Sit back and get ready to take off with Dynamic
Golf. Hey, welcome back, everybody. Welcome back
to Dynamic Podcast. I am your co -host, Tim McElvenna.
And with me, as always, Sean Klotz. Sean, tell
us about a little bit what we're going to be
looking at for the Masters Preview today. Well,
T -Mac, I think this is really... You know, one
of the best weeks in golf. I mean, I think it's
you've been there last year. You finally made
it. Yeah. Right. You made the trek. So I'm kind
of interested to see, you know, we talked about
it last year, but maybe some of your feedback,
like being a first time visitor, like what were
some of the holes that maybe like really impressed
you? You know, the viewing audience doesn't get
to see the front nine. too often no so um did
you have any specific holes that you really were
like surprised at how different they look in
person versus real life type of thing uh yeah
for me i mean i found that uh you know what was
it number Well, obviously when you first start
out, when you look at number one, you can't believe
how much of an uphill that is just to start off
with. And then when you look at, I think the
changes that they made to number two, I mean,
it's almost like you're hitting back there in
a phone booth back there. It's so, so far back.
And then I would say, I want to believe it's
number seven, the par three that's over there.
Number six. Yeah. I absolutely fell in love with
that hole. You know, I don't think anybody sees
it, but. For me, personally, that became my new
favorite hole by far. Yeah, it's such a cool
hole. I mean, number six, just the green itself,
right? You got the top right template. You got
a little kind of two -tier green. It's a par
three. It's kind of like 180 from the back tee
box, which is really close to five green. Yeah.
That's another thing that I don't think that
the players realize or the viewers realize. These
holes are... They're right next to each other.
There's not like cart paths, you know, where
you have to go through woods or swamps to kind
of get to them. You know, I kind of think of
it like it's such a cool walkable golf course.
I mean, it's very, very hilly. Yes. Everything's
right next to each other. You know what it kind
of reminds me of, and obviously in a much lower
level, but when we went and played Palma Silla,
you remember every time you got off the green,
the tee box was really immediately right there
next to you. Right there, yeah. It's definitely
that old time. It just brings you back to the
1920s, 1930s lore of golf where you had to carry
your own bag, you had a four caddy with you,
and when you got off the tee, the green was right
there. and vice versa. You're right there. To
me, the other one is, I mean, obviously, in that
corner, you can see all the stuff happening right
in front of you. You're playing 11. You're coming
down that fairway, and you see, you know, you
can visualize, like, what was that, three or
four years ago? Actually, five. Actually, seven
years ago, I guess, when Tiger won. You know,
when the two guys there, Finau and who was the
other gentleman who dumped it in the water? The
guy that won the British Open. Trying to think.
Remember the guy's name, you know who I'm talking
about? No, was it Lowry? No, it was Fino, and
I'll come back to you. We'll circle back on that
one for sure. But yeah, 2019, you know, when
Tiger won, absolutely. When Tiger won, yeah,
18, I think, right? 18? I can't remember either.
No, it's funny. But the point being that you
see all that happening in front of you because
you can see the guys, you know, either dumping
into the water or hitting it close and the crowd,
the roar of the crowd, you know, when they hit
a good shot on. Yeah. You're playing number 14,
which is a par four, and you see a great shot
coming on 13, the par five, and the crowd, you
know, kind of erupts because you're sitting there
on 14 tee box. Mm -hmm. And you see all that
happening right in front of you. So it's just
such a cool golf course in that respect. Well,
you've got so many views too. I mean, I don't
think that the audience has no idea about that,
obviously, but you, you, you have so many little,
you're on little Hills and you've got little
views to other parts of the course. You're looking
through these pines. I mean, it's, it's like
being in a fairy land, to be honest with you.
It's amazing. The little views and the sounds,
I don't think people really realize the sounds
that echo, you know, and I was there for the
practice round. And I remember I was out in the
parking lot and. I think somebody made something
or something like that. And you just heard this,
this billowing sound slowly start to build like
a jet engine and it just crescendoed. And you're
like, Holy cow. And you really do have the hair
on your back of your neck stand up because it's
a sound that for your first time person, you've
never heard something like that, especially on
a golf course for God's sakes. Right. Right.
