I Played My 1st Pro Strokplay Comp And Scored… My 1st Win Ep 4

I Played My 1st Pro Strokplay Comp And Scored… My 1st Win Ep 4

We’ve had the warm-up comps, but now it’s time for my first stroke play event. So, for those of you that don’t know, throughout 2025, I’m on a journey to try and win my first professional golf competition in the local PGA competitions. We’ve played a couple and I just wanted to take a quick look back over the first three comps that we’ve played before we get into actually what I would class as my real first comp of the year because it’s a stroke play one and that is what we’re trying to win. Now, when we started on this journey, it was sparked because I played open qualifying last year and that was the first comp that I played in three years. It didn’t quite go to plan, but there was some good parts in it. But what it did do was give me the desire, the urge, the spark back to have a goal to work towards with my own golf. For longtime viewers of the channel, you will know that one of our main playing things is the in the red series that we do. I travel around to golf courses and break par. That wasn’t really going very well. And that was because I never really had anything to work towards. I never had any accountability. I never had any sort of way of monitoring my golf. But now because of this series, I have that I want to win this competition and I want to do it against some of the best players in the region on the PGA local circuit. And if we actually just take a look back at how my season went for 2024 versus how it’s gone in my first three comps to then moving into my first stroke play comp, it’s actually doing what I want it to do. And the reason that I say that it’s going the right way is because when we go on the Shot Scope app and look at my strokes gain data, this is what I’m using now to actually judge how parts of my game are going. It simplifies it really nicely for me. But what we can see is that overall I was minus4.89 on strokes gain. So generally around about five over par to the field when playing throughout 2024. We can see the worst aspect was my approach play at minus2.75 my t-shot minus 2.1 chipping minus.25 and then the only plus I was actually getting was putting at.23 and as you know throughout the my first win series one of the things that we have been doing is taking lessons throughout different aspects of the game. So, I’ve worked with Damen Taylor on my full swing, my driving, my iron play, my approach play. I’ve worked with Shane Jenkinson on my short game. And then I’ve worked with KL Morris on the mental side. Unfortunately, there isn’t a strokes gain bit for that. But what we can see actually is that already in this first stage of 2025, minus 2.75 is where my strokes gained have gone down to. So, I’ve pretty much halfed what I was doing in 2024 to this point today before we play our first stroke play comp. So, it shows that it’s starting to work. And hopefully, you’re picking up some great little tips and insights and things that I’m doing with these coaches that can help you as we go on throughout the year and we try to get the win. This is where I want it to keep going and evolving, seeing these strokes come down and hopefully you’re taking some something from it. I think the big thing from me, the lesson where I had my T-shots, my approach play and my short game lessons, T-OT still need some work minus 2.1. Got to really cement that driver and it’s something that I struggle with a little bit getting it in play under the kosh but approach play 21. We’ve had the iron change. We’ve had a lesson. Worked hard on my um approaches into the green. And I think a little bit because my driver has improved. It’s not as wild. That’s helping the approach play as well. But the good one that’s really improved, the short game gone to 63 in the positive now. So instead of dropping shots and not getting up and down all the time, we’re actually gaining there. And surprisingly, my putting for me has gone to minus.99. nearly losing a full stroke there. And I would say that’s probably because I’ve spent so much time on the other aspects of the game that I haven’t actually put the work in on this. So that’s something that now looking at those things, I’m going to really target driving and putting over the next couple of weeks before we get into our second comp. But before we do that, let’s see how we get on in my first stroke play event of the year. So, this comp was played at Fleetwood Golf Course, a course just outside Blackpool, a Lynx golf course on a pretty calm, miserable day to start off with, but then turns into a very nice day later on. But it’s um a tricky golf course. You’ve got to know where you’re going. There’s a few blind holes. There’s some pot bunkers there that can catch you out. But we got to the course. I’ve played it before. I had time to warm up, hit some putts, hit some shots in the net, and overall feeling pretty decent. I was probably a little bit more nervous than I was going into the prom that we last played because this was a single stroke play event. It was raining as we were teeing off down the first. It was one where I could feel the nerves ramp up, but I had a good idea. I’d actually looked on the my strategy app on shot scope to see where all the trouble was and I was quite glad that I knew that I could hit it right quite a way off the first te and having that plan going in sort of settled the nerves a little bit for me. Yeah. chunky one. Oh Jesus. Flop. Flop. Shot of him. Go. It’s tangly stuff. Cheers. just went off like a rocket. Jesus that the back of the actually nearly missed the golf ball there. It is in a divot, but we’re lucky to actually be on dry land because I missed the golf ball. Should be pretty good. check as much as I thought that hill Do 118 wind off the right. Let’s go dead at it. Come on, wind. Do expected a bit more of this. be the number. Trying to get those hole in ones, baby. Take them off, baby. Take them off. So, an interesting first six holes there. The weather definitely wasn’t on our side. pretty gruesome rain coming down throughout those first six holes that we played. But as I said, I was a little bit more nervous than I was for the first other comps that I played. But luckily managed to um harness the nerves in a positive manner. Had sort of allowed myself just to think about more of what Carl had said about right just control yourself, control what you’re doing with the golf ball. Don’t worry about the outcome. And I was really happy with those first six holes. There was a soft bogey on the fourth which was a a dodgy T-OT um partly because of the rain I’d let go of the golf club but managed to uh hit an okay wedge in out of a divot out of there and then just a bit of a sloppy chip which resulted in my first bogey but didn’t let that derail me. made par down the next and then hit a fantastic shot into the six to get birdie on the card and find that through six holes I was level par and quite happy considering how miserable that start had been weatherwise. He’s going to come out flat and chase it. If I smash a six, get a flyer. Get open in the front. Missed it. Right. Get going. Get going. Not good. grabbed it. That’s ming. So juicy that stuff. Cheers. Flag hunting today. Flag hunting on the par 3es. Check that sunshine. Just cut out those silver little bogeies. Good swing. Good clubbing. You’re doing a lot of good stuff. Keep at it. little provisional cuz I don’t know what’s over there. world apart. I don’t want to hit. Nice. Turn over front right corner just short. That’ll do. Great shot, Matt. Picked it too clean, didn’t you? I didn’t commit. 