Who will Win the Masters?

The Masters is a tough competition. Augusta National is a tough course. It’s a long course (7445 yards at last count)! But what is it that makes it so hard?

Lumps. Bumps. Slopes....and that's just the fairways!

Apart from the tee shots, there is barely an even lie on the whole course.

And then there are the infamous greens!

Augusta National greens are not at all level. They all tilt and turn this way and that way. Like on most courses the game can be won and lost on the greens, but at Augusta it is a crucial part of the game. You have to be able to pick the exact part of the green to land the ball on or otherwise you will find it rolling away from the pin...or even off the green altogether.

We all remember Tiger chipping in at the 16th at the 2005 Masters. He had to aim way wide of the hole and then watch as the ball curved around and ambled its way into the hole. Incredible!. Here is the video again if you missed it:

Tiger Woods 16th Hole 2005 Masters



So what will the players need to do to stand a chance of winning?

Firstly they will need to know the course, particularly the greens. They will need to pick the landing zones on the greens, and then pick the best place to attack that position from. They must have excellent course management.

Secondly they must have good control over the ball from all the uneven lies they will encounter.

Thirdly, and arguably most importantly, they must be able to control the ball on the green. At Augusta that means mastering reading the slope and speed of the greens, and having precise distance control in putting.


So, the winner of the Green Jacket will be….

…. the player who has the best game plan and course management, and controls his ball the best on the green.

Ok...so I couldn't put a name to the winner!

Who do you think will win?

Golf Lies!

Wouldn’t be nice if all our golf ball lies were as level as they are on the driving range? Unfortunately they are not...and golf would not be as interesting if they were!

We often find ourselves in situations where the ball is above of below our feet, or we are hitting from an up or down hill lie. All of these lies affect the way the shot is played and how the ball will fly. So how should you play these shots?

Uphill Lies
When you are hitting from an uphill lie, the ball will fly higher than normal. The slope you are hitting up effectively adds loft to the club. So take an extra club to compensate. Always try and align yourself perpendicular to the slope. This will stop you coming in too steep on the shot.

Downhill Lies
When you are hitting from a downhill lie, the ball will fly lower than normal. The slope you are hitting up effectively removes loft from the club. So take less club to compensate. Again, always try and align yourself perpendicular to the slope. Play the ball slightly back in your stance to reduce the chance of hitting the ground first.

Ball above feet
When the ball is above your feet, you are standing more upright and therefore the swing becomes flatter. A flat swing will encourage a draw or hook, and the ball will tend to have a lower trajectory, flying further. To play this shot take less club and align yourself slightly right of target to allow for the draw/hook effect.

Ball below feet
This could be the hardest shot in golf! The ball is easily caught thin as you are “reaching” for it. The ball will also have a tendency to fly to the right of the target because of the fade/slice spin applied by coming in to the ball from a slightly steeper angle. To play this shot well you need to make sure you “sit” in your stance a bit more and align a touch left of target.


One Final Tip

Most important in all these shots is to maintain balance.

Next time you are practicing, try and find an area to play from that is not level so you can learn to play uneven lies.

Relax. Load. Release. Hit it Further!

Every golfer would like to hit their golf ball further. However, hitting the golf ball a long way isn't everything in golf. It won't guarantee lower scores, but... if you can hit the golf ball further you can make the game a whole lot easier!

Just being able to add an extra 20 yards off the tee can mean the difference between an 8 iron and a wedge into the green. When you can use shorter irons for your approach shots, you can get nearer the pin, and your putts get easier. Result: your score should drop!

Take a look at the tour pros. Granted they may not all have the all-round game of Tiger Woods, but they can all hit it a long way, and many of them can out drive Tiger by quite some distance.

Pros are also able to hit the ball these long distances with what appears to be comparative ease. Ernie Els looks incredibly relaxed when he swings, but still averages around 300yards with a driver.

So, how do the pros hit it so far and how do they seem to do it with so little effort?

It really is quite simple: They generate much higher club head speed and they do that primarily with the use of their hands .

Here is how you can do it too....

1) Relax your grip

You cannot swing the club fast if you are gripping it too tightly as your muscles in the hands and arms will be too tense. So grip it "lightly".

2) Load the club

Make sure you cock the wrists fully at the top of the swing.This will "load" the club into a position where it can be released later in the swing. If you do not cock the wrist fully the club is only going to swing basically as fast as you can swing your arms.

3) Release the club at impact

Make sure you maintain that wrist cock until as late as possible in the down swing then just before your hands reach the bottom of the swing you "release" the club i.e. you un-cock the wrists.

Delaying the release as long as possible gives you time to accelerate the arms and then the extra acceleration during the release generates a huge speed increase in the club head.

More club head speed equals more distance.


So, relax, load and release...and watch the ball fly!

How far do you hit a golf ball?

Golfers love to tell you how far they hit the ball. However what they are really referring to is how far they can hit their best drives, and even then most golfers like to (slightly) exaggerate how far they can really hit the ball. It makes for great banter in the clubhouse!

If you want to score well, you need to know precisely which club to take to get the ball to where you want it. That is, you need to select the club that, with most probability, will propel the ball the distance you require it to go, in the direction you want it to go in.

When I ask "how far do you hit the golf ball?" I am not referring to how far you could hit the ball. I am not talking about long drives. What I am referring to is how far you hit the ball with each club in your golf bag.

You need to know how far you hit the ball with each club in your bag.

Calculate ‘carry’ distance.

When you are calculating how far you hit with each club, make sure you take the average distance. You need to know how far the ball will go with a club most of the time.

Well watered or wet fairways get little or no run. Good greens will hold a ball very well. So what is more important is how far the ball carries in the air before it hits the ground.

The advantage of this is you will know, give or take a few yards, precisely where you expect the ball to land. This is critical if you are to fly the ball over hazards such as bunkers. It is not important that the ball goes a total distance of, say, 100 yards. It is far more important to know that the ball will clear the bunker at 95 yards!

You need to know how far the ball carries with each club in your bag.

Plan your way round

To score better you need to spend a little time on each shot calculating the distance to the target. When you know how far you have to go (to avoid hazards) then you can select the correct club more easily.

If you start to plan your way round the course based on how far the ball needs to carry on each shot you may find that you get closer to the pin more of the time, and your scores start to fall.