Wehman Hopke

Wehman Hopke, who played golf at Westlake High School and Furman University, shot 67 in a Web.com Tour qualifier and will play in the inaugural Savannah Open.  Click here to read the story.

Hopke turned professional after graduating from Furman and has been working on his game and playing some mini-tour events.  This will be a significant opportunity for him and we wish all the best for him.

Approximately 1200 people are volunteers for the Dell Match Play tournament.  Their contribution to the success of the event is significant because they all work anywhere from 25-50 hours prior to, during and after the tournament.  Do the math and you have a lot of hours from a small army of workers whose only compensation is a uniform, access to the event and an appreciation party.  Why do they do it?

I interviewed a few volunteers and asked about their role and their experience.  The one common thread is that they all love being here and being part of the tournament.  However, there are added reasons for each of the volunteers I spoke with.

Bruce Ezell – Coordinates the practice tee, chipping green and putting green areas.

Bruce Ezell, who is a member of Austin Country Club, coordinates the volunteers that run the practice tee, the chipping green and the putting green.  In Bruce’s words “we provide a masters level service to the players in these areas”.   There are two shifts a day for the duration of the tournament, Monday through Sunday.  Bruce coordinates schedules, make sure that the workers are trained and fills in when something special is needed.

Volunteer duties in these areas include keeping players name plates positioned behind them, providing their favorite brand of ball to practice with, setting up the ropes that control traffic in the area and coordinating with security to regulate access to these areas and whatever else is needed.

Bruce worked with Dell for a decade and has been a venture capitalist for the last ten years so organizing a group of workers is nothing new for him.  He got into the volunteer effort by accident.  He was traveling during the first year of the tournament when tickets went on sale.  They sold out before he could buy some for he and his friends.  So, he would up volunteering.  He says “I loved doing it and watching these guys practice so I’ve been doing it ever since.

Three gentlemen volunteers from Alabama, Fort Worth Texas and Denver Colorado

These three fellow, whose name I failed to record, assist Bruce in running the practice areas.  They all attended the University of Texas and became friends while in school.   They graduated, went to work but stayed in touch.  Now they live in Fort Worth, Texas;  Denver, Colorado and Alabama.  They use the tournament as an excuse to get together, watch the worlds best golfers and renew their friendship.  They said they have a blast doing the volunteer work because they are all golfers, enjoy watching the worlds best players and spending time together.

Danny Gillespie – Coordinates the Honorary Observers

Danny Gillespie, who is also a member of Austin Country Club, coordinates the honorary observers that accompany each pairing of players.  These honorary observers are allowed to walk with the group inside the ropes and watch the action first hand.

Danny escorts them to the first tee, introduces them to the players, the starter, and orients them to the do’s and dont’s of walking with the players.   He says this little scenario happens every eleven minutes as the players tee off.

The honorary observers receive a photograph of the players and he makes sure they receive those.  He echos the sentiment that he loves being involved with the tournament.

Bill Lacy, who coordinates the volunteers in the Media center has done the same for the PGA tournament at Colonial.  He said when the tour announced they would be holding the Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club, he reached out and offered to do the same in Austin.

Bill Lace Coordinates the Volunteers in the Media Center

It turns out that his daughter lives in the neighborhood and it would give him an excuse to spend time with her.  He said “I have my own B&B”.

The volunteers in the media center help make copies of the transcripts from the interviews conducted in the media center and distribute them to the sports writers, radio show hosts and broadcasters who work in the media center.  They also monitor who has access to the media dining area.

Jan Thomas – Volunteer in the Media Center

Jan and Jim Thomas, who are friends of mine, have enjoyed volunteering the past few years.  Jan has been in the media center and Jim has worked on the course in various capacities.

Ed Clements, who has been a media personality in the Austin area for years has served as the starter on the first tee since the inception of the tournament.

Ed Clements, starter on the first tee.

I didn’t ask him why he does it but anyone who is familiar with Ed knows he is community minded, likes to be where the action is and knows everybody in town.  He is a natural choice for the job.  Besides, his accent adds to the Texas flavor of the tournament.

