Thrashers' Hainsey likes the links

By Special

For the AJC

One of the millions of golfers following the Masters is Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey. Earlier this hockey season, Hainsey spoke of his passion for golf. He not only uses his size (6-feet-3, 210 pounds) to his advantage on the ice, but for power teeing off.

By Ron Hainsey

For the AJC

I started playing golf when I was growing up in Connecticut. My neighbors were big golfers. My family wasn’t. We were more the type to be outside playing, just hitting plastic balls around.

For me, it went from there. There was a golf course near my house that let us play the whole summer for $250. That was before Tiger Woods and the game exploded. My friends and I got dropped off at 8 a.m. and played until 4 or 5 p.m.

My handicap is about 5. I don’t think there’s much connection between hockey and golf. The movement is somewhat similar. The biggest thing is generating the power from the coil of the upper body.

As far as PGA Tour players, I always liked Fred Couples. He was always a guy I follow. I like Phil [Mickelson], Couples, Tiger, all three of those guys.

My favorite Masters memory was in 2005, when Tiger chipped in on 16, then he bogeyed 17 and 18 and then he won the playoff. That whole three-hole stretch. That was a great moment.

I’ve never played there. Who wouldn’t want to play Augusta National?

I’ve played the TPC River Highlands in Connecticut and a lot of great courses in the summers the last 10 years.

In Naples, Fla., I like Calusa Pines Golf Club. That’s one of the overall nicest courses I’ve been on, along with Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens. During the Olympic break in 2006, I got to play some pretty cool places. I didn’t play during the recent Olympic break.

I’ve never had a hole-in-one. I hit my driver 300 to 310 yards, at about 90 percent power. The best part of my game probably in the last couple of years has been my putting. I use an old flat putter by Cleveland.

When I switch from hockey to golf, I play pretty well, but the biggest issue is my touch around the green. You can’t go four, five or six months without playing and expect to score.

What is it like for me to switch mentally between hockey and golf? I like playing well, but mostly I am out there for recreation. I play weekends, for $5 a match. It’s more of a recreation. It’s having fun and relaxing.

I don’t play during the season. Once I played in October before the season, and that was my last time out. Later times don’t work out, weather-wise. During the season I’m too tired to get into golf, especially with our schedule this year.

I live at TPC Sugarloaf. My low round is 77, which I shot last year -- in April or May. There are 27 holes there, so I shot that on at least one nine that is part of the tournament course; it might have been the 18 used for the tournament.

I played with [former NFL safety] Rodney Harrison a couple of holes. There are a lot of athletes who play golf there.

On the team, I’ll play with Whitey [center Todd White] and [center Marty] Reasoner. Within five days after the season ends, we’ll definitely be out on the course.

-- As told to Michelle Hiskey and Chris Vivlamore