Mark Steinbauer - 18 Game-Changing Lessons: Talking Golf with Legends and Pros

CONTENTS

HARVEY PENICK
Hillbilly Learns to Putt

HARVEY PENICK
It Depends

BEN HOGAN
The Perfectionist

HARVEY PENICK
Simplicity Is Best

BILL ESCHENBRENNER
The Importance of Impact

BOBBY LOCKE
The Joy of Putting

HARVEY PENICK
The Best Lesson

MIKE ADAMS, BILL MORETTI, MIKE MCGETRICK
The Academy Years

DR. JIM SUTTIE
The Mad Scientist

HARVEY PENICK
Golfs First Psychologist

KATHY WHITWORTH
The Super Lady Project

JIM FLICK
Swing, Dont Hit

DANDY PUTTERS
More Than One Way to Get the Ball in the Hole

HARVEY PENICK
Bottom of the Arc

THE ENGINEERS
Golf as Science

MICHAEL JORDAN
Playing in the Clutch

ROLAND THATCHER
Tour Guide

JACK NICKLAUS
Born Competitor

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY GIRLS:

Lisa, Heather, Sarah, and Rachel.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I t is hard to keep this brief; so many people helped me put this book together. I have to thank Guy Yocom from Golf Digest, who masterminded the idea and introduced me to both Hunki Yun and Farley Chase. Guy has been a great friend and supporter for many years. I thank Hunki for all the work he invested putting my thoughts on paper, and I thank Farley who believed in this project and sold the idea to my publisher. I am thankful for Ann Stratton at Stewart, Tabori & Chang for her patience with me. Barry Ross and Glenn Gontha did a great job with the illustrations and design.

To the many main characters who fill these chapters, you have been such a blessing to me and influenced me in so many ways. A special thanks to the Penick family, my main motivation in golf. There will only be one Harvey Penick, and I am glad I got to know him.

I owe a lot to Charlie Epps, who hired me from the Academy of Golf to work for him. Like a father mentoring a son, Charlie introduced me to so many people in the world of golf, including Guy Yocom. We only worked together for a short time, but Charlie opened many doors for me. There is only one Golf Doctor, and I owe a lot to Mr. Charlie Epps.

I also would like to thank the members of Carlton Woods for allowing me to teach at such a world-class facility with arguably the finest staff anywhere in the country. And finally, a thank you to my wife, Lisa. I owe this amazing journey of mine to her and would be remiss if I didnt mention her in the list of role models I have learned from.

FOREWORD

I n 1986 Mark Steinbauer was a new teacher at the Academy of Golf, a few miles from Austin, Texas. My father, Harvey Penick, was the Professional Emeritus at the Austin Country Club. He was eighty-two years old, and well known in Texas as a golf instructor, but still six years away from the publication of his Little Red Book, which gave him national recognition.

Mark had taken a few lessons from my father while he was playing on the golf team at the University of North Texas. But now that he was living nearby and a teacher himself, Mark called and asked if he could come and talk with my father about his teaching philosophy and observe his methods.

Of course, the answer was yes and a wonderful relationship developed between the two gentlemen. Mark recorded many of their conversations and still treasures these tapes today. The two did have a mutual respect for one another, as my father was also interested in Marks methods. My dad always said that when he stopped learning, thats when he would stop teaching.

Guiding a students learning was my fathers ultimate goal in teachinggiving just enough information to bring the golfers game to a higher level.

Dad corrected students who said they needed to work on their gamegolf should be fun, not work. He would tell a beginner who hit a good shot that he got goose bumps on his armthe same feeling that he had when his students Ben Crenshaw won the Masters and Tom Kite won the U.S. Open. My father did not consciously use set techniques; he just had a genuine interest in helping his students reach their highest potential.

Marks book should convince you that his and my fathers goals are the same. In 1994 Mark won the Harvey Penick Teacher of the Year award. How proud my father washe definitely had those proverbial goose bumps.

As you travel through this text, remember that both Mark and my father would want you to take dead aim and enjoy the game.

TINSLEY PENICK

INTRODUCTION

E arly in my career as a golf teacher, I had a conversation with a tennis pro. We were discussing our respective jobs, and at one point, he asked me about my teaching philosophy. The question stumped me; all I had known until that point was what I was working on in my own game.

Partly because of that conversation, I set out to spend time with the best golf instructors in the world. I felt that incorporating their wisdom into my knowledge base would help me hone my own, unique teaching philosophy.

More than twenty years later, I can offer a much more definitive response, thanks to all the great minds in golf who have helped me along the way.

Ever since Old Tom Morris taught the game to his son, players and teachers have passed down their knowledge through the generations. I have been fortunate enough to watch Harvey Penick teach, play a round of golf with Jack Nicklaus, and work alongside Jim Flick.

I knew that learning from their experiences would make me a better teacher, so I tried to squeeze every bit of insight from my time with them.

In turn, I am now able to offer my knowledge to the next generation of teachers. In addition to being the director of golf of The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, I am a faculty member of The PGA of America, which means that I give teaching demonstrations and seminars to young pros. I always enjoy these sessions, especially the free exchange of ideas at the end, when I answer the young teachers questions.

Now, I am happy to pass along to you the best of the lessons that I have learned from some of the games greats. As you read the stories and the advice, I would encourage you to think about your own influences. Every golfers path is different, made up of the people and experiences he or she encounters. My hope is that this book helps you on your own journey of discovery.

MARK STEINBAUER

I grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota. Hockey was the big game, and golf was something we played only in the summer. There were no such things as junior programs, and I never had a lesson.

But somehow, my high school golf team was good enough to win the state championship. What I remember most about that event was that it was the first time I had played a course with bunkersI had never hit a sand shot before that week. I played all the rounds trying to avoid those large holes in the earth.

By that time, I had fallen in love with golf and decided that I wanted to make a living by playing the game. But given where I was from and my lack of experience in major junior events, the best I could do was a scholarship to Bemidji State University, a Division II program near my hometown.