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In this video, legendary Tour caddie, Billy Foster offers five crucial strategy decisions - every golfer needs to get right!
Transcript
00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 Welcome to Bingley St Ives.
00:06 For this video, in partnership with Motorcaddy,
00:09 we've got tour caddy, Billy Foster.
00:11 He's gonna be calling on all of his experience
00:14 from caddying for the likes of Seve Baier,
00:15 Stair Ross, Darren Clark, Lee Westwood,
00:18 and right now, Matt Fitzpatrick.
00:20 He's using the Motorcaddy M5 GPS electric trolley,
00:24 and he's gonna share all of his best advice
00:27 to help you strategize around the golf course.
00:30 (gentle music)
00:32 Okay, Billy, hit the fairway, as always, of course,
00:36 but still quite a long way to go.
00:39 So you come up to a shot like this.
00:41 First of all, how far have we got?
00:43 - Well, we've got 165 to the front, 182 to the flag kit.
00:47 So, you know, normally 182 for a pro golfer
00:51 would be a seven iron, let's say, for example.
00:54 Today, you've got to factor in,
00:56 you know, you're probably playing a couple downhill,
00:58 so 180.
01:00 The weather conditions, the temperature,
01:02 it's gonna go at least five yards less,
01:04 you know, a little bit of breeze into us as well.
01:07 So it's gonna be, you know, probably 10.
01:09 So I'd be looking at least 190,
01:11 which all of a sudden changed it from a seven iron
01:13 to a really good six iron.
01:15 So that's what you'd be looking at,
01:17 looking at your landing areas.
01:19 Obviously, the green's pretty soft today,
01:21 so you would be looking to land it
01:22 to two or three yards short of the hole.
01:24 So then you'd be going 187 is my landing number,
01:27 which still is just a nice six iron.
01:30 So, but you get different scenarios, you know,
01:32 if the pin was on the front,
01:33 let's say there was water short,
01:35 and this is where a lot of guys still make mistakes.
01:37 They were going, right, well, I've 180,
01:39 you know, it's a seven iron,
01:41 'cause I wanna land it 180,
01:42 but actually you don't because the pin's on six.
01:44 You're going over water,
01:45 so you'd be looking to land it
01:46 at least five yards past the hole.
01:48 So you'd be, you know, you'd be adding it 185,
01:51 which would probably change it from a seven iron
01:52 to a six iron because if you hit a good seven iron,
01:55 lands on the front, spins a bit, you're in the water,
01:57 so you're protecting yourself in it a little bit past
01:59 to the fatter part of the green
02:01 and taking the hazard out of play.
02:03 But right now, for you, it's a good solid six iron, mate.
02:06 - Cool.
02:07 So often, though, amateurs come up short
02:09 on a shot like this, probably for two reasons.
02:11 Ego, we think we hit the ball a lot further than we do,
02:14 and also just general quality of the strike.
02:17 Would you err on the long side
02:18 and really get to know your yardages, essentially?
02:21 - All day long, I mean, I've caddied in
02:23 probably 3,000 pro-arms over 40 years, you know,
02:26 and like I say, the two mistakes you always see
02:29 is the alignment's always shocking.
02:30 It's always 20 or 30 yards right.
02:33 So always try and pick something on line
02:34 with where they're hitting it
02:35 and get the club pointing at your target
02:37 that's on the ground, might be a divot
02:39 or a tee peg or something,
02:40 and then just step in square to your club face.
02:42 So you will automatically align yourself a lot better.
02:46 But yeah, definitely the strike of the shot is key.
02:49 You know, it's, amateurs don't really know
02:53 how far they fly every club,
02:54 but I mean, if you went on the practice ground
02:56 and hit a load of seven irons and said,
02:57 well, I fly my seven iron 150, you know,
03:01 and you might have 155 here, well, guess what?
03:04 I'm gonna hit a good seven iron,
03:05 but you miss strike it a lot.
03:06 So I'd always recommend it in one club mode
03:08 and swinging it smooth
03:09 instead of trying to smash the lights out of it
03:11 and hoping you hit it out of the sweet spot,
03:14 which you might do one in 10, but as amateurs we don't.
03:16 So I would always say use an extra club,
03:19 swing it smoother.
