Lesson 3 - Short Game (10-week golf improvement mission)

So after making great strides with my driving in lesson two, I was keen to get out on the course and put my new skills into play.

Unfortunately, the result wasn’t quite as positive as I had hoped.

Scott had helped me to get an inside path with my driving by almost hitting towards my fear – the right. In practice this was working extremely well. My previous nemesis, the slice, seemed to have been eradicated.

It was perhaps a little naive to attempt to put this new found ‘draw’ straight into play on the course.

What I found on a few holes – in particular where all the trouble is on the right – I was setting my drives off out to the right. And that is where they were saying.

It was a massive positive for me that the ball was going dead straight. It was going exactly where I was aiming it. I shouldn’t really be surprised that the ball wasn’t drawing. I’m not at the level to be able to hit a draw as and when I want to.

My priority is finding the fairway and not slicing the ball. I achieved one of those goals and definitely the most important one at this stage of my development.

Another lesson I learned was that a long par 5 with out of bounds to the right when attempting to get a signed scorecard – is not the place for practice or experimenting.
I won’t be keeping my scorecard from this last round but I feel the lessons learned will be far more valuable in the long run As Scott has wisely advised me, I need to limit my swing-thoughts when out on the course. Work hard at the range on the technical aspects of my swing and keep things nice and simple when out playing a round.

I won’t be keeping my scorecard from this last round but I feel the lessons learned will be far more valuable in the long run.

So onto lesson three – short game.

My chipping can sometimes be my strength, it can also be a massive weakness. I’m very inconsistent, usually because I’m often attempting different things and experimenting with different shots rather than having ‘go to’ shots for each situation.

It’s a cold, wet early morning in Leeds. Let’s see if Scott can add some scoring shots to my armoury. Click the video to see how we got on.