It’s already June, but for many Coloradans the golf season has just begun. And those early rounds can get ugly for the low handicapper as well as for the beginner.
Whether you shoot in the 70s or haven’t yet scratched 100, scoring five to 10 strokes higher than your norm isn’t fun for anyone at any level.
Early-season woes can be prevented or at least reduced, say three of the area’s top golf instructors, by brushing up on fundamentals. They say that’s the best way to efficiently and effectively jump-start your game.
“Even with a player the caliber of (PGA Tour player) Brandt Jobe, the first thing he does to start out the golf season is to make sure his posture and setup are correct,” said Mike McGetrick, director of the McGetrick Golf Academy at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club.
“What’s difficult about golf is sometimes you can’t feel what you’re actually doing,” McGetrick said. “And sometimes what you think you feel fools you, especially when you haven’t yet played a lot of golf.”
McGetrick pays particular attention to posture when working with all his clients, including Jobe and other low-handicappers.
“Correct posture sets up the framework for a successful golf swing,” McGetrick said. “If you can start in the correct position with the proper balance, it’s easier to make the proper backswing and the proper forward swing. You get hands and arms swinging on plane.”
Dennis Murray likes to begin his lessons to beginners or high-handicappers by discussing grip and grip pressure.
“Ben Hogan called the grip the heartbeat of the golf swing,” said Murray, director of instruction at The Ridge at Castle Pines North. “The grip obviously controls the clubface angle.”
Murray contends a majority of topped shots and wicked slices are caused by a change in grip pressure during the swing.
“They’re gripping too hard with their right hand. That causes the clubface to open,” Murray said. “The pressure rolls the right palm upward and leaves the clubface open.”
Conversely, Murray said, a golfer who consistently duck-hooks the ball may be gripping too firmly with the left hand. That can roll the left palm upward, causing the clubface to close, he said.
“Beginners tend to squeeze the club too much; they try to grab it in the middle of their swing,” Murray said. “When your grip pressure changes, your muscles shorten and tighten. That can cause topped shots. Topped shots are one of the main problems for beginners. Then they try to lift the ball, and then there are more problems.”
Attempting to lift the ball rather than swinging down and through also is a common swing fault facing mid-handicappers early in the season, said GolfTEC’s Ty Walker.
“The No. 1 problem for mid-handicappers is not hitting their irons crisp,” Walker said. “Especially early in the year, players might feel like they have to help the ball get in the air.”
Instead, Walker said, let the loft of the clubface do the work.
“You want to make a nice divot after the clubface makes impact with the ball; you don’t want the clubhead to pass your hands too early,” he said. “With irons, you want to pinch it or trap it. Think of an airplane. We want the airplane to be touching down at the golf ball, not nosing up already.”
Walker says to practice low punch shots, which are executed by keeping the hands ahead of the clubhead. That thought should be used for all iron shots, he said.
“Make this the year of the divot, especially for the ladies out there,” Walker said.
And get your season off to a good start.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
