Heavenly golf

The last major of the 2024 season is upon us and all golf eyes are trained on The Open Championship.

Growing up, this tournament was often referred to as the British Open. So what’s in a name?

The Open Championship, often mistakenly called the British Open, is one of the four major championships in professional golf. This misnomer likely stems from a desire to distinguish it from the U.S. Open.

Established in 1860, The Open is the oldest golf tournament in the world. Held annually in the United Kingdom, the name reflects its global prestige and openness to competitors from all countries.

The term “British Open” diminishes its universal status, implying a regional competition rather than an international one. While the U.S. Open, Masters, and PGA Championship are distinctly American, The Open Championship stands apart as a worldwide event with a rich heritage.

Golf enthusiasts and professionals alike emphasize the correct name to honor its history and global significance. Using “The Open Championship” underscores its unique place in the sport and celebrates its tradition and inclusivity.

In this issue

• Focus on the landing spot

• The power of the pre-shot routine

• The divine secret

• Welcome new subscribers!

Focus on the landing spot

I love it when subscribers and friends reply to the Finding the Tips newsletter and suggest videos that they discovered and found helpful.

Here’s one from an old friend and subscriber who found this video helped his short game. Thanks, Zito!

Scratch Golf Academy delivers videos from some of the best golf coaches and professionals on YouTube. In this video, Carolin Pinegger gives us a chipping drill that will help us get up and down from near the green.

Carolin is a Leadbetter Certified Instructor and a former member of the LPGA Tour. She knows that getting up and down from near the green is one of the talents that separates weekend players from good players.

She advocates choosing the landing spot for your chip and wants us to set up a practice station where we use tees on the practice green to mark the spot where you want the chip to land.

The first landing spot is the one with the least risk because the ball needs to fly the shortest distance. In this instance, it’s about six paces away from the ball. (The shot Carolin has chosen is about 20 paces long). She uses a 9-iron to hit that shot and lets the ball roll the rest of the way.

The second landing spot is nine paces from the ball, a little less than halfway to the hole. She hits an A-wedge (usually a 52-degree wedge) and the ball flies a little higher, lands a little softer and then rolls out to the hole.

The third landing area is 12 paces from the ball. She uses a 56-degree sand wedge to fly the ball to the landing spot. It flies higher and lands softer than the A wedge, so it doesn’t roll as far.

For all three shots, she addresses the ball with her feet close together, and close to the ball. She raises her hands to make the shaft of the club more vertical than a full swing. As a result, the heel of the club is slightly off the ground and the toe is behind the ball.

She has 70% of her weight on her front foot. This promotes a slightly downward angle of attack. With all three clubs, she stands very still, and swings her arms with no weight shift and minimal wrist cock.

I use a pitching wedge, 50-degree gap wedge and a 56-degree sand wedge for these shots. But that’s me. Find out what works best for you.

Try it for yourself. I recommend you try the first chip with a variety of clubs, from 7-iron to pitching wedge. Learn how little you need to swing the club back to make solid contact. Note how far each rolls out.

Become a better chipper and your scores will go down. Guaranteed!

The power of the pre-shot routine

David Young is The Resourceful Coach, a relative newcomer to the YouTube golf content family,

Drawing comparisons to the best athletes in other sports, he makes a strong case for a repeatable pre-shot routine.

David references rugby players and cricketeers, but in North America, you need look no further than basketball. Watch the pros when they are at the free throw line. Before the ref gives them the ball, many of them are focusing on the rim and even taking practice shots with no ball, just feeling the stroke and imagining the ball swishing through the net.

In golf, a pre-shot routine focuses your concentration on the shot at hand and helps remove unneeded thoughts as you get ready to hit the ball. The routine also helps you visualize the shot before you hit it.

This is something anyone can do. Just build a consistent pre-shot routine and use it religiously.

The divine secret

Phillip Sparks of Easiest Swing shows us a simple exercise that will get us turning more fully and effectively. It may seem to fly in the face of conventional golf wisdom but give it a try.

Apply this exercise to your golf swing to make it more powerful while keeping it effortless. Making your turn a full body motion, from head to foot, will pay dividends in the form of better shots and lower scores.

That thought is heavenly!

Welcome new subscribers!

I’d like to take this moment to welcome the new subscribers who have joined us in the last couple weeks. I hope you’re enjoying Finding the Tips and I encourage you to reply to the newsletter email with your comments, suggestions and requests for specific golf fixes.

As always, feel free to forward this newsletter to any of your golf friends who might enjoy it.