Horn says, “I have a passion for the game, and since moving to LA I have played golf all over Southern California, and wherever my business travels take me in the U.S.”

When Philip came to me for his lesson he was already very knowledgeable about the game of golf and carried an 11 handicap. All of that is great, but there were still several issues we needed to work on. Mainly he had lost all confidence chipping and pitching his ball around the greens.

Philip’s main issue around the greens was that he would swing the handle of the club away big in the back swing. He would also keep his right elbow stiff and in front of his body which caused the handle to move outside a good swing plane. Since he moved the grip back big and to the outside in the takeaway he would pull the grip hard through during his downswing. Since the reaction to his backswing was to accelerate the grip end of the club in the through swing this did not allow him to release the club head back to the ball with any consistency.

The first thing we worked on to correct his chipping and pitching move was to get Phil to swing the club head instead of swinging the grip-end or handle.  I also had Phil focus on the fact that his right elbow needed to fold back along his right side during the takeaway so the club comes more from the inside. During the downswing, we tried to get Philip to feel like he was throwing the club head at the ball by casting the club head with his left thumb.  The result is that the club head will contact the turf with the bounce first and then the ball. Additionally, we had to work a little on Philip’s lower body. Even when pitching or chipping the ball, a small pivot or turn of the lower body is always necessary. To achieve this, allow the left leg to straighten and the right knee to turn into the left and finish up with your body standing tall and facing the target.

We also worked on Philip’s bunker play. When in the bunker we focused on four keys for success. First, at address we focused on keeping Philip’s spine tilted left or towards the target. Secondly, we worked on a big body-turn during the takeaway accompanied with loose and snappy wrists. And lastly, we worked on finishing the swing with his weight forward and completely off his right heel.

So, during our lesson back in December we worked on two main points, Philip’s pitching/chipping and his bunker play with a small emphasis on his full swing. About a month after our session I was curious to hear what Philip had so say; so, I sent him an email with a few questions. His responses are below:

1. 1. What is your handicap?

My Index is currently an 11, but I I expect to be single digit due to Stan’s help by the end of February.

1. 2. What did you take away from your time with Stan? What are you working on?

From Stan I learned a repeatable technique that makes sense to me. His teaching style is simple, and it is one that I can now practice all the time, because I understand the technique I am trying to execute.  I work on this technique every other day and keep my 58-12 wedge and a range tube of balls in my car at all times.

1. 3. Have you improved? How has it helped you?

I have improved my up and down’s to better than 50% per round, (sandies, chippies). In fact, our group now calls them Utley’s (as they know I went to Stan for personal instruction), and they are all reading his books. I went from blading shots over the green or chunking chip shots to hitting crisp clean shots. My time with Stan is one of the best investments in my golf game I have ever made. I do not fear chipping and pitching anymore and saw immediate improvement. I was properly chipping balls after 6 minutes with Stan, yes 6 minutes. I have the confidence now to be more aggressive and am at the point where I expect to get it up and down.  In our weekend group, we now keep track of Utley’s counting them just as we do sandies, birdies, and other junk bets.

1. 4. Any other comments?

If you are serious about improving your short game and by serious I mean being able to invest in yourself go see Stan as he is the Short Game Guru Man!

MONDAY

This year the qualifying round was held at Southern Dunes Golf Club in the city of Maricopa, just south of Phoenix. I was a little nervous heading into it and still recovering from the previous Friday’s return from 10 days in Madrid, Spain. But, I was fortunate enough to have the first tee time of the day (8 am) and a great playing partner in Frank Lickliter II. There were 80 guys who, just like me, were trying to Monday Qualify. Looking at some of the other names in the field, I knew that scoring in the mid-60s was necessary to even have a chance of making the tournament field since only the top four players got invites into the Frys.com Open event. My prayers were answered and we played our round without a breath of wind, which is very unusual on this particular course. I was able to make 8 birdies and 1 bogey for a -7 score of 65, which was good enough for third place and a spot in the 2009 Frys.com Open.

