Martin success

Awali Golf Club held the season’s one-and-only competition with a ‘bogey’ format on Friday.
 
Sponsored by Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company (GPIC), more than 70 golfers were attempting to add their name to the inscriptions on The Watson Salver, a competition first run in the 1959/60 season following the donation of the salver by the club’s retiring president, Noel Watson, and being played for the 56th time in 2014.

Having played in very nearly all the weekend competitions since first receiving her handicap in 2003, Joan Martin was delighted to achieve her first overall win, returning with a plus 7 score. 

The trophy and prizes were presented by master-of-ceremonies Captain Abdul Elah Fakhroo on behalf of GPIC.

Runners-up position was claimed by new club member Jeff Paa (plus 5). Third place went to Yong Back Kim, fourth to Hussain Salem and fifth place to Reynaldo Alejandro, all losing on count-back.

The ninth annual Think Pink Bahrain Charity Golf Tournaments are all set to get underway tomorrow at the Royal Golf Club. In a change to previous years, both of the ladies tournaments and the gent’s tournament will take place on the same day, and all are open to visitors.

There are still a few places available. Those wishing to support this worthy cause to raise awareness of breast cancer in Bahrain, call the Royal Golf Club on 17750777.

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In October 2011, Gulf Weekly’s editor Stan Szecowka visited professional Matt Chalmers for a series of lessons at Awali Golf Club. Iron play, driving, chipping, bunkers and putting were tackled followed by an on course lesson to put the new skills into practice.

   Throughout the series, Szecowka worked hard to correct some of his ‘stubborn’ tendencies and apply some changes designed to improve his golf and facilitate more enjoyment. Three years on, marred by bad playing habits picked up along the way, he went back on Chalmers lesson tee to repeat the process
   This series of articles written by Chalmers is designed to demonstrate how small changes can make a huge difference in your game.

Lesson 2 - Driving
In my opinion, there is no better feeling in golf than standing up on the tee box, driver in hand, and splitting the fairway with a long, straight tee shot. As with every skill in golf, the ability to successfully (and consistently) hit your driver is heavily dependent on understanding the concept of impact and putting your body in the correct position to encourage what is required.

Before we discuss technique, it is important to understand a few things about modern day driver design. Firstly, compared with the iron clubs, the driver has relatively little loft and most drivers have no grooves in the hitting area.
Therefore, it is vital that we acknowledge that the science of impact when using your driver is completely different.

Last week, we discussed that the key to achieving flight with the irons is hitting down onto the bottom of the ball. Contrastingly, when using your driver, it is necessary to sweep the ball off the tee and into the air. Let’s discuss some of the ways in which we can make this happen!

The first thing you will notice about Stan’s initial set up is that his ball position is very central. As a general rule, the further back you position the ball in your stance, the more you are likely to contact it with a descending blow. Additionally, you will notice that a central ball position encourages Stan’s hands to push ahead of the ball, thus de-lofting the club.

Sadly, Stan was combining a descending angle of attack with a de-lofted driver – not a recipe for long, straight tee shots! As soon as Stan moved his ball into the correct position (just inside the left heel), you will notice that he immediately looks more athletic and the length of his subsequent drives increased noticeably.

Once Stan started contacting the ball properly, our second job was to get him to utilise his body more effectively. If you notice in the ‘before’ photograph of his finishing position, Stan has not engaged his body in the swing.

A key indicator of this is the fact that his right foot is still planted on the ground. When you do not engage your body in the golf swing, your arms become very dominant which causes a lack of power and can lead to sliced shots.

Once Stan began to get his body turning towards the target, he started to see more consistency in his strike and shot shape. Notice how well balanced Stan is in the ‘after’ photograph - totally stable and under control.

This lesson once again reiterated the importance of the correct set up position. When using driver, make sure your ball is opposite the heel of your front foot and focus on sweeping the ball off the tee. In terms of utilising your body, don’t go for the path of least resistance. It might feel easier to swipe at the ball with your arms, but it is not likely to result in success.

As Stan proved, he was more than capable of finishing with his body in the correct position and remaining in control. As with many swing faults I see regularly in my teaching, completing his swing was not something that Stan couldn’t do ... it was something that he didn’t do!

For more information on golf instruction at Awali Golf Club, contact Matt Chalmers on 38890246 or email mwsc23@hotmail.com