Golf Talk Canada discuss Ralph Bauer’s New Putting Fundamentals Course

Adam Scully: There’s a lot going on right now in the world of golf. We’re going to kick off hour two with Ralph Bauer. Give us a little preview of what we’re going to hear in about eight minutes time.

Mark Zecchino: All right, so Ralph is one of the finest coaches in the world. A  real short game guru. He’s got dozens and dozens of PGA Tour players using the Tour Read Green Reading app. Tour Read, which is soon coming to Android. So if you’re an app person, an apple person, get it now. But within the next 30 days or so, it’s going to be Android as well.

Players like Nick Taylor is using it. Look what Nick’s doing on the greens. Like just crazy. There’s so many guys using it, having huge success. This is a new layer to that, and it makes so much sense.

What Ralph has done is built an online course, where he is building you a better putting stroke and basically, it’s like taking a putting lesson with Ralph Bauer and doing it through the app in a 7-part series. He’s going to get into this and it builds you a better stroke. It makes you a better putter before you start using the Tour Read app because the Tour Read app can only help you with green reading. It can’t fix your stroke.

These two marry very well together and here’s the best part. If you download the Tour Read app, the 7-part lesson with Ralph Bauer is free. I don’t know where else on the planet you can get a free lesson with the top short game coach on the planet. Maybe the best putting coach on the planet. Certainly, top five short game gurus on the PGA tour. I don’t know where you get that for free.

Adam: I’m really looking forward to hearing about this. I had a chance to text Ralph a couple times last week and he had mentioned that he was coming on the show. So, I am going to be on the edge of my seat to hear this interview. Mark, thanks for your time this morning.

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Mark: All right. Welcoming back to the show. Our good friend Ralph Bauer. If you’re not familiar with Ralph, he’s one of the best instructors in the game. Golf Director of Instruction at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, which is one of the finest courses in our country. The host of the RBC Canadian Open in 2024.

Also, Ralph is a golf instructor, coach, teacher to some of the best players in the world. And I guess Ralph, is it fair to say to at this point your specialty is the short game in the putting area considering the amount of success you’ve had recently?

Ralph Bauer: Yeah, it’s a passion of mine. And you know when I wake up at two in the morning with a new idea, it’s always about putting.

Mark: There you go. Right. One of those new ideas that came about, I guess it’s about two years ago now, is the Tour Read Green Reading app. Now you and I have done some interviews on the show. You, Scully and I have gotten down to the Toronto Hunt and actually used the app and played with the app on the green. We’ve spoken a lot about the app.

But there’s a new way of getting into the app and learning how it can help you — and it’s an online course. That’s why I wanted to talk to you today.Before we get to the course though, generally speaking we’ve got to pat ourselves on the back when we have wins. Okay. You’ve got some major wins. Some major success on tour with who’s been using the app. Obviously, the big one is Nick Taylor coming home at the W. M. I mean what a performance.

Ralph: Yeah, that was amazing. It’s fun to see Nick playing so well. Nick was one of our first users of the app. He still uses it regularly in his practice. So, just nice to see him dialing in his putting. You asked for recent successes. In the 24 hours I had a Ryder Cupper from both sides reach out to me for some help with their green reading. That’s been kind of cool. Yes, it’s just been fun.

It’s fun to talk about pros playing well. We’ve been doing this now for a year and a half.  It’s fun to see people from all over the world giving me feedback saying they’re putting better are using the app. Our users tell us they save an average of 2 shots a round after a month of use. It’s been fun to see people enjoying their golf games better.

Mark: That’s amazing. Anytime you can help people make it more fun, making putts is fun. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to get off the tee and not being able to make a short putt when you need to or good stroke. Those two things completely take the fun out of the game entirely. So you’re putting the fun back in for sure.

Okay, I know how to use the app because you’ve walked this through it many times. I know some people I’ve introduced the app to love the app, but it almost feels like they want some more information about how to integrate this into their practice and into their game. Other than just playing around with it on a green, how do I get better with this. I think this new course, that you’ve introduced, might be the big answer for that. So walk us through what the course is and why now. How many lessons are we talking about here?

Ralph: So, this Is one of my 2 AM ideas. I’m lucky I teach. I get to teach hundreds and hundreds of putting lessons a year. By and large, whether someone is a great player or a beginner, we all have the same issues.

