The post Pro denied one type of rules relief — then cleverly asks for another, makes birdie appeared first on Golf.

The post Pro denied one type of rules relief — then cleverly asks for another, makes birdie appeared first on Golf.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try — the same rule, but just a different categorization. 

Believe it. During Saturday’s third round of the Sony Open, Kevin Chappell was denied one type of rules relief on the 9th at Waialae Country Club, then was granted another after he cleverly adjusted. All he had to do was slide over three words in the rules of golf. 

“This is why you always ask,” an analyst on the PGA Tour Live broadcast said. 

Indeed. After Chappell’s second shot (more on that below) ended up in a near-grassless patch less than 100 yards from the hole, he called for a ruling. His first bid for relief was for ground under repair, under Rule 16.1. And it was rejected by Tour rules official Ken Tackett. 

Rules

“What about the cart tracks?” Chappell asked, the conversation picked up by PGA Tour Live mics. 

“Yeah, it’s not the tracks,” Tackett said. “It has to be a rut where it’s sitting down. But there’s like eight or nine different places like this on the golf course.”  

Tackett had barely finished saying “course” when Chappell took another swing. Waialae had gotten rain, the area was under a tree, and it was muddy so … 

“That’s not casual water?” Chappell asked, referencing another item covered under Rule 16.1.  

Tackett then asked Chappell to take a stance, the official looked from behind, and he denied him a second time. From that angle.    

“Can you look on the side here?” Chappell asked, and Tackett did, moving in front of the player. 

News

Success. Relief. And as a bonus, Chappell was even allowed to clean his muddied ball, under Rule 14.1c.  

Tackett even apologized for his initial temporary-water assessment. 

“I wasn’t trying to be quick with that,” he said. “I didn’t see it from that side.” 

From there, Chappell hit about 15 feet past the hole, spun it back and dropped the 6-footer for a birdie four. Notably, he also applied Rule 16.1 on his second shot, too — his drive had gone right of the cart path, and he took a drop after the concrete was interfering with his stance. (For those wondering, Chappell would have also gotten relief under rule 16.1 had his ball became involved with an animal hole.)  

“Chappell using the rules to his advantage,” the analyst on the PGA Tour Live broadcast said.

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The post Steal Kevin Chappell’s efficient downswing for maximum power appeared first on Golf.

The post Steal Kevin Chappell’s efficient downswing for maximum power appeared first on Golf.

These days, everybody’s looking for more power and speed. How else are you going to keep up with your buddies — not to mention the guys and gals on TV? The game is getting faster. Learn from Kevin Chappell to keep pace.

The Common Mistake

Previously, Kevin tended to “slide” on his downswing, shifting his weight too far forward (as in toward the target; photo right). What’s wrong with that? Basically, it meant that at times Kevin, and the millions of recreational golfers who make this move, was missing out on maximizing his downswing rotation, which we know through research is critical for consistent power creation. By sliding, you’ll struggle to get enough power out of your downswing. Who wants that?

What Kevin Does

Some of your downswing speed comes from rotating your hips and your torso. It also generates from forces applied by your feet, too. You’ve heard golfers increasingly “using the ground” for power. What that means is that by pushing your lead foot forward across the surface of the ground (i.e., sliding it “frictionally” along the grass), you can generate more torque.

What You Should Do

Oddly enough, your kid’s skateboard can help. Place it under your front foot (1). As you move into your downswing, slide the skateboard forward toward the ball (2). It’ll give you the sensation of correctly pushing forward with that foot. That force (anterior frictional push) is what helps you use the ground to rotate your front hip “around the corner.” Your rotation will improve — and your speed will, too. If you don’t have a skateboard at the ready, use the next best thing: an imaginary skateboard! That sensation of sliding four imaginary wheels toward the ball as you begin your downswing will help generate the forceful feeling you need to max out your turn.

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The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell on joining True Spec Golf’s Tour Department, advantages to being brand agnostic on Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell on joining True Spec Golf’s Tour Department, advantages to being brand agnostic on Tour appeared first on Golf.