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And were you there on a
tournament day or were you there on a practice
day? I was there on a practice practice day.
So I couldn't even imagine what it was like for
like a tournament. You know, when Tiger, you
know, made that amazing putt on 17, I can only
in the back of my mind, try to, you know, get
a glimpse of what that sound was like. And I'm
sure it was just all inspiring. So I've got to
correct myself. I'm making sure we autocorrect
while we're doing this. So 2019, you are correct,
with Tiger winning. And Francisco Molinari was
the guy I was thinking of because they were all
paired up. Tiger, Tony Finau, and Molinari were
all paired up in that same group. And that's
where Tiger hits it on the green on 12, and then
both those guys dump it in the water, and that
was essentially the end of there. Tournament.
Their tournament, you know, he goes on and he
birdies 15. And it's just, they've done, you
know, over the years, they've changed the way
the course looks because they did tiger proof
it. He was negative 13 in that year. And I believe,
I'm going to look that up while we're talking
here too, I think it was negative 18 in the 1997
year. Holy cow. Yeah. That's when the, like the,
you know, the kind of powers that be at Augusta
kind of got a little, Yeah, they were, they were,
they were, I think Augusta got a little embarrassed
by that. Uh, you know, um, you know, he, he definitely
brought in a whole new generation of golf. And
I think Augusta was definitely not prepared for
that. And I think the next year after that, they,
I think they kind of swung a little too hard.
If you ask me, I think they, they, they, they
try to make it too hard. And I just think. not
that it tiger it tiger proof tiger to be honest
with you but i think it took half the field that
had a chance and threw them out for the next
10 years or so if you know what i mean so if
i read you from 1997 right there's a negative
six and negative five you know minus four minus
three minus three minus two minus two minus two
minus two it was like six guys at minus two it's
open now yeah so that that's that's the rest
of the field and that was That was second place
was Tom Kite, which is interesting because he's
one of the shorter hitters, as you kind of remember,
minus six. And then you had this guy named Tiger
Woods at minus 18. You know, 12 shots in the
front. And he did that at the U .S. Open, too,
when he played Pebble Beach, and he won by 15
shots or whatever. It's just playing a different
golf course, right, really. You see Tom Kite
shoot 69, 66, or 70 the last three rounds, and
he's doing pretty good, except Tiger shoots 68,
65, 69. And to your point, it's fun to see some
birdies. It's fun to see the – like you talked
about the sounds of the back nine there. Those
roars at 16 when he chips in and the putt, even
the putt, I mean, I'm going back some before
you were born, but the putt that Nicholas made
on 17 where you, you know, where you kind of
see him in 1986, like that's such a signature
moment for that, that golf tournament. Yeah.
Yeah. So it's, it's, it's just such a great facility.
Obviously, you know, you kind of always talk
about that if you ever can get there. More of
a museum than it is a golf course. It's so tricky
in person. They were talking about that today.
Like, again, same thing. 15 handicap guy. What
does he shoot at Augusta right now? They don't
break 100. It's not even close. Oh, we're probably
not. I guarantee you we're not breaking 100 out
there. I'm shooting 97. I'm posting 97. I'm posting
97. Um, yeah, I'm sure the, you know, when you
look at those greens are quick, um, you know,
the complex is always running fast out there.
Um, but. You know, one thing you will always
see at Augusta is it always looks like it's just
perfect. And, and, and you go there and you,
and you have a responsibility, you feel a responsibility
to keep it as perfect as you can. If you know
what I mean, it's like being at a guest house
and you're like, I don't want to mess anything
up because there's nothing out of place. Even
when you look at the drain cauldron, it's just
perfect, dude. I mean, you're looking at something,
it's shiny, it's beautiful. And you're like,
God, they put even the time into, to that little.
