It’s not often you get a chance to tee it up alongside one of the best golfers in the world; even rarer still to play with two on the same day.
However, that was the opportunity I had after receiving an invite to play in the pro-am with Linn Grant and Gemma Dryburgh ahead of the 2023 Freed Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
I’ve watched some of the best female golfers as a spectator in the past, but getting this close to see how they operate was incredibly eye opening and inspiring. Here is what I learnt on a very windy day on the South Ayrshire coast.
Consistency
As mentioned, conditions were really difficult at Dundonald during the pro-am. The wind was blowing at about 25 mph and gusting even harder, turning an already difficult layout into a brute.
Given the routing at this Kyle Phillips-designed modern links, it threw up every kind of challenge: crosswinds, wind straight into your face, even turning downwind was a struggle given its severity.
Yet the way Linn and Gemma were able to control the trajectory, direction and distance was something to behold. They never once even looked out of balance. Instead, almost every shot was struck as intended and flew to the desired target.
Only once did Linn find trouble when a good drive on the par-5 third just caught the burn that guards the right-hand side of the fairway and is a touch too severe in my opinion.
In contrast, I hit a few nice irons but was all over the place off the tee, losing I think six balls over the 18 holes. Despite being a scratch golfer, it highlighted the massive gulf in ability that exists between myself and the pros, who are able to stack good shot on top of good shot with the minimum of fuss.
Prepare, commit, accept
While the physical aspect of what was on display was highly impressive, especially watching Linn hit a driver which is as good as it looks on TV, I think there is an even greater disparity between amateurs and pros when it comes to the mental side of the game.
Granted, it was a pro-am so there weren’t any tournament nerves, but watching them both go through their pre-shot routines and dial in was something I hope to be able to implement into my own game in the coming months and years.
Each shot was taken on its own merit, with full commitment and attention given. On the front nine, Linn laced a drive down the par-5 fifth that left us all a shade more than 100 yards into the green in the Tour scramble format. That was a glimpse into the power she possesses.
But better still was to come on the ninth that runs adjacent. An equally impressive drive into the wind found the middle of the fairway before she punched a 5-iron from around 165 yards onto the green, creating the kind of noise only possible on links turf. I was in awe at what I was watching but it was second nature to Linn and Gemma.
Both players and their caddies were so ‘into the shot’ that the impact of the weather was negated and the difficulty of the shot minimised. The wind was accounted for, of course, but once the shot was chosen, it felt like that was the only thing that mattered, the same as it would be in perfect conditions.
If I compare that to my own thoughts that day and in general, the picture is very different. On several occasions at Dundonald I actually said to the group I couldn’t even pick out a shot I wanted to play, let alone become consumed by it.
Instead, when I’m on the course external factors - like the wind - very easily invade my subconscious and leave me fighting a losing battle to play good golf. I pulled off the odd shot at Dundonald but it felt like luck more than anything else and certainly feels far less repeatable given my way of thinking.
On the back nine, Gemma picked up right where Linn left off. The Scot isn’t as long off the tee but her temperament is equally impressive. While I continued to struggle with my misfiring driver, she made finding fairways and greens look so simple.
Walking off at the end of a long, yet inspiring day, the ultimate lesson I took away is one people have probably heard before, yet it still rings true and is something I’ve neglected for years. I'm sure I'm not alone.
It’s one of preparation, commitment and acceptance. How many of us amateurs have a proper pre-shot routine that is ingrained? Probably very few, yet we'll all happily spend countless hours hitting drives at the range and working on technique.
Less time and energy is required to come up with a go-to routine on the course that will get you into a better place mentally to perform and help you deal with pressure better, whether that's in the club championship or a doubles match with friends.
From there, it's all about focusing on execution and accepting the outcome either way. I think if we all did a little more of this, we'd all enjoy the game a lot more and play a great deal better to boot.
