Andrew Rice Golf

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Kyle Stanley gets his win!

Kyle Stanley did something very few golfers ever get to do – he turned the tables. And the amazing thing is he did it all in the span of eight days. After losing at Torrey Pines after having a seven shot lead, he righted all his wrongs on Sunday, by negating Spencer Levin’s eight shot lead to win his first PGA Tour event.

Kyle is the touring professional for my home course, Berkeley Hall, where he is also a resident. He takes full advantage of our amazing practice facility and plays with the members whenever he is in town. We are all so proud of “our man”!

This is what was in the bag for the victory week:

• Driver: Titleist 910D3 8.5 degree with Mitsubishi Diamana Kai’li 70X
• 3-wood: Titleist 910Fd 13.5 degree with Mitsubishi Fubuki 83X
• Irons: Titleist 503i 2-iron; MB712 4-P with Project X 6.5
• Wedges: Vokey Design 52.08, 56.14, SM4 60.10 with TT Dynamic Gold S-400
• Putter: Scotty Cameron Timeless (GSS)
• Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

An interesting note is that during the off-season Kyle switched from a 9.5 degree D3 to a 7.5 degree model. He could not get comfortable with the 7.5 and after testing on our TrackMan we found that he was a lot more consistent, and felt better, with an 8.5 degree model. Good to see he stuck with the 8.5.

Another interesting note – and this will tell you a little about his work ethic – his three wedges are each stamped with a word – DO WORK SON. One word for each wedge. He really does do work….

Kyle tweeted this after his victory yesterday:

“To do list on my week off: 1. Relax. 2. Work on my lag putting from 15 feet!!”

And a very classy tweet from playing partner and runner-up Ben Crane:

“As a fan of sports you have to love what @kylestanleygolf did this week. CONGRATS, Kyle. You earned this. The whole golf world is proud of u”

My sentiments exactly!

Kyle Stanley and Dunning Apparel

The Travis Mathew Booth

I have just returned from the annual PGA Show in Orlando, Florida and I am pleased to share that the economic side of the game appears to be in fine shape. In previous years I have left the show feeling somewhat dejected, yet after this year’s experience I am really excited for what 2012 holds.

Every year I look around for ideas that might be game changers – something fresh, new and different. I also keep an eye out for what I call “headscratchers” – something so far out it makes me wonder how it could ever help a golfer get better. Here are a few things that piqued my interest:

Swingbyte

This tiny, lightweight device attaches to the shaft of your club from where it captures your swing and transmits it to your smartphone (Apple or Android) or tablet. It offers relatively accurate data on swing path, speed and lie angle amongst others, but the developer did stress to me that once swing speeds exceeded 90mph the accuracy got a little “sloppy”. It also allows you to share the information with your coach or golf buddies. This product comes highly recommended for the vast majority of golfers out there ($149; swingbyte.com).

Snag Golf

Face it - kids absolutely love to hit balls at a moving target and they love it even more if that moving target happens to be you. If you’re looking to give your kids or grandkids a reason to play golf and have a ball while doing it – all you have to do is suit up in the sticky suit and let the fun begin. It’s a velcro suit that, when used with Snag’s sticky balls and plastic golf clubs, turns you into a moving target thats far more appealing than even the guy in the range picker. Big time fun factor ($230, snaggolf.com).

SuperFlex Bands

Iliac Leather Head Covers

These leather headcovers have been around for a while, but there is nothing that makes a statement quite like a customized set of these protecting your big sticks.  I have some (that I paid for!) and every round I play somebody asks about them. I love old school and these have old school written all over them. For the golfer who has almost everything (from $58 ea; iliacgolf.com)

A Curved Face Putter?

How about these two items? I have a hard enough time making putts with a flat face – how does anybody suppose I’m going to make more putts with a putter that has a curved face?

The Putting Guillotine...

This second “headscratcher” I simply called the Putting Guillotine! Is this device really going to help me on a downhill left to right slider on the final green for the win….? I rest my case. While I selected these two items to show you, there were many more instances where ideas, products and teaching aids caused me to simply turn and walk away.

The best booth at the show had to go to TaylorMade – again. Here’s an interesting stat for you: TaylorMade currently controls a 55% share of the metalwood market. If you compare to when Titleist golf balls where at their peak – they only controlled a 48% share of the ball market! And remember – golf clubs cost a lot more than golf balls.

Inside the TaylorMade booth...

....and the TaylorMade UFO?

Best Clothing Booth - Travis Mathew – the old convertible was a great touch.

Best Hosiery (socks!) – Kentwool – they claim to be the world’s best golf sock and I have no reason to dispute that. These socks rock!