detail which is amazing yeah now they've got
the uh they've got the guy the superintendent's
crew out there with the scissors around the bunkers
right because they're that's how they're kind
of manicuring the bunker grass which is amazing
just the edges everything about it like you said
i was there but whatever it was 10 years ago
Steve Bozeman our buddy and it was walking around
with me and we got you're on hole number three
four so three is the par four it's kind of like
a shorter hole sometimes it's a birdie opportunity
for these guys it's really strategic hole you'll
see some guys hit iron off the tee versus some
guys will kind of hit the three wood maybe driver
because it's all about like the second shot going
into the hole yeah and then that green is such
a slopey front to back you know you got to be
on the you know short of it ideally um short
of the hole um and then four is a par three that
can play up to 230 as far as distance over a
bunker and the green again kind of get that little
like a peanut shape you know to the right basically
um so we're on we're kind of on three green we're
just kind of watching what they're doing end
of the day and you see these you know you see
these john deere mowers tractors coming out It
might have been Toro, actually. I think they're
a Toro facility. For some reason, that sticks
in my head. But you see them coming out of the,
you know, whatever, out of the woods, must be
kind of near the maintenance department, I guess.
And you see them in line, like they're staggered,
right, like three or four of them, and they're
just going down number three fairway, and they're
going to cut the fairway in a staggered motion
just to create that cut, the way that the grass
is manicured. It's just... And Steve went down
to like run after them. He got kind of, you know,
admonished by one of the one of the volunteers.
Hey, there's no running here at Augusta. And
he's like, oh, I know. I'm sorry. I just want
to take a picture. And it's just such a it's
such a unique facility. You're right. Absolutely.
I mean, you know, it's it's world it's first
class, world class all the way around, you know,
even even down to like. The restrooms, they have
you in, they have you out. The food is, I mean,
I think I got a sandwich, a drink, a souvenir
cup, some kind of like cozy thing. And one other
little thing, and I think it came up to $10.
Yeah. And I'm like, where is this out in the
world? I wish these prices were out in the world,
but yeah, it's, it's amazing. It's out. And then
the, you know, the driving range itself is, is
first class. You could sit there all day and
watch those guys and just hitting balls on the
range on that beautiful driving range as it is.
And that's, that's a newer range too. Meaning
like when I first got there in 03, 04, that wasn't
the range. The range was in a different area.
You kind of. Came in from Washington Street.
He didn't come down from Beckman's Road. So that's
a pretty new facility. Probably about 10 to 12
years, I'd say, maybe. It's 2025. So yeah, probably
around 2010, I think they put that in and really
changed even the entrance to how you walk in.
I still love, even again, for some of the listeners
who maybe have gotten there, when you walk, you
know, you kind of walk in through the entry gate
and then you kind of get into the... clubhouse
is sort of on the left and the pro shop is sort
of on the right where you buy all your product
but then you kind of come up to that little rise
and then you see number one and like you said
you see kind of one nine uh you see everything
kind of going down towards almost like 16 15
that area but it's you're at the top of the hill
yep and uh you see i guess you see one two maybe
eight might be the next hole you see that's a
par five uh seven so it's just kind of all going
down but i just put my head in that that alistair
mckenzie bobby jones world of 1934 was the first
time that they played the tournament so you know
whatever that is early 30s when they're kind
of building this course and you know just the
vision just the vision and the ability to see
that yeah you know and and it's it's amazing
because i think you know both Bobby Jones and
Alistair McKenzie, both when they got on the
property, I, I think they did some moving around,
but I really think that it's really, as Bobby
Jones said, that that place was set there divine
by God to have a golf course there. I mean, it
really is. It really does. When you look at the
holes, I mean, it, you know, I'm sure they did
some jostling and moving around, but I mean,
it really does set up pretty well for a, a golf
course. Absolutely. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah, and
another signature of the course, and it's funny,
some of these guys, they kind of outdrive this
part of the characteristic of the golf course
now, but you do see that on certain holes, 7
and 14. Those are two par 4s, not really kind
of talked about too much. 17 actually has some
of this component, too. Those are all, they're
three par 4s. They actually all face the same
way. I mean, they're all going from one side
of the course to the other. But all of the holes
are slight little dogleg lefts, and the fairways
all have slight to the right components to them.
