Golf on the linksland of Britain and Ireland is the oldest and the best way of playing the game.
It can also be the most infuriating.
As the DP World Tour takes on the brutal Royal County Down in the Irish Open, we take a look at three great tips that everyone can use to improve their golf by the seaside.
Tip 1 – Jack Nicklaus: “Stay disciplined”
Although he was ultimately the winner of 18 majors, Jack Nicklaus struggled in the first round of his Open Championship debut, carding an 80 at Royal Troon in 1962.
But he made the cut, finished T34th and fell in love with the British and Irish coastline.
Over the next 18 years he recorded a simply ridiculous 17 top six finishes in the Open and lifted the Claret Jug three times.
He knows what he’s talking about, then, when he stressed during the 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022 that discipline is essential in this form of the game.
“If you really play smart at St Andrews or on other seaside courses,” he said, “you’re playing away from where the bunkers are. You’re probably going to take a couple of chances during the week, but most of the time you don’t take them on.
“When I won at Muirfield (in 1966), I planned my route out. I would hit four drivers a day. And then on the last day I had a little wind in my face at 14, and I elected instead of hitting 3-wood (as I planned) to hit driver and I knocked it right in the frigging bunker, and it almost cost me the tournament.
“Discipline is such an important part of playing over here. You get frustrated. Once you get frustrated, then say, ‘Bye-bye, we’ll see you next time,’ because that’s what happens. You’ve got to be patient. Take what the golf course gives you. You can’t try to take any more.”
Tip 2 – Paul McGinley: “Use the wind as your friend”
Paul McGinley was not only a four-time European Tour winner, the man whose putt sealed the 2002 Ryder Cup, and the captain who guided Europe to triumph in 2014.
The Irishman was also the halfway leader of the 1996 Open at Royal Lytham & St Anne’s, was third with 18 holes to play at Carnoustie in 2007, and he also won the Irish PGA Championship at County Louth, one of Ireland’s great linksland gems.
He’s not quite the ‘Golden Bear’ but he also knows a thing or two about links golf and he gave the DP World Tour social media team three tips on how to use the wind as friend rather than foe.
He started with punch shots into the wind and stressing that we should hold the club right down near the steel of the shaft.
“Do that, take two clubs more and the ball will come out low,” he says. “After that, just take a normal swing.”
Then he turns to the issue of how to use side winds.
“If the wind is off the right,” he says, “use left-to-right spin on the ball and take two clubs more to hold it in the wind and there are two things with that. One, it creates a straighter shot. Secondly, when it hits the deck it lands soft.
“With the opposite wind we’ll hit right-to-left, or hook, spin.
“So with the fade spin, aim left and just come across the ball a little more and hold the club face open. With the opposite I just want the club face to close a little bit and more importantly I’m swinging from in to out.”
Tip 3 – Me and My Golf: “How to escape from pot bunkers”
Golf pros Andy Proudman and Piers Ward are better known as social media stars Me and My Golf.
But their work goes beyond the internet. They also coach DP World and PGA Tour star Aaron Rai who won the 2020 Scottish Open by the seaside at the Renaissance Club and was fourth in the same event this summer.
They headed to the par-3 12th hole at Royal Birkdale to explain how to escape from sand traps.
“I need loft and I need to use it well,” says Andy. “I need loft in set-up and also in my swing.
“So I open up the face before I take my grip. Then in the set-up I make sure that I lower the handle and I do that by taking a wider stance. Really wider stance, really low handle.
“The loft now is almost pointing at my face. A little extra weight on the lead leg and with the swing I’m going to make sure I accelerate past the hands to keep the loft. I need the speed to get it up and over the lip.
“Remember. Wide stance. Handle low. Speed and loft.”
