rbarthle17
One-length advocate
My home course is hosting a mini tour event today, the Toledo Open. Yesterday, I went out in the evening and was paired with one of the participants who was getting a practice round in (along with most of the field, it seemed). His name is Wes Gates, and he is 2 years removed from playing college at Bowling Green. He plays year round of different mini tours, mainly in the Michigan area in the summer and in Florida in the winter.
First off, he's a super nice guy. Really laid back and friendly. Didn't bother him at all that he was paired with a hack like me.
We played the front 9, and just watching his game was a treat. He was playing the tips, and I was playing one tee box up from him. He hit 3 wood on most holes, and I hit my new Mini 1.5. That combination of differences left us for the most part with similar distances for second shots. It helped me that I was having a good day off the tee.
But that's where any remote similarity ended. From 150 and in, he was lights out almost every shot. I think he only missed one GIR for the 9. But what was jaw dropping was that EVERY SINGLE TIME he dropped a ball to take a second shot, the ball literally ended up inside 10' from the flag. It was incredible his accuracy on approach shots. We all know that approach shots and short game is the key to scoring, but there it was plain as day. While I was having an off day with ball striking with my irons, he was giving himself looks at birdie almost every hole. He drained at least 3 that I can remember.
We had a couple of fun moments which epitomized the Titleist commercial where the message is that we all hit great shots, the pros just do it more often. On the 4th hole, I managed to get inside of his approach shot for the only time of the day. But I was above the hole and he was below it. For the most part the greens were slow, but my birdie putt, which I just tapped, went 10 feet past the hole. He nailed his birdie putt, then went to my ball location and tried 3 putts. He got one within a couple of feet, but no better. He said to me "I'm not going long on this hole tomorrow!". The other one was on the par 5 8th. I had to punch out of a tree and was left with about 230 in from the fairway. The hole is guarded front left and front right by bunkers. It leaves a chute about 10y wide to run the ball up to the green. I've played that shot now about a dozen times, and for some reason it suits my eye and I've never hit the bunkers and most time am left with a putt for the next shot either on or just off the green. He was just talking about how that's a tight shot and not sure he'd go for it. I took my hybrid and hit a fade that started at the left bunker and tailed back so the ball rolled right up to the fringe. He looked at me and said, "that'll work."
After the round, he went straight to the putting green and then back to the short game area as darkness was falling, as did his fellow competitors. Not a single one of them went to the range. It was all putting and short game work to end the day. That really stuck with me. I recognize that right now I am sacrificing time practicing for time on the course, to get as much playing time in while the weather is still good. But once I get past that, I will become a regular in the short game area and the putting green. Learn from the best.
And I have a new pro golfer to cheer for. I will be following Wes and hoping that he can continue to live his dream for a long time to come.
First off, he's a super nice guy. Really laid back and friendly. Didn't bother him at all that he was paired with a hack like me.
We played the front 9, and just watching his game was a treat. He was playing the tips, and I was playing one tee box up from him. He hit 3 wood on most holes, and I hit my new Mini 1.5. That combination of differences left us for the most part with similar distances for second shots. It helped me that I was having a good day off the tee.
But that's where any remote similarity ended. From 150 and in, he was lights out almost every shot. I think he only missed one GIR for the 9. But what was jaw dropping was that EVERY SINGLE TIME he dropped a ball to take a second shot, the ball literally ended up inside 10' from the flag. It was incredible his accuracy on approach shots. We all know that approach shots and short game is the key to scoring, but there it was plain as day. While I was having an off day with ball striking with my irons, he was giving himself looks at birdie almost every hole. He drained at least 3 that I can remember.
We had a couple of fun moments which epitomized the Titleist commercial where the message is that we all hit great shots, the pros just do it more often. On the 4th hole, I managed to get inside of his approach shot for the only time of the day. But I was above the hole and he was below it. For the most part the greens were slow, but my birdie putt, which I just tapped, went 10 feet past the hole. He nailed his birdie putt, then went to my ball location and tried 3 putts. He got one within a couple of feet, but no better. He said to me "I'm not going long on this hole tomorrow!". The other one was on the par 5 8th. I had to punch out of a tree and was left with about 230 in from the fairway. The hole is guarded front left and front right by bunkers. It leaves a chute about 10y wide to run the ball up to the green. I've played that shot now about a dozen times, and for some reason it suits my eye and I've never hit the bunkers and most time am left with a putt for the next shot either on or just off the green. He was just talking about how that's a tight shot and not sure he'd go for it. I took my hybrid and hit a fade that started at the left bunker and tailed back so the ball rolled right up to the fringe. He looked at me and said, "that'll work."
After the round, he went straight to the putting green and then back to the short game area as darkness was falling, as did his fellow competitors. Not a single one of them went to the range. It was all putting and short game work to end the day. That really stuck with me. I recognize that right now I am sacrificing time practicing for time on the course, to get as much playing time in while the weather is still good. But once I get past that, I will become a regular in the short game area and the putting green. Learn from the best.
And I have a new pro golfer to cheer for. I will be following Wes and hoping that he can continue to live his dream for a long time to come.
