The Ballad Of The Ray Morelli Golf School
The Ballad Of The Ray Morelli Golf School
I used to have a friend a long time ago name Ray Morelli and Ray Morelli had a golf school called the Ray Morelli Golf School. At the Ray Morelli Golf School they taught the rules of the game, golf etiquette, how to dress for golf, and how to drive a cart without killing someone. But the most important thing taught at the Ray Morelli Golf School was the basics of how to play the game of golf. Ray Morelli was a great man and he lost his life one day in a tragic Scrabble accident but I have vowed to keep the memory of Ray Morelli alive and maintain the teachings of the Ray Morelli Golf School.
The first thing they teach you at the Ray Morelli Golf School is the proper grip. To Ray Morelli the proper golf grip was the interlocking grip. Basically you would make a baseball grip and then interlock the pointer finger from the top hand with the pinky finger of the bottom hand. Then you would turn the grip to make sure that both thumbs from both hands point down the shaft of the club and that the palm of the lower hand was wrapped over the grip and not open. Then you lighten up a little bit and you have the perfect grip. Ray Morelli always said that "any grip but an interlocking grip is a grip used by Satanists." I ain't no Satanist. I use the interlocking grip like I learned at the Ray Morelli Golf School.
Grip It And Rip It
The next thing they teach you at the Ray Morelli Golf School is how to properly address the ball. Oh everyone would get a good laugh when someone would inevitably do their Ed Norton from The Honeymooners imitation and say "Hello ball!" really loud! It was great fun . . . the first few hundred times. It got so that the poor soul didn't get the first part of the word "Hello" out before Ray was cramming his 9 iron down the poor guy's throat. Ray Morelli hated The Honeymooners.
The proper way to address a golf ball without getting Ray Morelli's 9 iron shoved down your throat is to stand with your head directly over the ball and your feet shoulder length apart. Then you stand back far enough so that you can fully extend your arms with the club in your hand. Bend your knees to adjust for height and keep your back straight at a 45 degree angle. Ray Morelli would call that the stance of a champion and he won enough tournaments to know a champion when he saw one. Rest in peace Ray Morelli, rest in peace.