Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons Review
The primary difficulty with talking about course management is the fact that course management, i.e. club selection, means different things to different players. Butch Harmon gets around this problem by addressing three audiences: the 7 handicapper, the 12 handicapper, and the 20 handicapper. I chose to read only the parts of the book geared towards the 12-handicapper. So, the book was a quick, interesting and very helpful read.
My belief is that once you are a 12-handicapper, you don't need to read anymore books on "swing fundamentals." It's time now to concentrate on course management. For Harmon, course management for the 12-handicapper comes down to three main things: club selection, target selection, and swing rhythm. So, using real holes at real golf courses as examples, Harmon gets into the mind of the B player, to instruct him what he should be thinking as he gets ready for a shot. Should Player B use driver or 3-wood off the tee? Should she aim for the right, left, or front side of the green on the approach? Should she lay up?, etc. These are standard questions, but Harmon demonstrates why he comes up with the answers he does, to persuade Player B why one choice is smarter than the other. Finally, Harmon links club selection to the idea of swing rhythm. He discusses why someone will have a tendency to overhit the 3-wood off the tee. Although the 3-wood is the "smart" choice, in some cases, driver might be the smart choice, if the player thinks she needs to put more strength into the three wood for the extra carry, thus overhitting and pulling the ball.
The only complaint about the book is the fact that it is a little dated and doesn't account for how players are now stocking their bags. Course management ideas have changed, because players are now adding a wedge, and replacing their fairway woods and long irons with hybrids. So, today's reader needs to make a little calculation when Harmon recommends the 5-wood, but the player doesn't have one of those in her bag anymore.
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons Overview
Tiger Woods turns to him for advice. Shouldn't you?
Whether you're an aspiring pro or just a weekend hacker, you too can benefit from the hottest teacher in golf today -- the man who helped Tiger hone his skills. Presenting strategies for golfers of all levels, Butch Harmon shows you:
HOW TO APPROACH EACH HOLE
HOW TO PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS
WHEN TO TAKE RISKS, AND WHEN TO AVOID THEM
AND MUCH MORE!
To make his lessons more fun and more challenging, Harmon has selected eighteen holes from America's greatest courses to illustrate his techniques. Packed with full-color photos and diagrams, Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons fulfills every golfer's dream -- the chance to play legendary holes in the company of a world-renowned pro.
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons Specifications
When Tiger Woods has a glitch in his game, he heads directly to Butch Harmon. In his previous book,
The Four Cornerstones of Golf, Harmon stressed the fundamentals. In
Playing Lessons he takes a page from the classic
A Round of Golf With Tommy Armour and accompanies you, in the form of three players of varying skill, on the course. And it is not just any course, but an amalgamated field of dreams comprising 18 of the most spectacular and interesting holes in golf from Shinnecock Hills to Winged Foot to Augusta to Merion. Stroke by stroke, Harmon walks and talks you through the processes. His insights offer proven techniques for lowering scores as he helps you shoot
and think your way between the tee and the cup.
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Customer Reviews
Would be better with real players - ROBERT F. Areddy - Oakland Twp, MI
Course management is often overlooked by amateurs, so this book could bring this to light. However, I would much rather have had Butch walk with real players, asking them how they would play the shot, then him suggesting to them how they SHOULD play the shot.
I don't think the scores his imaginary players shot are very realistic either. As someone who can relate to the "A" player, even 8 handicaps can hit some VERY bad shots. Their 8 handicap is usually a display of ability to recover from bad shots, and a better shortgame than the average player. But for an 8 to shoot a 76 on the hall of fame course that he designed is pretty far fetched. That's only +4, and probably about 5 shots better than the player's handicap. For the player to do that, the odds are VERY low (see USGA website for info on odds for a player to shoot a certain score).
That said, I do think his decision making is something everybody needs to learn. I DO think he loose credibility when he suggests to one player to plumb bob to get the line of a putt, though! I can't believe Harmon actually believes in plumb-bobbing!
"Reading" a round of golf - T. Enst -
In this volume, you are taken through 18 holes selected form courses across the US. Some are wildly famous, like the 12th at Augusta National, others are more likely to be known by long-time golf fans. The field is made up of 3 "types" of golfers, all ametures: a low, mid, and high handicapper. The rounds are played out, seeming from the imagination of the author, who has no doubt seen people play these or similar holes in precicely the fashion he describes. He offers advice, which the players choose to heed or ignore, either to their benifit or disaster.
The book, once read, shows itself to being a collection of common and a few not so common faults that different levels of golfers are prone to make. They are made easier to read and study through the format of a round at a variety of courses in several situations (windy, wet, calm, etc.).
Where the color photos of the courses and illustrations of how the ball progressed across the holes makes the book visually appealing, and where it does offer a great deal in terms of instruction and practical playing advice, it would have helped to have illustrations or photos of what people did wrong with their swings, etc., at times. Remebering how to do it the right way and not thinking about what went wrong is probably the right attitude to have entry level players follow, but if this book was meant for more advanced players as well, it leaves a bit to be desired.
Another unfortunate impression the book leaves is the idea that there is only one way for each person to play a particular hole, and that way is the one the author suggests. This book being his world, I suppose this is to be expected. However, a few more options per hole would have made for more interesting reading.
junk - Monica Boulan - Royal Oak, Michigan United States
the most useless piece of junk i have ever wasted my money on!
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