If golf came in a carton, there would be a warning on the outside. I have been a serious golfer all my life. As soon as a young kid takes a swing and the ball jumps off the club and takes flight, going higher, faster and farther then ever before, the poor kid is hooked. It may have been his twelfth attempt and the first time the ball actually got airborne, but it doesn’t matter. So being a serious golfer doesn’t necessarily make one a good golfer and I have spent most of my life being a duffer.
I decided if I were going to use the word duffer, I ought to look it up. I did and in Australia it means a cattle rustler. If I go back to Australia, I won’t mention that I am a duffer. The dictionary also said that a duffer is an incompetent, ineffectual or clumsy person. Well, for most of my golfing life, I have been definitely ineffectual (clumsy for sure; incompetent at times).
I envy those people who pick up a golf club and immediately swing it with poise and grace. In my hands, it was like a medieval weapon. Oh, I was serious alright. Muscles tight. Ripping big chunks out of the golf course. Hitting just enough good shots to bring me back (does that sound familiar?). One of the things that has saved me money is the present quality of the balls. Now, when I lift my head and cut into the ball, it no longer smiles at me.
About ten years ago, at the age of 64, I attended a three-day golf school at the World Golf Village in St Augustine, Florida. It was a good thing it was three days, because the first two days were a disaster. They had lots of teaching equipment. Nothing seemed to help me. The instructor refused to let me try a club with a hinge in the shaft. He was afraid I would hurt myself.
On the third day, as a last gasp, he put a velcro strap around my chest, which was attached to a bungee cord that was attached to the end of the handle of a 6 iron. He told me to hit the ball while keeping the bungee cord taunt. I failed to keep it taunt on the backswing. Then I kept it taunt on the backswing, but not on the downswing. I began to understand why he didn’t want me messing around with the hinged club. I explained to him that if I kept the cord taunt, I would hit the ground about six inches behind the ball. Then, we had a discussion as to who was the instructor and who was the student. So, keeping my bungee cord taunt, I swung back and through and SHAZAM, I hit the ball. I was like a kid with a new toy. Most of all, I knew there was hope.
Next month, I am heading down to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy (LGA) at Championgate, Orlando, Florida, for a two-day retreat. The neat thing about the retreat is they let me pick the two days. I was there in 2009 and 2011 and my golf instructor each time was Andrew Park. Andrew is from Johannesburg, South Africa. Since my last retreat, he has assisted Andy Zhang to become the youngest competitor in the 2012 US Open. He also coached Sandra Gal, who won the KIA Classic and Sun Young Yeo who won the Kraft Nabisco Major.
About three months ago, I was informed by Leadbetter Golf Academy that Andrew was no longer there and asked me to select another instructor. I asked where Andrew went and, of course, they said they didn’t know. That’s the standard answer. He had vanished! If I wanted to continue lessons with Andrew, I would have to find him myself. Well, I selected an Irishman named Sean Hogan (no relation to Ben) from Dublin. I told them he would be fine, but I didn’t want to hear any crap about the Ryder Cup. Hey, I’m the one who’s paying. Two weeks ago, I received an email from Brittany, my LGA pen pal. It appears that Sean will not be in Florida when I am scheduled for my lesson. So I gave in and responded to Brittany telling her that Sean could jerk me around about the Ryder Cup if he wanted. No dice. Other instructors were offered to me and I selected Bob Lohr. Believe me, any of the guys are over qualified to teach me.
Just three days ago, I received another email from Brittany. I thought, “On no, Bob Lohr has bailed on me.” But it turned out to be just general distribution information that they sent of everybody. It congratulated Na Yeon Choi for winning a ladies tournament in Naples, Florida. She is, of course, coached by an LGA instructor. AND, it welcomed back “instructor Andrew Park to the LGA team after a brief sabbatical.” They told me they didn’t know where he was and now it turns out he was on a “brief sabbatical.”
I went online and found out that in 2012, there was a website entitled Andrew Park Golf Academy. I guess that’s where he was when no one could find him. I called Brittany and asked her if I could have Andrew as my instructor. She advised me that he was booked up on one of my days and out of town on the other. It seems to me that if he didn’t want to instruct me there were easier ways to get out of it than disappearing for six months.
I think Bob Lohr is going to work out fine because he’s a good old American boy. That solves some problems. If Andrew were to be my instructor again, we would be studying Earnie Els swing ad nauseam. If Sean were my instructor – Ryder Cup, Ryder Cup! I wonder if Bob like country music?
Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com
