It’s amazing what is normal for a (retired) tour caddy but eye-opening to others, and some simple tricks can really help improve your scores writes retired tour caddy Sean Russell
I recently walked nine holes with a promising young player and, as ever, it was interesting to see that what is normal for a tour caddy is eye-opening to others.
The first thing is normally the importance of having clean clubs. If the faces of your irons look like you’ve been doing the gardening with them, the ball may well end up in the nearest garden. Just wet the bottom quarter of your towel before you go out to play, just like every tour caddy in the world does, then wipe before the next swipe.
Eating and drinking at regular intervals during the round is key. No-one is saying that you need to fuel like a professional cyclist, but the right stuff at the right time will stop you getting tired towards the end of the round and throwing away a decent score just because you ran out of energy.
Be aware of where you are in relation to your handicap at any given stage of your round. That way you can make better risk and reward decisions. Always do this with your nett score, not your gross score, as one under-par is a lot more positive than five over-par and your brain will react better.
You also need to know when it’s not time for driver at a short par four – because that brings the trees on the left into play if you pull it, and the trees on the right too if you fan it in a left to right wind. Instead, it’s something around 210-220 yards off the tee because that’s where the fairway is effectively 70 yards wide, you’ll stay 20 yards short of a scabby bunker, and you’ll still only have 100 yards to the pin.
Look at your scores and stats on the MyEG app regularly. That way you’ll see that you almost always bogey three of the easiest holes on the course, which likely means your strategy for playing those holes is what’s wrong, not your swing.
Remember to look at where the flag is on 18 as you go up onto the first tee – and other flags as you pass them out on the golf course. That way you’ll know that you need to be short and right of a nasty back left pin, or that going past the front one is absolutely fine. This is especially important when you can’t see the bottom of the flag from the fairway.
Get a coach and some lessons if you’re serious about getting better. Yes, Sudarshan Yellamaraju became a tour pro by watching golf videos on YouTube, but you (probably) won’t.
Realise the easiest way to take one shot off your handicap is to have one less putt. Don’t just aimlessly waft away on the putting green before going out, do Chris Paisley’s favourite putting drills instead – all of which are available on Instagram.
With these simple things, you’ve got a great chance of getting better and you may just do it in a hurry too.
