Golfing News & Blog Articles

The post California Amateur Championship Qualifying appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

June 1, 2020

Rule of the Month: Movable Obstructions and Loose Impediments

One of the fundamental principles of the Rules of Golf is that you play the course as you find it, but sometimes, you find things on the course near your golf ball that simply are not meant to be part of the challenge of the game. Loose impediments and movable obstructions both fall into that category of items. Because of this, you may remove them in most cases.

What is the difference between Loose Impediments and Movable Obstructions?

Loose impediments are unattached natural objects like stones, loose grass, leaves, branches, pine needles, clumps of compacted soil (including aeration plugs), etc. Other things that fall into this category are dead animals and animal waste, plus worms, insects, and other similar animals as well as the mounds and webs they build (for example, worm casts and spider webs).

It is important to note that there are a few things that may seem to meet the definition of a loose impediment but are not actually considered loose impediments under the Rules. Sand, loose soil, dew, frost, and water are not loose impediments. Snow and natural ice (other than frost) are treated either as loose impediments or as temporary water (when on the ground), at your option. This means that you may either remove snow and natural ice, or take free relief, depending on the situation and what you prefer.

A natural object is also not a loose impediment if it is attached or growing, if it cannot be easily picked out of the ground, or if it is sticking to your ball. The Rules allow you to move a natural object to see if it is loose before you remove it. If you do choose to do this and find that the natural object is growing or attached (meaning it is not a loose impediment), it must stay attached and be returned as nearly as possible to its original position.

If you want the ball to get going you’ve got to get your body moving. For far too long the golf instruction community has restricted the pivot, but the advent of quality statistics and a deeper understanding of what truly matters in golf has opened our eyes to the value of distance. I get it - we’re all getting older. Me too! We must wage the battle against slower and smaller golf swings on a daily basis. This video in my “3 Keys Series” will help…

If you’re a seasoned veteran or someone that’s new to the game, these keys will help you hit the ball with more authority:

Allow the lead heel to get up off the ground in the backswing and free up the lower body.

Get your belt buckle pointing away from the target as much as you physically can in the backswing.

Feel the lead shoulder stretch away from the target so that you can really feel the tension and torque in your body as you wind up.

June 6, 2020

NCGA Events Are Back!

NCGA Events Resumed June 6

Dear NCGA member,

In an abundance of caution, the NCGA had previously made the decision to suspend all event activity through June 1.

Given the recent easing of Shelter-in-Place mandates, the NCGA began resuming its events calendar but with new tournament procedures in place.

Many frustrated golfers reach out to me each week in search of solutions for what they describe as “the yips”. If cures for the yips aren’t implemented, it can destroy scores, enjoyment and a player’s self-esteem.

But help is at hand…

In this article, I’d like to take a deeper look at what the yips is and what solutions are available so you can enjoy the game more and improve your performance.

What causes “the yips”?

In 90% of cases, the yips is more mental than it is physical. Mostly occurring in the short game and putting, It’s caused by a mental interference between what you want to do (the shot) and the muscles required to do it. The effect of it can range from not being able to start the back-swing to a flinch causing thin and fat shots.

In practice, a player with the yips can often perform well, which makes it even more frustrating when that same game doesn’t appear on the course. During the comfort of the practice area, a quiet mind allows them full access to their skills. On the course, with the pressure higher, playing partners watching and their score at stake, their mind is agitated and the pathways which take the information about the shot to the muscles are blocked by fear and overthinking.

The more I read about golf the more I realize that our Positive Mental Attitude is the reason why we have streaks in our games. That’s right streaks of great shots and pars or streaks of poor shots and bogies or doubles. Poor shots happen. The winners in this game know how to block the bad shot memory and move on to the next shot. Ben Hogan said that “the most important shot in golf is the next one”.

I realize that I am a temperamental golfer so I rationalize why I made a poor shot before I can move on to the next shot. I notice that some pros like Jim Furyk will execute the perfect practice swing after they make a poor shot. They know the swing required to execute every shot so they use their practice swing to build that mental corrective action.

Moe Norman’s Philosophy of Golf
There was a wonderful Golf Digest article about Moe Norman, the autistic Canadian golfer. He used a full hip and spine rotation in his backswing but with both arms straight from setup to impact. It limited the arc of his club head but it gave him and amazing accuracy. He looked like a windmill. It was not a pretty swing and not extremely long but it was perfectly accurate.

