Editorial

12 Mar 2013 Corina Pelloni

The anchoring debate – a contrarian view

Okay I guess it’s time to chime in:  To ban or not to ban? The R&A and USGA‘s question/comment period regarding their proposed ban on the anchored stroke ended Thursday, February 28.  Not surprisingly, the PGA Tour is against the ruling, and many players who were initially pro-ban have now done an about-face. Many former players and media pundits claim a ban would drive droves of people from the game. This is simply not true. We have seen decreases in the numbers of people playing the game in the last decade, and the anchored stroke has increased in popularity. That being said, an interesting statistic to determine would be the amount of people who have returned to golf due to the popularity of the anchored stroke. Probably very few. Time, economics, and family commitments are all reasons for fewer golfers. Banning the long putter will not prevent new golfers from learning, former players from returning to the game, nor existing players from quitting.  A few, yes, but a few is not a consensus or majority. Is it not fair, however, to say there are two sets of rules in many sports? Basketball’s three-point shot is further away in the pro game than in the college game, and the aluminum bat is permitted in amateur baseball. These are but two examples. Lest we forget in golf, not that long ago, the smaller ball was used in Great Britain by both professionals and amateurs. The small ball is an interesting example to use. When it appeared during the 1930s, the R&A permitted it within the rules; the USGA did not. It became known as the British ball or British Open ball. Most American players used it when competing in events governed by the R&A.  Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were practitioners.  The ball was .06 inches smaller in diameter and the same weight as the standard larger ball. The British ball traveled farther and was easier to control in windy conditions. Eventually, the R&A banned the ball for use in the British Open in 1974 and banished it completely from the game in 1990. The question is, why was the British ball banned? The answer was the governing bodies wanted uniformity and equality throughout the game worldwide. Fast forward to today. Is this now the reason for the ban on the anchored stroke? The governing bodies say yes. In my opinion, this is a much-skewed yes. There is something less than equitable in their decision, and in my opinion, it is in contradiction to the nature of the game. Regarding the rule to be implemented on anchoring, it is odd that the governing bodies made this decision after three recent professionals won majors using it (Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, and Ernie Els).  Perhaps they truly feel it is of assistance. As an instructor, I beg to differ. Many professionals have attempted using it with no success, and these are the most talented players in the game.  Many, of course, claim it alleviates the yips. It most definitely does; however, as a golf fan, one must ask these questions:  Who is a better putter, a top touring professional who does not have the yips and putts with a non-anchored method, or the top touring professional who uses an anchored method because of the yips? Are they playing on a level playing field? I would say no, and the player without the yips is the better putter. We know it’s a game of confidence, and once a golfer experiences the yips, the supreme confidence they once had on the greens is gone. The anchored stroke restores some of the former confidence, but the player’s putting confidence is broken…forever. Unfortunately, this ban is being implemented for all the wrong reasons. It is about Orville Moody resurrecting his playing career on the senior tour, Ernie Els winning the British Open, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson winning majors, and the awkward elbow-flaring putting style of Adam Scott that the governing bodies abhor but will never admit. It should be about making the game equitable for all. My position, as you are discovering, is one of equality, but from a contrarian viewpoint. In some sports a different rule for professionals is required.  In golf, whether you’re an amateur or a professional, those afflicted with the “yips” are severely handicapped, and the game for them is no longer played on an equal playing field.  Some reading this will surely say that the “yips” are psychological, so get over it. It is not; it is neurological and is a topic onto itself. Additionally, it has not been proven that a player who does not have the “yips” performs better with an anchored stroke over the player who employs the non-anchored method.  I would certainly take Tiger Woods or Nicklaus to make a putt when required over Keegan or Webb. Rule 14-3 states: Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment The USGA reserves the right, at any time, to change the rules relating to artificial devices, unusual equipment and the unusual use of equipment, and to make or change the interpretations relating to these rules. Under the same ruling there are the “Exceptions” which state:

1. A player is not in breach of this rule if (a) the equipment or device is designed or has the effect of alleviating a medical condition. (b) the player has a legitimate medical reason to use the equipment or device, and (c) the Committee is satisfied that its use does not give the player and undue advantage over other players.

