Golf In A Parallel Universe

by Jimmy Bloodworth

  “As a matter of fact, I feel guilty," Jerry Said and was laughing. “We were selfish. We did not want to get the word out about this guy. We wanted to keep him to ourselves, so we did not say much about him to other pros. Also one funny thing about Gus. He had a really strange and grumpy personality. He had an engineering mind, and his social skills were not so great. I think it was because he was so analytical. He came across as grumpy, and some players just did not like him. And they missed out. Because once he started his teaching, his tone changed. He was patient and could explain the golf swing like no one else. Because he knew he physics of the swing more than anyone. His style of teaching, is to explain or show you how it is suppose to be. Then he would work with your swing. He would work with your swing and not overhaul it. He was not type of teacher who would make major changes. He would work with what you got and adapt your swing to meet the required physics of a good golf swing. And he is still doing that today," Jerry explained.

  “But back to the tour during time” he said. “Just when he was really starting to get recognized by tour players and his teaching career was about to take off, his wife got sick with cancer and he had to take a break for a few years.” “Bummer," I replied.” Yeah it was sad. But she turned out fine and she is healthy today. But those years, he just worked with a few golf club manufacturers. He could not travel or work with the tour. After she got well, he did not have the desire for the tour again. He made a ton of money from golf club development and manufacturing. He has several Patents in his name and he still gets royalties off all of those. Actually he makes really good money off those royalties, so he is not hurting for money. He is basically semi retired. He just likes to teach golf. He works a lot with kids and amateurs at a local golf course. He does work with a couple of guys on the Mini Tour. And I can guarantee those guys will make a big splash on the tour in a couple of years.

  “Ok, so it is getting late now." I told Jerry. “I am in. Where is this guy? And do you think he will work with me?," I asked. “He will work with you.” Jerry replied. As a matter of a fact, I was talking to him a few days ago. I mentioned that I think that you would be a good candidate for him as student. He said he would be willing. He would be willing for two reasons. One, because he knows me and is happy to help out anyone that I know. And second, He lives close to you, just outside of Orlando," Jerry told me. “Really?” I replied. When do we start?," I asked.

  “Here's the deal," Jerry Replied. “He tells me for what he needs to do with you in your situation. He said that he needs seven days in a roll with you. Then you need to work yourself another seven days and apply his principles. He said if you are not willing to do that, then he cannot help. Last week he told me he is free for the next few weeks.” “I can do that I replied in an excited tone.”I got the next two weeks off. How about this week," I asked.

  “One minute," Replied Jerry. He pulled out his cell phone. “I will call him now, and it will be a quick, call, he is not too much for chit chat” he said smiling. He dialed and walked away from me and he was talking for just about a minute. Then he came back chuckling. “ I tell you one thing, he has got more grumpy in his old age. He said he can do it and to be at Green Lake Golf Course Tuesday morning at 8:00am. Do you know where that course is," asked Jerry. “Sure do, Done Deal” I replied in an excited tone. “OK, but I have to warn you. He has a irritating personality, with a crusty old shell. He will really piss you off if you let him. But really, he is just an old softy when you get past that outer shell. Besides when he is in teaching mode, he has a totally different personality which is very patient and professional. You will find that he really knows the golf swing. He will teach you in many different ways to get his point across. Some will seem strange and unconventional. But do what he says, give it a chance no matter how silly or strange some of his techniques may seem and you will make a huge improvement on your game." “No problem," I said. “I got thick skin, I can handle him. By the way, what does he charge?," I asked. “I don’t know. He will let you know when you get there," Jerry replied smiling. I am thinking that he knows something with that smile and this is going to cost me an arm and a leg. “Ok sounds good. I will be there Tuesday at 8:00am." I replied.

  “Time to get out of here, I am driving home now.” “Me too” replied Jerry. Back to the hotel for me tonight. Then to the Airport in the morning," he said as he got in his car. “Tell him I said hello. By the way," he said smiling. You may notice that he is still stuck in the 70’s." Jerry smiled and waved and drove off.

