Water, food and playing through the heat
Concentration fades before the swing does, and a cart hides how much you are losing. Sun protection is part of the plan.
Section
Practice
Practice that transfers to the course. Course management, the short game, putting on couch and bent greens, and the habits that take strokes off a card.
Fairway bunkers: the lip picks the club
One more club, three-quarter swing, feet barely dug in. On the sandbelt, a wedge out is how the hole was drawn.
Wedge numbers: three swing lengths, nine distances
Nine o'clock, half past ten, full. And on tight summer lies, let the bounce work instead of leaning the shaft forward.
Hit more fairways without rebuilding your swing
Aim at the edge your miss moves away from, and remember that firm summer fairways move every number further down the hole.
Five numbers that show where your shots go
Fairways, greens, three-putts, up-and-downs and penalties. Three rounds of counting find the right thing to practise.
Range sessions that count, and the low wind shot
Warm up, work on one thing, rehearse nine holes, and spend part of every session on the low wind shot.
Lag putting: pace, grain and fast summer greens
Three-putts are about pace. Aim past the hole, ladder the distances before you hit off, and read the grain on couch greens.
Chipping in summer: three shots for firm greens
A low runner, a standard pitch and a high soft shot. On firm sandbelt greens the choice is in the ground, not in the…
Pace of play: four hours before the heat arrives
Ready golf, the provisional ball, the buggy on the right side of the green and tee intervals: four hours without hurrying.