Rinkers Golf Tips Top 100 Teacher Bill Harmon Chuck Cook. Billy Harmon was my first guest on Masters Championship Sunday. Billy is the youngest son of Claude Harmon who won the 1948 Masters while being the Head Pro at Winged Foot Country Club. Billy said that he is very lucky to be a Harmon. Billy, Butch, Craig, and Butch’s son, Claude III, were all at the Masters working with their players. “It’s kind of cool to be a Harmon,” Billy said, “especially during Masters week.” I asked him when the first time was that he went to the Masters. He said it was in 1967 with his dad who was a great friend of Ben Hogan. Hogan was 54 in 1967 when he shot 66 on Saturday. Billy said if you see a video on youtube of Ben Hogan hitting balls on the range from the ’67 Masters, he’s the little kid standing next to his dad watching Hogan. Later Billy told a story about one day when his dad played with Hogan at Seminole, and Hogan hit one barely in the left rough on the 12th hole. When they got done, Ben said he was going to go hit some balls. Billy quoted his dad, “If Hogan goes to hit balls, I go to watch. I can always eat.” Hogan started hitting 50 yard slices on the range. Hogan said, the hook is not my problem. It’s the fear of the hook that’s the problem, Billy went on to say, “If you fear a hook it takes your courage away. The truth is hidden in the opposite, so curve the ball in the opposite way of where you are hitting it.” Hogan hitting 50 yard slices on the range was doing exactly that.
I asked Billy what was the best tip that he ever got from his dad. Billy said in one of his first lessons, where he dad was teaching next to him, his dad asked him, “Who is your ghost writer? Because you gave him enough information in the first five minutes to write a book!” Billy said his dad always looked at the grip first and then at where the club face was pointing at the top of the swing. Billy feels, and I agree, that the modern day teachers don’t talk enough about the club face. Billy said, “Grip influences club face, club face influences path, and path influences aim.” He said the top players are more orderly in their swings from waist high to waist high. Billy can be reached at zito1948@verizon.net
Chuck Cook was my guest in the second half hour and we talked about what he has worked on with Jason Duffner. Chuck said that when he first started working with Duff, he had a shut club face at the top and an upright swing. On his forward swing he would slide his legs into the ball and block the club face from turning over too soon. They worked on getting his club face more open on the back swing, and hitting it more flat-footed, so that he wouldn’t have too much pelvic hip slide on his forward swing.
Chuck talked about covering the ball and how the swing has evolved since the days of the reverse C and Nicklaus. Next came Jimmy Ballard in the ’80’s, where Ballard’s players would ride the right shoulder high on the forward swing or the anti-reverse C finish. Chuck said, “the right shoulder goes directly at the ball on the forward swing, as it goes down, out, and forward.” He said the right shoulder turn is kind of flat going back and very vertical coming down. The shoulders don’t really turn on the spine axis.
We had a caller from Texas ask about how to stop releasing early, casting, and flipping. Chuck jokingly said if you’re from west Texas you shouldn’t have that problem. Chuck said people release early to square the club face so check your grip first. Then go out and try and hit some punch shots which forces the hands further forward and de-lofts the club at impact. For more information on Chuck please visit www.ChuckCookGolf.com.