Open Golf Pro

Stop your Golf Slice

2010-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

The well-known golf slice has ruined the attitudes of so many golfers for decades. Your tee shot may seem ok in the beginning, but it starts to curve to the right and becomes lost. This is the most common golf problem for countless golfers.

The Problems: It happens because of two basic things ...

1. ... the angle of the club's face is not right upon impact.
2. ... the path of the club is wrong as you swing down through the ball.

There are various reasons that the angle of the clubface can be off and other reasons for a poor swing path. Diagnosing these two golf problems is the first step to stop slicing.

Diagnosis: To diagnose what is causing your golf slice, there are several things to consider. First, take a look at your golf grip. Sometimes your left hand may be turned too far to the left. If this doesn't seem to be the problem, look at the way you stand up to the ball. Some golfers stand way to the left and this is usually the reason for the golf slice. You have to have your stance square to the golf ball.

Backswing Blues: This may still leave many golfers wondering what the problem is. If this is the case, there may still be a problem with the backswing. Sometimes the golf club may be going too far back and away from your body when you make your backswing.

Uppity Shoulder: Finally, there can sometimes be a problem with your shoulder right before you hit the ball. Some golfers throw their leading shoulder up in the air right before they hit the golf ball. This throws everything off in their golf swing. Check each of these possible problems by asking your friends to watch your golf swing. If they see one of these problems are especially noticeable, you can move on to the correct slice correction process.

The Cure: There are many ways to cure slice. Curing the golf grip may be a simple case of moving your left hand. Squaring your stance may require the use of a club that you lay on the ground in front of you. If you place the golf club parallel to the direction of the shot, your feet should be aligned with the club on the ground. Practice this stance until it becomes natural. Your shoulders should also be aligned in this way with the club. In terms of a problem on your backswing, make sure to keep your elbows in as you swing back. This may correct the problem with your backswing as you may have been pushing the club away from your body. Finally, keep the leading shoulder down and allow your hands and arms to move through the ball naturally.

The Road to Success: Fix Slice can take a lot of careful diagnosis but these basic principles may help you to determine what to look for at first. After that, some careful practice and determination may cure this problem and put you on a better road to success off the tee.

Improve Your Putting

2010-09-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

If you are serious about lowering your scores, then you must take your putting game seriously, as roughly half the strokes you play in a round of golf are likely to be on the putting green. Taking note of this is very important to improve putting.
Maybe you have heard ‘Drive for show putt for dough’, this says it all!

Tips for Setup:
There isn't any correct or perfect putting grip. There are wide variations, so don’t worry if your technique is different from other putting techniques! Many of the top golfers have very different putting actions. All have different putting techniques. These are some basic putting tips that can be applied to most of the putting techniques which will help to improve your putting golf game.

An perfect putting stroke should strike the ball on the up, to achieve this in the best way possible the golf ball should be placed opposite the inside of the left heal. This will result in the golf ball being hit on the up so most likely top spin is generated.

In relation to setup, your hands should be inline with the golf ball or ahead of the golf ball. If your hands are behind the golf ball, a clean consistent strike of the golf ball is not possible, and most likely the result is the golf ball flying up in the air.

Tension on the putting green is basically the most destructive things that can happen to your putting game, especially with the short putts, which is known as ‘putting yips’, caused by moving during the putting stroke. To get rid of this, you should be concentrated on the spot where the golf ball was after impact rather than following the golf ball. This will ensure that you don't move your head during impact and could help you giving the clean smooth impact you require.

A simple putting technique to reduce the tension in the body and the putting stroke is most simply to let your arms dangle in front of you before you putt and gently shake them. This will relax your muscles enabling an sensation of feel and touch, for perfect putting.

Key points:
Avoid the putting yips and enhance your feel and touch by relaxing before playing the putting stroke. The putting stroke should be a pendulum action swinging with your shoulders and arms while the wrists remain stiff.

— Don’t move your head during the swing.

— Keep the wrists firm throughout the putting stroke.

— Play the golf ball from underneath the eyes.

— Have the golf ball in the front of your putting stance to ensure that the ball is hit on the up.

2010 US Open Tickets

2009-06-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Tickets for the U.S. Open Golf Championship are obtained by random drawing. So fast action is required if you want us open tickets for 2010. For more information on ordering 2010 us open tickets simply go to the O fficial USGA ticketing website.

Ricky Barnes Sets New US Open Scoring Record while Tiger Wood was Nowhere in sight on the Leaderboard

2009-06-20T11:38:00.001-07:00

Ricky Barnes, Amateur champion of the 2002 U.S., set the US Open Golf Championship 36-hole scoring record. Finishing two trips around the course in 8-under 132. He completed his second round Saturday morning by making three birdies in nine holes for a 65.

Barnes who was almost certain to be the midway leader said: "It's pretty cool … Obviously at the beginning of the week you didn't think that score was out there ..."

Meanwhile Tiger Woods was trying to fight his way into contention. When Woods got on the course Saturday, he was 12 shots behind Barnes and likely needed a score somewhere around par to make the cut and reach the third round.

Through 13 holes Saturday, Woods was 2 under for the day, 2 over for the week. The projected cut was 4 over.

Hard as this may seem, Woods may have been getting too much attention.

Read the complete story here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/20/ricky-barnes-sets-36hole-_n_218399.html

US Open Golf 2009 Leaderboard - Ricky Barnes, Lucas Glover and Mike Weir on Top!

2009-06-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Many people are looking for an updated US Open Golf 2009 Leaderboard. The quickest Facts so far: Lucas Glover (USA), Mike Weir (CAN) and Ricky Barnes (USA) are on top of the US Open Golf Leaderboard. Surprisingly Tiger Woods is tied on bottom at 66th position.

You can view the complete and updated US Open Golf 2009 Leaderboard from the US Open Golf official website (www.usopen.com)

US Open TV Schedule

2009-06-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

TV Schedule for the finals of the U.S. Open Golf Championship:

Saturday, June 20:
2-8pm — U.S. Open Championship, Third Round, NBC

Sunday, June 21:
1:30-7:30pm — U.S. Open Championship, Final Round, NBC

Notes:
- NBC Sports will provide more than 16 hours of high-definition U.S. Open coverage.

- ESPN will provide comprehensive multi-platform coverage of the 2009 U.S. Open Championship.

- ESPN & GOLF CHANNEL have plenty of highlights and analysis shows surrounding the open.