Month 4: Worsley Park golf experiment

Andy Roberts's picture
Thu, 15 May 2014
Month 4: Worsley Park golf experiment

HAVING won the chance to work with the championship facilities and team at Worsley Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club, twenty year old Luke Benyon has now spent a four months with Worsley Park’s head professional, David Screeton, working on his game.

David summarises Luke’s progress by saying; “I’m really impressed with the advances to his stability, posture and grip – he really is improving each month and I think we have caught Luke at a great time in his golfing life to lay some great foundations for the future of his game.”

This month, Luke played in his first official competition at Worsley Park where he shot a very respectable 39 Stableford points, three shots under his handicap at the start of the process, finishing 4th overall for the day.

David adds; “I’m really pleased for Luke putting in such a great card for his first round. I was quite surprised at how good this score is for his first competition as it is never easy playing under that sort of pressure at a new course. I know he had a pretty high handicap at the beginning of the process with room to improve, but I think he had a superb round for his first comp.”

Luke had a bit of a nervous start and dropped a few shots early on. “In the first five or six holes he had one or two big scores, but he soon settled in,” Said David, Worsley Park Head Professional. “He played the second par four poorly, which is one of the easier holes on the course to par, but bounced back strongly with two pars on holes five and six which shows good character. Worsley Park’s signature 7th over the water also proved a problem for Luke but he played the 8th well, which is a tricky hole to par if you don’t hit a good tee.”

Luke’s weak shot is one that goes right to left which caused him some issues on the day. Luke needs to make the grip change a little more pronounced, something that is planned for the coming months.

Further analysing the round, David adds, “Luke struggled with some of the shorter holes, so we’ll be focussing a little more with his iron play over the next month. I’m going to be playing more golf with him on the course this month, to help Luke better manage the course.”

David explains; “Luke has suffered from inconsistency in his game. He can hit the ball, with the same club, different distances. Sometimes he can even be penalised by a good shot as he’ll overshoot the green! We therefore need to bring a little more consistency to his irons and measure his yardages so that when it comes to shot selection on the course, he is confident stepping up to the ball. This process can be a problem when you are in a transitional period as your yardages change.”

Luke also needs to learn to manage his mental temperament on a round. This month David plans to spend time with  Luke chatting through his last few rounds to see how he felt; whether he lost his temper on the course; identify when he got nervous and which shot scares him the most. Coaching can be as much about psychology as it is physiological development in golf.

Therefore next month, there are three things from a coaching point of view that David will focus on. At the practice ground Luke will work his grip and ball striking; on the course working on consistent iron play and management of his game; and off the course looking at his mental preparation.

All of the facilities at Worsley Park are nestled in an idyllic and leafy setting just seconds away from direct transport links into Manchester and the surrounding area.

Awarded the best property for service within the Marriott hotel group for 5 years running and sporting nine meeting and conference rooms, 158 hotel bed rooms, a restaurant, extensive leisure facilities, health & beauty treatments and a championship golf course – Worsley Park is a haven for both business and pleasure.

For more information, visit WorsleyParkGolf.co.uk