AH HA! Got you governing, bodies. There is no doubt in my mind the committee looks at the belly or long putter as being used “unusually.” They have a history of not liking “unusual use” of equipment. because aesthetically it does not adhere to their views of a proper stroke. Remember this?   The powers that be were not particularly fond of a West Virginia hillbilly superstar using this style of putting (left photo). They felt he was making a mockery of the game, and hence banned the method by implementing a rule that one cannot straddle the target line. Mr. Snead simply adjusted his style to “side saddle” (right photo). He was never a great putter. Now, more importantly, what we read within the exceptions is most likely the true reason the R&A and USGA are implementing the ban. “(c) the Committee is satisfied that its use does not give the player and undue advantage over other players.” They claim they wish to maintain the integrity and traditions of the game, hence the ban, but it is obvious they are not satisfied that the anchored stroke does not give an “undue advantage over other players.”  Again, in my opinion they are dead wrong on this issue as they have no concrete proof that the long putter helps a golfer who is not afflicted by the “yips.” The governing bodies take pride in maintaining the traditions of the game, one of which is maintaining an equitable game for all. This is why we have a handicap system.  The onus is on the governing bodies to prove unequivocally that the anchored stroke provides an “undue advantage.” They can’t. and if they could. all players would employ the method. One of the great aspects of our game is that it requires skill and creativity to get the ball in the hole in the lowest amount of strokes possible. I respect the governing bodies’ role within the game. but not all their decisions. which are often held to subjective opinion. Perhaps if they listened to Ben Hogan. who strongly believed that a putt should only count for a half stroke. we wouldn’t be faced with this odd decision today. For the record, I do not use the anchored stroke.

12 Mar 2013 Corina Pelloni

What a country…you can buy a game

I was watching one of the recent tour events on TV and couldn’t help but notice all the golf commercials touting how great a particular club was. One club hits it farther than any other on the market, or so the claim. Phil Mickelson says his driver is a game changer. Seems modern equipment is all you need to tool around the course under par, and not one mention about whether any skill is required when swinging said utensils. I have been around golf a long time. I have never seen a club that did not require the individual to have some proficiency regarding proper technique. Remember when they created the offset driver and fairway woods that were guaranteed to cure the average person’s slice? Seen any of those clubs lately? One of my golf buddies just bought the new white head driver. I thought he was hitting the one he had pretty well, but he marveled at how great he hit the new club the first time he used it. On the first tee last week he had his old driver out. Had to work the kinks out of the new one a little more, he said. Wow, how can that be? This was supposedly the be-all of golf clubs. It is amazing how easily people fall for hype. Few want to believe that golf requires effort and that equipment can help, but it won’t compensate for poor fundamentals. I don’t have a problem with manufacturers discussing the research and features designed into their clubs. I do have a problem with saying the club does all the work. What I would like to see from golf companies is a message that says this equipment along with practice and good instruction will do wonders for your game. I don’t think that is too much to ask for.

8 Mar 2013 Corina Pelloni

TEACHING GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT

Understanding golf course management and playing to our strengths is something that comes second-nature to most of us, simply because of the time we have spent at the game.   For many of our students, however, this is not the case.  They have not been taught how to play on the course or to learn to play to their golfing strengths. There are many things that need to be taught regarding course management, but two of the most important are ball flight and a player’s natural golfing strengths.  Course management can be discussed on the range, but playing lessons are the best way to teach course management.  Being able to see the angles you are teaching during a round will help your students have a better understanding of course management. Every student has a natural shot shape, or a “go-to shot,” as better players like to call it.  Understanding what your shot shape is allows you to eliminate half the golf course.  You can always play away from trouble when you play to your natural shot shape.  Often, when I teach someone to play their natural shot shape, I hear, “What if I hit it straight?”  To this, I explain that out of ten drives they might hit one straight, so it is important to learn to play the higher percentage shot. If your student’s natural shot shape is a slice, or a left-to-right ball flight, then you need to start at the tee box.  Teach them to tee off on the right side on the box, as this will open up their sight line and make the fairway seem larger.  Better golf course architects design the tee box to lead a golfer to trouble (i.e., lining up to a water hazard).  Making sure your student takes time to aim properly benefits their natural shot shape, in addition to noticing where they are at in relation to hazards. Now that your student is starting the ball down the left side of the course, they will be hitting more fairways.  Next thing to do is to have an honest conversation about their strengths and weakness in their game.  Most people have a certain club or yardage they are very comfortable with.  Likewise, there are the clubs and yardages they stay away from.  It is our job as teaching professionals to get our students to understand the differences, and prepare them for diverse situations. If your student hates hitting half-shots or anything inside 100 yards, then we need to explain about laying back to a favorite yardage.  When I taught with America’s Favorite Golf Schools, I would always ask the students their favorite yardage.  To my surprise, most of the people said a full 7-iron or 8-iron.  No one ever said 50 yards.  When we would go on the course for our playing lesson, I would remember their favorite yardage and train them to play to it.  This might mean hitting less than driver off the tee or not hitting a 3-wood on their second shot on a 5-par. Once your students are making a conscious effort to play their natural shot shape and understand their golfing strengths, they will start playing better golf.  Their confidence will grow, their scores will come down, and they will thank you for their newfound enjoyment with the game.

5 Mar 2013 Corina Pelloni

The age of adjustability

With the debut of the 2013 golf clubs, the golf equipment industry has fully embraced the adjustable golf club. Altering the original state of a golf club is nothing new. The concept of changing the club may seem new to new players and young professionals, but golfers and club repair professionals have been doing it since a clubhead was attached to a shaft to hit a golf ball centuries ago. The goal for the manufacturer may be to produce more sales, but adjustability is an age-old concept that definitely helps golfers of all abilities. Most golfers are afraid of the idea, which is really a shame. The problem lies in bad education of the golfer from not only the manufacturer, but also the golf professional. Sadly enough, too many golf professionals don’t spend the time to understand the basics of clubhead adjustments. Thus, they don’t explain or execute it well enough to their customers, clients, and students. To repeat the point, this is a great help to golfers of any ability. Tour players have been bending clubs and adding lead tape to clubs for decades. One of my more profound memories as a teenager was playing in a pro-am at a Senior Tour event, near to where I grew up. I was standing next to Bob Murphy’s golf bag, anxious to see what was in it, but afraid to be obvious about it. On the first tee, when his caddy pulled off the big knit headcover from the driver, I could see his clubs. To my surprise, there was lead tape all over his irons. You could tell his wedges had been ground to change the shape of the sole. Later, I noticed lead tape on his persimmon driver. From that day forward, I was fascinated by the physics of golf clubs. I have turned that crazy obsession into a 30-year career in the golf equipment business. The new part in the realm of adjustability is simply the convenience and ease to do it. For decades, changing the club head to influence ball flight was not an easy task. The first venture into changing the angle of the club, such making it flatter or more upright, or closing and opening the face, was attempted by Ping. In the mid 1990s, Ping introduced a changeable hosel on their woods. Cumbersome and not so visually appealing, the concept was dropped by the company after a couple of years. For many years on the PGA Tour, club repair technicians would bend wood heads for lie and face angle. When the hosels got too small to grab with a bar, they started building molds for the heads in order to bend them. Changing lie angle on a wood was a common practice. The most popular way was to drill the hosel larger, which allowed the technician to tilt the shaft during installation to change the lie angle. Wood heads have been manufactured with closed or open faces since the mid-1800s. As a matter of fact, the closed (hooked) face angle of many clubheads you might see in a old club display or museum is dramatic. The design of closed club heads has been so common since the 1970s that it is hard to find a square face golf club from that era. Of course, I already mentioned lead tape. Also, lead powder in the head or hosel is a decades-old technique. I have used this to great success for my customers for many, many years. The weight distribution of the head can have a great effect on the flight of the golf ball. So, what you see with adjustable clubs is not new. It’s just now we can do in seconds what used to take hours. Convenience and ease are the only new innovations. Unfortunately, some golfers think the idea is to adjust your club in the idle part of the round on the 8th tee. Not only is this not the intention, but it is also contrary to the rules of the game. The idea is simply to utilize the knowledge of the teacher and/or fitter to make the club adjustments to promote better ball flight and better shots, in order to make the game easier and more enjoyable. It is the golf professional’s duty to educate and help the golfer with these clubs. The loft adjustment is designed to give more flexibility in producing correct launch angle and backspin. These two factors control the distance of the shot, along with the ball speed. This is one of the reasons tour players are hitting the ball so far. They have their launch angle and backspin dialed in perfectly. The changeable weights are designed to influence head pivot at impact. A draw-biased club has more weight on the heel, and a fade-biased club head has more weight distributed to the toe. A flat lie will produce a fade bias, and an upright lie will produce more draw bias. A closed face angle produces more draw bias, and an open face produces more fade bias. These adjustments also have slight influences on other aspects of ball flight, but the above factors are the ABCs of club head adjustments. None of these concepts are complicated or hard to learn. We need to encourage our clients to not shy away from adjustable heads and explain the benefits of how the game can be easier with a golf club feature that is here to stay. Sometimes, the best ideas are old ones that have just been refined and improved.

