Golf balls sitting on the iced over surface of a water hazard at Lake Forest, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The weather was unusually warm for February yesterday, and even more unusually, with no snow polluting the ground, several local courses were open. I played nine at Lake Forest. Not surprisingly, it was a rough beginning. I took a double on the first, and a bogey on the second. Then I then settled down a bit and made it around in 45. I felt pretty good about the whole thing, especially considering the strong wind coming out of the west.

Officially, the temperature yesterday reached 50 degrees. That wasn’t a record though: it reached 56 on that day in 1938.

My goal is to play in every month this year. So far, so good.

Thursday and Friday
3 - 6 pm GOLF
8:30 - 11:30 GOLF - Replay

Saturday
1 - 2:30 pm GOLF
3 - 6 PM CBS
9:30 PM - 12:30 AM ET GOLF - Replay

Sunday
1 - 2:30 GOLF
3 - 6:30 CBS

Too bad this wasn’t on the weekend:

Daniel Chopra had two holes in one in Monday’s practice round. His first came at the yard par 3 seventh, which he hit with a 50 degree wedge. Later, he aced the seventeenth from 176 with a seven iron.

I was not surprised to find that bettors had Tiger Woods as the favorite to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. I was surprised, however, to see that he was as good as 5/1, and that the next guys on the list are sitting at 20/1. The “smart money” seems to think that Tiger is a pretty good bet to win, and everyone else—not so much.

In the group at 20/1 are Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson. Mickelson is a three time winner; Johnson has two feathers in his cap.

At 25/1, there’s Brandt Snedeker and Rickie Fowler. 30/1 finds Zach Johnson and Bryce Moulder.

I have to confess that the Pebble Beach is not exactly one of my favorite events—mostly due to the insipid television coverage. I really don’t care to see Ray Romano, et. al. mugging for the camera, or care to hear the endless promos for CBS’ latest “hit comedy.” I can hear it now: “Lets go to the fourteenth green for a look at [fill in name], star of the hit [comedy, drama], [fill in name of show here] showing on CBS at [date, time].”

At least we won’t hear that from the Golf Channel.

Complete odds are below:

Callaway HEX Chrome Ball

One of two new high end golf balls from Callaway this year is the HEX Chrome. It’s a 3 piece ball that Callaway claims is the best it’s made. I’ve had good luck with Callaway’s three piece Hex designs before—the original HX Hot likely is my favorite ball ever—so I’ll be interested to try a box of these when the arrive at the stores in March.

Here’s the press:

This is the best 3-piece urethane ball we’ve ever made. It’s noticeably softer, more durable, has the best HEX Aerodynamics that Callaway has ever developed, better accuracy, more spin around the greens and penetrating Tour distance.

• “s-Tech Core ™
• With its low compression, it provides extremely soft feel off the clubface and generates low driver spin to maximize distance” “DuraSpin™ Cover
• A proprietary formulation that produces the soft feel and the exceptional short-game spin necessary in a high performance golf ball
• Significantly improves durability” “Mantle Layer • Ionomer tri-blend provides a protective layer around the core and optimizes the driver spin to keep it low for more distance
• Allows the ball to have better resiliency to maintain its energy for hot ball speeds” “New HEX Aerodynamics™
• Refined pattern provides the best aerodynamic performance ever in a Callaway golf ball, reducing drag and promoting a stable, penetrating ball flight that holds its line in the wind”

I don’t have a lot of use for the eastern mysticism that has pervaded the game since “Golf In the Kingdom.” But I do think that the habit of visualizing a shot before taking a swing has improved my game immensely. Fixing a picture of the shot in the mind helps to reduce any possible miscommunication between eyes, brain and muscles.

It’s a technique that all of the great ones use. Jack Nicklaus wrote:

“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”

Sam Snead—in his country way—said that he would paint a picture in the sky. Tiger Woods clearly uses the technique. Watch him sometime as he stands behind the ball. He’s imagining where it will go, and how it will get there.

Before every shot, I stand behind the ball and do three things. I pick a target, pick an point for alignment a few inches in front of the ball, and visualize the shot.

In visualizing the shot, I try to picture just how the ball will fly through the air (or scoot along the ground). I actually try to picture the ball as it moves in flight, capturing in my imagination the height, shot shape, landing spot and roll. I occasionally will even run through a couple of quick scenarios, as I realize that my first imaginary shot might hit an overhanging branch, or roll into a bunker.

It’s important to be realistic about the results. I’m not a long hitter, so no amount of visualization is going to produce a 300 yard drive. Imagining things that can’t be done will just screw up the results. And visualization is not going to fix a fundamentally bad swing.

Only once I have the shot fixed do I step up and take a swing.

Of course, it doesn’t always work out as planned. But having a clear goal in mind, and eliminating doubt as to what you want to do will go a long way toward maximizing the swing you have.

There are lots of contests out there offering a dream trip for your foursome. Here’s one that offers a golf trip for you and twenty three of your closest friends. You can sign up online for this one.

Enter the 2012 West Michigan
Golf Show Giveaway! 
The West Michigan Golf Show will take place at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, Feb. 10-12, 2012!  One lucky winner in the Golf Show Giveaway will receive the Ultimate Group Golf Outing at Treetops Resort!

PRIZE PACKAGE DETAILS:
24 players total
1 overnight stay in the Inn or Chalets at Treetops Resort based on double occupancy in room, 12 rooms total.  Upgrades are available.
18 holes on the Tradition with cart.  Upgrades are available.
18 holes on their choice (based on availability) with cart.
Overnight stay must be on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Winners must provide their own transportation to and from Treetops Resort.