Let’s face it, golf can be a challenging game, where birdie holes can easily transform into double bogeys if things happen to go south with your game.
 
While golfers of all abilities can experience great rounds, every once in a while you’re sure to have one of those days when the bounces don’t to go your way and you’d rather not hold onto your scorecard. 

We surveyed a few SoCal teaching pros for some helpful hints on how to bounce back from a bad round…

Classic Club in Palm Desert is upping its game this fall with a full slate of new golf instruction programs.

Developed by PGA teaching professional David Curtis, the programs (listed at end of post) kicked off in November and include golf schools, clinics, course management instruction and private lessons.

Curtis, who began working at Classic Club in March, is originally from Beaumont and has lived in the Coachella Valley since 2001. He’s an accomplished player who has won multiple Desert Chapter PGA section tournaments as well as the 2016 PGA Desert Chapter Player of the Year award.
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He also led his college team to a California State Championship in 2004, and has taught with some of the finest golf instructors in the country throughout his career. We spoke to him about the new programs and his passion for the game.

It's often said that practice makes perfect. But that's not always necessarily the case. As the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi put it: "Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."

With that in mind, we reached out to Wade Wilson, a PGA professional at El Niguel Country Club in south Orange County, for his thoughts on what it means to practice perfectly. ​

“When I talk to golfers, they often say they are going to practice on the range or they are going to work on their putting,” he told us. “But the first question I ask them is, ‘What are you going to go practice?’ or ‘What part of your game are you going to go work on?’ Their responses are often quite revealing.”

When it comes to extricating your golf ball from a greenside bunker, Southern California PGA Teacher of the Year and Director of Instruction at Journey at Pechanga Randy Chang suggests it’s a lot easier than most amateurs think.

“The dreaded bunker shot. For most of you out there, this is the hardest shot in the game. For most professionals, this is the easiest,” Chang says. “Here’s why: It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to get the golf ball out of the bunker. It’s not hard at all.”

​Check out the video below to see how simple it really is…

It’s no secret that better performance on the greens leads to lower numbers on the scorecard. And when it comes to putting on speedy surfaces like the ones we’ll see this week at Augusta National, it’s good to have a few tricks up your sleeve that will help you get the ball in the hole quicker. 

“Tighter, firmer turf offers less resistance to the golf ball, allowing gravity to pull the ball further down a slope,” said former tour pro and Rolling Hills Country Club PGA Lead Golf Instructor David Hobby. “One of my favorite techniques for reading the green is picturing the sprinklers running and visualizing the direction the water would flow.”

Here are 3 other tips to help sink more putts on the speedy greens:

The teaching professionals at Indian Wells Golf Resort are gearing up for a holiday season filled with festive activities for junior golfers of all abilities.

Led by PGA Lead Teaching Professional Eric Solander, the upcoming camps and classes will focus on the fundamentals and how to take what is learned on the practice tee out to the golf course.

​Here's a look at what's upcoming…

Halloween is right around the corner and if you’re a passionate golfer you may be thinking less about ghouls and goblins than something that truly terrifies you: The Most Scary Shots in the Game. 

Let’s face it, there are certain shots that just seem to inspire universal dread among all golfers – having to hit the ball over water that is all carry with little margin for error, the 5-foot knee-knocker to save par, the buried lie in a greenside bunker, a slick downhill greenside chip, and the 80-yard bunker shot. 

But fear not! With the right technique, a proper mindset and a little practice, you can learn to relax over these shots knowing that you’ve conquered your anxieties.

​We spoke with some pros from around the region to see if we could take some of the trepidation out of the scariest shots in golf. Here is what we learned…

We all know that good golf begins with a good grip. Placing your hands on the club in the proper manner is where the foundation of a solid golf swing starts. 

But even more important than proper placement is proper pressure. As Southern California PGA Teacher of the Year and Director of Instruction at Journey at Pechanga Randy Chang puts it, “One of the most important tips in golf is to maintain or have a sense of maintaining consistent grip pressure from start to finish.”

​Check out the video below from Randy to see how a tube of toothpaste can help you accomplish this objective…

Ask Randy Chang about his teaching style and he'll sum it up in one word: SURF.

The acronym stands for simple, understandable, retention and fun, and it's a formula that has worked well for the Director of Instruction at Journey at Pechanga in Temecula and the founder of Randy Chang Golf Schools.

Chang was named the Southern California PGA Teacher of the Year for a second time in August, which is a credit to his teaching abilities and his easy-going style. 

“The atmosphere is laid-back and relaxed,” Chang explained, "but the program and process are regimented and seriously effective.”

​Chang’s programs, such as Pechanga’s Tiny Tees lessons, Journey Golf Academy and Golf for Girls seasonal clinics, go hand-in-hand with SCPGA’s mission of growing the game. He is dedicated to early golf education and believes that encouraging youth’s positive habits by way of golf sets a precedent for a healthy lifestyle in the future.