The Back Nine: July 2009 Archives

The Front Nine took a look at how important the mental side of golf is to your game, and how it's something you can improve upon - even without the help of golf psychologists.

Whitetail Ridge head pro Patrick MacDonald believes average players should try visualization - play the course in your head before you tee it up, and work on those shots on the range before hand.
"It's very important. Visualize each shot, visualize where you want to be on each hole. I always like to leave the range hitting whatever club I'm going to hit off the first tee and have a positive swing thought. It helps to make sure when I get on the first tee I'm prepared for that type of shot and I've thought about it."

"As you go around the course, what amateurs fail to realize is 'where is the worst place to leave it?' and play accordingly to that. If I mis-hit it, I'll end up here because it's not the worst place to be because I've thought about it ahead of time."

Another key for average players would be to after a bad shot.

"Once the golf ball leaves the club face, it's over. You can't do anything about it when it's in the air," MacDonald said. "The quicker you can put a bad shot out of your mind is only going to lead to better scores in your round. You just have to let it go and forget about it. It's hard to do, but the quicker all golfers can do that, the better they can score."

Then there is the "zone' that you hear athletes talk about from time to time. Here's what Davis Love III said about it...
"You get in a zone. I have had a couple really good streaks, three or four weeks or two or three months, and when you get in those streaks you're not thinking about how to go through your routine or how to play, how to turn it on and turn it off on the golf course, how to focus or how to get lost in the process. Right now I'm working on it, you know, and that's the difference."

Unfortunately for you and me, finding the "zone" might be a little tougher than working on visualization and working on "one shot at a time."

Said MacDonald: "Unfortunately I think that's directly related to talent. If you think about it, you're going to be out there for 4, 4 1/2 hours, and unless you're Tiger or something with unbelievable mental fortitude, you're not going to be able to keep it together for that long.

They key is if you get that rhythmn, to use it as long as you can and then once it goes away - which it will - is to not get wrapped up in it, just go with the flow, keep swinging the way you are."

namely area high school golfers.

There are three current high schoolers in the field, but that's not nearly enough. The tournament, which is contested at both Phillips Park and Fox Valley Golf Club, is a great opportunity for high school players to compete against skilled amateurs that have much more experience than they do.

And, a four day 72-hole tournament would be a departure from the types of tourneys they usually compete in.

On a related note, head pro Jeff Schmidt is looking for some help in determining the official start of the city tourney, as well as former champions.

Record keeping has been spotty at best. Throw in the fact that no tourney was held during the Phillips Park renovation, plus the real chance it didn't happen during WWII, there's a good chance it hasn't been held consecutively since its inception.

My colleague Rick Armstrong has narrowed down the start date of the tournament to either 1932 or 1933, but we could use your help. Call Schmidt at 630-499-0670 or e-mail the Beacon at beaconsports@scn1.com

Tinley Park-based Bettinardi, long known for its fine putters - has ventured into golf fashion by making belt buckles.

Owner Robert Bettinardi kind of fell into that business, and in the last six months the pieces have become his hottest seller.

"I decided to start making them for the country clubs - the Medinah's, the Butler's, the Rich Harvest Farm's," Bettinardi said. "So that was very unique because now I'm customizing all the belt buckles. There are probably 20 million golfers in the United States, say 15 million of them are men, but there are 50 million men in American and there are probably 50 million of that wear belts. So you're talking about a bigger demographic, a bigger base."

The buckles are custom made on the Bettinardi C&C Milling machines in their Tinley building, and can be hand painted to match any color scheme.

"Everybody wants silver, but silver is very expensive," he said. "Stainless steel is beautiful because it doesn't rust. You can do all kinds of stuff (to it)."

The buckles (& leather belt) retail at $175 each, but if you're into fashion and having something no one else in the world will own - it's worth picking one up.

"Our motif is 'you want something that's really nice? You want something that's going to really last a long time? You want something that's guaranteed to last a lifetime?' Go get yourself a Bettinardi - whether it's a belt buckle, a putter, a headcover - whatever it is," Bettinardi said. "Bettinardi is really high quality stuff. That's what we're all about. That's what I'm proud of. "

Winfield native & Wheaton Warrenville South alumnus Kevin Streelman is the first player to endorse the buckles. A second year PGA Tour pro, Streelman has about 15 buckles that he wears.

"It's been fun yo be able to have my own input on a couple buckles and they've done some custom things for me," he said. "I've gotten asked by a lot of people 'where'd you get this?'"

Streelman has taken advantage of Bettinardi's ability to customize the buckles, wearing different buckles for different tour stops.

"They did a killer whale like Shamu for San Diego, they did a really cool desert scene for the FBR in Phoenix," Streelman said. "They did 'Bettinardi' in like the Hollywood-sign (design) for Riviera. (My wife) Courtney and I will brainstorm and say 'hey, why don't you try this for this week?' He's been really responsive and able to do a lot of the custom stuff."