On this special edition of Fully Equipped, PGA Tour winner Kevin Chappell joins hosts Tim Briand, Executive Vice President at True Spec Golf and GOLF’s Senior Editor for Equipment, Andrew Tursky, for an exclusive, in-studio, interview. Kevin discusses his work coming back from injury, his decision to become the first member of True Spec Golf’s new Tour Department, the advantages to going entirely brand agnostic with his bag, and what it has been like going through that process with the team at True Spec.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell on joining True Spec Golf’s Tour Department, advantages to being brand agnostic on Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with a club fitter appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with a club fitter appeared first on Golf.

True Spec Golf, a brand-agnostic club fitter and sister company of GOLF.com, recently announced that it has signed PGA Tour winner Kevin Chappell as its first PGA Tour ambassador.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, Chappell sat down with GOLF.com’s Fully Equipped podcast to provide his explanation of the deal and why it was attractive to him.

In the past, Chappell has experienced different sides of the coin when it comes to equipment deals. For the last four years, Chappell was an equipment free agent, and he previously had an equipment deal with Nike Golf before the company left the hard goods industry in 2016. As Chappell explained on the podcast, he values the freedom to use the 14 best clubs for his game, rather than being tied to just one brand.

“The idealistic world would be having someone that’s truly agnostic, that has a knowledge of every piece of product, whether it’s grip weight, to shaft profiles, to how a scoring line affects ball flight,” Chappell said. “You can check all the boxes and have one person doing it in a safe environment, and with the ultimate goal of finding the 14 best clubs for you. As soon as I kind of realized that True Spec could do that, I went up the chain at 8am Golf and True Spec and said, ‘Hey, I’m interested, what do you guys think?’ And they jumped on board.”

Chappell says that, aside from the top players in the game, there’s more money to be made from PGA Tour event purses than from one-brand equipment sponsorships.

“Our purses aren’t going down,” Chappell said. “We’re in a pandemic right now and we’re still playing for the same amount of money we were, and I think it’s going to go up…we’re playing for a lot of money, and why wouldn’t I play the 14 best clubs for me? I can make way more money; for 99 percent of us who play professional golf, we can make way more money on the golf course than we can off the golf course. There’s that 1 percent, let’s call it 10-15 guys that can make more money off the golf course. But for 99 percent of us, you have to have your tools sharpened and ready to go, because that’s how you’re going to make your living.”

Enjoy the video snippet of Chappell’s explanation at the top of this page, but don’t forget to tune into the entire Fully Equipped episode too! Chappell, along with his True Spec fitter Tim Briand, goes deep into his testing process and tells a funny story about how his gamer putter got into the bag. Part 2 of the Chappell interview is set to be released next week, as well, so make sure to look out for that on Thursday.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with a club fitter appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with True Spec Golf appeared first on Golf.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with True Spec Golf appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s Fully Equipped, hosts Tim Briand, Executive Vice President at True Spec Golf and GOLF’s Senior Editor for Equipment, Andrew Tursky, are joined by Kevin Chappell who explains why he signed an equipment deal with True Spec Golf and the benefits to being brand agnostic on the PGA Tour.

The post Fully Equipped: Kevin Chappell explains why he signed an equipment deal with True Spec Golf appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn explains what average golfers can learn from Chez Reavie and other pros appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn explains what average golfers can learn from Chez Reavie and other pros appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn who explains what average golfers can learn from Chez Reavie and other PGA Tour pros like Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn explains what average golfers can learn from Chez Reavie and other pros appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn on the difference between coaching the best players in the world and bad golfers appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn on the difference between coaching the best players in the world and bad golfers appeared first on Golf.

Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn who explains the biggest difference between working with Tour pros like Chez Reavie and bad golfers simply looking to improve their game.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year Mark Blackburn on the difference between coaching the best players in the world and bad golfers appeared first on Golf.

The post Mark Blackburn Interview: From sleeping in a maintenance shed to being named 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year appeared first on Golf.

The post Mark Blackburn Interview: From sleeping in a maintenance shed to being named 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, PGA Tour instructor Mark Blackburn joins former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz for an exclusive, in-studio interview. The 2020 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year talks how working with Tour pros like Charley Hoffman, Kevin Chappell, and Chez Reavie differs from working with the everyday golfer, his stance on the distance debate, and what the average player can pick up from studying the swings of the best players in the world.

The post Mark Blackburn Interview: From sleeping in a maintenance shed to being named 2020 PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year appeared first on Golf.