218 front two 35 flag four iron. Just try and bounce it up to the front edge. Hold your line. It’s just faded on me. A lovely kick right. Should be okay though. That food came out a little bit lucky that but we’ll take it. I’ll do Matthew up and down. Right. 14 for 3/4 cutting middle of the green. That’ll do. It’s got to be good. Go in. I’ll do. I’ll do. So, an interesting neck. Six holes. the first three of the six bracket. Two really bad T- shots on seven. Again, there there was two T- shots that I hit. Seven being one and four being the other that I nearly missed the golf ball. A little bit of rain on the grip, but even so, it’s my fault for striking that poorly. And I left myself quite a way back on the um seventh out of the thickish rough and didn’t hit it into a good spot to leave myself a pitch. I leaked it to the right and made it very difficult for myself there. the bogey on nine on a par five. It was the only real T-shot up to this point where I felt a little bit of a confliction stood over the golf ball. I wasn’t too sure. I wasn’t precise in what I wanted to do. I was thinking, is it driver? Should I just hit four iron down here? Ended up leaking it ever so slightly to the right with a bit of a steer swing and then had to take a penalty drop because it was just at the start of the gorbush. Looking back on it now, I should have really just hit three-wood down, hit a four iron down to near the front corner and tried and chipping and putting my way to a birdie. But that’s something that I need to make sure that whenever I’m stood over a shot, I’m fully committed to what I do want to do because that T-shot was definitely an area where I wasn’t. And we can see that resulted in a penalty shot there. Now 10, 11, and 12. It was great to get a birdie on 10 after a really nice chip over the bunker and just leave that stone dead and then leave myself um a couple of birdie looks on 11 and 12. 12 I thought was a little bit close and I thought I really made that put. But after again another set of six, we’ve played 12 holes and I’m only one over par at this point. The weather’s changed. It’s got nice. I was actually quite comfortable with how I was going. Thought I didn’t make the most in terms of what I’d left myself putting. I’d hit some really nice iron shots in this round, but just hadn’t hold anything. But another six holes to go. There’s still chance for me to get under par. Oh Jesus. That’s on the 14th. Is it 136 to the flag one? 20 to get over that trap. Heavy rough. So either a 3/4 P or a 48. I just see P going too far. Let’s go 48 and go. Wow. This is a 127 flight. though. Bounce it. Please be the right number. It’s just got not gone anywhere. That rough has done me a couple of times. That was Yeah, very good. Go left. Go left. Go left. Go left. Cheers. Lucky boy. Lucky boy. Cheers. It’s a save. It’s a save. do right. 72. Land it at 65 and let it dribble up. squeaked out right on me. It’ll do that. Can hold that. We can hold that. Good chance. Just no aggression in that book. 195 downwind slightly fronts 185. It’s got six. That was nearly a shank. The power bat saved me. I’m with you. Sorry. 130 into off the right pitching wedge. Got to go in. Yeah. Shut the face more. Matt 58. 15813 217 middle. Not going to risk an eight out of that. Let’s go. Nine. Sit. Sit. Let’s cruel. It’s just flown out of there. You got it. It’s like four after the drive and the second thought we’re in deep doodoo. Hold it. Stay up. Stay up. Stay up. Stay up. No. Infuriating. Level par. Cheers. Enjoyed it. Well done. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Well, an improvement. An improvement. And there we have it. Tapping in just missing for birdie on the 18th. Now, as we look back over those final six there, I played those in one under par. So, we’ve had a spree where we’ve played level. We’ve had a spree where we played one over and we had the final six being played in one under par. Not bad. level par overall for me as that round went. Um I would say on that final six I gave myself a lot of good chances. That good up and down from the bunker um that I managed to leave myself in a just an absolute horrible fried egg of the lion. I think real positive for myself there actually um not being too negative after that shot. just thinking, right, come on, you can still make par from here and making a great up and down and then being able to go on and give myself chances throughout the latter stages of the round. As we look at the strokes gained from this round, um T-shots has dropped from where I’ve been. So, I’ve managed to half that again minus 1.17 there. Uh approach is again still trending in the right direction, nearly into the positive there at 0.1 loss there. short game again trending in that right direction. Actually gained 2.1 shots around the green with my chipping. So that’s great to see all the work that I’ve done with Shane has benefited me. And then it’s that putting that has let me down minus two shots um loss there. Now, I would have said hopefully I would have hold one or two more puts, which would have got me to about two under, three under maybe, but that wouldn’t have been good enough to win because actually it’s my good friend Pete Finch who won the tournament with an incredible 65, which was seven under par for him. So, congratulations on that, Pete. and it leaves me seven shots of drift, six shots of drift from um second place, and only four shots of drift from third place. So, what I think’s really good moving into this um stage of stroke play comps now is that I’ve shot level part. I’ve shot level part in the proam. I’ve started to see that my strokes gained have really come down. We can see that everything is trending in the right direction. I’ve now just got to start breaking par and getting myself into that top 10 and that top five mix. I think definitely into the in the reds that we’re playing. I need to start seeing that I’m getting under par a little bit more frequently when there isn’t maybe that much pressure on those. But definitely everything that I’m doing is working in the right direction. And like I say, we started this series because it was giving me a purpose and to see the numbers going in the right direction and the practice that I’m doing and hopefully what you can learn from the practice as well from the likes of Carl Damian and other pros that we’re getting on the channel. Hopefully that’s helping. So we’re on to our next comp. We’ve got some coming thick and fast. I think for me the priorities now are definitely putting keep working on the T-shot and I think from inside that 100 yards to maybe 50 yards I want to get a little bit sharper as well to set up some better chances but overall it’s all going in the right direction. Guys, I hope you’re enjoying the series. If you haven’t already, make sure you are subscribed. When we get to 250, we’ve got a big giveaway coming. And why not watch a video here where I take on Pete Finch and Andy Carter out in Dubai.