  Chapter 8: Golf Lessons

  My Goal is to get to the next level with my golf game and win the US Open which is just a few weeks away. I drove back home Sunday night. I thought all about what Jerry Churchill had told me. At first I did not want to accept it. But then I realized he was dead on. If I am going to improve, I need to take the next step with my golf game. I am stuck in the same rut the last few years, and my play has reflected that. I am getting older and my game is not progressing. The only reason for success lately with the exception of the Masters is that I have practiced so much recently that I just got more consistent with my swing. But it is not really improving. My golf game is not sustainable for a long period of time. I need to improve my fundamentals while I am still young enough and elevate my game to modern standards. So we will see if the guy named Gus can get me to the next level.

  I am suppose to be at Green Lake Golf course Tuesday at 8:00am. “Let me think," I say to myself as I am driving. The last few weeks have been crazy. I am having trouble keeping up with time and where I am at. Ok today is Sunday and I am driving home, from the TPC disappointment. Tomorrow is Monday, and I am just going to sleep, relax and do nothing. And since I live close to this course where Gus works, I will be there 8:00 am Tuesday morning with no problem.

  Then I remembered “Oh Yeah, Emily." She is suppose to be in Tampa to visit her parents tomorrow. Oh well, I think I will play it cool. I will contact her Tuesday night and see how things go.

  Finally I get home about 10:00pm. I Crash, sleep great. Monday I get up about 10:00 am. I do nothing all day. I am exhausted. I just hang around the house and watch TV. I watch a baseball game. For some strange reason, this is my new sport that I like to follow. I even go on the Internet and sign up for Fantasy Baseball. Looks like fun. But basically I do nothing all day.

  Next Day, Tuesday morning. I am rested. I am on My way to Green Lake Golf Course, which is about 20 minutes east of Orlando. I am anxious to get started with Jerry’s friend Gus. He sounds like he is quite a character, and I am a little nervous. This may be the one person in my life who brings my golf game to a new level. Or maybe it destroys my game. “Oh, well, Game On," I tell myself as I arrive in the parking lot about 7:45am. I get my shoes on, and my bag and head to the clubhouse as instructed. I go to the front desk at the Pro Shop and tell them I am here to see Gus Gillespie. They direct me outside door and show me a little building that they tell me is his workshop and office.

  “Just knock on the door and he will call you in," they told me.

  I head that way not knowing what to expect. I knock on the door and there is no response. I knock again. Finally I hear “Yeah Yeah, come in!” in irritating voice. I walk in. The first room is somewhat of a makeshift office. There is a door that leads into what looks like a workshop. There is lots of golf equipment scattered everywhere. I go to that door and I see a man in working diligently on something on the table. “Gus?” I asked. "Yeah, Yeah, come on in," he replied. I approach him and he is doing some work on a golf club. I hold out my hand. “Hi Jim Galloway, I am here for my 8:00am lesson with you sent by Jerry Churchill ," I said smiling. He looks up shakes my hand as if was an inconvenience for him. "Yeah, yeah, ok one minute," he barked out in older raspy voice. He was an older gentlemen. He is pretty tall about six foot one. He was not too much over weight but he had a pretty good belly going on. Just you average looking mid 60’s looking guy. But he seemed to have the sense of authority. So I just stood there why he
was working. I felt like I was a kid in the Principal's office. Finally he said, “Ok, I will be a few minutes here. The practice range is right out there. Go to the pro shop and tell them that I told you to get a couple of buckets of balls. They will give you some tokens and you can get the balls out of the machine. Go to far end of the range and there is grass hitting there, so we do not have to use those damn Mats. Hit one bucket of balls get loose and I will be there in a few," he told me.

  “Ok sounds good," I replied like a nervous student. I laughed to myself as I was getting some practice balls. Jerry was right, he is a little rough around the edges. I tell myself just to be patient and do not get upset if he is hard to deal with.

  I get to the range and hit some balls. I feel good. The day off yesterday was good for me, I feel rested. About the time I finish my first bucket of balls, I see Gus walking up towards me. He has a bag, and what looks like two large pieces of curved plastic. “What the Hell," I tell myself. “Ok step away for a minute," he says. I step back. He connects the two pieces of orange plastic and it makes a big circle. Looks like a really big hoola hoop. He places it where I will be hitting. It it a big circle with white marks in various places. Then he gets out old style video camera. “You warmed up?” he asked in a grumpy tone. “It does not look like he is going to be warm and fuzzy here,,"I tell myself. “Yeah," I responded.

