The Right Tools for the Job

Two golfers with a desire to play golf at a high level, at completely different stages of their golf career, realized how important properly-fitted equipment could impact their golf game. Pat Gilchrist and Adam Coatney are outstanding examples of what can happen when golfers take the time to get fitted for their equipment, have good instruction, and a desire to play better golf. 

Pat Gilchrist, a retired Kansas City Missouri firefighter, was a recreational golfer working hard to improve his game. PGA Professional Dan Garner recommended Pat to me, and we had a lengthy discussion about his goals and expectations as a golfer. After delivering his retooled set of clubs, Pat, a ten handicap at the time, went to work on his game and started to show immediate improvement. Later that year Pat won the Match Play Championship at Tiffany Greens, and later joined the Kansas City Cup team and hasn’t looked back.  

Adam Coatney, a six-foot-nine junior golfer, has been playing for two years and working hard to become a better golfer. Adam’s father brought him to be fitted for clubs before he developed any bad habits. This season, Adam made his high school golf team and won the Gardner Invitational JV Tournament in only his third competitive tournament. “If it wasn’t for my custom clubs I wouldn’t have this much fun playing golf,” Adam said.  

A recent study showed that over eighty percent of golfers play with golf clubs that don’t fit them, one of the biggest reasons why so many golfers quit the game. Golf, more than any other sport, requires the golfer to get fit for their equipment to play at a proficient level.  

Keep in mind getting properly fit for golf equipment is just one fundamental step involved in giving yourself the best chance to play better golf. Before a proper fitting session can begin, have a PGA teaching professionals evaluate your golf swing. Quite often swing faults need to be addressed before fitting. 

Jeff Sheets, Vice-President of R&D for Golfsmith, said “Basic enjoyment of the game does not happen when a golfer is playing below his or her skill level. Well-fit equipment can help minimize the errant shots on those days when the mishits seem to keep on coming.” So having the “right tools” for your golf game can add enjoyment as well as better scores. “If you ask most golf professionals who make their living playing golf, they will tell you the clubs in their bag are the clubs they hit most consistently. A tour professional, just like the rest of us, try to minimize the poor shots,” Sheets said. 

First Fitting 

When you go in to get fit for clubs, relax. It’s not a test, so have fun. Getting fit for a set of clubs is a great learning experience. Be prepared to invest some time in your fitting, since a basic session could last from one to three hours.  

A club fitting will always start with a player interview. The purpose of the interview is to determine expectations and goals a golfer would like to achieve from the fitting. It could be anything from higher, more penetrating ball flight to better control. The player interview will also cover the current set make up, so bring your golf clubs. If you don’t have a set, don’t worry it’s not a problem. This information will help guide the fitter through the fitting process.  

The Driver  

Almost every time I attend a demo day I look up and down the range and can’t help but notice the majority of golfers hitting drivers. Most average golfers think if they can just pick up another twenty to thirty yards off the tee with the driver, they can hit shorter irons into the green. Most average golfers who pick up an additional twenty to thirty yards off the tee, however, are also twenty or thirty yards farther offline from their intended target. Then they find themselves taking out that short iron and chipping out from under that tree they came to rest under.  

The goal of a driver fitting is to select a driver that gives a golfer the best chance to hit the ball in the fairway. A correctly-fitted driver should have a launch angle to match the golfer’s specific swing. Proper launch angle will create more distance and help manage mishits, after all isn’t that the name of the game?  

Recently I built a driver for one of KC’s notorious long-ball drivers. This person can hit a golf ball well over three hundred fifty yards, but finds himself teeing off the majority of the time with a three wood just to keep the ball in play. I built him a driver with a 13.5 degree of loft and asked him to give it a test drive. After hitting the club for a while, he called me and said, “I can’t hit this club as far as my regular driver, but I can hit this new diver in the fairway almost every time.” 

We took some measurements and figured out that he had lost around twenty yards off the tee with this new driver. However his scoring average went down by four to five strokes per round after switching to the new one. I don’t know about you, but most average to high handicap golfers would gladly give up twenty yards off the tee for a five stroke improvement per round. Remember the goal of club fitting is to fit for consistency.  

Fairway Woods, Hybrids & Long Irons 

Proper fitting in this particular club grouping can account for the greatest change in a golfer’s set configuration, due to the fact that hybrids are the fastest growing club segment. Hybrid clubs gives a golfer of any skill level the ability to bridge the gap between fairway woods and the hard to hit long irons. The most common difficulty a golfer faces with the long clubs is getting the ball airborne. Generally the clubs don’t have enough loft and the shafts are too stiff.  

