Hey everyone!
Just wanted to say Hi… and let you all know that I will be helping out with this great Advanced Ball Striking Forum.
Being one of Lag’s students also, I am more than happy to come aboard and assist with your progression.
My handle around the site is “twomasters”---- sort of a giveaway being the 1993 and 1998 Australian Masters Champion.
Just a quick introduction.
I hope I can add to Lag’s already impressive skills as a golfer, teacher, storyteller and now web master extraordinaire!
Please feel free to post any questions, thoughts or ideas under this heading and I will do my best to answer them.
I will also try to add a few stories, experiences and/ or ideas from time to time.
This part of the forum is private, so best to keep all this inside the ropes!
We have all given ourselves a fine opportunity in our quest to improve our golf swings, and further our improvement and enjoyment of this great game!
Hey Arnie,
I bet you are peeved it’s me and not Jan, just for the perve factor. I would rather look at her than me that’s for sure, although time may have got the better of that one now !!
Certainly the Jan in the bath tub full of golf balls would be more enjoyable to visualize than what might have become.
Glad you are liking the vids I sent. You are welcome to post some good parts of it somehow in here if you can work it out. That’s beyond my brain range how to figure that out.
Got lots of club photos to post when I get around to photographing them. Plenty of old sets you may drool over !!
See ya
Did you see the Nagle Chesterfield ad in the sponsor section. That was classic and meant for you
Re: Twomasters
Postby welshdentist » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:57 pm
Hmmm
It would seem you have achieved a little more than I have in the game
I did think it was that you may have played in two US Masters… But now I know it’s more impressive than that
Thanks for the offer of help to us fellow students, are you still “down under”?
Yeah I have 2 mustard baby poop colour jackets- I would love to trade them for 2 green jackets- maybe one day if I can get past this module 1 stuff !!
I did play in the US Masters once back in 1998. That was cool. I came 16th in the US Open in 1997 and at that time (top 16 in US Open) got you an exemption to the Masters.
Look forward to getting back there one day soon.
I actually lived in Richmond, in Surrey when I played the Euro Tour in 1990 and in parts of 1996, but have lived in the USA since 1995
So if I need some veneers or whiter teeth, do i come see you?
Edit – just wanted to add to this now that I’m not driving – we are truly in rarified air (as if we weren’t already). The list of winners is outstanding.
I turned pro in October 1988 after playing in the Eisenhower Cup in Sweden for Australia. I got off to a flying start as a pro by finishing 7th in the Tasmanian Open, 12th in the New South Wales Open and then winning the Western Australian Open.
I vividly remember seeing Lag down there at that stage playing the events. There weren’t that many American players that came down and played. Most were off at q-school or staying at home. He probably won’t know this but I actually watched him practice a lot. He was always at the range or pitching balls and working on his game. I thought America was so far away from the rest of the world because at that point I had never played there. All I knew was that most of the world’s best golfers were American , so this guy would be worth watching, because he was American and dared venture overseas to play golf. We spoke a few times just in passing at that time.
I got my card in Europe and didn’t really see Lag again until the 1991 Windsor Charity Classic in Windsor, Canada. It is right across the river from Detroit Michigan right on the border of Canada and the US. The heat was oppressive. It was so hot. I remember during the 1st round drinking a full gatorade bottle of water on every hole- and still not having to pee
Anyhow as luck would have it we both played well that week and were paired together in the final group for the final round. I don’t remember much of that round. I believe we both played well from tee to green and had a lot of chances but didn’t convert them all. As it turned out it was pretty much a 2 horse race with 3 holes to go. That’s when we turned it on. We both stiffed approaches on 16 for birdies. I holed a 25 footer on 17 for birdie and then he rolled one right in on top of me to stay 1 shot ahead. that was it. I hit a shot straight at it on the last hole but came up about 20 feet short and we both parred and he pipped me by one shot.
I think we both had a lot of respect for each other after that because we both went head to head and flushed every shot and ended up 1-2. No pull hooks. No push cuts. every shot flush out of the middle right where it was intended to go. There was no falling over and handing the trophy over to the other guy. It was a flat out flush fest
So yes I was peeved a little that I lost and had finished 2nd, but I was quite happy also. Because I had pretty much played as well as I could and putted decent without making everything and shot 16 under for 4 rounds but came up 1 shot shy to Lag. can’t do much better than give it your all.
So you could imagine my surprise when i was roaming the websites one day and came across his name and an article about him. We got in touch and here we are, both with more knowledge and both with less hair!!
Edit: Lag actually screwed up a really good day for the Aussies-- Ian Baker-Finch won the British Open that day- Graham Marsh won in Japan- some Aussie woman won on the LPGA (can;t think of who it was?)- and Lag screwed me into 2nd place !!! Could have been a one off feat with an Aussie winning on every PGA circuit all on the same day
So you have played with pretty much all of the greats in the modern era. In terms of pure ball striking rather than ability to get the ball into the hole who would your top 5 or 10 be?
I bet you are peeved it’s me and not Jan, just for the perve factor. I would rather look at her than me that’s for sure, although time may have got the better of that one now !!
