foot, he changed his grip completely and it took three to four months to settle, eventually leading to Claude’s Masters’ victory. It was, thus, Craig Wood who changed not only Claude’s grip, but gave him the opportunity for a teaching position, which allowed the four boys (one of whom is actually named for Craig Wood) the opportunity to be around some of the best golfers in the country. And it was the grip story that made them all realize that it takes time for a change to settle in.

“We were all pretty good junior players and amateur players, and Butch and I tried the Tour for a while,” Bill Harmon said. “My brothers, Craig and Dick, although nice players, always wanted to be club pros. Butch and I were late bloomers when it came to getting started in our golf profession. I think the thing that helped me the most was that in 1978 I started caddying for Jay Haas.”

The opportunity to learn not only from caddying for a good Tour pro, but also watching top players and teachers over the years, added to Bill’s already strong teaching knowledge that he had gleaned from his father.

Bill says of his golf game in his youth, “I was very, very good and the game came naturally to me, so I didn’t even realize how good I was because I could just do it.” He lost many opportunities, thanks to poor choices in those days, but from the world of recovery he learned that people in that situation get themselves fit enough to be of service to another human being. “You don’t get yourself emotionally and spiritually fit to beat your chest and tell people how great you are, so that training kind of blended in and I found out I was a pretty good teacher,” Bill said.  “I also went back to all the fundamentals that our father taught us.”

Observations on the golf swing from a lifetime spent making observations

One very important takeaway from their father, Claude, was something Bill did not always see on the driving ranges of the around 400 PGA TOUR events in which he caddied. Claude always said, “Some people are born very gifted and just have hand-eye coordination, and they have a gift for putting the club on the ball properly. When you’re working with a talented player, be very, very careful what you change, because if they’re on the Tour they probably have a pretty good swing. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gotten that far.”

Moreover, added Bill, “We were taught to have great respect for talent and that even if we were correct in what we taught them, it might be crisscrossing very intricate, complex wires. So we were taught to be very careful with good players.”  Many great players have done the opposite of “typical” but were still very good—Jay Haas, Fred Couples and Kenny Perry – with a lift of the club first, followed by a late turn. They did not have the recommended-at-the-time swing style.

“I think one of the hard things about the golf swing is it’s not straight up and down and it’s not totally around,” Bill Harmon said. “It’s an angle. Something has to put the vertical in it, something has to put the arc in it, and I thought it was interesting that three guys who had played very well into their 60s and even now, were not what I would call one-piece takeaways or early turners – they put the vertical in first.” 

Reminiscing about an early lesson he gave, Bill said, “I remember the very first lesson I ever gave was through his (Claude’s) best friend and I gave a terrible lesson, as you can imagine, and when it was over he (Dad) said to me ‘Who was that guy that you were teaching?’ I said, ‘What do you mean? He is your best friend.’” Claude replied to his son that he thought it was a ghostwriter because Bill gave enough information in five minutes to fill a book! Bill was a little upset to be told that because he knew he was right.

Claude patiently explained that it was important not to lose control of a lesson early. A situation should be diagnosed properly, without bombarding a student with information simply to let the student know the teacher knew what he was talking about. “Your job,” Claude had added, “is to improve their quality of strike and help them lower their scores.” Bill got more upset as his Dad explained all that and asked,  “Well, how do you know all this?” To which his father smiled and said, “That’s what happened to me when I started to teach!”

Claude then went on to explain what he looked at the first time he gave someone a lesson. The grip, and then how that influences the clubface at the top of the swing. That pretty much told him everything the golfer would have to do on the downswing to hit a good shot. 

Bill, speaking of that first exhortation from his dad said, “Now you have to remember he learned all this stuff in the ‘40s, and they didn’t have measuring devices or video and YouTube and all this stuff. So he had to figure some of this stuff out himself, and that was a great a lesson for me early on. We talked about the clubface a lot. This was before measuring things and knowing that the ball starts at 75 percent clubface and 25 percent path. He (Dad) used to say ‘You know, the ball goes where the clubface tells it to go.’” The father gave all his sons a wonderful foundation and always wanted them to try to figure out cause and effect.

 One day Bill said, “Dad what do I have to do to be a good teacher?” To which he received a  very interesting response, which he feels might not be popular today. “You have to acquire lots of knowledge, you have to have great communication skills (because back then we didn’t have videos and stuff to distract us), you have to know how to diagnose the problem, then come up with one thing to change five, not five things to change one. And you have to have the type of personality that someone actually wants to spend an hour with. If you can do those four things, I think your lesson book will be filled.”

Does Bill, at his teaching location at Toscana Country Club in the Coachella Valley region of California, now teach differently from the basics his father taught him? “I like taking lessons from other people and learning from other people, but at the end of the day, the clubface is the only thing that gets the ball.”

