Golf Swing Secrets Revealed

A unique golfing event is taking place in the Welsh valleys.

If you take a close look at each of the more than 50 golfers taking part at the Bryn Meadows resort near Ystrad Mynach, you will see that every one is missing some part of their bodies.

That’s because it is the annual Amputee Golf event, organised by the British Amputee Golf Association and founded by the late Brian Mayo, with golfers from all over the world taking part.

The BBC website interviewed one of the players, American John Novak, who lost an arm more than two decades ago after an accident. Novak, who uses a prosthetic arm, said:

“I was doing a power line inspection and I got electrocuted. I fell 60 feet into the water and some fishermen pulled me out, they saved my life.”

The tournament was first started in 1989 by Brian Mayo, who lost both his legs. He had licked a golf ball contaminated by weed killer and contracted meningitis. Mayo died in 1999 but his family has carried on the tradition of the tournament.

Apparently, Mayo was in the habit of picking up his golf ball off the green, licking it and then wiping it clean before taking a putt. That incident left him in a coma for 11 days and doctors said it was due to the weed killer.

The BBC quoted Mayo’s son Gary as saying that his dad was inspired by World War II pilot Douglas Bader, who also lost both his legs. Gary said:

“My dad read a book (about Bader) after he had his legs amputated and also met Bader and he inspired my dad. He was my dad’s hero. He was back on the course six weeks after he came out of hospital using his Mercedes as a golf cart!”

Tiger Woods has said that he has no idea when he will return to the circuit and also revealed that last month’s US Open would have been his final tournament of the year, whatever the outcome.

In his first live interview since undergoing surgery on his knee, the world number one and US Open champion has not put a timetable on his comeback.

After winning the US Open at Torrey Pines after a gruelling 19-hole play-off against Rocco Mediate, Woods underwent surgery to have the anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee reconstructed. He also had some cartilage repaired.

It was his second operation of the year, having had arthroscopic surgery days after finishing second in April’s US Masters. Upon being asked when he can play again, he said in an ESPN article:

“I really don’t know. We’ll have to see how this thing heals and everyone heals at a different rate. Some six months, some at nine and some at 12. To be honest with you, no one really knows until we start the rehab process and see how this thing goes.”

Woods also explained that he sustained stress fractures while recuperating from the April surgery. It forced him to miss the Memorial tournament and it was at that point that he decided to make the US Open his final event of the year.

This probably explains why he was so determined to win it, going toe-to-toe with Mediate on the Monday despite the pain, finally winning it on the 19th hole.

“I basically couldn’t practice (with the stress fractres). Couldn’t play more than nine holes. After dealing with that, I decided to make the US Open my last event of this season, no matter how it turned out.”

Woods was speaking in a conference call to promote the AT&T National near Washingont DC, a PGA Tour event he hosts but will not be able to attend.

We’ve all dreamed of playing in the Open. For most of us those dreams remain safely in our imaginations. A lucky few live the dream. Others drive themselves demented trying.

And the regional qualifying for the Open is a step on the road to those dreams. An obstacle to be overcome as you strive to get that one shot at glory. Some manage it. Some come agonisingly close. And some fail spectacularly.

And as spectacular failures go they don’t come much bigger than John Spreadborough’s disaster at Monktonhall near Edinburgh yesterday. It’s true that by taking part in the regional qualifier he got closer to Birkdale than most of us. But, by carding a 99, he missed out by a country mile. And he did it with people watching.

One, unnamed, Monktonhall official spoke of a nightmare swing that marked Spreadborough out as an impostor from the start. He carded a 13 at the seventh and an 11 at the 12th. That 13 included three lost balls off the tee – despite the presence of ball spotters. An extended stay in a bunker caused the problems at the 12th.

Now I’ve not played Monktonhall for some time and I’m sure it would have been set up to prove a real challenge for the qualifiers. But I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone carding a 99 there, let alone a professional.

And a professional is what Spreadborough claimed to be. His playing partners didn’t complain and he wasn’t too slow so there was no question of officials stepping in and declaring his attempt at the big time a knock out. That at least allowed him to enjoy his purple patch: three closing birdies to guide him home in less than 100.

Of course it could have been an off day. The R&A are in no way suggesting that Spreadborough shouldn’t have been there. But stories like this do put everyone, and crucially the press, in mind of Maurice Flitcroft, the Open impostor par excellence.

