North Shore Golf Summer 2020 V2

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12 >>> SUMMER 2020> > >BySHADES OF GREENBOB GREENIntroducingthe (not so)sensationalBrysonDeChambeauBryson DeChambeau is the hottestplayer on the PGA Tour, not just sincethe restart, but going all the way backto Pebble Beach in February.In fact, in his last eight Tour eventshis worst finish before missing the cutat the Memorial July 16-19 was a tiefor 8th at The RBC Heritage in HiltonHead, SC, June 18-21.His eye-popping finishes are: AT&TPebble Beach, tie 5th; WGC Mexico,2nd; Arnold Palmer, 4th; SchwabColonial, tie 3rd; RBC Heritage, tie8th; Travelers in Connecticut, tie 6th;Rocket Mortgage, 1st.In DeChambeau's 16 rounds sincethe restart and before the Memorial,he has shot 70 or better in every one.In the Rocket Mortgage, he averaged350.6 yards on his drives, and hit an 8iron 230 yards. He had 9 iron secondshots into several par 5s.He is certainly not the Bryson fromlast season, not only in his play. Hisphysical appearance is remarkablydifferent. He gained 40 pounds duringthe PGA Tour’s hiatus, from mid-Marchto mid-June. He claims his daily dietof 3,000 calories plus several proteinshakes, combined with a vigorousworkout routine, is responsible for hisincredible gain in clubhead and ballspeed, and driving distance.In 2019, with his driver, heaveraged 175 mph ball speed. In hislast four events, his ball speed hasroutinely been in the mid 190s. Heclaims to have hit 200 mph into anindoor net!To convert that ball speed gaininto yards, it’s estimated every 1 mphincrease can mean up to 2 yards ofdistance. Do the math: He’s picked up40 yards with his driver in less thana year.Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I findhis unprecedented gains to be highlysuspicious.My first question is what’s the“protein “ in those shakes? WhenBarry Bonds, Mark McGuire andSammy Sosa we’re breaking MajorLeague Baseball home run records,and other players who had never hitmore than 15-20 homers in a seasonall of a sudden were hitting 40,suspicion grew about PerformanceEnhancing Drugs, steroids andHuman Growth Hormones.It turned out suspicions were right.I’m not sure what the PGA Tour’sdrug testing policy is, but I have tobelieve I’m not the only one thinkingalong these lines.I also have an issue withDeChambeau's putting style. It’s calledthe arm lock method. The putter shaftis braced against the left forearm (forright-handed players) and stabilizesthe putter shaft. Rules state the shaftcannot extend past the elbow.The USGA banned anchoring theputter as of January 1, 2016 because itwas an advantage since the top of theclub couldn't move.I’m sure it didn’t help when threemajor championships were won byplayers who anchored their putts.Webb Simpson won the 2012 US Openusing a “belly putter,” and I have tobelieve that started the ball rolling(no pun intended) for the ban. Hisperformance slipped tremendouslyuntil he tried the arm lock method.Since then, he's won the 2018 PlayersChampionship, the 2020 PhoenixOpen, and the 2020 RBC Heritage.As of July 10, he was at the top of theFedEx Cup points list.A talented young player on the KornFerry Tour, Will Zalatoris, also usesthe arm lock putting style. Since therestart, he has four top 6 finishes,including a win in his last start.Is it a coincidence that the threehottest players in professional golf alluse the arm lock method?I don’t believe so. I’m sure it has notgone unnoticed. If the winner of a U.S.Open uses an arm brace putter, don’tbe surprised if the USGA declares thatstyle illegal.DeChambeau did something atthe Rocket Mortgage tournament inDetroit that Tiger, Phil, DJ nor Roryhave never done. He was first in bothdriving and putting, the first time that’shappened to a tournament winner inthe 16 years the Shotlink data platformhas been used on the tour.And let's examine DeChambeau’sextremely irritating petulant behavior,shall we? He had an ugly incidentwith a cameraman during the thirdround in Detroit. On the 7th hole,DeChambeau hit a poor bunker shotand then buried his club in the sand inanger. The cameraman kept shootingthe entire time it took DeChambeau toget to his ball on the green and markit. The cameraman was merely doinghis job, it wasn’t personal.DeChambeau took exception, andconfronted the cameraman. Whenasked about it after the round, hehad made several self-centeredstatements, such as:“The tour should be protectingour players out here, compared toshowing potential vulnerability andhurting someone’s image. I just don’t
Since therestart, everyweek on theTour has beenThe BrysonDeChambeauShow. I’m notsure I canstand muchmore of it.Bryson DeChambeau in action during the second round of the Memorial golf tournament July 17.PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESSthink that’s the right thing to do.“For that to damage our brand likethat, that’s not cool in the way weact, because if you actually meet mein person, I’m not too bad a dude, Idon’t think.”I’ve got some advice for youBryson. How about players protectingthemselves? You’re responsible forprotecting your “brand,” not the tourand certainly not the cameraman.You’re in the spotlight. If you don’tlike it, get off the PGA Tour.Since the restart, every week on theTour has been The Bryson DeChambeauShow. I’m not sure I can stand muchmore of it. When it was pretty muchdecided by the 15th hole of the finalround of the Rocket Mortgage that noone was going to catch DeChambeau,Boston Fence and VinylProfessional & Customer Focused Fencing Services Since 1989Experienced • Service • Value1 800 585 7753NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 13I shut the TV off. His narcissistic selfpromotionis obnoxious.If you haven’t figured it out by now:I’m not a Bryson DeChambeau fan.Throw in his attitude toward hisslow pace of play and the statementshe made after Brooks Koepka calledhim out last year, and you see aperson who thinks the world revolvesaround him. He continues to remainunapologetic and defends his pace ofplay, saying he’s not slow.Next tournament he plays, time himon his putts. I had him at 1:52 on oneat the Rocket Mortgage.Between staring at his GreensBook and having discussions with hiscaddie, he routinely averages 1:21 perputt. He took an unconscionable twominutes and 41 seconds to hit a puttin last year’s Tour Championship. Hecouldn't care less that his pace of playirritates his fellow pros.After all, it’s all about him.What do you think? Is BrysonDeChambeau good for golf? Let me know.Bob Green is enjoying his retirementafter 41 years as head PGA professionalat Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead.Write to him at bgreen49@aol.com.“We’re in your neighborhood ... please check out our work!”Wood Transition Estate Open Board Cedar Open Board Austin TopperWe are a full-service fence contractor that specializes in producing beautifully designed, long-lasting custom fences. When youknowledgeable and helpful service, and always have a live representative available to answer your calls during business hours.• Free Estimates • Answer Calls 24 Hours • Cash ’N’ Carry available at our location110 Park St. Beverly, MA • Bostonfenceandvinyl.com
Page 1 and 2: NORTH SHOREGOLFSummer 2020IS THISOU
Page 3 and 4: WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR GAMEAT PARADIS
Page 5 and 6: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 3EDITOR'S LETT
Page 7 and 8: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 5Linda Courtem
Page 9 and 10: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 7There was a w
Page 11 and 12: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 9Mike Alongi c
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Page 17 and 18: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 15a ball, he s
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Page 21 and 22: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 19JANEFISTENIC
Page 23 and 24: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 21Hillview Gol
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Page 27 and 28: NORTH SHORE GOLF <<< 25Northern Get
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Page 32: Merchants’ Golf Programis a Hole-

North Shore Golf Summer 2020 V2

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