Did Tony Lema hit a draw or a fade and other notes on Golf
There are two types of underrated careers: the guy that can barely break 75 in his 40s, think Seve. You see a guy do that and you start to wonder, was this guy ever good. And the guy who doesn’t win enough majors. Think Casper, Guhldahl, Mangrum, Middlecoff.
Lloyd Mangrum won 36 times on tour. After Nelson retired in ’46 they used to say that the big three on tour was Hogan, Snead and Mangrum. He only won one major the 46 National Open. Same with the other guys, not enough majors.
Golf Central was better when it was just a half hour highlight show. This loosely formatted hour long news and comment show with Trip Eisenhauer and others doesn’t work. Unless there’s a major, an hour is too long. My ideal setup would be a half hour Golf Central highlight show followed by a PTI style debate show where we talk about the issues of the day.
End disposable wedges.
The usga should have a re groove certification program for your wedges. Maybe this could be in partnership with the equipment companies, it can be 50 dollars, and you could then play the club for 10 or more years. It’s absurd that someone who buys new wedges every 6 months has an advantage over someone who buys new wedges every 6 years. This will increase the price of used wedges I guess but used wedges will be worth more because they will be more playable. Wedges haven’t gotten any better since 1988 when Cleveland designed the Tour Action 588. There’s no technological reason to change your wedge every year except for worn down grooves. This is a waste. Plus having an old trusty rusty club in your bag is good for the soul. Look at Willie Nelson’s guitar.
It was clear in the 80s that the long putter should be banned. 30 years later the USGA eventually banned anchoring after the belly putter took over the tour. It was also clear in the 80s that you shouldn’t be able to use a line on your ball to help you aim on the green. Using a line is against the spirit of the game: you play the ball it as it lies. Now that companies are getting aggressive about putting a line on the ball so you don’t have too. History sometimes repeats. Prediction: sometime in the next 10 years it will become unlawful to use a line on the ball to assist your aim.
Did Tony Lema normally hit a draw or a fade? In the Shells wonderful world of golf episode against Chen Cheng-Po in Japan, George is saying that Tony likes to hit a fade (Lema hit a couple draws off the tee and George is like that’s a shot he doesn’t usually play). This conflicts with Johnny Miller commentary in Pure Golf and elsewhere when he says that when he tries to hit a draw he imitates Lema. You would think that Miller would imitate Lemas best shot. It makes sense that Lema would hit a draw, his club face is pretty closed at the top, not that you can’t hit a fade with a closed face, it’s just that you can’t hit a draw with an open face.
It’s interesting that these guys in the 60’s used to hit chip shots around the green with a 3 or a 4 iron. I don’t think anyone goes under a 7 iron in todays game. The greens are faster I guess.
Everything in the world is turning into the same thing.
We don’t have distinctive genres anymore in popular music. The top 40 is made up of songs that have elements of rock, rap, pop, soul, country… It used to be in tennis, playing on clay, grass, and hard court meant something. The rallies used to be different now they are becoming the same length. Movies are getting more episodes and TV shows are getting fewer. Every city is becoming more similar. London, New York, Paris. They are cosmopolitan hubs with no locals anymore. Just the jet set. The cities have been flattened by the airplane. There’s much less diversity. Golf is following this trend.
Today, the majors are more similar than they used to be. The Masters has rough, the British Open has green fairways and green greens, and the U.S. Open has minor rough and chipping areas and a score of 9 under par. The PGA is the same. It’s identity is we are the fourth major. This flattening of the majors identity cannot be good .
Wyndham Clark’s change of direction is very Hoganesque: lots of downcock, loose buggy whip swing. Here are some other guys who swing like this:
Chad campbell
Martin keymer
Kenny Venturi
Jack Fleck
Youtube Recommendations
Nick Faldo and David Leadbetter talk for an hour about the good old days.
The Official Video of the 87 British
Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus interview
Check out this video from the 1994 British Open. Ronan Rafferty has his right heel off the ground at address. He does this throughout the backswing with the driver but not with the irons. Maybe it’s one of those drills that worked so good he took it to the course. BTW, this tournament, the 1994 British Open, is a great re watch. One of the great robberies/choke jobs/I can’t believe he didn’t win/gifts I’ve seen.
