Happy Sunday, golfers.
Let’s get into it.
Today’s quote:
“A routine is not a routine if you have to think about it.”
— David Love Jr.
How a Caddie Thinks
We talk a lot about pre-shot planning and strategy in this newsletter. But still, there are levels to this game, and it’s always a good exercises to see how detailed pre-shot planning truly can be.
The Carnoustie Caddie (a caddie with 30+ years of experience working at Carnoustie) posted a great thread on X reviewing the checklist he goes through before every shot.
It highlights how much calculation goes into a single decision from a high-level course management perspective.
An excerpt from the post:
Figured I’d give you another twenty things to consider before committing to your shots.
More info always helps right?
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Speed is Overrated
Open up Instagram, YouTube, or turn on the Golf Channel. You’re immediately flooded with swing videos that seem to defy human anatomy.
Unimaginable clubhead speed. Absurd lag. Flexion, extension, and every kinesiology buzzword in the book — all in the relentless pursuit of maximizing speed and distance.
But every now and again, it’s good to be reminded that those golf swings are not a requirement to playing high level golf.
Meet Barb Moxness.
A 73-year old ex-LPGA member who is teeing it up in this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
She has played in every single U.S. Senior Women’s Open, and last year became the oldest player in the tournament’s history to make the cut by shooting a 71 at the age of 72.
Here she is talking about her golf swing.
There’s nothing revolutionary about what she’s explaining. But what caught my attention was how unbelievably basic her motion looks.
She simply takes the club back and drops it behind the ball. No excessive lag or aggressive side bend. Nothing impossible to replicate. Just perfect tempo, balance, and face control.
Anyway, something I thought worth remembering the next time you start trying to smash driver like an ape in an attempt to pick up an extra 15 yards.
Master the Fundamentals
The golf swing can be a complex and frustrating system at times. If you treat the symptoms rather than the disease, your progress stalls — or maybe worse, you regress.
This is why treating the root cause (the disease) is so vital to your improvement.
Ryan Mouque posted a great video on X last week where he compared the golf swing to a set of dominos.
You can watch the full video below:
In his post he states, “If you work on the root cause first, it’s very common that a lot of other “flaws/tendencies” will be fixed as a result of changing things prior.”
This is why the better I’ve gotten, the more I’ve obsessed over the most basic aspects of the swing — such as my grip or alignment.
Master the fundamentals and the rest of the golf swing begins to fall into place.
That’s it for today. Hope you all have a great week and get out and play!
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to email me at tourswingstommy@gmail.com. I read everything.
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If you haven’t read them yet, check out some of the most popular Scoring Letter posts below:
