Posts Tagged ‘Golf Lesson Sussex’

Gary Player Week

Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, ranking third (behind Roberto de Vicenzo and Sam Snead) in total professional wins, with at least 166, and tied for fourth in major championship victories with nine. Along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus he is often referred to as one of “The Big Three” golfers of his era – from the late 1950s through the late 1970s – when golf boomed in the United States and around the world, greatly encouraged by expanded television coverage. Along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, he is one of only five players to win golf’s “career Grand Slam“. He completed the Grand Slam in 1965 at the age of twenty-nine. Player was the second multi-time majors winner from South Africa, following Bobby Locke, then was followed by Ernie Els, and Retief Goosen.

Player played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour from the late 1950s. He led the money list in 1961, and went on to accumulate 24 career titles. He also played an exceptionally busy schedule all over the world, and he has been called the world’s most travelled athlete, clocking up more than 15 million miles. He has more victories than anyone else in the South African Open (13) and the Australian Open (7). He held the record for most victories in the World Match Play Championship, with five wins, from 1973 until 1991 when this feat was equalled by Seve Ballesteros, finally losing his share of the record in 2004, when Ernie Els won the event for a sixth time. Player was ever-present in the top ten of Mark McCormack’s world golf rankings from their inception in 1968 until 1981;  he was ranked second on those rankings in 1969, 1970 and 1972, each time behind Jack Nicklaus.

He was the only player in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades.[6] His first win, as a 23-year-old in 1959 at Muirfield, came after he double-bogeyed the last hole, and broke down in tears thinking he had lost his chance, but none of the remaining players on the course could match the clubhouse lead he had set. In 1974, he became one of the few golfers in history to win two major championships in the same season. Player last won the U.S. Masters in 1978, when he started seven strokes behind 54-hole leader Hubert Green entering the final round, and won by one shot with birdies at seven of the last 10 holes for a back nine 30 and a final round 64. One week later, Player came from seven strokes back in the final round to win the Tournament of Champions. In 1984, at the age of 48, Player nearly became the oldest ever major champion, finishing just behind Lee Trevino at the PGA Championship. And in gusty winds at the 1998 Masters, he became the oldest golfer ever to make to the cut, breaking the 25-year-old record set by Sam Snead. Player credited this feat to his dedication to the concept of diet, health, practise and golf fitness.[7]

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Happy Birthday Gary

Legendary South African golfer, Gary Player, was born this week in 1935, one of only a handful of players to win all four majors!

Here’s one of our favorite Player stories…

When Gary Player arrived in the United States in the late 1950s, he was already becoming known as a “world traveler.” His schedule was at first limited; nevertheless, he quickly made an impression on many of the home-grown pros, and soon developed a reputation among them as a “lucky” golfer. As is common when faced with someone who is more successful, many of the regular Tour players decided Player was winning because he was luckier than they.

Rumors of Player’s “lucky play” were circulating in the clubhouse after he had won a PGA tournament, and a less than tactful reporter asked him to comment on the matter. Throughout his career, Player has always seemed to be at his best when the odds were against him, and he summed up his feelings about luck by paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson.

“Sure I’m lucky,” he told the journalist, “and the more I practice the luckier I get.”

Make no mistake about it. The key to dramatically improving your “luck” is practice. Other pro golfers were reluctant to admit, even to themselves, that Gary Player practiced harder than they, hitting thousands more balls as he grooved and fine-tuned his swing. Or that he showed up before dawn and stayed after dusk, then went to bed early, avoiding parties and hangovers. They also ignored the fact that he compensated for his small stature with a rigorous program of exercises and muscle building, long before it became fashionable to do so! Player was almost fanatical about his diet, his body and his physical conditioning, all with the objective of playing better golf. Other pros of the day dismissed his fine performance as “lucky” because it was more comfortable than facing the cold, hard truth. He was better than most of them because he worked harder and tried harder.

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Getting Lucky

When Gary Player arrived in the United States in the late 1950s, he was already becoming known as a “world traveler.” His schedule was at first limited; nevertheless, he quickly made an impression on many of the home-grown pros, and soon developed a reputation among them as a “lucky” golfer. As is common when faced with someone who is more successful, many of the regular Tour players decided Player was winning because he was luckier than they. Incidentally, this epithet would also be hung around the neck of Seve Ballesteros when he burst upon the tournament golf scene.

Rumors of Player’s lucky play were circulating in the clubhouse after he had won a PGA tournament, and a less than tactful reporter asked him to comment on the matter. Throughout his career, Player has always seemed to be at his best when the odds were against him, and he summed up his feelings about luck by paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson.

