We’re here to help. I’ve been scratch-ish—sometimes worse, sometimes better—since I was 16 years old. My current index is a +1.2, although that’s sure to bite me once the weather warms and I have to play to my late-season handicap despite early-season rust. I have played dozens of rounds with men and women who’ve told me I’m the best player they’ve ever played with. And, once they shake off the nerves, these have often blossomed into some of my favourite days on the golf course. The key is knowing what to do, and more crucially, what not to.

Here are the dos and don’ts of playing with a scratch-level player.

Don’t insist on playing the same tees

Warren Little

You’re coming from a good place—you don’t want to be a burden, and you figure having everyone in the group play from the same tees will speed up play. Only it’ll have the opposite effect: You’ll be looking for balls and hitting so many extra shots. Always be ready to step right up to the tee when it’s your turn, and any added time will be minimal.

Be very careful with your “Good shot!” shouts

Your standards for a good shot are very, very different than the scratch players. You might be thrilled every time you make solid contact with an iron from the fairway, but I can tell you from experience that hearing “Great shot!” when a ball is flying right to a bunker gets very old, very quickly.

Don’t ask him if he’s ever thought of turning pro

The difference between a scratch golfer and a touring pro is, functionally speaking, wider than the difference between you and the scratch golfer. Unless this scratch golfer is 14 years old or younger, or a highly delusional person, there is very little chance he or she will ever turn professional.

Don’t be afraid to get some action going

laflor

There’s a reason the handicap system exists, and it’s to mitigate differences between players—even if those differences are huge. Theoretically speaking you have a 50 percent chance of winning the match. Don’t be intimidated.

Do give gimmes

Some mid-handicappers I’ve played with have assumed that I’m keeping score as though I were playing a tournament, so they’ll hesitate to pick up the 18-inch par putts after a missed birdie attempt. Unless your playing partner explicitly says, “I’m going to putt everything out today,” you should absolutely kick away anything that’s within the leather. If it’s longer than that, simply look at them. Their reply will tell you how he feels about putting that one out.

Don’t offer swing advice

You might think this goes without saying but you’d be surprised. My tempo is quick, and I’ve had legitimate 15-handicaps tell me after a bad shot to “slow down” or “that looked pretty quick.” There is nothing more infuriating than hearing advice from a non-PGA professional who is significantly worse at golf than you.

Don’t ask for swing advice

Unless they’re a teaching pro, the last thing they want to do is spend an afternoon trying to help you stink less.

Play fast, but don’t rush

Andrew Redington

I’ve had playing partners visibly rush because they’re so worried about slowing everyone down—that just makes the good player in the group feel guilty. That’s not to say you shouldn’t pick up when you’re clearly headed for a quadruple bogey or worse, because you absolutely should. But take your time when you’re in the hole.

Don’t apologize for your game

You have nothing to apologize for, so hold off on the sorrys after you slice one into the trees. It doesn’t make your bad shots any less bad, and it only contributes to a sense of imbalance that you’re trying to avoid. Do you. Play your game.

Be yourself

A scratch player is good at a game—they’re not some sort of freakshow. So don’t treat them as such. Be you. Don’t be afraid to talk and shoot the breeze as you would in your normal foursome. This golfer just happens to swing a club better than your buddies do. Nothing more, nothing less.

Main Image: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

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Tiger Woods, as he is with many things, has a few different options to choose from. His Old Course 3-wood jumps to mind, as does the 3-iron fairway bunker shot at the 2002 PGA Championship.

But for me, it’s the bunker shot on the 72nd hole of the 2000 Canadian Open. 218 yards from a fairway bunker over water to a tucked pin, which won him the tournament.

Back in 2001, Golf Digest asked him about that shot, and what golfers can learn from it. Turns out, quite a lot.

“It seemed like a miracle shot, but believe me, it was more dramatic than it was difficult,” he said.

