Until July, Michael Block had the official distinction – for 12 months – of being the best PGA club professional in the U.S.
Block, the head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, earned those bragging rights by winning the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He defended his title in July in Philadelphia with rounds of 73, 74 and 75, but his 54-hole total wasn’t low enough to play the final round.
Block, 39, has been at Arroyo since the course opened in 2004. He has been a teaching professional for 16 years and previously worked at The Lakes Country Club in Palm Desert. He was born in Reno but spent the majority of his childhood in Iowa and Missouri, competing on the golf team at Missouri-St. Louis before moving from the Midwest to Southern California.
Along the way he has also distinguished himself between the ropes by earning Southern California PGA Player of the Year honors and qualifying for and making the 36-hole cuts at the 2013 Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club (where he tied a PGA Tour record with two eagles in the first round) and the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He also qualified for the 2007 U.S. Open, was an alternate at the 2011 U.S. Open, won the 2001 California State Open and has five course records, including a 10-under 62 at Arroyo Trabuco.
His ability on the course makes him a draw on the practice range, with his two most important tips being a commitment to your shot and accelerating to the finish. Just prior to heading to Philadelphia, Block went through his bag to give readers additional tips for lower scores and more confidence.
DRIVER
“You want to create a higher trajectory and higher launch angle to create more distance in the air and less spin. One mistake I see amateurs make is they tee the ball too low, which promotes a descending angle of attack. The easiest way to adjust your attack angle is simple: tee the ball high and hit it as high as you can. The only swing thought is to stay behind the ball and hit it high, automatically giving you power and creating an ascending angle of attack. You don’t need more clubhead speed to add yards to your drives – just a new attack angle and ball position inside your left heel.”
FAIRWAY WOODS
“My advice to most golfers is not to hit a 3-metal off the ground. In my mind, it’s the most difficult shot in golf, even for pros. The hybrid is a much simpler club to hit, so why not find a hybrid that will be easier to hit in the air and create distance and increase consistency? If you want a 3-metal in your bag, go to a high-loft, high-launch 3-metal (16 or 17 degrees), which more and more pros are doing. Move the ball up slightly in your stance to create more of a tilt in your spine. This will force you to use a sweeping motion. Don’t take a divot; stay behind the ball and hit up at it.”
HYBRIDS
“I recommend a stronger lofted hybrid, over a fairway metal, because it has a shorter shaft, is easier to control and get up in the air, and you can be more aggressive to the finish. You can have a descending attack angle with a hybrid because the club gets the golf ball in the air so easily. That means you can hit down on it a little more and take a little grass. With a hybrid in my hands, I have the mindset that I’m hitting a smooth 5- or 6-iron and that I have a forgiving club in my hands. I’m trying to create positive thoughts. Ball position is like a 4- or 5-iron: halfway between center and your left foot.”
LONG IRONS
“My setup is similar for long irons and hybrids. I recommend using a more forgiving 4-iron and 5-iron, with a cavity back – even if it doesn’t match your set – because it gives you a bigger sweet spot and helps produce a higher trajectory. When I have a 3- or 4-iron in in my hand, I feel like I have to hit the absolute sweet spot to create the correct amount of loft and trajectory to get the ball to stop on the green. So I’ve replaced my 3-iron with a 17-degree 3-hybrid. If you hit long irons, pretend you’re hitting a 7-iron from 150-160 yards so don’t over-swing, which is a common mistake.”
MIDDLE IRONS
“When I’m hitting 6-, 7-, 8- and 9-irons I try to create a dollar-bill-sized divot – on the left side of the ball, through impact position – on each of these swings. If I’m picking it too cleanly (no divot), I’m hitting the bottom couple of grooves on the club instead of grooves 3-through-6, which will give me the trajectory and distance that I want. I want a descending angle of attack, which is created by my setup and ball position (center). If my ball striking is off, I put a tee 3 or 4 inches in front of my ball and hit both to make sure I stay down through the shot and my club stays descending past impact. Also make sure you accelerate to the finish.”
WEDGES
“My tip is not to use the pitching wedge from your set. Buy a custom-fit set of wedges made for your swing: pitching wedge (47-48 degrees), gap wedge (50-52 degrees), sand wedge (56 degrees) and lob wedge (60 degrees). My scoring wedges have lofts of 47, 52, 56 and 60 degrees. They look different from my other irons, but visually they all look the same when I’m over the ball. I have one club that goes 90 yards and one that goes 140 yards. But when I’m over the ball I feel like I have a sand wedge in my hands for each of them. I have the mentality that I can stick it close and make birdie from 140 yards in.”
LOB WEDGE
“The No. 1 thing with a lob wedge is maximizing distance control – not distance – whether it’s a 90-yard full swing, a 50-yard half shot, chip shot or bunker shot. I want you to take a three-quarter swing with your wedges to increase control. You’ll start scoring better inside 100 yards when you get more effective in this range. What I try to do, from watching pros like Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker, is minimize the wrist hinge in these shorter-range shots. I try to use more of my chest and shoulder rotation to create the speed, rather than the hand and wrist action. If I want a higher shot I play the ball farther up in my stance.”
PUTTER
“To make sure the ball is rolling off the putter face properly I make sure my hands are over the golf ball. If the ball is rolling properly (end over end) your distance control is going to be better and your ball will stay on line longer. My keys are to have a lot of bend in my hips, which allows me to have my eyes over the ball and at the same time puts my shoulders at the proper angle so they can rock. One way to keep my grip pressure light is take my thumbs off the putter grip and make a practice stroke. If your thumbs are pressing down, the pressure goes right up your forearm and you lose your touch, your stroke gets fast and you don’t release the putter. I’m also a straight back-and-through putter.”