In summary, the volunteers are absolutely essential for the success of the tournament and they seem to enjoy the experience.

Brian Harman with Tom Kite on practice tee

In a recent conversation with Tom Kite, he stressed  the importance of alignment in putting.  His contention was that many players, both amateurs and professionals,  do not line up properly when putting and as a result the stroke itself is largely a compensation for that flaw.

I asked him what percentage of PGA Tour professionals use an alignment device for putting.  He said almost all of them use some sort of aid in practicing putting, whether it be for alignment, putter path, speed of the putter, the amount of face rotation etc.

This week at the Dell Match Play I observed the practice rounds and spent time at the putting green.  And, his observation proved accurate concerning the use of putting aids. Almost all the players used one device or another to assist their practice putting.

Tees used as a gate and a way to insure the putter went up in backswing

The variety of devices span the spectrum from simple tees to the use of high tech devices.   Lets start with the use of tees.
One of the most common uses for tees in putting alignment is to use them as some sort of gate for either the putter or the ball.   In this photo, the player is using the tees as a means of insuring the stroke is on path and swinging properly.  Apparently this player uses a pendulum stroke and wants to be sure the putter is not going back low but swinging from a radial point.  That means the putter should go up in the backswing.  So the tee in the ground behind the ball provides feedback if the putter goes back too low.  The two tees used as a gate provide feedback if the path of the putter is off.

Uilhein used tees and coins in his practice putting

I also saw a lot of tees used as aiming tools.  Peter Uilhein was using a combination of tees and coins.  He had both tees in the ground and coins on the ground. I did not ask him so I don’t know the exact purpose of the coins (hard to see here). Aparently they were used as a gate in the mid point or apex of a mid-range putt to  assist with both line and speed of the putt.

Alignment board

Alignment boards were popular putting aids on the practice green Tuesday.  These assist with both alignment and ball position.  They have a variety of features.  Some have lines the player can use to insure the putter is lined up properly and aimed at the hole.  Some have mirrors so the player can see if his eyes are positioned over the ball or where ever he wants it.  The have cross lines and a resting point on the board for the ball to sit so they can check ball position.   Some of these boards have tees or other devices to check path as well.  They are portable and easily fit into a golf bag.

putting gate

In the photo above, note the smart phone on the ground next to the alignment board.  Some players have sensors on the end of their putters that have a blue tooth connection to their phone and provide an array of data on each stroke.  The data points include amount of face rotation on the backstroke vs the through stroke, length of the stroke on both sides of the ball, the pace of the stroke and much more.

There were more putting aids being used.  The point is that the worlds best players use training devices to help with their putting. Maybe more of us amateurs should try this approach.

Charlie Hoffman with alignment rods

Spectators who attended the Dell Match Play Championship during the practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday spent more time watching players on the practice range, chipping and putting areas than they did on the course because there were no matches. And as any devoted golfer knows, you can learn a lot from watching how the best players approach their craft.

Aside from the obvious benefits of watching the players swing techniques and putting strokes, it is interesting to note their use of training aids.

Lets start with those you see on the driving range.  The most obvious training device is the alignment rod.  You see a lot of those on the range.  Players use them to check the alignment of shoulders, hips and feet in relation to the target line as well as checking their ball position in the stance.  This tool is ubiquitous, inexpensive and used by almost all low handicap players, whether they are professional or amateur.

Oosthuizen with alignment rod used to assist in his takeaway move.

Alignment rods or a variation of an alignment rod are also used for various purposes related to the players swing plane, shaft angle and take away on the backswing.

In the photo to the right, Louis Ossthuizen, is using an alignment rod that is stuck into the ground at a specific angle to assist with his takeaway.  The shaft insures that he keeps the handle of the club in and the clubhead out on the backswing to help keep the club in front of him during the swing.

