After the thrill and honour of playing in another Senior Open, players headed north to the spectacular Trump International in Aberdeen for the Senior British PGA event. It is one of the toughest golf courses I have played in my professional career, testing every part of your game on every hole. With President Trump being on site for the first part of the week and strong winds during the second half of the week, the event proved to be a very challenging tournament both on and off the course.
Whilst President Trump was in Scotland, primarily to conduct a series of meetings with heads of state, he made time in his diary to stop off in Aberdeen for a couple of days to open the second 18 holes on the Trump International Links property. As you can imagine security was very, very strict and gaining access to the tournament took up to an hour longer than it normally would. At checkpoints passports were required as forms of identification and if you can imagine airport security on steroids you will have an idea of what we faced for the first few days of the event. Even while we were on the driving range the Secret Service and Delta Force personnel were in plain sight and personal searches were carried out on the range whenever President Trump came on the range to hit balls. There were over 6,000 security personnel (police etc etc), both local and overseas, tasked with keeping the President safe. It was a mammoth undertaking but thankfully nothing untoward happened. President Trump was able to officially open and play his new course on the Tuesday. In fact, the only real drama happened quite some time after he helicoptered away from the property. An abandoned car was discovered outside the entrance around 3:30 pm and it was deemed to be a possible bomb threat. The course was locked down and nobody could leave. I spent an extra 3 hours at the course hitting balls…and I never did find out what happened to that car!!
The weather up until the start of the tournament was beautiful but right on cue the wind kicked in and it blew hard (around 40kmph with gusts up to 80kmph) for the rest of the week. Couple that with narrow fairways, rough that seems impenetrable if you leave the fairway, and greens that are exposed to the elements, scores over 80 were not uncommon. During the first two rounds there were 52 scores in the 80’s. The cut was made at 14 over and only two players finished under par for the week: that should give you some idea of the severity of the test.
I think it’s fair to say that most people don’t particularly like playing golf in the wind…whether you are a pro or an amateur. There are numerous tips about playing in the wind and they centre around controlling the spin of the ball and lowering the trajectory. The common tips are choosing lower lofted clubs, adjusting your ball position and swinging the club smoothly. Sound pieces of advice but I believe to score well in the wind the most important key is patience.
Patience is required in abundance when playing golf in the wind. The conditions will be challenging, not just for you but for your opponents as well, so be patient, adapt your strategy, and manage your expectations. Your mental approach is important, if not more so, than the physical game.
Understand that:
You can’t fight the wind – when the wind is blowing very hard it is essential that you try not to fight it – it will always win. Unless you’re very confident shaping the golf ball, simply adjust your aim left or right and allow the wind to do the work. Alternatively, you can hit more 3/4 shots. This will take the spin off the ball and keep the ball lower, so the wind has less influence. In this case you won’t need to adjust your aim quite as much.
Scores will be higher – when the wind is crazy strong you have to accept that you’re more likely to play golf on the moon than shoot a personal best score. Par is an excellent score on most holes, and bogeys are not a disaster. You need to be prepared for this and not let your score get in your head. It will be the same for everyone.
The ball will behave unpredictably – Even with your best struck shot, a sudden gust of wind can produce a result you think is unfair. Most club golfers struggle in the wind because they simply don’t account for how much even a relatively gentle breeze can affect the flight of their golf ball. Even on chip shots and putts, a strong wind can affect the outcome. A calm and accepting attitude will help you move on to the next shot without frustration.
So ultimately, patience is about accepting what you can’t control (the wind) and focusing on what you can (your attitude and your swing). By making smart, conservative choices and maintaining a calm demeanour, you can have a challenging yet rewarding round of golf in windy conditions.
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