An Overiew of A Golf Course

A golf course entails a chain of holes with each hole having a teeing ground, the rough, fairway, a green with a pin, a hole or the popularly called the cup and the hazard. Most golf courses use the standard number of holes set in eighteen while some other courses have nine holes where players play twice per round. Other courses have twenty-seven and thirty-six holes where players divide themselves into groups of nine holes each. The twenty-seven or thirty-six holes are designed so for uniqueness or conservation purposes to accommodate a big lot at a time. 

Tee box area

This is the first section of each hole also referred to as the tee-box and there are many such grounds where player places the ball with each differently placed from the hole and at a different angle to the green. A golfer can play from outside the area but the ball must be within the ground as the area covers between markers and some two-club lengths behind them where the tee markers are color coded for easy identification.

Long Drive Champion Ryan Winther Swing Tip

By James Achenbach

Ryan Winther, the 29-year-old World Long Drive champion from Sacramento, Calif., has some advice on how to hit longer drives.

No charge for the lesson.

“Swing fast is my No. 1 tip,” Winther said. “You have to swing fast. You can’t teach speed, but you can work on it. So forget about swinging slow. Just swing fast.”

Of course, Winther’s tip is all about distance and has little or nothing to do with accuracy. Finding the fairway can be a distinctly different matter. In winning the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship in Mesquite, Nev., Winther hit just 12 drives on Oct. 25, which was the final day of competition, and missed a 68-yard-wide fairway grid with 8 of those 12.

No matter. He did what he had to do. Winther’s victim in the Open Division match-play final was Tim Burke of Washington, D.C. The two finalists were hitting into a headwind that gusted to 40 MPH, and Winther won with a 343-yard drive, 8 yards longer than Burke’s 335-yard drive. He used a Krank driver head with 4.5 degrees of loft. His shaft was a House of Forged XXXX Ryan Winther signature model.

Don’t have a shaft with your name on it? Never fear. “I’m just a freak,” Winther said of his ability to put golf balls into orbit.

Slow Down to Speed Up

By Ron Kaspriske

You can only swing the club as fast as you can slow it down. Think about that for a bit. I'll get back to that statement.

We're all looking for 10, 15, 20 more yards off the tee and to hit 8-iron where we once hit 7-iron. But how do you get it? A new driver? A new ball? Bigger biceps?

You might squeeze a few more yards out with any of those suggestions. But if you really want more distance, there's really only one thing you can do.

Swing the club faster.

I recently spoke with Tom House about this topic. House is a former major-league pitching coach who is now an athletic-performance analyst for the University of Southern California. He's also one of the world's leading experts on making athletes faster in any sport -- including golf.

The sobering reality is that as we age, we lose the flexibility and muscle mass needed for speed, House says. But you can still train whatever you have left in the tank, provided you first understand one simple, but brilliant concept:

You can only swing the club as fast as you can slow it down.

When House first said that to me, it took a little time for me to believe it. But when you think about it, it's true. Here's an analogy to help reinforce that concept. I believe Greg Rose of the Titleist Performance Institute deserves credit for it: You're driving a Ferrari capable of going 200 miles per hour. But the braking system on the car will only work up to speeds of, say, 180 mph. Now I ask you, what's the fastest you're going to drive the car?

Using A Fairway Wood

Fairway woods consist of 3, 4, 5, 7, and even a 9 to provide you with a different degrees of loft.  The fairway wood was designed to produce a range of long shots at various height and lengths.

The 3 wood gives the longest shot because of the loft and is typically the hardest to use.  It is more common for a golfer to use a 4 or 5 wood in the fairway than a 3 wood.  3 woods are more commonly used in place of a driver off the tee box. The 7 wood is even easier to hit and provide much more loft on your shot but won't carry as long.

The shaft of woods are much longer than that of irons so your stance needs to be adjusted and your swing needs to be flatter.  The sole of a wood is also different than an iron. Instead of cutting through the grass like an iron, the driver is designed to bounce off the ground. When you use a fairway wood, it is important to sit the club absolutely flat to the ground to take advantage of the bouncing.  If you wrongly push your hands forward in your swing ahead of the club head, the back edge of the club will rise and lose the forgiving effect of a wood.

Chipping Fundamentals Video

Here is a great video that explains the fundamentals of chipping.  The Golf Pro Gary Alliss explains what clubs to use in different situations and a technique for each club.

Practicing for A Breakthrough

Turn Scoring Breakthroughs into Long-Lasting Improvement

If you want to get your average score on the Golf Course you need to have a regular practice regimen.  Some people define 'breakthrough' as that one magical day when you play over your heat and shatter that personal scoring barrier.  An actual breakthrough occurs only when you start making that kind of special round an everyday occurrence.  In order to make a lasting improvement, you'll need help from a golf coach, to play and practice regularly.

If you are thinking about signing up for golf lessons, remember the instructor you hire will have a hug impact on your success. Find someone who you can talk with easily, someone that has a lot of experience giving golf lessons and someone that you feel is as determined to see you succeed as you are.  Generally when you begin lessons you want to give your instructor full control of the direction of your lessons and as you progress through the workouts you can give your input on what you are experiencing on the Morrison golf courses.  Your lessons will start at different places depending on your handicap.  A person with a high handicap will start with ball position, grip and posture and a player with a low handicap may work on more tips for situations.

Short Putting Tips: Improve Your Short Putts - VIDEO

Posted by Betsy Flanks
Here is a great video produced to help you start sinking those short putts everytime! The putting video shows you three great drills to do on your own time at the golf course or practice facility.  The drills include:

1. The Coin Drill - helps you read how the ball comes off your putter and focus on a small area
2. The Clock Drill - prepares your mind and your body to sink short putts and adds a pressure factor
3. The Pullback Drill - builds confidence and your ability to sink short puts

These great putting tips come from Never Miss Short Putts and I think it shows easy putting drills you can do by yourself or with a friend.  They won't take long and they will seriously help!