Can I Break Par? | Road To Scratch | Ep 23

Who am I?
Hey I’m Aaron, a golfer who’s obsessed with hitting the ball as far as possible. Outside of the golf course I’m a personal trainer and my favourite saying is ‘Don’t be a D*ck’ which I tend to use a lot on my short form content. Ultimately it keeps the snowflakes away and has done a pretty good job of grabbing your attention. I hope to bring you some laughs and drop some knowledge bombs now and then. Have a good day.

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Let’s go. One down the middle would be a nice start, wouldn’t it? Oh, get a left. Oh, mate. Get out of the bottom. We’re in the trees. Just came out the bottom. Bit lent off that one, but we’re down there. That’s no good, right? It’s a big update. A huge update in the road to scratch. So, I’ve just wow a couple days ago I played in my usual midweek medal that I play every Wednesday. And this time we went big, boys. It was my best ever round in competition. You don’t know how great it is when the work starts paying off. It’s just so good. And it was such a mad round. So, I’m literally going to put the scorecard on screen here. Right. Imagine starting the first five holes four over. Now, someone who’s low single figures, that is dog All of my shots were gone, right? But I just said to myself, I was like, “Be patient. You know you can make a birdie, mate.” And that’s exactly what happened. I nearly made five in a row. All right. I literally missed an eightfooter on seven to not make one there and ended up getting four birdies in five holes to get back to level par. And then in the bat n had a little bit of a weird period on 14 where I missed a small one. 15 just hard par three and ended up missing the green. And then somehow scraped back two more birdies to get back to level. Honestly, it was just so good. But if I’m honest, genuinely just feel like it was coming. My golf has been like I don’t think I’ve shot above 78 in a competition in the last two months. The game is so consistent right now. My misses have got so much smaller and yeah, just so happy. I can’t believe it. So, what we’re going to do today is we are going to try and shoot level. We’re on the back nine, which is usually my best nine around Comventry Golf Club, and we’re going to try and see if we can shoot level or better. We haven’t started off with a fantastic uh drive because I think it’s somewhere around these trees, but hopefully we can still start with a decent score and hopefully make some birdies going around. Let’s have a quick look then. We must hit a tree. I don’t know what’s happened to it, but we’re going to just chip out. We’ve got a bit of a gap. Going to take a low iron and try and punch it. Maybe even a little cut cuz the wind’s off the left, but just leave myself a little wedge in as it’s a par five. Not a great lie. Sitting down a bit. Just like that. Run through the bunker. We’ll take that. Lovely. I’m still competing a long drive. Next week I’ve got my first big competition of the year. 30k prize pot for this one. It’s in the north of Germany. It’s going to be huge. There’s a lot of sponsors there as well, which is just going to make it even cooler. So, can’t wait to go out there. How am I swinging it? Long drive terms, I’m still not the fastest. I still need to work a bit on my speed. I’m like low 140s. You know, there’s some boys there that will be like low 150s, but with how I’m striking the ball and how I’m playing on the course, actually playing goal shots, I still think I’ve got a great chance because at the end of the day, I can I can know that if you give me six balls to play a shot, chances are I’m going to play it. So, I’m looking forward to that. But like just even this next shot, like normally I would try and get so close to the green because I didn’t really feel like I had a wedge game. But now I’m just so confident in my wedges because the work I’ve put on them from like inside of 100 yards that Yeah, just so much pressure has come off it. It’s awesome. Right, come on. Look at this. We’ll take this. See if we can get up and down that bird. That’ll be nice after that drive. Right, we got 65 yards. I’m going to take a 60. Punch it through. I mean, hit it harder. Yeah, that’s not great. That’s frustrating. Yeah, my wedges got great, but decided to hit it 20 yard short and imagine this big birdie to start. Got to come in. Come in. How has that gone dead straight? It just kept going, didn’t it? Wow. Got our first little test of par, boys. And did I mention actually I’m down to two? So, I’m down to 2.4. I don’t feel like I mentioned that. I’m actually down to 2.4. So, some courses I would be playing off two, but on my home course I’m off like three, nearly two. Just like that. That’s how we do it. I’ve actually made a bit of a tweak to my putting recently and it’s an absolute game changer, but we’ll talk about it on the next screen. Hard to start. We move. Right. Then for my next hole, we’ve got a lovely half dog leg. Right. Now, my go-to club here at the moment is just a four iron. Mainly because like if you hit driver straight, you’re dead. One iron is not a cutting club. So, if there’s any one club that I feel like