Dave Pelz: “Studying the game”

My first trip to Pebble Beach was in the summer of 1966. I was working at the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, my boss was Nelson Spencer, and we had a rocket launch scheduled from Vandenberg Air Force Base (located outside of Santa Maria, on the California coast). During a down time in pre-launch preparations, two golf nuts (Spence and I) found the time to drive the 160 miles up to Pebble and play a couple of rounds of golf. 

Back in the day, we carried our own bags and paid a whopping $25 greens fee. It was pure heaven, and I’ll never forget it. The course, the people, the ambience! That was the first time I saw the splendor that is Pebble Beach and the little nearby town of Carmel. I still have (and use) the drink coasters (among other momentos) I bought from the Pro Shop.

The Pro Shop at Pebble

After checking in, we rolled a few practice putts at the practice green between the shops, The Lodge at Pebble Beach, and the first tee: they’re all right there together, and nothing could be more convenient.

The practice green outside The Lodge at Pebble Beach

Now, 44 years later, out on the course the beauty is everywhere. As you walk off the tee of the 5th hole, a quick look to the right will take you out into the ocean over stillwater cove.

Serene Dream

View of the 6th hole from the 5th

Looking from the 6th hole towards the finish line

By the time you get to the 109-yard par-3 7th green,  you’re out of breath and looking over the cove, to the land just this side of Monterey.

View across the front of the 7th Green

After a good drive onto the 8th fairway and hitting a shot over the canyon to the 8th green, you can walk up to the very edge of the cliff of doom (don’t go closer than about 5 feet) and look down. Wow, you can’t tell how firm the footing will be right at the edge, and in some places there’s turf overhanging with not much beneath it! Does the thought of getting these two stray golf balls tempt you? Do you want to add them to your shag bag?

They seem soooo close - I could use a few extra...

Well, when you go to play Pebble and are tempted up to the cliff’s edge, those two balls will probably still be there. But beware: from the edge it is about an 85 to 100 foot drop if you slip or the ground gives way beneath your feet. When the tide is in, you might survive a water landing, but I wouldn’t advise a fall onto the rocks when the tide is out!

85 foot drop

On holes 9 and 10, the beauty is so awesome it’s distracting.

A beautiful distraction

Look at the rugged beauty of this solitary tree that has found a home and survived, just short - left of the ninth Green.

Finding Your niche

There is plenty of beauty between the 10th hole and the 18th (and some great inland golf holes), but look at this seat for the US Open - right behind the 18th Tee.

Seals relaxing right behind the 18th Tee

Competing with the sea lions (seals) for a great view of the finishing hole is the Weeee Little Gent who built this seat (stool?) from seaside rock.

The Gnome's Seat

The Gnome wanted to have a good view of the 18th hole, so that with a little jump up, he can see the Tournament outcome. This is his view.

The Gnome's View of 18 at Pebble

My floppy Imperial hat is off to the USGA, the grounds crew and all the good folks at Pebble Beach. You’ve done a great job in preparing for what I’m sure will be a special, and memorible last two rounds of the 2010 U.S. Open. Please just don’t let the green firmness and speed get out of control (remember Shinnecock Hills)! Please let the players play, and may the best man win!

 

dp

dave pelz

Seeing PMik again after a few weeks off

It was really great to see PMik again after a few weeks off, and on Wednesday I enjoyed walking 18 holes at Hazeltine National with him. The course was fairly dry after 5+ inches of rain on last Saturday night. Although the course seemed to be playing nicely, the bent grass greens have been taken over by probably 65% poa annua, and will probably cause some tough putting in the afternoons all week. This will happen because as the ball goes from bent to the poa surface, the little white blooms of afternoon-growth poa can deflect or bounce the ball up or push it off-line.

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Hole #3 - 633 yards

Welcome to Chaska, Minnasota, and Haseltine National Golf Club - site of the 2009 PGA Championship. If Monday was any indication, the local community is really supporting this tournament - big crowds early on Monday were already on site to watch Tiger Woods teeing it up at 6:45am. Tiger had several thousand followers and that is a rare crowd for an early Monday morning at any golf tournament.