03:21 And then, you know, if you pin high,
03:23 you're obviously gonna be a lot closer,
03:24 even if you're left or right,
03:25 you're gonna be a lot closer to the hole
03:26 than if you're 15 yards short.
03:28 So it's simple maths, really.
03:30 - In most instances,
03:32 is it better just to aim for the middle of the green?
03:34 Almost forget about the flag.
03:35 If you're an amateur,
03:36 you aim for the middle of the green every time,
03:38 you're gonna give yourself a lot more putts for birdie,
03:40 aren't you?
03:41 - No, it's not just amateurs, mate.
03:42 I mean, I carry for Matt Fitzpatrick,
03:43 and he has a chart that he's religious.
03:45 You know, if the pin's got far from the left,
03:48 he'll never hit it out of the flag,
03:49 'cause he knows his dispersion with, say,
03:51 a seven-nine might be nine yards.
03:53 So we'd always aim five yards right of the hole.
03:56 So even if he tugs it a bit,
03:57 it's still gonna be on the left side of the green,
03:59 you know, so yes, always aim in the middle of the green.
04:02 The best players, Nick Fowler always talked about
04:05 the cheese wedge, he called it.
04:06 So he would say where the pin is,
04:08 and he'd have a wedge around the flag,
04:10 and he would try and hit it in the cheese wedge,
04:12 right or left of the hole,
04:14 depending on which side of the green the flag is cut.
04:16 So the best players in the world, again,
04:19 limit the mistakes and keep it in the fat side of the green.
04:22 - Okay, I'm certainly not one of the best players
04:23 in the world, but I'm gonna limit my mistakes.
04:25 So is it six iron?
04:26 - Six iron it is, yeah.
04:28 There you go, all the best.
04:29 Good luck, son.
04:30 - I need it, thank you.
04:31 So there you go.
04:33 If you are in a situation like this,
04:35 it's a mid-iron, long iron in,
04:37 make sure you know your numbers,
04:38 aim for the middle of the green,
04:40 and whatever you do, if there's water, a big bunker,
04:43 do not go flirting with it.
04:45 Hit the center and give yourself a putt.
04:47 (upbeat music)
04:50 - Okay, Billy, this is an absolute classic.
04:53 We're over in the trees.
04:56 Got a little bit of a window here.
04:58 We can come out sideways, plenty of options,
05:01 but what's the right one?
05:03 - Yeah, well, as you can see,
05:05 I'm in my usual spot here on the ninth hole at Bingley.
05:07 Another pull-up off a tee.
05:09 Yeah, I mean, you do have a few options here.
05:14 I think I learned a lot of different options
05:16 off the great Seve Ballesteros,
05:18 but obviously you've got four options.
05:21 The easiest one is to just chip out sideways.
05:24 You could actually go between this bush
05:27 and the first tree here,
05:28 and just, that would be the safe shot.
05:31 Just pop something out short of the bunker,
05:34 and you can still get home in three on this par five.
05:37 You do have an option up here to the left
05:40 where you could hit a high cut if you so desired,
05:45 but I don't really see that reaching the green,
05:47 so my personal shot would be
05:50 between the two trees you can see in front.
05:53 The way I go about, I'd always try and plumb bob,
05:56 or you'd always see Justin Rose doing something like this
05:59 where he holds the club up,
06:01 and he tries to pick the dead center between the trees,
06:05 and it just so happens that I'd always try
06:07 and choose something on line
06:09 in the middle of the gap there,
06:11 like this leaf is in the perfect position
06:14 right in the middle of them two trees,
06:17 so I would always try and align the club face to the leaf,
06:22 so now I know that club face is pointing perfectly
06:26 in between the two trees.
06:27 Obviously play off the back foot a little bit
06:29 'cause you want a little low chaser,
06:31 and I would try and drive that low hard
06:36 through the middle of the gap,
06:37 and chase it in there obviously with a bit of a draw
06:39 because you need to shape it around there a bit,
06:42 but personally that would be the shot of my choice.
06:46 If you've got any sort of low handicap or pro,
06:49 would normally go for this shot right here
06:52 and chase something up, just short the green,
06:54 or if you get it perfect, you could knock it on the green.
06:56 I'm sure the grandson you're would be.
06:58 He'd have a birdie putt from here, no problem.
