Controlling the Course

Video Transcript

I’m Jack Lumpkin and we were talking about my fundamentals - ball, club, body, mind and course. We’re up to the course. In order to play the course well, you need to control the ball, it’s a vicious circle. Control the ball, control the club, the body must be doing the right thing, the mind must be at ease and then you can control the course. We get two types of golfers at our school. Those who hit there ball and follow it around the golf course and it leads them on a very merry chase, and those who actually pick a target and direct, not steer, their golf ball toward the target. Basically, golfers swing different, but they all play the same. It’s just a different target that they’re playing to, a very long hitter is picking one out at 300 yards, a shorter hitter maybe picking one at 125 yards, but everybody needs to pick targets and break the course up into manageable bits of real estate. Very much like you’d cut your steak at night, you cut it in size bits that you’re comfortable chewing and that’s the way you have to chew up the golf course. So learn to control the golf ball, if you can control the ball, you must be controlling the club. If you’re controlling the club, your body must be doing the right thing. If your body is doing the right thing then the minds probably in the right place and has been programmed correctly. Then, and only then, do you have any chance of controlling the golf course.

Jack Lumpkin
Sea Island Golf Club
100 Retreat Ave.
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Tel: 912-638-5119

Jack Lumpkin is a legendary instructor to PGA Tour Pro Davis Love III and is listed as one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and Golf Digest's #12 instructor in the world.

• Instructor Overview
• Videos
• Biography
• Philosophy
• Client List
• School Info
• Course Design