The 2017 PGA Tour is getting underway and it will be golf season before you know it. As the pros are beginning to hit the links, you might be inspired to get a few holes in yourself. Whether you haven’t been playing much during the winter and your game is a bit rusty or you’ve made a resolution to get into the game this year, there are plenty of ways to get yourself ready to have fun on the course. These are a few tips so that everyone can improve their game and get ready for golf season.

Watch The Pros

There are few places to get a look at how the best get it done than the PGA Tour. Not only are the best in the world on display but so are their swings. Pay attention to their technique, club selections, and strategies to learn more about how the game is played. Watching more golf can lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of the sport (and help you look like you know what you’re talking about). There’s never been a better time to get into watching the game. Golf Week has declared that Tiger Woods is back and all eyes are focused to see if he can return to his former glory. Add in a new crop of young players looking to make their own mark on the tour and you’ve got an exciting season for the year ahead.

Take Some Lessons

The old adage is that practice makes perfect but that isn’t necessarily true when it comes to golf. When you’re dealing with golf, it’s actually perfect practice makes perfect. If you’re practicing with poor technique, you’re just reenforcing bad habits and not doing yourself any favors. With a good instructor, you can learn the right way to play the game and build yourself a foundation for future success. Play Your Course explains that golf lessons are more affordable and accessible today than ever before, and offer many of the same benefits of other sports. Few things can take the place of one-on-one teaching and with the right coach, you’ll be surprised by how fast your game can improve.

Get On The Range

Now that you have the basics down, it’s time to start putting them to use. One of the most important ways to start getting good at golf is to play often. All the theory and technique in the world won’t be able to help if you don’t go out and apply it. Find the local range near you, get out there, and hit some balls for a few hours a week practicing what your instructor taught you. Try practicing on the range just like you would play on a golf course to help ensure consistency in your game. After you spend some time practicing what you learned, consider going back for a second lesson to continue to improve your game.

Be Patient

Golf is a lifetime sport and it can sometimes take a lifetime before you’re truly good at it. It’s often said that in golf you’re playing against yourself, and Golf Gurls agrees that it’s not your usual competitive sport. Golf is just as much a mind game as it is a physical sport, and your attitude on the course affects your performance. Don’t let yourself become frustrated or angry just because you sliced a few into the woods. Instead, focus on what you did wrong and how you can improve. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your golf game won’t be either.

BY ADAM FONSECA 

source: golfunfiltered.com

Masters week finally arrives, Jim Herman stuns in Houston, Lydia Ko dazzles us again, Tiger Woods masters the Friday news dump and more in this week’s edition of Monday Scramble:

The Masters is always the most anticipated major, for a few reasons:

It’s the tournament most players most want to win. It’s the inherent beauty and mystique of Augusta National. And it’s the Masters’ place on the calendar – eight months have passed since the last major championship, and every event since has felt like a referendum on the list of favorites.

But this year feels a bit different, no?

Fourteen PGA Tour events have been played in 2016. Eight have been won by major champions, and four former Masters winners have already won a title this year. It’s why the Masters field is so small – almost all of the top players are snatching up titles (and, by extension, the automatic invitations).

Four of the top five players in the world have won an event this year, and the only guy who hasn’t, Rory McIlroy, blew a 54-hole lead at Doral and is, well, Rory McIlroy, so he’s a threat every time he tees it up. McIlroy and the other top two players in the world – the winners of five of the past six majors – are all 8-1 odds or better to win at Augusta.

The point here is that this Masters has all the makings of an instant classic, of one of the most memorable majors in the past two decades. Too many great players are in form for there to be a rout, a dud winner, a lack of drama on the back nine.

1. Jason Day: The rare player who can smash right-to-left tee shots and sky-high irons while also dazzling around the greens with one of the game’s best short games. The only thing he hasn’t done at Augusta – where he already has a pair of top-3s – is win.
2. Adam Scott: Augusta’s stressful greens will test his revamped stroke, but Scott’s ball-striking is strong enough to give himself a great shot at a second green jacket.
3. Bubba Watson: The favorite as the Tour left the West Coast, Watson contended at Doral but tweaked his back and then bowed out early at the Match Play. Both of his Masters wins have come in even-numbered years and following victories at Riviera and runners-up at Doral. Hmmm.
4. Jordan Spieth: Not exactly peaking heading into Augusta, with five over-par scores in his last 10 rounds, but in his young career he’s already shown a remarkable ability to rise to the occasion on the biggest stages.
5. Rickie Fowler: The timing just seems right: He’s in good form, with a win in Abu Dhabi and a bunch of other top finishes, and he’s placed in the top 12 in each of the past two Masters. Too bad orange and green don’t go well together.
6. Rory McIlroy: Yes, his pursuit of the career Grand Slam remains a major storyline this week, but it almost seems as if he’s flying under the radar, with Day’s emergence and Spieth’s defense. If he can have a decent putting week and avoid a nine-hole blowup, it could be his week.
7. Phil Mickelson: For years, Lefty’s early-season struggles were disregarded because his record at Augusta was so good – Don’t worry, he’ll find his game once he heads down Magnolia Lane. Though he remains winless since July 2013, he has played well during the year’s first few months. Now, expectations are understandably high.
8. Dustin Johnson: His physical tools are undeniable and he’s coming off his best result at the Masters (T-6). It remains to be seen, once again, whether he has the discipline to handle the Sunday pressure.
9. Louis Oosthuizen: His runner-up at the Match Play (his fifth consecutive top-15) eliminated any chance of being a Masters sleeper, but perhaps King Louie will go overlooked after laying an egg in his final tune-up in Houston.
10. Justin Rose: Quiet start to the year, but he owns one of the best scoring averages on Tour and has finished outside the top 25 only twice in 10 career trips to Augusta.

Source: www.golfchannel.com