Golf tips from Picture Butte Golf Club

A good tip when warming up to play your round is by visualizing the golf course when you practice. What I mean by this is when you are warming up, hit different shots like you are playing the golf course.

For example, instead of hitting five to 10 consecutive shots with the same club, try playing the first few holes in your warm-up. Try hitting a driver, then your lay-up club, then the club that you would hit onto the green. Perhaps it is driver, 3-wood, 7-iron, etc. Then start over for hole #2. This will give you a good mental preparation to take to the golf course. The only change you will make is to be sure to hit the driver as your last warm-up shot to get comfortable for that first tee.

Chris DiPasquale
PGA of Canada – Assistant Golf Professional
Picture Butte Golf Club

Especially early in the spring and again late in the fall, southern Alberta golf is often played in very windy conditions. Playing in the wind can be very difficult, especially when it comes to choosing the correct club to hit into the green. A common fault when playing in the wind is not taking enough club and trying to hit the ball too hard. It is most beneficial when playing in the wind to take an extra club and swing with less tension or “swing with ease.” Swinging hard at the ball in windy conditions (with or against) will put too much spin on the golf ball. Into the wind the ball will up-shoot and often come up short of the green, and downwind the ball will come off too hard and bound much further than in playing in regular conditions.

Next time you are playing in the wind keep this in mind:

• Into the wind, try to play your shot to the back of the green on every shot regardless of the pin position.
• Downwind, play the ball to the front of the green.
• Into the wind, choose an extra club and take a controlled swing at the ball as opposed to swinging too hard. “When it’s breezy, swing it easy.”

Jamie Gerlitz
PGA of Canada – Assistant Golf Professional
Picture Butte Golf Club