Dec. 16, 2025

Important Tips You May Have Forgotten with Head Pro Steven Snyder

Important Tips You May Have Forgotten with Head Pro Steven Snyder
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GS#458 October 14, 2014 Do you think you're struggling to lower your scores because of your swing? Putting? Short Game? Indian Valley Golf Course Head Professional Steven Snyder may surprise you with his answers, but after teaching for over 30 years, he's seen it all and knows why we are so frustrated.

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Hi, I'm andre Ato.

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I'm from Henderson, Nevada, and I play at Revere Golf Club.

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And this is Golf Smarter.

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Number four hundred and fifty eight.

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Welcome to golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain

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insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the

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Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets Old. Our

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interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations

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like this that are no longer available in any podcast app.

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Well, I think, just like the golf swing, there are

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certain basic fundamental things that everybody needs to go through.

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You have to have a very sound fundamental putting grip.

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Whether it's the traditional reverse overlap grip or whether it's

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left hand low or the pencil grip or the claw

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or whatever you like to do. You have to have

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a sound fundamental grip that does what your grip is

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supposed to do in the putting stroke, and that's to

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work together with your arms and do not break down

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an impact. I think you need to have a great

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setup position. You have to have good eye position, good

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ball position, good hand and arm position, because all those

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things take care of where the putter is going to swing.

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So if you have a good setup position and your

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body is ready, the putter will swing on your target

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line a lot easier than if it doesn't.

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Head professional Steven Snyder with important tips you may have forgotten.

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This is Golf Smarter. Welcome to the Golf Smarter podcast. Steve.

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Hello, Fred, how are you good? How are you?

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I'm doing well, Thank you very much good. I'm so

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glad that you joined me here in the studio today.

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We've known each other for a long time. Our kids

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played little league together before the baseball strike, that was

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pre ninety four. We've known each other a long time. Yeah,

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but we've never discussed golf in all these years. And

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I've you know, I've already been playing. I didn't even

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know that's what you did at the time. I didn't

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start playing until like ninety six or something, ninety eight.

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So yeah, I am so excited to have this conversation

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with you finally.

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Thanks for having man, I'm gonna enjoy it.

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Well, great, great, So let's talk about first of all,

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Indian Valley Golf Course. How long have you been there?

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What do you do I've been there about eleven and

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a half years. I'm the PGA head golf professional. I

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work some hours in the golf shop every day. I

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merchandise the golf shop. I do all the inventory of

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clubs and clothing and things for the members and for

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the public, and I teach in the afternoons. I organize

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our junior golf program for the summer, and everything that

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a head golf professional would do working for a Indian

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Valley corporation.

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Okay, it's interesting because I think that most people have

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this idea that it would be great to be a

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golf pro because then I can just play golf and

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give lessons. No, no, it's much more than that.

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Now we have a very very active men's and ladies

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club and I play. I try to play with the

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men's club once a week. I don't make that happen,

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but I try to play with the men's club once

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a week, and they encourage us to play. All the

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golf professional staff, but once a week is about what

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I do.

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Really, do you miss it?

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I do, But it's my business. I'm not in the

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business of playing golf. I'm in the business of golf,

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so I do all the different things around the playing

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part of it. And I think I have and I've

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been a PGA member since nineteen eighty, so I think

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I have a pretty good knowledge of the operation of

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the golf industry and enjoy all facets of it.

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When you're studying to be a golf professional teaching professional,

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do they also teach you like business? I mean, it's

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like you're going to have to run a pro shop.

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Here are the things you need to know.

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Yeah, they do. I think you learn a lot of

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it through the School of Hard Knocks. But yeah, the

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PGA has an education program that takes about four years

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or five years to go through, depending on how long

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you stretch it out, and they teach you everything from

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owning your own golf shop and open to buy program,

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turf grass maintenance, golf cart operations, and golf cart mechanics.

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You know, they give you a little introduction on all

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the different parts and then expect you to gain the

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rest of it through working knowledge.

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The hard knocks. What's the biggest surprise for you.

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The biggest surprise with the golf industry.

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Yeah, since you've been doing it and when you came

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out of school and stuff, it was like, WHOA, I

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didn't expect that.

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Well, I think like everybody, I mean, we get into

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the golf business because we like to play golf, and

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I think that's probably the biggest surprises. You don't play

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as much golf as you would like to or think

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that you should, because you're too busy, and by the

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time you've worked your eight hour day or nine hour day,

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who wants to go out and play nine holes. We

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do it, but it's a little harder to motivate yourself

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to play golf under those circumstances.

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I can't Every teacher I've ever had a conversation with

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doesn't play as much golf as they'd love to. And

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when people ask me, oh, I love to play golf,

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I would love to be a teacher, and it's like, well,

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those are two real different things they are. Being a

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teacher is one thing. Being a golf instructor it adds

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to that. But if you love to play golf, you

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may not want to get into the golf business because

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you're going to get burned out, you're going to start

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hating it.

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Yeah, there's a lot of people that they get in

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and they get out shortly after, and they get into

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a regular job, and they end up playing more golf

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than when they were in the golf business, you obviously

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lose some of the perks of being able to play

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your golf course, but you probably play more golf when

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you're not in the business.

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Yeah, you probably do, Probably do so. Indian Valley is

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a course that I've talked about many times on the

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show because it is my home course. I leave next

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to a golf course that I don't play that much.

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But it's only, you know, a ten minute twelve minute

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drive for me to get there, and it's a challenging course.

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It's a fun course. It's a great walk and a

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lot of people probably don't do it. It's like seven

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and a half miles or something.

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Pretty good size walk, and.

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There's only one level hole. In my head, there's only

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one level hole on the course. Right. Everything is you're

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hitting your lot ups and downs, lots of ups and downs,

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lots of ups and downs. And that's one of the

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things I want to go over is how to play

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those shots, how to take advantage of a course that

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is far from level. I mean, the greens are fair,

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they're quick, and you've got to play your shots. But

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it's a it's not an easy walk. It's a great walk.

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It's yeah, it's a great walk. A lot of people

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of older people, younger people do like to walk the

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golf course. So the front nine is a little easier

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walk than the back nine. The back nine gets a

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little bit more up and down the hills once you

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get to fourteen right fourteen through seventeen, but it's a

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good challenge. It's not overly long distance wise, it's even

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from the championship teas. It's about sixty three hundred and

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fifty yards, so not horribly long. But you have a

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lot of uphill, downhill, side hill, lies to some small

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greens and then to some big greens, so you have

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a good variation of shots that you're gonna play.

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So it tests you, yep, and there's a lot of

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blind shots to greens. You know, it's always good to

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have course knowledge of what you're doing, but you don't

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always see where you're going. You can see the flag tip,

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but that it ends up being it.

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Yeah, there's a number of shots where you're hitting up

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to a green or you're hitting over a little bit

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of a rise, so yeah, you're gonna have some some

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blind shots, not a lot of blind shots, but some.

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And also that back nine it can get pretty windy

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on that too.

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Fifteen sixteen, yep, yep.

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But there is one of the greatest features of any

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golf course, definitely in the county, that I've ever seen,

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is you have an elevator. It goes between fourteen and thirteen,

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fourteen and fourteen. What's the history of that? How did

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that happen?

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Well, the boss likes to say Jeff McAndrews is the

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general manager and Jeff Senior is the director of golf.

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And they like to say.

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Any family business.

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It's a family business. Oh, they like to say, anybody

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that would build a golf course it has an elevator,

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that's got to be an idiot. But the elevator's been

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there and been redone and remodeled several times. And it's

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basically a tram ride for the walkers to get him

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from the thirteenth green to the fourteenth tee. And it's

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a beautiful ride. I've done a couple of times just

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to take the ride up there. And you have a

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view of Stafford Lake and you have a view of

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about five or six holes on the golf course. So

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and it helps a little bit with the speed of play.

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And obviously cart writers ride the cart path up, but

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the walkers can jump in that tram ride and get

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right up to the next team.