I’m not suggesting that we should duplicate Moe’s swing but I do believe that if we limit our backswing, every recreational golfer will improve accuracy. As an autistic person he was noticed for his shy nature and his seemingly silly quirks.

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Golf is not a sport that you learn without putting a lot of effort into the game. Anyone who learns to play golf tries to apply the basic motion learned with a baseball bat or a cricket bat. Unfortunately that swing does not apply for the ideal golf swing and its different with each of your golf clubs. That’s why golf can be frustrating for so many golfers.

Ideally you can start playing golf with any strength and equipment that you have. If you try to learn golf by watching others at a driving range, hitting some balls and heading for a golf course, you will most likely end up frustrated and never become a good golfer. If you missed any of the following steps I highly recommend that you go back to the basics:

1/ Take lessons from a PGA Golf Pro: You will never appreciate how poor your swing is until you get instruction for the basics in swinging a driver, an iron, a wedge and a putter. A group session will be helpful but one-on-one instruction will help you progress much faster.

2/ Practice at a Driving Range: It will help you understand how difficult it is to hit a ball consistently with each of your clubs. Knowing the different setups and the distance that each club hits is critical for your success.

Introducing the all-new KYOEI Tour Wedge.  Following the success of the KK Series and Prototype Series wedges, this new version Tour Wedge is now made of S15C Forged Carbon Steel.  It is made with a more compact mold, a new polishing technique is utilized and features a more traditional sole grind.  Also, the new Kurozome Tour Wedge is now offered in 50/54/58* lofts.  The Kyoei Kurozome Tour Wedge is a single-piece forging with no internal weighting. Pure and simple with a compact shape and design preferred by the better player.  It is 100% made and hand-ground in Japan.

The offset is extremely minimal reaching into onset on the 58*.  Special attention was given to the shape and sole design for optimal turf interaction in a variety of playing conditions.  All three lofts feature relief in both the heel and toe side sole with an extra cut away at the leading edge.  This sole grind provides a high degree of versatility whether you want to address the ball with a square face or opening the face for a flop shot.  KYOEI did their best to design this wedge to perform well for both diggers and sweepers. The Arakenma Kurozome finish promises the softest feel that a carbon steel wedge can offer.

Kyoei Tour Wedge Kurozame Specification

BUY IT NOW

Introducing the CGS Orion Closer CB Iron. CGS Orion has been in the JDM scene since founded in 2015 and has been producing high-quality wedges and irons that combine Himeji made heads finished with a hand polishing technique from Tsubame Sanjo in Niigata where they are very famous for mirror polishing silverware to the original iPhones!

The CGS Orion Closer series irons are considered players irons and this CB is compact yet provides many features to provide enough forgiveness without sacrificing workability and style.   The heel to toe length is shorter than most irons,  overall the head size is similar to a muscle back.

The sole has an abundance of leading-edge and trailing edge relief which makes it very easy for the head glide through the turf. It has a sharper toe shape which blends in nicely to the rest of the head shape preferred by better players.   Minimal offset along with a thin top line makes the Closer CB one of the most desired player’s CB irons on the JDM market today.  

The CGS Closer CB can be combined with the CGS Closer MB for the ultimate combo set. (see above MB)

Over the past few weeks I have been emailing with one of our subscribers about professional golfers who bend their leading arm in the backswing. Gilles allowed me to share our discussion as it is so relevant for many recreational golfers.

Gilles’ Email: “I am writing an e-mail rather than using the “comment” section so as not to pass for the “smart ass” who attempts to bust your theory.” About the “straight leading arm” concept, which I must say I fully endorse. I saw Corey Conners (who swings with a bent leading arm) win a recent PGA tournament and place 2nd and 3rd in 2 others tournaments in 2019. He has a

smooth, simple and efficient swing. He hits it pretty long too. Yet, he BENDS HIS LEADING ARM in the backswing up to about 45 degrees. How can he play so well?”

Will Curry’s Response: I also saw his bent leading arm. He is amazing but you will notice that his bent arm actually straightens as his lagging wrist releases. BTW Lee Westwood also has a slight bend at the top of his swing. However most pros play with a straight leading arm so it must be the ideal way to swing. However, I have seen many of the senior pros add a slight bend to their leading arm.

Being able to get the best out of your game on any day has a lot to do with how well you can activate and maintain your “best performance state”. What I mean by that, is the mental, emotional and physical states that when combined, give you the best opportunity to play well. 

Sports psychologists use the term: “Activation”, to describe strategies that help a player trigger their best performance state. Finding the best activation techniques for a player requires ongoing reflection and work with the player, but in this week’s lesson, I’d like to give you some ideas.