Certainly the Jan in the bath tub full of golf balls would be more enjoyable to visualize than what might have become.
Glad you are liking the vids I sent. You are welcome to post some good parts of it somehow in here if you can work it out. That’s beyond my brain range how to figure that out.
Got lots of club photos to post when I get around to photographing them. Plenty of old sets you may drool over !!
See ya
Did you see the Nagle Chesterfield ad in the sponsor section. That was classic and meant for you.[/b]
I certainly did see the Chesterfield ad, must have been the model just before mine…great stuff, cheers for that!
Greg Norman - he was the best I saw or played with. He had all the shots. He could hit whatever shot the situation required and the beauty of it was he didn’t look like he did anything different with his swing. His swing looked the same yet the ball flew right to left or left to right or high or low. His ball when he hit made a sound that no-one else got close to matching. In the 70’s-80’s he used to hit a driver (a MacGregor persimmon) and the ball would go about 10 feet in the air for 200 yards and then just whistle and fizz up into the air. dead straight and long.
David Graham- He was the only player I played with that could step it up. He had a pronounced draw in his game but a controlled one. he could fade them also obviously but the draw was his main shot. I remember being right up there on length with him and then all of a sudden we would come to a par 5 hole and wham- he would just come out with an extra 25 yards. very impressive. He has been real good to me given his reputation for a hard nosed kind of person.
Tom Lehman- This one will probably surprise a few of you. I must say he was about the only guy I played with in America who could compress that ball and make it talk. His had a similar sound to Norman. Just flat out solid in the middle of the club. You can hear the hit and watch the ball just going where he wanted it. A drawer of the ball but could fade them at will. He was the only US guy I played with that I thought= wow- he can hit it good, and his ball flight and sound impressed me.
I never actually got to play with Tom Watson but saw him play a lot. He reminded me of Graham and Lehman mixed together. Long when he wanted to be. Solid hits were the order of the day and a terrific ball flight and he could do whatever he wanted with the ball.
I’ll come up with a few more for various reasons but that is pretty much the top 4 I played or saw play
Nick Price- Different type of player than the others. Not a real power player but certainly long enough. He had the uncanny knack for just striking that ball out of the middle time and time again. His tempo was fast and constant and that’s what I liked. he never steered the ball. Just a good solid crisp hip. Thin divots and straight shots. Had an awesome run with the putter in the early to mid 90’s also. And to top it all off probably the nicest guy out there. Everyone was and is his friend.
Corey Pavin- Again not a power player but he would move the ball into any flag and away from trouble. He could shape a shot that was almost funny to watch. Most guys hit draws and fades. He could hit a slice and a hook and still make it a good shot. Who could forget his 4 wood to 18 at Shinnecock. Just total control. He didn’t care what he looked like doing it. He just had mastery over the ball, and sadly one of the last once balls flew straighter and clubs became COG perimeter chunks that stopped big movement of the ball
Davis Love- In the persimmon age, there was Norman and then there was Davis. He had a long lanquid swing that screamed power through impact. His swing has certainly toned down a lot once he got metal in his hands. But he could play with the best of them. He was real long with persimmon. His ball just flew and the wind didn’t seem to be able to slow it down. Just a high penetrating no spin flight. He had a great all around game. Power, yet lots of touch around the greens and once he got on a roll with the putter, he was pretty hard to stop. Again one of the nice guys out on the tour.
Thanks for the insight Bradley, thats just great. To bring back some memories of just how long Davis Love III was back with the persimmon in the 80’s I cut this small segment:
Good one Arnie- as you can see by watching his old swing, he has toned it down a bit !!!
The first time I ever met him and played with him was the 1994 Presidents Cup. I was paired with Nick Price in the opening day four ball against Davis Love and Freddie Couples.
I had the honor on the 1st tee and poked a 2 iron up there short of the bunker leaving approx 150 yards to the hole. Pricey hit a 3 wood to about the same position as me.
Then Davis stood up and hit driver over the bunker and within 60 yards of the flag and Freddie followed suit. Yikes. That was an eye opener. I couldn’t even dream of getting over that bunker and they both blew it over no problems.
However I hit an 8 iron to a foot from the hole and halved it in birdies!!! Different ways to do it. But he was longer than long in those days with a persimmon.
Can’t help you with the club he had in that clip you posted. From memory when we played that first time in '94 he had a Cleveland Classic
I guess it is different now Arnie. In those days of persimmon and small head irons you really had to know your swing inside out and reproduce it to hit the shots. Yes the ball has changed and is harder to move around these days but the equipment makes shots straighter also. It was certainly more fun to create shots and move them into targets and it took a real knack to be able to do it.
Nowadays it’s just bombs away. pick a club aim at a target and go to town on it.
Even the day I played with Tiger I was very anxious to see how he hit the ball as I had heard a lot about his control etc. He flushed it. really solid and great sounding but he didn’t move the ball around much at all like many suggest he does. He had good control of his trajectory but hit the ball straight as could be. That surprised me. He has a great sound and force when he hits but as far as shaping the ball I don’t see him in the league of those other guys I mentioned above. Probably could if he really needed to but shaping shots has become a bit of a lost art. The fairways are soft. The greens are soft. You just fly it to where you want it to go and it stops. Totally different game, which is unfortunate.