I can hold off a bit, it’s a four iron. So, we’re just going to aim dead straight. And I know this one will stay on the fairway, which is the hope. Anyway, it’ll do. Now, that actually wasn’t that good, but the bottom again. bit like my driver last but it’s down the middle. The funniest thing was about this this round is that I actually only hit about three or four fairways in regulation. I mean that just says a lot, doesn’t it? If even though I wasn’t hitting like fairway after fairway, I was always in like pretty good spots. I was striking the ball well or missing in the right areas. And I think if you can, you know, I’ve said before on the channel like if you can just focus on playing in the right spots, I think you’re always going to score on average a lot better. I mean, Danny um who’s been on the channel a few times, definitely the best golfer in our group. He’s currently at plus three. Like, I just think that’s what he does so well. He’s like always just plays in the right areas. A lot of people when you walk up to a TE, I used to do it all the time. I didn’t actually even focus where I’m hitting him, you know, the more you can refine what you’re aiming for. I think you naturally miss smaller that way. Make your target smaller, miss smaller, tend to find you’re in a better place. That was what I was really sh I was just so loose. And I have to say, I don’t think my short games got better. I just think my long game, particularly my off the tea game, has just got so much more accurate. Normally, I’ll be honest, if I hit this probably a bit better realistically, I always li myself like 125 in. I’ve got I got 150 pennies at the back as well. Practice uphill. I’m going to try and just play a very like soft grip down wedge and hopefully it will make its way there. Let’s see how we go. Oh, kind of towed that. Go ball. It’s like fat toe. It’s got on, but it isn’t my best strike, not going to lie. Yeah, it’s on the green, but it won’t be anywhere near the flag for a birdie put, which is a bit frustrating. So, tell me for any even if you’re a high handicapper, mid- handicapper, even a low handicapper, what do you think that’s made your golf game improve the most? All right, I want you to whack it in the comment section because I always just find this interesting, understanding what what people have done to make their golf game better. I think it’s very different for a lot of people, but there’s obviously huge connections. We’re all human, you know, there’s always there’s a specific way to play golf. So, I’m really interested just to hear what, you know, sort of work for you. Right. I’ll talk you through what I’ve done with my putting on this next hole. Yeah, cuz I even got Chat GBT involved. That’s the funniest thing. Wasn’t the purest of strike of wedges, but we’ve got a pretty straight 30footer and which is actually absolutely perfect for the next thing that I’m going to show you. So, putting’s always been a better part of my game. I’ve always been out to hold putts, but I found at the start of the season this year, I haven’t been as good as I’ve previously been. I mean, if you see on my last video from the road to scratch, I missed so many little short ones, and I’m like, what the going on? Obviously, gone back to the Newport two, but I sort of wanted to work on a big part of my game, and that is where I’m lining up my putts. For years, I’ve lined my puts out the toe because when I look down on the club, for some reason, for years, that has felt like the middle of my pur. I know it looks demented. So now all of a sudden I was like right I was noticing like I literally watched last week’s video back and I was like I’ve just towed the hell out of that and I wonder why it didn’t go in the hole. So I was like surely if I want this is where chat GBT came involved. It goes I literally said to chat Gv like how can I get more put out the middle of my club face and the first thing was was line up your put right and I was like okay. So then I did that and I was like all of a sudden that’s the I was like that actually that’s the middle of the club face. Still to me it feels like I’m hitting completely out the heel. I tell you what, I have never put it so freaking good in my life. And I’ve never hit the ball more end over end in in my life. And you’d think surely someone who’s played golf as much as me would know would realize that could be such a basic thing to do. But it also just shows that like sometimes it’s just looking at these little basic things that could just transform your golf game. So right, we’re just going to see how straight this comes out. This a pretty straight putt. We’re focusing on the end over end of the putter with the with the line I put on it. Let’s see what we come up with. Before I’m literally lining up my putt like that mental. Now I’m lining up like that. That for me feels right out of the huzzle, but let’s see how it comes off. Look at that. End over end. I’ve just not hit it. And the line’s absolutely terrible. I mean, still not bad pace, but I hit that exactly where I wanted to hit that. I haven’t read that. I just gone straight at the hole. But mad. Let’s test the facts. Let’s see if actually it does pay