Butch Harmon’s Playing Lessons, (06) Hole 6, Notes

Post date: Oct 27, 2017 10:59:50 AM

Butch Harmon’s Playing Lessons by Butch Harmon with John Andrisani

Hole 6: Seminole Golf Club, Par 4: 373 yards

• 1. Tee Shot - For a difficult tee shot that requires a controlled draw (the wind blowing from left to right), it is better to choose a 3-wood, especially if it still allows for a short iron into the green.

     1. Never rush on the downswing. Always keep in mind to swing the club at a nice even pace. Drill for finding the ideal swing tempo:

        1. Divide 30 balls evenly into six separate pile.

        2. Hit all five in the first pile, noting the distance and direction of each ball's flight, and how well you stay balanced.

        3. Move on to pile number two, trying to hit the balls five yards farther, keeping mind that it’s a faster lower-body rotation (knees and hips) that generates additional distance, not a harder arm swing.

        4. If the ball's travel longer and stay pretty straight, and balance is retained, move on to pile three, and try to add another five yards.

        5. If you are still in balance and you hit longer on-target tee shots, move on to pile four.

        6. Once at the point where the body is out of balance and unable to control the the club, and shots are mishit, we have hit our wall. Back off one notch from there and that’s as hard as we can and should swing the ‘big stick.”

     2. Always focus the eyes intently on the target area. Couple this positive pre swing routine, with a mental image of the proper release action to raise confidence levels and to promote a powerfully accurate shot.

     3. Alignment is important and never more so than on an awkward winding hole. Aim to a spot in the fairway where we expect the ball to land, imagining the carry and roll in our visualization.

     4. Always let the right forearm and hand release freely over the left through impact. Keep the right heel down through impact to help the arms release properly.

  2. Approach -

• • 1. Know yardages exactly. Double check the wind’s direction and velocity. A left to right wind means we need to line up a little left of where we want to end up. A crosswind may also take a few yards of the ball’s carry, so we may need to club up. Always be careful and aware. Conditions and course design may call for us to aim left or right of the pin. Make up our mind ahead of time to get the precise yardage, then trust that yardage and pick the correct club to fly the ball to the hole.

    2. Learn the 3 quarter low iron shot to keep the shot low and on target in windy conditions.

    3. If the second shot requires a career shot out of imperfect lie with our longest fairway club to carry over bunkers and land the ball on a well-guarded green, choose the smart play instead. Play a controlled punch shot that puts the ball in the fairway but short of the bunkers.

• 3. Pitching

• • 1. Don’t baby the wedges. Line up slightly open toward the target, with the ball virtually centered in a narrow stance. Take the swing that the distance requires. Release the clubhead freely through the ball as with a normal iron shot, naturally.

• 4. Greenside

• • 1. Play greenside sand shots with the clubface laid wide open. This allows the club to skim through the sand, so the ball is lifted up softly by the blast. Using the flange of the sand wedge correctly is particularly important in soft and deep sand.

• 5. Putting

• • 1. On approach putts, pick an interim target along the line (a light spot of grass, etc), then set the the putter face square to it to allow the ball to track to the high side of the hole. On breaking putts decide on the high point of the arc of the putt, then choose a spot directly between the the ball and that point to aim at. This gets the putt started on line and increases its chance of falling into the ‘side door,’ on the high side.

    2. On putts of 20 feet or more concentrate on the speed first and the line second. Work to make putts carry the right speed consistently to simultaneously increase our percentage of one putts made and decrease our percentage of 3 putts made.