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Last time I played, when I had my really spectacular

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round after I came back from vacation, and we got

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matched up with these two brothers, middle aged, big boys,

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big like. These guys had to take the cart. These

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are not walking guys right their cart. I had to

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push their car, produce my cart to push their cart

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up that hill because they were going, ah. It's things

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running out of steam and it's like no, you're kind

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of waiting it down. It made it a little tough.

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You mentioned Stafford Lake, which is pretty much the water

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source from Marin County. It's looking really sad right now.

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What is Indian Valley And we've talked about this about

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other courses. Pasa Tiempo did a show recently with the

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Presidio and their efforts during our drought. What do you do?

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What is Indian Valley doing to deal with the drought

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right now?

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Well, Indian Valley actually is on water District property, so

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the owners of the golf course don't own actually the property,

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but we do get our water to irrigate from Stafford Lake.

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They've asked us to cut back twenty to twenty five percent,

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which we've done. So a lot of the perimeter areas

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that normally would get irrigated this year did not get irrigated.

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And you'll see some areas where some of the questionable

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grasses have burnt out, but the basic golf course has

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stayed in great shape all year. Tea to green, Yeah,

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it really is.

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So that's the strategy here is just to avoid the

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outside areas.

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Eliminate all the perimeters that you don't need to water.

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The area from tee to green on a par three,

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you don't see those getting watered at all, and they

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they have gotten watered in the past. So we've cut

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back as much as we can and as much as

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they've asked us to, and we're all keeping our fingers

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crossed for this winter.

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Right I'm really hoping for some lousy weather here.

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We'd like to sell some rain gear. Yeah, you've got

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a lot of backgear. You've got a.

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Lot in the back room that you haven't been able

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to get rid of for least the last three years.

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Yeah, we've got plenty.

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Oh man, that's a shame. One of the other features

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that I just love about your golf course, and I

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had this idea one day. It's like, you know, I

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have to walk my dog every morning, why don't I

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just take her with me on a golf course. So

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I googled dog friendly golf courses, thinking I'd never even

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heard of such a thing, and just that weekend there

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was an article about two courses in Marine Indian Valley

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in San Geronimo that are dog friendly. How did that

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come about? And what does that mean?

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You know what, I don't even know how it's come about.

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It's a great feature, and we have a lot of

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people that take advantage of bringing their dog up of

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some on a leash and some just on command that

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are well behaved. And we haven't had any problems from

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the dogs or from customers saying that I don't like

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to play when people have their dogs, or it's just

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a great feature and we all love our dogs, so

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a little bit more quality time and a little exercise

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for the pooch. And I know quite a few of

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them by name that come up on a regular basis,

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the owner and the dog, so we have a lot

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of fun with it.

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It's amazing. And you know, some people just put the

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dog in the cart and drive from the car. I thought, no,

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I'm just going to bring her with me and I'll

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keep the leash on her and let her drag it,

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and then if I need to grab her, I will.

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You know, if a skunk runs across the fairway or something,

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or a deer and she wants to go after it.

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We do have some wildlife, you know.

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Yeah, you do some beautiful wildlife out there. It's great

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because you're pretty isolated. We are, which is really nice

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in West Morin, and it's there's no houses on the

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course at all.

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The closest house, I guess would be left of three fairway.

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There's a couple of homes back on ranches, but they're

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not right on the golf course.

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No, there's a lot of room between that house and

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the and the fence. You're right there is that house

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two houses over on number three fairway, which is a

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par five, and you're spend more time looking for your

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ball than you notice. The only thing you would notice

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is if their horse comes up to you and wants

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to say hello, and you're walking by the fence looking

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for your ball.

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The horse is pretty well trained. He comes over when

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he sees the somebody bringing him an apple or a carrot,

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and that happens quite a bit.

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The first time I brought my dog out to the course,

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my friends that I was playing with that day, they

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were like, really, you brought your dog, and I'm like, yeah,

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it's a dog friendly chorus. I'm gonna just give it

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a shot. Well, by the end of the round they

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were thanking me for having the dog out there because

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it calmed everybody down. Whenever they got like frustrated or

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angry upset, they go over and pet the dog and

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their whole attitude with therapy. It's it's amazing with canine

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therapy can do to your golf game.

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Yeah, there's no doubt about it.

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So why do and you've never had I mean, hopefully

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each person that does this is a good dog citizen

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and they'll clean up after their dog, because you would

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hate to find, you know, your ball and a pile

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of poop.

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Right, Yeah, we don't have any problems with that.

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No. I brought bags with me and she you know

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one time, Okay, fine, just put it in the trash

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in the next hole. No one's gonna care.

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Yeah, right, no, they the dogs are fine. The dogs

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are are so well behaved. Probably more behave than some

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of the players from time to time.

295
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Oh yeah, yeah, I never had a dog bark at

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the time that I was on a backswing. I can

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tell you how many times each round that we're all

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be in a backswing and I'll hear somebody who's probably

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missed a putt. You can hear them from another Okay, okay,

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calm down, guys. Yeah exactly. Is there anything that you

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guys treat the ground with that we should be concerned

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that our dog might be sniffing and licking around? And

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is there any chemicals or anything that keep your course

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so green that I'd be worried about.

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No, we're pretty restricted by the water district because we

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are on water district properly. That's interesting that there are

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a lot of chemicals that we cannot use. So no,

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we're we're very animal friendly. Yeah.

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Absolutely, it's such a I don't know why more courses

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don't even consider it. Have you heard of other courses

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that are have had trouble with it, or even courses

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that do it? No, the two here in this county. No,

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I have not really, No, it's bring it up.

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Yeah, it's a fun feature.

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Yeah, well, what so, so you know bring When I

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say bring it up, I mean like an upcoming PGA

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professionals meeting. You guys have regular meetings and conferences and things.

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What are the struggles that everyone's discussing these days? As

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far as you know, we're all losing business left and right.

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How do we get them back?

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Well, we got to a point where we overbuilt, so

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there were too many golf courses and too many options,

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and play was just going.

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Through the roof, and which was a great thing.

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Nobody saw a decline happening, and all of a sudden,

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the economy hits and people either have a budget for

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time or for dollars and they can't play as much golf.

328
00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.559
Right. So well, and you also have the Tiger factor.

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You have somebody who's not as charismatic, who's leading the

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tour and making headlines of people going, oh, I want

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to do that, I want to do that. There's really

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I mean, Rory is a great player, but he doesn't

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have the or the you know, the press appeal of

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a Tiger. And I'm talking about press appeal. Even before

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Tiger's mishaps, he's still the press loved him, right, and

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that's going to generate a lot of business for the industry.

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Well, I think we're looking at areas where we can

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expand the golfer base. Everybody has now an email list,

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a base of emails that you can send out specials

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and invitations and promotions that you might have from time

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to time to try to expand on who you're advertising to.

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I think the inevitable thing is that there are going

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to be some golf courses that close, and that does happen.

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But we're trying to go from the positive standpoint, how

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do we get a few more people to play golf?

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And a couple of years ago it was trying to

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get the people that play six times a year to

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play twelve times, and that's what it is, and those

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kind of things, and expanding the junior population and expanding

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the ladies' population so that you get a few more

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players that way, and we're working at it.

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Do you have a sense of the average customer at

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Indian Valley how many times a year they play at

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your course, Because, like I'm one of the members, you

355
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know when you're lesser members. But I recently did a

356
00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:16.680
check because my son was asking me, and of the

357
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last thirteen rounds that I had played, I played eleven

358
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:24.160
different courses in Marin, Sonoma, and San Francisco, so I

359
00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.240
don't always go to Intow Valley it's my go to,

360
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but I play a lot of courses. So do you

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have any sense of how often.

362
00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.400
Well, we have an annual membership right with about two

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00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.160
hundred and twenty five or so, either single members or

364
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family members, and they play more golf, obviously than the

365
00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:47.160
general public plays. I think the average family member probably

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00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.319
plays two to three times a week. Then the one

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00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.960
extreme would be we have one member that played three

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hundred and eight rounds last year. Wow, they weren't all

369
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at Indian Valley, but he posted three hundred and eight

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00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.720
rounds of golf. That's a lot of golf.

