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Strathlene Golf Club

Strathlene is one of the oldest golf courses in Scotland first established in 1877. The ground was gifted to the town by Mr Bryson the factor of Seafield Estates at that time. The original 9 holes were created between Portessie and Strathlene House, where 2 of the holes were situated in the area which is now the Caravan Site. The original clubhouse was situated at the entrance to Portessie railway Station. In 1936 the course was extended to 18 holes with the purchase of ground on the headland between Strathlene and the village of Findochty, and was designed by Mr George Smith of Lossiemouth.

Strathlene Golf Club

Extract from the book:

Sometimes the most significant grain effects occur on putts that go directly

Green-Reading the 15th Building Block 169 with or against the grain by changing both the amount of the break and the overall distance your putts will roll. If you putt against the grain (that is the grass is growing directly into the rolling ball) its speed will be slowed your putt won't roll as far and all breaking putts will break a little more than normal (right side of Figure 7.10.2). Putting with the grain not only gives the ball extra speed and distance but also keeps it rolling more on-line and breaking less than normal (center ball track). On long putts the difference in rolling distances can be quite significant (Figure 7.10.3).

If you've played in the southern tier of the United Slates you've probably putted on Bermuda grass which has broad bristly leaves and a sparse growing pattern and can be especially grainy. But bent grass which is found predominantly in the northern part of the country has grain too just not as strong. Wherever you play try to learn about the strength of the grain before you venture onto the course.

There are a few quick ways to judge the way the grain is running on any green. First look to see if it's obvious - that is if you can sec that the blades of grass lie all in one direction. Remember grass tends to grow toward water and the sun so look that way first. Then check if you can see the sun 's reflection on the grass: If the grass appears whitish or shiny it means the grain is growing away from you; if the grass looks darker you're seeing a little shade under the blades as you look into the tip ends which means the grain is growing toward you.

Grain will have the greatest effect on a putt near the hole since that's where the ball rolls slowest. So check how the grass is growing around the hole. Also examine the edges of the cup: One side may look cleanly cut while the other is ragged which indicates how the grass is growing. A clean edge means the grain is growing from that side toward the hole; the ragged edge is on the side of the cup that lost its roots when the cup was cut (that's why it is ragged because some blades died during the day after having their roots cut off) so the grain runs away from the hole on the ragged side.

Then there's the "drag test" - simply dragging the leading edge (bottom) of your putterface firmly across the grass to see what happens. If the grass continues to lie flat your drag is in the direction of the grain; if the grass bristles up that's the against-the-grain direction as seen in Figure 7.10.4 (you may have to drag in a circle to find the pure "against-the-grain" effect). While dragging your putter

Strathlene Golf Club

Extract from the book:

So if you don't know that downhill putts break more than uphill putts on the same slope (covered in Chapter 7) then you won't be making many downhill-breaking putts. Or if you believe that Bobby Locke and Ben Crenshaw struck their putts with overspin to make them dive into the hole then it's unlikely that you'll work on those aspects of your putting that actually can help you putt better (see section 4.9).

It might seem about now that I'm being very negative about putting that I'm pointing out how hard it is how much you don't know and how much you have to learn to be a good putter. I'm not trying to he negative but I am trying to point out how much you have to learn. Learning is what good putting is all about: It's not hard to putt well; it is hard to learn how to putt well. And the difference is crucial. I place much of the blame for the difficulty in learning squarely on the putting green. The green provides a very poor environment in which to learn.

Standing on the putting green golfers have no idea why they miss putts or why they make them. After missing a putt (even on the practice green) most golfers assume their stroke mechanics were to blame. However they may have stroked a perfect putt but it hit a hard-to-see footprint which caused the putt to miss the hole. Or they might make a putt and assume they stroked it perfectly when they actually hit a terrible putt but misread it just the right amount to compensate and - only luck can explain it - roll it into the hole.

I learned a long time ago that if you learn from your mistakes things usually get better. But if you continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over again things get pretty bad. Then I read a book on learning theory and learned that immediate accurate reliable feedback is the key to efficient learning (Figure 2.7.1). This in fact has become the basis of all my teaching (I wrote about it at great length in my Short Game Bible). The basic notion is that if you don't know right from wrong in practice there is no way you can improve. If you don't know a good stroke from a bad stroke in practice you are just as likely to groove the bad one as the better one. If you make a perfect putting stroke from a bad setup position and then blame your miss on stroke path you'll never learn to set up perfectly. Or if you blame your heart your courage or your self-worth when you miss putts then you'll never fix your aim your path or the impact problems that truly are at fault.

A student in one of our Scoring Game Schools told me a story. In a laboratory devoted to the methodology of learning scientists were studying how pigeons learn to feed themselves from pellet dispensers. In one cage of pigeons they placed a number of dispensers all of which released one pellet every time a pigeon bumped or stepped on the release lever. Every time the lever was hit a pellet fell out. It took just two days for every pigeon in that cage to learn how to feed itself: hit the lever get a pellet.

There was another cage of pigeons which had the same number of identical-looking pellet dispensers. But these dispensers worked differently. They released pellets randomly. Sometimes pellets were released without the levers being touched. Sometimes they were released when the lever was touched once. And sometimes when the lever was touched nothing would happen. In time some of the pigeons thought that when they lifted their right wing a pellet was released. Some of the pigeons thought that if they chirped they would get a pellet. And some of the pigeons believed that if they turned in circles in front of the dispenser they would get a pellet. In two months none of the pigeons learned to feed themselves. In fact it was humorous watching the second cage: every pigeon practicing a different move hoping to release a pellet.

It reminds me of a practice putting green filled with golfers. One golfer is prac ticing a new grip. Another has widened his stance and is bending over more than he used to while his friend is trying the split-hand grip he saw on television. An other golfer is trying to learn a short backswing and "pop" stroke. All these golfers practicing something that they actually did just before they happened to make a putt hoping it will help them make another one.

Strathlene Golf Club

Golf Swing Tips

Extract from the book:

Position the golf ball in the manner previously described, then stand straight up. Your knees are not locked, but they are close to locked. Your back is perfectly straight. Your chest should be out. It won’t feel right to have your back straight and chest protruding. It will look and feel “exaggerated�, but that is alright. It is supposed to feel like that when you first adopt this new setup. Your spine has to remain straight throughout the swing. It is most important that your spine remain straight during the setup and throughout the swing. Your spine will be acting as the axis for your swing.

Strathlene Golf Club