During the filming for the latest episode of HomeofGolf.TV we were nearly hit by a golf ball from the second tee on the Old Course. Luckily a shout of “fore” meant we ducked and could continue filming on the 17th hole with no harm done!

If you have a favourite Open Championship hole I would love to hear from you by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page:

The Road Hole At St Andrews With Caddy John Boyne – Episode #9

Like most golfer’s — I don’t like to play slowly. Of the best rounds from my past, almost all involve a very consistent pace. Almost like I was walking up to the ball, seeing my shot and then hitting it right away. Most of those rounds happened when there were very few people on the course — and it was just me or my group — with no one in front or behind. We would establish our pace early and keep to it for the entire eighteen. Those were almost always good days. My favorite time to play golf has always been late in the afternoon, when the sun’s going down, there’s no one on the course and I am trying to get finished pretty quickly. I almost always shoot par or better in these situations. Sadly however, I’ve never been able to consistently take that quality play over to competition. And now, with much more experience, I realize it had everything to do with my pace. I would play well when I could play quickly and not think too much. And would play poorly when things got too slow and I had time to think and not just react.

I am going to spend my next couple posts discussing the problem of slow play and then — how you can — no matter the situation — find your ideal pace to play great golf. But first, lets talk about how you can get things moving a little quicker at your golf course. I would make these suggestions to your pro or golf committee and in turn — they can make these suggestions to the golfers playing your course. Reminders on the carts, letters to members and education by the professional staff are also great ways to get play moving.

When I took over as Director of Golf at Cheval Golf and Country Club back in 2000, one of the first things I addressed was slow play. I spent the first few weeks monitoring how things worked and was appalled to see the average time for a foursome on Saturday morning was over four hours and forty-five minutes. Crazy! Yes, we had a difficult golf course with lots of hazards — but still, this was completely unacceptable.

So, I talked to my assistants and came up with a very simple approach to take 36 minutes off every foursome’s round. But, much to my surprise, it got much better than 36 minutes, as we almost took a complete hour off the average time. Here’s how we went from an average time of 4:48 to 3:57 in less than a month.

First , I decided to include the membership in on the “speeding up” process. I wrote a letter explaining how slowly things had been moving and how much more fun they would have if they could all play a little faster. On top of that, they would have much more time to do other things throughout the day if they could play, eat lunch and get home within 5 hours or so. I told them we were going to do two things — one the shop’s responsibility and the other theirs. I am happy to say it worked well.

The first thing we did was to ask each member to take 15 seconds off their tee shot and putting routine. We explained that — if each golfer was ready to go when it was their turn to hit — and had their putts lined up when it was their turn to putt — that would just about do it. Think about it — if each member of a foursome plays just 15 seconds quicker on the tee — that’s a minute. Then, if they each play 15 seconds quicker on the green — that’s another minute. Over 18 holes, that translates to 36 minutes. This was initial goal. For the golfers who felt rushed, I had my assistants give them each a 15 minute lesson on “ready golf.” Within a few weeks, 90% of the groups were playing fast golf. Yet, we still had a problem with the other 10%. And as you know, if that 10% is in front or in the middle of groups — the foursomes behind cannot play quickly — even if they want to.

So, the next thing we did was to post a pace board for peer review. We put this up every Saturday afternoon outside the golf shop, which solved the problem almost immediately. Next to every group, we posted their finish time. This proved to be an effective way for players to self-govern and feel some peer pressure. Imagine your name listed as the 10th group of the day — and the first nine groups all had less than four hours next to their names — but yours had 4:30 in bright red. It wouldn’t take long for you to speed up or force the slow guy in your group to do the same. Especially when all the groups behind come in and want to know who it was holding up the golf course.

So, if you are dealing with slow play at your golf course — and like me, don’t like it – try these simple things. Educate players on how to be ready on the tees and greens and have peer review for final end times. You will be amazed at how quickly things start moving in front of you. Just make sure your group keeps up.

A friend from Sri Lanka, where I was born, recently asked me to visit him if I was ever there and we could play a round at the Royal Colombo Golf Club.

I shuddered at the thought. My last trip to Colombo was in 1999, when I saw the rules of etiquette casually being abused at every dog-leg during my round at the golf club.

