Nick Taylor is Low Amateur at Bethpage

Congratulations to Nick Taylor, the low amateur in last weekend's US Open golf tournament at Bethpage Black. Nick, one of only three amateurs to make the cut thanks to an impressive second round score of 65, finished +8 overall for the tournament, and tied for 36th place. Well done, Nick!

Nick is a member of the Canadian National golf team, and his stellar performance at Bethpage solidifies his #1 standing in the R&A World Amateur Golf rankings. Nick is a long-time student of Henry Brunton, a Master Professional and Top 100 Instructor. Henry is also one of the world's leading experts in the development of junior golfers. He preaches that measurement is an important part of development and improvement in golf, and has over 200 private students actively using the ShotByShot.com game analysis program. In addition, all of the Canadian National teams have used ShotByShot.com since its inception.

ShotByShot.com is proud to think that our game analysis program has played a part in the development of such fine young players as Nick Taylor, and his Canadian National teammate, Matt Hill, who recently won the NCAA golf chamionship.

For more about Henry Brunton's innovative approach to developing junior golfers, see http://www.henrybrunton.com/index.php.

To learn more about how the ShotByShot.com game analysis program can help you shape and achieve your own personal golf improvement goals, go to www.ShotByShot.com.

Glover's 16 Seconds to US Open Victory: The Importance of a Pre-Shot Routine in Golf

Lucas Glover's win at BethPage was an excellent example of the importance of a solid pre-shot routine, and the pay-off for golfers who have a consistent regimen. He had a few stumbles early in round 4, but hung on and played well on the final holes under extreme pressure. I paid close attention to his pre-shot routine, noted how well he stuck with it down the stretch, and believe that it was the difference at the end.

A well constructed pre-shot routine accomplishes two important purposes. The first is physical. It creates the platform for a successful shot - proper setup and alignment. The second is mental in that the routine occupies the conscious mind with a rehearsed set of positive thoughts that lead to a trigger. This is the part that helps ward off the negative effects of pressure. It creates a mental suit of armour against the doubts that can creep in and derail the shot-making process. Lucas took a consistent 16 seconds from the time he stepped forward from behind the ball until he struck each shot - full swings and putts.

While I do not pretend to know what he was thinking, here is what it looked like to me:

Shot selection - First, Lucas and his caddie would go through the decision making process and agree on the exact shot called for.

Visualization - Then from behind the ball, looking down the line at the target he would visualize the exact flight of the ball as planned.

Start - Next, he moved forward to address the ball - tick tock, tick tock.

Alignment - (to the target and proper ball position) 1) He'd place the club behind the ball aimed directly at the intermediate target. 2) Then he set up to the club and the ball.

Posture - Check posture and balance: spine straight, head high, arms relaxed and hanging.

Trigger - One quick waggle to loosen the hands and forearms & GO!

Coincidently, a close friend with whom I play a lot of golf recently asked if I would help him develop a routine in preparation his club championship. We spent two separate sessions at the range working on just this. Together, we developed a pattern of well-choreographed moves to insure that he is properly lined up to the target; standing tall to give him plenty of room to swing freely and release the club; and a waggle-trigger to start his backswing with his torso. While I did not subject him to a stop watch, I did tap my foot and count the seconds so that he could become comfortable with the tempo and timing of his new routine.

So far, he has qualified and won 3 matches and has the 36-hole finals this weekend. Two of the three matches were against better players, at least according to the USGA, and Tom credits the confidence in his routine for helping him prevail. I will be able to observe our work closely while I caddie for him in the finals. Good luck Tommy and stick to your routine!

Aussie Rules

Greg Norman has a new toy. It is a 228-foot boat called Aussie Rules. It is among the largest private yachts in existence. Apparently it cost more than $70 million dollars to build. The company that built it gave it to Greg at cost because they wanted the publicity of The Shark sailing their product. They are rumored to actually have taken a loss on the deal - for the moment. If this motivates you to work harder on your golf game, try re-reading some of my prior posts on the importance of practice in the improvement process. Here's a good one:
http://niblicksoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/05/approach-to-practice.html

Or if you're not sure what part of your game needs the most attention, perhaps it's time to try a game analysis program. If you want the most accurate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your golf game, go to http://www.ShotByShot.com. Remember, knowledge is power!

Brian Gay: Putting for Dough!

Throughout the telecast of the St. Jude Classic on Sunday, Ian Baker Finch, once known as a great putter himself, commented on how the strength of Brian Gay's game was clearly putting. Ian made an excellent point to note that Brian had NO 3-Putts at that point in the telecast, and, true to his reputation, Brian did not let this comment jinx him into a stumble down the stretch.

Brian Gay finished five shots clear of his closest rivals and it was clearly his putting that was the difference. He was ranked #1 and #2 respectively in the old standby golf statistics - Putts per GIR (1.538) and Total Putts Per Round (25.0). I am no fan of these stats, but in this case Brian's performance was outstanding enough to drag them into relevance. Before we look more closely at his putting, his other stats support the point that the remainder of his game was solid but not spectacular.

As was said over and over again during the telecast (there was no drama to this ending so they had to fill the last 2 hours of air time with something), "Brian's game is not long but very accurate and consistent and he is a great putter." And the Tour stats bear this out.

• Driving Accuracy: T9th - (71%), quite good, averaging 10 of 14 fairways. More importantly, none of his missed fairways could be considered an ERROR (Penalty situation or poor enough result that it required a pure advancement shot to recover.)
• Driving Distance: 76th (266 yards - short by today's standards.)
• Greens in Reg.: T19 (12.25/round). I am more accustomed to seeing 13+ from the winner.
• Sand Saves: T24 (6/9, or 66.6%) with 1 ERROR (a shot left in the bunker). Winners are usually 70% or better with no errors.
• Scrambling: 65%, and again, lower than the usual Winner's profile.

Thus far, Brian's profile is not matching up to what I would expect from a Winner on the PGA Tour. This is where his putting prowess separates him and particularly from outside 10 feet where the averages for EVERYONE including the PGA Tour fall off rapidly. Note, in the above graphic which compares Brian's 1-Putt % to the average for the Tour (YTD 2009). Combine the fact that he had ZERO 3-Putts, his putting accuracy from 11 to 30 feet was remarkable. Had Brian putted no better than his peers in this range alone, he would have finished six shots higher and tied for 3rd.

Big Ben's the Boss

Golf Digest's US Open Challenge was held yesterday at Bethpage Black. This now-annual event grew out of a comment made by Tiger Woods several years ago after the US Open was held at Oakmont. Tiger, so impressed by the difficulty of the course, challenged that a 10-handicap golfer couldn't break 100 there. Three celebrities known to be accomplished golfers, and a contest winner from Arizona, put Bethpage to the test.

Here's how they did:

Roethlisberger +11
Jordan +16
Timberlake +18
"Larry" +31

Roethlisberger led the group shooting 81 on the par 70 Bethpage Black course yesterday, but was awed. "Every golf course we play from now on will seem easy," he said after the round. Jordan was second with an 86, and Timberlake followed with an 88. Larry - representing all earthly golfers - shot 101. Had it not been for a fateful 10 on the 16th hole, Larry would have broken 100 as well. "But that's the way it is. Life goes on," was his philosophical post-mortem. We feel you, Larry!

For more insights on the day of fun at Farmingdale, go to: http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/usopencontest/2009/06/usopen_challenge_weinman_0612

For more perspective on how the course and the set-up at Bethpage Black differs from your weekend track, check out my prior post on this blog:

http://niblicksoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-tough-will-bethpage-black-be.html