Tip of the Month

By John Pallot
Director of Instruction

December 07: IT'S ROUTINE FOR JR. OB GOLFERS

In December the World's best junior golfers descend upon the Biltmore to participate in an event known round-the World, the Junior Orange Bowl International Golf Championship. This year's event marked the 43rd edition. Past winners include Tiger Woods, Camilo Villegas, Mark Calcavecchia, Christy Kerr, and Christina Kim. Forty-seven foreign countries were represented this year. J.R. Steinbauer, Jr. Orange Bowl Chairman for sixteen years, based on stringent criteria , selects the U.S participants. Americans must have won an AJGA,state or national event or qualify for a USGA event and make the final 32 in match play.The Golf Federations of the various foreign countries send their junior champions. A total of only 75 boys and 35 girls are invited each year.

The boys winner this year was Sean Einhaus. He defeated Peter Uihlein, last year's runner up, in a one hole playoff. They each shot six under par 274. The girls winner was Jung-Eun Han from Korea. She came from behind with a final round 68 to finish at three-over par 283.

In the girls' division Alexis Thompson, a twelve year old phenom and winner of two straight Doral Junior Championships in the 16-18 year old division looks like the next superstar golfer to graduate from the Junior Orange Bowl. She's the youngest to ever qualify for the Women's U.S. Open. After watching her for four days I can only think back to 1991 when 15 year old Tiger Woods broke the tournament scoring record by a whopping eight strokes. It was easy to predict greatness for Tiger. His composure, power,demeanor, mental attitude, feel for the game were beyond his years.I see the same characteristics in Lexi. The poise, the power, the short game, the composure and of course the shot making. Although she finished at six over 286 I was very impressed.

Here's an interesting trend/fact. Almost 30% of the field this year attends a boarding school golf academy or is being home schooled. The pursuit of excellence and the lure of million dollar careers in golf is fueling this trend. By way of comparison, of this year's Jr. Orange Bowl Tennis contestants, ages 12-14, 45% are in a tennis academy or home schooled. The cost to attend these academies is $40-$60 thousand annually.

After watching these world class juniors for 72 holes I came away impressed with their common attention to a pre-shot routine. It is something every pro and low handicapper does. My tip of the month tells and shows you how to do it too.

A PRE-SHOT ROUTINE. Stand behind the ball and visualize a target line. Pick an intermediate target approximately one foot in front of your ball on the target line. It can be an old divot, leaf or tee. Move to the side of the ball with your feet close together. Visualizing the target line, aim the club-face at your intermediate target. Once the club-face is aimed, spread your feet to desired width in relation to ball position. Take two looks at the target and swing. Use this pre-shot routine even on the driving range. Visualizing the target line is an essential element in consistent play. It encourages a swing toward the target.