By MARC PRUITT There isn’t much that Randall James hasn’t seen or experienced in golf since he picked up the game when he was a kid, spending countless hours roaming the fairways at Zebulon Country Club, just east of Raleigh. James, who recently turned 50, has been the Director of Golf at Oak Valley in…
By STEVE HANF Jonathan Dudley teaches people how to play a better game of golf. For all the experiences the 33-year-old already has crammed into his life, he could teach a lot more than that. Small-town roots … college golf national championship … thoughts of a religious profession … a paid gig golfing with a…
BY JOHN DELL After 15 years as a top-flight teaching pro Chris Haarlow has figured out the balancing act between teaching and playing. Haarlow, 43, an instructor at Precision Golf School in Greensboro, can somehow find the time to practice and play in between his many hours spent teaching the game. The results, at least…
By MICHAEL GRAFF Ron Philo is chasing his daughter again. It’s mid-morning, and Laura Diaz is where she’s usually found, on the golf course. Philo wants to finish up a phone call before running out to catch her. “I’m pulling into the course now, actually,” he says into the phone. Then, 10 minutes later, “I…
By MICHAEL GRAFF Blair Meadows doesn’t know how to golf. She doesn’t read greens and can’t offer tips on swing mechanics. She prefers workout shorts to collared shirts. But she can be invaluable for any golfer in the area who wants a longer drive or consistent approach, or even just to continue playing later in…
By MICHAEL GRAFF The new head teaching pro at Jimmy Mac’s Golf Range in Winston-Salem can barely hold a golf club some days. Standing on the practice mat, he dangles a sand wedge in his left hand, trying to just get a feel. It was only last month, he says, that he took a swing…
With the days getting shorter and the golf season coming to a close, now is the perfect time to reflect on this year and plan for 2011. What worked well this year? What did not? And what is your game plan to work on your mental and emotional game during the offseason? Good golf shots…
The Mental Minute Every word we utter, thought we think, or feeling we have, has a direct impact on our golf game and ultimately the score we shoot. Positive thoughts lead to good outcomes. Negative thoughts create anxiety that result in breakdowns. It is critically important to develop the skill to choose the more empowering…
If you want to shoot lower scores you must first learn to be “OK” while outside your comfort zone. Wikipedia defines the comfort zone as a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of…
By STEVE WILLIAMS You wouldn’t think that the sport of long driving and a game of chess would have any common ground. Grip-it and rip-it doesn’t equate with checkmate. A driving range grid and a chessboard seem hundreds of yards apart. But in both competitions one move can dictate the next. It was that process…