07:00 - Yeah, we know what's up.
07:01 - He'd have a bogey putt from the middle of the fairway,
07:03 but he'd have a birdie putt from here.
07:04 - I'm no savvy, but I'm tempted.
07:06 I've got to take this on.
07:07 - Go on then.
07:08 - You got the right club there, right?
07:08 - Yeah, that should be good, yeah.
07:10 - Okay, so we've got that leaf as our alignment.
07:13 - Nice low punch under there.
07:14 - Right, I'm channeling my in adjusting rows here.
07:17 - Go on then.
07:18 - Okay.
07:19 - Careful as it might bounce back and hit you.
07:23 (laughing)
07:36 - Always chip out sideways, ladies and gentlemen.
07:39 I'm glad I could be here as the guinea pig to show you
07:42 that it's not always the best thing to go chasing
07:45 the tricky recovery shot.
07:46 Chip out sideways, get it back in play,
07:48 unless you're a good player like Billy here.
07:49 - Like I said, good players would go for it.
07:52 You should have chipped it out.
07:54 - Spot on.
07:55 Okay, Billy, how far have I got?
08:03 - All right, let's have a look, Kip.
08:07 - Okay, we've got 85 yards to the flag.
08:10 - Okay, so that's not a full wedge.
08:13 What do you do in this kind of situation?
08:15 - Again, you've got to know your landing numbers.
08:18 Looking at that flag, again, it's tight left.
08:21 So I'd be recommending don't knock the flag out
08:23 because if you pull it a little bit,
08:24 you're gonna be in the deep bunker left.
08:26 So you'd be aiming two or three yards
08:28 to the right of the hole.
08:30 I'm probably looking to land it pin eye.
08:31 The greens are pretty soft.
08:34 Again, you need to know your yardages
08:35 and the only way to do that is,
08:37 and I'll tell any juniors,
08:39 the best way to make your game much sharper,
08:42 don't spend so much time bashing drivers and long irons.
08:46 I would spend certainly half your time hitting wedges
08:50 or hitting a lot of chips around the green.
08:52 So the more you practice your short game, the better.
08:55 So you get the likes of Phil Mickelson.
08:57 He used to, he'd just like put towels down on the range
09:00 at 70 yards, 80 yards, 90 yards.
09:03 90 yards, 100 yards, 110.
09:06 And he'd try and land it on the towels.
09:08 Hundreds and hundreds of balls,
09:09 try to land it on that spot.
09:11 So you dial in your wedges and you get to a stage
09:15 where you can land it within two or three yards
09:17 of that towel every time.
09:18 And that's what makes champions great
09:19 by having a really sharp short game.
09:22 The likes of Luke Donald got to number one in the world
09:24 'cause immaculate wedge player.
09:26 Zach Johnson's got a green jacket and a claret jug.
09:29 Unbelievable wedge player.
09:30 And even though you don't bomb it 320 yards,
09:34 it just goes to prove that great champions
09:36 have great wedge player.
09:37 - Okay, reasonably straightforward from the fairway.
09:40 There's a juicy bit of rough over here.
09:42 So I just want to see what you think about this lie.
09:44 All right, Billy, this one, well, it's pretty juicy.
09:48 It's not great, is it?
09:49 How does this change the shot that we're able to play?
09:51 - Well, let's say we've got 90 yards here.
09:56 You can see it's a wet, lush, thick grass lie.
10:01 So this is going to come out dead.
10:03 So, you know, if you were playing,
10:04 you would probably say that might be even be playing 110.
10:09 So you'd be really thrashing a big lob wedge
10:12 or trying to dig out a sand wedge
10:14 because it's going to come out at least 10 or 15 yards dead.
10:17 But on the other hand, you draw a lie
10:19 that's maybe two or three feet to the right of that.
10:23 Let's take that one, for example.
10:25 So that is like burnt, wispy grass.
10:29 You got a little wispy, tuft of grass behind it.
10:33 That is a potential exocet.
10:35 So that really could jump 20 yards,
10:40 at least 20 yards further than it normally would go.
10:42 So you'd be looking to really probably bring the flight
10:45 down that and chip one in there and get it running out
10:47 because you've got no control over that.
10:50 And that happens a lot.