What does your best performance state look like? 

Whenever I start working with a new student on mental coaching for golf, I ask them to think about times they’ve had success and how they would describe themselves (mentally, emotionally and physically) in those moments. The words they use can be very helpful in putting together an activation strategy. 

I was speaking to a new student this morning, who told me that when she had her 3 wins on Tour, she was “cocky”, “determined” and “walked with a swagger”. She said that she was definitely more intense than relaxed.

How many thoughts can you cram into the instant of time that it takes to swing a golf club? The more you try, the worse it gets. The best solution is to take your BRAIN out of your swing. Ideally you want your subconscious mind to take over with the right feeling for every swing in your game. The trick is to change from a mechanical swing to the feeling for a perfect swing.

If you have played this this game for 1 year or 40 years, you know that your game has its ups and downs. As it turns out, it’s all driven by your emotions. Your best shots are effortless and seem to come out of nowhere. Your goal is to bundle those shots every time you play.

Turn on Your Subconscious Mind
I was recently reminded (by the 2 best golfers who have ever played this game) that you will never be a great golfer until you shift your knowledge of the mechanics to visualization and feel for the swing that you want to execute.

Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods both been asked to described the reasons for their success. Of course they talk about their hard work but at the moment of truth they “zone into their swing”, they visualize flight of their ball and the target they want to hit. They change their focus from the mechanics of their swing to the “feeling” of the swing needed to launch their ball on the right path to their target.

If I had a dollar for each time a golfer has said, “I’m great on the range, but I just can’t take it to the course” I’d be a wealthy man! I believe there are multiple reasons for this quandary many find themselves in. Firstly, most golfers don’t know how to practice in order to simulate an on-course environment and secondly it’s because when most golfers work on technical changes they don’t know how to go about assimilating the new moves into a full speed swing. Today we are going to address this important topic: How to take ownership of swing upgrades. Watch…

A few key points:

Use a 7 or an 8 iron

Use an alignment aid

Incorporate multiple rehearsals between each shot (get the FEEL!)

I designed, tested and manufactured GOLFSTR+ to help improve my golf swing with a straight leading arm. I realized that professional golfers all swing with a straight leading arm in their back and down swing so it must be the most critical factor to improve my game (and yours too). As you will learn in this blog, pro golfers who tried out GOLFSTR+ for their instruction, recommended a total of 6 swing fixes for this amazing golf training aid that can be put away in your pocket.

I recently saw a GOLF-INFO-GUIDE video where 2 PGA Pros, Pete Styles and Matt Fryer provided a perfect description of the benefits for a straight leading arm swing. “It gives you width, power, stability, consistency and accuracy.” What more could you want for every swing in your game? Pete summarized the benefits of the Swing as well as Power Generation.

How do you “Create” a Straight Arm Swing
-Setup in your athletic golf position with feet apart & flared, knees bent and straight back bent at the waist to a 6 to 10 degree angle.
-Hold your leading straight arm elbow with your trailing hand.
-Now pull your leading arm across your chest (mine moves about 50 degrees), then rotate your shoulders and spine (mine adds about 40 more degrees) and then rotate your hips (mine adds about 30 more degrees= 120 degrees total).
– You may be able to rotate your leading arm 180 degrees the way the younger pros do but don’t strain yourself trying it.

Use this as a stretching exercise (but don’t overdo it). Realize that this is the limitation of your back swing. The cocking of your flat wrist including your finger grip (not a palm grip) will add another 90 degrees so that the shaft of my clubs rotates about 180 to 270 degrees from your setup position. DON’T bend your leading arm FOR MORE ROTATION. [Pros normally reach 270 degrees and John Daly and Brooke Henderson reach about 315 degrees.]

CGS Orion Closer MB Iron

Introducing the CGS Orion Closer MB!   A couple of days ago we posted their Himeji X Tsubame blade (click here)

As I write this I am holding both of their blades in hand so I can share some comparisons.  The Himeji X Tsubame blade has a thinner sole,  thinner topline, and higher CG location due to more mass higher on the head. This CGS Closer blade not only has a wider sole but it also has a more pronounced trailing edge grind compared to the leading edge being ground on the Tsubame X Himeji model.

The CGS Closer MB is also offered as a combo set where you can pair it with the CGS Orion closer cavity. back. (we will do a blog post on the CB shortly).

As you can see in our photo above the Closer MB has a beautiful sharp toe and a modern back face design.

