South-westerlies, links gales and Rule 9.3: playing into the wind on British courses
A headwind costs more than a tailwind gives back, and swinging harder only adds the spin that makes the ball climb. On windy British…
Section
Practice
Practice that transfers to the course. Course management, the short game, putting, wind play, and the habits that take strokes off a card without rebuilding a swing.
Humps, hollows and heather: the four uneven lies
A slope changes the club's effective loft and, sideways, its effective lie angle. Neither is a swing fault. How to set up for each…
Heather, whin and wet parkland grass: escaping thick rough on British courses in one swing
The ball rarely costs you the hole by going into the rough. The second decision does. Shot Scope's amateur data puts the price of…
The three-footer Doug Sanders missed: holing short putts when the card is on the line
In 1970 a downhill three-footer on the 18th at St Andrews cost Doug Sanders the Open. The club golfer's version comes every Saturday: a…
Pie, pint and a fading back nine: what to eat and drink on a British golf course
The closing holes of a club round often fall apart for reasons that have nothing to do with the swing. Start drinking on the…
Fairway bunkers and pot bunkers: getting out in one on British courses
The fairway bunker costs club golfers more shots than the greenside one, and on a links the revetted pot bunker often rules out the…
Nine wedge distances for British conditions: the clock system, wind and winter turf
Inside 100 yards most club golfers own one swing and guess the rest. Measure three backswing lengths with each wedge once, write the carries…
Finding fairways on British courses: gorse, burns, wind and the club that stays short
On a course lined with gorse, burns and out-of-bounds stakes, a missed fairway costs more than distance. Aim at an edge, take the club…
Five tallies on the back of your medal card that show where the shots go
Your score and your handicap cut say nothing about why. Five tallies over three or four rounds point to the part of your game…