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MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 17, 2004 Summer golf school aides South’s Nieto By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune School in the summer? Nick Nieto didn’t mind a bit. The senior-to-be at South Medford High spent three weeks recently at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Leadbetter, who wasn’t on hand, has coached such greats as Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Greg Norman and is regarded as one of the world’s finest instructors. He has golf schools throughout the world, including six in North America. Nieto had hoped to spend a semester at the school, but the cost was prohibitive. He and his parents opted for three one-week summer sessions. Each week was largely the same — that’s a good thing, given golf success relies so much on a repetitive swing — and Nieto had the benefit of working with the same two instructors throughout. Advertisement "They’re watching you all the time and making sure you’re doing things right," he says. "When you’re on your own, you can get lazy with some things. It makes practicing a lot easier." Much of the work was on fundamentals, beginning with the setup and grip. Students spent two to four hours on the range in the morning, then another four hours in the afternoon on the short game. A couple of sessions dealt with mental preparation and course management, and a couple of times they went to the International Performance Institute to work on golf-specific exercises and weight training. Videotape was used extensively to examine the swing. Nieto, who missed making it to the high school state tournament by two shots in the spring, is pleased with the results, particularly his putting and play around the green. "I feel like I’m coming away a much more solid player," he says. "I’m more consistent in how I’m hitting the ball and with my short game. When I’m not playing so well, I can still count on other parts of my game to keep me up." The academy also provides an after-care service, so to speak. Nieto stays in touch with his instructors via e-mail and will occasionally send video of his swing for analysis. "I felt like I learned more than I can handle almost," he says. "I had to keep writing things down so I could remember them." He played one tournament since, qualifying for the championship flight of the Southwestern Oregon Amateur and winning his first match before falling. IT WAS ALMOST a worst-to-first showing for the winners of the Rogue Valley Country Club Member-Guest tournament last weekend. Member Jerry Eklund and his guest, Dave Shellhorn, stumbled to 39 par points on the first of the two-day event. Points are awarded for eagles (4), birdies (3), pars (2) and bogeys (1), and a point is lost for double bogeys or worse. With the best score on each hole counting, 39 proved not to be a good first-day score. "We were near the bottom of the barrel," says Eklund, a 5-handicapper who fashioned a nifty 1-under-par 71 on Saturday. Coupled with the 79 of Shellhorn, who has a 12 handicap, it was a tough combo to beat on Day 2, when both scores counted. Their 83 par points turned some heads. "It was kind of comical," Eklund said, because last year, he and Shellhorn, playing together in the tourney for the first time, blew away the field on the first day, then self-destructed the next. This time around, their 122 net total tied the Rick Hutchins-Ted Stark and Eric Ford-Mike Peyton teams for low net. The scorecard — the best score on the toughest hole — was used to break the tie. Starting on the sixth hole on the outside course, Eklund birdied his first three holes and five in all. Neither he nor Shellhorn, a former neighbor who now lives in Chandler, Ariz., had to subtract points for "others." "Dave made a lot of bogey-saving putts," said Eklund, "and that’s a two-point swing." The tough, uphill par-3 13th hole might have been their springboard to victory. Each knocked their tee shots within 10 feet and made par. They finished on the No. 1 handicap hole, No. 5, and Shellhorn’s up-and-down par ultimately decided the tiebreaker. "It was a pretty good day for us," said Eklund. KELLY RASMUSSEN hedged a bit when he was invited to play golf with a Britt performer a few weeks ago. He’d returned at 2 a.m. from a business trip and the tee time was for noon the same day at Rogue Valley Country Club. Plus, he wasn’t familiar with the singer. "I don’t listen to a lot of music," he admits. Not since the ‘80s, anyway. He called his wife, Cindi, who assured him, yes, Michael Bolton is kind of big time. She then had him call a friend, Pam Fronek, who has traveled great distances to see her favorite entertainer. At first, Rasmussen teased her. Eventually, he had to convince her he was, indeed, playing with Bolton. Finally, he had to make room for her in the golf cart. "That was the highlight of the whole thing, having this person who just loves his music come along," says Rasmussen. "It was worth the risk." The golf wasn’t bad, either. Bolton told Rasmussen at the outset he’s a serious golfer and was looking for a good game. Rasmussen obliged, shooting one of his best rounds ever, 68. Bolton is a solid 7-handicapper and shot 75. He labeled it the round of his life. "He was on the green in two on No. 12," Rasmussen marvels. "I’ve never seen that from anybody. He’s very focused and very driven. I’m sure that’s also why he’s a great talent. If he missed a shot, he’d go off to the side and take about five practice swings to see what he did wrong." Throughout the round they were high-fiving, even chest-bumping. Bob Kazor, who arranged the match, also played, and the three were followed by Bolton’s bodyguard and several other handlers. It was interesting to watch, says Rasmussen, who was offered tickets for the concert that night. "He nodded to one of his guys, who nodded to another guy, and five seconds later he says, ‘You’re on, backstage,’" recalls Rasmussen. He also noted that on the few errant shots Bolton hit, the bodyguard was sent looking for the ball. "It’s a different world," says Rasmussen, who now owns some of Bolton’s CDs. "I’m a convert." Have a local golf story? 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