Contributing Editor for Golf Digest with focus on instruction, injured vets, travel & environment. Golf addict since age 12. Banjo picker and amateur musician.
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Articles by Roger Schiffman
Wounded veterans, in their own words, on their healing trip to Ireland
Last month, 23 combat-injured veterans—many awarded Purple Hearts for their service in battle—took part in one of two seven-day trips to the outermost reaches of Northwestern and Western Ireland, playing some of the world’s most breathtaking links courses and taking part in group therapy sessions and numerous mindful activities.
Wounded veterans, in their own words, on their healing trip to Ireland
Last month, 23 combat-injured veterans—many awarded Purple Hearts for their service in battle—took part in one of two seven-day trips to the outermost reaches of Northwestern and Western Ireland, playing some of the world’s most breathtaking links courses and taking part in group therapy sessions and numerous mindful activities.
Jack Nicklaus: How To Stop Hitting it Fat
Sloppy head action leads to fat shots. Not only should you keep your head in the same place during the swing, but consciously avoid head motion that's downward or to your right. Many top golfers' heads do move a little downward and to the right in response to the targetward thrust of the lower body. But if the motion becomes accentuated, they--and you--will surely catch the ground before the ball. Fat and thin shots are caused by the same problem: The club bottoms out before the ball.
From Battlefields to Fields of Green
U.S. Marine Sergeant (Ret.) Trevor Allenby will always remember that horrible day in Fallujah in 2005. He was on his second tour of duty, having fought in the initial invasion of Baghdad. He was hit in the left elbow by a Daisy Chain IED, causing left-arm damage and paralysis. He nearly died and received the Purple Heart for his bravery. Allenby also has a grade 2 Diffuse Astrochytoma brain tumor, which was likely caused by exposure to a Gulf War burn pit.
Swing Sequence: Charley Hoffman
Short backswing but tons of speed through the ball
Swing Sequence: Shane Lowry
A classic swing that produces modern distance
For veterans on Ireland trip, a special connection forged through golf
Brian Z. Porter will never forget that day during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was on patrol in Fallujah when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up in his face. The tall, rugged, Special Operations Army Master Sergeant (retired) rarely talks about it, but his completely reconstructed jaw and face tell the story.
Swing Sequence: Soren Kjeldsen
Swing Sequence: Soren KjeldsenSoren Kjeldsen's swing is one of the most unusual for a modern-day tour pro. There is no rigidity in his hands and arms, no emphasis on the big muscles or a huge shoulder turn to generate more power. Instead, the Danish pro's wrists cock early, his left arm bends and his hands never rise above his head as he takes the club to the top of the backswing. View his swing frame-by-frame.Start Slideshow
Swing Sequence: Kevin Chappell
Learning control and putting up good numbers: Working with his teacher of five years, Mark Blackburn, PGA Tour player Kevin Chappell has learned to control his iron shots with a shorter action. He ended the season by reaching the playoff at the Tour Championship. View his swing frame-by-frame.
Swing Sequence: Jimmy Walker
For more than 10 years, Jimmy Walker had plugged away as a professional golfer before winning the 2013 Frys.com Open at age 34. It was his 188th start on the PGA Tour. Then it all fell into place. He won two more times in his next seven events. "He's definitely a late bloomer," says Butch Harmon, his teacher since 2011, "but he's also going to be around a long time." His performance so far this year suggests he will.
Swing Sequence: Zach Johnson
Swing Sequence: Zach JohnsonPart grinder. Part technician. Part bulldog Zach Johnson was a successful tour player long before he won the Open Championship at St. Andrews last July at age 39, surviving a playoff with Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen. Johnson already had won 11 PGA Tour events, including the 2007 Masters. But on the Old Course, his great driving, solid approach play and sheer determination lifted him to a new level.
Swing Sequence: Troy Merritt
Troy Merritt might be the winningest player in pro golf, but he has only one PGA Tour victory. As an amateur Merritt won more than 100 tournaments, including 21 in college—and five straight his senior year at Boise State. He even won the PGA Tour Qualifying School in 2009, and before that the 2009 Mexico Open in only his 12th start on the Web.com Tour. So what happened after he made it to the PGA Tour in 2010? He went 95 tournaments without hoisting a trophy.
Swing Sequence: Kevin Na
Swing Sequence: Kevin NaTurning a bizarre swing glitch into motivation: Kevin Na ditched his swing glitch and had a great year. After three top-3s in late 2015, he is ready to win again. Pro-File: Kevin Na | Age: 32 / 5-11 / 167 poundsLas Vegas | Driver: Titleist 915D3 9.5 degrees | Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
My Best Tips For Driving It Great
In the series Jack Nicklaus wrote for Golf Digest in the 1970s, he made the point that he was a target driver. He explained then that he tried to hit the ball to a specific part of the fairway, rather than just in the fairway. That tactic still holds today, but Jack's legacy in the game is more as a power player. No one in his prime was more dominant off the tee. As Nicklaus points out, being a great driver is all about having sound fundamentals, playing to your strengths and making smart decisions.
Swing Sequence: Patrick Reed
Backing up his big talk with primo golf
Swing Sequence: Danny Willett
Danny Willett doesn't always go out of his way to make you feel comfortable, and that might be why he's such a tough competitor. As his teacher, Mike Walker, says, "He was the No. 1 amateur in the world in 2008, so he expects a lot of himself. He's not unfriendly. He's single-minded." A 2007 Walker Cup standout from England, Willett had to learn patience as a pro. It wasn't until 2012 that he captured the BMW International, the first of his three European Tour titles.