10:50 You know, you might get, I've carried for,
10:53 I remember one with Darren Clark in Holland,
10:56 really dry, wispy grass and he'd like 190 yards.
11:00 Well, that's a six iron, but it was such a dry, wispy lie.
11:04 He actually had a pitching wedge
11:05 and it just comes out with no spin on it whatsoever,
11:09 like a bullet.
11:10 And it literally went 50 yards further
11:12 than a normal wedge would go
11:13 because it was so fiery and wispy grass.
11:15 And you get the grass between the club face and the ball,
11:18 no spin on the ball and it just really, it's like a bullet.
11:21 And he hits it on the green for 190 yards with a wedge.
11:23 And that's the difference between a juicy, wet,
11:27 thick grass lie or the wispy,
11:29 little bit of grass behind it, exocet.
11:32 And it's reading the lies.
11:33 And only experience can tell you to read lies.
11:36 You know, it's like the semi-rough,
11:37 you might be just a normal semi-rough lie.
11:39 Well, that's, say if you've got 180 yards,
11:42 that's always gonna come out five to 10 yards soft
11:47 because it's in the first quarter of.
11:48 And it is reading lies and only experience
11:51 can teach you that over the years.
11:53 - Good stuff.
11:54 So there you go, make sure you do read the lie
11:55 'cause as we've just heard, whether you're in the fairway,
11:58 that nice little wispy one or in the cabbage here,
12:00 that completely changes the shot that you can play,
12:04 especially when it's a little pitch in from about 90 yards.
12:07 Okay, Billy, 250 yard par four, slightly uphill.
12:16 It's drivable.
12:17 Now, normally I'd just reach for the big dog
12:19 without even thinking about it.
12:21 But what should we be doing on a hole like this?
12:24 - Well, you got to know your limitations, Kit.
12:26 You know, don't get me wrong,
12:28 if the best players in the world
12:29 or even your little handicappers
12:31 would easily knock it on the green here
12:33 with probably a free wood, you know.
12:35 So, but if you're an average club golfer,
12:38 to me personally, you look at the widest bit of the fairway,
12:41 which is short of the cross bunker,
12:42 which is probably 175 yards.
12:44 So why wouldn't you get a five iron or a four iron
12:47 or whatever, lay it short of the bunker
12:49 to the widest part of the fairway.
12:51 Leave yourself a little 50, 60 yard chip up the green.
12:55 Birdie putt, worst case scenario, par or,
12:58 if you put like Edward Scissorhands,
13:00 at least you're making a five.
13:01 But I know what the egos are like,
13:05 a 20 handicapper's over, I can knock it on this green.
13:07 Well, of course you can, but guess what?
13:09 You might knock it on the green one in 50.
13:11 The other 49 are going in the trees, left and right.
13:14 You're losing your ball.
13:15 Maybe find a couple of chops.
13:17 You're making double, triple bogey
13:18 from just being your ego getting the better of you.
13:20 So you've got to know your limitations
13:22 of your own golf game.
13:23 - What kind of ratio are we working on then?
13:25 Say realistically, you're going to knock it on
13:27 or around the green here.
13:30 How many times out of 10 to make it worth your while
13:32 taking it on?
13:33 - You got to be looking at seven or eight,
13:37 aren't you really?
13:38 You know, you're going to, even good golfers,
13:40 scratch players, you're two handicappers, whatever.
13:42 They're going to make a couple of bogeys,
13:44 a couple of double bogeys by going for the green
13:46 and they might make four or five birdies, you know,
13:50 but you've got to know, play to your own strengths
13:52 and just eliminate the, I always remember Tom Watson say,
13:55 you're winning open championships
13:58 by limiting your mistakes,
13:59 not by getting glory shots and making more birdies.
14:03 You win tournaments by eliminating your mistakes.
14:05 So the less mistakes, obviously the better the score.
14:08 - Just finally on this hole, when it comes to the layup,
14:11 obviously we're focusing on the wider part of the fairway.
14:14 That's what you want to hit it to.
14:15 How much are you thinking about what second shot
14:17 that leaves as well and making sure that's a number
14:19 or a shot that you're most comfortable with?
14:20 - Yeah, sure.
14:21 I mean, when I'm walking golf courses,
14:23 working for fits, exactly.
