Take an Extra Club and Reduce your Strokes – Warren Thomas

I often play golf with members and time after time they come up short with their approach shots. I would suggest that you take enough club to get your ball to the back of the green and you will have much better luck on your approach shots. The reason being is everyone thinks they can hit it further than they can. If you take the extra club and miss hit slightly you will be in the middle of the green, if you hit it really poorly you will be at the front of the green and if you happen to hit it perfect you are just on the back of the green. Either way you are in pretty good shape. Take an extra club and reduce your score!!!!

Slick Greens – Smooth out the Stroke – Andrew Baines

It happens every summer, the superintendant double cuts and rolls the greens just before the club championship. All of a sudden, your putts are just racing by the hole. To help, place a nickel in the back cavity of your putter and make some putts. Did the nickel fall off? Most likely. We want to achieve a nice smooth tempo with the putting stroke. Now hit some putts, focusing on keeping the nickel in place. By keeping the nickel in place we have created a much smoother swing, that will help us achieve better distance control when the greens get slick.

Your divot tells a story - Andrew Baines

The shape, depth and direction of your divot can tell you a lot about your swing and the shot you just hit.
Your divot should be fairly shallow and not to deep. A deep divot is often the result of a steep swing which could cause a wrist injury. If your swing is steep, try swinging the golf club more like a baseball bat, to get a more rounded swing.
The direction of your divot can tell a story as well. For a right handed golfer, if your divot points out to the left, the ball probably went right as a result. This is because the club cut across the ball and imparted side spin on the ball – the classic “over the top” move.
A divot that is heel deep will result in a shot that went left, and a divot toe deep is a shot that went right. Being able to analyze your divot will tell you a lot about your swing.

Unique Lies – Warren Thomas

We can often encounter unique lies out on the course that we don’t see on the driving range or while practicing. Knowing how to play these lies can greatly help our game.


Sidehill Lies


When the ball is above our feet, the ball, more often than not the ball will hook. So we need to compensate for this at setup. Aim to the right of our target if we are right handed. When the ball is below our feet, it will have a tendency to slice. We will again need to compensate for that with our alignment by aiming left of our target.


Downhill lies


When facing a downhill lie, we want to get our shoulders parallel to the ground and keep them parallel to the ground throughout the swing. We also want to put the ball a little further back in our stance. This will help prevent us from hitting the ball thin. The ball will tend to fly lower and run out a bit more.


Uphill lie


Just like the downhill lie, we want to get our shoulders parallel to the slope of the ground. We will have a tendency to want to fall back onto our back foot, so we want to try to keep our weight forward. The ball will tend to fly higher, so taking an extra club is a good option.

Playing in the Wind – Warren Thomas

If you are playing golf at Cobble Beach you will find out quickly that the wind is a major factor. There are a couple of key things that will make you successful when playing in the wind;
1. Take a few extra clubs and swing ¾ quarter. Most of my students will not take enough club and swing too hard at the ball. All this does is put you off balance and it adds spin to the golf ball which in turn makes the ball go higher.
2. If you set up 1 ½ closer to the ball, the ball will fly lower. This will help your ball stay below the wind which will help you.
3. To get that long drive down wind, set up 1 ½ inches farther from the ball. This will dramatically increase the height of your shot.

The Bladed Wedge – Warren Thomas

Have you ever hit a great shot to a back pin and found your ball lying right against the back rough??? If so, this is how you should approach that shot. Take your highest lofted club which most likely will be your lob wedge, take your putting grip, and hit the shot like you hit a putt. Make sure to put the ball in the middle of your stance, choke up a bit and make sure to stay really still when taking the shot. Generally this will allow the ball to gentle roll towards the hole and you should have a chance at your par. A lot of golfers will try to chip it or use their putter and the club gets caught in the rough which generally creates a bad outcome. So take your lob wedge and hit it like a putt for better results….

Picking the right club is the key – Andrew Baines

Ever hit a shot that you thought was great, only to have it sail over the back of the green, or plug into the front bunker?
Most players when their ball it at the 150 yard marker, will automatically reach for their 7 iron or their 150 yard club, however, rarely is that shot actually 150 yards.
Before picking what club to hit, we must take into account several considerations.
1. Pin location – a front or back pin could add or subtract up to 15 yards
2. Slope - a gentle uphill slope would be about 1 club or 10 yards a more severe slope may add over 20 yards. The opposite will happen when faced with a downhill shot
3. Wind – a gentle breeze is usually worth an extra club, a moderate breeze could be worth 2 clubs and a “Cobble Beach breeze” could be worth 3 or more clubs

From the 150 yard marker to an uphill green, into the breeze to a back pin could play more like 180 yards. That’s a long way to hit a 7 iron!
Taking all of these factors in to consideration will help us hit our approach shots consistently closer to the hole

Visualize Short Game Shots – Mike McHardy

When chipping and pitching it is important to draw a picture in you head and visualize your ball reacting on the green. Start by picking a spot that you intend to land your golf ball. By visualizing your shot first, you will have already chosen your desired trajectory and speed. Do this every time to instill added confidence and consistency around the greens.