What a week it was in Plymouth Massachusetts. I arrived at Pinehills Golf Club Sunday afternoon to work on my short game in preparation for the NEPGA Section Championship the following day. As I was working on my putting  I was greeted by my hosts for the week Mr. and Mrs. Wahlberg. They were so excited to see me as I was to see them. We talked for a little bit and then sat down for dinner. I have been teaching the two of them in Orlando for the last 5 years and their hospitality for the week was amazing. As jack said to me the last day, man this wouldn’t have been nearly as fun if you missed the cut!! I owe them many thanks for making me feel at home and one of the big reasons why I played so well.

Day one I teed off at 7:50am off the Nicklaus Course. I had a great ball striking day but didn’t roll the flat stick very well. It was hard to get comfortable and relaxed all day. I posted a 3-over par 75 which put me tied for 30th after day 1.

Day two I had a late tee time at 11:00am of the Jones Course. I hit the ball very well tee to green but yet again I couldn’t get comfortable on the greens. I ended up finishing the round -2 under par and moved up the leader board to tied for 12th heading into the final day. Knowing that the top 13 make it to the National Club Pro tournament I had many thoughts in my head going to bed that night.

Day three the final day, I had a 10:30 tee time off the Nicklaus Course. As I showed up to the first tee there were a dozen people around the tee box and a sign with my last name and score on it. I thought to myself wow this is pretty serious. We had a live scorer with us the entire day which was really nice. After yet again not making one putt on the front none I finished even par. In my mind heading to the back nine I though if I could shoot even par I would have a great chance of making it inside the top 13. As I arrived to the 14th tee even par, I hit a 4 iron to 100 yards out. I pulled a wedge left of the green and didn’t get up and down for my first bogey of the day. This was hard to take when only being 100 yards out on a par 4. With a short par five coming up I made a nice up and down for birdie on 16 to get back to even. With two holes to play I could start feeling a little pressure which led to a bogey on the 17th hole from 103 yards out. Heading to the long 18th hole into the wind i knew it was going to be playing extremely difficult. I hit a great drive to leave myself 204 yards to the hole. It took everything within myself to not think about outcome and just stay in the process that I have been doing the whole day. I hit a great iron just short of the green and got up and down for a total of 218 for the tournament. The cut was 221.

It was hard not to have a big smile heading to the scorers booth. This was a goal of mine for a long time and to achieve it was something special for me my friends and family. I am so excited for the PGA National Club Professional Tournament in Oregon next June!

Teaching and coaching is something I have been doing everyday for the past 10 years. I always ask my students before I ever see them hit a golf ball, if you had a golf  wish list what would be at the top of your list? Before I answer this I am sure you already know the answer, yes you were right CONSISTENCY. In a world where we have many commitments like family, work, friends deadlines, golf tends to sit on the back burner.

The first step to becoming more consistent is finding the time to practice and play. With that being said, you don’t always have to be at the golf course or driving range to practice. There are numerous things you can do in the comfort of your own home to get better.

The first thing can be finding the time to stretch. I make it a point to set aside 10-minutes everyday for my yoga practice. This allows me to gain flexibility in certain areas of my body, while also focusing on breathing with is every important in golf. These practices will allow you to maintain speed in your golf swing while staying relaxed and calm.

If you have problems controlling the direction of your shots, you might want to work on your grip. This is something that can be done at home with a 7-iron. When sitting in the living room watching the latest Game of Thrones episode, grab a club and kill two birds with one stone.

One of my favorite things to work on at home is my putting stroke. This is very easy to practice at home in the living room or your hardwood floor if you plan on playing Augusta anytime soon. Simply wrap two rubber bands around the sweet-spot of your putter and work on center contact. The rubber bands will give you immediate feedback on off center hits.

I hope you put some of these things into action and would love to hear your feedback!

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The golf swing has many different moving parts. The problem that golfers run into is that we are trying to keep an inventory of all these parts. The golf swing last around two seconds. If the mind is thinking of multiple things within that time it will disturb the rhythm of the motion. If I was to give you the command to touch your toes, you would simply take your hands down to your toes and back up. Do you think you would have to think about how to bend from your hips, abduct your shoulder blades or bend your knees? No, you would simply take your hands to your toes. So why can’t the golf swing be that simple. The movement of our hands in the golf swing will trigger an involuntary movement of the body. This will eliminate the need to think about every moving part that’s happening. Next time you are at the driving range or anywhere really, I want you to make a backswing with no club. What you will realize is that the body will move differently. You will notice movement of the knees, hips, torso and shoulders. This is a good thing. Its imperative when making a swing that you are not trying to hold things still. Make a few practice swings with no club and then hit a few balls and i guarantee you will feel more freedom and rhythm in your golf swing.

You hear people talking about bounce and how it applies to wedges. Bounce is the angle created between the sole line of the golf club and the ground. It’s important to understand how bounce works and what degree of bounce fits your game. First thing is to identifying what type of  playing conditions you encounter on a regular basis. For those of you who are playing on dry tight surfaces this may require wedges with less bounce, this will allow the club to dig easier in return striking more at the bottom of the ball. The opposite is true for those of you playing on softer more plush conditions, you may need a club with more bounce that slides underneath the ball and doesn’t dig.  Also if you are a player with a steeper angle of attack and have the tendency to dig your wedges you may want to look into getting more bounce. If you are a player who is very shallow through impact and have a hard time striking the bottom of the ball less bounce might be what you are looking for.

When hitting wedge shots no matter what degree of bounce you have on your wedge its imperative that you understand hitting down on the ball does not create more spin. The leading edge of the golf club is your enemy when trying to hit consistent wedge shots with spin and distance control. The bounce is your friend ! Now say it with me “Its all about that bounce bout that bounce no digging”. The best wedge players in the world work the club through impact with very little dig. This is how they achieve maximum spin with incredible distance control.

Setup for the consistent wedge shot

1) 60% of your weight on your lead foot

2) Ball location middle of your stance

3) Handle of the club inside of your left thigh

4) Lead foot slightly open to the target

These are are some simple setup characteristics you can take to the driving range and start applying to your game. Always remember “Its all about that bounce bout that bounce no digging”.