Golf Digest October 2017

Playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this year, I came to the seventh hole and skulled a nice little wedge about 15 feet from the hole. I’ve been hitting these clothesline shots ever since I took up the game on a Philadelphia muny, gambling against a gaggle of colorful characters. ▸ This time my shot was caught on television, and Phil Blackmar, holding a microphone, came over to interview me. He said something like, “As the mist rolls off Carmel Bay, tell me about your favorite golf memories.” For no reason I can explain, I babbful characters. ? This time my shot was caught on television, and Phil Blackmar, holding a microphone, came over to interview me. He said something like, “As the mist rolls off Carmel Bay, tell…

“Have I ever been high in a PGA Tour event? Sure.” As you might have heard, the PGA Tour is rolling out a new drug-testing program to coincide with the start of the new season in October. In addition to peeing in a cup, we’ll now have our blood inspected for performanceenhancing substances like human growth hormone. Our banned list is being updated to match what’s used for Olympic athletes, and all suspensions for failing tests will now be announced to the public. No more speculating if so and so, who didn’t play a tournament for three months, really hurt his back, or was in fact “quietly suspended” for failing a test. Sounds much stricter, right? Well, as a player who has smoked pot regularly for the past few years, I’m not…

When you turn the page and see Brooke Henderson’s driver swing, you’ll probably think If I tried that, I’d be in the hospital. Knowing the physical limitations of the typical amateur golfer, we won’t disagree. But even if copying her physicality isn’t realistic, her mental approach to driving is worth considering. “I’m not technical at all. I really don’t want to be thinking about my swing. I just want to let it happen,” says Henderson, a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour, including the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the tour’s five majors. She also lost the same tournament by a shot to Danielle Kang in July. “If there’s one thing for sure that I know I do, I’d say I’m trying to hit the ball as hard as…

Being a great putter doesn’t mean you’re rolling in bombs all day. Sure, that would be nice, but quality putting is about distance control from long range and precise aim on the short ones. From inside five feet, the biggest problem I see is a careless routine. It drives me crazy when golfers step up to a putt and plop their feet into place before thinking about where to aim the putter. Essentially, their feet have already dictated their aim. A better routine is to aim the putterface very carefully down your intended start line, then take a comfortable stance and go (right). If you do that—let your aim drive your setup, not the other way around—you’ll make a ton more of these short putts. For long putts, the first thing to…

One of the most difficult lies you can get in a greenside bunker is when the ball embeds a little into the upslope, like the PGA Tour’s Patrick Reed faced here. This is especially true if the sand is soft. It’s difficult from an awkward stance to swing with enough acceleration to get the ball out of a slightly buried lie. But I’ll show you in four steps how to generate the power necessary to execute this tricky shot. —WITH RON KASPRISKE 1. SQUARE UP ▸ Unless it’s buried under a lip, you don’t need to add loft to the shot to clear the face of the bunker. The upslope helps, so there’s no need to open the face of your wedge like you would in many bunker situations. Instead, square it to…

“I’m asking you to pick a side: left or right?” Some holes you have to play a few times before you understand the options. There’s real nuance to the design so it takes your full attention, along with a bit of trial and error, to figure out the most efficient way to align your skills against its particular challenges. I love that kind of very cerebral golf, but sometimes it’s fun to play a hole that’s blatant, too. Playing this game is about making choices, and no feature embodies this fact so plainly as a split fairway. As a designer, I’m being obvious: I’m asking you to pick a side: left or right? The par 5 11th hole on the Legend course at The Club at Ibis (illustrated), a course we designed…