18 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

The rules and etiquette for the golf instructor

The golf teaching professional should teach and set an example of the proper etiquette on the golf course.   In the USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of Saint Andrews rulebook, the section on etiquette is only a few pages.  But, conduct on the golf course is much more than just two pages in a rulebook.  As golf instructors, we should never assume that a student already knows proper etiquette on the golf course.  Often, simple etiquette issues like pace of play, where to stand, or how to repair a ball mark are often overlooked. The professional should know and play by the rules.  Frequently, we are asked to answer a rules question.  The key is to have knowledge of how to use the rulebook.  It is not necessary to memorize all of the rules of golf.  However, the golf instructor should be able to navigate and find answers in the rulebook.  We should encourage students to follow the rules and etiquette. In the last few years, there has been a lowering of standard in regard to etiquette and the rules.  For example, for many golfers “winter rules” or “preferred lies” are becoming more common. The pace of play has also become considerably slower.  There are many factors that contribute to this such as golf cars, long courses built with great distance between greens and tees, slow golfers, too many people on the course, etc.  As a golf instructor, you are a role model and can influence golfers’ pace of play habits.  Set the standard for your students and they will notice and emulate. Within the last 30 years, golf cars have become common in the United States.  Sadly, it has brought on the demise of walking and the caddie.   Many times, courses opt for the economic benefit of the golf car rather than uphold the tradition of the game.  While golf cars are acceptable for people who do not have the capacity to walk 18 holes, there is a certain aspect of the game that can only be experienced by walking.  Unfortunately, the trend is that many courses now do not provide the opportunity to walk. As golf teachers, we should teach the rules, etiquette, and tradition.  This shows that you are a true professional who conducts himself as such.  The rules, etiquette, and tradition are what makes golf such a great game.

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

TIGHTENING THE V’S!

This is one of the most basic and yet advanced positions in the golf swing.  Basic, because it is something that should be taught to beginners, and advanced, because if a person is to reach advanced levels of golf, they need to employ tight V’s.  We can call it a position because it involves the positioning of the hands, but also because it is best observed at the address position.  However, this fundamentally essential principle should be maintained throughout the golf swing. Look at every single player on the PGA Tour and you will see tight V’s.  I say every single player, because I’ve not seen one yet that doesn’t have tight V’s.  Maybe there is one out there, though!  The only player that I can recall in past years who didn’t have tight V’s was Ed Fiori.  We all understand that occasionally there will be a world-class player who defies logical understanding of the golf swing and still makes it to that level of expertise. Picture it like this: The inside of the first joint up from the fingernail of each thumb should be touching the underside of the knuckle of the index finger where it connects to the palm.  Tightness in this case has nothing to do with tension, but is simply referring to tight tolerances.  In other words, no gap between the two parts. This position is of the utmost importance, because if a golfer doesn’t have tight V’s, they are forced to increase hand and forearm tension to support the club at the top, or they will lose control of the club.  At address, gravity is pulling the grip into the index finger, but at the top, gravity is pulling the grip into the V’s. A person can have both V’s parallel, the heel pad of the top hand on top of the grip, see two or three knuckles on the back of the top hand, the thumb of the top hand fitting perfectly in between the pads of the bottom hand, a perfect Vardon, interlocking, or ten-finger grip and so on…but if the V’s are not tight, the grip is problematic at best. The only reason why I mention this very basic fundamental is because I’ve seen numerous teachers who do not have tight V’s.  Excuse me for being so opinionated, but please…if you think of yourself as a golf instructor and yet you don’t have tight V’s, you are demonstrating an incorrect example for your students and handicapping your teaching. Good golfing!

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

Lower Your Score by Working Back from 100 Yards

I wanted to share with you a great way to get your game sharp in a hurry.  This is one of the games that we play on my golf teams in Florida. Find a course that allows you to practice on a hole, or find a golf center that has practice holes.  Start at 100 yards with your 100-yard club and use five golf balls.  Your goal is to hit the middle of the green with all five balls and two-putt.  If you miss the green, you have to get up and down.  You goal is to make three shots on four out of the five balls.  If you make four out five from 100 yards, you can move back to your next club.  If you start with a wedge at 100, your next club would be a 9-iron. The idea of the game is to keep working back until you reach a point where you cannot hit the green, and/or get up and down with the consistency of four out five.  If you can’t take three strokes four out five times at 100 yards, then you need to take a look at your swing and your short game.   Keep working on your swing and short game until you can get four out five. The best part of this game is that you will consistently work on short game.  As you move back, you will notice what clubs need more work, and maybe you need to add some hybrids or more fairway woods.  As you develop your game around this scoring game, your driver will become your club to set up your yardage on par-4 holes and on par-5 holes. You just get to hit an extra shot to set up your scoring. Keep at this and your scores will drop dramatically.  

