. . . saw the arrival of Curt Sanders, PGA, 2009 and 2010 Carolinas Section Player of the Year. Curt's playing the E-Tour this year and came in for a tune-up. He and his wife Jennifer stayed in the Cuscowilla Lodge Villas during their two-day visit.
A Perfect Address
An efficient Start Up
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Two friends
Here's a slo-mo of the Pre-shot Routine . . .
And then, the full swing that followed:
Later that afternoon, I spent time with Wayne Watts, PGA, who was preparing for a tournament the next day. Wayne recently won the Pro Division of the Kiawah Island Resort National Pro-Am by eight shots, and his Cuscowilla team won the Amateur Division. Alignment golf . . . gotta love it!
Monday morning early . . .
Wayne and me again, this time on the putting green and joined by Curt, a great teacher as well as a great player. It wasn't long before we were all enjoying the benefit of Curt's teaching. Curt qualified and played in the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, so we were both all ears!
Along the way, Leighton Nichols, an aspiring mini-tour player, and new student Pat Biocci, popped in to watch the action. Pat -- Inner City Teacher on the website -- is a 16-handicap from Philadelphia in for eight hours of instruction spread over four days. His large, Mickey-D coffee in hand, he appears ready.
Curt and I would spend the rest of the morning together, working in the short game area and on the tee.
Pat and I went to work in the afternoon. As usual, the lesson began near the large pitching green on the upper side of the magnificent tee line at Cuscowilla.
Bright and early, Pat and I headed to the putting/chipping green. Normally, we would have begun the day's work in the video teaching bay, but there was a chance weather would come in later in the week, and I wanted to get all our outdoor activity accomplished beforehand. I teach the Paul Runyan putting and chipping techniques, and they both use the same grip and stroke. Hence, the migration to the putting green.
After the putting lesson, Pat learned to "Putt your chip!". Also, the real secrets of bunker play. Since my student Brian Gay is #1 in Sand Saves on the PGA TOUR this year, I should have picked up a few nuggets by now!