“Sure I’m lucky,” he told the journalist, “and the more I practice the luckier I get.”

Make no mistake about it. The key to dramatically improving your “luck” is practice. Other pro golfers were reluctant to admit, even to themselves, that Gary Player practiced harder than they, hitting thousands more balls as he grooved and fine tuned his swing. Or that he showed up before dawn and stayed after dusk, then went to bed early, avoiding parties and hangovers. They also ignored the fact that he compensated for his small stature with a rigorous program of exercises and muscle building, long before it became fashionable to do so. Player was almost fanatical about his diet, his body and his physical conditioning, all with the objective of playing better golf. Other pros dismissed his fine performance as “lucky” because is was more comfortable than facing the cold, hard truth. He was better than most of them because he worked harder and tried harder.

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

October Tournament Results

Well done to the following clients of MWGA on there Club Tournament results during October 2013.

Danny Berta scored 40 points to win the Tams Stableford and Chris Willett finished 2nd with 37 points at Dale Hill.

Geraldine Harland Fisher won the Ladies AGM Stableford over 9 holes on the Old Course at Dale Hill with a superb 21 points in testing conditions.

Peter Crossfield won the Tams Medal at Dale Hill with a great nett score of 66.

Steve Williamson finished joint first in the Top Dog Trophy with a nett 71 on a very wet and windy day on the Woosie course.

In the Mens Stableford Chris Pugh came in with a great 43 points, Ron Stevens 2nd with 40 points and Kelly Jones 3rd with 38 points.

Danny Berta won the 2nd Tams Stableford of the month at Dale Hill with a great 42 points.

Well done to Ann Bassett on winning the Ladies Stableford at Dale Hill with 36 points and also to Rosie Hockey on finishing 2nd with 34 points.

Mark Packard finished runner up in the Sussex Pairs Professional Matchplay Championship at Mid Sussex golf club. Mark also finished 2nd in the Sussex Pro’s Autumn meeting at Dale Hill with a score of +3.

A big well done to Simon Wooder on winning the Silver Salver at the London Club with a good solid 38 points.

Well done to all my clients on there recent successes.

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Ultimate Golf Trivia Question?

Here’s an awesome trivia question, Which player won more PGA tournaments in the Mid 80’s? Now that’s a tough one as you had Nickalus, Watson, Faldo, Seve and Norman…

Think hard before you hear a truly amazing tale of golfing success one that ought to give us all hope and get an answer that will astonish you!

A diamond in the rough

As we have seen, champions aren’t invariably the product of elite country clubs, as was Nicklaus. They don’t always appear from behind the caddie shack, as Zembriski did. They aren’t all schooled in the pressure of gambling at a fast paced municipal course, like Trevino, and they don’t all start at the age of three, like Sandy Lyle, or even two, like the latest phenomenon, Tiger Woods! Sometimes champions have their origins in places you would least expect, but the traits and qualities that enable them to convert their talents from raw coal to fine diamonds remain the same.

Calvin Peete was born in Pahokee, Florida, one of the poorest, least attractive, beat up little towns on the planet! Surrounded by swampland, Pahokee is the reason that the State bird of Florida is the mosquito. There were no less than, count them, 19 children in the Peete household. With very little option, Calvin dropped out of school in the 8th grade to pick fruit and bring in a little more money to help the family survive. At 18 he bought an old station wagon and went into business for himself. He drove up and down the rural areas of the East Coast, selling clothes and a variety of other goods to migrant farm workers. In an effort to express his individuality, Peete had diamonds inserted into his front teeth. The people with whom he traded knew him simply as “the diamond man.”

At the age of 23, never having played or caddied in his life, and with no desire to learn, a couple of friends coerced him into playing a round of golf with them. He was instantly hooked on the game and although he seemed initially to have no real aptitude, he decided he was going to become a golf pro. For the next five years he practiced every spare minute he could find, continuing to hit practice shots each night, after dark, on floodlit baseball fields.

It took Peete less than two years to become a scratch golfer, and he turned pro three years later. Not content with teaching others or looking for a club job, he decided he wanted to play on the PGA Tour. It took him three attempts to make it, but eventually, at 32 years of age, he graduated from Q-school and received his player’s card. For three more difficult and discouraging years, Peete didn’t win enough money to meet his travel expenses. His wife, a teacher, supported both of them and their family of four children. Finally, in 1979, he entered the ranks of tournament champions by winning the Milwaukee Open. He followed with three straight years of earnings in excess of $100,000. Although he was never renowned for his power, he led the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, and, in 1984, won the Vardon Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest stroke average for the season. Before long he had joined the elite group of players with over two million dollars in career earnings and at least 10 Tour victories — 12 to be exact. 11 between 82-86!

