A few years ago, I drove my son to a college golf showcase, where he played in front of a handful of Division III college coaches, and I tried to kill time and pretend I didn’t care. At that point, my son had played in a bunch of tournaments and seemed to be getting some interest, and yet only when I started talking to another father did I realize how far behind we were.
The other dad told me about the tournaments his son was playing, and how they only entered the kind with enough ranking points. Then he told me about the advice they had received, and from whom, all with the subtext: I couldn’t reasonably expect to figure any of this out on my own.
“Apparently, we’re doing it all wrong,” I texted my wife.
To be fair, Paul Sullivan’s feature about the state of college golf recruiting doesn’t argue against the ways golf consultants can help, nor does Sullivan suggest making a college golf team is impossible without them. My son ended up in a great spot, and there are plenty of examples of players just like him. But in detailing how quickly the landscape is shifting, and why some families seek advisers to help them navigate through the uncertainty, Sullivan also surfaces a common dynamic of modern parenting.
When you start to look around, it’s easy to feel like you’re never doing enough.
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Here’s a look at how college golf consultants can help junior golfers find a spot on a team at a school where they can thrive. |
I got a few questions about early extension in my recent Golf IQ mailbag episode. I early extend in my own golf swing, and I think one of the biggest causes is hip mobility.
Most of us sit at a desk all day—I literally sit behind one talking about golf—and our hips get tighter and tighter along the way.
Then we go to swing, we have to turn our hips back and through, and they’re locked up. If you can’t turn, you extend instead. So the easiest fix is to improve your hip mobility.
Get to where you can turn your hips back and through and internally rotate them, and while it won’t solve everything, you’ll take away a big reason you were early extending in the first place.
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The USGA announced Thursday that Merion Golf Club had been named a U.S. Open anchor site, joining Pinehurst, Oakmont and Pebble Beach as the fourth of its kind. The governing body did not award the Ardmore, Pa., club, host of a record 20 USGA championships, any additional beyond the five already scheduled: the 2030, 2040 and 2050 U.S. Opens and the 2034 and 2046 U.S. Women’s Opens. Yet John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer, emphasized the importance of the label in terms of defining the relationship the USGA has with the famed club. The announcement is notable given the U.S. Open has been played at Merion just once in the last 45 years (2013) and that the East Course’s modest length was believed not that long ago that it would make it a less appealing championship site given the distances modern professionals hit the ball. Additionally, Merion’s small footprint means fewer spectators and less revenue for the USGA when holding the Open there. The tradeoff, however, is something the USGA appears willing to make. Said Bodenhamer: “Merion will continue to play a central role in the future of the U.S. Open, and we are excited to build on its remarkable legacy for generations to come.”
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The trailer for Season 2 of 'Stick' is here. And it looks like we're going to be seeing a lot more of Owen Wilson with a golf club in his hands. The actor plays Pryce Cahill, AKA "Stick," a former tour pro who takes a young prodigy (played by Peter Dager) under his wing in the Apple TV series. But in Season 2, Cahill will attempt to make a comeback with the help of recent Emmy winner Rhea Seehorn, who plays his golf coach. It's an interesting plot twist—especially considering Wilson, who wasn't a golfer before taking this part, needed multiple coaches to get ready for shooting. (Golf Digest profiled Wilson's golf journey last year and all the ways he learned about the game.) Anyway, here's a look at the official trailer ahead of the show's Nov. 4 return.
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Jon Rahm's LIV Golf gamble is over and nobody won
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Let's talk about why you aren't going for a fitting |
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10 of the best colleges for casual golfers |
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