So it works against the way that you're trying
to shape the shot. And like I said, now these
guys just kind of bomb it over the trees and
pass as an Eisenhower tree out there, and that's
not even considered anymore type of thing. But,
you know, and then all three of those greens,
7, 14, and 17, they're all different green complexes.
And, again, 7 is one of the hardest, like, stroke
over average holes that you'll see out there
just because the green is so kind of tricky.
You can, you know, depending on the pin position
where they put it, you can kind of get the one
on, I think, Saturday where it does kind of funnel
down to the right and you can kind of hit it
off the backboard. I guess the best way to say
it, T -Mac, is you don't aim at the hole very
often out there. You really aim at different
parts of the green or different parts of the
fairway to make the ball end up going wherever
you want it to be. Well, I think you bring up
a great point is that, you know, the imagination
that Bobby Jones wanted to bring to the game.
And that was one of them is that if you want
to get it close to the hole, you've got to, you
know, it's almost like playing snooker. I've
got to send it up against that backboard over
there and bring it down. Um, you know, now with
the new wedges, kind of the guys kind of take
that out a little bit, but you really kind of
had to, you know, use angles and, and, and imagination
to get the ball to really where you want it to.
And even when you're out there in the fairway,
you've got to think about, you know, not just
your distance, but what are, what's my feet going
to be like, you know, am I going to be uphill
downhill? You know, how does that go into the
green? And there's so much thinking that you
have to do. Um, just with, with your setup alone
in, in the angles, um, that, that you, you really,
I'm sure it's just an absolute mind test, you
know, even from hole to hole. Yeah, it's, uh,
it, it is, it's, it's a great, you know, it's,
it's. it's a start. It's funny again, being up
here and now for the fall winter in Boston and
kind of the whole like anticipation of spring
people getting excited. We've had two good days
in the past two weeks. The other 12 days are
like today, which it's 38 degrees and it's sunny,
but we wouldn't be playing cause it's too windy.
But you know, last Friday was 67 and we played,
but it is that passage of, of spring and whatever
you want to call it. It's the first tournament's
first major. Yeah. You know, it's a different
feel than when you're in Florida because it's
so nice all the time, realistically, down there.
So you do kind of get a different feel being
up here with the excitement, the anticipation
of the tournament coming up. Yeah. It's almost
like hopeful, we'll call it. So, you know, that's
if you think you can play it. Well, it definitely
has the start of that new year for you guys,
right? I mean, you know, everything's cranking
on up. The grass is green. The birds are singing.
It's been cold and gray long enough. And now
we're going to get to watch Augusta. So, yeah,
I get that. That's for sure. Yeah. Did you happen
to go out on the whole number five out there
at Augusta? I was on all of them. I tracked all
of them. Yes, sir. So I was on number five for
sure. Yes. I always get that. long par 4. They
backed that thing up a little bit since Tiger
won it. It's got two massive bunkers left. There's
another one. The hole works left and you've got
to make sure you hit it right of these bunkers.
That green is arguably the most diabolical kind
of green that's out there. It just doesn't get
viewed again enough because you've got to see
the early golf channel. you know, coverage of
it to kind of see what it's doing. But it's,
it's so tricky, so tricky. And you're hitting,
I mean, me and you were hitting hybrids into
it, maybe seven woods for me. And these guys
are hitting still, they're hitting six irons
and seven irons, which means it's still a 190
to 200 yard shot. And it's, it's, there's just
some holes out there that you just, you make
par and you walk away because you know that you
got some par fives coming up. You know, you got
a couple, maybe par threes that you can kind
of get to. get close to but a lot of those par
fours are really just let me let me make my four
number one number one let me make my four let
me start well yes yes just hold on to the par
fours if you can they really are tough and you
know true coming back to the bunker you could
actually you could probably I would be able to
stand in that bunker and probably raise my club
up and it would probably just get to the top
of the ridge. You would probably, you know, you'd
stand up and more than half of your club would
be up over that thing. But I mean, you could
really, you could hide a VW bug in one of those
things if you wanted. It really is deep. I mean,
if you got in one of those, you're pitching out
sideways. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. And that's those
couple of ferry bunkers or greenside bunkers
up on five that are. The greenside bunker on
four looks challenging. There's just so much
good character to it. It is because we know it.