Not by the members, but by people who had never played a game of golf in their lives.

I don’t know if this phenomenon is unique to the Colombo club but there is an army of, I suppose vagrants, who patrol the course looking for stray golf balls that you hit and who they want to sell back to you.

I played with my brother, who was golfing for the first time and had no idea about proper course etiquette.

I was horrified when, at the first tee addressing the ball, one individual suddenly appeared in the middle of the fairway, signalling to me that it was okay to hit my shot because the previous flight were already safely away.

I furiously waved at him, asking him to get out of the way, but he refused to budge and kept motioning me with two arms, as if guiding a taxiing plane, to hit my shot.

I was livid, while my brother saw nothing wrong with the gesture and thought it highly decent of the guy.

A few holes later, I hit a shot into a shallow stream parallel to the fairway and this bearded chap who looked like he’d just walked out of a caveman movie approached me aggressively.

In perfect English, he said: “You’re not allowed to take the balls that land in the water.”

I replied: “It’s my ball, I can do what I want with it.”

“No,” he said. “We get to take these.”

“What, so you can sell my own ball back to me?”

At this point, my brother interjected, saying innocently: “He’s only trying to help, let him have the ball.”

I gave up and let him have the ball, trying hard for the rest of the round to keep my shots in play. All the while, we were followed by anywhere up to five hangers-on hoping we’d hit stray shots, of which there were many.

It wasn’t all bad. I had a great caddie who gave me excellent club selection tips and also taught me how to use a seven-iron instead of a wedge for short approach shots.

As a result I shot my lowest round ever.

My post-round complaints to the management were received by the expected shrug of the shoulders. Apparently, these guys just wander on to the course on their own and it was difficult to police.

I haven’t been back there since so I don’t know if the Colombo ball-retrieving squad are still active. If so, it’s a good way of forcing hackers to hit straight.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player – and let me just say, God is not making golf professionals like them anymore. If you watched the recent Presidents Cup, I don’t need to argue the class of these two individuals – but I thought two anecdotes could share my personal insight.

For years, I was the Director of Golf at Cheval Golf and Country Club – just outside Tampa, Florida. Each year our sister course, the TPC of Tampa Bay, would host a Champions Tour event (now called the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am). Well, for a few of those years, my course hosted the “Super-Seniors” Pro-Am portion of the event, which was for all the professionals over age 60. Of all the professionals I met — no one wowed me like Gary Player.

I was in the parking lot on the day of the tournament checking on a few things when I received a call over the radio. “Gary Player is in your office and wants to talk with you” was the message from one of my assistants. I told him to stop fooling around and actually do some work – but he assured me it was true – and that I needed to come inside. Well, low and behold, he was right. There he was – Gary Player – standing in my office – waiting for me. As one of the all-time legends of the game, he was on my short list of people I wanted to meet. We shook hands and Mr. Player offered me a gift. He gave me a Gary Player golf shirt – exactly my size. He wanted to thank me for allowing him and the other professionals for playing our course. Turns out, he had someone call up earlier in the week to find out what size shirt I wore. I was completely touched. But – it doesn’t end there. After the round, Player came in and said what a great golf course we had. He said the greens were some of the best he had ever played and were much better than the TPC course. He said that he’d be happy for us to use that quote in our monthly newsletter (entirely his idea) – along with a personal thank you to the members. Needless to say, we got a lot of mileage from that quote.

Jack Nicklaus also played in our Champions Tour event a couple times and called the TPC course one of the best he’d played in years. But – the first year he played – he stayed right alongside our clubhouse in one of the condos. So at night, he would eat in our clubhouse with the owner of the country club. This was very hush-hush, as we didn’t want the members to bombard him during dinner. But of course, that didn’t stop me from finding my way to the restaurant on one occasion. Actually, to be honest, I was there for another matter and then happened to see him. But – like Gary Player – Mr. Nicklaus was high on my list of golfers to meet.