  Then he starts talking. “Ok, I am going to take some videos in a minute. But first let's go over how I operate for a case like yours. I need make sure we are on the same page before we go any further. This is not just a little lesson. You are a professional golfer who is looking to get your game to the next level, correct?," he asked looking at with a serious expression on his face. “Uh, Yeah," I replied quietly. “Did Jerry tell you I need you for Seven straight days?," he asked. “Yeah, he sure did," I responded. “And I am ready," I said enthusiastically. “Good” he replied. “Look, keep your schedule clean the next few days, it will be like boot camp. Some days we work only a couple of hours. Some days we may work 12. But most days should be about six to eight hours a day. We will be at the range and we will go on the course to work. Usually we will play 9 holes to go over what we are working on the range.” “No problem," I replied.

  “Ok, I am going to get some video and some pictures. Oh yea one more thing," he said. “Did Jerry tell you my rates?," he asked. “No he didn't," I replied. He then of looked down and seemed to be a little irritated and shaking his head. “Damn Jerry, I wish he would have told you, it might have saved us some both some time," he said shaking his head. “This is going to be expensive," I am thinking to myself. He looks up. “Ok then he barks out in a take it or leave it attitude. “$75.00 a day whether we work two hours or 12 hours a day. This is a daily rate. Is that acceptable to you?," he asked. I was stunned and I did not know if he was joking or seriously. The going rate is about $1000.00 a day for a good swing coach. Then I remembered that Jerry told me he was is stuck in the Seventies. So that must have been the rate back then. “Sounds good to me” I responded. “Good," he responded and looked like he was relieved and uncomfortable talking about money.

  He started video taping me with his old 1970’s looking video camera. He would go to different marked points Points on the big plastic circle that surrounded me. At each point he would speak out a letter or number or combinations of letters and numbers in the microphone. He shot from every angle possible. He would even stand in the line of fire but had me not hit the ball there, just swing. Then he did same thing with his old still camera. It was not even a digital camera. I felt like saying “Dude, you know you can get a digital camera nowadays, where you can shoot still shots and video with one device," I was saying to myself. But I bit my tongue and let him continue. Finally he finished. “Ok, see you here 8:00am in the morning," he said. And he walked off. Well that surprised me. I checked the time, and it was only 9:15. I guess this must be one of the short days he talked about. I got my gear together and chuckled to myself. Jerry is right, he is not much on chit chat.

  I got back home about 10:15 am. “I got all day what am I going to do?," I asked myself. “Should I contact Emily? No, I will contact her tomorrow," I tell myself. I need to get a good feel on how this week will be with these golf lessons with Gus. Hopefully I will know by tomorrow.

  Wednesday morning. I get to the course about 7:45. I get my gear together and head to his shop by the clubhouse. I walk in, same as yesterday. “This old building has seen a lot of golf” I tell myself as I walk in. He is in the back room and he is busy working on something. “Good Morning!," I shout out. He looks up, like I have interrupted him from doing something important. “You know the Drill, I will be out there in a few minutes," he says. “Sounds good” I replied. I walked out smiling. "This may be an adventure," I tell myself. I get some balls and went out and hit a few got loose.

  About 8:15 he came out. He was carrying a duffle bag. “How you doing today Gus?," I asked. “Fine fine” he grumbled. “Except I am tired of looking at your swing on tape," he said. “Any hope for me?” I said jokingly. He looked up like he was not amused. “How long have you been on tour?," he asked. “Ten years," I replied feeling worried. “I do not see that your swing has any major issues” he said in a somewhat encouraging tone. He continued on. “I see some things in your swing that you may have gotten away with when you were young and strong. But that is not substantial now. But you asked me if there is hope?," he said as he had his lips pressed tight nodding his head and thinking. Then he paused for about 5 seconds, which seemed like an eternity to me. My emotions are all confused. I feel like little kid talking to adult or someone with authority like a teacher or a coach or someone. Then he looked up at me. “There's always hope," he said grinning. "Now let's get to work," he barked out. I laughed and then I felt relieved. I felt like maybe he is just playing with me. Maybe he does have a personality.

