May 29, 2007 - Florida Today - Peter Kerasotis

Ex-Titan Swings to New Beat - Horgen's Lessons Revolutionize Golf

When I was a neophyte BCC student, I'd drop by Floyd Horgen's office just to hear him talk. He was the Titans' golf coach then, but Floyd's scope of interest reached way beyond that, which is what always made him fascinating.

"Tuesdays With Morrie."

Maybe he and I will one day write our own book.

"Tuesdays With Floyd."

Yeah. I miss those days. It was a real treat, then, to spend a recent morning with Floyd (I think it was a Thursday), sitting at my kitchen table, sipping coffee and talking about everything and anything.
Mostly, though, it was golf.

Horgen lives in Bozeman, Mont., these days, ever since retiring from BCC 14 years ago. What a loss to our community that was. He's still a legend around these parts. You don't win seven national championships, coach 46 All-Americans, produce a handful of PGA Tour players, and leave a legacy like BCC's driving range and teaching center, which was Floyd's vision, and not leave your mark.
When Floyd called a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to hear his voice. He was in town for his grandson's graduation and wanted to get together. “I’ve got a teaching method I’d like to show you that I think can revolutionize golf," he said.

Revolutionize golf. Strong words.

But if you've ever spent time with Floyd, you wouldn't be surprised if someone told you that the initials E.F. preceded his surname.

E.F. Horgen.

When Floyd talks, people listen.

Especially people in golf.

I'm always amazed (then again, I'm not) when I run into Floyd at various and sundry PGA Tour events, working behind the scenes, helping a golfer.

"Floyd, what are you doing here?" Oh, I'm just working with so-and-so.

His influence in golf is far-reaching. Many are Horgen's disciples. Everybody's heard how Phil Mickelson has now teamed with swing guru Butch Harmon. But who was Phil's coach and friend who helped him win his three majors?

That would be Rick Smith. Former BCC Titan. A Floyd Horgen pupil.

Floyd's most famous student is Hal Sutton, winner of the PGA Championship and The Players Championship amongst his many other accomplishments in golf, and it is Sutton who is one of the official spokespersons behind what Horgen is calling "The Three Beat Swing."

Pssssst. The secret is in the second beat.

You can check it out at Floyd's Web site: wwwthreebeatswing. com.

Like most instructors and Floyd does keep active teaching golf at a Montana country club, Horgen found himself feeling like a chiropractor, always trying to readjust the same knot in someone's swing.
"It became evident to me, all my golf life, that I was trying to fix people’s mistakes caused by urges,” he said. “ And it was the same mistakes.”

Horgen describes those urges as, (1) The urge to lift the ball, (2) The urge to overuse the arms and hands to create club head speed, and (3) The urge to make the clubhead go where we want the ball to go.

The trick is learning to swing the whole club instead of just trying to hit the ball with the club head -- and anyone who has played golf can probably relate to the latter. How many of us have stood in our stance and concentrated so hard on just making sure our oversized driver smacks the ball?

Wrong focus, says Floyd.

"The best teachers are trying to teach their students to swing the whole club, but they just don't know it," he said. "The ThreeBeatSwing teaches that. Instead of trying to fix mistakes, it teaches you a whole motion." And the second-beat secret?

"You can't hit a baseball without a stride," Horgen noted. "The stride is an actual slide. That's the middle beat."

In his book, which for now is self-published and available only at his Web site, he describes it this way:

"The key fundamental of our teaching philosophy is that power and consistency come from inside out. A discus thrower, a shot-putter, a figure skater, a martial artist, a golfer, they all generate power by moving their body first, which in turn moves their arms, which in turn moves the club.

"Once you have learned and experienced this key fundamental, you will never again want to hit the ball with your arms and hands. You will be hooked on the aphrodisiac of true power and consistency: centrifugal force and the pull of gravity working together."

It's an interesting concept, and thumbing through his book, it resonates.

This is a guy, had he chosen it as a career track, could've been one of the PGA Tour's golf gurus. 1 asked Floyd why he didn't do that? Why didn't become another Butch Harmon or David Leadbetter?
Floyd smiled.

"Because those guys only play golf four or five times a year, and I play 250 times a year. Plus I ski about 80 days. And I hunt quite a bit." He paused.

"Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for those guys. But that's not for me. Working with touring pros isn't the easiest thing, either. Yeah, it’s good for the ego, But it’s the masses who really need the help, and those are the people I enjoy working with. I want to help people enjoy the game and grow the game. I think this method will do that."

Fascinating. Interesting. Vintage Floyd Horgen.