The long game fitting starts with the three wood. Some of the basics to keep in mind are length, loft and shaft type. Being properly fitted for the length with all your clubs will produce more consistent and centered hits. Fitting for loft and shaft type can affect ball spin, launch angle, and control. At this stage of the fitting the fitter will want to identify a golfer’s longest playable iron which could be the three, four, five or even the six iron. Once a three wood has been fitted and the longest playable iron identified, the appropriate fairway woods and hybrid clubs can be added to fill in yardage gaps and improve ball flight.  

Think about this for a minute . . . these clubs are not promoted as distance clubs.  Proper fitting this grouping of clubs will turn a golfer’s fairway woods, hybrids and long irons into more playable scoring clubs.

Irons & Wedges 

Irons and wedges offer the widest variety of shapes and sizes over any other club category. The goal of fitting irons and wedges are to find clubs a golfer can hit with desired ball flight and accuracy. Walking into any large golf retailer one may notice a hundred different sets of irons to choose from. If a golfer is a twenty handicap, I would not recommend selecting the set of irons that Tiger Woods plays. A fitter can help select a couple of styles of heads that suits a golfer’s eye and fits the proper skill level.  

The visual appearance of all golf clubs – especially the irons and wedges – will give a golfer the confidence required to hit a wide variety of shots golfers face during a typical round. Just like the other clubs, first fit for length, then lie angle, and finally loft. Don’t be afraid to test a wide variety of shaft combinations, since shafts can dramatically affect how a club feels. Some shafts feel as soft as butter, while others as hard and brittle as a lead pipe. Remember, it’s a personal preference. The feel and flex of the shaft in most cases can make a good set great.  

The Putter 

The putter accounts for more strokes than any other club in the bag, and it is the least-fitted club. A basic putter fitting only takes a few minutes. Like the irons, select a putter that looks visually appealing and feels good. By properly fitting length and lie, the golfer reduces tension in the hands and forearms, providing for a stress-free stroke. The lie angle is important because it can affect aim, just like in the irons, and the proper loft on a putter insures a true roll off the putter face.  

A more advanced putter fitting would include fitting for counter balancing by adding weight to the butt-end to give a golfer more enhanced feel.  The purpose of putter fitting is the same as for the rest of your clubs, for being more consistent. Who knows, the hole might start getting in the way next time you’re playing a round.

Shafts 

Fitting for golf shafts is part science and part art form. During the late 80’s while caddying on the Champions Tour, I had an opportunity to work with Sam Snead. Sam played very rarely back then, and while playing a practice round at the Masters I noticed Sam had gotten a new set of Wilson irons. So while we walked down the tenth hole I asked Sam about his new set. He said that Wilson had sent it to him. Being a Clubmaker I asked him what shaft he played in his irons. Sam replied saying he wasn’t sure, “Wilson just sends them to me.” My curiosity got the best of me and I asked Sam if I could take a closer look at his clubs.  

He said sure, and began to tell me a story about when he was a kid caddying back in West Virginia and how he used to reshaft a golf club. Sam told me when a hickory shaft would break, he would remove the old shaft from the head, put a new hickory shaft in the club, and drive a nail through the head. Then he would soak the head in a bucket of water overnight so the hickory shaft would expand and become tight. Next, he would get his knife out and start whittling down the shaft until the shaft had the proper flex. The last step would be to sand the shaft smooth and coat the shaft with some oil.  

Sam talked in great detail how by shaving down particular parts of the shaft he could make the ball fly high or low much like today’s modern golf shaft. Golf clubs and shafts have come a long way from the old days of hickory.  

So how does today’s golfer take advantage of all the great advancements in technology? If you have time before you’re fitting, research golf shafts and how they can help your game. Take into consideration weight, stiffness, and bend profile when selecting golf shafts for woods or irons. All three factors affect distance, ball flight, ball spin and control. The majority of the time you spend at a fitting will be selecting the proper shaft.  

The goal of any Club Fitter/ Clubmaker is to provide clients with clubs that will give them the best opportunity to play to full potential. After being fitted, golfers may find that the clubs they are playing will do the job, or only require a few minor adjustments by a Clubmaker.  

Whether you just want to have fun and play recreationally with your friends, or highly-competitive tournament golf, instruction from your PGA professional will give you the best opportunity to achieve your goals. And having a properly-fitted set of clubs, like Pat Gilchrist and Adam Coatney, will improve your game and help make golf fun. 

—Bob Boring 

Bob Boring owns Tour Quality Golf in Overland Park and was recently named a 2007—2008 Top Ten Worldwide Clubmaker of the Year by the Golf Clubmakers Association (GCA). 

Just Getting Started: KC Junior Golf

At the age of three, Tiger Woods shot a 48 on the first nine at Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California. Two years later, he played so well he made an appearance in Golf Digest and on the TV show That’s Incredible! Remember that fantastic show Fran Tarkenton co-hosted for a while? A few more years later, Tiger won the Junior World Golf Championship, the first of his five victories.

