Butch Harmon’s Playing Lessons, (09) Hole 9, Notes

Post date: Dec 15, 2017 12:39:23 PM

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

(09) Hole 9: Shoal Creek, Par 4:356 yards

• 1. Tee Shot

     1. Learn to hit a controlled draw in practice first. The golf course is no place to experiment. Think with the head, not with the heart. Don’t try a shot you don’t know how to hit consistently at will. Once able to consistently hit a shot in practice, then we can bring that shot to the course. The secret to promoting a proper slightly inside path is making sure the shoulders turn in a clockwise direction on the backswing while keeping the hands quiet. By doing so, the club swing along an inside path all by itself, never entering the ‘danger zone’ behind the body.

  2. Approach

• • 1. Cut Shots: Aim the clubface differently and don’t play by feel.

       1. Aim the feet, hips and shoulders left of the target, in an open position.

       2. Aim the clubface at the final target.

       3. Then just swing normally. The ball will start its flight along the body line, then move toward the pin, where the clubface was aimed.

    2. After aligning and setting the clubface, stare down the target, correctly forming a visual picture of the perfect shot in the mind’s eye. Make a controlled compact backswing.

    3. In deep rough, take a short or medium iron. Never try to recover with a long iron. Take the club back quite steeply and allow the wrists to hinge on the backswing. Hit the ball as cleanly as possible with a powerful descending blow, pulling the club down hard into the back of the ball. Don’t ever sweep the ball in deep rough.

• • • 1. Drill for Training Yourself to Hit Down in Deep Rough: Practice playing shots off the right foot. The ball position will exaggerate the steepness of the swing. Get the feeling of swinging on this type of plane in the deep rough.

• 3. Greenside

• • 1. On an uphill lie in the bunker and a relatively long shot, it is not necessary to open the clubface as much but still finish the swing after impact. Always follow through on sand shots, particularly when the ball is a fairly long distance from the hole. Accelerate the arms in the hitting area and swing up into a high finish.

• 4. Putting

• • 1. Never reach for the ball as this promotes tension in the arms. Any tension prevents acceleration of the putter through impact leading to short putts. To alleviate tension and ensure that the putter accelerates through the ball, set up with the arms under the shoulder sockets. Let the arms hang down naturally, rather than extending them outward, to stay nice and relaxed at address in order to hit solid putts that reach the hole. Concentrate intently and make a pure arms-shoulders stroke. Knock the ball dead into the back of the cup.