Tag Archives: jerry tucker

Don’t Blow It

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Here is another tip courtesy of PGA Master Professional Jerry Tucker. This Tucker tip: how to work with the wind.

Wind_croppedHow much does the wind affect the flight (and roll) of a golf ball? Obviously, how far and how high you hit your shots will help determine that answer, but the pro’s do have a general rule of thumb. To “let the wind be your friend,” simply add or subtract one yard for every mile per hour the wind is helping or hurting you. For example, if you are 150 yards from the flag with a 20 mph headwind, your effective yardage is 170 yards.

Also, notice how the wind affects the ball after it lands on the green. Landing on a fairly firm green, my average 7-iron shot would only roll about five feet against the wind, but 40-50 feet downwind, a difference of 12-15 yards!

Putting Against the Grain

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PuttingHere is another tip courtesy of PGA Master Professional Jerry Tucker. This Tucker tip: learning to read the grain of the grass to better your putting.

If it’s winter and you’re playing golf well south of the Mason-Dixon line, you desperately need to understand grain. Grain is the way the grass lays, the direction it is pulled due to the sun, water flow, gravity, etc. It is most prevalent in Bermuda grass, but is certainly exists in the North, as well.

The two main ways to determine the grain are to look at the hole, and to check the color and texture of the green. When you look at the hole, especially in the afternoon on a Bermuda grass green, if the brownish jagged edge of the cup is on the west side, then that’s the way the grain is growing. If you then look to the west, the grass would appear whitish and shiny. If you look behind you to the east, the grass will appear rougher and dark green. If you’re putting west, your putt will be 25-50% faster than a putt with no grain, and that much slower going east. While most grain in Florida goes with the slope, the grain will tend to be westward on a fairly level surface.

Jerry Tucker was twice named by Golf Digest as a top 100 teacher, has been a four-time South Florida player of the year, played 13 major championships and set 19 course records, as well as achieving several other accomplishments and accolades.

Putt by Numbers

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Lady golfer puttToday’s tip comes courtesy of PGA Master Professional Jerry Tucker. He was twice named by Golf Digest as a top 100 teacher, has been a four-time South Florida player of the year, played 13 major championships and set 19 course records, as well as achieving several other accomplishments and accolades. So he certainly knows what he’s talking about. This Tucker tip: how to determine the length of the backswing when putting.

Years ago, Payne Stewart’s instructor Chuck Cook suggested we take the putter back one inch for every foot of the putt’s length. For example, you swing the putter back 15 inches for a 15-foot putt. This was (and is) great advice as many golfers incorrectly take the putter back the same distance for all putts. They then vary the force on the forward swing, but that is a poor distance controller as the stroke becomes uneven and asymmetrical. We should strive for an even-paced stroke that goes back and forth the same amount, with neither acceleration nor deceleration. For more distance, simply lengthen the backswing and let the putter “swing itself” forward. By the way, the inch = 1 foot rule of thumb still works great when the stimpmeter reading of the green is a 9.