But enough of Tiger. You have the next #1 PGA golfer playing Wii golf at your house. And you’ve nicknamed the kid Shark. No, that’s taken. The Walrus? Taken. Golden Bear. Nice try. Tigré? Nope. Okay, maybe your child isn’t ready for a nickname anyway.

How do you get kids started?

Most people will tell you that the best time to get children started in the sport is when they can pick up a club and swing it. And since kids love to whack things with sticks, this could be as early as two-years old. If children enjoy hitting golf balls with a club, let them smash it. Just don’t expect them to listen to your instruction. And when they give up thirty-six seconds later, be okay with it and let them move on to chasing Fido. Just don’t let them crack him with the 5-iron.

Mike Brown, the Director of Instruction at the Heart of America GC Academy, recommends starting kids in lessons a bit older than two. “I think that kids should really be eight or nine years old before they move into formal instruction,” he said. Any age before then, with exceptions of course, parents should strive to encourage their junior golfers, and give them the opportunity to play, but most of all, let them have fun with the game. “What they’re really looking for, especially little kids, is being with you,” Brown said.

One of the biggest problems juniors face happens to be parents pressuring them into the sport. It’s a good way to push them right out of the game. You have to wait for the kids to want to play. “I think Jack Nicklaus had one of the best lines I ever heard about juniors. ‘You can’t teach a kid to golf until he stops looking at bugs and chasing frogs,’” Brown laughed. Instead of hammering too many details into them, give them the basics and let them have fun with it.

Take your kids to a nice driving range like Golf Discount Superstore and let them hit the ball with minimal coaching. Let their natural ability take place, and let them get the feel for the swing and how to follow through the ball.

Matthew Christian, hitting balls with his kids on the driving range, offers his opinion: “I like junior golf because you get to play the game and learn something together with your family. The best part is you’re doing it with your kids,” he said, his son and two daughters with him.
Scott Sjoberg agrees. He’s whacking golf balls on a Saturday morning with his two young boys. “I think its good for the kids,” he said. It gets them outside, away from the television. And it’s good for me. It’s just good father/son time.”

While your priority may be spending time with your junior golfer, in some cases, bringing one of their friends along may improve the golf session. That way they enjoy the natural competitive drive, plus they start to associate hitting golf balls with fun. “I hit it farther than you,” she said. “No you didn’t,” he said. “Watch this.” We adults may have to face the facts and realize that adding a friend to the mix means a more “far out” junior golf experience. Cool with that?

While taking a friend may be a good idea, another is to leave the siblings behind. Don’t drag your four-year-old along to your older golfer’s practice session. Make your child feel special and he or she will take to the game. Just what you wanted, right? Take your younger child with you on his own special outing and you’ll score points with your spouse and spend quality time with your child.

You will also need to alternate practice time between the driving range and the putting green. You can practice putting with your junior golfers (face it, you can use the practice, too), quickly spending an hour of quality time with them. Play putting games the kids create. No doubt they’ll want to see who can sink one from the farthest position, or who can make the most putts in a row. Offer up other ideas, like playing for points. Tell them you get three points for every putt one-foot from the hole, two points from three-feet out, and one point from five-feet from the pin. Kids love to keep track of points, especially when they’re winning. You may or may not have to work at letting them win once in a while, either.

Finally, celebrate their victory with a snack or two at the 19th hole of your favorite course. Remember, golf is fun, and letting them into the inner sanctum of your golf life is special for them.
Lessons

After determining that your children enjoy the game on the driving range and putting clock, it’s time to move on to the next level. Explain the rules of golf to your youngster, then find a qualified instructor and get them some lessons.

Eddie Hall – the General Manager at Paradise Pointe Golf Club – suggests finding an instructor with patience for working with kids, and a passion for teaching juniors the game. “And the facility must also be conducive for learning,” he said. When juniors finish the six-weeks of summer lessons at the Academy Golf Course at Paradise Pointe, they will come out with new skills, the understanding of the game, and knowledge of golf etiquette.

Skip Maiwald gives lessons at Ironhorse Golf Club. He’s taught a lot of kids in his life, one of them Kyle Smell who currently ranks tenth on the KCGA Bushnell Amateur Standings and will be golfing in The Watson Challenge this month. Like Hall, Maiwald also suggests that the golf instructor you choose have patience. It takes a lot to work with kids. “You have to be able to mix fun, safety, and a quality practice,” Maiwald said. He gives fifteen-minute lessons to seven-year-olds, just enough to keep them interested with their short attention spans. Lessons are longer for older students.

