Monday, June 6, 2005

Bayonet Golf Course, Seaside, California

For information, go to http://www.shivas.org/June-6-2005brBayonet-Golf-CoursebrOur-Lucky-13th-Anniversary---In-Praise-Of-The-Game-P9C4.aspx

            Upcoming Corporate Events: Pebble Beach, June 8 for CB Richard Ellis and General Electric; San Diego, June 25-26 for Dreyfus Funds and LPL Financial Services.

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Spanning the Globe

The United Kingdom and British Commonwealth edition of Zen Golf was published in May by HarperCollins UK. In addition to Scotland, England, Wal es, and Northern Ireland, it will be distributed to dozens of Commonwealth countries around the world.

This brings the number of foreign publications of Zen Golf to seven, including editions from Japan, Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Netherlands. Zen Golfers have requested translations in Swedish, Spanish, French and Italian, so we are interested in hearing from publishers for editions in those languages.

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Zen Golf Lesson: An Image for Fairway Bunker Shots

Last month we explored an image for playing shots from greenside bunkers. Now let’s look at an image for fairway bunkers. First things first: if the ball is sitting down in the sand at all, you’ll have to take some sand first and probably won’t be able to advance the ball all the way to the green. Use a lofted enough club to clear the lip of the bunker, and play in a direction that you’ll have the easiest, shortest route back to the fairway.

What if the ball is sitting up and you’d like to play a full swing shot to carry the ball all the way onto the green? The problem most people have with this shot comes from trying to pick the ball clean and, along the same lines, trying to help it into the air. The shot is usually hit thin, right into the lip. If it makes it out of the bunker, it gets caught in the rough or just rolls along the fairway for a bit.

When there’s a lip of the bunker to clear, your first priority is taking a club with enough loft to clear the lip, even if it won’t get you all the way to the green. If the lip isn’t an issue, then take one more club than you normally would for a shot of that distance played from the fairway. Play the ball one inch further back in your stance than you normally would for the club you’ve chosen. Set your feet in the bunker, without digging in too deeply. (Note: Some coaches recommend keeping the legs stable and just swinging with the arms. I feel that adds a complication and self-consciousness for the average golfer that gives more trouble than the benefit to be gained.)

Now it’s time for your image:

Keep in mind that if you were in the fairway, you’d want to make contact with the ball before the leading edge touches the grass. You’ve already set up with the ball an inch further back, giving you a better chance of contacting the ball first. So playing a full shot from a fairway bunker is not so different than an ordinary shot from the fairway. Imagine as vividly as you can that the ball is sitting on grass, the short grass of a mown fairway. Picture the shot you want to play, and see in your mind the green of the grass that you imagine the ball to be sitting on. Then swing away just as you would from the fairway, as ordinary a shot as you can manage. The more convincing your imagination of the ball sitting on grass, the easier it will be to swing in an ordinary way. You’ll be amazed how easy it really is.

For any trouble shot, remember the three priorities: your first priority is to get out, your second priority is to get on (the fairway in this case), and your third priority is to get close (to the green in this case).

© 2005 Dr. Joseph Parent

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Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure,

Lee Woodard

President, Zen Golf International