A very fun and interesting golf event format is the "Vintage" tournament.  This format can be simply for a foursome or a whole tournament.

In the Vintage golf format, you pick a date on the calendar or perhaps an equipment technology level with which to base the tournament's gear upon.  For instance, say 1970 is the date.  The tournament is played as a regular tournament, except no piece of golf equipment (irons, woods, putter, golf ball) manufactured after 1970 may be used.  Typical gear selections may include persimmon woods, vintage blade irons, balata golf balls and perhaps Bull's Eye putters.

Go back even farther in time to hickory shafts and imagine what score you might shoot.

Playing this format can give a better understanding of what golf was like before all of the massive technological advances of the past 20 years in club and ball manufacturing, launch monitors etc.  The Vintage tournament format can make all those wins by golf greats like Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and Bobby Jones more meaningful.

The Zurich Classic is this week's PGA Tour stop.  The players on tour really enjoy this stop for the atmosphere of New Orleans, the food, the drinks, etc.  They even play a little golf.

This week's tournament has some great players in the field and some excellent groupings for the Thursday and Friday rounds.

Perhaps the best group to watch, in this lowly frogs humble opinion, is the 1:30pm tee time today: Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and K.J. Choi.  Luke Donald can still move up in the world rankings from his current #3 this week with a good showing.

An interesting grouping puts Bubba Watson, Steve Stricker and Ben Crane together.  Bubba is not a slow player and Ben Crane is.  What will the dynamic be there between those two?

Two of the brightest younger stars on tour, Brandt Snedeker and Nick Watney will be playing with long time vet David Toms.

Early tee times include a great grouping of Vijay Singh with two younger stars, Justin Rose and Camilo Villegas.

The Course

The host course this week is the TPC of Lousiana.  This TPC is yet another Pete Dye course with a par of 72 and measuring out at 7,341 yards.  The course has actually been shortened by about 200 yards since 2007, and a few modifications made since being damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The difficultly level of the course is "middle of the road" for the tour, as it sits exactly at position 26 out of 52 on tour.

Sure, if you are in Monterey California you'll want to golf at Pebble Beach.  But Pebble is a $1000 prospect.  Yes a round there is "only" $500 or so, but to even get a tee time you must stay on property, which will cost another $500.

Down the Carmel Valley Road a few minutes from Pebble is a very fun, and considerably less expensive course called Carmel Valley Ranch.  CVR is a very entertaining track with a great variance in challenges and scenery.

Location

Carmel Valley Ranch is just a few minutes from the beach and the great town of Monterey, California.  But it is far enough away from the traffic and crowds of Monterey to feel secluded, private and quiet.  The course is set on a mountain side with spectacular views.  Nearby one can find numerous wineries, bed and breakfasts and even high end resort/spa facilities.

Design

Carmel Valley Ranch was designed by one of modern golf's most famous architects, Pete Dye.  Pete Dye is famous for many courses, including the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.  Sawgrass is the home of the PGA Tour and The Players Championship.  Other Dye courses include Crooked Stick (site of John Daly's PGA Championship win in 1991), PGA West, Kiawah Island Ocean Course and Harbour Town (site of last week's PGA tournament, the Heritage).

Terrain

CVR's terrain varies from a flat parkland set of holes near the clubhouse, to holes which ascend and descend a steep mountainside.  Most holes are lined by mature trees and nice, natural mounding.

Many holes at CVR feature massive elevation changes.  The hole below is a prime example.  The ball seems to be in the air for a couple of hours before it hits the fairway.  It is challenging and fun to pick the proper clubs for both the downhill and uphill shots.

Stats

The course has recently been restored to the original par 70 (35 front, 35 back) layout by Pete Dye.  The length from the longest tees is 6,234 yards with a rating of 70.5 and slope of 132.

Facilities

Along with the golf course are many other terrific amenities at the Ranch.  Before or after golf one can practice on the driving range, putt on the practice green, play tennis, enjoy a spa treatment, work out, enjoy fine dining or relax in one of the many suites.