Tommy Fleetwood had a similar device that was a bit more sophisticated.  It consisted of a T shaped assembly of rods that were placed on the ground and used to help with alignment along with an adjustable angle with a housing to insert another rod on the swing plane.  It can be easily adjusted to accommodate the various angles created by longer clubs such as a driver or shorter clubs like the wedges.

Tommy Fleetwood with a plane rod device

Although the same thing can be accomplished by sticking an alignment rod into the ground this device would appear to be better although it might be a bit more to transport than an alignment rod.

One of the more notable devices is Trackman.  These are portable launch monitors about the size of a laptop.  They fit into a carrying case and are portable so players can bring them to the practice tee.  They are accompanied by some sort of bluetooth monitor such as a tablet, Ipod, or smart phone.

As can be seen on the monitor in the photo below, they provide the player, coach and caddy with an array of data including club head speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, amount of side spin, angle of attack and other data points.

At one time during Tuesday’s session I counted eight of these devices

Trackman launch monitor and display monitor.

on the range.  That was about half of the players at that time.   These are top end units and normally cost about $25,000.  Tour players receive a discount but they are still expensive.

Dustin Johnson has used one of these to improve his wedge play by monitoring spin rates and launch angles along with angle of attack.

For the amateur, there are less expensive devices available that provide similar data.

Recently, playing a round during a local tournament, one of the players complained about the lack of consistency and marveled at how good the PGA Tour players were and asked the question of how they were more consistent.  When one considers that most of them have and support group of a swing coach, a sports psychologist, various training aids, a caddy to keep an eye on the player, it is easy to see they have a better chance of being consistent then the local amateur.  Of course, they have a bit more at stake than the local amateur.

The putting green and training aids related to that area of the game will the subject of another posting.

I received an email from Charlie and Teri Mahar, friends of mine from Minneapolis, MN.  They were recently in Austin and played Austin Golf Club along with the TPC in San Antonio and watched the practice round on Monday at Austin Country Club.

The subject of their email was an article published by Golf Advisor.com and it asked the question “Is there a future for Austin’s oldest golf course.”

It’s a great read and ponders the fate of the original site for Austin Country Club and Lions Municipal Golf Course as well.  As the worlds best players congregate in Austin for the Dell Match Play, it is interesting to consider what has occurred in the past that allows these players to play the current Austin Country Club.  Click here to read the article.

The worlds best players are congregating at Austin Country Club for the 2018 World Golf Championship Dell Match Play event.  The practice tee, putting and chipping greens were
busy as players prepared and began their preparations for the matches that begin Wednesday.  Player pairings take place tonight on the golf channel.

Front Row – Lisa Allen, Charlie Mahar, Hunter Rodriguez, Teri Mahar
Back Row – Don Simeneaux, John Chatmas, Mikiel Featherston, Renee Harvey

Everyone enjoyed the final days of winter on what seemed like a typical Texas Spring Day.  This group enjoyed lunch on the Terrace before venturing out to the practice tee and onto the course. While most of the group is from Austin, the Mahar family is in from Minnesota.  They played the TPC course in San Antonio as well as Austin Golf Club before their outing to the Dell Match play.

As Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reid, Jason Duffner and the rest of the field hit balls on the practice tee, Austin Country Club members Michael and Richard chatted and noted the differences in the various swings, body types and commented on the beautiful weather.

The membership at Austin Country club voted to host the Dell Match Play tournament for three years and the PGA Tour has an option for a fourth year.   Members are enjoying seeing the world’s best players as compensation for the months of construction prior to and after the tournament.  The course is in excellent condition and should provide the players with significant challenges due to the Pete Dye design and the typical winds this time of year.  It will be entertaining for all to watch.

Steve Trafton, Jay Reynolds, Amy Willis

Students of the game and some of the better amateur players in the area enjoyed watching the players in the short game and putting green area.  Steve Trafton and Jay Reynolds, both former Austin City Men’s Championship winners, enjoyed the day and the company of Amy Willis, wife of Matt Wernecke, who is another of Austin’s better amateurs.

Trafton, who was out with his father,  is playing less golf and spending more time on the lake while Reynolds is nursing a sore back.  Amy says she is cooking and since Matt is the golf coach at Vandergrift,  following the golf team adventures.  They seemed to be enjoying day.

