Life is short - and sometimes opportunities arise that require immediate action. When a credit card company sent me an email offering a day of golf and instruction with Hank Haney my heart pounded with excitement and enthusiasm. Hank Haney is one of the greatest golf coaches in history. During his six years coaching Tiger Woods, Tiger won an astounding 45% of his tournaments. Hank has taught some of golf's greatest players and to think I could have the opportunity to meet him and get some coaching tips was just incredible. I signed up with a friend who lives in California and together we made our way to the spectacular Trump National Golf Club that sits at the tip of the Pacific Ocean in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The Club and course are beautiful. I mean stunning. This has to be one of the greatest golf settings in California. We were greeted in the morning by Chase Inside Access hosts that treated us with kindness and respect. We were lead upstairs to a private room where a full breakfast buffet was served to the small group of golfers who signed up for this event. I met great people from Los Angeles, Chicago, Ireland and even the Island of Kauai. After breakfast we all went to the driving range to hit some balls. Hank Haney showed up smiling and happy to watch every player swing. Hank takes everything in and "listens". When a person asks a question or comments on a golf subject, Hank listens intently and seems to care. We all parked our clubs and walked over to some chairs that Chase had set up on the driving range. Hank gave us a 30 minute or so overview on his theory on improving your game and hit shots with ease. Hank can purposely hit a ball right, left, straight, up or down, far or short. He swings with almost no effort and the ball sails where he says it will go every single time. What is the biggest myth in golf? Hank said that it is keeping your head down through the entire swing. You need to keep your head down when you start your swing and then turn it towards the ball as you rotate your body. What are the three most important rules to lowering your score? #1 is to reduce penalty shots. #2 is to get the ball on the green and #3 is not to three putt. Your first putt must be in the hole or get you close so you can knock it in. After watching Hank hit and learning some tips we went back to the driving range. I was the last guy in the line so Hank came to me first. He immediately grabbed my arms and started correcting my mistakes. It looked like we were wrestling at times but Hank was gracious and very patient. Hank moved down the line helping other golfers before we hit the links to play 18 holes. During the golf round Hank was able to join each foursome on two holes. He did not rush and gave each golfer individual instruction as needed. I needed the most help and Hank gave it to me on the course. After going over my swing in detail and practicing with Hank for a few minutes, I hauled off and hit my best drive ever. The other guys in my group told Hank that was my best drive of the day. Hank looked at them and said "no". "that was the best drive of Drew's life"! We all laughed but I said wow.....Hank remembered my name. As we drove down the fairway a long way because my drive was huge (smile), Hank drove past our cart and yelled out "great drive Drew". That made my day and is my Hank Haney story for life. My hats off and gratitude to the great team at Chase Inside Access and to Head Pro Joey Lewis and Manny the Starter at Trump National Los Angeles. Joey and Manny showed us the true Aloha Spirit even though we were in L.A.
Click link below for another post on Trump National Los Angeles
http://greateatshawaii.blogspot.com/2013/09/trump-national-los-angeles.html
Plenty of golf packages available in Ireland so that we have a chance to pick packages for our affordable price.
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