Contact

Carmel Valley Ranch
One Old Ranch Rd
Carmel, CA 93923-8551
831-625-9500

http://www.carmelvalleyranch.com

There are two primary methods regarding the putting stroke and the line the putter travels on.  The first is the "straight back, straight through" method.  The 2nd is called the "swinging gate."

Straight back, straight through drill

Today we are covering an easy drill which will help if you are trying to achieve a straight back and straight through putting stroke.

Grab two pieces of wood, two large books, or two of anything you can lay down on the ground at the heel and toe of your putter.  Two 2x4's work great.

Lay the pieces of wood (or whatever you are using) down parallel, just an inch or two wider than the width of the putter head.  Practice your putting stroke, trying not to allow the putter to make contact with the rails.

The lower your degree of skill, the wider you can start with the rails, putting them closer to the putter head's width as you fine tune your stroke.

This drill will help you get the feel of the straight back and straight through putting stroke and hopefully help you get putts rolling on the intended target line better than before.

Did you catch yesterday's final round of the Heritage at Harbor Town?  What a great day of golf entertainment to watch over Easter dinner.  Any of a handful of players had the chance to win the tournament, from Jim Furyk to Ricky Barnes to the guy with perhaps the craziest swing on tour, Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey.

Jim Furyk was in the hunt, but faded by going +6 for his last 12 holes.  Furyk is not playing as well as his FedEx Cup winning season last year.  Perhaps he's still counting the $10 million he won and not practicing as much.

Ricky Barnes had an excellent showing this week, continuing on with a nice season so far.  He had a chance to win midway through the round.  A nice T4 finish.

Tommy Gainey's swing isn't one you'd want to model yours around.  It is very fast, odd, flippy, out of plane.  But he manages it well and notched a solo 3rd place finish.

Luke Donald was in prime position to take the #1 position in the world golf rankings with a win.  He managed a great up and down on the final hole from the sand to enter a playoff with Brandt Snedeker, who didn't look to be a factor at the beginning of the day.  Then Snedeker blistered the course with 64, including a birdie on #18.  He had to wait in the clubhouse for over 1.5 hours to find out if his score of -12 would hold up for a win or playoff.  Playoff.

Donald and Snedeker played #18 for the first hole of the playoff and both made birdie.  The next hole was the tough par-3 17th.  Despite missing the green, both players made par.  So after two playoff holes, there were four 3's on the card.

In the final playoff hole, the 18th again, Donald's 8-iron came up short and plugged in the same bunker he'd found on his 72 hole.  This time though, he failed to get up and down for par.  Snedeker's par gave him the 2nd victory of his professional career, and that trademark plaid jacket.

Sure chasing a little white ball which is less than two inches wide, across 150 plus acres of land is fun.  Figuring out how to hit that little white ball straight is fun too.  But the social aspects of golf are wonderful.  The friends and relationships one can build while playing this game and chasing that little white ball can last a lifetime.

Join A Golf League

Other than just meeting people on the course and on the practice range, a great way to enjoy the game and make new friends is by joining a golf league.  Nearly every public course has some sort of a league.  There are men's, women's and coed leagues everywhere.

Find a course you like and inquire about leagues or associations.  Most put on weekly tournaments during the on-season of the course, and typically have social events and activities which add to the fun.

In addition to meeting new people, the experience of weekly or regular tournaments and competition can be great for improving your game, your scores and your enjoyment.

This week the PGA Tour is playing The Heritage tournament.  Some of the bigs have had a chance to rest following the Masters two weeks ago and are resuming their tour schedule.

Players

With two wins under his belt already this season, FedEx Cup and tour money list leader Mark Wilson is in the field and will be trying to extend his lead.

World #3 Luke Donald is 7th in FedEx Cup points and 5th on the tour money list and will also be in the field this week.

Top 20 players in The Heritage this week: Luke Donald (3), Graeme McDowell (5), Matt Kuchar (10), Jim Furyk (13), Ernie Els (15), Ian Poulter (16), Francesco Molinari (19).

World #5 Graeme McDowell hasn't been playing like world #5 though.  He has been missing cuts of late and will be looking to simply make it to the weekend for a change.

Following last week's win Brendan Steele isn't taking a break.  Steele won the Valero Texas Open for his first tour victory.