When kids are just beginning, it’s the basics that need to be stressed. “The more I teach kids, the more I realize it all boils down to fundamentals. And grip,” Maiwald said.

Private one-on-one lessons, according to Maiwald, are better for most kids, since instructors can focus their entire attention on the junior. Group lessons can be good, too, when the group has the right chemistry, but sometimes, “They have just a little too much fun,” he said.
Whatever the case, the instructor should relate well to the kids and be positive with them. This is the time when children learn to love the game, so your instructor has the opportunity to instill the fun of golf in your child.

The First Tee of Greater Kansas City

If you act early in the season, getting involved with The First Tee of Greater Kansas City is always the right move. They offer low-priced instruction with top-quality results with the payoff in both golf skills and life skills. It’s a first-come, first-served system, so if you want to enroll your kids, do it as soon as possible after the application forms come out around March 1st. This year, the classes filled up by March 15th at the Heart of America Golf Course.

This organization instructs juniors starting at eight- years-old. “They want kids around the age of eight
because they aren’t just learning golf, they are learning life lessons with The First Tee,” Brown said. “And that’s the age they found that kids start to really grasp their ideas.” The ideas coincide with the core value system they teach. A few of these nine core values are honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, and courtesy. (Visit www.thefirstteekc.org to find out the rest.)

Since The First Tee uses golf to teach these skills, your junior golfers will have too much fun to notice they are learning. With drills and lessons, and etiquette training, The First Tee of Greater Kansas City prepares our next generation of golfers.

“Junior golf is growing. Our First Tee program in Kansas City really gets the word out about junior golf. And Tom Watson is really involved and does a couple of different fundraisers,” Brown said. One of Watson’s fundraisers, The Watson Challenge, raised over $70,000 for The First Tee last year.

Where to Play in KC

Juniors in our metro area have some great courses to learn the game on. The Heart of America Golf Course has “The Hill,” a 3-hole course you play three times with a par 33 for nine holes. You’ll need a golf cart chauffeur to get up to the course, as it literally sits on a great hill with inspiring views. If your junior golfer is enrolled in The First Tee, it’s free. If not, you’ll have to shell out $2 for your beginner to play. Once you’re up on “The Hill,” your child can play all day, as long as the golf course doesn’t have classes going on. Quite a deal. And adults can also play with their junior for two bucks. The city of Kansas City keeps the eleven-acre Tom Watson-designed course in great shape, so give it a try.

Ironhorse Golf Club in Leawood also has a 3-hole junior course. This 3-hole par-3 course works the same way. You pay your green fee and you golf nine holes, but with different tee boxes for each hole. It’s $5 to play, but again, your junior can play all day if there’s no lessons. The course will be ready June 7th, the same day the rest of Ironhorse Golf Club opens.

Sunflower Hills Golf Course in Bonner Springs has another junior course. The 6-hole course has three sets of tees, providing you 18 holes for a great day of golf with your favorite youngster. It’s $2 for kids, $5 for adults.

It’s fun to play Paradise Pointe’s Academy Golf Course up near Smithville Lake, too. The 4-hole course features two par-5s, a par-4, and a par-3. You play the course twice for eight holes. This four-hole course used to be a part of the original Posse course before they did some course renovation and hole additions.
Kansas City also has great par-3 courses throughout the metro, nice for beginners to learn the game and not feel like they are in the way of or slowing down other golfers.

Equipment for Kids

Just as it’s important for adults to find the right set of clubs, the same goes for juniors. Wade McPheeters, the manager at Golf Discount Superstore in Martin City recommends high-lofted clubs to get started. “They make it easier for the beginner to get the ball in the air,” he said. Most of the junior golf sets come with a driver, a putter, and the 5-, 7-, and 9-irons. “Some of the sets come with a hybrid club,” McPheeters said. “The hybrid is great for beginners. It’s easier to hit, and it’s versatile.”

Most sets come with a stand bag with backpack-style straps to make it easier on the kids, too.
Juniors can also be fitted for clubs, but keep in mind, the growing golfer will go through a set of clubs every year or so. This is the same case for golf shoes. You can buy them for your kids, but standard athletic shoes work fine at this stage of the game.

As for golf balls, McPheeters recommends a low-compression ball for maximum yardage carry. “A senior ball or a ladies ball will work well for kids,” he said. And getting a golf glove for your child will also aid the enjoyment of the game. Blisters are no fun for anyone.
Overall, your best bet is to take your juniors in and have a golf professional help you pick out their equipment. And you can eyeball the latest and greatest selections at the same time.

Tournaments Inspire Juniors

This month, take your favorite juniors to The Watson Challenge (free for them) and let them experience the real feel of high-end golf. It’s a great venue, and walking Milburn Golf Club with your youngster will create eternal memories. And it may inspire both of you.