So, what I wanted to do with the app was provide inside the app a course to help them improve their putting stroke. I kind of had seven different lessons. I said, “Hey, let’s just make it one week to better putting. Each lesson is up to a 10 minute video with me going into pretty deep detail about a particular item that day. And then, about a 10 minute practice plan after. It’s a couple little drills to do afterwards.

This is essentially what it looks like when somebody comes to me for a golf lesson. When they come to me for a golf lesson, we start off with your starting position. Then we work on your stroke. Then we work on your tempo. Then we  work on your routine. I broke the seven steps down into exactly how I would handle a lesson.

The benefit of doing it this way, is you’re not getting everything throwing you at once. You can watch the first lesson the first day. Do a 10 minute practice plan. Oka, I’ve got that sorted out. You come back the next day and watch another video. Maybe watch that three days from now. It doesn’t have to be consecutively. Honestly maybe three days from now, you’re like “Okay, I’ve really got that mastered. So, we’re going to come back to it the second day.

 The other cool part is that I’ve done everything so that you can do it at home. We’re just trying to build a putting stroke. You can just do it with a rug and a golf ball. It’s just a fun way to see people get better with their stroke.

Then, once they’ve got a great stroke, then then they can transition into becoming a great green reader.

I had this dream. No, dream might be extreme. But I had the vision that you could download the app, learn the content and become a great all around putter. That’s just been my goal.

Mark: It’s really interesting. I love the way you break it down into 7 steps. We’ve got basically seven lessons within one giant putting lesson from Ralph Bauer. That’s what it is.

You’ve got a video. You’ve got time to absorb that content. If you need to absorb that content again, you go back to it. Then a practice plan to do with that lesson. When you feel you’re ready to go, you can go ahead. You can go back.

I don’t have a lot of time over the next couple months. You and I were talking off camera. I want to do this, but it’s going to take me a while to get through it if I want to do it correctly and do it justice. I love the concept of we’ve got — One massive putting lesson that’s really built into 7 compartments with a practice plan.

You can do it at your own pace. Do it from anywhere you are in the world. In a hotel room. And then in theory, if you’ve done this correctly and followed the steps, in theory, then by the time we get to the app itself for green reading we have eliminated that part of the puzzle.

Ralph, where we know we’re coming into that now with what we think is a fundamentally good stroke. Reading greens is one thing and then if your stroke is unpredictable. you push it sometimes. You pull it the other time or your eye position isn’t consistent or your posture isn’t consistent. Every time you go to the golf course, you’re standing in different way. Holding it a different way. You’re kind of not exactly giving the app itself a fair chance. A starting point so to speak. Does that sound right?

Ralph: Mark, I couldn’t say that better myself. I appreciate that.

I just see the same the same things day after day. Whether I’m dealing with a tour player or someone at the club or somebody online, it would just be helpful if we were standing in the same place. If we knew where to put our eyes. If we knew what our posture should look like. If we knew what I call the engine of our stroke. If we knew the engine of our stroke was right. And, then if we can go back and revisit those periodically as well. Whenever we feel like it. It’s super helpful.

I love teaching people. I love teaching. What always worries me is I explain stuff to people and it’s always a balancing act. Am I going to give them too much information? Am I giving it to them in a way they can digest it at their leisure. I do think if we want to if we want to make sure we ingrain a new habit or pattern. Do it step by step. It’s a much surer way to get to the finish line.

Mark: Alright if people want to get involved, what do you suggest? If someone’s brand new to this. They never listen to our show or have never engaged with you. What do you suggest for them to get involved? Do they go through the course first and then the app? Do it all at once? Where do they go?

Ralph: The app is in the Apple Store. It’s called Tour Read Golf. It’s in the app store. It’s coming to Android hopefully in about a month. But it’s in the app store now. If you download the app and register inside the app, the course is free. It’s included in the cost. The price stays the same.

All the videos are in there. We’ve got practice plans. We’ve got this new putting course. It’s going to give you everything you need to become a great putter.

Mark: I didn’t realize the course was free. So, you mean I get a 7-part full putting program lesson with one of the greatest short game coaches in the world for free, if I just download the app I should already have. Okay. I’ll do that.

Ralph, I will see you on the Florida swing. I look forward to seeing you in person. If you’re an Android user coming soon and if you’re an Apple guy like me you might already have it. And if not just go to the App Store. Tour Read Golf Green Reading app. Good luck Ralph.

Ralph: Thanks so much Mark.

Adam: Thank you very much. Well, I know what I’ll be doing when I get back home is pulling out the putter and trying this out. This is simply awesome from Ralph Bauer, our good friend of the show.