HOW TO PLAY FAST (THIS MEANS YOU!)

Though all golfers can’t become great players, all golfers can become fast players.

Learn to play without delay and to keep pace with your partner, here are some tips:

·         Know the Rules of Golf; simple things such as how to take relief or what to do when you hit into a lateral water hazard should be easy to recall.

·         Be ready when it’s your turn to play. Pay attention to the order in which you hit. Do all of your pre-shot calculations before it is your time to hit—gauging the wind, checking your distance, reading a putt, picking your club, your entire shot strategy. As the previously played ball is coming to a stop, be ready to swing away.

·         Have a pre-shot routine. If, after your waggle, you can’t take the club back in the time it takes to read this sentence, your nick-name is “Freeze.” You’re locked up, which wastes time and usually results in a bad shot.

·         Limit your practice swings. If your ball is on a hilly lie or in deep grass, you may want to take a practice swing. Do so before it’s your turn, and don’t take more than one.

·         Bring several clubs for each shot. When playing from a cart, select the club you intend to use plus one club less and more. If you change your mind you won’t have to run back to the cart. If you miss a green, bring your putter as well as a wedge or other chipping club.

·         Hole out with continuous putting. (When not playing match play). If you can finish the hole by tapping in, do so instead of marking the ball.

·         Position your pull cart, or your cart to the side of the green where you would walk off to the next hole, thereby not walking back into the field of play for those shooting up.

·         Golf Digest: Cliff Schrock

“Golf is a game in which the slowest

people in the world are those in front

of you, and the fastest are those behind.”

                                    Author: Unknown
How to help when you tend the flag-stick:

Whether you’re tending the flag-stick for a PGA Tour pro like Greg Norman, or simply pulling the pin for one of your golf buddies, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.

Here’s the procedure most tour caddies follow to make sure that the golfer can concentrate on making long putts:

1.     Always make sure your shadow is off the line of the putt or away from the hole. Keep your free hand behind you and your legs fairly close together. If it’s breezy, hold the tip of the flag against the pin to keep it from flapping.

2.     Stand on the high side of the hole on a breaking putt. If you’re on the low side and the ball goes past the hole, it could come to rest on your heel prints.

3.     Pull the flag-stick out a little from its hole in the bottom of the cup. Don’t put it back in the hole because sometimes it can get stuck. If it does and the ball hits the flag, you’ve just cost the player a one- stroke penalty.

4.     Pull the flag-stick out as soon as the player hits the putt. Some people like to leave the flag in the whole time, but that is considered “showboating”!

5.     Never drop the flag-stick on the ground or drag it along the putting surface. Doing either can damage greens. Place it on the ground where it won’t distract any of the other golfers in your group.

6.     Replace the flag-stick carefully in the hole, taking care not to damage the lip of the cup.

Golf Digest- Tony Navarro- Past Caddie for Greg Norman
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