Help us improve the channel with this quick survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSduQfIlphLXaNAodMIMqqSeH1CVp7q3Fayl69g0Q0HJetcSGA/viewform?usp=header

► Official Apparel and Footwear Partner: Mizuno
https://mizunogolf.com/uk/apparel/
MZN-MATTFRYER-20 – Mizuno discount code

► Official Distance and GPS Device Partner: Shot Scope
https://shotscope.com/?rfsn=6932320.bbe1bd&utm_source=mattfryer

► Launch Monitor: https://foresightsports.eu/lp/gc3/?utm_source=MC&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GC3-Launch

► Hit #Subscribe & #HitTheBell #golfvideo so you don’t miss out on any new videos!

Become a FREE SUBSCRIBER to MATT FRYER GOLF now
https://www.youtube.com/user/Mattfryergolf
—————————————————————————————————————–
Hi I’m Matt Fryer, welcome to my channel MattFryerGolf. This YouTube channel is to help you play better golf and love the game even more!

I specialise in golf lessons, golf club news and other entertaining golf content.

I you want to play better golf I cover all topics in my golf lessons such as, how to fix your slice, fix your hook, help you drive the golf ball longer, hit your irons consistently , master your shortgame and hole more putts.
I will also help you lower your score by giving you plans and tips on managing your game out on the golf course, with course vlogs and golf course scenarios, so you know exactly what to do you find yourself in a tricky situation.

On this channel I also make fun and entertaining golf content from golfing trips I go on, showcasing some of the best golf courses and resorts in the world and giving you advice on where to visit and which golf courses to play.

If you enjoy the channel make sure you hit subscribe and also tap the notification bell so that you are always notified when I release a new video.

Enjoy your golf!!