371
00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.599
That's a lot of golf. Well, that's the beauty of

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living on the West Coast when you can play twelve

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months a year.

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And we had a year where the weather was more

375
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conducive to playing. We didn't have much rain, so he

376
00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:12.880
played golf.

377
00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.119
I have a listener who I actually just did a

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00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.440
show with because he's a physical therapist as well and

379
00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:28.519
is a certified TPI instructor and he lives in Ottawa, Alberta.

380
00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.720
He lives in Alberta, Canada, and he's already had over

381
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.960
two hundred and fifty rounds this year. And he doesn't

382
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.480
get to play for like more than five or six

383
00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:39.039
months a year, right, but he plays two rounds of

384
00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:43.839
golf every day, at least two. He'll play thirty six holes.

385
00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:45.759
That's a lot of golf and he's only been playing

386
00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:48.559
six years and he's down to a three.

387
00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.079
So you eat a sink or swim there, get better

388
00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:53.200
or ya kuia one or the.

389
00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:56.920
Other exactly exactly. So of all the conversations that are

390
00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:59.079
going on these days about how do we bring more

391
00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:04.160
people in, there's some outrageous ideas being you know, the

392
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.119
first one comes to mind, like fifteen inch hole and

393
00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.839
you know, moving the t's up to play it forward concept.

394
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Have you guys done anything or you would you consider

395
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:19.279
doing anything that is special to bring bodies in or you.

396
00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:24.359
Just yeah, I think we would, And we wholly support

397
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the play It Forward program and we've promoted that, probably

398
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not as much as we should, but we have promoted

399
00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:33.559
it some. I think everybody would have a lot more

400
00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.000
fun if they played a golf course where they could

401
00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.119
shoot a good score and was a little bit more

402
00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:41.880
usually friendly. I think that's the point we got into

403
00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.759
building golf courses that were seven thousand yards long. And

404
00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:47.240
you go out there and don't have much fun and

405
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shoot a high score, You're probably not going to come back, right,

406
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.839
So we try to promote.

407
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That they're charging you one hundred and fifty to two

408
00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.240
hundred dollars to do.

409
00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.079
So fees can be high. Yeah, the feest can be high.

410
00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:02.359
We promoted from that from that avenue the twelve inch cups.

411
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.599
I don't know that we're going in that direction. I

412
00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:08.599
wouldn't be a fan of that. I'm still more traditionalist

413
00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:11.279
and I'd like to see other things explored before we

414
00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:12.480
go to a twelve inch cup.

415
00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:14.680
Well, just if you play the fifteen inch hole or

416
00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:18.319
the twelve inch hole, just don't post your score. But hey,

417
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.599
you're gonna first of all, you're going to probably play

418
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.920
a lot faster, and you know you're going to score

419
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.440
a lot lower, you're going to make a lot more putts.

420
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:27.720
I'd have less frustration.

421
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.599
Yeah, yeah, And if it's a way to get people,

422
00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.519
you know, excited about it, have fun. I don't know,

423
00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.039
I'm kind of on the fence about it. I've heard

424
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.599
many conversations. I just don't wanted to disrupt normal play.

425
00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:41.720
It would have to be a designated time or a

426
00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:43.960
day or something. But I don't know.

427
00:21:44.279 --> 00:21:48.400
I'm just more traditionalist with the golf that the history

428
00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:52.480
of golf and the challenge of golf and being a

429
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:54.839
golf professional. I'd like to teach people and get them

430
00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.960
to play a little bit better. Maybe they'd have a

431
00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.839
little bit more if they're more fun if they played

432
00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.079
a little bit better. So I would attack it from

433
00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:05.079
that direction. And then the idea, I mean, there was

434
00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.799
ideas years ago. Why shouldn't the average player, and a

435
00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:12.359
male average player is somewhere between a fifteen and a

436
00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:15.440
twenty handicap, why shouldn't he be able to hit the

437
00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.920
same kind of iron into a hole that one of

438
00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:20.759
the stronger players on the tour can hit.

439
00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:22.799
And that was the play it forward, And that's the.

440
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.200
Play it forward I did. And I think everybody would

441
00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.240
score better and they'd have more fun doing that.

442
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:30.319
No question, And drop the ego, folks. Sure you know

443
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:32.200
it's like, I don't have a problem playing the whites.

444
00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:35.640
What's the problem. I'm going to have a better score probably.

445
00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:38.240
Or the reds. And we took the names off of them.

446
00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:42.799
It's not ladies team in exactly, it's Redswhites, it's forward,

447
00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.279
t's middle, te's.

448
00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:47.920
Yep, yep. But are people taking advantage of the do they?

449
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.559
First of all, do they understand the concept play it forward?

450
00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.599
Because I don't know if that name really explains what

451
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:54.880
it is. And we had Barney Adams on who it

452
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.759
was his idea, and we've talked about it and talked

453
00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.359
about the name and how it doesn't come up with anything.

454
00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:06.599
But do you think people are actually a significant number

455
00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:09.559
of your or even a minor number of your customers

456
00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:10.880
are taking advantage of that content?

457
00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:13.400
Well? I think they are. In fact, I just before

458
00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:15.319
I came over, I met with our nine old Ladies

459
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.039
group and they're playing a couple of teas that we

460
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.279
don't even have team markers at right now, because they

461
00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:23.519
want to play it a little farther forward, and they

462
00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:27.119
want to have rounds go a little bit quicker, and

463
00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:30.440
they want their higher handicapped ladies to enjoy themselves a

464
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:34.920
little bit more. So. I think there's instances where we're

465
00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:35.759
making it happen.

466
00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:45.160
All right, let's get into helping the average golfer, and

467
00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.720
that is what we do here at Golf Smarter. It's like,

468
00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:50.400
I'm a guy with the right equipment and a bunch

469
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:53.000
of questions, and I want to get my game better.

470
00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.200
I don't want to talk about what's going on in

471
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.240
the tour and how much money they're making or not.

472
00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:01.279
I want to improve my weekend first. I guess the

473
00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.759
first thing is to move up closer on your t

474
00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.240
shots so you can get yourself a short iron versus

475
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:10.440
a hybrid, right, right, But let's talk about playing Indian Valley,

476
00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:12.960
and of course that is very hilly and a lot

477
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.720
of uneven lies. What would be the first thing that

478
00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:19.240
you would remind somebody of to pay attention to when

479
00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:24.359
then you know, when they have to address the fact

480
00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:26.359
that the ball is going to be above their feet

481
00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:27.799
or below their feet on any hit.

482
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.079
Well, I might even take one step backwards from there

483
00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.079
and think about how many people play golf that don't

484
00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:37.039
have proper equipment, and so you might think about addressing

485
00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:41.039
the issue of what's in your bag and how to

486
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.440
use what's in your bag. The sand wedge is the

487
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.000
most versative, versatile golf club in your bag. If you're

488
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.480
not using it to do a lot of your pitching

489
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:52.519
and things around the green. Then you're cheating yourself. So

490
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.440
you need to learn how to use that. Hybrid clubs.

491
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.480
Everybody should have a couple of them in their bag.

492
00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:01.240
What clubs should you get rid of to so that

493
00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:03.400
you can replace with three hybrids?

494
00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.799
The three iron is almost obsolete. The two irons nobody

495
00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:09.920
even makes anymore. Wow, So most of the sets start

496
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:14.000
with four or maybe even five iron, and a five

497
00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:17.000
iron has got enough loft and a short enough shaft

498
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.759
that most people can feel confident enough to get the

499
00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:22.000
ball up in the air with a five iron. So

500
00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.160
then you go four iron three iron in the hybrid set,

501
00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.160
and they're built like a fairway wood and they'll get

502
00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.119
launch the ball up in the air and it'll land

503
00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:34.799
softer on the green. And so having proper equipment, even

504
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.039
to the point of having the hybrids and having the irons,

505
00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:41.359
and making sure that you're fitted properly, and you go

506
00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:43.920
to your golf professional and you get fit for the

507
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.440
proper length and lie and shaft type so that you're

508
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:48.799
getting the best out of your game.

