Saintly Swings

After meeting our host, golf professional John Sileno, we ate breakfast, then hit some practice balls and a few putts. Soon we were off to the first tee not knowing what to expect of this Ron Garl-designed course. All we knew, from reading the scorecard, was that the course was short for a regulation layout. St. Andrews only plays to 5,715 yards from the back tees. As we played, however, we realized that it was still plenty long to present a challenge, and a real example to many other country clubs trying to figure out how to make courses longer and tougher. Granted, new technology allows a player to hit the ball farther. Still, courses are just too long for the average player.

St. Andrews, like its Scottish counterpart, is fun to play because it features a double green that services holes one and nine, and also because it is comprised of an array of good par-three, par-four and par-five holes. In addition, the fairways and greens are extremely well conditioned: It's fun to hit shots and roll putts across the smooth, fast surfaces. The condition of a course means more than the layout.

Our favorite hole was the par-five 14th, the number-one handicap hole, meaning that it's rated the toughest. The reason: Because of water running up the left side, you can't afford to miss the fairway that gets narrower as you get closer to the green.

What makes this course so extraordinary is that eight of the nine par-four holes on the course play less than 350 yards. They are all short and sweet, but they can sting you, owing to well-placed sand bunkers and greens that feature tricky subtle slopes.

For more information on the course and membership, call (941) 639-1867.

The Lingo

If you think your fellow players are talking about a rising stock market when the word up is mentioned, it's time to brush up on golfspeak, the language of the course.

Gross score: The total number of strokes taken on a course by a player, as opposed to "net" score, determined by subtracting the player's handicap from his or her gross score.

Hole out: Hitting the ball into the hole from anywhere on the golf course.

Underclubbing: Not hitting a strong enough club on an approach shot. Example: hitting a six-iron instead of a five-iron.

Up: The number of holes a player is ahead of an opponent in a match play competition.

Winning Tips

I've watched Vincente Fernandez, this year's winner of the Ace Group Classic, contested over the TwinEagles course in Naples, play golf many times. And to this day I have never seen any player hit a lob shot over a bunker, to a tight pin placement, better than Fernandez. Here's how to play the shot, and impart cut-spin on the ball so that it stops very fast on the green.

Play the ball forward in an open stance (right foot slightly closer to the target line), and put about 60 percent of your body weight on your right foot. Next, open the face of a sand wedge when setting the club down behind the ball.

Swing the club up outside the target line, then down across the ball, keeping your left-hand grip firm.

Practice this shot until you learn to accelerate the clubface underneath the ball. Trust that the club's loft will pop it into the air. Trying to help the ball up or getting tentative through impact will only lead to a skulled (thin) shot that never rises above the grass, let alone the bunker you are trying to carry.

The Rules

You can make legitimate excuses for playing to a high handicap. But there are no excuses for not knowing the rules of golf set down by the United States Golf Association. Here's a rule you better know, particularly since breaching it will cost you disqualification.

Situation: Player A and Player B are competing in a stroke play tournament. While playing one of the last few holes, Player A's ball moves out of position while he's addressing a shot in the rough.

Common Mistake: Player A nudges the ball back to its original position, looks up at Player B, and says, "The ball moved, but I moved it back." Player B says, "Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it."

Well, it may be true that Player A and Player B are not playing big-time golf. Still, rules are rules. Moreover, ethics are ethics. The fact is, once Player A's ball moved out of position, he should have penalized himself one shot and then replaced the ball as nearly as possible to its original position. Further, because both players agreed to waive the rules, they are disqualified under Rule 1-3 in both stroke play and match play.

Correct Procedure: Even if the ball moves and no one witnesses it, you should call a breach on yourself and proceed accordingly. In fact, in all cases involving a breach, make it your duty to abide by the rules and play according to your own sense of what's right and wrong. Golf is an honorable game. In the case in point, if Player A had called the violation on himself, perhaps Player B would not have been compelled to waive the rules. At least, I'd like to think so, because it is the golfer's duty to keep golf an ethical game.

Fitness

Tiger Woods and other top Senior PGA Tour professionals hit the ball so far and straight not only because they swing at high speed and square the clubface at impact. They also know the importance of being fit and flexible. Physical therapist Paul Callaway knows this more than anyone, and he's helping golfers improve their skills through his own complete golf health and fitness training program called Body Balance for Performance, an idea he's franchised via about 70 stores in the United States.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin at Madison's Physical Therapy School in 1982, he became the first director of physical therapy for the PGA Tour from 1984-1987. Over those years, he worked with top players like Jack Nicklaus and Ray Floyd. Most recently, he worked with Tiger Woods.

If you're a golfer who thinks that you are losing distance and accuracy because of physical restrictions, you might want to consider visiting Body Balance for Performance of Naples for a two-hour evaluation program, where tests are performed to examine such elements as posture, balance, flexibility, strength, trunk and shoulder stability.

Once you've been evaluated, a licensed therapist will work with you to help you release areas of body tension, learn to employ better body positions critical in the swing, and strengthen vital muscles so that you maximize your golf potential and learn to swing at maximum efficiency and become much more consistent.

"Body Balance offers the general public the same physical education and training that tour professionals have been exposed to for years," says Jim Sowerwine, head instructor for the Rick Smith Golf Academy at Tiburón. For further information, call 591-4711

Fun & Games

If you are lost as to what kind of game to play on the golf course, try competing according to the Stableford format, a popular system of scoring in Southwest Florida. Here's how the game works:

Point values are assigned to scores. Typically, bogey is worth one point, par is worth two points, birdie three, and eagle four. You get no points for a score of double bogey or higher. At the end of 18 holes, you simply add up your points and the player with the highest total wins.

Southwest Florida's John Andrisani is the former senior editor of instruction at GOLF Magazine and the author of more than 25 books, including The Tiger Woods Way and Think Like Tiger. Send questions and comments to JAGOLF3238@aol.com