How NOT to play a hilly course
Last October I wrote about the four big mistakes I made when playing a course for the first time. You can find out what they were by having a quick pre-read here. So with those lessons learned I played two unfamiliar courses last weekend and realised there were...
I think I have the yips – Episode #1
Last month I wrote about the one-foot putt that separated Ashleigh Buhai from her first career and major win at the AIG Women’s Open. She sank it with style. If it were me, on my recent performance, I would have missed it, and the next one. I’m not confident about...
Time for a big shop?
Imagine you’re at your local out-of-town retail park. All the usual brands are there selling DIY goods, electricals, furniture, carpets, food and clothing. Your every need is catered for and you can park really close. But what about golf shopping? Wouldn’t it be...
Lunch at Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of those iconic coastline courses that many keen golfers will recognise without ever having visited. The Monterey coastline links and beachside greens are world famous. Currently the home of the AT&T Pro-Am in February, Pebble...
AIG Women’s Open – The longest one-foot putt
I can only imagine how it feels to go from the brink of defeat to the total relief and joy of winning that Ashleigh Buhia experienced as she sank a one-foot putt to win the 2022 AIG Women’s Open after four tense playoff holes. It was a nail-biter. Keep calm and...
Why didn’t I win The Open?
This is the question that every final round player, except Cameron Smith, will have asked themselves last Sunday night. All those who fell short will have sat down with their teams on Monday morning, reviewed their data, drawn conclusions and started working on the...
PuttBANDIT – Customer survey data
Asking for customer feedback on our products can be a bit scary. When the PuttBANDIT has been your passion for the past 2 years, it’s even more nerve-racking. Opening an exam results envelope has nothing on seeing customer research for the first time. Our customer...
PuttBANDIT – What customers say
Since we launched the PuttBANDIT ball marker just 16 months ago, we continue to ask our customers what they think about the PuttBANDIT ball marker in our customer surveys. Twenty one percent of customers have responded in the past year. We want to know how the...
LIV and let live?
The new and controversial LIV Golf tour tee’d off this month in London with the second tournament event staring today in Portland, Oregon, USA. So how’s it going so far? If you love golf, play the game, and follow the sport in the news, you won’t have missed the...
The Hart Masters – The fifth major
The players. From L to R: Paul, Freddie, John, Andy, and Neil.Last week, three generations of Hart family golfers contested the fifteenth edition of the Hart Masters. Eighteen gruelling holes of fiercely contested competitive golf in a classic clash of youth versus...
On tour in Tenerife
Image: Golf Las AmericasThis month I was lucky enough to compete on tour in Tenerife. Perhaps you missed the recent coverage on Sky Sports Golf. So did Sky and just as well. What goes on tour stays on tour. European Tour The annual ‘Cheshire Nomads’ claret jug...
The elephants on the green
How many times do you stroke a putt, it tracks with the line and speed you intended and then, in the last few feet, veers off-course jinking the wrong way? What’s going on? Sinister forces at play If the ball had just rolled past, missing by an inch, you know it...
When a loss is a big win
Golf can be a harsh game when you’re not playing well, you get injured, or you snatch defeat from the jaws of success. But what about when you have a 3-point lead a get beaten by an amazing 5-point birdie? That can hurt. But it didn’t. No pain at all. Spring Cup...
These guys really are Masters
There comes a time when you realise you’re not going to qualify for the Masters. For me it hit home last week after I hooked my drive into the car park, owned up with a note on the windscreen and paid for the damage. In Augusta the car parks are set way beyond the...
‘You wouldn’t believe your eyes’ – An amateur’s adventure to Augusta.
The Masters is famous for exciting final rounds, creating endless stories of what might have been for the losing contenders and ultimate joy for the champion. For one young Englishman, his chances of qualifying for the Masters as the British Amateur Champion were...
PuttBANDIT Colours
Clear line of sight The ability of the eye to distinguish shapes and the details of objects at distance (visual acuity) is a critical factor that enables the PuttBANDIT marker to target a putting line direction or aiming point from a distance. Colour contrast, the...
Happy first birthday PuttBANDIT
One year ago today, the PuttBANDIT website went live and we made our first sales of PuttBANDIT ball markers. It’s been an amazing year, full of Covid challenges, putting insights, learning new skills and building new customer relationships. Here’s a brief review of...
Why I love golf
Why on earth do we keep playing this game? I asked myself that question a lot during a very poor round of golf last week. Let’s just say my score was just short of a total that gets the crowd on its feet at a cricket match but less so in golf, unless it’s to go to...
Mulligans – For fun’s sake take it again
How many times, during a purely casual, informal, non-card-submitting round of golf, have your mates forgiven you a poor shot and you returned the favour, just for the sake of having a pleasant time? Ever given a gimme? Just for fun To be crystal clear, getting a...
Golf in 2022 – Exciting!
For me, once the Christmas and New Year festivities have finished, I start to get really excited about golf again. Not just my own game and how I’m going to become a better golfer, but the professional game, new equipment, playing on new courses and visiting some...
Golf resolutions 2022
When it comes to making New Year’s resolutions, I don’t make many, let alone write them down and publish them. But this year, I’m making an exception when it comes to golf goals. I really want to get to a single-figure handicap index by year end. It’s going to take...
