I came across an interesting article on reigning Masters Champion Dustin Johnson. It talked about a couple of keys in how he felt like his game went to the next level. One of them I found pretty relevant for members at Alta View Golf Club.
The full article is in Golf Week and can be found here.
A few months later, another foundational moment occurred. At the 2016 Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club north of Los Angeles, Johnson won the morning wave of the pro-am with Janet Gretzky and Tristan Gretzky, his fiancée’s mother and younger brother.
Instead of celebrating, Johnson went to the range. There he hooked up with reps from TrackMan, a launch monitor that provides precise analytics concerning what a golf ball does after being hit.
At the time, Johnson was a middling wedge player. More harshly, it was a weakness, especially when he lived in the 50- to 150-yard range.
“He was leaving so many shots out there,” Winkle said. “If he could become even a medium-range wedge player, game over. He spent hours that day and then turned to me and said, ‘Wink, order me one of these.’”
It came in the mail three weeks later, and Johnson quickly developed a system where he’d spend hours working on half-, three-quarter and full shots with his wedges. Now he’s one of the best wedge players in the game.
“I knew I had to really work on my wedge game,” Johnson said. “Now I’m never surprised with whatever number I have to the green. I probably practice like 80 percent of my time on wedges.
“It took me a long time but as you get older, you figure out some things.”