The Secret to Golf

I have figured out the secret to golf roughly 239 times this past year. The beauty of doing it so many times is that I have the routine down. Surprisingly, no matter how often I stumble upon it, I never get any less excited.

I love that feeling of having the game figured out. I love it, even when it lasts only one swing. It is too bad the secret is constantly changing. I was a big fan of the secret the time it took the form of a reliable punch shot; talk about a scoring revolution for yours truly. Then there was the glorious round when a brush 7 iron from the fairway became easy to hit and judge. I would sooner forget my first kiss than forget how great it was to have a confident stance over a 40 yard pitch. ‘Quiet legs’ was a secret that extended to a number of other shots as well.

If you are anything like me, the secret, no matter how elusive, is the reason you partake in this maddening game. Well friends, I have another one for you. How would you like to be able to hit a fade with your irons without changing your swing any?

I thought so.

To fully explain, you might need a bit of information about me. When I’m sober and fairly on top of my game, I hit my irons straight with the exception of a 5 to 10 yard pull now and again. I can draw them reasonably well when I want but have to get pretty fippy with my hands to do so. When I try to fade the ball one of three things happens; I hit it straight, I push it straight, or I top it ten yards.

That in mind, the new secret’s story started last week. I went to play a round at a local par three and got paired with some magical human manifestation of a benevolent golf god. We’ll call him Bob. Bob and I played stroke play for a beer and ended up with a tie. Then we played chipping games to decide the winner. By the time it became a best out of 15 we decided to buy each other beers and called it a draw. Over beer we realized that both of us wanted a winner more than either of us wanted a free beer. We took the game to the range to play a closest to the pin challenge that, sadly, Bob won.

Then Bob said, “How are you at working the ball with your irons?”

“Rubbish” I said.

Then Bob showed me the latest and greatest secret to golf. He simply played the ball forward in his stance and closed the face of his club 10 degrees or so. With his grip set on a closed club he turned the face open and made a regular swing. The important thing to remember is that he tried to hold the face open through impact. I have a number of theories as to why this works and most of them are simple once you try it. What is important is that it does work. It works so easily it felt like cheating. I found I could fade the ball less than five yards by closing the club a certain degree and increase that to ten yards by turning it a few more degrees. It is almost like a dial you set before the swing to dictate the amount of spin you impart.

I was speechless and have yet to get over it. The latest edition of the secret to golf should have me occupied for the next few weeks at least. I hope this helps.