A family road trip to watch their favorite PGA or LPGA player will bring all of you unthinkable rewards. If your kids follows Tiger, you can still get tickets (hurry) for the September 1st BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, where he’s the reigning champion.

The closest upcoming LPGA event is a 6 1⁄2 hour mini-van ride to Edina, Minnesota for the U.S. Women’s Open June 26th. Or July 4th – 6th, you can drive 3 1⁄2 hours to Rogers, Arkansas for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship.

Whatever the case, taking your juniors to a golf tournament will have a great effect on them, and you’ll win in the process, too. Bring chairs and find a place to camp out in some shade– so you’re not walking fifty miles in the heat – and note the finer points of the game. Don’t forget to load up on snacks, carbonated drinks and souvenirs to make for even a better day than one spent at Worlds of Fun or Silver Dollar City. Have your junior golfer scan the Pairings and Tee Times guide and tell you who’s next on the tee.

Teach your kids the game of golf and they’ll teach you at the same time. That’s the beauty of golf. It reveals character in players of all ages. You may have never made it onto That’s Incredible like Tiger Woods, but keep golfing with your kids and they’ll surely say you deserve to be. All they really want to do is spend time with you, and whack something with a stick.

—Roger Hunt

The Greening of Golf

When I spoke to Al Gore on the course last week, he mentioned the fact that he wished the golf industry would “green up.” Here’s how the conversation went:

AG: “I wish the golf industry would green up.”
RH: “You mean use more fertilizer? Water more? Really green up the greens?” I couldn’t resist.
AG: “No, you buffoon, I mean I wish that golf courses would recycle water, prevent runoff, use natural fertilizers, find natural pesticides, provide wildlife habitats, and a more environmentally-responsible attitude.”
RH: “Oh, well at least golf courses eat up a lot of carbon dioxide, right? You know, global warming and all of that.”
AG: “See that gas-powered golf cart you’re driving? It’s probably emitting more CO2 than that tree over there can offset. And those broken plastic tees on the ground – they’ll be around for ages.”
RH: “Really? Then why do you play golf?”
AG: “I’ve got a great short game.”

And that ended the conversation. He disappeared (in his electric cart) into the trees like a wood nymph.
Reflecting on his words, a giant (compact fluorescent) light bulb appeared over my head and I switched it on. That’s when I realized it was only a dream, and the probability that a late-night chili dog prompted this dreamy encounter. But the thought stuck with me. What is the golf industry doing to “green up” its image? After all, the business does rely on nature.

Golf courses struggle with a perception problem. Environmentalists continually batter the industry, relying on the same arguments that dream-state Al Gore presented, and their points may be valid. But courses today understand the problems, and work hard to work with nature, not against it, to the disbelief of some people and organizations like the Global Anti-Golf Movement (www.antigolf.org) which declares in its manifesto, “We reject the myth of ‘pesticide-free,’ ‘environmentally-friendly’ or ‘sensitive’ golf courses.” What are golf courses doing to boost their image and reduce their carbon footprint?

Water Wars

Turf and Plants

When a homeowner in a local drought can’t turn on the hose, and they see the new golf course down the road drenching their greens, emotions can run high. Courses realize this problem, and have developed strategies to keep both golfers and the non-golfing community happy. Or at least they try to.
One way superintendents deal with the water problem is by choosing new-fangled turf, which, in some cases, can reduce water usage up to 50 percent. Many universities work to develop new seeds to produce golf-friendly grass that will aid in reducing water consumption. Private companies get in on the act, too. SeaDwarf, a type of grass produced by Environmental Turf Co., has a bright green color, can be mowed from one-tenth of an inch to 4 inches, and can be irrigated with seawater. Great for courses like Galveston Country Club, but not so great in Kansas City.

Here in KC, choosing the right grasses and plants for the rough and non-playable areas makes a difference. Paul Davids CGCS, course superintendent at Sycamore Ridge continually tries to increase the amount of unmowed acreage. “It saves fuel and labor, as well as water. And it prevents erosion,” he said. Natural wildgrasses and drought-tolerant plants (cactus, anyone?), and even rock and sand, help conserve water while creating a challenge for those of us not fortunate enough to hit the fairway. Vegas, by converting courses to the target-style play, can save a billion gallons of water per year. Just think of the golf balls you’ll save in the Southwest by those resting on rock instead of the two-inch rough of years of yor, when water ran like, well, water.

Around here, many courses use natural prairie grasses, fescues, and wildflowers to hide your errant hits and mark the out-of-bounds areas. These “wild” areas take less maintenance and water to keep healthy, and they add to the natural setting of our region.

