Palm trees, lush green grass, clear skies and sunshine are not usually associated with ski caps and hand warmers, but when tee time is at 7:30 a.m. in Florida, temperatures can still be a brisk 40 degrees. It may seem like poor playing conditions for the average golfer, but for the DePaul golf team it’s a much-improved situation.”In cold weather like this we haven’t been outside,” said Head Coach Betty Kaufmann. “We usually got out there on a 30-degree day and the sun is shining and they have heaters [at Diversey Driving Range] and you know the winds aren’t howling.”
On days warm enough to practice at an outdoor course, Kaufmann has the team work on “playing it down and hitting shots to greens” to help them emulate what they want.
“Would you play all nine? Probably not,” Kaufmann said. “You know, if you can just create some bad lies or more difficult lies.”
As Chicago weather turns from blizzard to artic chill, DePaul golf heads to a golf dome to work on everything from putting to digging themselves out of bunkers.
“Last year, we put in, like literally a sandbox,” said Ben Westley, junior. “Like wooden planks and we just filled it with sand. Pretty makeshift, but it works.”
Though a roughly 6-by-6 sandbox is a far cry from a bunker, Kaufmann said,
“There’s enough sand that you can build it up and have your sand and you hit it out to [about four feet], which is a, you know, a greenside bunker shot. Yet then you could make it almost into a fairway one and have to hit shots out of there. So you’re simulating as much as you can.”
According to Kaufmann, the biggest coaching challenge while working out indoors is the tendency for players to want to focus on technical aspects of their game; however, as the team is heading into the heart of their season, this is not the time to get technical, said Kaufmann.
“So my biggest challenge as a coach is trying to get them, getting creative enough to create playing syndrome,” Kaufmann said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job this year. It takes a little visualization, a little creativity. It’s really in their hands because they’re the ones that have to be tough. They have to be honest with themselves and the ones that are and the ones that really can make it game-like and tournament-like are the ones that come out more successful.”
Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. serves as DePaul’s home course and is still covered in snow. Because of blistering winds, many peaks on the course are snow-free, but the greens and fairways are still averaging 15 inches, according to Mike Kinasiewicz, Ruffled Feathers head golf professional.
“We’re in the ‘blah’ part of the season,” Kinasiewicz said.
With the weather making it unlikely that the team will practice outside until after spring break, Kaufmann and the team must get creative in their preparation for upcoming tournaments, the majority of which are set in the south.
“We’re probably at a disadvantage compared to these schools in the South, but at the same time you get a break, you get time to reflect on what you did well, what you need to improve on and, like coach said, we’re working on process and visualization a lot and that’s a big part of our golf game,” said Charles Boucher, senior. “We’ve been trying to play the golf course, for example, that we’re going to play this [past] weekend. So, trying to play the holes, trying to see where we want to hit the shot, where we want to miss.”
Having never played the TPC Tampa Bay course before, the team prepared by using the course layout and a scorecard to estimate landing areas and other aspects of play.
“We’ve played [the course] indoors in our heads, our imaginations,” Westley said, who added, “When you’re in the dome you see your ball go up and then it just hits a wall. When you’re outside, you know, you see the entire flight of it, so it’s easier to imagine a target. What you’re trying to do when you’re inside is you’re trying to make a target in your mind of where it would be when there is no target.”
These drills are meant to help the players remember the hole when they get to the course, said Kaufmann. “So they’re going to know that it’s a straightaway, shorter par-4. Now, how they played it and how it’s actually going to play is where the modification would come in.