Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons

TIGER WOODS TURNS TO HIM FOR ADVICE. SHOULDN'T YOU? In the knowing eyes of Butch Harmon, every golf course -- every golf "hole" -- presents a unique challenge that is different for every golfer. For some, with no fear of sand and power to burn, the course is a castle to be stormed, a hurdle to soar over on the way to glory. For others, the course is a minefield, to be tiptoed through with caution and care. The questions posed by every hole are, Who are you today? And how will you meet my challenges? For most amateurs, course management is the most overlooked part of becoming a golfer. They think it's a subject only for the great players, and that their own energy and effort should be directed toward improving their swings -- that strategy can wait. But it's the average golfers who will benefit most from learning how to play the course, because they're the ones who pay most heavily for their mistakes; pros get into less trouble, and they recover from it better when they do. The best route to learning course management is a playing lesson with a great golf pro. And now, for the first time, one of the world's greatest teachers has put a playing lesson in book form." Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons" takes three golfers on three different levels of the game -- a low-, a mid-, and a high-handicapper -- out onto the golf course of their dreams, and walks them through all the elements of how to approach playing each hole. Using eighteen of the greatest holes from the finest American courses, public and private, Harmon shows each player how to think about the setup of the hole from the vantage of the tee, picking up clues from the terrain to guide you to proper club selection andchoice landing area. He shows how to pick a target that minimizes the damage from a poor shot, and gives techniques for getting out of trouble as expeditiously as possible. (He also recommends drills that will correct the fault that got you into trouble in the first place.) And he carries this approach through all the way to the hole, with advice on the all-important short game and tips to make you a better and smarter putter. In his decades of experience as a teaching professional, Harmon has worked with the full range of golfers, from the weekend player hoping to break 100 for the first time to his most famous pupil, Tiger Woods. He's seen every mistake there is to make, and he's helped thousands of golfers correct those mistakes and have fun doing it. He believes that course management is one of the four cornerstones of winning golf -- every bit as important as the swing, the short game, and your physical condition. Moreover, good course management is the fastest route to improving your score, because you don't have to make any big physical changes to try it. You just have to get used to playing smart and playing golf according to "your" game, not your partner's, your friend's -- or Tiger Woods's. For every golfer, no matter their level, "Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons" is a fun book to read, a great tour of some of the country's finest courses, and the fastest route to lowering your score. Short of having Butch walk the course with you every time out, it's your best ticket to being a better, smarter, and happier golfer.

Review :
Dr. Bob Rotella "Author of "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect" Anyone who wants to score lower "must" read "Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons." By focusing on course management and the importance of understanding your own game, this book addresses an essential and too often overlooked part of the game, and it does so through the words of one of golf's best teachers.