  We start to work and I hit a few balls. Then he starts talking and getting into teacher mode. Once he started talking about my swing. And how the golf swing is suppose to work, then I realized that this guy is good. I could tell in the first 15 seconds that he really knows his stuff. It was like when you have a meeting with a Financial Planner, a Lawyer, or a business executive. After the initial chit chat when they start talking, you realize they really know more about their craft than you could ever know. And that's the way it was here with Gus. I have been around golf most of my life and thought I knew the game. But it became very obvious and very quickly that he knows more about the golf swing than I would ever know. He was so good and explaining things. That grumpy personality went away when he is in teaching mode. He was very patient and very understanding on any feedback I was giving. We hit balls for an hour, and I was loving it. I was hitting the ball well. And that little voice in my head was thrilled, cheering me on. Gus was going over my swing and showing and telling me what I was doing in great detail. But he was able explain things that I could understand and make sense of. He was not having me change anything. He was just explaining on what I was doing with my swing. He showed me parts of my swing that I never realized. He really knew my swing better than I know my own swing. All the time, he was patient, professional and courteous. It was like he just flipped a switch from his grumpy old self.

  “Ok enough on the range Lets go play nine holes," he said. We will use carts to save time. We went to the clubhouse “Separate Carts," he said. “My shots will not be close to yours, besides, a separate cart allows me to watch you. All we are doing is playing, no instructions, I just want to see you play on the course." “OK” I replied. “You hit from the back tees and I will play from the blue," he said as we got to the first tee box.” This course is actually a good championship course which has good length which will work for me. I really wanted to show him what I can do. At first I felt nervous. But then I realized that I am comfortable with him. He seems to have some odd way of putting me at ease. I really hit the ball well. I thought. He did not say much, he just observed.

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sp; Also I was curious how he would play. And I was impressed. He had a really nice swing. He is an older man about 66, so he did not have a lot of power compared to me. But he could hit is drives about 240 yards. And it was every time. His swing was fluid and seemed to be fundamentally solid. I asked what his handicap is. “I don't play enough anymore to have a handicap.” he replied. “But when I play, I usually shoot mid to high 70s to low 80’s," he told me. “Not bad” I replied.

  We finished our round and went back to the range. He told me what he had observed when we played the nine holes. “When you play” he said. “You have a different swing for every shot. That's not good. If you want to go to the next level, you basically have to have the same swing for each shot.” “By the way," he said as he paused. “Your mid and long irons suck." I just nervously chuckled and did say anything. He continued on. “We have been talking about your swing all day. Now we are going to go over what the golf swing really is. But one step at a time," he said.

  Then he started going over the swing. “Without a ball, setup in a stance. Take a nice smooth practice swing," he told me. I did that. “Again, but nice and smooth” he said softly. “What do you see” he asked. “Uh, I don't know," I said in a confused tone. “Just a golf swing I guess," I replied. “Now you have been playing golf most of your life” he said. “I am sure you have had lots of lessons and heard the old saying that a golf swing is just like a Pendulum, correct?," he asked. “Huh yea” I replied. “Wrong!” he barked out. “A golf swing is not “like” a pendulum," he said as he held up his two hands making the quotation gesture with his two fingers on each hand. He looked at me right in the eye. “It is a Pendulum!," he said intently. “If you only get one thing out of these lessons. I want you to understand that a golf swing is a pendulum. You understand," he said looking at me. “OK, OK," I responded in agreement. “Setup again," he said. “Bring the club back, then follow through," which I did. “Your golf swing is a pendulum, just like a Grandfather Clock. You go back then your club goes down, and glides to the bottom and then up. That my young man in the physics world is a Pendulum. It's not a pretty pendulum because you have muscles, tendons, bones and a brain in the way. But it is in fact a pendulum. Once you understand that, then you will master a major component of the golf swing” he said smiling. “OK” I responded an intrigued tone.