It's because the U .S. Open travels every year,
so you don't pay attention. You don't know the
courses as much as the British Open. Yeah, we
all kind of know St. Andrews, and that's probably
it on that rotation. That's about it. Yeah, PGA
Championship, different year. So this is the
one constant in sort of the calendar year, the
beginning of the golf season. The hope and the
excitement, all that stuff. So, yeah, it's a
really, really pretty exciting time. Do you have
any picks? Do you have anybody that you're kind
of tracking? Yeah, so my picks for this year,
I'm going with Scotty Scheffler. He's trending
in the right direction. I think he's going to
get over this hand thing. My second pick would
definitely be Rory. He is coming off a very strong
win with the players. I think he's a good pick
right there. And I would say my dark horse would
be Terrell Hatton. okay yeah he's always strong
he's very like competitively strong mental guy
yeah he's a fiery kind of guy he reminds me of
myself out there on the course you know always
mumbling and babbling to himself about you know
things that really shouldn't be mattering but
you know there i am that's good that's it how
about yourself I'm probably going to go with,
I think Morikawa's got a good chance. I think
he's one of the best ball strikers. Yeah, he's,
I guess, you know, T. Green currently, I think
he's the leader on tour, which is still important
out there. He's not as long as some of the other
guys, but of course. you know, you can, you don't,
you, you length is good, but kind of preciseness
is more important. Correct. Um, so that's, that's
always a good one. I like the Ludwig Aberg. Yes.
Yeah. Uh, we just, he's just got such a solid
golf swing. He's, you know, had a win earlier
this year. And so kind of those two, and then,
you know, we'll see what Bryson does. I think
Bryson's, it's just funny that you don't pay
attention to the live tour guys. Right. Cause
we don't see them. So you kind of forget about
Kepka Bryson. And yeah, it's just, I mean, to
be honest with you now that they're, they're
charging 60 bucks to watch it. And I just, I
just wait for the YouTube video to watch it and
I watch it that way, but you're right. It's sad
because you've got all these players that you
want to see and they just come to, you get to
see them only in the, in the four majors nowadays.
So it's tough to really say, Hey, how is Bryson
in shape? But I think he's coming around pretty
good. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. You've been able
to get out and play at all. You got anything
you're working on in your golf swing right now?
Got out and played yesterday, working on the
short game, working on chipping. I've been listening
to a gentleman by the name of Dan Graves. He's
a short game guy. If you guys happen to check
him out, but I've been using his technique for
chipping and pitching. Um, and really, really
seeing some really good results. So if you guys
have a chance, I think he's, uh, he's got a book
out called the three releases, uh, of the wedge.
Uh, so if you guys get a chance, listen to him,
I think, and he's also got some YouTube videos,
which are absolutely amazing. Uh, so that's what
I'm really working on. Everything else is kind
of coming in place, but you gotta have a decent
short game to score. How about yourself? What
you working on big guy? Yeah, we went and hit
some balls on Monday and that. you know, 43 degree
weather with the heater behind us type of stuff.
And same, same story. We're just going to keep,
keep the boat, keep the movement going. But,
uh, we're filming each other. And I got Scott
out there with me and, you know, just watching
him repeat his golf swing and hitting, you know,
he's like, I'm going to aim at that pole out
there with the driver. And he hits the pole,
you know, four out of five times, you know, it's
two 60. It's not too 80. Like it used to be,
but we're looking at. golf swing video and i'm
like i hit seven irons and i'm hitting seven
irons to the one 165 kind of 160 165 marker and
they're good they're you know good little consistent
pattern but the downswing i'm not making a good
follow through my right foot's not off the ground
it's like all the things i teach and talk about
like hey get get shifted get your transfer yeah
but then at some point the ball is going 160
165 to the target you're trying to hit out you're
like Yeah, don't look a gift horse in the mouth,
right? I mean, there's more than one way to skin
a cat. We are who we are. We don't get a chance
to play as much or hit balls as much as we would
like to. So for us, or at least for me right
now, and for you with your little ones, you know,
it's like, hey, let me try to get out there and
break 80, feel good about it, you know, make
a couple putts, maybe get under 77. And right
now that's who we are. So keep working at it
always. But the last. Last stat I'll give you.