The closest comparison to this iron would be Miura’s MC-501,  both the 501 and the Closer MB are considered blades that have a bit more forgiveness.  The CGS Closer MB comes out ahead in nearly all categories:

Ever since Baldo was founded, they have been focusing their efforts on designing and producing high-performance driver heads.  The new Baldo Corsa Performance series features Baldo’s signature soft feel at impact and provides a deep sense of satisfaction.  All for a single purpose which is to enhance the limits of every player!

Introducing the Baldo Corsa Performance 435 Driver. It is a driver with excellent workability aiming at the target while controlling the ball with a draw or fade.  This head features a very deep face; in fact, the face height relative to the head volume is the deepest of the series.  This is a head profile preferred by the hardest of hard hitters.

The head is constructed of DAT55G face and 8-1-1 Titanium body which is the golden combination used on many premium JDM drivers.  The laser milled face also helps reduce the back spin.  Based on the CG specs,  it is easy to imagine that the head would be effortless to rotate through the swing and highly workable for experienced players.  The deep face and high back design also suggest a strong piercing trajectory preferred by hard hitters.   The Corsa Performance heads also feature weight screws on the sole that are replaceable for adjusting the swing weight.   The weights are available from 2 to 12g in 2g increments.

Baldo Corsa Performance 435 Driver Specification

Introducing the Progress BB4 Fairway wood!   The BB4 Fairway wood shares the same bellows sole design taken from the highly successful BB4 Driver for maximizing the repulsive energy upon impact. By strategically placing ultra light weight Titanium material and high strength maraging steel material,  they were able to optimize the CG location to make the head easy to launch from any turf condition.

Many BB4 owners have been long waiting for a release of a matching fairway wood. Finally it is here!

Light weight 8-1-1 Titanium is used for the face and crown and 450 maraging steel is used on the sole as well as the perimeter to create an ideal low and deep CG along with a relatively large CG angle.  By using a more dense maraging steel on the perimeter,  they were able to achieve a high MOI of 3300 (3250 for the #5) which helps with keeping the head stable through the impact.  The Titanium material used for the crown is especially made thin closer to the face.  This makes the crown flex more at impact which helps the head produce high energy impact resulting in high initial ball speeds.

Introducing the CGS Orion Himeji x Tsubame MB Iron. What makes CGS Orion stand out is that they go above and beyond when it comes to fit and finish.  Hand-ground and forged In Ichikawa Himeji, Japan’s epicenter of hand grinding. These heads are sent to the town of Tsubame Sanjo in Niigata Japan, this area is renowned for beautiful hand polishing. This combination of Himeji handcrafting and Tsubame Sanjo’s polishing creates a stunning effect.

Face forward it features a high and sharp toe that extends past the edge of the top groove.

These are forged of soft S20C and combined with the CP Silver (copper underlay nickel-chromium) finish. The feel at impact is amongst the very best in  Japan.

This blade maintains the functionality of a conventional muscle-back.  It’s also got modern and sharp going for its appearance, the shape and grind are done really well and it has a consistent beautiful neck transition.  I will go out on a limb and guess this is an Oichi forging with a Shinagawa grind.  Let’s not forget that the back face has a channel milled into it. perfecto!  I gotta say I’m extremely impressed with all of CGS Orion’s irons and wedges.  The steps they take and more importantly the decisions they make result in a quality offering.

Fourteen TC-920 Forged Iron

An updated players’ club.  Golf swing mechanics and dynamics are undergoing a massive change given the new drivers and their new designs in CG and MOI. Reviewing these components and their designs, there is now a gap in the club specification in their center of gravity between compact players’ irons and woods. Fourteen TC-920 Forged Iron has been designed to bridge this gap and achieve closer CG Specification to modern-day drivers and is matched to achieve overall balance and delivery in the golf swing.

Longer CG distance.

Fourteen developed this iron with the underlying idea that a balanced progression among all 14 clubs is essential. With newer drivers that have increasingly longer CG distances, compact irons feel and play very differently, which can result in inconsistency in club delivery, trajectories and shot dispersion. While maintaining a compact head size, Fourteen TC-920 Forged Iron has a relatively longer CG distance, which is intended to bridge the gap between metal woods, resulting in better overall balance within the set of clubs.

Precise CG setting by club number.

By precisely altering the thickness of the cavity, the Fourteen TC-920 Forged Irons can achieve accurate CG specs as well as forgiveness that makes it easy to control distance and trajectory accurately with short and mid irons and to produce desired higher launch for longer irons.