By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚9 Minute Read   Introduction Well, this is a tough one to write as I’ve only broken 70 a handful of times. If you are a recreational player that doesn’t get to practice much because of other obligations on your time, it's really hard to break 70. It is always going to come down to consistency for us normal players. We’ve got to know where the ball is going to go and know how to score. You have to hit your shots, be patient, and make your putts. The short game also needs to be top-notch, gotta get up and down when you do miss your shots, and be ready to hit ..read more

By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚11 Minute Read   Introduction If you have been around golf long enough and played with enough good players, you will hear the term knock down once or twice. You may ask someone what they just hit, and they might reply, a little knock down 7 iron, as a way of telling you, well they hit 7, but it wasn’t a full 7. That is the usual context about a knockdown, but what is it, and how do you hit it?    What is a knockdown? A knockdown will take about 5 to 10 yards off of a full shot to be a little more accurate with your distances. But it has other bene ..read more

By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚11 Minute Read   Introduction At CTRL, we firmly believe that people all have their own unique ideal swing, and that swing advice should always be taken with a grain of salt because we believe that swing tips and advice need to be personalized. I was on r/golf on reddit.com the other day and was trying to make this point. A gentleman asked where people see the worst swing advice and he said for him it was r/golf. While I don’t necessarily disagree with him, as you do see a ton of terrible swing advice on reddit, you also see a lot of great swing advice. I te ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚8 Minute Read   Introduction Have you ever watched the pros hit an iron shot or tee shot, or really any kind of shot, and just see the beautiful high ball flight that they might hit into a tight pin? Hitting the ball high is very advantageous in a lot of different situations. Off of the tee, a ton of carry by hitting the ball high allows you to overpower a course. Hitting it higher will allow you to go at a tucked pin or hit a ball over an obstacle and land it on the green with little rollout. Many different situations call for a higher ball flight ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚9 Minute Read Introduction Here we are; the off-season for golf has arrived for most of you. I’m in Texas, and that off-season starts a little closer to January. We are still in good weather. However, for the rest of you up north, the off-season is here, and it is time to make those hard changes you have been holding off on. In this blog, we are going to chat about some of the ways that you can practice in the off-season and some ways to keep your game fresh and ready for the spring so you can get back out on the course and wow your buddies with how far yo ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚9 Minute Read Introduction Golfers must be among the most complicated people to buy a gift for. Whether you don’t know much about golf, have no idea what gear they need, what gear they already have, or even the brands they like, buying for a golfer is tough. So here I will give you a comprehensive guide on what to buy and what not to buy someone!   Training Aids Training aids are tough to buy for someone. The problem is most training aids are designed for a particular purpose, and I could only ever recommend two training aids. Because most training ai ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚9 Minute Read What is it? Why does it matter? Introduction Golf is, in my opinion, the most challenging sport on the planet. One of the reasons for that is taking what practice to the golf course is incredibly difficult. We’ve all done it; we hit the ball incredibly on the range and then get to the course and just can’t keep it going. You just never hit the ball on the course the way you do on the range. Why is that? Well, because you aren’t practicing properly. You need to be employing transfer practice, so that you can be clutch under pressur ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚7 Minute Read Introduction If you have been around golf long enough and played with enough good players, you will hear the term knock down once or twice. You may ask someone what they just hit, and they might reply, a little knock down 7 iron, as a way of telling you well they hit 7, but it wasn’t a full 7. That is the usual context about a knockdown, but what is it, and how do you hit it?    What is a Knockdown? A knockdown will take about 5 to 10 yards off of a full shot to be a little more accurate with your distances. But it has other benefit ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚14 Minute Read Introduction Are you looking to buy new irons but have no idea where to start? I will walk you through everything I look for when getting ready to buy a new set. This will be an overview of everything you need to know and everything you should keep in mind. Of course, as a PGA Professional, I would recommend that you go and get fit for a set of irons, but if you don’t want to get fit or you want to do some research and get a good handle on what is going on, this is an excellent overview for it.   Iron Type The first thing you should thi ..read more

  By: Nick Bockenfeld, PGA ⌚15 Minute Read Introduction Bunkers are one of the most prevalent obstacles you will encounter when playing golf. A good bunker player sees a bunker and has nothing to fear, while a lousy bunker player sees a bunker and sees jail that will lose a stroke or 2. A bunker does not have to be a hazard or a penalized shot. Some bunkers are meant to be a hazard that is meant to be hard to get out of, but most bunkers are easy to get out of and up and down. A bunker is much easier to predict and get up and down than a heavy rough. You typically know what a bunker ..read more