Instruction
MIKE MCGETRICK MUSTS
PRACTICE SWING
WITH A PURPOSE
SHORE UP THE
SHORT GAME
I always have players take a practice
swing before every shot on the
practice tee, and the golf course.
Most people take a practice swing
with no purpose. I want them to
think about what they’re working
on and, No. 2, to rehearse it. It
prepares the mind and the body
to execute the shot.
In the short game, most players
don’t have a specific landing area.
From the green to the hole, I’d generally
like it to be one-third carry
and two-thirds roll. If it’s a longer
shot, I might hit it a little further
than the one-third carry. It can
vary, depending on the trajectory
of the shot.
McGetrick urges his students to pick a specific
target for every shot.
IDENTIFY SPECIFIC
TARGETS
THE NEED FOR
CONSISTENT SPEED
“One day, Mike said he wanted to talk to
me,” McGetrick said. “He said, ‘you have a
passion for golf and I think you’d make a
great golf professional. I’d like to hire you
as my third assistant.’”
McGetrick was obviously flattered, but
initially told Adams the timing was not
right. He had recently accepted a job at
a power plant near Augusta, Ga., and he
would be heading south in the fall a few
months later.
“I told him I’d make him a deal, that if I
could play and practice at the course, I’d
work for him until I left,” McGetrick said.
“A couple of months into it, I told Mike I
wished I had taken that offer. He said to me
‘I’ll still hire you.’ And that was my start.”
UPWARD TRAJECTORY
Adams was a wonderful mentor to McGetrick,
who spent 25 hours a week on the
practice tee just watching Adams teach.
When McGetrick started giving lessons,
Adams was not far away supervising his
budding instructional superstar.
And when Adams took a job as director
of instruction for the Academy of Golf
When most players get on the tee,
they look out to the fairway, but
they don’t have a specific target.
When you’re playing darts, you
look at the target. So now, your
mind knows where to direct the
swing. You’re seeing exactly where
you want to go. Great players see
a specific thing. Amateur golfers
see everything.
In putting, speed is critical. When I
watch people practice putting, most
will use three balls. They’ll hit one
short, maybe two long. I like them to
practice consistent speed, getting
the ball 18 inches past the hole.
With three balls, hit one, and then
make the correction and try to hit it
18 inches past the hole. Consistent
speed eliminates a lot of three putts.
Dynamics located at the Hills of Lakeway
Club in Austin, Texas, McGetrick went
with him. He oversaw golf school operations
and became the lead instructor in all
the golf programs.
McGetrick’s own instructional prowess
was growing exponentially. In 1991, he
became a teaching pro at the prestigious
Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver,
where Arnold Palmer rallied from seven
shots back going into the final round to
win the memorable 1960 U.S. Open.
McGetrick stayed there for three years,
then opened his own instructional business—The
McGetrick Golf Academy at
Meridian Golf Club—and later designing a
4,500-square foot state-of-the-art teaching
studio, a practice facility, nine-hole
short course and fitness center at the
Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver.
In 2005, his entrepreneurial talents
eventually led to becoming the founder,
partner and director of golf for the
Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo.,
which included an 18-hole Coore/Crenshaw-designed
course. In 2006, it was
awarded Best Private New Golf Course by
Golf Magazine and hosted the 2010 Senior
PGA Championship and 2013 Solheim Cup.
Before taking the RTJGC position, he
also was the owner and director of instruction
at the Mike McGetrick Golf Academy
at the Golf Club of Houston, the home of
the PGA Tour’s Houston Open.
PAUL PIERCE
34 V IRGINIA G OLFER | S EPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
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