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By
Kevin Weeks, PGA Professional
09.10.2007
10:25 am (ET)
Two things stand out when you look back at this past week's BMW Championship here at Cog Hill. One, if you're going to play this course well, you have to control your ball in the wind. They don't call Chicago the Windy City for nothing. Secondly, if Tiger Woods is going to play the final round taking only 24 putts, you're not going to beat him.
I can't help you much with beating Tiger (who can?), but when you tee it up under breezy conditions, I can offer a few pointers. When playing in the wind you have to figure out 3 things what direction is the wind coming from and how strong is it? Once you have calculated the strength, and direction of the wind you need to asses the situation how much fairway or green is there to work with and where is the trouble. Some simple steps to follow that will help you hit your golf ball lower and more solid are: - Play the ball back in your stance
- Select more club to lower the trajectory
- At the top of your backswing keep a little more weight on your front side
- Swing easy!
Swinging harder is the number one mistake I see most less experienced wind players doing. The harder you swing the more backspin you create causing two things to happen: 1) the ball goes higher into the wind and 2) spinning more causing it to ballon. This creates a shot that is going to fly shorter and spin more when and if it hits the green. In a cross wind, use the wind to your advantage. If you want your golf ball to roll out allow the ball to ride the wind, if you need the ball to stop turn the golf ball into the wind. Once again, remember that the higher you hit the ball the more the wind will affect your shot.
If you get fooled by the wind, don't get upset or mad. It happens to the best players occasionally. Steve Stricker made a double-bogey six on the fourth hole during Fridays' round. He and his caddy thought it was coming out of the Southwest, or left to right, when in actuality it was from the west, or right to left. Steve hit the ball down the left side of the fairway thinking the wind would blow his ball into the fairway but wound up being blown in the opposite direction in the deep rough for a double bogey. That double turned a 64 into a 66 -- not a bad score, but when you are chasing 10 million dollars with a Tiger on your tail every shot counts.  Kevin Weeks is Director of Instruction at Cog Hill Golf & CC in Lemont, IL. Kevin was the 2005 Illinois Section Teacher of the Year and is the number 2 ranked instructor in the State of Illinois by Golf Digest Magazine. Kevin's teaches all areas of the game, but specializes in the short game. Kevin is the inventor of The Dynamic Impact Indicator, a system that uses laser technology to pinpoint the exact aim of the putter at address and impact. Over 35 PGA Tour Players visited the Putting Lab or work with Kevin at tour sites. Kevin also has a passion for developing complete junior golfers. In the past 4 years 42 students have qualified for the Illinois State High School Championships with 12 students finishing in the top 20 including the 2002 state champion. He can be reached at Coghillpro@aol.com or through his website www.Kevinweeks.com.
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