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

Boost your student’s mental games with situational similarity

Aaron Baddeley came out blistering hot in the first round of the 2013 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation to shoot a 64 (eventually finishing T27).  It was an amazing start for someone who has not played competitive golf for three months, and for most of that time was just playing Mr. Mom to his children because his wife was pregnant and under bed rest.

To get mentally ready for his first competitive round, Baddeley arrived to the tournament site a week early and played highly competitive games with his mate, Geoff Ogilvy. These high stake games were getting him mentally prepared for the intense pressure on the PGA tour.

In actuality, Baddeley was getting mentally tough by practicing what sports scientists have deemed “situational similarity.” Put simply, situational similarity is when practice mimics real life competition, and the closer it does, the better your game will transfer into pressure-packed situations.

Golf Digest did a survey a few years back and discovered that one of the biggest complaints amateurs have is their inability to bring their best swings (and game) from the range to the golf course.  I am sure you hear this complaint a lot from your students, as well.

To remedy this problem, I would recommend incorporating the principle of situational similarity into your students’ practice regimens. Here are a few tips to help your students transfer their best game to the course:

1)     Create pressure on the range.  Instead of just blasting one driver after another into the huge area of your range, create an imaginary fairway that is half the size of your tightest hole on your course. Then, bet your friend a friendly wager to see who can hit the most drives out of 10 into this fairway. (You can do the same type of practice solo as well). This increase in pressure on the range will help you to make better swings on the course.

2)     Create pressure on the putting green. Place 10 balls around one particular hole, all three feet away. You need to make all 10 in a row. If you miss one, you will need to start over. You will find the pressure mounting when you try to make the last few balls, and this will help you to better handle the pressure of making those 3-footers on the course.

Practice the principles of situational similarity to boost to your mental game.

Dr. Gregg Steinberg is regular guest every Tuesday on “Talk of the Tour,” heard on Sirius/XM’s PGA TOUR Network.  He is a tenured professor of sports psychology and has worked with many PGA Tour players.  You can see more about him at www.drgreggsteinberg.com, and you can e-mail him at mentalrules24@msn.com

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

True potential

How many times have you heard, “I play 14 holes really well, but there’s always four holes that kill my score”?  Or, “If I could only play to my full potential.”  Even better, “My mulligan shots are so much better than my first shots.”  We’ve even felt that way ourselves.  There is always something to improve upon during a round: A misplayed chip shot, wrong club selection, or even where we left our ball to play the next shot.  One way to learn from these mistakes (among others) is to play a three-ball scramble by yourself. By playing a “solo” three-ball scramble, your students learn from their mistakes: Poor swings, bad course management, and wrong club selection.  If you are able to accompany your students while they are playing the scramble, you have an opportunity to consult after each shot, figure out what can be improved upon, and plan the next shot.  Normally, I go on the course when it is not busy and I will have the student play nine holes. We all make bad swings, but there are always things to learn from them.  It could be a poor swing path, bad posture, or too quick of a tempo.  Being able to hit three shots will help your students learn from their mistakes and help them grove their swings.  One of the most important lessons they will learn from a solo three-ball scramble is proper course management.  Being able to see a poor result due to lack of concentration is helpful, such as laying up in front of a bunker and being forced to hit a flop shot versus laying up away from the bunker, giving them more green to work with and helping them get up and down.  For many students, the lessons they learn from the course management areas will benefit their scores beyond what swing mechanics will. It is not uncommon for a 15-handicapper to shoot in the mid-70s or for a 5-handicap to shoot a few under par.  By having your students play a three-ball scramble, you can show them what their true potential can be when they have awareness of their performance.

