Golf Digest April 2015

Fleck gave Bolt a hard shove and said, “Do you want to finish what we started in Australia?” There’s truth to the adage that you can learn a lot about a person’s character during a round of golf. To that I would add that if you really want to learn about a tour player’s personality, spend about five minutes in the 18th-hole scoring area after the round. ▶ Some players behave like princes, regardless of their score. Good examples: Ben Crenshaw and Nick Price. On the other hand, Ben’s college teammate, Tom Kite, would fall into what I coined The 67-76 Club. All smiles and compliments after a 67, but a steady stream of criticism—usually about the course setup, sometimes about the guy he was playing with—after a 76. ▶ I…

Q: How is it possible that I played more than 30 rounds last year, and I got worse? My handicap is going up! MATT BISCHOFF, NEW YORK CITY A What can we say? Golf can be cruel. But as long as you’re having fun, don’t worry about your number. Just think of all the extra strokes you’ll get in nassaus. You’ll be raking in the cash. Besides, you’re not alone. Golf Digest handicap expert Dean Knuth says most people finish the season within two shots—better or worse—of their Index at the beginning of the year. One big exception is Zhong (Amy) Gibbs, 43, of Wimberley, Texas. Playing as much as five times a week in 2014, Zhong’s Index plummeted from 28.8 to 6.8. Her 22-shot improvement was attested by Andrew Bryant, tournament coordinator…

Poppy Hills might just be the coolest golf hang on 17 Mile Drive. Bacon is bacon, right? It’s a warm, salty, crunchy, chewy strip of deliciousness just about anywhere you go. Then you take a bite of the homemade bacon prepared every day at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach and . . . your world changes forever. It’s made from smoked, whole pork bellies, and it’s so good that before you can finish your last bite, you’re thinking, Can I get some to go? Is it on the lunch menu? Can I preorder for tomorrow? The man behind the bacon ($4) is Poppy’s new executive chef, Johnny De Vivo, who previously worked for two of the Monterey Peninsula’s top restaurants: La Bicyclette and Casanova. His arrival is one of several…

You’re in Jersey, and your golf coach is in Maui? No problem.’ Let’s say you’re in need of a quality golf lesson, but the pro at your local driving range looks like he hasn’t swung a club since Softspikes were invented. In the past, your options might have been making a road trip to see one of your state’s top instructors or paying big bucks to attend a golf school. Even if you could find a good teacher, you’d still have to factor in weather, scheduling and time constraints. Now you have another option. If you own an iPad with a front-mounted camera (iOS 8.0 or newer), you can get a realtime lesson from an instructor from almost anywhere without leaving your back yard. Mobicoach is a new app (free from iTunes)…

Many tequilas are aged in oak barrels, so they’re a lot mellower. Remember that spring break on South Padre Island when you woke up at 5 a.m. in a laundromat? Just a guess, but was tequila involved? That’s unfortunate, because the alcohol mostly associated with syrupy-sweet margaritas and rapid-fire shots with salt and lime deserves a better reputation than a recollection of your worst hangover. “The quality is so much better now,” says Antonio Rodriguez, production manager for Tequila Patrón. Rodriguez, Kevin Vanegas of Tequila Herradura and bartender Krystle-Lynn Kingcade of the Añejo bar in New York City suggest you give the spirit another try. This time, order an añejo or reposado, and sip it with or without a little ice, like a single-malt scotch. If you prefer cocktails, try it…

“Take 30 minutes to warm up, 15 short game, 15 full swing.” When you warm up before you play, do you hit shots with a purpose? That is, once you’ve loosened up, do you practice the shots that give you the most trouble on the course you’re about to play? The right prep will help your scoring. Here’s an example as I look forward to playing in my 42nd Masters. Augusta National is very long, and I know I’ll have to hit a number of hybrid clubs on approach shots. So I’ll practice hard with my hybrids to make sure I have them under control and can hit them a little higher than normal to hold Augusta’s speedy greens. In my warm-up, I’ll try some hybrids until I hit a few I…