The owner of the club saw me walking by and called me to the table. There I had a wonderful 10-minute conversation with Mr. Nicklaus, who asked me all kinds of personal questions and seemed genuinely interested. I was very touched by his sincerity. A couple weeks later, and completely unsolicited, I received a nice letter and picture. Nicklaus wrote a little note, referencing our conversation, and then personalized a great picture to me. It remains one of my favorite golf treasures.

A couple years later, I was the official starter of the 2nd stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School – also held at the TPC of Tampa Bay. As I looked at the roster of players I’d be starting that day – one name stood out like a big red flag – Gary Nicklaus (youngest son of the Golden Bear). I believe it was Gary’s 4th attempt at qualifying up to that point. I was interested to see him hit it, as I had heard good things. But honestly – I was more interested in asking him about his dad. Needless to say, I was a little surprised when Gary’s caddie ended up being none other than his dad – Jack Nicklaus himself. And was even more surprised when his caddie remembered me and asked how things were going. He even remembered a couple of the things we talked about the night we first met. I must say, pretty impressive for a guy who has probably met thousands of golf professional around the world.

In this day and age of spoiled athletes, it was such a breath of fresh air to see two of the all-time great champions go out of their way to make a club professional feel special. And I for one will never forget the contribution they have both made to the game I am fortunate enough to make a living at today.

A couple weeks ago, Jin Young Pak, one of my students, had the good fortune of living a life-long dream — she played golf with her hero. After two solid rounds at the Jamie Farr Classic on the LPGA Tour, she was paired in Saturday’s last group with Se Ri Pak.

Now, I don’t think it’s possible for westerners to comprehend just how big Se Ri Pak is in Korea. And what she has done for a generation of Korean young women who have followed her lead to the LPGA Tour. When in Korea, Se Ri must either walk around in disguise or plan on getting mobbed. In fact, her caddie and coach both need bodyguards when in Seoul because they too are famous in this golf-crazy culture. So you can imagine, when a young Korean LPGA rookie gets the chance to play with Se Ri Pak — it’s a huge deal. And especially so for Jin Young, who once waited in line for hours to get Se Ri’s autograph at a junior clinic in Korea.

Because of this situation and my closeness to it, I thought it would be interesting to talk about the dynamics that comes from playing golf with a hero. After all, we’ve all done it in some degree. Maybe not at the level of Se Ri and Jin Young — but we’ve played with our club champion, boss or some other larger than life figure — who made the round a little something extra. And with that something extra, comes a pressure that can often cause some really poor golf, which can ruin an otherwise memorable day.

So what to do when playing with a hero? I will give you the same advice I gave Jin Young the night before her round with Se Ri, which I think helped her through what could have been a very nerve-wracking experience.

First, when playing with a hero — embrace it! Usually it means you’ve done something well in life or business if you’re playing with someone you’ve admired greatly. In Jin Young’s case, she was in 2nd place at one of her first LPGA events — so this was a good thing. She needed to remember that. She was in front of 120 other girls – all heroes in their own right. So, before she played the next day with Se Ri, Jin Young needed to believe it was deserved. She didn’t win a lottery to play with Se Ri. She had worked hard for years and this was one of the perks of that hard work. So first thing — pat yourself on the back for being in that position.

Second, when playing with a hero — be yourself! I’ve seen a lot of people over the years transform personalities based on who they’re playing with. If your hero is a Lee Trevino type player — but you’re Nick Faldo type player — don’t all of a sudden become Mr. Talkative. Keep to the things you do well. And if the way you focus is different from your hero — so what — stay true to yourself. Getting out of your comfort zone is the quickest way to have a bad hero experience. When it’s your turn to hit — stick to the routine that got you there.

Third, when playing with a hero — don’t be afraid to learn. Usually another golfer is a hero because they do things you admire. Take this first hand opportunity to learn how they do the things you admire so much. This doesn’t mean playing the round as a fan instead of a fellow competitor. It just means paying attention. I’ve learned as much playing with golf pros I’ve admired as I’ve had hitting thousands and thousands of range balls. So pay attention when they’re hitting shots and managing their game. Normally what you will find is the best players keep it simple.