Irrigation

We used to think that watering at night or early morning prevents evaporation, but these simple methods have gone the way of metal spikes. New irrigation practices help water management. Many courses base irrigation run times on evapotranspiration (ET), which, according to the GCSAA can be summed up as: “Water leaves turf by evaporation from the soil or by transpiration – the process by which the plant cools itself and removes waste products from the plant tissue. The entire operation is called evapotranspiration.” By figuring out the amount of water lost through ET, golf courses can simply replace the lost amount – and no more – conserving water.

These technological advances make a difference. According to Davids, “Computer monitoring systems have really changed the way we water,” he said. “With these systems, you can find out that two tenths of an inch of water has evaporated. Then you can go out and apply two tenths of an inch back to the fairway that day.”

Not only that, but with improved pumping stations, flow monitors, directional sprinkler heads, and other irrigation tools, courses can pinpoint water as needed. Some systems you can even control with cell phones. “We can easily irrigate one area differently than the one right next to it,” Davids said. Sycamore ridge – like many modern courses – even has their own weather monitoring station to help gauge water usage.

H20 Sources

Water becomes an issue when it’s needed to green-up acres of fairways and greens. Most of the time, courses here in KC get their water from natural sources like ponds and lakes. Many people think that golf courses consume uncountable gallons of drinking water, but that’s not true. Jeff Bollig at the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) said, “One half of 1% of water consumed annually, or 15% of drinking water supplies go to golf course irrigation.” And in our region, Bollig says we’re fortunate not to have to worry about water issues compared to the rest of the country.

The greening of golf has prompted many superintendents to use greywater, effluent wastewater, to irrigate their hearty turf. Where does this magical water come from? Your local sewage plant, of course. Not only does this technique save potable water, but it prevents greywater – which is filled with nutrients – to be poured into rivers and streams. Greywater can’t be used on crops, and you certainly wouldn’t want to drink the stuff, but your favorite fairway can suck it up like Coca Cola. The USGA tells us that more than 1000 courses throughout the country use greywater, and in some areas, it’s mandatory. Overland Park Golf Course uses it, and significantly cuts their potable water usage, which should make the taxpayers happy. This technique does save water, but it’s still not good enough for some folks.

Pesticides

Pesticides prevent, repel, or kill pests, everything from broad-leafed weeds to ants, from fungi to mice. Pesticides include insecticides, fungicides, herbicide, and other substances used to control unwanted visitors. Superintendents – educated and trained in pest management – use these to keep your golf course playable. A much better choice than hiring Carl Spackler and his arsenal of Caddyshack tools to tackle your gopher problem, or weeding a golf course by hand.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decides which chemicals golf courses can use based on human safety. Although exposure to pesticides may harm people, according to the EPA, “in many cases the amount of pesticide people are likely to be exposed to is too small to pose a risk.”

So are we really safe out there? The GCSAA says yes. “There is no scientific evidence that golfers face any chronic health risks from the pesticides used to maintain courses. Once a liquid product is applied and the turfgrass is dry or the product has been watered in, there is very little chance of exposure to golfers or others who enter the area. It is worth noting that a small percentage of people may be allergic to a particular product, just as some people are allergic to household cleaners, soaps or perfumes. Golfers with possible chemical allergies are always encouraged to contact superintendents to find out what products might be in use.”

At Sycamore Ridge, Davids cuts back on spraying until he sees a problem. In the old days, courses would spray to prevent problems. But today is different. “We don’t treat it until we see the issue,” he said. And this spraying isn’t heavy spraying, either. “Today we’re spraying ounces per acre, and it takes care of the problem for weeks at a time,” he said. Modern science certainly helps control the problem.

Groundwater Leaching

Besides potential harm to golfers and to those working on the courses, people tend to get upset when pesticides leach into groundwater used for human consumption. We probably consume more pesticides than we like to think, but gulping down a glass of ice-cold Roundup just doesn’t sound refreshing.

Not many of us really know what happens to pesticides after they destroy their intended target. Do they clump together and form a giant chemical obelisk? Do they drill through the ground like tiny moles heading for the water table? Or do they dissipate? When applied correctly, according to the GCSAA, the pesticides do not tend to get into groundwater or run off with surface water. Tests have been run to understand the prevalence of contamination, and after determining things like solubility in water, adsorption, root density, photodegradation and a number of other factors, the water looks clean. “Tests have shown that water coming off of the course is cleaner than the water going in,” Bollig said. The dense turf, with giant root systems, breaks down chemicals and acts like a giant filter.

