The Kokopelli Golf Stance

The biggest difference between Tour pros and amateurs is how far the pros hit. Despite the pros' prodigious length, their most compelling advantage compared with amateurs is their prowess in getting up and down from 30 yards. The pros manage to do so 46% of the time, while 10-handicap amateurs succeed only 11% and 30-handicappers less than 3%. "The short, partial-swing wedge is the high-handicap amateur's worst shot," Pelz said. Part of the problem is a poor feel for distance due to lack of practice. Even worse is hitting the ball fat or thin. Given the delicacy of the half swing, a fat hit might advance the ball only a few feet while a scull could shoot the ball 30 yards over the green. Even once they reach the green, amateurs could face their second-worst shot: long lag putting.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203918304577241550813907764.html

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A recent article in The Republic about the early days of golf in Arizona mentioned players using gutta percha balls. What is or was gutta percha?

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/claythompson/155585

Gutta percha is a sort of natural rubber made from the coagulated sap of a certain trees that grows in Southeast Asia. 
It was introduced to the West in 1843 by a man named William Mongomerie who showed Royal Society of Arts in London how the stuff could be heated and molded.
It was a big hit. Gutta percha was found to be an excellent insulator of electrical wires. The first submarine telegraph cables were wrapped in gutta percha insulation.
It was used in dental work, jewelry making, to form splints, to build furniture and to make pistol grips. Gutta percha canes and walking sticks were very popular in the 19th century.
In 1848 a gentleman with the elegant name of Rev. Dr. Robert Adams Paterson made the first golf balls from some gutta-percha packing material.
Before gutta percha came along golf balls were made by stuffing feathers tightly into a leather wrapping that was stitched closed.
They were called “featheries” and really weren't much good, especially when they got wet.
Various types of gutta percha balls pretty much ruled golf until the late 1898 when the rubber ball was popularized. It was made by wrapping rubber thread around a solid rubber core.
The modern ball came along in 1932 after the U.S. Golf Association standardized the weight and size of golf balls.

 Reach Thompson at  clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8612. 
 

Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:33 PM 
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Topics: REPUBLIC COLUMNISTS

http://www.nationalconfidential.com/20110517/france-gets-2018-ryder-cup/

http://www.rydercup2018france.fr/index_rydercup.aspx

(google translation)

Recognized as one of the best championship courses in Europe, has seen the Albatros measure many professional and amateur champions. It sometimes harmoniously combines the air of "links" and sometimes "route-target."Obstacles to water, undulating fairways and large bunkers are coiled between undulating hills on which the high fescue roughs, the real difficulty of the course, especially when the wind is involved. The holes are francs. Traps, hazards or obstacles are never hidden. The large greens, apparently little hectic, are exciting to read and require very long putts spectacular. The first 6 holes are calling the attack. Birdie opportunities multiply by 12. But we must then defend until 18, for an especially exciting ... The Albatros is the ideal route to ensure, hole after hole, exciting duels and battles of anthology in the Ryder Cup 2018.

http://top100golfcourses.co.uk/htmlsite/productdetails.asp?id=536

A mere 20 miles to the west of Paris lies the Golf National. Here, at Guyancourt, surrounding the Chateau of Versailles – once home to Louis XIV – there’s a hint of Florida, a sprinkling of Ireland and a lot of France.

Golf National took three years to construct and in 1990 the Albatros stadium course opened for play. It was co-designed by Hubert Chesneau and von Hagge Design Associates (now known corporately as von Hagge, Smelek & Baril). The golf course was destined to become home to the French Open and also a centre for both national and international championships. It was also rumoured that a future Ryder Cup could be held here. The Open de France, which dates back to 1906, is mainland Europe’s oldest top-flight professional tournament and in 1991 the first French Open was played on the Albatros course. Argentina’s Eduardo Romero won the 1991 title and the event has remained at the National Club ever since, except for 1999 and 2001, when it was played at Golf du Medoc & Lyon, respectively.