509
00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:53.160
Yeah, I am such a huge advocate on getting fitted.

510
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:55.920
It makes me crazy when I have friends out there

511
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:57.839
and goes oh, look, here's my new driver. It's like, oh,

512
00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:00.640
did you get fitted? No, I just swung. I took

513
00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.559
a couple of swings at the golf shop into a

514
00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:04.880
net and it felt good, like.

515
00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:08.079
Bad move, bad move. And then they can do a

516
00:26:08.119 --> 00:26:10.599
decent fitting at a golf shop where you're using the

517
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:14.279
computerized equipment. I like to see the ballfly. So when

518
00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:17.319
you're outdoors and you can see the initial launch angle

519
00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.519
besides what you're reading on the computer fitting, and you

520
00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:22.559
can see the spin rate, and you can see the

521
00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:24.960
curve of the golf ball. You're going to find out

522
00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.079
what kind of shaft and whether you need a softer

523
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:31.880
shaft or a lighter shaft or a heavier shaft. Those

524
00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:34.200
kind of things can be seen just by looking at

525
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:34.720
the ball flight.

526
00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:42.240
Yeah, and I'm trying to think like getting fitted than

527
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:44.839
not hitting into a net. I mean, actually seeing the

528
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.920
actual ballflight. You can learn a lot more from that

529
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:50.160
than just I mean, the computers are pretty awesome.

530
00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:53.680
Computers are awesome. The computer can tell you from the

531
00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:56.880
initial contact with the golf club the spin rate, launch

532
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:01.119
angle and all those kind of things. It's ball speed,

533
00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:05.079
those kind of things that you're interested in. But from

534
00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:08.200
a naked eye. You see the ball launch off of

535
00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:11.920
your club face. You see the initial spin rate, balls

536
00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:14.480
that take off and they start low and they rise.

537
00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:18.400
You know, there's too much spin on the ball. I'm

538
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.079
I'm a field person and I have a trained eye.

539
00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:24.519
So as far as the equipment goes, it's it's a bonus.

540
00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.160
I would say it's a bonus, but I like to

541
00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:27.880
see the ball fly.

542
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.519
Interesting. That makes a lot of sense. But there's a

543
00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.160
lot of people who don't aren't using taking advantage of that. Well,

544
00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:35.880
they don't have the room.

545
00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:38.440
Well, and if you if you come to a to

546
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:41.359
a golf shop or a golf club where you can

547
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.079
hit balls and you can see the ball fly. Everybody

548
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:48.400
that does the club fittings, and I'm included. We have

549
00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:52.119
three of us that do club fittings at Indian Valley

550
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.519
and we can club fit you and the club fitting

551
00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:55.480
doesn't cost anything.

552
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.599
Yeah, that's a huge advantage that people don't realize. It's like,

553
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:01.119
you know, it's not going to cost you anything and

554
00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:02.160
you're only going to do better.

555
00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:03.440
Yeah, it's just gonna help.

556
00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:07.240
And what are the things that are gonna for me?

557
00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:11.279
When I got fitted. One of the first things that

558
00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:14.000
started happening is my drives. I got a new driver

559
00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.000
and they were going longer, and the dispersion they weren't.

560
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:20.960
It wasn't flying to the right, it wasn't flying to

561
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:23.359
the left. Once we made those adjustments, I was just

562
00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:26.799
you know, you put more balls in the fairway, your

563
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:27.759
scores are gonna go down.

564
00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:29.240
You can have a lot more fun when you're not

565
00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:30.279
in the trees every.

566
00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:34.079
Hole, yep, yep. And you guys have trees, yes.

567
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.720
We have trees, and we have fairway bunkers a few,

568
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.960
and we have hazards that you can get yourself into.

569
00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:42.880
So getting yourself fit for the proper clubs is a

570
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:43.279
big thing.

571
00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:46.279
How do you keep the bunkers in good shape with

572
00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:47.200
the drought.

573
00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:51.720
Well, sand traps on the fairways are not going to

574
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:53.519
get as much use as up around the green so

575
00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:55.680
they take a little bit less maintenance. But sure the

576
00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:58.880
green side bunkers they get maintained on a daily basis,

577
00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:03.160
and they get upgrades throughout the year as need be,

578
00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:06.079
you know, refilling the sand or re raking the sand

579
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:08.440
to get them to where they're more playable, because they

580
00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:11.279
do get hit with irrigation and they get hit with

581
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:14.839
storms in the wintertime, so you have to do some maintenance. Yeah.

582
00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:17.680
I was up at Foxtail North this past weekend up

583
00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:21.759
in Rohnert Park, and the bunkers were like playing off

584
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:25.160
a hard pan and it was like unfortunately, it was

585
00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.160
like when I played at Pasa Tiempo that was just

586
00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:33.200
dried out rock hard, looking ugly. But the bunkers just

587
00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:35.799
work hard, really hard.

588
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.440
Yeah. I'm not very comfortable to hit a sand shot

589
00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:40.640
next to a green and right not have a great

590
00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:42.720
deal of sand in there. But we do a pretty

591
00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:43.920
good job keeping the sand.

592
00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:47.079
Why are they just not refilling the sand or it's

593
00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:48.119
just because it's so wet.

594
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.079
The economy hits in a lot of different directions.

595
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.039
YEA interesting. Interesting, all right, Now let's see Okay, so

596
00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:57.519
we talked about equipment. We talked about playing the correct teas. Okay,

597
00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:00.480
now let's get back to those uneven lies.

598
00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.079
Uphill downhill side hill lies. Yeah, some of them more

599
00:30:04.119 --> 00:30:08.240
difficult than others. I think the biggest basic thing that

600
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:11.480
everybody needs to think about when you're on a hilly

601
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.119
golf course is getting your body level to the slope

602
00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:18.799
that you're trying to play. For instance, your spine angle

603
00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:22.680
where that is and being perpendicular to the ground. So

604
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:25.960
uphill lies, you're going to tilt your body and get

605
00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.920
your spine angle matched up to the ground. Downhill lies,

606
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:31.799
you have to go the other direction and try to

607
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:34.440
actually get your right side a little bit higher so

608
00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:37.640
your club can swing down the slope. So there is

609
00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:41.440
a definite knack to the side. Hill lies and the

610
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:45.599
up and downhill lies even from short game to a

611
00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:48.079
fairway wood to a long iron.

612
00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:50.480
So you want to make sure that your body is

613
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:54.880
perpendicular to the ground right, not to perpendicular to gravity

614
00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:58.240
right right, so you're not like trying to go you

615
00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:00.680
be straight even though the ground is at an angle,

616
00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:02.519
and you want to be up and down as far

617
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.279
as gravity's concerned.

618
00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:06.400
Right, the spine angle to the ground has to be

619
00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:08.960
at a ninety degree angle. So if you've got an

620
00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.720
uphill lie, you want the club to be able to

621
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.720
swing up the slope and not swing into the slope.

622
00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:19.559
And then what about ballflight coming off of a shot

623
00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:21.960
where the ball is let's say above your feet.

624
00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:23.599
Okay, so you got a ball that's going to go

625
00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:27.240
up up the hill a little bit, it naturally adds

626
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:30.039
more loft to your club, so you need to club up.

627
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:32.359
If it's a five iron shot, maybe you need a

628
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.839
four iron. You need something that's going to have a

629
00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:37.160
little flatter face because your launch angle is going to

630
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:40.079
be higher, and then vice versa. If you're going down

631
00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:43.480
the slope, you need something with more loft. And the

632
00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:46.480
hardest shot to hit off of a downhill slope is

633
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:48.079
to try to take a fairway wood and try to

634
00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.359
get an airborne where most people would be better off

635
00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:54.319
if they took that hybrid with twenty three degrees of

636
00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:58.759
loft and swing down the slope and get the ball airborne.

