Special Reminder: The next two-day Zen Golf School is Sat-Sun June 4-5, at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course in Santa Barbara, CA. This may be the last Zen Golf School that Doc will teach personally until the fall, so don’t miss this opportunity if you can help it.
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Zen Golf on “Everybody Loves Raymond”

Ray Romano is a big fan of Dr. Parent’s and of Zen Golf. Ray will be reading Zen Golf in a scene during the Monday, May 2 show! Ray and Kevin James listened to the Zen Golf Audiobook as they drove from LA to Pebble Beach last year for the ATT National Pro-Am and won the Celebrity Shoot-out Tournament.

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PGA TOUR News

Congratulations to Vijay Singh, Doc’s top student, on his selection to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He celebrated with a victory at Houston, making him the first repeat winner of the Shell Houston Open, and bringing him just three victories away from tying Sam Snead’s record of seventeen PGA TOUR wins after turning 40.

A new player getting Zen Golf coaching this year is Doug Barron. He’s had a fifth and thirteenth place finishes at Tucson and Houston this year, his best finishes since the 2000 season.

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Upcoming Events

PGA TOUR: The next PGA TOUR event where Doc will be coaching is the EDS Byron Nelson Championship at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, just outside of Dallas, Texas, May 9-15. He may stay on for the practice rounds of the Bank of America Colonial Tournament at Colonial Country Club the following week, May 16-18 in Fort Worth, Texas.

He will also be at several days of Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, May 30-June 2. Doc is looking forward to coaching at the US Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina, June 13-19.

If you would like to book Dr. Parent for an evening talk (and optional putting clinic) for your company or your golf club during those weeks, please contact us at the Zen Golf office: 888-874-9928.

Corporate Speaking: Doc will be doing a corporate outing in Pebble Beach on June 8. If your company would like to book Dr. Parent for a speech or outing in the area, or your nearby golf club would like a clinic and/or small group playing lesson, please contact us at the number above to make arrangements.

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 Zen Golf Lesson: An Image for Greenside Bunker Shots

During my lessons and outings, I’m often asked, “How do you know how hard to swing on a greenside bunker shot?”

The answer depends on a number of factors, such as the type of club you’re using (sand wedge or lob wedge), how much you open the face, the quality of the sand (hard-packed, wet, coarse, fluffy, etc.), and how you swing through the sand. So the best way to gauge how hard to swing is to practice many bunker shots under the variety of conditions described.

In the meantime, here’s an image that has been particularly helpful, especially for those with average or higher handicaps, playing a basic, not too long, greenside bunker shot:

Hold both your hands in front of you, palms up, touching each other side to side, slightly cupped. Imagine that they are filled with sand and that a ball is sitting on top, right in the middle. The image you want for your bunker shot is that you’ll be swinging hard enough to send the two handfuls of sand, the sand that the ball is sitting in the middle of, most of the way to the hole.

As much as you can, forget about the ball and focus on the two handfuls of sand you’re sending toward the hole. That will help you enter the sand well behind the ball and follow through out of the sand in front of the ball. The ball will float out on those two handfuls and carry the distance you want it to.

When deciding how far you want the ball to carry, remember the three priorities: your first priority is to get out, your second priority is to get on, and your third priority is to get close. Pay too much attention to number three and you may not take care of number one. First things first.

© 2005 Dr. Joseph Parent                 _______________________________________________________

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there are other topics you’d like to see addressed in our Zen Golf Newsletters, or any other feedback that will help us serve you better.

Yours in Clarity, Commitment, and Composure,

Lee Woodard, President
Zen Golf International