Five formats guaranteed to improve every amateur golfer's game

14/08/2024 13:01

One of golf's great strengths is that there are apparently limitless ways to play the game.

Stroke play is the most common, of course, and it remains the simplest. Tot up your score as you go along and fewest shot wins.

The reason the sport has gone looking for other ideas is that stroke play is also the toughest way to play because it allows for no compounded errors. One bad hole early in the round and it is exceptionally difficult to play catch up.

Match play overcomes that problem by turning every round into an 18-part contest so errors can be swiftly written off.

And there is Stableford which is a version of stroke play that limits the corrosive impact of really big errors which in stroke play can make the rest of the round a waste of time.

What's intriguing is how playing different formats can improve your golf in various ways.

A solid tee-to-green golfer in stroke play might struggle to make putts until freed up in match play. It might be that when he or she reverts to stroke play they remain wary with the putter. It may also be that they learn a big lesson.

Similarly, always playing stroke play might limit horizons whereas peppering things up with Stableford rounds might open up a golfer to the possibility to attacking a course rather than always playing cautiously.

How else could we play the game with long-term improvement in mind?

Four clubs

Play a round with just four clubs.

The selection requires a bit of thought but that in itself will prompt potentially improving thoughts.

You'll have to think through every hole and consider your options.

What long club are you going with?! Do you take a putter or use another club on the greens?! Do you need a sand wedge or is that a waste?!

Here's the strange thing: speak to golfers who have tried this and they'll frequently relate how well they played and what they learned.

One of my best-ever rounds came when I was stuck in a rut with my golf and wanted to shake it up so took just three clubs!

I found myself utilising a smarter course strategy, I applied more thought to every shot rather than being mentally lazy on holes I knew inside out, I committed to the shots. It was a revelation!

No yardages

Go native.

No card. No stroke saver. No course map. No gadgets.

You'll need a course that has no 100 and 150 yard stakes (unless you're mentally strong or short-sighted).

But just use your eyes.

Trust your golfing instinct.

You'll curse the idea at some stage. You'll sometimes wish you'd never tried it.

But you'll also learn some significant lessons that will pay dividends down the line.

And you'll also be aware of what info you really missed – and which info was just fogging the issue.

No practice swings

Give yourself a break and have a stretch when you get out the car, and swing a few clubs before you hit the first tee.

But then? Not one practice swing.

Not on the tee. Not on the fairway. Not in the rough. Not around the greens. Not on them.

See the shot. Think about the shot. Hit the shot.

You'll learn a lot about what you're good at – and even more about what you're not good at.

How far around the course?

Find a friend who plays off the same handicap. Let's say you're both 10 and the course is a par 72 with two nines of 36.

If you're playing 18 holes you get 82 shots. If you're playing nine you get 41.

Now how far around the course can you get before you run out of shots?

The key to this is that by using your brain in an entirely different way to negotiate the course you'll free up your game, and your brain, to achieve something different (and hopefully beneficial).

Best ball/worst ball

This is a favourite game for professionals when practising although they do tend to favour the latter.

It's the ideal game if you've got the course to yourself (in fact, it's absolutely not to be undertaken if there is anyone behind you).

Amateurs would prefer best ball. You bang two balls off the tee, pick the best, hit another two from there and so on.

For amateurs this can have the beneficial effect of introducing yourself to what you're actually capable of.

The tougher task is worst ball.

Again you bang two off the tee but this time you select the worst one and hit two from there.

It's hard. It introduces discipline and demands concentration.

You can understand why the professionals like it.

And you can appreciate why no club in the world would like duffers and hackers to faff about with it in front of another group!

But in the right conditions and circumstances it has genuine value for all of us.

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