Best Teaching Technology – Swing Catalyst – I may be biased here, as I own one, but this technology is ahead of it’s time.

As per usual there were many golf personalities there and I happened to see Scotty Cameron, Michael Breed, Lee Trevino, Paula Creamer, Wally Uihlein, Gary Gilchrist and Erik Barzeski amongst others, but I’m still trying to figure out what Flava Flav was doing there? If that’s not a “headscratcher” then I don’t know what is?

If you have not had an opportunity to visit the PGA Show then this video might give you an idea of what the experience is like. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

At the end of each year, with the help of ShotLink, the PGA Tour puts out a stat sheet that gives an in-depth review of various statistical categories. There are always some very interesting numbers – some of which I thought I’d share with you today…

JB Holmes

Driving

• The PGA Tour average driving distance for all measured shots was 290.9 yards.
• The longest driver was JB Holmes at 318.4 yards while the shortest hitter was Brian Gay at 269.8 yards – that’s almost 50 yards per tee shot!
• There were 21 golfers that averaged over 300 yards per tee shot. In 2000 John Daly was the first and only player to average over 300 yards.
• Rory McIlroy hit 51 out of 56 tee shots over 300 yards in the WGC-Bridgestone event.
• The longest drive of the year went to Dustin Johnson at 463 yards – it did involve a cart path!
• Joe Durant was the straightest driver hitting 75.65% of his fairways while Anthony Kim was the least accurate hitting only 46.99% of the fairways.
• No player led the field in driving accuracy en route to victory, while Bubba Watson led the field in driving distance for both of his victories.
• Seventy golfers had rounds where they hit every fairway  – a feat Joe Durant achieved four times!
• John Merrick had a streak of 36 fairways in a row!
• Darren Clarke only hit 41% of the fairways in winning the Open Championship.

Boo Weekley

Approach Shots

• Boo Weekley led the tour in greens in regulations (GIR) with 71.68% – that’s just over 12.5 greens per round. Keep in mind the average golfer hits 4 greens per round.
• Robert Garrigus and Graeme McDowell both hit 92% of the greens at Kapalua – the easiest course on tour to hit greens.
• 15 players manged to hit all 18 greens in a round and no golfer accomplished this feat more than once.
• Webb Simpson had a streak of 32 greens in a row!
• The hardest green to hit on tour was the 6th Hole at PGA National (29.98%). The hole is actually a par five for the members and is truly frightening.
• The course with the most hole outs from off the green was Harbourtown GL at 101. Primarily because the greens are literally miniscule and very easy to miss.

Brian Gay

Around the Green

• Brian Gay led the sand saves category with a 63.40 % up and down rate.
• Greg Chalmers led the scrambling category with a 65.17% up and in rate.

Note: I do have a problem with the PGA Tour scrambling stat in that they measure scrambling for any shot to the green that is one stroke higher than regulation. This means that tee balls hit OB should be up and downed from the tee to convert and that pitches and chips played to a par five in three are not counted…not too much sense in that.  (Thanks to Pete Sanders from ShotbyShot.com for pointing this out to me)

• Five players led the field in scrambling in the same week that they won.
• Jason Dufner was 23 out of 24 for scrambling in the Waste Management event.
• Brian Gay and Paul Stankowski each had 17 consecutive sand saves!

Luke Donald

Putting

• Luke Donald led the tour in the best stat on tour in my opinion – Strokes Gained-Putting with +.844. That means he gained an average of .844 strokes on the most “average” putter for every round he played and has led the tour in this category the last three years.  Boo Weekley, for all his hitting prowess, was last on -1.102 and Luke gained almost two strokes per round on Boo – just with the putter!
• Luke Donald had 1 three putt for every 80 holes of golf he played.
• On average Tour winners out performed the field by +1.426 strokes per round with the putter. That’s only +5.7 better than the field average in a four round event…
• 6 out of 38 winners in 2011 led the field in strokes gained-putting and 25 of 38 winners ranked in the top ten.
• Charlie Wi gained +12.68 strokes on the field in the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
• Hunter Mahan only managed to make 219 feet of putts in the 4th round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
• Three players managed to have 15 one putts in a round!
• Luke Donald had 483 consecutive holes without a three putt and Kevin Na made 676 out of 676 from inside three feet!

Webb Simpson

Scoring

• Luke Donald led the adjusted (?) scoring average at 68.86 while Webb Simpson led the actual scoring averages at  69.16.
• Webb Simpson had 60 rounds of scoring in the 60’s and 13 out of 98 rounds that were bogey-free.
• Four players had 11 birdies in a round and three players made 27 birdies in a four round event.
• 4% of all rounds on tour were completely bogey-free.
• Luke Donald had 17 consecutive sub-par rounds (I have those all the time!) and Briny Baird had 12 consecutive rounds in the 60’s.

