Head Pro Tip of the week - "Beat the Baku Breeze"
As you know this is the time of the year when we take on the challenge of some strong windy conditions in colder temperatures. My old coach, the legendary Bob Torrance, used to tell me “Playing golf is an art … and a great rtist has to have the ability to adapt. Any great player should have the ability to take on the challenge of windy conditions and the best player to ADAPT will come out on top.” Wise words from a great man! Here are a few ESSENTIAL TIPS I would recommend you to think about when playing in windy conditions:
1. GOLF IS A GAME OF MISSES - therefore when playing in windy conditions this is only going to be exaggerated. This is where you need to manage yourself on the course and take into consideration the safe places to miss but still leave yourself in play. As a prime example look at Holes 3,4,6,9,11,12 and 18 …. The miss here is 100% LONG LEFT – short right WILL ALWAYS BE PUNISHED on our golf course.
2. CLUB SELECTION IS KEY – I constantly see the mistake in amateur golf in NOT TAKING ENOUGH CLUB so when playing in a strong wind this is even more punished. Take extra club when playing into the head and cross winds … this will help lower ball flight and give you more control.
3. IN THE BREEZY … SWING IT EASY this is so true. The wind forces us to want to hit the ball harder which often just imparts more SPIN and LOOSE CONTROL. Take extra club and SWING WITHIN YOURSELF. This will help focus on a better quality strike and give control
4. PUTTING IS MOST EFFECTED – often over looked when playing in the wind is the affect it will have on the greens. You must take the wind into consideration when looking at the line of your putts, and how speed will be affected when putting into the wind VS putting downwind. So next time it is blowing, make sure you get out on the green for 15-20 mins before the round and get a feel for speed control.
5. SHAFT LEAN AT IMPACT – this is where you should look to see PGA Professional advice. It is a fact that the best players in windy conditions are those with a swing where HANDS ARE LEADING THE CLUB AT IMPACT (delofting the club) this helps to control quality of strike and launch angle … producing a more penetrating flight in the wind. Often a poorer area of amateur technique SCOOPING THE BALL IN THE AIR will certainly make playing in wind must harder to get control. Get booked in for a lesson and understand how to improve this.
6. LOVE TO SCRAMBLE – Padraig Harrington always told me that he loved waking up in the morning of a tournament and seeing windy conditions outside. This is because he loved the opportunity to show of his SHORT GAME SKILLS and he knew the conditions would separate the MEN VS THE BOYS!! So the better your short game is the more chance you have of scrambling around the greens and lowering your scores.
In normal conditions I would average around 13-14 greens in regulation per round at Dreamland GC. This is NOT the case in windy tough conditions (probably more like 9-10 greens in regulation) so there is certainly even more of a focus on short game. LIMIT THE DAMAGE when it goes wrong … and for me at times it certainly will go wrong … but we need to turn that bad shot/swing into a BOGEY MAX and not run up higher numbers which are a killer for the scorecard!!
