I recently played golf with the talented TV commentator and communications consultant Genelle Aldred at Walton Heath Golf Club. It was a windy day and Genelle was really struggling with her woods. As she was striking her irons like a pro, I questioned why she didn’t just try to keep the ball in play by using irons only off the tee, because short and straight seemed like a much better outcome than being out of the hole straight away courtesy of a disastrous lost tee shot into the rough.
Genelle, quite rightly, pointed out that if she adopted this very ‘safe’ strategy in our fun fourball, she would never get to work on the part of her game that needs the most improvement - her driving. She saw the suggestion as very defeatist and decided to persevere with her woods regardless of how many balls she would lose, because it was just a friendly game. On reflection, her approach does make a lot of sense, but it's one I rarely see other women adopt. The majority I play with simply give up trying to use the clubs they can’t hit.
In my opinion, there are two approaches to making progress and improvement in golf. The first involves taking lessons and practising regularly at least once or twice a week on the range and the short game area. The second are the steps you should take out on the golf course that will help you improve.
As far as the latter is concerned, I’ve always been a firm believer in there being no substitute for on-course experimentation. As much as the range (and increasingly nowadays indoor simulator environments) are brilliant for building a technically-sound swing, there’s simply no better place to put what you’ve learnt into practice than on the actual golf course.
Yet so many women shy away from trying new things when they play a friendly game. From experimenting with different clubs off different tees, to taking two or three chips with a couple of different clubs to find what works most effectively around the green. For some reason, we all tend to approach friendly golf with a very casual attitude, when these rounds are really a golden opportunity to try things that will accelerate your improvement.
With the pressure of marking a scorecard gone, you can attempt shots you’re usually not brave enough to try, like taking a driver off a certain tee rather than playing for safety, or going for that lob shot over a bunker onto a green that you don’t think you can pull off, when deep down you can!
A friend of our women’s editor, Alison Root, confessed to her that during her casual rounds of golf she knows that she should try different clubs and different approaches to holes on her home course, but that she finds it difficult to get into the right mindset and concentrate. She always wants to score well and not let her playing partner down, as they usually play a fourball betterball. She’s definitely not alone. I think we are all guilty of playing too many competitive friendlies that steal our opportunity to truly improve.
So here’s one suggestion. Why not decide on the first tee that you're going to hit every club in your bag that day, even if you're not sure about the yardage that they all travel, especially if you have a least favourite club you hardly ever hit. Make it your mission to ensure you use them all and don’t be embarrassed to tell your friends that you are working on your game or a particular shot that day - this will take the pressure off.
Not only would I respect any friend who suggested this for being honest before we teed off, I would then proactively encourage them to try things that I know they rarely do. Like attempting to get out from under a steep bunker lip by aiming straight at the pin rather than coming out sideways or backwards.
Although friendly golf is inevitably exactly what the name suggests - it’s friendly - casual rounds should not come at the compromise of your ability to still focus when you get to your ball and concentrate on your shot. I see many women who are so busy chatting away that they practically don’t stop for breath before they hit the ball!
There’s a fine line between being sociable and also being able to switch off from the girly gossip and concentrate. So practice switching into focus mode when you arrive at your golf ball. Check your yardage, choose your club, take a rehearsal swing and then step in to hit the ball with a plan. This simple routine will really help you to focus anywhere, no matter what the banter has been up to that point.
In fact, it’s the exact style of discipline that you see tour players deploy at the very top level of the game. Nearly all the best players in the world are capable of chatting away to their caddies and playing partners, even during pressure-packed final rounds of big tournaments. After all, it would be mentally exhausting to stay silent and focused for four solid hours or more.
It’s that ability to flick the switch and turn your focus on when it matters, when you arrive at the ball, that’s the difference. No matter what game you are playing, be it a fun friendly format, a monthly medal or the county championships, having a routine when you arrive at the ball will help you focus and the outcome of your shots will improve.
The final big bugbear often seen in casual golf is that golfers insist on playing gimmes on the greens. We all do it to be friendly, but if you never hole out when you practice, suddenly those simple tap-ins and one-footers will seem scary when you have a scorecard in your hands.
Instead, why not agree with your group that you’ll hole out everything in friendlies every now and then, even if they don’t want to. Just explain that you want to practice short putts. I’ve been very strict about this with my friends over the years, maybe even a little mean with my lack of gimmes, but they always thank me. After all, golf is all about getting the ball into the hole. The more we can practice the shots that we never play or fear, the better we’ll become.
