The Back Nine: Focusing on the scoring zone...

Here's a look at the PGA Tour's GIR leaders...it's no surprise that those at the top of the list win (or are in contention) quite often...

"Tour players are good because a guy knows that if he takes out his pitching wedge and he swings to half a back swing, he knows how far that ball's going to go," said Pete Latkiewicz, head pro at Aurora Country Club. "If he takes out his 52-degree or his gap wedge and he swings to half a swing, he knows how far that goes. If he breaks out a sand wedge with half a swing, he knows how far that's going, along with making the three-quarter length swing. So a tour player can take three golf clubs and have a lot of variables, and they also control trajectory in the same manner."

Here's another interesting stat the PGA Tour tracks - proximity to the hole. If you notice, these guys aren't always hitting it to 3 feet. Many times, it's about just getting it on the green, taking your par and moving on. And sometimes, they'll make the bomb for that birdie. It's about being smart, and picking and choosing how to attack in that scoring zone.

Now, to some great tips from this week's pro's - Pete Latkiewicz at Aurora Country Club and Dan Phillips from Mistwood Golf Club.

Pete on how to find the right wedges for you"It's difficult if you've got a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. How do you fill those gaps in your swing? You need to learn how to either choke down on a pitching wedge so you can hit it 110 yards, or you've got jump all over your sand wedge, which is not something you want to do. So, it's which one of those fits your set best as far as all those options. You can pretty much find wedges from 48 to 64, every degree."

Dan Phillips on a common mistake inside the scoring zone.
"I see people trying to hit their wedges too hard. There's a fine line there, but a lot of times they'll take a 60-degree wedge and try and hit it 10 yards past where the length of the wedge should go. The harder you hit them, the higher they go. Not necessarily the further. A lot of them go higher and higher."

This is a good visual aid from Latkiewicz when you get to the range to practice your wedges:
If I was looking directly at you, and behind you I put a clock.
Your head's at 12 o'lock
The ball is at 6 o'clock.
Go out there with your sand wedge and swing your arms back to 9 o'clock (creating a 90-degree angle between your left arm and club)
Swing through to full finish.
Hit 10-20 balls. That is your average distance.

Now, on that same clock, take your hands back to 10 o'lock.
Hit 10-20.

Now take the hands back to 11 o'clock (which is pretty much your full swing)
Hit 10-20

"If you go out there and you control the length of your backswing, swing through to a full finish, and you hit enough of 'em, now you're starting to get an understanding that 'If my hands are at 9 o'clock, my average distance is 65 yards.' If I'm facing a 65-yard shot on the golf course, hopefully by now you've developed the confidence to say 'That's my 9 o'clock swing' and there's no more fear."

Phillps added to that with another nice visual...
"Make sure you do have impact, that your not slowing the club down as you're going throw. What you're trying to do is feel like you're going to throw a ball underhand to someone. You would just change the amount that your arm swing would be going backwards.

People have an innate ability to be able to judge distance - just like they can throw a ball to someone - they can also do it with a club. You can feel it. You just have to practice it.

Finally, we've all seen stories like this, touting how we should try to hit clubs with more and more loft - just like the pro's do! - but we're not pro's are we?
"A 60-degree wedge may be the hardest club to hit in your golf bag," Phillips said. "There are so many things that can go wrong when hitting it: the club can slide under it, you can hit it thin, there's a myriad of things that can go wrong. When I got my first 60-degree wedge I practiced with it for three months before I even thought about putting it in my golf bag for a tournament."

"It's overused by a lot of people. And the thing is, when you're playing a round of golf, go with the shots you know best, that you practiced, that you're confident in as opposed to one that you're not confident in. So if you're more confident in the bump and run, go with that if you can. Until you practice. If you want flop shots, you need to work on that flop shots before you use it in a round of golf."

Golf Thoughts
Whitetail Ridge Golf Club in Yorkville is hosting a grand opening event all day tomorrow - visit the link above to view the course, see all of the wonderful programs and tournaments they'll be holding this year and give 'em a ring!

Bolingbrook Golf Club (one of my personal favorites and without question of the best layouts in the Chicago area and a must play for any golfer - and make sure to get there early and stay late in that clubhouse)

The club will be hosting the Bank of America Open Qualifier on May 27th, and the World Youth Team Challenge (June 7-11), and the Golf Channel's Drive, Chip and Putt (July 15th).

Finally, Erin Hills in Wisconsin is continuing its spring rates for an additional two weeks. From May 20th through June 1st you can book a round of golf for only $110.
Erin Hills is also offering a Stay and Play package during this special period, which includes: A round of golf , A room in our Irish Country Inn style clubhouse - This special package is being offered for $250 per person.
Room and golf reservations are now being accepted.
Click here or call 866-724-8822

Erin Hills will host the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship on June 16-21 and the 2011 US Amateur.

Trust me folks, this course is one of a kind. If you've been overseas, you may recognize the layout. If you haven't, you'll get a real good feel of what its like. And, this course will host a US Open shortly after that US Am...so get out there now and take advantage of those rates!