The PGA Tour currently keeps a total of 416 various stats on each player for every round they play and with the help of some very smart people each stat category is getting deeper and better as they move forward.  Ever read the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis? Well golf is finally starting to apply sabermetrics to the massive amount of data they collect every year – and they’re better off for it.

You cannot improve upon something if you cannot measure it! I believe that statement to be true and I know that quality stats are vital in helping any serious golfer improve.  That is why I have aligned with noted statistician Peter Sanders and his fantastic site ShotbyShot.com. With this site you have the ability to truly assess your strengths and weaknesses. You even have the ability to judge your putting against scratch handicap golfers in a strokes gained type format – the only other way to get something similar is to become a Tour player!

To all my students: If you are serious, and I believe you all are, please contact me about a fantastic opportunity for us to participate at ShotbyShot.com. After all, if you want to improve something we have got to measure it….

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you all so much for your support and readership in 2011 – I could not and would not do what I love to do without you.

In just over 30 months this site has enjoyed over 350,000 hits! My YouTube channel has over 450,000 views and I have more than 450 fans on my Facebook page. Fantastic! Please feel free to let me know what you feel I can do a better job with…

My goals for 2012 are directly focused on improving your golf and I will attempt to do so by improving the following areas of your game:

• Driving – either straighter or further – you know what you need…
• Shortgame/wedging – get the ball either on the green or up and down…
• Putting – an easy way to trim 2-3 strokes off your score…

Next year I will provide technical and practical assistance to help you get better in each of the areas mentioned above. Give it a try, commit to it and I guarantee positive results. Keep an eye on this space starting next week…

Until then – relax, enjoy family and friends and keep in mind what the real reason for the season is.

Merry Christmas all y’all!

Around this time of the year I like to look back at the year and contemplate what I have learned as a teacher and coach that will make me better in the future. After much thought here is my list:

• Golfers too often lose sight of the fact that the game is all about scoring. It’s not about style, or aesthetics, or form – it’s about function. And scoring is function. If any golfer can go out and hit the ball the same as they always have and shoot five strokes lower they are very happy. No, this is not something new to me, but as I get older and hopefully wiser, I see way too many golfers who miss this point. They are searching for a swing, a technique, a “holy grail” that will upgrade their game. The answer lies in driving, wedging, putting and a hefty dose of hard work – period!
• Anybody can get better in twenty minutes. With the help of Trackman I have seen this time and time again. The challenge is taking “ownership” of the changes as this can only be done through practice. Through practice you get comfortable, you then begin to trust the changes, which in turn channel into confidence – the magic elixir of all sport.

Taking Ownership...

• The driver works much better when it strikes the ball with an upward hit. If a golfer swings at 100mph and strikes the ball with a 5 degree downward hit, they will be 28 yards shorter than a golfer who hits the ball with the same swing, but a 5 degree upward hit! The launch angle goes up, the spin goes down and boom, you’re not even swinging any harder.
• With an on plane swing, when the clubhead moves towards the ground the club path travels in to out and when it moves away from the ground it travels out to in. I know you’re more than likely scratching your head over this one – watch the video and read the article and it’ll make a ton more sense. This has been a game changer for me and I so wish I had knowledge of this information thirty years ago.
• Modern golf technology can do wonders for your game. From the latest drivers to launch monitors to pressure plates – there is new technology that can help you make real changes to almost any part of your game. Seek it out and take advantage…
• It is possible for every golfer to get longer – yes, I said every golfer. Even you! Most of the gains can be made simply by learning how to deliver the driver to the ball more efficiently. If you could learn what it takes to hit the ball 15 yards further (which is about my average for male golfers after a TrackMan session!) you have now made the golf course you play 200 yards shorter. Where do I sign up for that….?
• The weight transfer in the backswing is due to the swinging motion of the arms. There should be no conscious shift or lateral motion with the body. See the 84 degree secret…

Thanks for reading – I hope you have all learned at least something from my musings during 2011. If you remember one thing remember this: Nothing will ever take the place of hard work and heart – not talent, not finances, and certainly not coaching.

Oh, and if you haven’t wrapped up your holiday shopping yet I have a smokin’ deal for you. Buy one copy of It’s All About Impact and I’ll send you four – one for each member of your foursome.

I have big plans for upgrading the information and look of the site in 2012 so stick around and watch this space…