Playing With The Next Tiger Woods?

After watching Tiger Woods clinch victory at the Buick Open, my wife and I headed over to a nearby community run golf course for a relaxing nine holes on a beautiful Sunday evening. I was expecting an ordinary game on a course I've played many times, but one thing about golf, the unexpected often happens.

We were expecting to be teamed with another couple, but instead we were teamed with a single, already warming up with some practice swings at the first tee. The tall, slim young man introduced himself as Shane and continued with his routine.

The first hole on this course is a straight par 4 of about 360 yards from the blue tee. Shane waited until the group ahead of us was on the green. I soon found out that the wait was justified. He unleashed a drive with unbelievable power that flew straight, finding the bunker that guarded the front of the green. I had just witnessed a 340 yard drive, coincidently about the same distance as the longest drive that had been hit in the Buick Open earlier that day, which, if memory serves, was hit by Tiger Woods on the 18th hole.

As we walked to our balls, (my drive was a very ordinary 200 yards, but at least it was straight), I found out that Shane's long drive was no fluke. Just out of high school, he had worked the previous winter at an indoor golf training facility, where he could hit balls when he wasn't working. He took advantage of this arrangement and was hitting 1000 balls a day. This summer, he was working at the course we were playing, so he could get a few rounds in after work.

As we proceeded with the game, Shane proved to be as capable on his approach shots and his puts as he was with his drives, routinely recording pars and birdies. I don't recall him having to use his irons, maybe once. On the last hole, a par 5 with a distance just over 500 yards, he put his drive up close to the 150 yard marker.

I noticed that he exaggerated several things about his stance to achieve that kind of distance. His feet were wide apart, farther than his shoulders. He stood well back of the ball, at least six inches farther back than most golfers. But from this seemingly awkward stance, his swing was the same as the pros, with a straight left arm, square shoulders, and rotation in his waist and not his hips, creating a coil with enormous power when unleashed.

We talked a bit about the Buick Open. Shane seemed to know a lot about Tiger Woods, a good role model for a young golfer. He mentioned that Tiger typically hits with a club speed of 125 miles per hour. While he was quick to add that he didn't consider himself to be nearly as strong as Tiger, he was proud of the fact that he had been clocked at 135.

I asked Shane if he was planning on a pro career. He wasn't looking that far ahead. A more immediate and realistic goal was to get into a college with a good golf team and program and take it from there. When we finished the game, I told him that I would be looking for him on the PGA Tour in a couple of years. I meant it.