So it’s up to course superintendents to keep things clean. Today they promote a “green” attitude, and with proper turf management, help remove the potential harm caused by chemicals. Superintendents normally have degrees in agronomy or horticulture (or something similar), so they understand the delicate balance of maintaining a healthy golf course. They want to work with their environment. Besides that, pesticides are expensive, and if they can control areas without them, by all means, they will. “Research proves that a properly maintained golf course is compatible with the environment,” Bollig said.

The PGA Championship, The Masters, The U.S. Open . . .

Part of the environmental perception problem is golfers see perfect courses like Pebble Beach and think, “Wow, that’s what my home course should look like.” And while it’s great to play “perfect” courses, a little compromise goes a long way in helping green up the game. It takes gallons of water, herbicides, and hundreds of volunteers working for weeks before the big event to get the course in PGA-television shape.
Really, it’s the local golfer who dictates the appearance of the course. It comes down to “playability vs. color,” as Bollig said. If a course has a patch of brown grass on the fairway, try to ignore it, or think happy thoughts like you are helping to green up the game.

Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program

Audubon International, a not-for-profit organization, partners with the USGA to promote conservation and ecological maintenance. Golf courses work to complete certification in six areas, including environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, and water quality management. The organization, which is not affiliated with the National Audubon Society, has certified more than 2,200 courses in the world. In our local area, these courses are Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries:

• Adams Pointe Golf Club, Blue Springs
• Blue Hills Country Club, Kansas City
• Loch Lloyd Country Club, Belton
• Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate, Overland Park
• Quivira Lake Golf & Country Club, Quivira Lake
• Shadow Glen the Golf Club, Olathe

St. Andrews and Overland Park golf courses have just begun the certification process, too, and have completed the planning stage. Bluebirds are nesting at both courses, and the swans have returned to the ponds at St. Andrews.

The Audubon International golf program helps improve the perception that some environmentalists place on golf courses, and golfers. With programs like these, and with the help of golf course superintendents doing their part to green the game, we can be assured that golf fits in with our environment instead of harming it. And in the end, we all win.

Next time you see Al Gore on the course, say hello and ask him for some tips on how to “green up the game,” – and how to hit your lob wedge.
—Roger Hunt

2008 Spring Checklist

Spring has officially arrived – despite the efforts of Punxsutawney Phil and his winter groundhog curse – and that means it’s time to get back to nature and hit the green grass of the tee box. Before you rush out to your favorite launching ground, cover the basics and tune up for 2008. Here’s a checklist to get you started.

• Watch Caddyshack. If it’s still a little cool out to play, watch your favorite movies to get in the mood. Caddyshack is a mainstay, but also relax with The Legend of Bagger Vance, Tin Cup, Dead Solid Perfect (a made for HBO movie with Randy Quaid), Bobby Jones – Stroke of Genius, and the 1951 classic, Follow the Sun. Practice your putts while watching.
  
  
• Clean your clubs. Take a long, hard look at your sticks, and decide if they give you love. If so, spend some time with them. Swing them. You can even sleep with your 3-iron if you want to. They’re your clubs, for goodness sake. If you do choose to stay with them for another season, give them a good cleaning with some soapy water and a scrub brush. Get all the dirt out of the grooves and dry them completely. With clean clubs, you will hit the ball cleaner, too.
  
  
• Grips. What about your worn-out grips? Changing these will have you feeling you’ve got yourself a new set of clubs. Unlike the pros who change out their grips every month, average golfers should change grips at the beginning of every season. Your best bet is to have a professional replace your grips for you, but if you have a utility knife, a vise, some grip solvent, some double-sided grip tape, and a load of patience, you can do it yourself. If you want to go this route, check the internet for directions.
  What grips are best for you? With so many options available, you will need to head to your favorite pro shop or golf store and see what works best for your game. Winn Grips, Lamkin, and Golf Pride – the leaders in the grip industry – offer a multitude of colors, designs and feels to match your style.
  
  If you want to get a little more personalized, have a look at the C-Thru Grips and get the Chiefs, Royals, college teams or even Chili Peppers on your clubs.
  
  GripMaster offers shock-resistant leather grips, and putter grips in exotic alligator, rattler and emu skin. They also make hand-stitched, one-piece grips with a ProTack system. As they say, “The Wetter the Weather, the Better the Grip.”
  Oversized and other new tech-based and training grips round out your choices, but whatever the case, new grips will give you new attitude on the course.
  
  
• New clubs? The other option involves taking your clubs for a drive – to the KCGA offices – and donating them to The First Tee of Greater Kansas City. Let some aspiring junior golfer develop their talents with your donation. And it’s tax deductible, too. Or you can give them to your brother-in-law, sell them, or decorate your basement with them.
  Next, its time you were fitted for new clubs. Club fitting is an art/science, so you’ll need to track down a professional Clubmaker or your PGA professional. Don’t think it’s worth the money? “A recent Study indicated over 80 percent of golfers play with golf clubs that don’t fit them, and many golfers get frustrated and quit the game because it’s too difficult,” Bob Boring, a nationally recognized Clubmaker and owner of Tour Quality Golf, said.
  