In fact, one more inspiring piece of advice that he got from his father and still uses is that the game has four parts: 1. Can the student hit a golf ball? 2. What’s the short game like? 3. How does the student manage him/herself? 4. How does the person manage the golf course? This useful knowledge was learned by Claude after playing daily for a month every year with Ben Hogan, when each of them had to put $10 into a hat each time they missed a fairway or a green. With those stakes, a person had to learn how to manage the course!

Now Bill teaches the game and those four parts by telling his students to, “Become a little better ball-striker, a little better at short game, a little better at managing yourself and a little better at golf course management. Then it will be pretty easy to reduce your handicap 25 percent, and you don’t have to get remarkably better, just a little bit.”

“I look at the grip a lot,” Bill said. “Grip influences clubface dramatically, and clubface influences the path of the club dramatically. If I had to choose for the recreational golfer, I’d much prefer a strong grip than a weak grip, and I would much prefer a slightly shut clubface. I try to explain that from the start of the downswing to impact takes a quarter of a second, and if you have a bad grip and a bad setup and a bad back swing, you just don’t have time to fix it.”  

Another useful idea from Bill based on his experience is to take golfers who have the fear factor out onto the golf course, then have them take two or three rehearsal swings and have them hold their finish for one or two seconds, before having them go up to the ball and go to that finish after making the shot. He has had a lot of success with this concept. He believes it helps a person to give up control of the result while out playing on the golf course.

During a typical lesson, Bill might not say a word for 10 minutes as he watches his student hit shots, because he does not want to fill the golfer’s mind with rubbish – a lesson well-learned from his father’s theory of how best to teach. “I’m always looking for the one thing that will improve all the other things, and then I like to have about 10 different ways of explaining it and seeing what actually helps them change.”

Finally, he will map out a long-term plan and tell the student to see what, together, they can chip away at. “I like the long-term approach. I need them to understand that not every lesson is going to be great,” Bill said. 

In fact, he will ask his business-executive clients, “What’s your current handicap? What’s your lowest? How long have you been playing?” If they were to have a response like 18, 16 and 30, he’d tell them that in their business they might fire somebody who had performed to a level of 16 and then had an 18 level of performance 30 years later. So, with their golf, they should just take the time and patience to achieve their desired results.

A lesson from the youngest of the famed Harmon brothers then is based on his belief that “You have an opportunity to make another human being happy, and I think that’s the real reason that I teach. Not the handicap, not all that other stuff, but just to see the look on their face when they get it.”

The post Golf Science – The Harmon Family Legacy appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.

Although it isn’t huge, the driving range has 24 stations, which are perfect for banging balls or warming up pre-round. There is a chipping area and a putting green to roll a few before you get started just to get a feel for the slippery greens, which on our visit were immaculate. The indoor teaching facility is available for lessons from any of the experienced instructors on property. 

Playing at 402 yards from the “Palmer” tees, No. 1 is a manageable par 4 that rewards those bold enough to hit driver. A well-placed tee shot leaves just a wedge or short iron, but water on the left is reachable if you are aggressive. A three-metal or hybrid is a more conservative choice, and still leaves a reasonable opportunity for an opening three or easy par. 

No. 4 is a great short par 4 which can definitely jumpstart your round if you open with a few pars. Playing at just 339 yards from the back tee area, the long hitters can sling a draw up near the green and have a chance at a simple pitch-and-putt birdie. Those choosing to lay-up will need only a short iron or wedge into a green surrounded by mounding that can leave some awkward stances should you miss the putting surface.

After the second par 3 of the front nine, No. 6, named “Big Fossil,” is a short par 4 which requires a pinpoint tee shot and then a short iron or wedge to an elevated green over a rock face just on the other side of a Big Fossil Creek, which crosses the hole at the end of the fairway. The green is narrow front to back, and guarded bunkers left and short right, so knowing your yardage is paramount if you want to hit the middle of the green. Even when finding the fairway, this is a tough shot to judge, as the elevated green makes choosing a number and committing to the shot difficult.

Before you head for the seventh tee, be sure to stop by Fossil’s halfway house, which is called “The Boat House.” This spot, which is churning out some tunes to enjoy as you fuel up, has a complete food and beverage menu that is available to golfers and members of the community who access the Blue Line walking trail that connects the nearby neighborhood to the golf course. A seating area with Adirondack-style furniture, tables, rockers, misters and bistro lights make the ambiance great as you watch or compete in some of the model boat races in the nearby pond. You can also pop back into The Boat House again before you tee off on No. 16. It’s a great place to get a beverage or some snacks before you finish out the front nine. 

No. 7 plays as one of the toughest holes on this Palmer layout. At 430 yards from the back tees, this one doglegs to the right, and distance is necessary to make your approach as manageable as possible. However, longer hitters can bring Big Fossil Creek in play, so a more conservative 3-metal or even hybrid might be a better play. If you are able to get one down close to Big Fossil, a shorter approach awaits to a slightly elevated green. The wind here can swirl a bit, so be mindful of club selection, and know that hitting the fat part of the green might be a good decision.  