That’s because of a few simple keys that the rest of us would do well to remember:

1. Ball in the middle of your stance

“Solid contact is crucial when playing a fairway bunker shot,” Tiger writes. So all the tweaks he makes involve ensuring solid contact.

The first of those is moving the ball back in your stance slightly, which will help the club hit the ball first, before the sand.

2. Raise your chin

The only swing thought golfers should have through the ball, Tiger says, is to “stay tall through impact.” A simple way of doing this, Tiger writes, is to “raise your chin slightly just before starting your backswing.”

3. Club up

Tiger also makes clear that you should take at least one more club from fairway bunkers than you ordinarily would. Probably more like two. For reasons we’re about to find out…

4. Dig in

One of the hardest things about swinging off sand is that it’s an extremely unstable surface. Your feet are prone to sliding around. So, to prevent this, dig your feet into the sand.

5. Choke down

Once you’ve dug your feet into the sand, it’s time to choke down on the grip. Tiger uses a pretty simple formula for this:

“I choke down on [the club] in direct proportion to how much I dig my feet into the sand—usually about half an inch.”

6. Slow down

Both those things alone are enough to make taking some extra club the right move, as is Tiger’s final tip:

“I decrease my swing speed by about 30 per cent,” he writes. “This not only increases accuracy but also allows me to keep my balance.”

The combination of all of these things can upgrade your fairway bunker game, and provide the foundation for one of the best shots of Tiger’s career.

Main image: Supplied

The post This bunker method helped Tiger Woods hit one of the best shots of his career appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There have been a number of incidents on the pro tours in recent years where golfers have played the wrong ball with disastrous — and expensive — consequences. Mark Hensby was assessed a 10-stroke penalty, yep 10 strokes, for playing a wrong ball in the 2021 Palmetto Championship.

In 2022, Mackenzie Hughes got hosed at the Farmers Insurance Open when a volunteer set a flag down next to a ball in the rough that turned out to be another player’s ball. He played it, took a triple after the penalty, and ended up missing the cut.

 

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We could go on, but you get the idea. You’re not alone if you’ve mistakenly played someone else’s ball. (We’ll get into incidents when a golfer intentionally plays someone else’s ball a little later in this article. That happens, too).

So how do you proceed if you accidentally play a wrong ball? Under Rule 6.3c, in match play you lose the hole. In stroke play, it’s a two-shot penalty and you must correct the mistake by going back and playing your ball to finish the hole. If your ball is lost, proceed under the stroke-and-distance penalty (yes, that means a third extra stroke to your score, sorry!)

This rule is pretty easy to understand, but let’s take a slightly deeper look at a few wrong-ball scenarios that often happen. One is when opponents in match play happen to hit each other’s golf balls. The way to handle this situation is to assess the loss-of-hole penalty to the player who hit the wrong ball first. If you and your opponent aren’t sure who hit first, there is no penalty and you should play out the hole with each other’s golf balls.

And to clarify the stroke-play procedure, you’re only hit with two shots for playing a wrong ball no matter how many strokes you take on a given hole with it. However, if you start the next hole with the wrong ball, you’re disqualified. If you’re wondering why Hensby wasn’t DQd, it’s because the tournament was using Model Local Rule G-4 allowing for a two-shot penalty on each hole where the player used a wrong ball.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what happens to a golfer who intentionally plays a wrong ball and is caught, well, Rule 1.2 covers it. The cheat is banished.

The post Rules of Golf Review: I just played the wrong ball. What do I do now? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

She was just the seventh woman in history to try, and for a while, it looked like she might. Thompson played her way inside the cutline deep into her second round., but her rounds of 73-69 meant she was likely to miss as play continued on Friday. Her run but her run captivated and inspired the golf world along the way. And her good play wasn’t just the result of elite skill, but clever game management.

How Lexi chased roll

On the course, the primary issue that Thompson, like the trailblazing female golfers before her, was a relative lack of driving distance.