Lets take a closer look at Hazeltine National:

Length: This course is looooooooooooong. Especially now after lots of recent rain, it is playing really long. Here is the tee-box sign from Hole#3 - a 633 yard par 5.

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Earlier this year I had fun attending the Marriott Crown Plaza Colonial PGA TOUR event in Dallas, TX. Mark this tournament as a must-attend next year and experience the BIG PGA TOUR in what really feels like a small-town atmosphere. The course is tight and therefore easy for spectators to walk around. When you attend next year, particularly on the full-field days like Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - you are likely to see the white fenced off Short Game practice area crowded - like this picture.

Dave Pelz at Colonial

Take some time to watch the best golfers in the world practice their short games in this small area. You will see every type of short game shot practiced - and pay attention to how well they execute these shots - watch their shot results. When you give a TOUR Player, like John Senden or Justin Rose - several chances to hit a shot - they aren’t just “Good” - “These guys are Really Great.”

John Senden practicing Pitch

As you take the time to watch these guys practice, you’ll eventually see them practice a high-lofted shot that must land just over a bunker lip and trickle to the pin, and also you’ll see full bunker swings that produce high soft sand shots.

Observe carefully their swing characteristics - large swings that produce soft shots. This is a shot you can learn for your on-course arsenal - in your own backyard.

Imagine yourself inside the white fence at Colonial hitting full cut lob shots - would you have the confidence to execute them there? Or would you fear that your shots would be inconsistant and unpredictable, possibly causing harm to someone standing nearby? Most golfers I see would clearly fall into the inconsistant and unpredictable category. But here is how you can change this.

First - look around your backyard and find a “Safe-Swing area.”

This will be an area where you can safely make a lot of golf swings - full golf swings like this:

Dave Pelz Full Sand Swing

Use some stakes and rope if you need to - because you need to be focused on your golf swing for this practice session without any fear of children or pets walking into your area unseen.

The second thing you need are some almostGOLF balls (www.almostGOLF.com) - these are backyard safe golf balls that have dimples and launch, fade and/or hook like real golf balls. But they fly only about 1/3 the distance of real balls, and when they land - they won’t break a window or dent a car. The balls are made of a soft material, but not spongelike - and are backyard friendly … just what you will need to start practicing large swings and looking for soft and high shot trajectories.

The almostGOLF Ball

almostGOLF Ball tube (holds 24 balls) makes practice easy

Within your safe-swing practice area, you are going to make a 3/4 length backswing and then accelerate to a full finish.

Start by testing your area with a slow-swing radius to make sure you have plenty of clearance in all directions.

Now look at the two pictures below - I am just past impact for both my sand swing and my cut lob swing - and look at how similar the almostGOLF ball reaction is - I have scooted under the ball - With Full Extension - and the loft of the club is doing its job. The ball is coming up quickly and will land softly. My target for this practice session is a bucket placed about 10 yards away.

Just past impact for Sand

Just past impact for Lob

Look how similar these shots look. Of course, with the sand shot, I’ve got the ball forward in my stance and I’m using another backyard tool - the Pelz Bunkerboard (this plus a bucket of sand and you’re ready to perfect your sand game there too). This is the kind of backyard practice - where you can make real golf swings and accelerate through impact - without hurting anybody or breaking anything. Work until you can trust your swing and make good solid contact with the almostGOLF balls.

Until you give yourself enough practice time and groove your cut-lob and sand swings this way however, I wouldn’t want to be across from you trying these shots with real balls in the Colonial short game area. But once you’ve given yourself plenty of backyard time and you trust your swing - this shot will become not only safe, but one of your favorites on the golf course.

Now before I finish, I can already hear the question from you: Pelz, what were you doing hitting sand and cut-lob shots out in the rough to the right of hole #9 at Colonial on Wednesday before the tournament? Your answer: Just filming a short game vignette for my good friends at www.PGATOUR.com. Stay tuned and you’ll see it soon (we shot 7 different vignettes that day).

Until then, good luck tuning up your sand and lob game in your backyard.

And good scoring to you: Dave Pelz

Dave Pelz