Why you are wrong about AimPoint and slow play

Since my last weekly column, I have played zero golf, and I have hit a grand total of 0 balls at the range. 

I will add this is by design though, as sometimes other commitments get in the way, and a break is a good thing. That will be rectified this week though, as tee times have landed for my first two Suffolk Golf Open events coming up. 

Preparing For a Big Event

In fact, the first of three events in the following two weeks takes place this Friday - the Seaton Robson Trophy - at Aldeburgh Golf Club. 

For those that aren’t familiar with Aldeburgh, it’s a very traditional club, long socks, two balls, that kind of thing, but very welcoming and a fantastic course that will no doubt be in pristine condition. I actually played there not long ago to have a look at the new course layout, the addition of two new par 5s to bring the par up from 68 to 70 and basically, a completely new front 9. You can read my Golfshake feature on the changes in depth here.

I made it into this event for the fourth straight year after a ballot by the skin of my teeth, which means that, on paper, I’m technically one of the worst golfers in a very strong field, but given the difficulty of the course, my current 4.2 index gets me eight shots per round. With 16 shots over 36 holes, the blue tee medal is something I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into. Hopefully I will have some positive golf to report back next week. 

What's Happened to Scottie Scheffler?

On the tours, I wanted to chat about Scottie Scheffler this week, not that long ago he was walking on water. Now, dare I say it, he seems a little lost? Having words with his caddie, shanking a bunker shot and a lot of confused and dumbfounded looks of late. Golf is definitely the most humbling of games and if the world's best player for the last couple of years can find himself in the midst of a run like that, then what does that say for the rest of us?

It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out over the next few events - especially with the third major of the season on the horizon. 

Why You Are Wrong About AimPoint

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Something has irked me this week. Another article on the Golfshake website, in fact. In this specific article, AimPoint Express was once again used as a scapegoat for slow play. Now, let me be clear, I am a huge advocate of AimPoint, and just for clarity, good friends with the head of instruction in the UK, Jamie Donaldson - for this reason, I do also admittedly get defensive when anyone is completely uneducated on AimPoint uses it as a reason for slow play, specifically. 

We have two articles on Golfshake regarding AimPoint for you to read. The first one is ‘What the critics get wrong about AimPoint Express’ and, maybe more importantly, ‘Stats that Prove the AimPoint Critics Wrong’.

Now, I am not trying to, nor need to, prove anything to anyone around AimPoint, people will have their opinion on it. It might be for some, and it might not be for some. But the irk really comes from an individual's uneducated opinion. I really can’t get my head around someone having such a strong opinion on something they don’t really understand, or at the very least, even tried to understand it. 

Nick Dougherty from Sky has been to learn AimPoint, not because he uses it himself. But because as a commentator on TV he felt the need to understand it and the process as it comes up in debate after debate - whereas, on the other hand, Dame Laura Davis made a ludicrous claim live on TV a few weeks back too. 

Personally, I try not to have such a strong opinion on something that I actually know little or anything about. 

AimPoint Express isn’t slow, granted there may be some golfers using it that are slow, but they are slow at EVERYTHING. They are slow. AimPoint isn’t. 

 And breathe.