off. I’m going to go slightly left middle here. So, no longer are we going to line up like that. We line it up like that. And we just go straight down the middle like that. But to know that I’ve been inconsistent by something as stupid and futile as that. What am I doing? And by the way, the biggest drill that I’ve used is obviously put the ball in the middle of the club face, but just put. You see it a lot. Pros do it all the time, but just put a literally a T peg that side, a TEG that side, and just try and stroke through it. And yeah, game changer. Absolute flipping game changer. Right, that’s enough talking for a bit. Let’s play some golf. Let’s go with two pars level through two. Let’s see if we can start making some birdies. Come on. We are on the 12th. This is a par 4 350 dog leg left. And this is the resident one iron hole for me. Mainly because my one iron has a lot of offset. So it’s lally made for in a draw. And this is a perfect hole where I like to hit a draw. So let’s see if we can find the short stuff. Something like that, boys. Oh, get the tracer on that. Joe, get left. Oh, we love to see it. Come on, let’s make a birdie. All right, we got 70 yards in. So, wind against slightly downhill and the one iron travel 280. Got to love that. Right, we’re going to hit a punch 60. I’m going to try and just get this one down and really spin up. That’s the That’s the aim. Go ball. We’re on. Not bad. Not bad. It came out a bit weird. I don’t I think it was just slightly Speaking of lining the ball up out of the toe. Surprise, surprise. That one was a bit towy. No, we’re going to aim pretty straight left edge of that. Firmed it. Why am I hitting that so hard? This is another problem with now hitting it pure out the middle of the putter face. Oh my god. Let’s test that putting ability. As you can see, great with the short ones, but that was not good from there, was it? Let me have a go again. I think it was a bit further than this, but Level through three. It’s not bad. We’ve got a little par well little par five. We’ve got a par five coming up which can be quite dangerous. So, it’s all about the drive here. The drive is crucial. You’ve got a pond and OB left. You got bushy trees right which sometimes I can go over but I’d like to play from the fairway again today. So, let’s see. Right. This is an important drive. If we get down the middle here, we got a very good chance to make our first birdie the back. But the drive is the most important one. Now, luckily, we haven’t got too much of a breeze. So, my line is usually a little draw over that bunker, and that’s what we’re going to try and hit today. So, let’s see if we can do it. No, we’re in the pond, lads. We’re in the pond. Big splash. Look. Oh, we might actually be short. It might have been that We’re short, right, lads? It’s not looking good. To be fair, I was surprised it didn’t bounce in the pond. I think I was lucky the wind was against, but I think we’re going to This is a new drop by the way, just to just to lift the mood back up. Abel’s clubber, golf clubber is just getting better and better. I think they’ve updated the polos, but I’m loving the little collarless ones at the moment. So, if you are interested in a bit of a new golf clubber, AM10, just help yourself. I mean, let me line up a ball. Got to keep the uh So, the good part is, lads, we could still make a birdie. The hard part is we’re gonna have to hit the green from 240 yards and the winds against. But hopefully being out the rough will counteract that. Now I think four iron could be a bit hard, be a bit too much. So we’re going to hit a five. Bearing in mind I think it’s going to come out like a bit of a runner. So we’re going to work with the slope. Play off the bunker with a little draw. Come on, mate. It’s not the purest. Get chasing. Get chasing. Get chasing. That was very fat. Wasn’t ideal. A little bit shorter than we wanted, but got to say the last couple of shots haven’t been my purest. But this will be a nice test. We got 71 yards in similar to the last hole. We’re going to play a similar club, 60 little punch, and see if we can just leave oursel a good par. That’ll do nicely. It’s pin eye. We got ourselves a put, boys. Now, this surely can’t move that much. How good’s a short foot, mate? Mate, boys, just make sure you’re not lining up out the toe. All right, cuz right now around 6 foot, four for four. Let’s go. Right, we’re level through four. That could have been a birdie hole. Ended up being a nice par save. There’s no real danger in these next few holes. So, they’re tough, but if you get you driving away, it’s always a good chance to make some birdies. So, let’s keep the attacking golf going. Oh my god, it’s absolutely munched. Get right. Oh, boys, that must only have about 30 yards in on this hole. We’re looking at like 410 yards. Let me actually Right. Let’s do the tree. Let’s do the tree from where we just played. 