Fourth, when playing with a hero — engage in conversation when appropriate. Again, this is a golden opportunity to learn from your hero. When I talked to Jin Young after her round — she said Se Ri gave her some great advice. Se Ri said to work smarter not harder. That for a long career, Jin Young should learn to hit balls for 2 hours intelligently, as opposed to 5 hours aimlessly. Now, I have been telling her that for 3 years — but Se Ri’s advice was the needed confirmation. Since that round, Jin Young only talks about smart practice – not harder practice. I almost want to send Se Ri a thank you card.

And lastly, when playing with a hero — don’t set high expectations. Play your game and stick to your game plan – not theirs. You’re not there to impress them. You’re there to play golf. I remember a great lesson I learned from a hero of mine as a young pro. I was playing the mini-tours in Florida and had a great first day. I was in the last group on the second day (the last of the tournament) and paired with Doug Weaver, who at that time was the best mini-tour player in Florida. He won everything. Well, I hung in there okay — but ended up playing the last 4 holes four over par. After the round, I went up to Doug and apologized for my bad play. I told him I was sorry he had to witness that terrible display. He looked at me and smiled — then put his arm around my shoulder and said something I’ll never forget. He said – “George, I don’t care.” He said the quicker I learned no one else was worried about what I was doing — the better off I would be. He wasn’t mean about it, just honest. He said we could have a beer after the round — but when playing, he had too many other things to worry about besides my bogeys. That lesson is still one of the best of my life. So remember, your hero will not worry about your poor shots — just theirs. They’re not critiquing your swing and wondering how you got paired with them. They are playing their own game, which is one of the reasons they got to hero status to begin with.

So, next time you have the chance to play with a hero — go for it! Good luck!

There is a tremendous youth movement right now on the LPGA Tour, which depending on point of view, could be a good or bad thing for the game. On one hand, this influx of young talent is bringing the LPGA Tour to unprecedented heights. Never before, in the history of the women’s game, has it been so marketable. In fact, in just her second year on board, Commissioner Carol Bivens has raised the ante on sponsoring a Tour Event, and has major corporations, who’ve never aligned themselves with women’s golf before, standing in line to host a golf tournament. But on the other hand, with many of their marquee players under the age of 21, the LPGA Tour may soon find themselves in a position much like professional tennis in the 1980′s — ruled by egotistical brats. And of course, if that does come to fruition; it wouldn’t take long before the LPGA Tour, like women’s tennis in the mid 80′s, started to lose popularity. Lets look at the pros and cons of this debate and see if there is a logical answer.

First, the reasons why teenagers should be allowed access to play. Some think the LPGA should allow anyone good enough to play on the Tour unfettered access. It shouldn’t matter if they are 15 or 45. If they have the skills to compete – they should be allowed to play. After all, this access has brought the tour some much-needed excitement over the last few years, with players such as Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis. And this young trend is continuing internationally as well, with Europe, South Korea and Australia starting to produce some world-class teenagers. In fact, it was just announced last week, that 18-year-old South African, Ashleigh Simon, would make her LPGA debut this week at the Jamie Farr Classic. So why shouldn’t these young girls play? They bring a fresh approach to the game, as well as a new fan base. This is what the sponsors are looking for. This is why they invite Michelle Wie to their events. They understand no matter what drama may ensue from Michelle being there — they will sell more tickets and hence get more exposure for their brand.

Now, let’s talk about a few reasons why teenagers should wait to play the LPGA Tour. These young girls, no matter their level of golf game, do not have the maturity to deal with all that has been thrust upon them. Do we really think Michelle Wie would behave at age 21 — the way she has the last six month? Is it possible that Natalie Gulbis would have won by now if she had finished college and not spent ages 18-22 posing for calendars? Who knows for sure – but I will say this. I was standing on the putting green at the U.S. Open a couple weeks ago when Patty Sheehan walked over to talk with one of the caddies. Now, Patty Sheehan is a legend. Owner of one of the best golf swings in the history of golf and one of the reason why girls like Michelle Wie get to play for so much money and attention. But while I was there, which was for at least 30 minutes, no current player went over to say hello. In fact, my guess is, very few of the 30 or so girls practicing on the Pine Needles putting green, even knew who Patty Sheehan was. To me, this is where the “disconnect” begins. There are the old school LPGA Tour players and there are the new age girls. There is no connection or sense of history between them.