No. 8 is the second par 5 on the front nine at Fossil Creek. A speed slot in the fairway can slingshot well-struck balls down the fairway, giving players the option to get home in two. But a well-guarded green that features water short and bunkers around the putting surface means a layup might be a smarter decision. The green here is diabolical, with a severe slope from back to front and left to right. Miss on the wrong part of the green here, and a two-putt can be a challenge.

No. 10 is the beginning of a great stretch of holes to begin the inward nine. This par 3 is a wild ride from the tips, playing close to 210 yards and a full carry over water. It does play slightly downhill, but almost always fights the prevailing south wind, making club selection tough. If the wind is blowing, making sure you choose enough club is a must, or you might watch your ball chewed up by the wind and splashing down in the drink. Mounding behind the green can make any chip shots from over the surface a bit dicey, but it is certainly better to be long than short to avoid a big number. 

The quirky 11th hole will really put your course management skills to the ultimate test. There is a chance that longer hitters can cover the corner which winds to the right and over a rock and native grass-filled tributary. This shot is only reserved for those with ultimate confidence with a driver. A smart play would be a long-iron or hybrid to the initial landing area straight out in front of the tee, but taking this route assures it will be a three-shot par 5. The third shot will again play back over Big Fossil Creek to the green which has a pair of bunkers to avoid. This is a hole design that can derail your round if you try to be too cute. 

No. 12 and No. 13 are two of the best holes on the property at Fossil. A scenic lake off to the right of the No. 12 tee and fairway makes this a challenging tee shot. Testing the right half of the fairway leaves a shorter approach, but also runs the risk of the south wind pushing your ball into the water. Favoring the left side of the fairway with a controlled 3-wood or hybrid leaves a longer approach, but assures a dry tee shot and leaves players staring down the length of this green which trundles from front left to back right and is surrounded by a trio of bunkers. 

No. 13 is one of my personal favorite holes at Fossil Creek. Playing almost 200 yards from the tips, this scenic par 3 offers an elevated tee shot to a green that is almost completely surrounded by water. A landing area short and right is a good place to bail out if you want to take your chances getting up-and-down, but those who are bold can try to fire at the pin and go for the glory. Anything right will wind up rinsed, so choose carefully. 

After a manageable par 4, comes another scenic hole, the 394-yard 15th. This tee shot works uphill toward a cross creek that makes hitting driver a bit iffy for the long hitters. A 3-metal or hybrid for position is a crafty play and leaves a challenging approach over water to a green that is fairly narrow from front to back and slopes severely from left to right. Miss the green left, and you will be faced with a slick pitch shot that can be tough to get close. It’s a pretty hole, and one that can pose a tough par should you miss the fairway or the green in regulation. 

No. 16 is another of my favorite holes on the course. A shorter par 4, playing just 379, this is not a driver hole for most. A mid- or long-iron is a great play for position off the tee to avoid a fairway bunker on the right. However, the real challenge here isn’t the tee shot, but rather the approach to one of the smaller greens you will find on any course in the area. The putting surface narrows to the back, so any pins cut on that section of the green make it tough to fire at the pin. It’s a fun little hole, and one that puts a premium on ball-striking and distance control. 

The final hole at Fossil is one last opportunity at a birdie. Another par 5, this one again can be played in a variety of ways. A downhill dogleg left off the tee, driver may be too much for the bombers, as Big Fossil Creek again runs through the fairway at the bottom of the hill. A tight draw 3-metal or even hybrid will bound down the hill approaching the creek and will give big hitters the chance to give the green a run for their second. A pair of fairway bunkers guard the right for those who choose to lay-up, which will leave nothing more than a wedge third. Another large bunker protects the green short and left, so favor the right-center of the putting surface.  

Fossil Creek is more than just a great property for teeing it up. They also specialize in weddings, if you are looking for a gorgeous venue to tie the knot. “The Glen,” which is set among the beautiful oak trees and features golf course backdrops, provides a perfect setting for the ceremony. The trees can even be up-lit for a dramatic effect, and pendant lighting illuminates the patio. New stairs and a stamped concrete walkway lead to the ceremony site, which can seat nearly 200. Fossil is also a great spot for your corporate outing, fundraiser or charity tournament.  

Overall, the Golf Club at Fossil Creek has long been one of the top daily fee choices in the area. The combination of great service, amenities and the dynamic Arnold Palmer layout make this a great property in the Arcis Golf stable of courses. The updates from a few years ago have really settled in and have Fossil looking as good as it has in years. It is a must-play for those wanting a challenging course that boasts rock-solid overall conditions and customer appreciation. 

The post Course Review – Fossil Creek appeared first on AvidGolfer Magazine.