People who never saw Norman or Watson or guys like that in their prime really missed an exhibition of what golf is like. They were so much better at everything than the others. Nowadays the equipment has bunched guys up into a closer unit. All that separates them now is power and putting.
Yeah I would think so. I remember him using one in 1995 as I recall him winning at New Orleans to get into the Masters the following week and he had persimmon then still
I have a photo of me hitting off the first tee at Shinnecock Hills in the 1995 US Open. Around the same time. Persimmon in hand.
Can you pick the brand?
Greg Norman was the one person every young kid growing up in Australia looked up to. He had the game and the aura about him and really pushed golf to the forefront in Australia.
The first time I ever saw Greg play was at Kingston Heath in the 1979 Victorian Open. I believe Gary Player was the invited guest that year. I was allowed to skip school on the tuesday (thanks Mum & Dad) and went out to watch the practice rounds. I had just started playing a bit of golf at the time. I watched Gary Player hit some and I was an interested spectator as he I had watched him win the US Masters on television the year before. On an adjacent fairway I saw this tall blond guy with a huge Wilson golf bag, so I thought I would check him out as he looked the goods from a distance. As I got closer I read the name Greg Norman on the big bag and had heard of him because he had won a couple of events in Europe the year before and it made headlines. I had never seen him up close though.
Believe it or not here was Greg Norman having a practice round and the only people watching were his caddie (Scotty Gilmour) and me !!! There were no ropes set up so I was right there walking along even getting to talk to him and his caddie as they were strolling around. That was it for me. I was hooked on golf from that day on.
I watched him a year later in the same event. He was playing with Curtis Strange and the local top amateur. I remember kneeling down behind the 4th tee and watching them hit off. The amateur hit this poppy looking thing up the right that trickled into the right rough. Strange hit a high floppy drive like a topspin lob in tennis that ran down the middle. Norman then hit a shot that I can still hear ringing in my ears. It was an absolute blast that went head high for about 200 yards and then rose up into the air and waved goodbye to Strange’s ball on it’s way past and he had a mid iron to the green for his second shot on that par 5 hole. That was how I wanted to hit a golf ball, so i went about imitating all I saw with his swing from that day.
As fate would have it, a couple of years later I somehow managed to monday qualify against all the pros for the same Victorian Open event as a 14 year old amateur. It was played at Metropolitan GC and the 1st round was scheduled the day after my 15th birthday. Don Lawrence the famous golf writer who actually gave Jack Nicklaus his “Golden Bear” moniker, arranged for me to meet Greg again as our birthdays were the same day. February 10. We had a cake together. I turned 15 and he turned 27 and it was pretty cool because how many people can say they had their birthday party with Greg Norman?
So I teed off with plenty of attention on me being the youngest person to ever compete in an Australian event. Amazingly I was 2 under par after 8 holes birdieing both the par 5 holes and parring the rest. As I got to the 9th green my name was atop the leaderboard! I saw it and that was my demise. I ended with a 76 that day and had a poor 2nd round and missed the cut. But it was an awesome week. I got to putt around with Lee Trevino who was the celebrity guest for the event and even though I missed the cut I walked around on the weekend with Norman and Graham Marsh out in the middle of the fairway up close and personal watching them go about their business.
I have quite a lot in common with Greg Norman. Same birthday. He won his 4th PGA event, I won my 3rd. We were both the longest straightest drivers on the Australian Tour at that time. He had an American wife named Laura, so did I, and amazingly we are both divorced from them now. I won the same tournaments that he has won in Australia. He became ill right before the 1994 Presidents Cup and I was chosen to replace him- so lots of co-incidences.
I have managed to play with him quite often which has been great. He has always been good to play with and helpful to most of the young Aussies coming up through the ranks. He has always been willing to offer advice during practice rounds and always encouraging during a tournament round proper.
I remember he taught me how to play a buried bunker lie. It involved getting the hands down really low at address and dropping the knees down low also so the center of gravity of the body was very low. It was designed to get the hosel of the club under the ball still. Golf tuition has us turn the toe in which produces overspin and really no chance to get the ball close. I was playing with him in the Australian Masters one year and had a buried lie right of a green with no green to work with. I dropped down like he had shown me picked that club up sharp and ripped the heel/hosel right under the ball. This thing came out like you wouldn’t believe and pitched a couple of feet short of the hole and actually spun and came to a stop a foot from the hole. As I walked up to tap it in he just tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a wink - as if to say- nice shot. He knew he had shown me that one by the way I played it and I guess he felt good that I had practiced it and learned how to do it. That felt pretty good to hit a shot that even The Shark found entertaining
One of my favorite rounds with him was at Augusta in a practice round. I will post a few picks as we go. very cool stuff.
Anyhow that’s enough rambling on that. Just thought i would show how much Greg Norman has meant to me and my life as a golfer.