637
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.759
Is probably going to come off like three would.

638
00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:05.720
Number eight at Indian Valley, Part three, All up hill.

639
00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:07.279
Hardest tool on the golf course.

640
00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:12.839
The death of Me. It's it's got a narrow green

641
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:16.319
going left to right. So when you're looking at it,

642
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:18.759
it's the width of the green, it's not very deep,

643
00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:22.079
and it's all uphill to the green, and it's the

644
00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:24.640
green is on top of the hill. And if you

645
00:32:24.759 --> 00:32:27.839
even land on the green, you your chances are you're

646
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.000
going to bounce off and go back down the hill.

647
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:31.640
Very difficult show.

648
00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:34.799
Very difficult shot to get the ball to stay on

649
00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:39.400
the green. Playing from the whites, you're probably it's like

650
00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:42.160
one hundred and thirty five hundred and forty yard shot.

651
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.400
But with the uphill you got to add two clubs.

652
00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.200
Then you got the wind in your face sometimes or

653
00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:50.319
the wind behind you. It's either in your face or

654
00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:53.799
behind you. How do you what do you recommend to

655
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:56.559
play that hole or a hole? That's that that complicated?

656
00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.880
Well, like you said, if it's if it's into the wind,

657
00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:02.559
you have to only have to club up. You're clubbing

658
00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:04.240
up because it's uphill.

659
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:07.440
And that's what a two or three club difference.

660
00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:09.519
It depends on how strong the wind is. That's just

661
00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:11.680
something that's a judgment called there's.

662
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:15.799
No wind at all, that kind of elevation change going uphill.

663
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:18.440
You know, I think if something to decide how many

664
00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:20.400
clubs that you want to go up.

665
00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:22.640
Well, I think it depends on how high you hit

666
00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:26.160
the ball. I think it's a one club difference going

667
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:30.799
up that hill. So from one hundred and sixty yards

668
00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:33.319
I would hit a six iron. I'd normally hit a

669
00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:36.559
five iron going up that slope. But you also want

670
00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:38.839
to think about the green itself. You don't want to

671
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:42.720
be long there, so any kind of miss needs to

672
00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:44.640
be short, because at least you have a chance from

673
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:47.240
short to chip and put and get it up and down.

674
00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.039
Yeah, but even if you're a little short, that thing's

675
00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:52.240
going to hit the edge of the hill, take one

676
00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:54.839
bounce and just fall off to the right and now

677
00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.279
you're down by the fence way below the hole.

678
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:01.160
No doubt, a very difficult hole, but.

679
00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:03.960
It's not ranked as like the highest handicap hole on

680
00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:04.599
the course.

681
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:06.720
Though, I think purely because of the yardage, just because

682
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.760
one and forty one hundred and sixty yards depending on

683
00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:10.719
where you're playing from.

684
00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:17.199
Yeah, last time I think that I I stayed just

685
00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:19.119
just on the fringe, but on the back fringe of

686
00:34:19.159 --> 00:34:21.320
the green. Plus, you don't necessarily want to attack the

687
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:22.960
pin on that hole. You just want to get to

688
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:24.920
the middle of the green as best you can.

689
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:29.280
And you always want to favor left. Why because there's

690
00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.400
more forgiveness to the left side. Anything that hits from

691
00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.679
the middle of the green right is going to fall

692
00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:36.239
down that slope and you're going to have a much

693
00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:37.159
more difficult ship in.

694
00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:39.440
The front side of the green. But on the back side,

695
00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.199
if you go it's narrow there, it's narrow so you

696
00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:44.679
go a little bit. Yeah, now you're all the way

697
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:47.400
on the back end again and there's a big oak tree.

698
00:34:48.360 --> 00:34:50.000
Right, there's never been there myself.

699
00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:53.760
Well, let me tell you about that hole, Steve. It

700
00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:56.000
can happen, you know, when you're on the other side

701
00:34:56.039 --> 00:34:57.599
of the green and you've got to come up. You

702
00:34:57.639 --> 00:35:00.559
want to take a nice high lofted club just kind

703
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.079
of floated up, but you can't because there's a tree there.

704
00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.119
It's a big oak tree.

705
00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:07.719
Yeah. Well, I hope you never do get to introduce

706
00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:08.480
yourself to that.

707
00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:10.960
It's a difficult shot from long.

708
00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:20.480
What's the best score at the course? What's the course record?

709
00:35:21.039 --> 00:35:25.519
Fifty nine? Wow, Felix Cadinho shot fifty nine senior fifty

710
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:29.800
nine when, oh god, it's been fifteen years ago.

711
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:32.639
Probably really Yeah, that's interesting.

712
00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:35.360
He's a very fine player, and he plays Indian Valley

713
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:40.039
very well. He's had a lot of close calls to that.

714
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:42.320
He shoots a lot of sixty threes and fours.

715
00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:48.119
Wow, that's amazing, pretty strong. It's your best friend at

716
00:35:48.199 --> 00:35:48.960
Indian Valley.

717
00:35:49.079 --> 00:35:51.360
I'm trying to think about my best I think probably

718
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:55.000
about sixty six or seven, which is good for me.

719
00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:56.880
I'm not a. I don't make a lot of birdies,

720
00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:58.280
but I don't make a lot of bogies either.

721
00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:04.159
Is where's your what are your issues if you're not

722
00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:05.079
making a lot of birdies.

723
00:36:05.199 --> 00:36:08.000
Well, my strength is my t shot. I drive the

724
00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:10.760
ball straight and not very far far enough, but not

725
00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:13.440
very far, so I don't get into a lot of trouble.

726
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:17.800
And I'm good with the short game. My iron play

727
00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:20.800
is probably my weakest part of my game, so I

728
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:22.239
don't get into a lot of trouble.

729
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:24.639
And how many pets around do you put in?

730
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:29.159
Well? I played in a tournament last month where I

731
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:33.000
had thirty one puts the first round and twenty eight

732
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.400
the second round, and twenty eight is good. Yeah, I'll

733
00:36:36.440 --> 00:36:37.480
take twenty eight every time.

734
00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:40.400
Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah. Get me around the thirty

735
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:44.000
mark underneath, I'd be very happy, absolutely hate.

736
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:46.679
Those three puts unless you're only hitting about three or

737
00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:48.000
four greens around so.

738
00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:52.280
Well, right right, And if you are coming up short

739
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:54.320
to be able to have enough of a short game

740
00:36:54.360 --> 00:36:56.360
to do, give yourself a five foot.

741
00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:57.599
Or less to get it up and down.

742
00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:01.159
Yeah, that's the key. It is how you score. I'd

743
00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:05.800
tell you score as a golfer, not as an instructor,

744
00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:09.320
but as a golfer, what's the best advice you've ever

745
00:37:09.400 --> 00:37:11.440
received about playing golf?

746
00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:19.320
The best advice I've ever received. I think there's a

747
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.079
lot of people who try to find that magic moment

748
00:37:23.800 --> 00:37:26.480
in their game that's just going to make them fixed

749
00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:28.440
and they're going to be able to just play better.

750
00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:33.440
And I think the patience that everybody needs to have

751
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.039
if you're making a little swing chains that you're patient.

752
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.800
Your patient on the golf course. If you miss it

753
00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:43.079
a shot, you try to get it up and down

754
00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:44.920
and you try to make it up on the next toll.

755
00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:48.960
There is a lot of patients involved, and the best

756
00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:53.519
players in the world can really exercise that and they

757
00:37:53.559 --> 00:37:56.079
don't let their confidence wane and go up and down

758
00:37:56.119 --> 00:37:59.320
too much. I think that's probably the best advice I've

759
00:37:59.360 --> 00:37:59.880
ever gotten.

760
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.440
Do you give playing lessons as well? Just go out

761
00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:03.960
on the course with people, and I do.

762
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:07.000
I don't have the time to give too many of them.