So, is this a problem or just evolution? I cannot say for sure — but I see potential problems on the horizon for the LPGA Tour, and only for that one reason. The rest of the brand is incredible — pretty girls playing wonderful golf — plus a smart businesswoman leading the way. I think the only thing that can stop them is the “Diva” factor. And for the first time, since I’ve been following and traveling with the LPGA Tour, I’m starting to worry about the attitudes of the girls who are supposed to be the “future.” To me, it only makes sense, as it is almost impossible to grow up under so much scrutiny. I have watched my four sisters handle puberty and have coached a number of top level teenage girls — so I’m speaking from a little experience. That is a tough time in a young woman’s life, as they struggle to find an identity and a place in the world. I’ve witnessed teenage girls on top of the world one-minute and completely depressed the next — only because someone commented on their sweater and how it made them look. So you can imagine how difficult it must be for Michelle Wie, who never had bad press in her life, all of a sudden criticized at every turn. During your high school years, imagine everyone in school talking about you and all the things you were doing wrong. Not exactly confidence instilling, is it? Michelle is going through that now, except she gets to read about it in every national newspaper. I know, I know — she has millions. It’s the price you pay. But millions of dollars doesn’t make a teenage mind mature any quicker. She is still just a high school recent high school graduate. Remember how mature you were at that age? Thankfully, I’ve repressed all my teenage memories.

I think to stave off this potential problem, the LPGA Tour should implement a rule. A teenager should only be allowed 3 exemptions into LPGA Events until they’re 18. If they qualify for a tournament (such as the U.S. Open) — they can play — but no Tour membership and no unlimited exemptions. From ages 18-21, they can receive 5 exemptions per year and qualify for others if so desired. This number of events would be a perfect summer schedule for a top college player. Then, at age 21, all girls would be eligible for full membership on Tour with access to an unlimited number of tournaments. The only exception I would make is — if during her teenage years, a girl actually wins a tournament — she could petition for early membership. But that’s it! No more kids acting like adults. If they don’t want to go to school — that’s okay — they can go play the Futures Tour. They can spend a couple years learning how to travel and how to manage their time. This would also make them much more appreciative of the luxuries they take for granted on the LPGA Tour.

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression — I am a huge fan of the LPGA Tour. And I’m a huge fan of all these incredibly talented young women. Because of that, I want to put them in the best position to succeed. I want the LPGA Tour to succeed. I don’t want their success to follow a bell curve, which I think it’s doing now. They are on the way up — but destined for a fall in about 5-10 years. I would rather they have consistent growth with classy young women — who make solid role models for all juniors that idolize them.

So, what do you think? Is the LPGA Tour getting too young? Or do you like what you’re seeing now?

Oh, and we may have to have this conversation about the PGA Tour soon as well. 16 year old Tad Fujikawa just announced he is going pro. Stay tuned.

Aussie golf fans may want to take their Palm Pilots when they travel to the Australian Open in Sydney this December.

Organisers of Australia’s premier event is trying to ramp up the entertainment and information factor for golf fans so that they can receive as much details about the tournament on the course as they could if they were watching on television.

Using communication devices such as Palm Pilots and other gadgets, golf fans can tune into the tournament live as they are walking the course. They can find out information such as yardage, wind direction and other details die-hard golf fans want to know about a player’s shot.

In addition, they would be able to see a live leaderboard on their machines so they can decide in an instant what is the best hole to watch at any given time.

This is the vision of tournament director Paul McNamee, whose initiative helped to give last year’s Australian Open a party atmosphere with live music, fashion shows, big-screen TVs and allowing spectators on to the fairways.

McNamee was quoted in the Brisbane Times as saying:

“We’ve got to keep improving the experience for spectators and part of that will be giving them as much information as we can while they’re out walking the course. That’s the only advantage you get from watching golf at home – the information. We need to be able to get the info to the fans quickly so there’s no doubt that watching golf is a better experience live.”

Golf in Australiasia has been keeping a low profile in recent years with the emergence of the Asian Tour. McNamee, however, says he has no plans to make the Australia Open the world’s “fifth major”. His simply hopes that the tournament can become the leading event within the Asia-Pacific region.