Along with the emergence of Seve Ballesteros, Flitcroft was the big story at the 1976 Open. A crane driver and chain smoker Flitcroft had been hacking around some fields with a few clubs when he decided to enter some competitions. With no handicap he couldn’t play as an amateur so he declared himself professional. After that he tried to qualify for the Open: he scored a mighty 121, 49 over par.

Angered professionals demanded their entry fees back, they got their money, but they weren’t asked to explain how they failed to notice that his equipment amounted to a fake leather bag and half a set of clubs. Flitcroft tried again to qualify under a variety of assumed names including Gene Paceky and Gerald Hoppy. He was never successful.

Flitcroft himself said:

“I was looking to find fame and fortune, but only achieved one of the two. I was in show business. I toured with a revue, and I used to jump into a tank on the stage, I was a stuntcomedy high diver. The revue used to tour all the country and I would dive into this tank. It wasn’t all glass, just the front so the spectators could see what was going on under the water.”

His golf, it would seem, was another way of finding fame through public humiliation. But Flitcroft’s name lived on. The Blythfield County Golf Club in Grand Rapids called a tournament (featuring greens with extra large cups and some with two flags to make things easier) after him. They even flew him out to play in it. It’s not clear what the Americans made of the Barrow-in-Furness wide boy but Flitcroft told them it was the first time he and his wife had left the house together since their gas oven blew up.

Maurice Flitcroft left people fascinated by his audacity. But, unfortunately for hapless pro’s like John Spreadborugh, he also left a prism through which the very worst golfing failures are viewed.

I’m not a sports psychologist. So, I suppose, my opinion on this isn’t worth a damn. But here goes.

I would argue that Tiger’s enforced absence (the rehabilitation of the knee has begun – could the superman of world sport return quicker than we expected?) represents an opportunity for the rest of the field. An opportunity to win a devalued major? Possibly, but hey, I’d take a major if the rest of the field were playing with one leg, one arm and a blindfold. Bet a lot of us would.

A glance down the top tens at The Masters and The US Open throws up three unlikely names as the form players in this years majors (after Woods is removed from the equation): Miguel Angel Jiminez, Robert Karlsson and Brandt Snedeker.

Those three have posted two top ten finishes each in this years majors. They’ve shown consistency in the toughest arenas. Theoretically the next two majors are golden opportunities for that disparate triumvirate.

But my guess is they won’t be hogging the limelight in the run up to Birkdale this year. And this is where my cod psychology thesis comes in: step forward Philip Alfred Mickelson. The world number two is a whole lot of ranking points and a whole lot of majors behind Tiger.

But with no Tiger what can we expect from Phil? I would argue that this is Phil’s great opportunity, his last opportunity, to put a dent in Tiger’s armour.

Let’s imagine this summer: an inspired Mickleson takes his first Open and his second USPGA. He’s now won five majors. At the Ryder Cup, free from his nemesis, he becomes the talisman of a victorious US team that reignites the event as a contest.

Then Tiger returns, ring rusty and missing the home comforts that he has become used to. Mickleson, still revelling in the momentum of his Tiger free winning spree, is free of the inferiority complex that has damaged his challenge. He squares up to the Tiger. He beats him. It’s game on and Tiger no longer has everything his own way.

Suddenly Mickleson would be a real challenger to Tiger’s greatness. Tiger would have to raise his game. The two greatest golfers in the world, sparking off each other, feeding off each other’s exploits. Woods as golf’s Roger Federer. Mickelson, reinvigorated, as the Rafael Nadal of the links. Woods with the competition his genius deserves, Mickelson with the claim to greatness he craves, golf with the top level rivalry it longs for.

Can it happen? It could. Much was made in the run up to the US Open that Torrey Pines was Mickelson’s home course. It must, then, have hurt him to see Tiger “Hopalong” Woods claim the title, the glory and the status of Superman.

What better way to show that he’s got over it than to come out fighting and take his first Open. And that might be all it takes. The rest of this year will see Barack Obama and John McCain fight it out to gain momentum. Momentum is as crucial in politics (“the big mo” I believe they call it) as it in sport. For Phil an Open victory might be the spark that presidential hopefuls spend millions trying to find.

And, for Mickelson, 2008 is different. If he can start the momentum at Birkdale there is no Tiger shaped obstacle in the way. The tiny snowball can be a bloody great boulder by the time Tiger returns. Woods on the backfoot, Mickelson driving forward. It’s a mouthwatering prospect.

