Consistency. In golf it is often a word which takes second place to ‘power’ or ‘distance’ but, in the minds of the professionals, it is a word which is crucial to their success.
A glance at the updated Genworth Financial Statistics on The European Tour shows that the man who, arguably, is currently the most consistent is two time US Open Champion Retief Goosen as the South African leads the Greens in Regulation category, having hit 120 of the 144 greens he has aimed at thus far in 2009; giving him an impressive percentage success rate of 83.3%.
So, how does he do it? The man from Pietersburg, who turned 40 last month, shared the secret of his success withwww.europeantour.com
“There are a few elements to it,” he said. “Firstly, obviously, you have to drive the ball well and I feel I have been doing that a lot better this year,” – a fact borne out by the fact he, at present, lies within the top ten of the Driving Accuracy category.
“However, if you do happen to miss a fairway it is also important to have good club selection coming out of the rough, that can be key to keeping up a good greens in regulation percentage. Taking time to judge the lie and what you think the ball is going to do coming out of that lie is vital.
“Finally, you also need to know your limits in terms of going for pins and realising what the ball will do on the green. You need to not always be looking at the flag, just try and hit the best side of the green you can.”
Amateur golfers can only dream of achieving the consistency and accuracy enjoyed by Goosen but the 14 time European Tour champion gave this assessment of where he reckoned most club golfers go wrong in terms of finding greens in regulation and, more importantly, what they can do to improve.
“The thing I see with amateurs most of the time is poor club selection. Most of the people I play with in pro-ams, it is this part of the game that is not correct. I would say about 90 per cent of the time I see amateurs come up short of the green.
“They think they hit the ball further than they actually do and it is very important for them to look at all aspects of the shot they are going to hit to the green. On one hole I might have 150 yards to go and am hitting a nine iron, the next hole I might have 150 yards to the pin but am hitting a six iron.
“Amateurs need to try to start reading the wind; reading whether the lie is uphill or downhill and also reading whether the hole itself is uphill or downhill – all these things can come into play. What I’m trying to say is that it is not always a nine iron if you are left with 150 yards.
“Everything has an effect and therefore you need to be able to judge your lie, your stance and your conditions and play according to that. Most amateurs I see think that if it is a number, it is a club.
“Also a lot of amateurs are slightly intimidated by hitting lowered number irons, they think it is easier to hit a six or seven iron than a four or five iron which is actually the club they should be hitting.
“Also they like to think they can hit it further than they actually can, especially if the guy across the fairway has hit a six iron, they think they can reach with a seven when, in actual fact, they should be hitting a five. As I said, 90 per cent of the time I see amateurs underclub.”