7 Feb 2013 Corina Pelloni

USGTF – Stewards of the game

I have a bone to pick. It’s with us, the golf professionals. There was a time when we were the stewards of the game.  The first golf professional, Alan Robertson of St. Andrews, was the best player of his era, although his young apprentice Tom Morris was not far behind.  Mr. Robertson ran St. Andrews and a clubmaking company. “Old Tom,” as he was to become known, took on a position at the newly-formed Prestwick Club upon being fired for playing the new guttie ball. His boss was manufacturing the feathery and obviously did not take kindly to his young assistant embracing technology. It was at Prestwick where Tom plied his trade and became the true founding father of the modern game. He designed, laid out and maintained the course, ran events, offered instruction, ran a club and ball manufacturing company and merchandised his equipment. He was a true steward of the game who later brought his trade back to St. Andrews, where he was instrumental in growing the game, mentoring future professionals, modernizing greenskeeping, and mentoring an up-and-coming course designer named Donald Ross. Other than a few whose stars shone bright, back in the day the golf professional was looked down upon as a second-class citizen. If you have been to Great Britain and particularly Scotland, you will notice how the pro shop is separate from the main clubhouse, which the professional was prohibited to enter. His shop was his domain for golf operations, ranging from starter to clubmaker to even his domicile in some cases. The clubhouse was for amateurs who could afford the extravagance of golf.  The golf professional’s role, however, of being the steward of the course and the game was not diminished. He was the person solely drawn upon for advice with all things golf, and this has held true until sometime in the 1980s. We are diminished folks, and I think it’s time we take back our stewardship. There is a reason I am writing this article, in which I will get to momentarily, but I must digress. The game grew throughout the ’80s and was becoming big business.  Golf carts, guest fee percentages, golf club storage fees, and sometimes the merchandise operation were stripped away from the professional as club management renegotiated contracts.  Smaller retainers and commissioned sales rates were offered for managing day-to-day golf operations, while the professional maintained all revenues derived from teaching and club repair. Moving forward, the business of golf today, although big, is specialized with thinner and thinner margins in all areas of the game. Competition for the golfer’s dollar is cutthroat, what with today’s difficult economy. Reinventing oneself to capture today’s audience, which is always looking for the latest and greatest while not discounting value for dollar, is no easy task.  Golfers are putting out their dollars in four distinct areas today: green/membership fees, equipment, instruction,  and travel.  Where do we fit in? If you’re not part of golf course management and are working within the “traditional” role as a golf professional, and I use the word traditional very lightly, you are earning a living with merchandising, and maybe travel, but more so instruction. Now, how competitive is the instruction market? Everyone and their uncle call themselves a golf instructor, and with all the free online video tips capturing an audience, it is not so easy. You know what makes it worse? It’s what spawned this article. FACE PAINT. That’s right, face paint! I’m sure you’ve seen the Taylor Made commercial and ads with various pros with their faces painted like warriors. To set the record straight, I have nothing against Taylor Made or their clubs. However, is this what the game has come to? Is this what we, the former stewards of the game, have let it become? Understandably, the golf professional no longer manufactures equipment, nor does he repair clubs, excluding the odd shaft replacement, lie and loft alterations, and changing grips. Golf professionals today are much more specialized, whether we like it or not.  We run tournaments and merchandise for a pittance and we teach. The problem is we are no longer perceived as stewards of the game, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  We are no longer leaders; we are followers.  We grew the game from its infancy until we got run over by economics.  It was bound to happen. Many professionals went the route of club manager for a better paying position, and who would blame them? Now, there are but a few leaders in the industry to which the golfing public adhere: golf course operators, the media, and equipment manufacturers. Let’s get back to face paint, shall we? Golf professionals have become sheep following the herd. The manufacturers now dictate what the golfer needs. The golfer now believes that to play better he needs the manufacturer’s latest and greatest. The manufacturer tells the golf professional he/she needs to carry their clubs because of demand. The golfer demands the manufacturers clubs. The golf professional must carry the manufacturer’s clubs or he/she will lose a sale or a possible future client for lessons (maybe).  The golf professional’s margin on high-end clubs is razor-thin, but they are a loss leader. Without them in his/her shop, there is no hope of a client. What is wrong with the aforementioned picture? Simple: The manufacturers, starting with Callaway in the early 1990s, have dictated what the golfer needs. This is not to say they haven’t played a large role in improving the game via technology, but face paint?! Seriously? Are golfers now that stupid? Have we let them become that stupid? Are we that stupid for letting it get this far? Sorry for being blunt, but the short answer is a resounding yes! Business people with a vision placed the equipment manufacturers as the leaders within OUR industry. This IS our industry. WE started it, and through vision and passion built it. The real question that now confronts OUR industry (when I say OUR industry, I mean the industry of playing golf) is do we have the vision and the guts to become the stewards of the game once again? The almighty dollar is manipulating the perceptions of the amateur golfer.  We, however, as a like-minded group know better or at least should .Our role is to teach and not dictate. Our role is to lead and not follow. The future and integrity of our profession depends on us becoming stewards of the game once again.  I have a vision. Where are you, Old Tom? I’m calling on you.