Bill Strausbaugh Jr. (1923-1999)
Class of 2003
45 Minutes to Learn, a Lifetime to Master
We can teach a person all he needs to know about the golf swing in 45 minutes. But you can spend 45 years teaching the muscles to respond correctly. There's a quick end to learning, but no end to the application and development of what you've learned.
Peggy Kirk Bell
Class of 2004
The Grip's the Thing
You need to grip the club so that your hands work together. This is the most important thing. I've had students come to me with terrible grips. Once I teach them a good grip, they say to me, "I can't believe it, this game is too easy now." You can't think about the golf swing-you have to feel it.
Manuel de la Torre
Class of 2005
Swing It Forward
To me, a swinging motion is backward and forward, not up and down. That's why I always use the term forward swing instead of downswing. After all, you're trying to move the golf ball forward, not down into the ground. I tell my students that the club is pulling in the direction of the target — that's an effective image to have through the hitting area to achieve full arm extension.
Class of 2006
If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Fun
"Golf's hard," Dad would say, pointing a meaty finger at me as if he were about to reveal the secret of the Rosetta Stone. "Good golf is damn hard, and championship golf is something only a few will ever see. But that's how it should be. If it were easy, everybody would do it. And where's the fun in that?"
— The Pro: Lessons About Golf and Life from My Father, Claude Harmon, Sr., by Claude 'Butch' Harmon Jr. and Steve Eubanks