763
00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:08.880
And I feel like if you're going to give a

764
00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:12.199
playing lesson, there needs to be something specific on the

765
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:14.840
golf course that you need to work on, whether it's

766
00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:19.239
your strategy, it's stuff around the green, different lives around

767
00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:23.159
the green or even just uphill downhill side hill lies

768
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:25.199
that we were talking about. Those are things that you

769
00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:28.039
can't do on the driver range right exactly.

770
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:33.840
And what is glaring to you when you're out doing

771
00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:39.039
a playing lesson that you'll see just so common as

772
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:39.599
a mistake.

773
00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:43.880
Lack of knowledge of the short game is probably the

774
00:38:43.920 --> 00:38:47.840
biggest thing. I've worked with some really good players who

775
00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:52.239
don't understand the loft and the d loft and being

776
00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:53.840
able to get the ball up and down around the

777
00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:55.840
green the basic mechanics.

778
00:38:55.880 --> 00:38:58.719
And that would be the key to really scoring.

779
00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:02.280
Oh absolutely. I mean, you look at the average player

780
00:39:02.280 --> 00:39:05.159
that can hit a t shot two hundred yards and

781
00:39:05.239 --> 00:39:07.119
hit a second shot one hundred and eighty one hundred

782
00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:10.480
ninety yards. They're in that fifty yards to the green

783
00:39:10.559 --> 00:39:12.920
area that they need to make sure that they're one

784
00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:16.320
on the green almost every time or every time, and

785
00:39:16.360 --> 00:39:18.480
that they're in a range that they're going to have

786
00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.880
two putts maximum. That's a bogie golfer, right.

787
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:23.719
And that would be a beautiful thing for a lot

788
00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:24.079
of people.

789
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:25.599
It would be a really good thing for a lot

790
00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:26.039
of people.

791
00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:31.840
Yeah, what I see a lot and don't know how

792
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:34.440
to well. I don't offer any help because I'm in

793
00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:36.360
no position to do it. But what I see a

794
00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:39.079
lot is, especially on the short game, is people sweeping

795
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:41.760
at the ball. They're not coming down, they're not you know,

796
00:39:41.800 --> 00:39:45.039
trying to control it that way. Why do people just

797
00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:48.480
automatically think you just got to slide right under the

798
00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:51.280
ball and they don't get the hit the ball hit

799
00:39:51.320 --> 00:39:52.800
the ground concept.

800
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:55.719
Well, I think down equals up and golf, so for

801
00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:57.880
the club to swing down, that sends the ball up.

802
00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:01.639
But psychologically it doesn't make sense. The golf game is

803
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:05.480
played with the ball in the air, so most players

804
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:07.719
are trying to get the ball in the air, help

805
00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:10.039
the ball in the air, and they're not allowing their

806
00:40:10.039 --> 00:40:11.280
club to be able to get the ball in the

807
00:40:11.320 --> 00:40:14.159
air for them. So yeah, that's part of the mechanics.

808
00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:18.760
It can be simply ball position, and it could be

809
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:20.639
like you're talking about, it could be the angle of

810
00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:23.519
attack with their club that it's not coming up and

811
00:40:23.559 --> 00:40:25.599
down enough to be able to get the ball airborne.

812
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:30.239
But the simple mechanics are the short game and then practice.

813
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:32.719
And one of the faults that we have here in

814
00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:36.599
Marine County is we don't have a really good short

815
00:40:36.639 --> 00:40:42.159
game area, and we are creating that at Indian Valley

816
00:40:42.199 --> 00:40:43.920
down next to our driving range. We're going to have

817
00:40:43.960 --> 00:40:47.880
a nice short game area green with a bunker and

818
00:40:47.920 --> 00:40:51.280
some chipping area around it, and I hope that people

819
00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:52.400
will take advantage of it.

820
00:40:53.079 --> 00:40:57.159
Yeah, I'll tell you what I do when I to

821
00:40:57.239 --> 00:40:59.199
practice my short game when I come out because your

822
00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:03.480
driving ranges a hill, so I need to We'll get

823
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:05.559
to that in a minute about how accurate it is

824
00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:08.559
when you're hitting on there. But what I do is,

825
00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:12.360
you'll generally there's never a lot of people on the

826
00:41:12.440 --> 00:41:14.599
driving range. People don't just come out to Indian Valley

827
00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:16.639
just to go to the driving range. There's other places

828
00:41:16.679 --> 00:41:17.039
they'll go.

829
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:18.679
For trying to make it that way that we're trying

830
00:41:18.679 --> 00:41:20.239
to make it a little bit more of a destination

831
00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:21.039
practice area.

832
00:41:21.079 --> 00:41:24.000
But I agree, Yeah, I mean probably Peacock would be,

833
00:41:25.079 --> 00:41:29.880
you know, a destination practice area in this county. But

834
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:32.039
what I do is, so generally when I go up there,

835
00:41:32.079 --> 00:41:35.119
there's only one or two guys, if any up on

836
00:41:35.159 --> 00:41:38.440
the range, and what I do is I will just

837
00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:41.719
take a handful of balls and try to get try

838
00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:44.480
to hit it to the mat because I can retrieve

839
00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:46.239
all my balls, but I'll just go, Okay, this one's

840
00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:48.159
going to go to two mats. Now I'm going to

841
00:41:48.280 --> 00:41:50.599
just go to three mats and just try to see

842
00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:52.239
if I can just keep it, you know, whether it's

843
00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:54.000
a high shot or a low shot, just try to

844
00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:56.159
get it to each mat and see how accurate I

845
00:41:56.199 --> 00:41:57.039
can be on that.

846
00:41:57.840 --> 00:42:00.840
Well, I think I think we're going to offer a

847
00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:05.079
nice little practice area, destination practice area. It's you can

848
00:42:05.119 --> 00:42:06.719
get your bucket of balls and you can go hit

849
00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.480
a few bunker shots and you can hit some wedges

850
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:11.920
and then go up and hit the rest of your

851
00:42:11.960 --> 00:42:15.239
golf balls, so you're fully warmed up before you go

852
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:16.199
out to the first team.

853
00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:18.920
Oh that's great. That's really exciting. When do you guys

854
00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:20.679
think you'll have that open soon?

855
00:42:20.760 --> 00:42:23.039
I hope the grass is in there pretty good right now.

856
00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:25.000
It's up to the superintendent when he thinks it's ready

857
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:27.119
to go, but hopefully soon.

858
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:28.480
Yeah, you've been doing a lot of work on the

859
00:42:28.519 --> 00:42:29.360
driving range over there.

860
00:42:29.400 --> 00:42:32.639
We have. Yeah, the area right in front of the

861
00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:35.239
tea box has now been leveled and that is now

862
00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:38.719
grassed as well. It won't be a grass hitting area,

863
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:41.039
but cosmetically will look a lot better.

864
00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:41.320
Yea.

865
00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:45.360
And realistically, when you go down to that driving range,

866
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:48.840
if you're really working on practicing, then you're gonna hit

867
00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:51.599
your seven eight nine pitching wedge, you're gonna hit your

868
00:42:51.639 --> 00:42:54.039
shorter clubs. If you're going down there to warm up,

869
00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:54.840
then you hit everything.

870
00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:59.039
Yeah, I one or two swings with the driver, but

871
00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:02.280
mostly it's you know, working on you know, because that

872
00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:04.960
is a warm up is my practice time. I don't

873
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:07.239
get enough time to go out to a range, so

874
00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:11.320
I'll focus on my short short clubs.

875
00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:13.719
And you know that's where you're going to score anyway.

876
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:18.320
Right, exactly exactly so, but your driving range is on

877
00:43:18.400 --> 00:43:21.559
a hillside it is, and you have flags up there

878
00:43:21.559 --> 00:43:24.519
and you're saying it's one hundred and fifty yards one

879
00:43:24.599 --> 00:43:27.920
hundred and fifty yards. Define thee hundred and fifty yards

880
00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:29.480
when you're hitting it on a hill, I mean, is

881
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:31.719
it actually one hundred and fifty yard shot or no.

