Feeling bad about weather and not being able to play golf? Here are a few tricks from Vine user PJCarmichael which you can try at your home.
There are a log more tricks on his page – check them out!
Just use Your Tree Iron
At times pro-golfers get a bad swing and the ball may well end up stuck in a tree. Well, when that unfortunate event happens there are 3 ways out for a continuing play,
a. Unplayable – Declare the ball unplayable under Rule 28 and take a one-stoke penalty
b. Lost Ball – One-stoke penalty and return to the spot if the previous stroke and replay the shot
c. Play It as It Lies – Meaning, climb the tree, get into a position and take a swing at the ball. By doing so you avoid the one-stoke penalty.
On the tour, where every stroke counts, the process are apt to choose option c – see the famous examples of Bernhard Langer and Sergio Garcia. These guys really do have every swing in their bag!
Great Shots – Jimenez at St. Andrews (2010)
At the 2010 British Open, Miguel Angel Jimenez pulls an incredible shot on the 17th at St. Andrews. Check this video as he uses the wall to his advantage as the ball finds the green. Incredible skills!
Luckiest Golf Shots Ever?
We’re starting a new competition on the Scratch Pad – luckiest and best golf shots ever. We’ll post two competing shots and you let us know which ones you think is best. Or if you think you have a better one, point us to it.
For this round, we have two competing shots – one from the PGA and one from the European tour; one in a tournament, and one in a practice round; both involving water.
First up, Darren Clarke on a long par 5:
Next up, Vijay Singh on a short par 3:
So, whom would you vote for?
Greatest Masters Shots Ever
As we prepare for the quest for another green jacket, we thought it would be fun to relive some of the greatest masters moments in history.
2010 – Mickelson’s shot from the pine needles
With two pine trees, a creek, and over two hundred yards between him and the pin, Mickelson delivered a blistering iron off the pine needles through the trees to four feet. it was perhaps one of the gutsiest shots ever played – the birdied hole led to a 67 and his third green jacket.
2005 – Tiger’s chip from the collar
Trailing Chris DiMarco, Woods knocked his tee shot over the green, where it came to rest against the collar of the first cut of rough. After taking stock of the situation, he hit a low spinning pitch, landing the ball 25 feet above the hole. The ball bit and then trickled down to the cup, hanging ever so briefly onto the lip before dropping in. The crowd erupted, and Tiger went on to win the green jacket in a playoff.
1987 – Larry Mize’s chip in
At the end of 72 holes, Larry Mize and Greg Norman both led the pack in the 1987 Masters. On the second hole of a sudden-death playoff, Norman hit his approach shot to the edge of the green, while Mize sprayed his second some 150 feet right and long. Norman looked destined to win his first green jacket until Mize bounced his third shot onto the green and into the hole. With Norman unable to sink his birdie putt, Mize won his first and only major championship.
1987 – Nicklaus’s Final Masters
At the 1987 Masters Nicklaus made a monumental back-nine charge, shooting a 30 that featured an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on 15, 16, & 17. The round featured a number of clutch shots, but the tricky 12-footer he holed for birdie on 17 most resonates in people’s memories. Nicklaus went on to par the 18th and carded a 65 – he then watched his competitors falter, giving him his 6th green jacket.
1935 – Gene Sarazen’s Double Eagle
Unfortunately we don’t have a video, but Gene Sarazen’s historic hole-out for double eagle went a long way toward helping popularize the Masters (then called the Augusta National Invitational). Deciding between a 3-wood and 4-wood, he chose the latter and hit a towering shot that flew some 235 yards, cleared a greenside pond, and dropped into the hole. The deuce tied Sarazen for the lead with Craig Wood – he then went on to win the only 36-hole playoff in Masters history.