Why I change golf balls in winter
Do you play with the same type of golf ball all year round? I don’t anymore. And here’s why I choose to switch when the seasons change and the colder days set in. It all started back at school. Not Q-School, more like Grange Hill without the glamour. School physics...
Go and play winter golf
Historically in the winter, when the phone rings and those words ‘Fancy a round of golf today’ emanate from someone’s lips, my usual response would always have been ‘I’m busy’. It’s cold and the air's damp, the course is wet and muddy, the bunkers are hard, the...
Putting the percentages
How often do you step up to a 6-foot putt and expect to sink it? What about 10 feet? I always have great expectations of my putting but then I looked at the data from the PGA tour. They miss less putts than me, but to be fair, they don’t have wet, bobbly, winter...
7 principles of highly effective golf shoes
It is with great sadness that after 27 years of faithful service, I have to announce I have finally laid my favourite golf shoes to rest. It’s time to move on. But how do you choose a new shoe? Spikes go soft It was in 1995 that I met my old friends in the pro shop...
Strictly come golfing – Hovering, hip action and quiet eyes
How do you go about learning to be a better golfer? Do you get lessons from a local professional, watch YouTube videos, read books, blogs and magazines or just use good old trial and error? Why my swing looks like Jack’s I first started to learn to play in the...
How NOT to play a new course
Most golfers like us play the same 18 holes to get our membership money’s worth. But how do you approach your game when you visit a new and unfamiliar course with no local knowledge? The 7 P’s You’ll probably remember the adage, proper planning and preparation...
Brooks vs. Bryson – The Match
We thought it was all over when they embraced at the Ryder Cup, admittedly after strong encouragement to kiss and make up from their USA teammates. Perhaps peace had finally broken out. But after 2 years of exchanging blows on Twitter and jabbing away about speed...
Ryder Cup 43 – Youth 19 – Experience 9
With the European women winning the Solheim Cup against the odds in Ohio, I had high hopes for the men at Whistling Straits. But it was not to be. It started to look like an uphill climb after day one. Young and talented The ranking stats indicated that Team Europe...
Does the PuttBANDIT improve putting?
We think so. But what about hundreds of real customers up and down the country? Is the PuttBANDIT improving their putting too? We’ve done some research to find out. August 2021 customer research We conducted our first customer feedback survey in the last week of...
One down, one to go for Team Europe
This September’s epic spectacle of Europe vs USA in both Women’s and Men’s golf is well under way. On Monday 6th September, Team Europe won and retained the Solheim Cup, 15-13, in a brilliant exhibition of some of the best golf you will see anywhere, by any team....
Swing like a Lady
With the AIG Women’s Open and the Solheim Cup nearly upon us and more women and girls taking up the great game of golf throughout the country, I thought it was time to visit one of my pet subjects – the female golf swing – and why I wish I could swing like a lady....
From T71 to Claret Jug
What a difference a week can make when it comes to golfing performance. One week, you’re struggling - the next, you’re The Champion Golfer of the Year. How does that happen? Can’t buy a putt At the Scottish Open, the traditional preparation and jet lag cure for The...
Open to learning?
It’s amazing what you can learn by just watching golfers play golf - live. Watching tournament highlights videos is ok but you just don’t get to see the player’s full process - the way they prepare, the studying of the data, their pre-shot routines, shot execution...
Scrambling a recovery
When you hit a poor shot and the ball ends up somewhere less than ideal, how well do you recover to make a nett par? Do you take your medicine and take a drop or the sensible route, adding up an extra stroke, or do you try and hit a heroic risky recovery shot?...
How does the weather affect your game?
I always take the weather into consideration when thinking about my game plan. Cold and raining = stay home. Sunny and warm = break out the shorts. Windy = just play the downwind holes. The problem is the weather variables keep changing. In April it was sunny and...
How big are your greens?
I’m not talking about the size of your vegetables but those patches of turf we spend our days trying to hit in regulation. How can you miss? My last round of golf included just 7 greens in regulation - that’s about 40%, compared to a PGA tour pro’s GIR stats of...
How a nightmare round improved my game
Three weeks ago I had a dreadful start to my round. It started very badly. With no hope of a low score, I stopped chasing a decent number and changed my mental approach. That decision has improved my game ever since and I think I know why. Beware brothers bearing...
Why PuttBANDIT?
Why do you need a PuttBANDIT? To us, the answer is obvious - which keen improvement-minded golfer doesn’t want to set their putting line better? We want to be better golfers We want to play better, shoot lower scores, maybe win a friendly four-ball now and then or...
Back to golf – Round 1 scorecard
After a 3-month lockdown break, it was great to be playing golf. The sun was out, it was warm and breezy with winds gusting above 30mph - so bright but a little challenging. The course was predictably packed with jabbed-up escapees and the pace was on the...
Golfers like us blog
Note to contributors
If you would like to make a contribution to our ‘Golfers Like Us’ blog, please make sure you read the ‘Content Contributions’ section of our ‘Site Terms and Condition’. You can find the link below in the footer of each page.