And if Phil misses the boat this time? Then that’s it I’m afraid. Maybe a couple more big wins here and there. Warm applause and rueful shakes of the head. Appreciation of what he’s achieved, sorrow over what he’s failed to do. And then someone else will come along and Mickelson won’t be number two anymore. And Tiger will pretty much have the history books to himself.

Success in sport can be a fickle mistress. Whatever the record books say there is very rarely an undisputed champion. Allan Wells won the 1980 100m gold at the Olympics. But the Americans weren’t there so, for some, it is an achievement forever diminished (that Wells went on to beat them all weeks later is not dwelled on.) Tim Henman got to six Grand Slam semi finals and was number four in the world. But he never won Wimbledon and there were always, at least, three players better than him the world. So he’s a failure.

Such is the lot of the only man to have won three consecutive Opens in the last century. He is not considered a true great because four of his wins came at a time when few Americans accepted the challenge of the British links.

Peter Thompson, however, was a great champion and he triumphed in an age of other great champions. And this year the Open rota returns to the scene of his first and last championship wins.

In 1954 Thompson won the first of his Opens at Royal Birkdale. It’s true that Ben Hogan didn’t turn up to defend his title. But Thompson held off the challenge of, amongst others, Bobby Locke to claim the Claret Jug. Locke was no slouch: he won the Open in 1949, 1950, 1952 and again in 1957.

Thompson, born in Melbourne on the eve of the Great Depression, found his true calling at the Open. In 1952 and 1953 he was second. He followed the Birkdale triumph with wins in 1955 and 1956. Then he “slumped” to second behind the imperious Locke in 1957 before winning again in 1958. A seven year stretch of finishing no worse than second. Not a bad record.

But he wasn’t playing the leading American. The currency of his domination was devalued. And it’s true that he didn’t find full time life on the PGA Tour to his liking. Although, in 1956, he did manage to finish ninth on the American money list. And he only played in nine tournaments.

In 1965, however, golf was changing. Gary Player had become the international golfer par excellence. Arnold Palmer had cultivated a transatlantic army and won back to back Opens in the early 1960’s. Tony Lema had won the 1965 Open. A chubby young guy called Jack Nicklaus was in the process of redefining the game.

Thompson, the man who dominated as American pro’s basked in splendid isolation, was ageing. He shouldn’t have had much of a chance against the new kids on the block. But he was back home at Birkdale. And not only did he have a chance, he wiped the floor with them to claim his fifth and final Open Championship.

The myth of the Australian who couldn’t beat the Yanks was put to bed. He didn’t just beat the Yanks he beat the very best of them.

Even without that victory it’s impossible to argue with his record. From 1951 to 1971 he finished outside the top ten on only three occasions and, in that period, never finished outside the top 25. As records in a major go that takes some beating.

It was his victories though that proved his brilliance and his mastery of the oldest championship of the lot. It is a record that only Harry Vardon has beaten and only JH Taylor, James Braid and Tom Watson have equalled. A pantheon of greatness that Thompson deserves to be bracketed in.

There will be more than a few Europeans who arrive at Birkdale this year with their eye on getting a chance to have a pop at the best America has to offer. They might like to remember the story of the unassuming Australian who proved that, when it comes to staking a claim for greatness, Birkdale is as good a place as any to start.

Inspired by Pak Se-ri’s triumph 10 years ago, Park In-bee became the youngest winner of the US Women’s Open title when she triumphed by four strokes at Interlachen in Edina, Minnesota.

Just short of her 20th birthday, Park replaced Pak as the youngest winner, having first been introduced to the game by watching her older compatriot win the same tournament 10 years ago.

The nine-year-old Park was awoken by her screaming parents, who were celebrating Pak’s victory on television in Seoul. Only days later, she played golf for the first time, determined to one day emulate her idol.

And she did it in style, dominating the final 10 holes as she left second-placed Helen Afredsson far behind. She said in an AP article:

“When she (Pak) made a putt, they were screaming. So I really could not sleep. I didn’t know anything about golf back then, but I was watching her. It was very impressive for a little girl. I just thought that I could do it, too. Really, I can’t believe I just did this, especially with all these big names on the trophy that have been very, very successful with golf. Hopefully, I’ll put a couple of my names on there. It will be great.”