TUESDAY
I was asked by a company called Geos Communications, Inc. to put on a little short game clinic for some of their employees and key customers. Geos Communications is a leading developer of global mobile applications. They’ve got a product called MyGlobalTalk which provides low-cost calling from any device. It’s endorsed by PGA Tour veteran and 2009 Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples, as well as Tom Pernice Jr.

The clinic was a great success. I taught and told stories for about two hours to a group of about 25 participants. As with every clinic I teach, the skill levels of the participants were all over the map. However, every player had an awesome can-do attitude and it made my time spent with them a real pleasure. At the conclusion of the clinic, everyone played a round of golf on the Talon Course at Grayhawk (Raptor was getting set up for the Frys.com Open), but not before they gave me a warm round of applause and some nice compliments which I really appreciated. What a great bunch of guys! I look forward to working with Geos Communications in the future. Below is a video clip taken from my short game clinic with Geos.

Tuesday afternoon I was able to get in nine holes of practice on the Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club with good friend Tom Pernice, Jr. Since it is my home course, I’m familiar with the layout. But, it’s always nice to get out for a little practice because the set-up is pretty close to tournament conditions. This gives you a chance to get a feel for the course with bleachers, corporate tents, TV camera positions and things like that since they do alter the way your eye usually sees a hole versus playing the same course for fun. Practice rounds are really, really important.

WEDNESDAY
I got in some light practice, but didn’t play the course. I had a good friend of mine in town, the singer and recording star Paul Colman, and we went over to TPC Scottsdale so I could watch him hit a few balls. I kept the day a light one getting ready for the tournament kick-off on Thursday.

THURSDAY
Round 1 started great for me. I had a wonderful pairing of Jamie Lovemark and Peter Tomasulo, two young up-and-comers who just pound the golf ball. I don’t hit the ball as far as they do, but it sure was a treat watching them navigate around the course and hit approach shots from places I didn’t even think possible. We started on the back nine and I was even through 10 holes with 10 straight pars. I finally got to red numbers with a birdie on the 2^nd hole, my eleventh of the day. I made another birdie at No. 6 before making my one and only mistake of the tournament. I carded a snowman (8) on the No. 7, finishing my round at 2-over par (72).

FRIDAY
Round 2 was a catch up day for me – that was the plan at least. With so many scores under par in the first round I knew the cut line was probably going to be around even or 1-under par. That being said, I needed some birdies. I came right out of the gate and birdied the first hole and the sixth hole before bogeying No. 7. Whew…THAT hole again! It got the best of me all week, but in any event I was 1-under through nine holes and playing exactly how I had hoped.

Unfortunately, I played the back-nine 1-over to shoot an even par round of 70 on the day. My two-round total was a 2-over 142, and I ended up missing the cut by three shots.  I played great for 34 holes. Hole No. 7 got me both days and was probably the reason for the missed cut. Playing a single hole at 5-over through two rounds is…well…not fun. If there is any consolation at all, it’s that No. 7 played as the hardest hole all week for all the players since it usually plays as a par 5, but during the tournament it played as a 500+ yard par 4.

All in all I was really happy with the way the tournament played out for me. I was able to get a peek into the future of golf with Jamie and Peter in my pairing, and we had a lot of fun. By the way, Jamie Lovemark went on to tie for first place with Rickie Fowler and Troy Matteson, only to lose in a playoff on the second hole. Keep up the good work Jamie.

Back to teaching for me now since this is our wonderful teaching season here in Scottsdale. I have a few pro-am tournaments I’ll play over the winter and, who knows, I might just tee it up in a tour event again sometime in 2010.

Central Post Office in Madrid

I was lucky to be invited to visit Madrid, Spain by a student of mine, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño. For those of you who don’t follow the European Tour, Gonzalo is one of the up-and-coming players from Spain, and he is currently ranked #50 in the world. You will be hearing his name soon as he ventures to America to play a few more PGA Tour events in the coming years.