14:24 I'll walk down and I'll look at the zones of roughly
14:27 where you want to hit it off the tee.
14:28 Might be between 260 and 280.
14:31 And that's the widest bit of the fairway,
14:33 which will leave you, you know, maybe 140 to the flag,
14:36 which would be a pitching wedge or maybe a nine iron
14:38 into a little bit of breeze.
14:39 And you might want to hit down the left half of the fairway
14:41 if the pins tuck behind the bunker on the right,
14:44 say for example.
14:44 So, you know, on this hole, I would say, you know,
14:47 if the pin was back right, as a decent player,
14:49 you'd be looking at the left half of the fairway
14:51 to leave yourself in a better angle in.
14:52 So you look at these, certainly the zones off the tee,
14:55 the yardage is between, like I said, 260 and 280.
14:58 Then it'd be a three wood for fits into that area.
15:01 And then you're looking at the pin position,
15:03 where the wind is, et cetera,
15:04 to leave yourself the best angle of attack.
15:06 So that goes without saying.
15:08 - Brilliant.
15:09 So there you go.
15:09 When it comes to drivable path wars,
15:10 leave the ego at home, aim for the fat bit of the fairway,
15:14 leave yourself a nice, easy second shot onto the green.
15:17 You can always make birdie without going for it.
15:20 Okay, Billy, we're just off the edge of the green.
15:28 Club selection and shot selection,
15:29 vitally important with these little finesse shots,
15:31 isn't it?
15:33 - Yeah, I see it's changed a lot over the last 20, 30 years.
15:36 The modern player, the modern young players, whatever,
15:39 they miss a green, the first thing they do
15:41 is reach for the lob wedge every time, you know,
15:43 and like I say, you know,
15:45 I've had it for Seve for all those years
15:47 and he never had a lob wedge.
15:48 His maximum loft was 56.
15:50 And, you know, the players of that generation,
15:52 you're Ian Woosdams, you're Faldo's,
15:53 you're Bernard Langers, Seve's, et cetera,
15:56 Greg Norman's great chippers.
15:58 And that seems to have been a bit lost with,
16:01 everybody just reaches for the lob wedge,
16:02 a la Phil Mickelson.
16:03 But as you see,
16:04 you've got a fairly straightforward chip here.
16:07 So why would you want to land a lob wedge
16:09 halfway to the hole?
16:11 You know, it might get a soft bounce.
16:13 It might scoot on.
16:14 It might have a bit of side spin on taking it away.
16:15 So how I was brought up from that generation
16:18 was try and land it on the green
16:20 as soon as you can with less loft.
16:23 So you've got to judge what you can land it,
16:25 say two yards on the green
16:26 with a straighter first club.
16:29 I'd say this is a pitching wedge.
16:31 So you just pop it on the green
16:32 and then the ball will run end of red
16:34 and track like a putt instead of having too much spin
16:36 and relying on the right bounce.
16:38 So I would say a pitching wedge for this particular shot,
16:41 landing it four feet on the green, sir.
16:43 - I'm gonna have to give back the lob wedge then.
16:46 - Get rid of that, snap it in half.
16:47 - Okay.
16:48 Never need a lob wedge, do you, apparently?
16:50 - No, not really.
16:50 - Good.
16:51 - Let's try a pitching wedge.
16:52 See how you get on. - I like a pitching wedge, so.
16:55 Little bit short.
16:56 Get it just running a bit quicker.
16:56 - Yeah, just land it three or four feet on the green there
16:58 and just get it running towards the hole, Kit.
17:00 Pretty good.
17:08 - Yeah, spot on for distance, really.
17:10 Yeah, just pulled it a little bit,
17:12 but landed in the perfect spot.
17:14 And you know, it was on line, it had a chance to go in.
17:17 - Great stuff.
17:18 So anytime you are around the greens,
17:20 use as little loft as you can to get the ball running
17:22 as quickly as you can,
17:24 and you're sure to get a more consistent outcome.
17:26 Thanks for watching.
17:28 Some fantastic advice and amazing insights
17:31 from Billy Foster there.
17:33 That's all for this video in association with Motorcaddy.
17:36 Make sure you use those tips
17:38 next time you're on the golf course.
17:39 And I'm sure you'll shoot loads under your handicap.
17:42 (upbeat music)
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