The Golf Club: June 28, 2014

BOSTON (CBS) - On the latest edition of The Golf Club, Hardy spoke with Joe Leary of the DCR, golf author Dave Stockton, and he even got a golf lesson from Matt Walsh.

But first, Hardy let us know about the latest addition to his golf bag.

A few weeks back, Hardy got together with Steve Show of Golfsmith in Watertown to talk about the difference between rangefinders and GPS devices -- a must have toy from the novice to the pro.

Show hooked Hardy up with a rangefinder and he absolutely loved the thing. The only problem was he started leaving it at the tee box, or in his golf cart and was worried he was going to lose his multi-hundred dollar device sooner or later.

So he took the rangefinder back, and traded it in for a GPS watch for half the price.

This watch is the bees knees. By pressing the "Start Round" button it automatically detects your location within 30 seconds and gives you a pin point map of the course from hole one all the way to 18.

Plus it's a watch, so he can't lose it even if he tries.

Next on the show was Joe Leary, the director of golf for the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the state. He came on to talk about Leo J. Martin Golf Course, which borders many local towns.

"You can take Rt. 128 or the Pike and it's right off both of them. It's in Newton, Wellesley...wait a minute."

"You forgot!" Hardy exclaimed.

"And Weston! The address is Weston I should have known that one," said Leary.

Wellesley and Newton aren't exactly known for their public courses -- it's more of a private area -- so Leo J. Martin offers a nice course for the average person.

Celebrities such as Tony Massarotti often frequent Leo J., and Leary joked "we have to fix his divots every time he goes out."

Leo. J has an interesting history. It was once called Riverside Recreation and had the largest swimming pool in New England, a boat launch and a dance hall.

"It was the place to go before 128 came in. Rt. 128 came in and took over the land and the course got shifted. It's a great little layout and the Charles River runs through it. There's beautiful views and there's not a bad hole out there," said Leary.

As a public course, funding has been an issue in years past and the maintenance of the course was neglected for some time. But those issues are in the past as new renovations were made. Leary talked about some of the newer projects for the course, including a $150,000 upgrade on the 7th and 15th greens.

Listen below:

Next up was former PGA pro and author Dave Stockton, on to talk about his book Own Your Game: How To Use Your Mind To Play Winning Golf.

Stockton, the 10-time PGA tour winner, acknowledges that proper mechanics is paramount. However, the most important part to your golf game is above the shoulders.

"My sons and I are really into visualization and what you do, and not so much mechanical. I understand the value of the mechanical in the long game, but it can really hurt you in the short game. This book tells you about different pros that I've worked with and how I did the fix with them mentally -- nothing to do with the physical aspect."

After a crappy round we'll head back to the clubhouse, sit down in the 19th hole and nit pick every little thing we just did for the past five hours and say to ourselves, "Man, I need to play better."

For Stockton, his advice to you would be, "No, you need to think better."

"A lot of us could putt better when we were kids than when we're older, because we get these swing thoughts and tips that basically last a few days.  And when you have the tips you're not using your natural ability. And so it's kind of cleaning your mind out, just picturing it and letting it go. People don't think it's that simple but it really is," said Stockton.

Stockton's philosophy speaks to the advice given to us earlier in the season by Stow Acres' Tom Giles, who basically said there's no "one size fits all" approach to instructing golf, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Tips can convolute your mind, which Stockton says needs to be at ease at all times on the course.

It's an interesting discussion.

Listen below for the full interview:

Last on the docket was Matt Walsh, the head professional at Warwick Country Club in Rhode Island.

When Matt Walsh is giving a lesson, he can't tell you how many times people get out of their car and expect to drive the ball 300 yards.

As we all know it doesn't work that way, but that doesn't mean you can't build towards it.

Using a car analogy, Walsh says it's important to "look under the hood" first to judge a person's overall level of physical fitness before giving a lesson, and start from there.

"You want to see if they can get into some of these positions, and if they can't then you go to Plan B. The body is an extremely important tool. It's your fifteenth club, if you will. If we can improve upon that you'll feel better over the ball and feel better in general. From there your mental output will improve."

Hardy got a free lesson from Matt Walsh, and you can listen to his swing tips below:

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