This notable level of success was achieved by a man born into abject poverty, who broke his left elbow in a fall as a boy and was partially crippled as a result of poor corrective surgery, which caused his left elbow to be permanently locked in one position.

Follow your dreams; they may come true!

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

High Soft landing Greenside Bunker Shot

Mark Wood PGA Advanced Professional, has a very easy and effective way in playing a very high soft landing greenside bunker shot. All you have to do is weaken your right hand grip so that the ‘V’ of the right hand is pointing up towards your left collar bone. Keep your left hand as normal but just make this slight alteration in the right hand and watch the results.

Make sure you set the face open a little to add some loft but to also engage the bounce.

Keep your bunker shot swing as normal, coming into the ball nice and shallow, utilising the bounce of the wedge.

Keep the swing nice and aggressive and watch the ball spin.

You can watch the video of the tip here

Go ahead and make someone’s day share this tip with a friend!

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Could be the start of Rory’s comeback

Rory McIlroy earns a staggering £31,000 a day from his Nike deal and is set to earn another £1M in appearance fees this week when he tees it up in Seoul. He will play in China for two weeks and also play an exhibition round with Tiger Woods.

A lot is happening for Rory this week as he has split with Caroline Wozniacki, 23, a former world number one in her own sport, and McIlroy, are no longer an item. An unflattering picture posted on Twitter showing McIlroy fast asleep is alleged to have played a part in the break-up.

He is also suing the management company that helped bring him the most lucrative endorsement deal in British sporting history. Court papers that are lodged in Dublin state, Ireland, that the County Down golfer also wants to end the contract he began in 2011 with Horizon Sports Management and two other companies.

It comes as no surprise after he has slumped to 6^th in the world and he has not won a thing all year. He has had only one top 10 finish in his last tens tournaments, so I guess he is now going to re-focus on what he wants.

Read the full story here

Would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

40 Yard Bunker Shots

The 40 yard bunker shot is one of the hardest in golf to play. You need to be able to treat the shot more like a greenside bunker shot, not a fairway bunker shot.

I have a great way for you to do this and it does not involve your wedges at all !!

Take a 9 iron and open the face of the club a little to engage the bounce of the club and to also add some loft onto the club. Take your normal regular splash shot stance, ball forward, weight forward, wide stance with the centre of gravity set low. From there just make a fairly full splash shot swing and you will be amazed at the results !!

This is how the pro’s play them.

Go ahead and make someone’s day share this tip with a friend!

From Your Friends at Mark Wood Golf Academy

PS. Come down and tee it up to make some magic moments of your own. Check our website at 

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Important Golf Health Advisory

Very Import You Read to the End As It Could Seriously Effect Your Health

In 1923…

* Charles Schwab, was president of the world’s largest steel company,

He died a pauper.

* Edward Hopson, was president of the largest gas company

He went insane.

* Arthur Cooger, was the greatest wheat speculator,

He died abroad, penniless.

* Cosabee Livermore, was president of one of the largest banks

He shot himself

* Richard Whitney, was president of NY Stock Excahange

He was released from prison to die at home

In that same year, 1923, Gene Sarazen won most of the important golf championships, including both the US Open and PGA Championship. He played golf until he was 92 and died in 1999 at the age of 95… and was financially solvent at his death. He also scored the first ever hole in one on TV during the Open at Royal Troon in 1973 aged 71!

Conclusion: Stop worrying about business and start playing more golf!

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent

Best Golf Quotes Ever

Golf’s a very quotable game with lots of colorful characters, here’s a few of our favorites!

1. “The More you practice the luckier you get” – Gary Player

2. “99% of all putt you leave short don’t go in” – Hubert Green

3. “Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.” Winston Churchill

4. “Golf is a good walk spoiled” Mark Twain

5. “Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course, the space between your ears.”-Booby Jones.

6. “Relax? How can anybody relax and play golf? You have to grip the club don’t you?” – Ben Hogan

7. “If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they’d starve to death.” – Sam Snead

8. “You don’t know what pressure is until you’ve played for $5 a hole with only $2 in your pocket.” – Lee Trevino

9. Golf is a game in which you yell “fore,” shoot six, and write down five.  –Paul Harvey

10. Eighteen holes of match or medal play will teach you more about your foe than will 18 years of dealing with him across a desk.  – Grantland Rice

www.markwoodgolfacademy.co.uk

Mark Wood

PGA Advanced Professional
UK’s No1 Golf Coach

The Best Golf Lessons in Sussex and Kent