The main reason for the trip was to put on a short game clinic and teach the Spanish PGA members of the Spanish Golf Federation. As a bonus, I was invited to play in the European Tour’s Madrid Masters at Centro Nacional de Golf. I wanted to remember my time spent over there so I tried to keep a brief diary.

Also, I’ve posted more photos in two different Madrid photo albums on my Facebook Page.

Now that I am back, I thought I would share some of my experiences with all of you. It’s not much, but here goes:

Monday 10/5 – I arrived in Madrid, took a shower and taught a 4-hour clinic to some of Gonzalo’s friends. A quick jet lag tip: when you get to your destination, go right to work. Do NOT take a cat nap. I never experienced the symptoms of jet lag all week because I fought the urge to catch a few hours of sleep, and just kept going until bedtime in Madrid.

Tuesday 10/6 – Played a practice round at Centro Nacional de Golf with Gonzalo and a young Spaniard who had attended the University of Arizona to get ready for the tournament. In the afternoon, I spent some time teaching Alex Noren from Sweden. Alex and I have been working together for 4 or 5 years and his career is really taking off. He won the Omega European Masters in September.

Wednesday 10/7 – Pro-Am day arrived, and I was really nervous. So glad that I felt this way today and not on Thursday. I played pretty well and was able work out some of the kinks in my swing that have accumulated over my time spent away from competitive golf. The coolest part of the day was being invited to attend a party at Gonzalo’s house with about 15 of the greatest Spanish players ever.

Tournament action. Note the crowds are pretty good.

Thursday 10/8 – My first day of my first pro tournament in…well, I don’t really remember. I was surprisingly calm,  but unfortunately a “cell phone” rang in the middle of my backswing on the very first tee. Luckily, while I thinned it a little bit, it stayed in the fairway. I struck the ball pretty well all day, but putted poorly. Not too good for a short-game coach, I know. Feel free to use all the “physician heal thyself” jokes you can think of. After the round, I got to hang out a bit with Sergio’s parents, that was a lot of fun but the evening was the highlight of the day. I went to dinner with Gonzalo, Thomas Björn and Luke Donald and had my first ever taste of sushi! And I loved it.

Friday 10/9 – I was much more comfortable playing today, especially after I finally made my first putt of the week longer than four feet. (more jokes now…I’ve got thick skin!) I struck it pretty good for the second day, but could only manage two birdies which was not enough to get me a spot on the weekend. Although I didn’t play well enough to make the cut, I really enjoyed the two days of competition. Since I played early today, I followed Gonzalo around the course in the afternoon.

Saturday 10/10 – My family arrived today! Yeah! My son had Fall Break at school and we thought this would be a great opportunity for some family time and memorable experiences. Since everyone was pretty tired from the travel, we just hung out for the day.

Sunday 10/11 – I took the whole family to the tournament where they got to meet all the famous players I’ve been telling them about. The players were as gracious as you can imagine, and we got a really awesome photo of my family with Sergio Garcia.

Monday through Wednesday 10/12-14 — I basically spent these three days teaching about 20 Spanish Federation pros and 12 of the best young players in the country while the pros observed. I got to start each morning using the SAM Putt Lab with the professionals. They were amazed at the data and how it could help teach putting. In the photo above, I’m standing behind the student looking at his posture over the ball (while also snapping the photo!).

On Monday, my family went sightseeing in Toledo and all of them, except my son Jake, toured Madrid on Tuesday with Ricardo’s mom. Now would be a great time to say thank you to Ricardo Relinque who is the head of the professional division of the Spanish Golf Federation and another one of my hosts for the week. He has a great organization and I am grateful that he invited me to come and visit.

Back to Jake, on Tuesday he skipped the sightseeing in Madrid and joined me for my clinics. As it turned out, he ended up getting a lesson from the biggest golf legend in Spain, Pepito Gallardo. Pepito has taught almost all of the famous Spanish players – including Seve – at one time or another. His patience and his constant smile made the experience one that my son will never forget.