Another note about times have changed on the golf broadcast: At 3:06:00 after Parnevik hits his tee shot, someone in the gallery calls out ‘you the man’ and Dave Marr says he should be killed, hahaha, love it. If you did that in today’s game you would have a massacre every week. I think it’s time to bring back the golf clap.
Chat GPT hasn’t figured out golf yet. If you ask Chat GPT to list 10 professional golfers with a bowed left wrist at the top you get this:
While it can be challenging to name specific professional golfers who employ a bowed left wrist at the top of their swing due to the variation in techniques, here are some players who have been known to use this technique as of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021:
Dustin Johnson: As previously mentioned, Johnson is perhaps the most notable modern golfer who uses a bowed left wrist in his swing.
Jon Rahm: Rahm is another high-profile golfer who has been noted for his use of a bowed wrist.
Brooks Koepka: Koepka’s swing has elements of a bowed wrist, especially notable during his strong drives.
Rory McIlroy: McIlroy’s swing has been described as having a slightly bowed left wrist at the top.
Tony Finau: Finau’s unique swing has also been characterized as having a bowed left wrist.
Patrick Reed: Reed’s swing often exhibits elements of a bowed left wrist.
Jordan Spieth: Spieth has shown a slightly bowed wrist in his swing in the past.
Sergio Garcia: Garcia’s swing has been characterized as having a slightly bowed left wrist at the top.
Justin Rose: Rose’s swing, while varied, can sometimes show signs of a bowed left wrist.
Matt Kuchar: Kuchar is known for his flat swing plane, which can result in a bowed wrist.
However, please note that the amount of bowing can vary among these players, and not all of them have a pronounced bow. Their techniques may also have evolved since 2021, so for the most current information, you’d need to consult a more recent source.
Google Bard list went like this:
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Sergio Garcia
Justin Thomas
Brooks Koepka
Rory McIlroy
Rickie Fowler
Adam Scott
Gary Woodland
Jason Day
Chat GPT went 4/10: Johnson, Koepka, Spieth and Rahm all have bowed left wrist, but none of the others do. Google Bard went 3/10: Johnson, Spieth, Koepka all have a bowed left wrist at the top. Thomas is a little bowed, maybe that counts. Woodland, Scott, Day, Mcilroy, Garcia… all have what I would call a flat left wrist, but I wouldn’t call it bowed. Reed and Kuchar are cupped. I guess I’ll check back in a year to see if AI has improved their golf knowledge.
Old Time Tips: In the October 1915 edition of The Golf Bulletin, on page 28, from an excerpt from The Winning Shot by Jerome Travis and Grantland Rice, they list a series of tips that are sure to improve your game. The more things change the more they stay the same.
1. — Stand well over the ball and keep head still.
2. — Keep your eye on that ball and don’t move your body.
3. — Cut out the jab or the stab, learn the pendulum swing, and get a follow through with the club.
4. — Cultivate, in practice as well as play, the knack of being a trifle beyond the hole if you miss. Make a steady practice of giving the ball a chance.
5. — Cultivate the habit of concentration.
6. — Cultivate the habit of confidence and determination, for mental faults can be improved as well as physical ones.
7. — And then practise putting wherever and whenever you get the chance.
Stand well over the ball. It was conventional wisdom in the old days to stand as close to the ball as you could get. I especially like 5 and 6. Cultivate the habit of Concentration and confidence. Hogan says somewhere in Power Golf that he would practice concentration. He would say can I practice for an hour and not let my mind wander almost like a Buddhist monk. Can you prevent any bad thoughts from entering your head, or can you at least not allow any bad thoughts to distract you from your target on the practice tee. Or if a bad thought comes into your head can you move past it quickly and get back on task. You should definitely cultivate this habit.
What does it mean to be on plane?
When people say this they basically mean that at p2 the club shaft is parallel to the target line. At p3 the hands are over the middle of the feet, the shaft is pointed at the target line or inside. P4, or the top of the swing, the left arm points at the ball, the elbows are parallel, and the club shaft is parallel to the target line. Anything that is outside of these positions is upright, anything that is inside or behind these positions is flat. Notice, this isn’t the mathematical term, this is a metaphor. A mathematical plane is a flat 2 dimensional surface defined by three non-collinear points. The path that the club takes kindov looks like a flat surface. But in reality, the path the club takes is curved. This is an informal use of the word plane. A swing is on plane if it’s path is neither outside nor inside of a swing path typical of good golfers.
