The Front Nine
The Front Nine is published every Sunday. The Back Nine is published every Thursday.
Last week I used forty range balls to learn a new shot. I call it the “Skip and Stick”. It’s a flexible pitch that I can skip and stick from forty to eighty yards out. I put the ball back in my stance, lean hard on my front foot - and keep my weight there! - adjust the length of the backswing for power, and then accelerate through the ball. By eliminating weight transfer between my feet, it is easy to consistently make solid contact and it naturally reduces power.
Now that I am hitting it long and straight off the tee (more to come on this), I’m often left with less than one-hundred yards into short par 4s. Before the Skip and Stick (BSS), I would commonly shank a tepid lob wedge far away from the green, which would crater my brain into depression. I’ve never lost a loved one. But I have double-bogeyed from sixty-five yards out in the fairway. It’s devastating.
A mix of nerves and poor technique caused the shanks. The thought of a birdie was simply unnerving. A half-hearted swing that decelerated through impact sent the ball sideways off the hozzle. The Skip and Stick has solved both issues. Thoughts of birdie are suddenly thrilling.
Firmly in the After Skip and Stick (ASS) era , I played nine at Breakfast Hill Golf Club. I had two opportunities to use the Skip and Stick and knocked it to inside fifteen feet both times, then two-putted for par.
I learned the Skip and Stick from a Phil Mickelson YouTube video.
If we are decelerating or slowing down because we’ve taken the club back too far, you have no chance to be consistent or successful. - Phil Mickelson
A short-game wizard, if Phil told me to twirl my lob wedge like a ballerina, I would do it. I mean, look at this guy.
As I continue my quest toward scratch golf, acquiring new shots is critical. The Skip and Stick will be the first of many.
Buttered It
Great golf from around the Internet.
Everyone’s college buddy made an albatross on the 18th. Someone get this man a Bud Light!
Tiger Woods Witchcraft 🤯
Hit the Links
2006 US Open at Winged Foot • Final Round • Holes 17 & 18 for Last Two Groups
The US Open starts Thursday at Winged Foot. It last played host in 2006 when Colin Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson both choked down double-bogeys on the 72nd hole to hand the trophy to Geoff Ogilvy. Colin hit into the green-side salad from the middle of the fairway, then whacked it to and fro for a traumatizing six. Phil managed to top Colin’s hackery by hitting his tee shot off of the hospitality tent, then hit a tree, then find the bunker, then run off the green, then pitch to eight feet, then drain it for a six.
Warning: Ian Poulter shows frosted tips in this clip
Winged Foot Drone Tour from Golf Digest
I shot 124 just watching this video. I don’t know how it happened. It just happened.
The Grateful Golfer - After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the author began a near daily blog about how golf helped him cope through his cancer treatment and grow as a person. He’s been writing since May 10, 2012 and still does not have an archive page - perhaps to emphasize the importance of taking life one day at a time. My favorite post is his first:
Today was awesome! My best shot of the day was a 240 yard second shot into a par 5 that made the green! It was fantastic to hit the links. I am a grateful golfer!