Buck Mayer, Teri Mahar, Lisa Allen, Charlie Mahar, Bob Whitlock

Local golf professional and Director of Golf Instruction at Escondido, Buck Mayer was out with his wife Tina.  Tina is the daughter of Jackson Bradley, who taught at Austin Country Club for years.  Jackson played in over two hundred PGA Tour events including 18 major championships.  He was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.  His profile is found here this website.  It’s worth reading if you have not done so.

Buck is a walking encyclopedia of golf information and always great about sharing his knowledge.  Many of the Austin area players have benefited from his knowledge, this author included.

The weather for the week looks good.  Hope you have a chance to come out and watch some of the action in person.

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Barrett Sandefur and Beth Cleckler

Barrett Sandefur’s first round 69 was good for a one stroke lead headed into the final round of the 2018 Spring Championship at Morris Williams Golf Course.  There were a number of players close behind at the beginning of the second round.  Sandefur stepped on the gas with birdies on the first and second holes.  He added two more birdies on the front nine along with one bogey to turn at three under for the round.

After pars on 10-13, he birdied the difficult 208 yard par three 14th and made eagle on the par five 17th.  His final round 66 resulted in an eight shot margin over Alex Woodward and Matt Wernecke.  Woodward and Wernecke were the only other players to finish under par for the tournament, both with 143 one under par totals.

Sandefur won the 2016 Spring Championship to go with this year’s victory so it appears he likes the course and playing golf in the late winter-early spring season.

Presenting the championship trophy to Sandefur was Beth Cleckler.  Cleckler has been the general manager at Morris Williams for the past couple of decades and will be retiring next month.  She says she has mixed emotions about the event but is looking forward to playing some golf.  Cleckler won the Austin Women’s City Championship about a dozen times so she is very capable.  Best of luck to her in her retirement.  It is well deserved.

Nathan Neal won the first flight with 78-71.  Billy Mutschler won the second flight with 86-75.  Full field scores are listed below.  Shown here are the top six players in the Championship flight.

left to right – Ben Carter, Robert Evans, Matt Wernecke, Barrett Sandefur, Josh Luongo, Gene Black

Championship Flight Scores

First Flight Scores

Second Flight Scores

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Barrett Sandefur and Beth Cleckler. 2016 Spring Championship winner.

Barrett Sandefur, winner of the 2016 Spring Championship, birdied 1,2, 8, 17 and 18 along with bogies on 7 and 14 to post a three under par 69 and take the lead after the first round of the 2018 Spring Championship.

The 69 gives him a one shot lead over Ben Carter, who had five birdies and two bogies in route to a 35-35=70 round.

Johathan Alden, the defending city champion had eight birdies, one double bogey and four bogies to post 71.  Nathan Swartz had the only even par round of 72.

2017 Men’s City Champion – Jonathan Alden

Six players, including Gene Black, Matt Wernecke, Chris Hartenstein, Robert Evans, Mike Allen and Bret Hutchens posted one over 73.

The leaders will tee off shortly after noon on Sunday.

Jay Reynolds, the 2017 champion is on the disable list, nursing a golfers back.

Beth Cleckler, who has run the show at Morris Williams for the past couple of decades will be retiring next month so this will be the last Spring Championship trophy she will be handing out.  She has done a great job and we will miss her.  Interviews are currently taking place to name a replacement.

Past Champions include the following:

1997 Steve Trafton
1998 Ed Brooks
1999 Ed Brooks
2000 Mark McEntire
2001 Michael Cooper
2002 Michael Cooper
2003 Mark Baldree
2004 Greg Martin
2005 Michael Cooper
2006 Dean Lundquist
2009 Brenden Redfern
2010 Craig Cyr
2011 Bryan Kennedy
2012 Renovation Year
2013 Paul Moore
2014 Brian Noonen
2015 Robert Evans
2016 Barrett Sandefur
2017 Jay Reynolds

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