European Tour Putting Report from Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

It was up to St. Andrews this week for the Dunhill Links Trophy. I always look forward to going up the 'Home of Golf'. It's an inspiring setting and with the good weather forecasted there's no better place to be.

On the Monday I arrived mid afternoon to meet with Chris Wood and we spent some time at St Andrews. There are 3 different courses this week, St Andrews Old, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, which will be played on over the first 3 days before returning back to St Andrews for the final round on the Sunday.

On Tuesday morning I walked 9 holes with David Horsey and Chris Wood on the Old Course. It was a perfect morning for golf. Nice and warm and no wind, making it a real pleasure to walk such a historical links. Both Chris and Dave were looking very good.

In the afternoon I spent some time with Lee Westwood. The week previous I had been down to see Lee in Worksop. This was the first real session of any length we had managed to get together since I started to help him in Holland a few weeks ago. One of the things I have addressed with Lee is his tempo. On the Tuesday it was looking a lot better and Lee himself was feeling a lot more confident with it. Look out for a more flowing stroke with a slightly more upbeat tempo this week.

On Wednesday I met up with Tommy Fleetwood first thing in the morning at St Andrews before he went up to Carnoustie for his practice round. Tommy has been putting better of late which has resulted in some fine performances on the Challenge Tour and him securing his full tour card for 2012. We spent a little time checking his stroke mechanics before doing some work on his green reading.

After that I popped down to Kingsbarns to meet with Michael Hoey where we spent some time working on Mike's stroke mechanics and also working on his green reading routine which will be particularly important around Kingsbarns as the green are so undulating. Mike is great guy to work with and is improving all the time as a player.

In the afternoon I met with the Open Champion Darren Clarke. Darren has a new putter this week. After a frustrating spell on the greens in the last few events he has decide to rest the putter he won with at St. Georges. He has thicker grip than usual on his new putter which actually helps him grip the club more in the palm of the hands, as he has a tendency to grip the club in the fingers. Technically the main focus this week was his pace through the consistency and speed of his routine.

Other students in the field this week were Oliver Fisher, Robert Coles and Richie Ramsay. Hopefully one of the boys can do the business this week and make win number 9 for HSPSE students this year!