365 yards uphill. Not bad, is it, boys? Not bad. Right, we’ve got into the pin 50 yards. So, I’m going to actually change my approach a bit. I’ve been hitting I’ve been hitting 60 into these, but I’m going to hit I’m going to hit a 56 cuz we’ve got a lot more green to work with. So, I’m sort of going to expect a little bit of roll out here. But, we’ve got 50 yards and we’re going to go for a lower approach. Hopefully make our first birdie of the day. See what we got. Oh, spin please. Spin, please. Spin, please. Oh my god. I knew soon as I hit it, it came out too firm, but hell. Nearly went in for eagle. That would have been unreal, wouldn’t it? That would have been unreal. Anyway, we got a birdie, but which is what we wanted. And hopefully we know where this going. I mean, oh, it was so close. It’s looking so buttery. Yeah, I’m going to aim at the pin and hope to put it on. Just going to follow its way home to that hole. Why do I keep ramming them down the hill? What am I doing? Oh my god. But that is again just awful. Dead straight. By the way, I think I’ve just pushed it slightly. What am I [Music] doing? What am I doing? Why? Why have I done that? How frustrating. And the good news is we’ve got a par five coming up that is is a birdie and I’ve been playing it well so far, but we need to get past this par three. This is usually a bit of a challenge and the T-shots everything. All right, we’re 200 ys it. We’re going to It’s kind of wind against there. I’m going to take a little five bounce left. Oh, it’s bounced straight. It’s actually quite a nice strike. Quite an easy swing, but I think we’ve gone up and down now. Not a bad lead, good distance control, and shouldn’t be too difficult of one down. It just got a bit of a fluffy lie, so kind of interested to see how this one comes out really. But landed at our green and let it run to where we want to go. That is so soft. That’s really poor. I had a feeling with a lie that it was going to come out weird, and it did exactly that. Come on. It’s never never never low enough. It’s them ones where it still feels weird having that ball that close like on your huzzle. Oh, mate. I did this literally the other day. Two bogeies on these two holes. Right. The difference was in my level my level par round, I made a birdie on the next, then I made a birdie on the next. So, let’s see if we can do that. Big couple of holes. We got three holes left or two over par. Oh, now the wind is helping a little bit here. Off the right helping. We’re going to hit bit of a slinging draw. Oh, what are you doing? What am I doing? Right, that was a toe out of the top. Not good, mate. Look how hard that is to find. It’s there. Look at that. Where’s it even gone? Look at that. That’s where it is. Right, boys. Taken uh 2 minutes and 58 seconds and we finally dug it out. What the It’s meant to be the easiest drive of the day and somehow hit a massive snap hook right at the top. Now we’re miles back, but with the wind, we’ve always got a good chance to hit. So, I’m literally going to try and just chip out here with a stand iron or something. What? It’s not ideal, is it? That is the heaviest stuff ever. Why are they leaving it so long? A nice one iron between the trees. Oh my god. It’s come out by the 150, boys. That sounded lovely from the roof. We’ve got Looks like a 180 into the pin to me. The wind’s helping and we got an uphill lie. I’m going to take a little n iron and see if I can give myself a par. Come on. I’m going to aim up the hill thinking that the slope might bring it back down towards that pin. Oh, I just towed the crap out of it. Get over the bunkers. Oh my god, it has. It’s ending up all right now. This could be huge. We’ve got 15 foot, I reckon, up the hill. Oh, so close. Bit of a poor run of holes. That is three bogeies. I mean, the good part is another stat that I am working on. He’s not making a double. In my level par round, I did make one, but hey, there’s always positive to be taken here. pins in a nice position for this one. It was on the top tier and it would become a lot harder, but 175 wins against. I’m going to take a little eight iron. No. Oh, I’ve bailed out, boys. That is not the birdie swing. And it’s dropped short cuz it’s hit a tree. Oh no. Land on the front and let it just roll up. And that will do nicely. We’ll take the par. Stops the bogey rot. Anyway, three over through eight. Right then, boys. This is huge. 18th hole. 370 yards uphill, but we’ve got a bit of breeze to help. So, hopefully we can hit one like the 14th. Could have ourselves an eagle put. Oh no, just bit left. Full lift. I think we’ll be by the first te. We should have a reasonable shot on it. We’re literally 30 yards off the green, but we’re slightly left. I could float it up over there, but that’s a bit of a high-risisk shot. I’ve got a bare light. Well, you know what? We’re not here to take part, lads. We’re here to take over. And if we’re going to make a birdie, this is how we’re going to do it. Oh my god. Sit down. Oh my god. Sit. Sit. Sit. Oh, lads. Play the guitar. Ah, it’s unreal. We’ve got ourselves the birdie putt we wanted. Can we finally make one? A bit of a right to left. Tell you what, I went for it. Right, boys. Not too bad. Steady golf. No doubles, which is good. No birdies, which is not so good. Free bogeies. We’ll work on it. But overall, it’s very steady golf. And we’re now a free handicap and we’re moving in the right direction. I hope you enjoyed it. And on to the next.