Junior Golf: Wisdom From Monty

In today’s Wednesday Waggle we will enjoy some words of wisdom from 1 of the all-time great British golfers. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, just a few houses down the street from Royal Troon Golf Club, he is returning home for this week’s Open Championship and has some amazing insights to share.

We’re talking, of course, about Colin Montgomery, affectionately known around the world, as Monty. He is intelligent and articulate and has tremendous golf credentials including 46 wins worldwide with several major championships and an amazing streak of being unbeaten in 8 Ryder Cup singles matches! So when Monty talks, 1 is well-advised to listen. (Dufner photo golfdigest.com)

Monday on Live From The Open, on the Golf Channel, Monty was being interviewed and the questions turned to Royal Troon’s famous hole #8, The Postage Stamp. If you miss the green here, you are in trouble so most players are quite pleased to hit the green and hopefully get a par or perhaps a birdie and move on.

Let me paraphrase Monty in 2 segments. 1st when initially asked about #8, Monty replied, “When you are expected to win or to perform something, it makes it more difficult. There is more pressure.” Mom and Dad expectations are part of life and come with the territory in junior golf. As you grasp that higher expectations equal more pressure, it would be good to re-evaluate the balance between the 2. There are only a few kiddos that thrive in high-pressure situations and your child may not be 1 of them. (Monty photo telegraph.co.uk)

Now back to Monty. Paraphrasing him again talking about hole #8, “It’s only 123 yards long. It’s a very short hole. At this distance every 1 of the players expects to hit the green, the caddies expect them to hit the green and everyone in the grandstands expects them to hit the green. So this short little hole provides great expectations and great pressure. If you hit the green, that’s good. If you miss the green, game on! It’s a gem!”

I do hope you are recording these many hours of Live From The Open on The Golf Channel and also The Open Championship, when it begins very early Thursday morning on The Golf Channel and NBC. There is so much invaluable insight and wisdom!

See you on #1 tee expecting you to perform well under pressure… Sam.

Junior Golf: The Open Championship

In this Monday Mulligan we will take our 1st look at the 3rd of the 2016 men’s Major Championships, The Open Championship, previously called The British Open. (photo jennleforge.com)

This is a favorite week every year for our family as we get to see such different golf courses, player strategies and bizarre weather, not to mention the stunning scenery and uniqueness of golf in the British Isles, the birthplace of golf.

2016 is the 145th playing of The Open Championship, yes, really! Royal Troon Golf Club is on the west coast of Scotland, just south of Glasgow and this will be the 9th time it has hosted The OC. Ladies golf has flourished at Royal Troon as they held their 1st Championship, The Ladies Championship, in 1904. How cool is that! 38 Championships in total have been held at RTGC over the years.

Parents, this week is a perfect opportunity to ramp up and reinvigorate your junior’s and the whole family’s love of golf. Our great game is a sport that has a lot of art in it. The creativity required in links golf, which is what you’ll see this week, is beyond what is typically demanded on US-type courses. The art comes from the player being able to see how to roll his shot through the myriad of undulations to get it to stop in a good position for the next shot. Hitting high shots that stop quick is the exception rather than the rule in Open Championships.

Links golf features very hard fairways and greens, bunkers than are truly penalizing and rough that is semi-impossible to play out of. It is different, it is exciting and it is unpredictable! NBC and The Golf Channel have the coverage, which begins at 1:30am Eastern time,12:30am Central time, this Thursday morning on The Golf Channel. Remember coverages switches to NBC for Saturday and Sunday. However, Live From The Open is on The Golf Channel is on right now and has a ton of hours of superior coverage and commentary throughout the whole week.

Set your DVRs. If you don’t have The Golf Channel, now is the time to add it to your TV package! When you are wondering how you can have all these TV channels and there is nothing worth watching, well The Open Championship fixes that problem, at least for a week. (photo golfscotland.com)

Couple of quotes to leave you with: TV commentator Mark Rolfing,
“With this new technology, the players have learned how to control the flight of the ball in the air. Links golf is about controlling the roll of the ball when it is on the ground!” PGA professional Davis Love III, when asked what was the most layers of clothes he had ever worn in a golf tournament, “That’s easy, I wore 5 layers in the 198x, British Open.”

Oh, did I neglect the weather? Open Championships usually have at least a day or 2 of chilly temperatures combined with wind and rain. Remember, you can be uncomfortable on a 60-degree sunny day in high winds with inadequate clothing, so imagine the sheer fortitude necessary to play well on a 55-degree cloudy day with high winds and rain, miserable. But though weather is part of what The Open Championship is known for.

See you on #1 tee on a links course… Sam