Two birdies and a par on the way back to the clubhouse was enough to silence the pack as Park closed with two-under-par 71 for a four-round total of nine-under 283.

She picked up a cheque for $585,000 as well as a soaking from her compatriots Jang Jeong and Kim In-kyung, who poured celebratory beer all over her. Park became the third player in the last six years to use this tournament for her debut victory on the LPGA Tour.

Tied for third, one stroke behind Alfredsson were Angela Park, Kim and Stacy Lewis, who was attempting to win a major tournament on her pro debut.

While Park was becoming the young women’s US open champion, Kenny Perry was flying the flag for forty-somethings on the PGA Tour when he won the Buick Open for the second time.

The 48-year-old shot a six-under-par 66 in the final round for a total of 19-under-par 270 and a one-stroke victory over Woody Austin and Bubba Watson.

The triumph is probably enough to confirm Perry’s place in the United States team to contest the Ryder Cup against Europe this year at Valhalla.

Austin blew his chance to win the tournament after finishing with two straight bogeys for a fourth round of 68. Watson narrowly missed a play-off chance when he failed to hole a 12-foot putt on the final green.

Bob Tway, Ken Duke and Matt Jones tied for third on 271.

Perry’s main concern this year is to make the Ryder Cup because it is being played at a course that is near his home. It was also where he lost the 1996 PGA Championship in a play-off to Mark Brooks. He said on the PGA Tour website:

“I just feel like I needed to go back there. I want to go back, end of my career; it’s the icing on the cake for me to be able to play at my age. I’ll be 48 when it comes, and just in front of my home folks, just something I wanted to do.”

On the European Tour, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal held off a strong chasing pack to win the French Open at Le Golf National with a total of 15-under-par 269.

Larrazabal, whose footballing compatriots won the European Championship later that night in Austria, carded a final round of four-under 67 to finish four shots clear of former Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie.

Denmark’s Soren Hansen was third on 274 with Australian Richard Green a further two strokes back in fourth place.

Larrazabal, who was a caddie for his brother five years ago, had to come through two rounds of qualifying to play in the tournament and was an outsider given his ranking of 481. Even he was at a loss to explain his victory, as he said on the European Tour website:

“I promise you I don’t know what I did. I know that today I played great golf. Today and yesterday was probably the best golf of my life. I played great golf at the qualifying tournament as well. Montgomerie is probably one of the greatest players in the history of The European Tour. I feel great. Right now I know that I can play like those guys so this is amazing.”

A friend of mine emailed me with the question below regarding a golfer having 15 clubs in a stableford fourball match:

RULES OF GOLF QUESTION:

“If you have time I have a question on the rules…

I was playing a fourball stableford competition yesterday, on the first green my playing partner discovered he had 15 clubs in his bag. I know in stroke play it would be a 2 stroke penalty, how is it applied in a stableford fourball?

The committee allowed my own score to stand on the first and did not deduct 2 points.”

RULES OF GOLF ANSWER:

“As your playing partner discovered that he was carrying 15 clubs during play of the first hole in stroke play he incurred a penalty of two strokes (Rule 4-4). If it was during play of the second, or any other hole, a maximum penalty of four strokes would have been incurred. Rule 31-6 confirms that in a four-ball stroke play competition the side is penalised for a breach of Rule 4.

For the way this is applied in a Stableford competition Note 1 to Rule 32-1b states,

Note 1: If a competitor is in breach of a Rule for which there is a maximum penalty per round, he must report the facts to the Committee before returning his score card; if he fails to do so, he is disqualified. The Committee will, from the total points scored for the round, deduct two points for each hole at which any breach occurred, with a maximum deduction per round of four points for each Rule breached.

Of course, once a player discovers that he started with 15 clubs he also has to declare which one he is taking out of play and if he subsequently uses this club during the round he is disqualified. If either player in a four-ball is disqualified under Rule 4 the penalty applies to his partner as well (Rule 31-7).”

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Disclaimer: Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of this information on the Rules of Golf I am human and have been known to be wrong! Neither I, nor anyone connected with GolfSwingSecretsRevealed.com, shall be held responsible for any losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy or reliability of such information. Readers should refer to the full text of the rules and decisions as published in the official publications of the R&A and the USGA, The Rules of Golf 2008-2011 and Decisions on the Rules of Golf 2008-2009.