ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605200136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GOLF
SOURCE: RANDY KING
Attention, all you career hackers out there. Perhaps there's hope for your golf swing after all.
So, just forget what David Leadbetter said during that $500 lesson you had while in Florida. And to heck with what Peter Kostis shows you every month in some golf magazine.
Now, like some shot out of a cannon, comes a new golf-swing theory that conflicts with everything the nation's top swing doctors have been preaching since the turn of the century.
It's called the ``Natural Golf'' method, a philosophy based on the idea that golfers have been doing everything wrong for the past 100 years.
If Illinois-based scientist Jack Kuykendall gets his way, his Natural Golf method soon will become a part of mainstream golf instruction.
Frustrated his own game wasn't getting any better, Kuykendall, a 14-handicapper, decided a few years ago to take a scientific look at the golf swing.
Within six weeks, Kuykendall discovered a simple mechanical method that greatly enhanced his odds of producing an accurate golf shot. The final result? He started busting par regularly.
Kuykendall's scientific approach to the swing is radically different, no doubt. Forget the long-preached big shoulder and hip turn, he says. Forget the traditional Vardon grip, he says.
Natural Golf has the golfer hold the club in the palms, not the fingers. The backswing is short. There's little leg movement or body turn. The swing itself is more of a chopping motion, with the hands never getting higher than the shoulders.
The Natural Golf swing won't win any beauty contests, but it will get you closer to par, says Tim Petree, this area's Natural Golf sales manager.
``This swing is so much simpler than the traditional swing,'' Petree says. ``The traditional swing is an incredibly complex movement. The shoulders, arms, hands and club head are all rotating as you try to hit the ball at close to 100 mph. It requires incredible timing to do it right. That is why less than 1 percent of all golfers shoot par.''
If Kuykendall's way is the right way, how come nobody on the PGA Tour is swinging the Natural way?
``Good question,`` Petree says. ``But we do have Norman.''
That's Moe Norman, not Greg Norman.
And who is Moe Norman?
``He's the greatest ball-striker ever,'' Lee Trevino once said.
Norman, 65, has used the principles behind Natural Golf for his entire career. He once averaged 17 greens hit in regulation per round for an entire season on the Canadian tour.
``Even at 65 he can stand 260 yards from a target and hit 10 balls, nine of which will end up less than 30 feet from the target,'' Petree says.
Petree realizes not everyone will buy into the Natural Golf method. Women and older men are most receptive because of the added power it brings to their games.
``We're never going to get many of the low-handicappers to convert,'' Petree says. ``They're too wrapped up in perceptions and how their golf swing looks, especially to others.
``But all the other people out there should definitely give this a look.''
The opportunity comes this week. Todd Graves, a PGA professional who has competed on the Nike and Asian tours and is a recent Natural Golf convert, will conduct demonstrations and clinics at Roanoke's Big Lick Golf Driving Range and Learning Center at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
``The people won't believe how straight and how far the ball goes with so little effort,'' Petree says. ``I believe it will be the most amazing thing they will ever see in golf.''
RCC RENOVATION: Roanoke Country Club has retained the services of course architect Lester George to do some fine-tuning on its 27-hole layout and facilities.
Phil Owenby, the club's head professional, said George will come up with a ``master plan for the entire course and facility.''
``Then we'll look at his report as a committee and decide what we want to do,'' Owenby said.
Owenby noted any alterations in the venerable layout designed in 1899 by A.W. ``Tillie'' Tillinghast will be ``subtle.''
HELPING HAND: Northside's Daniel Palmer, Lord Botetourt's Andrew Green, Cave Spring's Kevin Ventura and Glenvar's Brian Kaulback were among 15 Virginia high school seniors awarded scholarships by the Virginia State Golf Association.
Palmer received $5,000, Green and Ventura $4,000 and Kaulback $3,000 of a record total of $78,500 awarded by the VSGA.
William Byrd's Cary Hastings and Salem's Kendall Keffer received one-time merit scholarship awards of $1,000 each for outstanding athletic achievement.
In the past 11 years, the VSGA has awarded more than $500,000 in grants to 209 Virginia students.
OPEN TV: Dedicated golf viewers won't miss much of the 96th U.S. Open from June 13-16 at Oakland Hills in Michigan.
Newcomer NBC and ESPN will combine to televise 27 hours of the year's second major. Thursday and Friday play will be shown on ESPN (11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5-7:30 p.m.) and NBC (3-5 p.m.). NBC will televise the action from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
SAND BLASTS: Northside's Justin Young, runner-up in the fall's Group AA tournament, will attend Charleston Southern University. ... Lexington's Bill Burkholder and Blair Nicely paced the area contingent in the VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship at Lexington Country Club. Burkholder and Nicely shot 74-70 to finish third, five shots behind winners Jim Kite and Claude Williamson. Hidden Valley's Bill Beasley and Charley Turner tied for fifth at 147. ... Organizers of the Don Holliday Memorial tournament will announce the winner of their annual $10,000 scholarship Tuesday.
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