882
00:43:32.119 --> 00:43:34.880
Well it's one hundred and fifty yards, But whether it

883
00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:37.480
plays one hundred and fifty yards it depends on what

884
00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:40.159
kind of loft you're going at it with. For somebody

885
00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:42.079
hits the ball pretty high, it's probably going to be

886
00:43:42.119 --> 00:43:45.360
fairly accurate. But for somebody who's not lofting the ball

887
00:43:45.400 --> 00:43:47.920
as much, it's going to feel like it's a long

888
00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:50.000
ways to that one hundred and fifty yard marker. So

889
00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:52.360
it depends on the trajectory of your shot.

890
00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:55.000
But when you're playing a hole, like when we talked

891
00:43:55.000 --> 00:44:00.119
about on number eight, when you have an uphill sh

892
00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:03.159
that's we'll call it one hundred and forty yards, you

893
00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:07.559
have to account for you know, the ball is gonna

894
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:10.840
so when it's uphill, it's gonna be a little bit

895
00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:15.280
longer than what it says it's gonna play a little longer. Right,

896
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:17.599
Oh yeah, it's going to explain how that works for

897
00:44:17.639 --> 00:44:19.320
me for uphill and downhill and why you want to

898
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:24.719
go like on number five, the par three downhill four, okay,

899
00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:28.159
number four, Right, you've got that one where it's one

900
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:30.880
hundred and twenty five yard, except it's extreme downhill, so

901
00:44:31.159 --> 00:44:33.599
you're not necessarily going at it at one hundred.

902
00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:35.880
You know, there's a lot of factors in golf besides

903
00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:38.360
just hitting the golf ball that you always have to

904
00:44:38.400 --> 00:44:42.159
weigh in on the temperature. The ball is going to

905
00:44:42.199 --> 00:44:46.719
always go farther when it's warmer, the wind direction, the

906
00:44:46.840 --> 00:44:50.280
uphill and downhill side hill lies, those always play a part.

907
00:44:50.559 --> 00:44:52.800
So when you're working on number eight, you're hitting it

908
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:55.239
one hundred and forty yards up the hill. For me,

909
00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:58.679
that shot right there is probably a seven iron because

910
00:44:58.719 --> 00:45:02.039
my trajectory is not high. For somebody who hits the

911
00:45:02.039 --> 00:45:04.199
ball pretty high, they're probably not going to lose a

912
00:45:04.199 --> 00:45:07.719
whole lot there without any wind blowing. So it has

913
00:45:07.760 --> 00:45:10.559
to do with the trajectory of the shot. The hill's

914
00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:13.079
going to take some of the loft off of the

915
00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:14.320
shot hitting it up that hill.

916
00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:23.440
What is your specialty as an instructor. What do you

917
00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:27.400
focus on the most or think that you can help

918
00:45:27.480 --> 00:45:29.280
somebody the most with.

919
00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:31.519
Well, I think I can help people with their full

920
00:45:31.519 --> 00:45:34.119
golf swing, But I think my specialty is probably with

921
00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:37.239
the putter or with the short game. I think I

922
00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:40.760
have a very good technique to teach the putting stroke,

923
00:45:41.400 --> 00:45:43.840
and I think that I have a really good technique

924
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:48.360
that I've developed over time and tested and trial and

925
00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:52.320
tested with the short game, everything from a little short

926
00:45:52.440 --> 00:45:57.719
pitch shots to fifty thirty forty fifty yard web shots.

927
00:45:58.719 --> 00:46:03.440
When I've gone into stores and ask a salesperson about,

928
00:46:03.519 --> 00:46:07.119
you know, clubs they have distinct opinions and then getting

929
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:10.079
fitted on all the different clubs. But when you bring

930
00:46:10.159 --> 00:46:12.079
up a putter to someone like that, they'll go, you know,

931
00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:15.079
it's all about feel. It's all about how you feel.

932
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:19.679
And when you start taking instructions, they'll start you with position, grip,

933
00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:23.079
and alignment. There's the basics of the full swing. And

934
00:46:23.119 --> 00:46:27.599
then again they come back there's so many different ways

935
00:46:27.679 --> 00:46:32.000
to putt. How do you have a method of putting

936
00:46:32.079 --> 00:46:36.519
that you're able to transition somebody from what they were

937
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:38.880
doing to what you feel is the correct way to

938
00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:39.239
do that.

939
00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:41.719
Well. I think, just like the golf swing, there are

940
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:45.559
certain fundamental, basic, fundamental things that everybody needs to go through.

941
00:46:46.119 --> 00:46:49.760
You have to have a very sound fundamental putting grip.

942
00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:55.159
Whether it's the traditional reverse overlap grip or whether it's

943
00:46:55.280 --> 00:46:58.800
left hand low or the pencil grip or the claw

944
00:46:58.920 --> 00:47:00.960
or whatever you like to do. You have to have

945
00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:04.199
a sound fundamental grip that does what your grip is

946
00:47:04.199 --> 00:47:06.639
supposed to do in the putting stroke, and that's to

947
00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:09.599
work together with your arms and to not break down

948
00:47:09.639 --> 00:47:12.760
an impact. I think you need to have a great

949
00:47:12.800 --> 00:47:16.280
setup position. You have to have good eye position, good

950
00:47:16.280 --> 00:47:21.440
ball position, good hand and arm position, because all those

951
00:47:21.480 --> 00:47:24.360
things take care of where the putter is going to swing.

952
00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:27.480
So if you have a good setup position and your

953
00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:30.639
body is ready, the putter will swing on your target

954
00:47:30.639 --> 00:47:32.679
line a lot easier than if it doesn't.

955
00:47:34.239 --> 00:47:37.679
Dave Stockton was on a couple months ago and he

956
00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:42.800
mentioned that because I'm left hand low and lag, putting

957
00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:45.400
can be difficult for me, and he said, change your

958
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:49.079
grip for the longer ones. What's your thought on.

959
00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:52.440
That, Well, that's probably very true because if you're a

960
00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:55.559
right handed player playing right handed, your right hand is

961
00:47:55.599 --> 00:48:00.000
your power supply. So if your right hand is basically

962
00:48:00.280 --> 00:48:03.000
taken out of the stroke by having left hand low,

963
00:48:03.480 --> 00:48:05.440
you don't have the same kind of feel and being

964
00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:09.159
able to roll the ball at longer distances. So I

965
00:48:09.159 --> 00:48:10.000
would agree with that.

966
00:48:10.679 --> 00:48:13.880
Interesting, Well, I want a lesson. I want a putting

967
00:48:13.920 --> 00:48:16.679
lesson from from here. That would be a lot of fun,

968
00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:20.159
because that's to me, that's where I'm You know, three

969
00:48:20.199 --> 00:48:23.840
putting can ruin your whole round. It can just get

970
00:48:23.880 --> 00:48:26.360
into your head and think you're having a terribly. You

971
00:48:26.400 --> 00:48:29.519
can be green and every fair way, hit every green

972
00:48:29.559 --> 00:48:34.199
and regulation and you're three putting and worse and you

973
00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:38.559
just become a miserable human being. No doubt, it'll just

974
00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:40.280
I suck because you can't put it.

975
00:48:40.360 --> 00:48:44.239
There's no reason why a fifteen eighteen handicapped player can't

976
00:48:44.280 --> 00:48:45.400
be a good putter.

977
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:49.199
And then they won't be a fifteen or hit the right. Yeah,

978
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:51.679
they can drop down to twelve quickly with that.

979
00:48:51.679 --> 00:48:52.360
That's true.

980
00:48:53.159 --> 00:48:55.039
All right, Well, I'm going to take you up on that,

981
00:48:55.239 --> 00:48:58.760
because what do you think about the ruling on the

982
00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:02.000
long putters and attaching to the body or not attaching

983
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:02.679
the body or.