I heard this one, Scott, actually. We were talking
about this one this morning. The number of range
balls that Bryson hit yesterday. That was kind
of the stat. And then we know who the second
guy is, too. So kind of give me what your ballpark
is you think that Bryson went out there and hit
range balls with yesterday. I'm going to say
he hit 22 shots. 22 shots? 22 shots. He hit 493
range balls yesterday. Holy cow. Okay. I was
way off. I thought he was just like working on
a few things. Okay. No. 493. Holy cow. I mean,
I'd be dead. Yeah. Max Homo was second. He was
at like 290, which is kind of the point is a
little bit like, you know, these guys work at
it, T -Mac. We talk about it almost every podcast.
Like you can't just expect to think about it
and be good. they are top of their level best
players in the world. And they're hitting two
to three to 400 golf shots in a practice session
two days before the event. So, wow. That's, that's
a, that's a lot of work that they're putting
in before the tournament and, and, you know,
just the routine. I mean, you just, the dedication,
I mean, you gotta be dedicated for. God, that's
gotta be a two, three hour process. I would think
so. Absolutely. You know, hitting balls, analyzing,
thinking, talking, you know, wow. That's the
quad next to you. Track man, something next to
you that you're looking at each number and trying
to improve on it. No, it's, it's, and it's that
1 % better that they talk about. Just get 1 %
better. And that's, that's amazing. So, yeah.
So last thing before we break, what would be
the tip of the day for some of our students?
What would be a tip of the day that you would
say? I'm a big fan. I'm going to say for this
one, I'm going to say I keep seeing in my in
my students that we work with. You got to keep
your arms extended a long way on both sides of
the swing. I think that people really kind of
get used to get at that habit at the bottom of
the swing of the impact there. They're trying
to. you know you always hear kind of release
the face or make the club face close but you
do that you do that with your body and your arms
are really they're set up at the beginning for
a reason where they're extended away from your
body and You make your rotation with your stomach
turns to the right, your arms are staying in
that same triangular fashion. You don't want
your right elbow to come close to your body in
your backswing, yet you want it to come close
to your body on your downswing. But you've got
to get – and watch these guys. Watch these guys
hit driver this week. They are not – there's
just so much width in their backswings. follow
-throughs are always wide and long and finishing
towards the target type of stuff and the hinge
and the whole you know the hinge and kind of
the fold of the hands on both sides it happens
later it happens later than you think and i think
that's a good one for people to kind of if you
want some more length in your in your distances
then you need to keep the club head essentially
further away from the center part of your body
yeah for a longer time. Absolutely. Well put
right there. And, and something I have always
taken away from, you know, watching you do lessons,
you've always reiterated the point to your, to
your students to maintain their structure out
in front of them. So I've always taken that to
heart and that, that really does matter. You
know, you need to keep that width as you're talking
about throughout your swing. Yeah. What's your,
what's your short game. So give us a little insight
into the graves thing. Like what's, what's something
you're working on with the short game. type of
thing right now? Uh, the big thing I'm working
on the short game is that I've really, the big
improvement I have taken is taking my grip from
being a little too strong and really it really
enables me to get the toe up a little bit and
to be able to expose more of the bounce to get
under it. Um, where I start to get too much of
a strong grip, I start to get a little bit too
much of a wrist hinge, and then I'm leading with
the leading edge too much. Uh, and that's gouging
the thing. So, and that, that, you know, you'd
say, Oh, that's kind of an easy change, but something
I've done for 40 years now, you know, you got
to kind of think about those things. So that's
what I'm working on right now. Love it. Love
it. The point is always working on something,
both of us. And you guys do that out there too.
And enjoy watching this amazing event that happens
every year. And we'll catch up next week. All
right.