Davis Love III is in the field and looking to notch is sixth victory at The Heritage.

The Course

The well known Harbour Town Golf Links is the host venue for The Heritage.  Harbour town was designed by famous course designer Pete Dye with some input from Jack Nicklaus.  The course is one of the highest ranked courses in South Carolina and home to the oldest golf club in the state, dating back to 1786.

Harbour Town's signature image is of the red and white light house which can be seen from most of the holes on the course.

Harbour Town requires solid ball striking and accuracy off the tee.   The course isn't a "bomb first and ask questions later" type of track.  Players must manage their shot selections and execute them precisely to score well.   There are many risk/reward scenarios on the course.  Hazards of all kinds penalized errant shots.

TV Coverage

Thursday 4/21 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Friday 4/22 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 4/23 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 4/23 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET CBS
Sunday 4/24 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET GOLF
Sunday 4/24 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET CBS

Wow.  Italian golfer Matteo Manassero just won the European Tour's Malaysian Open this past weekend, beating out a field which included the likes of Rory McIlroy and 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel.

That feat is great for any golfer, but when you consider that this kid was 17 years old when he notched that victory it is even more impressive.  Now 18 years of age as of yesterday (Tuesday the 19th of April, 2011), Mannassero is certainly one of the brightest lights in the future of professional golf.

Imagine being a millionaire before you can even open your own bank account!

By the age of 17, Matteo had already built up quite a golf resume.  Before he was legally able to drink alcohol or have his own bank account, he had notched two European Tour victories, became the youngest winner on the European Tour, reached a world ranking of 35th and was named the European Tour's rookie of the year after finishing 31st in the Race to Dubai standings.

If Matteo Manassero has achieved all of this by his 18th birthday, and in less than one year as a professional, what does his future hold?  The sky is the limit.

Ball placement varies for many clubs and most of us know where the ball should go.  For the driver the ball is placed roughly even with the front heel.  Fairway woods slightly back from that.  Long irons toward the front of the stance and short irons and wedges toward the middle.

Uneven Lies

But do these same ball placements apply for uneven lies?  For some maybe, but for most the concept below may be a better idea.

On uneven lies like side hill, downhill, uphill or any combination, the swing plane and the place where the club "bottoms out" may not be the same.  The place where the club bottoms out, is the spot where the club is at its lowest point during the swing.  This is the point where the club hits the ground.

Lets say you are hitting a 4-iron from a downhill-side hill lie.  Take a few practice swings and make a visual note of where the club is bottoming out or where it hits the ground.  You may notice that it is not hitting the ground in the precise place you would normally place the ball for a 4-iron.  Put the ball in that position instead for this lie.

The same applies for chipping and pitching around the green.  If you are not on a flat lie when chipping or pitching, find the bottom of the swing and put the ball in that position.

Placing the ball in the proper spot in your stance on uneven lies will help prevent fat and thin shots, and promote more solid contact.

After 12 starts on the PGA Tour, rookie Brendan Steele is having a Monday like never before.  Today is the first Monday Brendan has as a winner on the PGA Tour.

Valero Texas Open

The Valero Texas Open was a tough tournament to compete in, as the Texas winds where a solid 25mph for much of the time.  This week's tournament proved to be a great opportunity to showcase new talent, as many of the big name players were taking the week off following last week's Masters Tournament.

The field stayed bunched together and at one point I seem to remember a crazy number of players (I think seven) tied for the lead.

Late Sunday there was a three way tie for the lead amongst three young and new players, until a winner finally emerged.

A different Monday

Today is the first Monday Brendan Steele has to consider the huge check for over a million bucks he'll receive for winning the Valero Texas Open.  The first Monday he can contemplate the fact that he's locked down his tour card for 2012, a feat many rookies fail to accomplish.

More spoils for the win include an invite to the winners only tournament in Hawaii the first week of the season in 2012, the Hyundai Championship.

Last but not least, Steele will get that wonderful letter everyone hopes to find in their mailbox someday, an invitation to play in the Masters.

Frogger Golf congratulates first time winner Brendan Steele on a fantastic performance and great clutch par putt on the final hole to seal the deal.