New Post: #11 Feature Friday

Hi Friends

We have a good one today.

We delve into the mind of a very serious golfer, and deep thinker about the game.

Winner of Club Championships and Scratch Opens, holder of a current handicap of +2.4 and a lowest of +4.4, holds course records, Oh and has done Open qualifying just the 13 times.

We started having a chat before the interview and immediately got into some heavy discussions around MORAD, Stack and Tilt and CF and CP releases! 

Tony goes into depth on his thoughts around preparation for playing his best golf.

However as there is so much good info in this one, I’m going to split the interview into 2 parts.

Part one today where we will get to know Tony, and then part 2 coming very soon, where we will go a little deeper into Tony’s approach to golf.

Right. So to start with, How did you get into golf?

I'm from Liverpool and my dad had been quite successful, and had a successful business in the mid 80s. In the late 80’s we moved out to Southport which was kind of the path in those days and then the whole lifestyle of the watches and the cars and all the stuff that comes along with a a mid 80s Liverpool business. So along with that taking up golf was kind of like a, right of passage. It seems like, anyway.

In 1987, there's a photo of me hitting balls in the garden.

Then really, the turning point for me was in 1991 at The Open at Royal Birkdale
we went on the Monday, the practice round and it was unbelievable. I remember very very vividly. The first person I ever saw in a golf course, was Bernard Langer with a click wheel (ed note: for the youngsters, players and caddies used to use a click wheel to measure the course before GPS and rangefinders) And I was absolutely fascinated.

So I went every day except the final day, I loved it. I liked Christy O'Connor Jr. For some really weird reason. I mean I saw Nick Faldo tee off on 18. Then, one of the days I saw Seve tee off on the 1st. But I really liked Christy, which was weird.

I have a story of meeting Seve at the 98 Open at Royal Birkdale, which is cool. So around the back of the 10th tee, there was like a rhododendron Bush, something like that, and there was a little bench there and I saw him on his own. I said can have an autograph, and he was very good of me to be fair, remember I’m only young. He said “I do you deal. you take my rubbish put in bin, I sign your book” and I was like, that is a fair deal. (ed note: I hope you all read that quote from Seve in an spanish accent, that's how I wrote it!)

Anyway, that was me into golfing,

I was a reasonable player, sort of low handicap. but my main sport was rugby through my teen years. Didn't really play golf apart from in the summer. Until I was 18, and I played rugby until I was probably 23 in total, something like that.

I'm kind of glad now, you know, physically how that helped me, started off I played front row, then loose head prop. Then I hooked. And then when I was 16, I moved to open Side flanker, which was my best position.

I played a good level, played County rugby and I played like an England development squad for Rugby Union, which is a bit like the current Regional squad in golf. My region was at Widnes Rugby club and we got sort of additional coaching,as Rugby league was ahead of union as had been professional for longer, lots of really cool nutrition stuff., gave me some more weights focused understanding as well, that kind of stuff and it was actually completely unrelated from golf.

I remember we had some kind of physical assessment thing, In it I basically said I thought I was too fat in my own opinion, because I was 94 kilos at that age, which was obviously really heavy. He said to me, I'll never forget, he said, we have players like Inga Tuigamala who was a bit of a Wigan Legend at this point , he isn’t lean, he carries plenty of fat mate. So some people are just not meant to be skinny. I would be more worried about making yourself big and strong. I'm not worried about you leaning out.

The Rugby stuff is sort of side note, But I think that really helped me stay injury free and I put it down to that advice.

As a junior my school had a connection with Formby and I was playing St Annes old links quite a bit, which was cool.

That's that's my journey into golf. That's how I took up the game mate.

What would you consider your biggest golfing achievement?

I think playing County first team golf.

I've got a couple of course records which is lovely, I’ve won club championships, I’ve shot 63 in a personally a big event for me. But on balance I think County first team golf.

You've not only been playing County golf, you're the captain of Kent.

Yeah. And that started last year, you do 3 year terms and I’ve got two years left. I love it and am very proud to do it.

I’ve also done Open qualifying, 13 times  

I first ended up getting into Open qualifying, off a handicap of five or six one year, 2007 Effingham. (ed: like Morris flickoff) But I didn't disgrace myself. They just took my money and I was like okay, cool. and as I say I didn’t disgrace myself at all.

Who is your favourite golfer of all time and your current favourite golfer. 

Tiger but then I’m sure everyone says Tiger,

I like people with faults and you know, I like real people. Tiger. Yeah, Well it turned out that he had a few more than we all realised.

So I don't know if I'd endorse that, but I think Rory's really grown on me because he speaks, so, honestly, about golf and no disrespect to Scotty Scheffler, Morikawa, I just, I find them harder to warm to personally. I like Tommy Fleetwood because I like his golf swing (ed note: don’t we all)I've actually played with him. Oh yeah. I was 18. He was 10. Yeah, Tommy beat me when he was 10 years old. ha ha.

favourite current golfer, if it's a major, I'm rooting for Tiger, but he's probably not gonna compete. I think if you said to me, if Tiger wasn't there, who would you like to go and watch? I'd probably go and watch Bryson,

I like, the way he thinks about the game. Not that, I think he's doing all the right things or the wrong things, I just like the the amount of thought that's gone into it. I just think that that's fucking cool and he's willing to be different, isn't he?