  Club fitting involves over twenty variables, starting first with clubhead design. Give yourself the best chance to succeed by choosing heads that fit your skill set. If you are a mid-to-high handicap golfer, pick a head that will make it easier to hit the ball and get it airborne. Next, you need to consider loft, lie, shaft length, flex, grip size and type for starters. A Clubmaker will measure your height, the distance of your wrist to the floor, your swing speed, age, and skill level, to determine some of these variables.
  
  “A good piece of advice,” Boring said, “would be working with a Clubmaker and PGA professional simultaneously to insure positive results and save you money.”
  
  You’ll now need a new set of clubs to get started. Since you’re investing in some new irons, check out this month’s review on page seven. Then take a trip to your local golf store and hit your favorites until your back feels a little tight. Then hit them some more and discover which set will work with your swing. Don’t forget to hit the wedges as well as your long irons. Talk to the golf pros and see what they suggest. Then hit all of the drivers, since that’s what we really like to test, right?
  
  
• Clean out your golf bag. That energy bar you bought last October might not be too stale to eat, but are you willing to chance it when you’re on the 7th hole having the round of your life? Get rid of it. Along with those five freebie divot tools you never use, your worn out spikes at the bottom of your bag, your dirty socks and your old spare glove you keep for an emergency.
  It’s a new year, so start clean and sharp. Gather your favorite tees and add them to your bag. Mark a dozen balls with your “signature” mark. Make your mark mean something. Grab a Sharpie and make a dot for each member of your family, and when you need to make a tough shot, maybe the mark will remind you of them and help you relax. Or mark it with a smiley face, one that you won’t mind mashing off the tee.
  
  Andy Hineman marks his golf balls with his son’s initials, KAH. “It means something to me when I see the mark. I like to set his initials up when I’m putting. It means more than just a dot or something.”
  However you choose to mark your golf balls, do it while you’re at home. It’s one less thing to think about before you step onto the course.
  
  
• Shoes. You probably already cleaned your golf shoes last fall, but if not, now’s the time. Make sure they are nice and waterproof, and looking sharp. Once that’s done, replace your spikes with a new set. Spikes deliver traction and grip while you set up and during your swing, so you want to make sure yours bite the ground and keep you steady. David Resch, the golf pro at Shadow Glen Golf Club, recommends changing your spikes every 40 to 50 rounds, and more frequently if you walk on concrete a lot, so start the season right and change yours today.
  
  
• 3 Golf balls. Typical high-compression golf balls contract off the clubface to provide distance, but in the colder days of spring, denser air and colder, less-pliable balls combine for shorter shots. Playing a low-compression ball – one that has more feel, but traditionally presented as a “ladies” ball (since a low-compression ball will generally give someone with a slower swing speed more distance) – will actually play nice in a cool April morning. A low-compression ball, like the Nike KARMA, Precept Laddie or Precept Lady iQ 180, will compress easier than the standard ball, which helps fight through the cold.
  
  If you keep your golf balls in the basement, out in the garage, or in your trunk, they will harden and perform worse than if you kept them at room temperature. Keeping them warm actually helps provide greater distance, so once you get out on the course, keep a few in warm pockets while you play.
  
  
• Take a lesson. If you never have, call up your favorite golf course and talk to the pro about a few sessions. Lessons help beginners get better faster, and they help create good form and technique from the beginning, establishing a solid golf game. As for average-to-good players, why not invest a little more in lessons? Undoubtedly, you will learn something that helps your game.
  
  “Most people haven’t touched their clubs since October or November, so taking a lesson in the spring is the best thing you can do for your game. It’s much simpler starting off the year with good fundamentals and proper techniques, instead of waiting until all the bad habits creep back in to your swing,” said Mike Zadalis, PGA Director of Golf at Tiffany Greens Golf Club.
  You can take individual or group lessons, and they usually range from 30 minutes to an hour per session, depending on what you want. Your lessons will probably run from four to six weeks, so invest early in the season, and reap the rewards later in the year.
  
  
• Get out and play. Now comes the final check on the list – teeing it up. Grab your golf arsenal and head to a new golf course. You can always come back to your favorite fairways next round, but try something new, and it might inspire your whole season. The Kansas City area has around 50 public courses to test your skills, and then there’s another 30 private courses you may have a chance to play. With your 2008 tune-up completed, no doubt you’ll be playing some of the best golf of your life. And if not, well, you’re still out on the golf course. And nothing is better than that.
  
—Roger Hunt

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