The best way to break out of a slump is to get back to basics. Vaughn Taylor not only went back to the fundamentals but back to his roots, and the effort paid off with a card-securing runner-up finish in a playoff at the PGA Tour's Turning Stone Resort Championship.
The performance was a direct benefit from a week of work spent practicing his short game on the same Goshen Plantation range where Taylor first learned to play golf.
"I love to go out to Goshen," said Taylor, who grew up in Hephzibah and now lives in Evans. "It always gives me the feeling of being a kid again. I have a lot of memories there and love going back. It's good for the soul, I guess."
And good for his game. After two seasons struggling to find the form that made Taylor a Ryder Cup player in 2006 and a Masters Tournament contender in 2007, his old homestead provided the tonic for a renewal.
Goshen pro Spike Kelley understands the feeling.
"All golfers like to go back to where you learned to play golf because you have a real good frame of reference," Kelley said. "Vaughn can play any place he'd like, but this is Vaughn's course. We may be making the payments on the golf course, but that's his practice area. He has spent countless hours down there. So this is really his home."
Taylor didn't qualify for the final three legs of the PGA Tour's playoff series, giving him a month off to get himself geared up for the five-event Fall Series. At 131st on the money list, he had some work to do to get back in the top 125 and secure his card for 2010.
The first thing he did was take a two-week break.
"I needed the time off, so I got away from the game and didn't touch a club for a couple of weeks," he said.
When it was time to go back to work, Taylor returned to where it all began for him. When he showed up at Goshen, Kelley asked Taylor what was off about his game, and he admitted his wedges and par-5 performance was holding him back.
So Kelley dredged up a drill he learned from short-game guru Dave Pelz and set up the Goshen range with stations at 10-yard intervals for Taylor to hone in precisely on his yardages from 30 to 130 yards. The course maintenance crew helped set up the range for him, marking circles around the flags so precise yardages could be measured. The Goshen staff also triple-cut and double-rolled the practice green to best replicate the conditions Taylor is accustomed to on tour.
Taylor showed up every day to put in hours of practice.
"That's what I needed," Taylor said. "I just needed to put some time into it. You tend to always want to hit balls and putt and you end up neglecting your wedge game and chipping a lot of times. We all have that tendency. It's just discipline. You've got to know that if you work on your wedge game it's going to improve your game much more than just going to the range for hours."
The work clearly paid off as Taylor played the par 5s at Turning Stone in 11-under and consistently set up birdie chances with his wedges.
"I really wedged it really good this week and played the par 5s really good," Taylor said. "It kept the momentum going in the rounds birdieing the par 5s and getting up and down for pars occasionally as well."
The shot of the week came Sunday when he launched himself back into the lead by holing out from the fairway for eagle.
In the Goshen clubhouse, superintendent Sid Renfro said that shot looked exactly like what Taylor was doing on the range all week.
"I could see the circles," Renfro said of the range he helped paint.
Taylor and Matt Kuchar were tied at 17-under after 72 holes, setting up a playoff between the former All-Americans at Augusta State and Georgia Tech. Still tied after two holes of sudden death, play was halted by darkness and the players returned to the course to finish the playoff Monday morning in a cold rain. Taylor eventually lost after finding the water with a drive on the sixth playoff hole.
"It was the first time I ever came back for a playoff in the morning so it had a different feel to it, especially in sudden death," said Taylor.
The extended show played prominently at Goshen. The entire maintenance crew took a break to gather in the clubhouse to watch the fruits of their efforts paying off for their favorite local pro.
"That was a nice by-product," Kelley said. "Someone has to mow the area where he was practicing, someone had to paint the 6- and 10-feet circles, triple cut and roll the greens so they would be faster for him. So they were so excited that they got to see how he played. They really felt a part of watching him play and got excited. At the end of the day, Vaughn is the one who hits the shots under pressure and has that natural ability. But it was remarkable that they got to see some of the benefits of that immediately."
Taylor, who also does much of his local practicing at the exclusive Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville hasn't changed much in the eyes of his friends at Goshen. He's polite and approachable and never asks for any of the preferential treatment the staff is only too happy to give him.
"He could win the rest of the tournaments this year and when he comes out here again he'll say, 'May I hit some range balls?'" Kelley said. "If he continues doing what he's doing, I expect you'll see after 30 days he gets even better and in three months he'll improve even more."
That's his goal. Winning a tournament in the four at-bats he has left this season is a priority for Taylor, who improved to 72nd on the money list but needs to reach the top 30 to qualify for next year's Masters.
"It was fun to be back in that position," Taylor said of contending. "It's obviously disappointing because I wanted to win the tournament, but at the same time I fulfilled some other goals. It kind of frees me up for the rest of the year. I can go out and play and not have to worry about keeping my card. I'll just try to build on it and maybe get a win in these next few tournaments coming up."
The folks at Goshen Plantation are ready to help in any way they can.
"They want to know when he'll be back so they can get ready for the next time," Kelley said of the maintenance crew.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
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Congrats Vaughn. You and Brian Gay, and Charles Howell really have helped this area grow to watch the 3 of you a lot. Keep up the good work!
Augusta's proud of you Vaughn as are all your friends and family! Proud to say you are ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our area couldn't be represented by a finer individual. We are all very proud of you Vaugh and fully support you in all of your endeavors. And, to the folks at Goshen Plantation, thanks for your care and helpfullness - it is terrific.
Go VT.
You R da man, and U will succeed!
It's only a matter of "when".
You are the "true" Augusta boy.
And Augusta is so proud of you!
VT and Charles and Brian Gay are the "true" hometown boys. I hope VT can make the Masters. I know that Brian is already in it. It would be great for Scott Michaux to have a diary this year on BG and VT.