Yeah. I think Phil Mickelson's very similar. Yeah, he is not as obvious and didn't publicise the same way. Remember when he put 2 drivers in play? I'm probably going to put two drivers in play this winter.

I want something I can turn right to left for 8th and 6th at the Add. But something I'm not going to turn it over and snipe it.

Phils double driver setup specs:

Driver: Callaway Epic Speed (Fujikura Ventus Black 6TX), 5.5 degrees

Driver: TaylorMade Original Mini One (Fujikura Ventus Black 7X), 11.5 degrees

Favourite Golf holiday destination.

Let me say St Andrews. There's nowhere else in the world for me, and I don't care what the weather's like, It's a great town. If you said to me, where'd you want to go for a weekend away? Yeah, the Old Course, the town's just got a great feeling.

Do you have any swing thoughts? What are your swing thoughts?

No, not really. So I'm looking at four o'clock on the golf ball. If you imagine, looking at it, I'm trying to take it away at three o'clock and return it at four o'clock.

No more than that.

I do alot of my prep before addressing the ball, All I'm thinking about is the process of going, right For example, the pins at the back. So I know that my max yardage with this club has to be Probably one yard less than the back Edge.

Yeah, so the point is when you when you arrive at the golf ball, there's a very clear image in your mind what you're trying to do and where it's got to end up, what's going to happen.

Fo me I think, Okay, the already work's done. if I hit 20 balls. What's the most likely outcome? What would be the average? That's what I'm trying to do. it's a process I go through before a round that allows me to be free on the course.

Do you use any training aids'? 

Yes I currently use Hack motion, and Speed Sticks, and the Stack system.

Hack motion. I really like because I'd like to improve my risk conditions. Yeah, get a bit more squash on the golf ball at impact. Its telling me what I thought, that I need the club face to be a bit stronger through the ball, just a bit more compression on it so that's cool.

It bings and bongs tells you when you're doing it right when you're doing it wrong. Yeah, it's good. So, I like that. So that, that will be my big training aid for the winter this year.

Then this is a hangover from my Mac O'Grady days, I will trace the Baseline with alignment sticks, You've seen Tommy Fleetwood, do the drill, you know, the 45 degree alignment stick in the ground

I'll set that up. I would just trace the Baseline with the bottom of the club.

What's in the bag?

So just had a little change, I’ve have been toying with a 7 Wood for the last few years and I finally found one that I like, And the key to it is half an inch shorter.

So, it's out of the 2 iron in certain conditions, course dependant, but that 7 wood is going to have more of a home.

So I’ve got a Ping driver

Ping 3 wood, which is he's in danger of being timed out for the winter in exchange for the other Ping driver which is going to spin loads. It'll probably spin like a normal three wood. It's just gonna be easier to hit off the tee.

I’ve a 4 iron, it's driving iron which is quite strong.

Then the 5 and 6 irons are the Srixon ZX5,

I'm ZX7 for 7-Pitching wedge
and then for the wedges I have 50 a 54 and a 60. all Vokeys.

Lastly, So I’m sure you’ve played with great players over the years, who really has impressed you?

I played a couple of young kids over the last couple of years that impressed me, really impressed me. First one, His name's is Josh Hill I played with him in the Tillman trophy in 2020 and he was 16 years old. I thought he was really arrogant. But actually, I quite liked him for it.

So I was playing with him and asked him what was last event he played in? I was expecting like, oh, the Spring Stableford or something? And he said, oh, I played two European tour events. Walked onto that one, didn't I?

Then the penny dropped, he was youngest player ever to win an official world, golf ranking event. He won on the Mena Tour, when he was 15.

So, yeah, we played Foxhills and he just had X Factor with the driver. It's just a very sound way of playing golf. Good swing, tall guy, long arms, just nuked It 40 by me. Just nuked it and he was nuking with a nice little tight drawer. I remember on the ninth I think it is, outer bounds driving range on the left. He justs smashes driver round the corner, no fear, I was like, wow, it just impressed me, he's just a good player,

Yeah. So he then subsequently played four European tour events. a while later I saw a cool photo of him and Viktor Hovland, who'd won in Dubai. And he was saying hello to him. I was like, I played against him a couple of years ago now his chatting to Hovland!

Then this year I played against someone else, Harley Smith, I played against him in the county match, Kent versus Essex (ed: The famous battle of the bridge) in the foursomes, he played with Charlie Rusbridge, who's also an England player. Think he might have won the McGregor Trophy (England Boys U16 Championship) that year. To see Harley Smith golf and it’s not about strike, it's about control, it's about understanding the game, what you're trying to do, you know, there's loads of guys who rip it. It's just, I would argue that they don't get the ball pin high enough. But watching this kid, seeing a player with that ball control at that age, who's not playing professional golf. I was just like get out. This kid and to be fair he won the English Amateur championship just a couple weeks ago. hits it's so good. Flights it beautifully. Very, very impressive.

Amazing thank you Tony, I will keep an eye out for both Josh and Harley.

Right,

As I said at the start, part 2 coming soon. A deep dive into Tony’s golfing philosophy and thoughts on playing great golf.

Au revoir mes amis