Thompson played from the same set of tees as her male counterparts at the Shriners. Her average ball speed hovered around 155 mph for most of the tournament. The PGA Tour’s average tour speed, by contrast, is 172 mph. It led to a distance discrepancy that left Thompson ranked 116th in the field in Driving Distance, with a 301-yard average.

Yet through an adept combination of elite level skill and smarts, Lexi was able to mitigate this disadvantage, and put herself in contention to make the cut anyway.

Thompson’s stock shot off the tee is a draw — a shot that moves from right-to-left. But as the tournament unfolded, golf fans watching closely could see Thompson turning the dial up and down on her draw at different points during her round.

On certain holes where Lexi didn’t need to stretch more distance out of her drives, she would turn the dial down, hitting a shot that that flew higher than her standard, with slightly more backspin, and mostly straight.

We saw this on the second hole, which moves severely from left-to-right (an awkward fit for her right-to-left draw players) during her first round.

We saw it also on the reachable par-4 15th hole during her second round. Lexi had the distance required to reach the green with a driver, so the priority became landing something soft enough to hold the green—which she did.

She’s got the ?????!@Lexi drives the green on the 296-yard par-4 15th @ShrinersOpen. pic.twitter.com/3CFrK7MrKQ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 13, 2023

Then, on holes where Thompson needed as much distance as she could muster, she turned the dial up. Her stock right-to-left draw became bigger and more severe, which reduced the amount of backspin on her drives. When Lexi turned to this shot the ball landed and rolled — a lot. It allowed her to maximite her driving distance to her fullest extend, especially as the fairways began firming up over the course of her rounds.

We saw this on the fourth hole, one of the longest par-4s on the course, during her second round.

Lexi roping right-to-left draws to maximize roll on a course that's firming up.

46 yards of roll on this drive

So awesome. pic.twitter.com/0mKtZJPpFj

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) October 13, 2023

You could also spot it on the nearly 600-yard 13th hole during her first round.

It’s not easy to conjure up this amount of curve on your driver and still maintain enough accuracy to hit the fairway, but Thompson did. She ranked inside the top 20 in driving accuracy over the week, which helped her SG/off-the-tee ranking (81st) jump higher than her driving distance ranking (116th).

It was an impressive display of control and creativity from a player who makes her money on the LPGA Tour leaning on her distance. But that’s what great players do. When the circumstances call for it, they adapt. That’s what Lexi did, and it was a joy to watch.

What the rest of us can learn

As for the takeaway for the rest of us? That too much backspin on drives is a driving distance killer. If you hit a slice, you almost certainly have too much distance-killing backspin. Same with if you have a driver that isn’t fit for your swing. It’s all about landing in your optimal zone.

Main image: Michael Owens

The post Inside the clever driving strategy Lexi Thompson used at the Shriners appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here’s a couple of demonstrations of the grip that have popped up on my social media feeds recently. And rather than calling it the social-media-putting-grip-that’s-trendy-in-Japan, I’m officially titling it the butterfly grip, because golfers’ hands kind of resemble a butterfly when they hold the club this way.

 

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The main components of the grip basically involve clasping the ring and middle fingers of your left hand with your pinky, ring, and middle fingers of your right hand. This intertwines your fingers in a way that actually has a few benefits:

@stevejohnstonpga

Try this new putting grip. It levels out your shoulders….clever! Want to take your golf game to the next level with ?FREE instruction of a modern day Golf Swing Method? Click here for ?7 days ?FREE? access to Eureka Golf Swing https://www.eurekagolfswing.com/ Link in instagram bio ? ggolfggolfswingeeurekagolfswingggolfrggolfingggolftipssshortsyyoutubeshortsrreelsiinstagramreelsggolflifettaylormadeccallawaygolfttitleistppingggolfaddictggolferggolfpracticeggolfpornggolfreelsggolfdrillggolfclubggolfballggolfcourseggolfstrikeggolfimpactpputtingg#golflesson

♬ original sound – Steve Johnston PGA

• It places the grip deeply in palm of both your hands, which can prevent the wrists from taking over your putting stroke.
• It tucks your elbows into your side as a result, which allows the shoulders to power your putting stroke.
• It places both hands relatively level to each other, which levels out your shoulders for a more level strike over all.
• It’s hard to squeeze too firmly with your fingers so intertwined, which keeps grip pressure soft in both hands.

