Old Greenwood's cameras will fix that swing

Bee columnist gets into swing at Old Greenwood — where no one can hide

By RON AGOSTINI
ragostini@modbee.com

last updated: July 02, 2008 11:02:24 AM

TRUCKEE — "Your turn, Mr. Agostini, step up and let's see your swing."

My thoughts rewound back to third grade on report-card day. All those sweaty-palmed emotions rippled to the surface: How did I do? Will my parents ground me when they see my social studies grade? Will everyone laugh?

Only now, the subject was golf and, more specifically, the erosion of my swing as middle age became my caddie. There was nowhere to hide and no trapdoor to safely escape this mess. I took my place, 7-iron in hand, and inspected my surroundings.

Cameras hung from the rafters, on the floor in front, down the line behind me and, of course, to my, uh, back. I soon would be exposed, flaw by painful flaw, from every conceivable angle.

Is this how Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Hanks feels on Academy Awards night? They seem to enjoy their walk on the red carpet while the lights flash. Why is my stomach doing a Greg Louganis triple-flip with a twist?

Because it's golf, the four-letter word of sports.

"Not bad, Ron," said Keith Lyford, the director of instruction at The Golf Academy at Old Greenwood near Truckee. "Just a couple of things we can correct."

Lyford sounded like a kindly neighborhood doctor. Yes, son, we'll have you feeling fine in about 10 years.

I volunteered as a golf guinea pig at Old Greenwood for two reasons: 1. I wondered why my game smelled like 3-day-old fish, and 2. I was curious about state-of-the-art golf instruction centers.

Self-consciousness aside, I endorse the experience. If you wish to know — really, really know — what you're doing right and wrong with your game in every facet, Old Greenwood and places like it are calling your name.

For starters, Old Greenwood sparkles with High Sierra beauty and charm. Jack Nicklaus has designed a first-class test on this gently rolling property accented by pine trees, streams and ponds. Adjacent is the Golf Academy, a virtual classroom for golf-swing education.

Take, for example, the hitting bay and all those cameras. Imagine whacking tee shots from your garage onto a huge practice range, and you have the picture. Within a few moments of your well-documented swings, Lyford — a member of Golf Magazine's top 100 teaching pros — spots the good and bad via slow motion and stop-action.

"You know your game better than we do. Tell us what you want to do, what your goals are," he said. "We'll find out where you are now and where you want to go and how we'll get there."

After showtime and about an hour on the practice range, we were introduced to TOMI, the Total Optimal Motion Instructor. All it does is break down your putting stroke nine ways: alignment at address, alignment at impact, path at impact, stroke path and rotation, shaft angle, impact spot, velocity at impact, stroke tempo and effective loft.

Simply, TOMI will detect why you can't hole an 8-footer with all bets on the line.

The system takes a picture of your putting stroke via an infrared transmitter clip that attaches to the putter shaft. After a few swings, students receive their nine-way analysis, and from that input, solutions.

"Tiger Woods and a lot of PGA Tour guys use TOMI," said Greenwood instructor Renee Trudeau, a Truckee native and former two-time Nevada state high school champion. "About 80 percent of our students have an outside-to-inside path to their putting stroke."

For the record, Woods' backswing is 1 degree inside. Every single time.

From there, we adjourned to one of several greens for pitching tips. The learning center, located far away from the clubhouse, lends an ideal ambience for rehabbing a wayward game.

"The manufacturers have reached their limit. We can't get a club or ball to go any farther. We've reached the maximum," Lyford said. "It's now totally up to the golfer."

Thanks to Old Greenwood, I recognize my golf imperfections — all 253 of them.

HOLES-IN-ONE — Will Heinrichs, Modesto, 94-yard fifth at River Oaks, Ceres, gap wedge. ... Anthony Miller, Riverbank, 128-yard first at River Oaks, 8-iron. ... Hement Khatri, Hughson, 110-yard third at River Oaks, pitching wedge. ... Glenn Wilson, Hughson, 86-yard 16th at River Oaks, sand wedge. ... Dan Keane, Modesto, 142-yard second at Jack Tone Golf, Ripon, 8-iron. ... Tom Badiali, Modesto, second at Jack Tone, 8-iron. ... Greg Evrett, Oakdale, second at Jack Tone, 7-iron. ... Jerry Bramble, Manteca, 102-yard sixth at Jack Tone, pitching wedge. ... Dave Conley, Manteca, 86-yard 17th at Jack Tone, pitching wedge.

Bee sports columnist Ron Agostini can be reached at ragostini@modbee.com or 578-2302.

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