Recent Hole In One Golfers!

We at Foresite Sports have been trying to keep speed with the recent events in the hole in on world. Even though this feat is rare, every month is still filled with stories on hole in ones from all over the world.

Our feature starts with the LPGA Tour. Last week Se Ri Pak aced the 5th hole in the third round of the Canadian Women’s Open. The tournament took place in Ottawa. She hit a 6iron from 178 yards. Seri was quoted as saying: "The par-3s are good here and birdie is a bonus. You get the ace and oh, my God, you're down to two (under). That probably made my day, I guess." It sure did. This was the 15th ace of the season on the LPGA Tour.

The next hole in one story happened at the Sunny Brae Golf & Country Club in Osage, Iowa. Two golfers managed to both get aces two days apart of each other. Keith Duncan aced the 150 yard 6th hole with a driver on July 11.The nice thing is that his wife, Nancy, was there to witness his fourth career hole in one. His counterpart Dave Walsh aced the 185 yard 3rd hole with a 5 iron on August 8.

Our congratulations go out to all those who have recently got a hole in one. Keep up the good work!

Saving Par on Short Holes!

Congratulations to those who don’t have to putt or try to up and down on a par 3. These lucky few have managed to do what others will never do: hit a hole in one. Here are some short game tips and rules that the rest of us will find handy.

Here are some general short game rules courtesy of Foresite Sports.
• Chip and run when you can’t putt
• Pitch or lob the ball only when necessary

The reason why Foresite Sports and many instructors advise you to chip and run whenever you can’t putt and to pitch only when necessary is that the sooner the ball rolls the easier it is to control your shot and get it closer to the hole. The pitch or lob is still a crucial part of an effective short game and must not be overlooked.

A solid putting stroke is something every golfer should aim for. There are many ways to putt and through experimentation you can find the right way for you. However Foresite Sports believes that keeping your head still is crucial for every type of putting stroke. Abruptly lifting your head is a sign of anxiety and greatly diminishes the chance of you making more putts. If you suffer from this problem here is a quick fix. Put a coin under your ball. Make your stroke, and instead of following the ball, pay attention to the coin as it appears from under the ball.

Can’t get out of bunkers? No problem. All it is a misunderstanding of how your sand wedge works in this situation. The key here is to open the face. Imagine that a glass of water is balancing on your clubface. Most golfers don’t open the face and attempt to play a bunker shot like any other wedge shot. There is no way you could balance a glass of water on the normal shots that you play with a sand wedge. This is why the club digs into the sand. Consequently the ball comes out low and rarely makes it over the lip of the bunker. Once your face is open make sure that it is aimed at the flag and not to the right. To offset the open face you must aim your body left of the pin. Make sure you cock your wrists on the backswing. This stores energy that will be transferred onto the ball on the downswing. You must enter the sand about two inches behind the ball and swing along your foot line. This means that you swing left and not at the hole. This is because your clubface was open at address. Lastly you must accelerate through the shot. Speed is needed to get that ball out. Through practice you can improve your feel and gauge exactly how much speed you need to carry the ball different distances.

Finally the best tip that Foresite Sports can give you for pitch and lob shots is not to try to scoop or force the ball into the air. Trying to scoop the ball will result in fat and topped shots. Instead hit down on the ball. The loft of a 60 degree wedge will do the work for you. When you hit down on the ball the ball slides up the face and the result is a high soft shot that lands softly. If you don’t have a 60 or 58 degree wedge we encourage you to try one out. It makes a huge difference!

Swing Guru’s Take on How to Make a Hole In One

David Leadbetter has taught and mentored some of the world’s greatest players. Both this year’s European Ryder Cup Captain (Nick Faldo) and Masters Champion (Trevor Immelman) have him to thank for their past successes. His knowledge of the golf swing is vast but what makes him stand out is how simply he explains the fundamentals of a good golf swing.

Leadbetter is quoted in Golf Digest as saying, “The sharper your iron play, the better your chance of getting an ace.” But how exactly do you sharpen your iron play? He goes on to say that, “good iron play requires good distance and direction, with correct trajectory.” He claims that he has watched amateurs hit shots into greens and invariably come up short and that the best way to combat this is to take more club and swing smoothly.

In order to hit those laser irons he encourages us to “tee the ball fairly low and then take a nice, solid divot after the ball.”He then incorporates his way of teaching through imagery by telling us to imagine that the back of our left hand is the clubface. He says that it needs to be flat, parallel to the target line and ahead of the ball at the point of contact. This, he says, is the common denominator of all good iron players.
Foresite Sports agrees with this tip and we urge you to try it. Who knows, it could bring you closer to being one of our Hole in One Contest winners.

Hole In One Prizes All Over The Course!

Making a hole in one is an adequate prize in itself. You achieve one of golf’s feats and in turn you join the elite company of people around the world who have aced a par 3 and even in some cases, a par 4. But what if you’re playing in a tournament or scramble that has wisely chosen Foresite Sports as its insurance provider for a particular hole?

The answer is that your perfect shot could be rewarded with $10 000 dollars in cash or even a brand new car! The downside to this answer is that this prize is only available on one par 3. So what if you make a hole in one on one of the other holes that wasn’t covered? This is a horror that people have faced in the past and the reason why Foresite Sports has bonus prizes just for those holes. After all most courses have four par 3s and it would be too costly for a tournament director to have a grand prize on each par 3.

Our bonus prizes include Roundtrip Domestic Airline tickets for two anywhere in the continental US, a 26 inch Flat panel LCD TV and a brand new set of Callaway Big Bertha Irons. As you can now see, Foresite Sports is definitely looking out for your interests. So if you, and some friends are going to tee it up in an upcoming golf outing or scramble we urge you to encourage the event planner to contact Foresite Sports.