Give the butterfly grip a try if you’re looking to shake up your putting, and remember who first termed it the ‘butterfly grip’ when some tour player wins with this grip in about two years and sends the method mainstream.

The post The new butterfly putting grip that’s trendy on social media, explained appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

If you have read our previous Discover Golf editions, you should be familiar with how to hold the club, address the ball and swing the club. Now I will take you through some key points to help you use the driver as effectively as possible.

What is a driver?

The driver is the largest of all the clubs in the bag and the go to start most holes that require maximising the distance you can achieve from your swing. This is possible due to its large volume of head size, length of shaft and aided by lower lofts and lighter weight.

Understanding Low Point

Low point, in golf terminology, refers to the point in the swing arc where the clubhead is at its lowest position before it starts its upward trajectory. When hitting the driver, the position of the low point is crucial. A suitable low point helps ensure that you make contact with the ball slightly on the upswing, which is a crucial element for maximising distance and achieving an optimal launch angle.

To establish a consistent low point, focus on maintaining a shallower sweeping movement of the club through the lower part of the swing and avoiding lowering the body dramatically during the downswing, something that can be common when incorrectly trying to ‘keep the head down’ something that should be avoided. When the low point is well-managed, the driver’s loft can be utilised effectively, leading to longer and more controlled drives.

3 Keys to unlock your driver’s potential

1 Using of a tee and tee height?

Using a tee and adjusting tee height when hitting a driver in golf is essential for optimising your performance with this shot. A tee is used to elevate the golf ball above the surface providing us with a guaranteed perfect lie every time. Because of this, it is easier to launch the ball into the air as it provides the opportunity to strike the ball without making contact with the ground and assist with striking the ball more on the upward part of the clubs movement.

A useful starting point is having half of the ball above the height of the driver face, however finding the optimal tee height requires experimentation during your practice sessions. Pay attention to how different tee heights affect your contact and ball flight and adjust accordingly by either increasing the tee height or lowering it.

2 Ball Position

Next up to help create the optimal strike with the driver is the strategic placement of the golf ball in relation to the stance. Altering this will have an effect on the body positioning and if the ball is struck on the up or downswing, greatly affecting your shot outcome.

For drivers, a great place to start is positioning the ball inside of your front heel. This placement ensures that the low point occurs just before the ball, enabling you to hit the ball on the upswing. When the ball is positioned too far forward, closer to the front foot, the low point could happen too early and potential mishits. Conversely, if the ball is too far back in your stance, the low point may occur after the ball, resulting in an overly steep angle of attack and reduced distance.

3 Width of Stance

The width of your stance plays a vital role in achieving the proper swing shape for hitting the driver effectively. A stance that is too narrow, you may have trouble staying balanced, leading to inconsistent shots., while a stance that is too wide might hinder your rotational movement and timing. 

When addressing the ball with the driver, aim for a stance that is wider than shoulder-width. This provides a stable foundation while allowing enough ability to rotate and have the body positioned suitably during the swing. The wider stance also encourages a sweeping motion, which aligns well with the shallow angle of attack required for successful driver shots.

Putting It All Together

As we discussed, the upward strike on the ball typically creates a more optimal outcome. To help with achieving this put the previous points into play and focus on maintaining a shallow, sweeping motion in the downswing. 

Putting this together and discovering the appropriate movement in the body to simulate the correct arc is to try the following drill. 