Thursday 10/15 – Family day. We had a chance to tour the Royal Palace, see the King’s Church and go to the Royal Armory. Armored knights, horses, weapons, etc. It was like a full day in a museum. Another very cool experience.

Friday 10/16 – Time to come home with a suitcase full of new friends and unforgettable memories.

Driver: Titleist D3, 8.5° loft

3-wood: Titleist 904F, 13° loft

Hybrids: Cobra Baffler, 18° loft

Cobra Baffler, 20° loft

Irons: Titleist AP2, 4-iron – PW

Wedges: Titleist Vokey, 54° bent to 52° loft with 14° bounce

Titleist Vokey, 58° M-Grind with 12° bounce

Putter: Scotty Cameron – Newport, 36″ long, 5° loft,  68° lie angle and a D2 swing weight

And, that they did. What you see on this new web site is very different from my old site at stanutleygolf.com (still “live”, but not for long!). What I learned is that times have changed since we launched my first web site a number years ago, so we decided to really embrace all these resources that would help me connect better with you.

We’re going to use all these new interactive tools that enable me to put up a lot of photos, video clips, enable PGA Tour news to feed right into the site, and I can include my Twitter feeds in a box on the right side of the page as well. As you’ll see, there are many areas that contain what the  web experts call “feeds,” or information coming both from me and from trusted outside sources that I personally enjoy reading. I now have the ability to easily share that information with you. What I’ve quickly realized is this site has a lot of moving parts, and that makes it really fun for site visitors who like this sort of thing. TeamUtley has been able to accomplish all that I hoped for and then some, and I’m really proud of my new presence on the Internet.

I hope you’ll drop me an e-mail at info@stanutley.com with your feedback, with suggestions for items you’d like to see me write about and with any good news stories about your adventures on the golf course. Since I love this game, and you must also have a passion for golf to have visited my web site, let’s enjoy it together right here on StanUtley.com.

Why is this wedge array important in scoring low? Well, if you have 3 wedges in your bag, you may find some wide yardage gaps that are hard to overcome to hit the perfect shot. Some better players can throttle up or throttle down on their wedges, and may be able to easily hit a range of shots +/- of 10 yards or more with little trouble. So, if your 52 degree wedge on average goes 100 yards, you may be able to use it from 90 to 110 yards.

Unfortunately, not everyone can do that. So, I encourage my students to find the comfortable mid-range of their wedges (say 100 yards for a 52-degree wedge), and consider tweaking your wedges to deliver a little less or a little more based on what you usually find left to the target.

How do you do that? As the photo above shows, you can adjust the loft angle of a 52 degree wedge to make it play at 51 degrees, or bend it the other way and make it 53 degrees. That may add or subtract 5+ yards from your average carry with the club, making it somewhat easier to fill the yardage gaps in your wedge play.

So, start with hitting about 25 good shots with one of your wedges on the practice range. Figure out the average length you hit the club based on a tally of all 25 shots. Do the same with each of your wedges and plot those on a piece of paper. Then, see if you have any glaring yardage gaps that you can cover by hitting softer or hitting a bit harder without coming out of your shoes. If you can’t, then you may want to see if you can bend the wedge by a degree one way or the other to help you feel more comfortable over each shot.

Maybe this strategy will help YOU get closer to the hole and score low!

When I started writing this book, The Art of Scoring, I realized very quickly how easy it is for my students to get so hung up on the mechanics of the swing, feet/hand positions, alignment and all the other really important things that make a difference in success or failure on the golf course, that they forget about how it all comes together.

The Art of Scoring is intended to show golfers how to understand the way their short game handicap and overall skill level should dictate course-management. By breaking down pitching, chipping, bunker play and putting into three categories, I tried to simplify the game by creating techniques for saving shots by simply thinking smarter.

I am extremely proud of the work that my co-author, Golf Digest’s Matthew Rudy and I have done on the book. It was a lot of hard work but I truly believe that the end result was worth the effort. I hope that my sincere passion for teaching others shines through in The Art of Scoring and provides a platform for taking the nightmares out of your game.