984
00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:07.039
I have mixed emotions. I mean, I'm for anything that's

985
00:49:07.079 --> 00:49:09.519
going to make golf easier for people, and I think

986
00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:12.079
the long putter when it came out, it took players

987
00:49:12.079 --> 00:49:15.679
who had real problems with the putter and gave them

988
00:49:15.719 --> 00:49:19.599
a whole new feeling a bit about playing golf. It's

989
00:49:19.639 --> 00:49:22.039
a good thing, which is a good thing. But I'm

990
00:49:22.079 --> 00:49:26.320
also a traditionalist, and I think the golf swing is

991
00:49:26.360 --> 00:49:28.760
what we're calling it, so the putter needs to swing,

992
00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:32.159
and in that kind of action, it's more of a

993
00:49:32.199 --> 00:49:36.760
pendulum attached to your body kind of situation, so your

994
00:49:36.880 --> 00:49:41.639
arms aren't normally swinging the putter, so kind of mixed emotions.

995
00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:44.840
I think there will be some new things evolved. I

996
00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:48.400
think people will adapt and we'll have people using the

997
00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:53.039
Matt Coots your method and something that Bernard Langer did

998
00:49:53.440 --> 00:49:56.559
a long time ago, or he braced it to his

999
00:49:56.760 --> 00:49:59.840
arm and still swung his arms, and that's still going

1000
00:49:59.880 --> 00:50:00.559
to be allowed.

1001
00:50:00.719 --> 00:50:06.840
Yeah, that'll be allowed. Okay, traditionalists, Yes, there's there's new

1002
00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:10.639
fangled equipment all the time. The technology has changed so

1003
00:50:10.840 --> 00:50:15.000
radically in the last ten years as far as the

1004
00:50:15.079 --> 00:50:18.440
materials used. Do you like that or you think we

1005
00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:19.159
should go back?

1006
00:50:20.119 --> 00:50:23.119
Well, I think the USGA has a good handle on

1007
00:50:23.559 --> 00:50:26.760
what's going to happen with the equipment and the golf ball.

1008
00:50:27.559 --> 00:50:29.519
And they're only going to allow the golf ball to

1009
00:50:29.559 --> 00:50:34.440
go so fast off the club, So the golf ball

1010
00:50:34.519 --> 00:50:36.960
is only going to fly so far. And they keep

1011
00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:40.000
tinkering with the feel of it and the initial launch

1012
00:50:40.039 --> 00:50:43.079
angle and spin rate and those kind of things. Will

1013
00:50:43.119 --> 00:50:47.000
probably tinker with the ball a little bit, but the

1014
00:50:47.119 --> 00:50:51.320
club material that's probably something that will change over time.

1015
00:50:51.360 --> 00:50:53.119
But the ball is only going to come off of

1016
00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:57.679
that club face so fast, right, So I don't I

1017
00:50:57.719 --> 00:51:02.920
don't see a whole lot changing there. She marked changes.

1018
00:51:03.039 --> 00:51:05.280
I think we're gonna have clubs that are going to

1019
00:51:05.320 --> 00:51:08.199
be more forgiving. They're going to keep working on the

1020
00:51:08.280 --> 00:51:10.840
hybrid idea and things that make off a little bit

1021
00:51:10.840 --> 00:51:14.440
more fun. But as far as distance goes, I don't

1022
00:51:14.480 --> 00:51:15.360
think it's going to happen.

1023
00:51:17.280 --> 00:51:20.360
Just did a conversation with an author who wrote a

1024
00:51:20.360 --> 00:51:23.079
book about the nineteen sixty nine Ryder Cup, and we

1025
00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:25.480
had it on just as the Ryder Cup was happening.

1026
00:51:26.119 --> 00:51:28.920
And one of the things that fascinated fascinated me about

1027
00:51:29.280 --> 00:51:34.199
reading the book was they talking about how in the

1028
00:51:34.280 --> 00:51:37.920
early sixties there was a different sized ball in the

1029
00:51:38.039 --> 00:51:41.239
US being used versus the one over in the UK.

1030
00:51:41.679 --> 00:51:44.800
It's a little bit smaller, like eighty one hundredths of

1031
00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:50.920
an inch smaller. Instead of making the holes bigger, if

1032
00:51:50.920 --> 00:51:53.119
we made the ball smaller, would that help?

1033
00:51:53.519 --> 00:51:59.199
Actually, David Ferridy is a fan of making the balls bigger, bigger,

1034
00:51:59.519 --> 00:52:02.599
slightly bigger, which will reduce how far they go.

1035
00:52:04.679 --> 00:52:06.840
Would you want to do that? Everything is trying to

1036
00:52:06.840 --> 00:52:08.320
make a game longer.

1037
00:52:08.079 --> 00:52:12.079
Well, and trying to get an equal playing field, and

1038
00:52:12.079 --> 00:52:15.400
trying to make it to where the long hitters can't

1039
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:18.760
hit it fifty yards by you making the ball slightly

1040
00:52:18.800 --> 00:52:20.840
bigger will make the ball go a little bit shorter.

1041
00:52:20.920 --> 00:52:23.840
I don't know if I'm a tremendous fan of that idea, but.

1042
00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:26.440
I think that way we have different tea boxes, that

1043
00:52:26.599 --> 00:52:28.719
is till the long hitters can stand back there and

1044
00:52:28.760 --> 00:52:31.599
you don't have to play. Not everybody in your forest

1045
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:33.280
them has to play the same tea box.

1046
00:52:33.320 --> 00:52:35.920
It's okay, that's true, and I hope we're to the

1047
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:39.320
point now where we're not going to see Augusta National

1048
00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:42.199
have to go to eight thousand yards. And you know,

1049
00:52:42.280 --> 00:52:44.480
all of our local golf courses have to get longer,

1050
00:52:44.559 --> 00:52:46.199
longer to make them viable.

1051
00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:51.039
But ninety eight percent of the players can't play those

1052
00:52:51.079 --> 00:52:54.960
long courses anyway. I mean to build courses just for

1053
00:52:55.039 --> 00:52:55.480
the tour.

1054
00:52:55.840 --> 00:52:58.360
That's true, and I think, well that was the ego

1055
00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:00.320
build that we had for a number of years, and

1056
00:53:00.360 --> 00:53:03.280
now I think we're much more reasonable about what the

1057
00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:06.519
golf courses need to play. Like, we have some golf

1058
00:53:06.519 --> 00:53:10.000
courses in the area here that maybe worked a little

1059
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:12.719
bit too hard when they were first built, a little

1060
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:16.400
too severe, and people play them a couple of times

1061
00:53:16.400 --> 00:53:18.519
and say, I don't want to go back there. So

1062
00:53:18.599 --> 00:53:21.320
now I think they're softening those courses up and they're

1063
00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:23.840
making it work. It's a little bit more friendly and

1064
00:53:24.360 --> 00:53:25.559
people will have a better time.

1065
00:53:25.719 --> 00:53:28.360
Yeah, they should. And most people shouldn't be playing the

1066
00:53:28.400 --> 00:53:32.000
back teas anyway, that's true, unless you are included.

1067
00:53:33.119 --> 00:53:35.320
Six sixty year old guys don't need to play seven

1068
00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:36.519
thousand yard golf course.

1069
00:53:36.639 --> 00:53:41.480
You know, it's very funny. Well, Steve, it's so great

1070
00:53:41.480 --> 00:53:43.559
that we've finally got a chance to do this. I

1071
00:53:43.639 --> 00:53:46.280
really appreciate you taking the time to come out and

1072
00:53:46.599 --> 00:53:48.800
have this conversation with you. I've been waiting for a

1073
00:53:48.840 --> 00:53:51.239
long time to do this. I've threatened you for years

1074
00:53:51.280 --> 00:53:51.800
to do this.

1075
00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:53.000
Thank you for the invitation.

1076
00:53:53.199 --> 00:53:56.400
So thank you so much for coming. And I look

1077
00:53:56.480 --> 00:54:00.679
forward to two things. One seeing you out there every

1078
00:54:00.679 --> 00:54:03.239
time I come out, and to getting that putting lesson.

1079
00:54:03.360 --> 00:54:04.039
I need the help.

1080
00:54:04.159 --> 00:54:05.280
I'll be glad to help gain it.

1081
00:54:05.320 --> 00:54:05.480
Put