Simply by placing a headcover (a ball or an additional rubber tee) in front of the tee where your ball would sit creates feedback of where the low point is and increases the likelihood of a more upward strike. Through doing this you will start to gain awareness of the suitable body movement that avoids contacting the object, if you do it is likely that your low point is too low and too left producing a downward impact into the ball. Practise swinging through, clipping the tee, and avoiding hitting the object in front. Avoid excessive attempts to scoop the ball into the air, by shortening your arms as this can lead to inconsistent contact and reduced distance. Practising this aspect of your swing can lead to more consistent and powerful drives off the tee. 

Remember that consistency and improvement in these areas require practice and dedication. As you gain a deeper understanding of how these factors influence your shots, you’ll be better equipped to unleash the full power and potential of the driver in your golf game.

Conor Thornton is a member of the PGA Professionals team at Golf Saudi-managed Riyadh Golf Club

The post Key points on how to make the most of your tee shots appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But how do you do that?

Well, this won’t be a magical elixir for everyone, but this tip from coaches Shaun Webb and Mike Granato will help you along the way.

The tip is simple, as Granato explains: “There are two clubs in your back which are delivered with a vertical shaft at impact,” he says. “Your driver and your putter.”

 

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This is something Johnny Miller talked about a lot and there are three good reasons why:

1. If you get the club shaft vertical with these two clubs in impact, it probably means your body is in a good position, too.
2. A vertical shaft at impact will mean the club is being delivered into the golf ball the way it was designed.
3. It allows a full release of energy into the clubhead.

If the club shaft is leant too far forward or backwards at impact with your putter, it’ll send the ball skidding and hopping rather than rolling. If it’s back or forward with the driver, you’ll struggle making solid contact, and generating too much backspin because if how much you’re potentially chopping down on the ball.

All of which is to say: Try to get that shaft vertical at impact, with both your driver and putter. A simple swing cue that’ll pay dividends from tee-to-green.

Main image: JD Cuban

The post One brilliantly simple tip that works with your two most important golf clubs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Carrying wedges with too much bounce

Keyur Khamar

Although conventional wisdom says, “Bounce is your friend,” Clark sees that concept as more of a Band-Aid than reliable advice.

“I think amateurs play wedges with too much bounce,” he says. “Game-improvement wedges (high bounce) might mask some mistakes, but it can be very difficult to hit the correct shot with those wedges or have the ability to be versatile.” Clark continues: “Everyday players have to hit a lot of shots around the greens. To score better, I’d suggest using less of a game-improvement wedge and working on hitting a wider array of shots.”

Using shafts designed for tour pros

Jamie Squire

Just as tour players are susceptible to trying the “hot” shaft off the assembly line, so are amateurs. Most golfers, however, are not achieving tour swing speeds or swinging the club on a path that resembles what a tour pro does. As such, copying the pros in their shaft choice is a bad call, Clark says.

“Trying to use a shaft because some tour player you like uses it or because it’s expensive so it must be better is a path to poor golf,” Clark says. “I see too many golfers with shafts that are way too stiff or too heavy for them. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t use the same model, but a good fitting will likely result in a different flex and weight.”

Eating on course like you’re tailgating

Amateurs typically eat or drink when they’re playing, as do the pros. But unlike the pros, devouring a hot dog at the turn and washing it down with a beer doesn’t really count for keeping up your energy.

Clark’s on-course “menu” is probably a better plan of attack. “I eat often on the course but a little bit at a time,” he says. “I usually have apple sauce, which keeps my sugar levels good. I have Bobo’s Oat Bars for carbs and a little bit of protein. I always have gluten-free oat butter with jelly. Nuts and apples, too.”

You might not play like a US Open champ, but take a few tips and give your game a boost.

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Whether it’s correlation or causation, for intangible or tangible reasons is a little unclear. But a fact is a fact, so fast starts was the strategy of choice.

Which brings us to the first hole at Marco Simone.

The opening hole runs 450 yards, uphill and doglegs slightly to the left. Two different bunkers flank the fairway landing area on either side.

