Practise Your Golf or Practise the Course? A Scratch Golfer and a High Handicapper Disagree

The nights are drawing in and Colin is feeling a bit wistful about the end of the golf season, while Ross, basking in 21 degrees down south, cheerfully reminds him that medal comps run all winter at Farnham. Consolation duly not provided, the lads get into gear, and this week it's Ross with a new toy: the Strike Wedge. Colin assumed it was an actual wedge (Ross did just buy three, after all), but it turns out to be a wedge-shaped bit of plastic you put beside or behind the ball and try not to hit. Ross is using it to cure a case of the toe strikes rather than for its intended purpose, because his chipping confidence is still a work in progress. He can strike it beautifully with his eyes closed or with a left-below-right grip, but with a normal grip and eyes open, something upstairs gets in the way. A demo video is promised for Instagram. Colin, meanwhile, has news on the driver front: the slice that's haunted him since he came back to golf is finally, mostly, gone. The turnaround came from two things. First, his little brother (a former teaching pro, so not to be asked for help unless absolutely desperate) diagnosed "lazy legs, lazy hips" after three consecutive lost balls, and a proper hip turn and full finish did the trick. Second, Colin stopped hiding on the mat and started hitting driver on the actual course during quiet solo rounds, which fixed the fear as much as the swing. That leads into a proper conversation about the difference between practising your golf and practising the course, how Ross uses the range for technique, routine and speed work, why the pros don't rip up their swing after one bad shot, and Colin's plan to go and hit twenty balls out of the heather to finally learn what it does to a clubface. Ross then reports back from his first ever senior amateur open at Dalmahoy, his old stomping ground, where a level-par front nine and some of the best tee shots he's ever hit there carried him to second in the scratch, despite a couple of dodgy club choices and a near-shank with a four iron on the widest fairway on the course. A lesson from Peter Whiteford (a future guest on the show) about actually walking up to your ball to read the lie makes an appearance. Colin's South West Scotland trip report gets bumped to next week thanks to the school run, and Ross wraps up with a cracking £35 open at Fortrose & Rosemarkie, one of the most scenic links in the Highlands. Episode Highlights 🟢 Ross explains the Strike Wedge, a plastic training aid that gives you both a visual and a physical reason to find the middle of the clubface, and why he's using it for long irons rather than actual wedges 🟢 The two-part fix for Colin's driver slice: a "lazy hips" diagnosis from his brother, and the psychological shift of hitting driver on the course instead of hiding on the mat 🟢 Practising your golf versus practising the course. Ross on how a scratch golfer uses the range, why the pros don't chuck their technique after one bad shot, and Colin's plan to learn how heather closes the clubface 🟢 Ross's round at the Dalmahoy Senior Open: birdies on both front-nine par fives, smashing driver down the tight 13th, and then nearly shanking a four iron on a 60-yard-wide fairway at the last 🟢 Peter Whiteford's tip on reading the lie before you even reach for your glove, and how ignoring it cost Ross a bogey on 15 Gear & Resources Mentioned 🟢 Strike Wedge training aid: https://strikewedge.com/ 🟢 Strike Wedge how-to guide (positioning for heel, toe and angle of attack): https://strikewedge.com/pages/how-to 🟢 Ross's Strike Wedge demo video on the Both Sides of Par Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bothsidesofpar/ 🟢 TaylorMade Stealth driver (Colin's, with the adjustable weight for fade or draw bias) 🟢 Scott Fawcett's DECADE Course Management System: https://decadegolf.com/ 🟢 Peter Whiteford, former European Tour pro and coach, appearing on the show soon: https://talkgolfscotland.co.uk/staff-profile/peter-whiteford/ 🟢 Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, Edinburgh (East and West courses): https://www.dalmahoyhotelandcountryclub.co.uk/ 🟢 Dalmahoy open competitions page: https://www.dalmahoyhotelandcountryclub.co.uk/golf-leisure/golf/golf-at-dalmahoy/open-tournaments/ 🟢 Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club: https://fortrosegolfclub.co.uk/ 🟢 Both Sides of Par on YouTube: search "Both Sides of Par" Weekly Competitions 🟢 Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club, Fortrose, Black Isle (around 20 minutes from Inverness). Gents 18-Hole Stroke Play Open, Saturday 3rd October 2026. Singles stroke play. £35 for visitors, 24 handicap limit. A James Braid links on the tip of the Chanonry peninsula with sea on both sides and Fort George across the water. Entry via the club website: https://fortrosegolfclub.co.uk/competitions/open-competitions/ 🟢 Ross mentioned a second open later in October, held over for a future episode Chapter List 00:00 Welcome and the end of summer 03:40 The Strike Wedge training aid 10:16 Colin's driver update: fixing the slice 18:12 Course practice vs range practice 25:03 Practising trouble shots and the heather problem 30:01 Ross at the Dalmahoy Senior Open 38:36 Weekly open: Fortrose & Rosemarkie 41:11 Wrap-up