Swing Sequence: Thongchai Jaidee
Talk about being a late bloomer. Thongchai Jaidee didn't pick up a golf club until he was 16. Then his progress in the game was put on hold while he served in the Thai Army as a special-forces paratrooper. Toward the end of his military service, Jaidee started honing his game at a course on an army base, but he remained an amateur until age 30.
Fairways For Freedom | Golf Digest
13 Injured veterans venture to Ireland for a week of golf - and recovery
Nobody deserves a golf trip to Ireland more than these injured militar
U.S. Army Sergeant John Girouard will remember the date for the rest of his life: June 15, 2011. He was returning from patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan when suddenly and without warning an I.E.D. blast rocked his vehicle. His best friend died in the explosion. Girouard fractured his spine and pelvis, ruptured an ear drum and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that resulted in a frontal lobe brain hemorrhage.
Swing Sequence: Justin Thomas
Age: 22 | 5-10 | 145 pounds | Jupiter, Fla. | Driver: Titleist 915D4 7.75 degrees | Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Justin Thomas is a PGA Tour rookie, but he sure seems like he has been around, partly because of his golf pedigree. His grandfather, Paul, played in the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open, and his father, Mike, is the pro at Harmony Landing Country Club in Goshen, Ky. That's where Justin learned to play, mostly by hanging out with the members starting when he was 3.
Swing Sequence: Francesco Molinari
Italy's Francesco Molinari is known for his accuracy, whether he's playing in the United States or on the European Tour, where he has spent most of his career. Witness his hole-in-one on the fan-frenzied 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in January. But his teacher, Denis Pugh, says Molinari can add distance without sacrificing his precision. "We looked at the stats and his abilities and determined he can't become one of the longest hitters on tour," Pugh says.
How To Handle A Par 4 : Golf Digest
As a designer, I sometimes like to create what I call a "drive and a hit" par 4. In other words, the hole is so long that you're required to play your Sunday-best drive, and then you still have to hit a lengthy approach shot to reach the green. In the case of the 18th hole at Trump National Doral (illustrated here), site of the WGC-Cadillac Championship March 5-8, a really long hitter can knock it on in two with an iron.
Swing Sequence: Patrick Reed
Patrick Reed has probably never been accused of underselling himself. And that's putting it mildly. Back in college, when he was leading Augusta State to two NCAA championships (2010-'11), his coach often pleaded with him to keep his mouth shut and let his clubs do the talking. But that's just not Reed's style. After he won the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral a year ago, he declared himself one of the top-five players in the world—and he had yet to even play in a major.
Working The Angles : Golf Digest
The idea that course designers are always trying to make things tough for golfers is a misconception. Sure, some holes should be challenging—that's one reason golf is fun. But it's also fun when you're in a good mood walking to the next tee. That's why I occasionally design what I call a "feel good" par 3. In the case of the hole illustrated here—the 13th at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge east of Seattle—you don't have to play the full distance to get to the green.
Swing Sequence: Brendon Todd
After a stellar junior-golf career in North Carolina and four years at the University of Georgia, Brendon Todd had high expectations when he turned pro in 2007. After all, he used to drum his high school pal Webb Simpson in junior events. But when Simpson was winning the U.S. Open in June 2012, Todd was barely cracking the top 500 in the World Golf Ranking. Then Todd met Bill McInerny, a sport psychologist in Boston. "Bill has been an amazing total coach for me," Todd says.
Swing Sequence: Rickie Fowler
It's no secret that coming into 2014 I had trouble putting together four good days at a tournament. My final-round stroke average wasn't very good—106th on the PGA Tour in 2013. But this year has been a different story: I ranked eighth in scoring on Sundays, more than two shots better than last year. Even though I didn't win a major in 2014, I was right there in all four of them. I tied for fifth at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open and British Open, and third at the PGA Championship.
Gut Check : Golf Digest
Some people might call this a Cape hole because, like a geographical cape, part of the land juts into the water. But I simply call it the seventh hole at Ferry Point, a design of mine recently completed at the base of the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, with views of the New York City skyline. There are many famous holes that require comparable strategy, and I'd bet you've played a design like this somewhere.
Picking Sides : Golf Digest
I like option golf. As a designer, I think it's good to give golfers choices. And as a player, I enjoy weighing those choices. That's why I like holes that offer double fairways, where you have to pick one route over another. These designs are becoming popular today. I've created these holes on many of my courses, including two at Valhalla, site of the PGA Championship in August. Double fairways are nothing new: The Old Course at St. Andrews has them on almost every hole.
Playing Short Par 4s : Golf Digest
Short par 4s, whether drivable or not, are some of my favorite holes. The 10th at Riviera, 12th at St. Andrews and 14th at my own Muirfield Village (illustrated below) come to mind. I always like to have a couple of short 4s on my courses. They create variety and make the golfer think. On the hole you see here, there are a number of options, so you need to think ahead—don't just grab the driver and go.
Ditch Your Ego On The Tee
First, you need to decide where you're going to aim on a par 3 like this one. The better golfer you are, the more you can challenge the trouble between you and the pin. If you take an aggressive line, you bring the water into play, but there's a bailout area short and left. Unless you're a good player, that's your spot. If you're in a match or tournament, think about how you stand. Sometimes I felt I had to go for it, but most of the time I played conservatively and was content with a 30-foot putt.
Swing Sequence: Bubba Watson
Twenty years and 15 miles per hour of clubhead speed ago, my grip-it-and-rip-it style led my favorite golfer, Jack Nicklaus, to say some nice things about my swing in Golf Digest. I'd just won the 1991 PGA Championship. Jack had no idea, but I actually taught myself how to play golf by watching him on television in the 1970s and by reading his Golf Digest series done in cartoons called "Jack Nicklaus' Lesson Tee." That's how I learned the grip, the stance, how to cut it, how to hook it.
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