Short Subjects
November 7, 2008
Jeff Overton has to be about as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
This week the young PGA Tour professional is sitting in the 125th spot on the 2008 money list, the last position for which full playing privileges are awarded for the 2009 season. There is only one Tour event left in the season, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, presented by Walmart, and held November 6-9 at the Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida.
Overton has to make the cut at Disney and then earn enough money to counter the performances of several other players who are lower on the money list than he is. To make matters more challenging, Overton is still recovering from a recent appendectomy. Despite his weakened condition, Overton tied for 18th in the most recent tournament, earning him a bit over $52,000.
As noted before in this column, this final part of the PGA Tour season is a favorite of mine. I enjoy watching the pros contend with their emotions and their swings as they try to keep their Tour card.
Ryan Palmer cried after he won the Ginn Sur Mer tournament on November 2, jumping him from 143d to 73d on the list, and giving him a two-year exemption. His reaction shows how much it can all mean to these accomplished players.
Patrick Swayze, Golf Pro
This year’s Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival is held November 5 through 9, and unlike past editions of the Festival does not include any movies with a golf element. However, “Breakfast With Scot,” a hockey-related comedy, has sold out its three screenings. It may earn an extra Audience Favorite screening, if enough folks rave about it after the Thursday and Friday shows.
A past Festival comedy favorite uses golf as a central element in the story line, and is now available on DVD. “Keeping Mum” stars Patrick Swayze as a scumbag teaching professional, messing about with Kristin Scott Thomas while her husband, Rowan Atkinson, remains clueless. Maggie Smith then appears as the family’s new housekeeper. Let’s just say that Swayze’s character is in for a surprise or two. It’s great fun.
And with over 100 movies on the schedule, this year’s Film Festival should have plenty of enjoyable viewing options for golfers and non-golfers alike.
Which eye dominates you?
With the golf season at its official end for the year, many golfers take stock of their performance and begin thinking preparing for the new season. For improving one’s putting, several teachers stress the importance of knowing whether the golfer is left-eye dominant or right-eye dominant.
The term refers to determining which eye the brain relies upon as the primary target viewer, while the other eye gathers other critical information about depth of field and other important elements.
Here’s an easy way to figure out which eye is dominant. Hold both hands together, palms out, as far from the face as possible, and make a small open triangle with the thumbs and forefingers. Focus with both eyes through the triangle at a small object, such as a golf ball, and then close one eye. If the ball remains in the center of the triangle, the open eye is dominant. If the object “moves” out of view, the closed eye is dominant.
Knowing which eye is dominant can influence which putting style is better. Most right-handed people are right-eye dominant, and their putting may be improved by keeping a slightly open stance, and a gate-shutting, slightly open to slightly closed putting style. A right-handed golfer who is left-eye dominant may find that a straight-back, straight-through putting style, while lined up straight to the target line, works best.
I’m right-eye dominant and right-handed, and I tend to putt better if I aim a little more to the left than my eyes are telling me the ball will roll.
Try this simple exercise, and see if this new knowledge about yourself makes a difference in your game.