Tips from the Tour

This picture is of our Pro, Alex, caddying for Robert Dinwiddie, who is playing in The Open 2022 in St. Andrews. As it's Major week at The Open, he's bringing you some facts from the European tour that will help you!

"The first thing I found when caddying is that when you watch the best players on the greens, you think they hole everything under 10 foot. This is really not true. While Tour pros sink 90% of their putts inside 10 feet, that’s a misleading figure. A lot of these putts are from a lag putt from a distance, or a putt from further away that didn't go in, leaving them with quite a short putt. Professionals make only 40% of their 10-footers, while the average golfer will typically only hole 15-20% from this range. That’s a big gap, so when you’re looking at areas of your game to improve, consider practicing a lot more 10-footers.

When it comes to the mental aspect of the game, players on tour sometimes break their rounds down to six three-hole sections, to help them not get too far ahead of themselves, and stay in the moment of the round. Have you every started badly and then played the back nine well when the pressure is off? Or started great then finished poorly, when you thought you were on for your best round ever? Well, perhaps try and divide the 18 holes into smaller sections, and play a mini round inside the 18 holes. See if this different mindset helps your scoring.

And finally, the one thing that tour players consistently practice, is the shots that they hate! So next time you come to the club, make sure you work on those shots you try to avoid. Whether it's that 60 yard pitch, or the 5 iron on the mat, get practicing those unpleasant shots!"