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Practice wedges, putting, says short-game guru

Mark Herrmann

May 1, 2008

What would benefit the average golfer more - hitting a 300-yard drive or chipping in from around the green? Here's the follow-up question - which of those shots does the average golfer spend more time trying to achieve?

Of course, most of us want to get out there and pound our drivers. That is partly because courses and practice facilities are set up to emphasize driving ranges and not 50-yard pitching patches. Probably just as important is the fact golfers just feel like they're doing more when they're taking full swings.

"It is a strange phenomenon. Even the pros of today were taught that the game is a tee shot and a shot to the green. That's what golf always was," said Dave Pelz, the short-game guru.

"What I found startling is that, after those first two shots, a lot of golfers are taking two, three, four or five shots more. My research data shows that 60 to 65 percent of each golfer's round is inside 100 yards," he said. "Eighty percent of shots golfers lose to par-that is 80 percent of our handicap-is inside 100 yards. Yet, by a ratio of 20 to 1, golfers are practicing the full swing over putting."

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He added that if a 10 handicapper, forever struggling to break 80, would allow Phil Mickelson to take all the short shots for him or her, the 10-handicapper would shoot par. That comes from the man who has made a name for himself by sharpening Phil Mickelson's chipping and putting - and seeing Mickelson win all three of his major titles after they started working together.

A former NASA physicist and one-time aspiring pro, Pelz has made it his life's work to study and teach the physics of the game's short shots. He has a wide-ranging business that includes traveling golf academies, one of which will be at Long Island National in Riverhead May 28-June 7.

Pelz won't be there in person, but some of his 23 full-time staffers will be. The instruction will be a series of one-day, six-hour clinics, each devoted half to the short game (from 100 yards to the edge of the green) and half to putting. Information is available at (512) 263-7668 or at www.pelzgolf.com.

The real point is not just that Pelz's show is coming to town, but that everybody ought to start thinking more about wedge play and putting. Pelz even said that every golfer ought to go to a local pro (or a Pelz clinic) "to find out where your putting stroke is good and where it's not good. You don't want to practice the wrong thing.

"Most people go out before the round and take five, 10, 15 putts. All they've done is loosen their muscles," he said. "You have to learn how to improve. Believe me, the putting stroke is the easiest swing in golf, and chipping is right next to it. You've just got to learn them."

Mickelson said yesterday during a conference call from North Carolina, where he is playing in the Wachovia Championship, that he has spent most of the past two weeks working with Pelz. He added that the talks don't get excessively technical. "Pelz and I don't work on technique, we work on other things," Mickelson said, "like how to practice, what to practice, alignment."

The concepts are the same for any golfer, Pelz said, scoffing at people who say that putting is all mental: "If you don't know what else to say, you can get away with saying that." He says every golfer's practice time should be broken down this way: one-third on full swings, one-third on short game, one-third on putting. He has seen what the latter two can do.

"For me, it is fun and very rewarding to see amateurs who say they can't get the ball in the hole, then get them to improve. I feel like I'm helping golfers," he said, referring to ones who lower their scores and one who won two green jackets.

Aces

Jim Quinn, Towers Golf Club, 13th hole, 165 yards, 6-iron.

Herb Friedman, Towers GC, second hole, 175 yards, 4-iron.

Mark Green, Towers GC, 10th hole, 165 yards, 7-iron.

Bill Dauscher, Bethpage Yellow, fourth hole, 160 yards, 9-wood.

Bud Sofield, Mill Pond GC, fifth hole, 169 yards, 5-iron.

Leo Murray, Eisenhower Blue, eighth hole, 114 yards, 8-iron.

Mike DiStefano, Holbrook CC, 11th hole, 127 yards, 9-iron.

Jason Sheehy, Glen Cove GC, third hole, 157 yards, 7-iron.

Mark Reilly, Colonial Springs Lake Course, fifth hole, 177 yards, 3-iron.

Angelo Castellano, Port Jefferson CC, second hole, 178 yards, 3-wood.

John Chabot, Sunken Meadow Red, third hole, 132 yards, 8-iron.

About this page

Items for the LI Golfbeat should be directed to Mark Herrmann in the Newsday sports department. Send faxes to his attention at 631-454-6892, call 631-843-2826 or send e-mail to mark.herrmann@newsday.com. Please leave a phone number with an area code and spell all names. No beeper numbers.

Aces: Golfers with aces, double eagles or other scoring accomplishments should include: date, course, hole number, length of hole and club used.

Competition: Golf courses and clubs should direct their releases and tournament results to Herrmann's attention.

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