That’s what Bandon is like and I hope to have more experience with links style golf in the near future to get a better feel for exactly what you mentioned. Even an easy course in golf can be a test of character, add in some randomness of luck and you got yourself a great game.

Cheers!
Dan

Yes, the pros wear out that club center. That’s for sure. However you learn how to strike the ball how you need to is what works for you. So, if you are finding that you are getting better with your methods than keep it up and the sky is the limit. If, however, you are unhappy about how you have improved over the years, perhaps changing up the routine could change up the results.

Thanks!
Dan

It’s interesting that you start with a 3 iron, opposite to that I usually start with a pw and I usually don’t stop hitting hit until I hit several shots I’m happy with. Usually all I want is a center shot that starts a couple yards right and draws back center with a divot that bottoms out a couple inches in front of the ball. This is surprisingly difficult even though I hit balls nearly every day, so my routine probably seems quite unusual as I end up hitting 300+ balls with just a pw and sometimes don’t get past that club for several days.

Sooo, I think there’s a point in there, the difference between a great golfer and a single digit handicap can usually be seen with just a couple of shots. You could hand you pw to any pro golfer and quickly realize that your pw shot doesn’t do what their pw does. They get a different sound, different ball flight etc… They accomplish this with near perfect amounts of shaft lean, lag and unbelievable ability to wear out the center of their clubs around the third groove. Trying to 20 of the 30 balls inside some made up distance isn’t going to get you where you want. Hitting several shots in a row that couldn’t be perceptually any better than they were, likely will.

I always remember Scott Hoch ranting and railing about links golf. He wanted ‘target golf’, American style, where everything was fair. He simply could not understand how a links fairway would have bumps and mounds in it and that a perfectly good shot could bounce off one of them and end up in the rough.

Similarly, the Scots – irony of ironies, that Christian name of his! – were as bemused by Hoch. Did he not understand? That was the very point of links golf and places like St Andrews. It tests character in a way target golf never can. Every hole, it reminds you. Life is unfair. But are you man enough to deal with it?

As I recall, Hock decided to sidestep that question, only seldom choosing to take part in The Open.