The European team went 11-4-13 on the hole last week, which equates to winning it 39 per cent win of the time, halving it 46 pe rcent of the time, and losing it only 14 per cent.

A nice record that probably wasn’t by coincidence.

Donald crafted an emotional and analytical strategy on this hole. He forced players to play for $100 matches on that hole during practice rounds, and three-hole money matches between themselves to help them get into an aggressive mindset early.

“As a team we knew getting off to a fast start was important,” Donald said.

But the first was also one of the key holes analytics helped sway the outcome. Shane Lowry even jokingly alluded to it during the winner’s press conference with a throwaway joke.

“All the Americans slice it,” Lowry said in jest.

That, of course, is a joke. But like many jokes, it has an kernel of truth: A vast majority of key American players tend to play left-to-right fades. Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka, Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler, among others. The European players, by contrast, possess more players in their ranks who either naturally or tend toward left-to-right draws. Players like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg.

Identifying that as a noteworthy difference in an era where both sides’ players have very similar styles, the European team sought to amplify this advantage by using the grandstand surrounding the first tee to pitch the hole slightly to the left. They also grew out the rough on either sides to exaggerate misses, and Donald revealed that the first fairway was one of a number that “were pinched-in a little on the left”.

This had the effect of magnifying the natural right-to-left shape of the hole, which in theory benefitted the team.

On Sunday, it worked.

All 24 players’ first tee shots on Sunday:

Scheffler
Rahm
Morikawa
Hovland
Cantlay
Rose
Burns
Rory
Homa
Fitzpatrick
Harman
Hatton
Koepka
Aberg
Thomas
Straka
Schauffele
Hojgaard
Spieth
Lowry
Fowler
Fleetwood
Clark
Macintyre

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) October 1, 2023

The way Europeans played the hole basically divided down two lines:

Players most comfortable hitting a draw usually pulled driver and leaned on that shot shape (Fitzpatrick, Aberg, Fleetwood and Straka each did this).

“That hole just really fits my eye,” Straka said.

Players who are natural faders of the ball dropped down to their 3-wood and hit a draw, which is a common strategy fade players use when they need to work the ball right-to-left (Viktor Hovland did this).

McIlroy, Hatton and Rahm chose the most unique route: They pulled high, hard, cut drivers, which is a go-to shot of theirs under pressure.

Regardless, you can’t argue with the results. On Sunday, when all 24 players played the hole, the Europeans hit double the amount of fairways as their opponents (six to three) and boasted a 5-2-5 record on the hole.

A clever lane cleared for lots of fast starts, with a trophy waiting for them at the end.

Main image: Patrick Smith

The post Ryder Cup 2023: Inside the ‘fast start’ strategy which won Europe the Cup appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

He dropped a variety to crucial ones over the course of the two fourball sessions, including two match winning birdie putts, the latter of which helped him and Robert MacIntyre deliver Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth their first fourballs loss.

The moment @JustinRose99 clinched another point for Europe! #TeamEurope | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/Als2JpuPVY

— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 30, 2023

You may have noticed that before each of those putts — and every putt Rose hits on the green — that he tucks the sleeve on his left arm into his left armpit.

It’s entirely legal (you wouldn’t be allowed to tuck an outside object into your armpit, but your own shirt is fine), and Rose does it for a good reason.

 

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As he explains: “I’m trying to make everything as simple as I can…strip away as many excess movements as possible, so I can just focus on moving the putter very cleanly, and simply,” Rose says.

Rose says his claw-putter grip is an essential ingredient to this, because it allows him to hold the putter lightly in place and let the unique balance point of his Axis 1 putter swing as it’s designed.

The shirt sleeve is the third part, because that effectively helps organise his stroke.

“I want my arms and body to move as a unit,” he says. “The shirt sleeve is a little reminder to keep that connection between my arms and chest, so everything moves as one.”

Clearly, it’s working.

Main image: Maddie Meyer/PGA of America

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