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Written By Gabby Anstey
It may just look like swinging a club and smacking the ball, but golf is one of the toughest and most skill-demanding games around. Add playing in the hilly terrain and higher elevations of southwestern Colorado and the Four Corners region, and you have some extra "handicaps," as they say in the golfing world.

Eric Feely, golf professional at Redlands Mesa Golf Course Community, willingly offered up some helpful tips for newcomers to the game, which if followed can make a world of difference.

Feely's Top Three

Alignment on a Slope
Feely says side hills can be tricky because one tends to work against the slope. It's important to compensate for the angle by aligning your body so that feet, hips and shoulders are parallel to the slope. To ensure placing your body parallel to the slope, hold a club across your shoulders. If the shaft of the club is parallel to the slope, you are in the correct position for your swing.

Weight Transfer
When swinging in golf, it's important to keep your eye on the ball. Problem is, most beginners are so intently focused on this, they keep their heads down and forget to follow through with their swing, which inherently transfers weight from the back foot to the front foot. Feely says shot accuracy depends highly on proper weight transfer. Apply more weight to the rear foot while in the backswing; then smoothly carry weight to the front foot as you swing through the ball and follow through. But do make sure to keep your eyes on the ball.

Putting
When learning to putt, distance is more important than direction. Feely says find your line and determine how long a stroke is necessary to get as close to the hole as possible. "You could be three feet from the hole and going for direction," he says. "If the ball just skims the edge of the hole and goes another 10 feet, you're worse off than when you started."

Originally from Delta, Feely comes from a family of golfers and began playing when he was 8. After graduating from Mesa State College, he was first assistant at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango (six years) and then the golf professional at Cedaredge's Deer reek Village (eight years). In April 2001, Feely took the position as golf professional at Redlands.