Top tips from pro John Wells

MATT CONNER

For the golfers who know John Wells, the first tip he gave me was comical but unprintable. On a more serious note here is a tip he was given some years ago, when he was playing for England.

One of his teammates was former world number one Luke Donald.

John told me the story of when they were walking down the fairway in a practice round.

“Luke’s distance control with a wedge was unbelievable, he always seemed to finish pin high from any distance from under 100 yards to the flag.

“Even if the ball was slightly left or right, the distance was always perfect.

“I mentioned to him how impressed I was with this distance technique.

“His reply was - ‘well every yard I finish short or past the flag I have more chance of three putting’.

“It has stuck in my mind for a couple of reasons.

“One, I never did see Luke three putt a green and two, I couldn’t believe how negative the thought was as I was expecting him to say something like ‘I can make more birdies the closer I can hit it to the flag.

“It did however stick in my mind as now I spend a lot of time making sure I can control my distances when playing a wedge shot to allow me to make more birdies.”

Next week I am speaking to another golf professional, Chris Halley, to see what advice he has been given which has helped his game.

Message me on mattconnergolf@hotmail.com if you want me to answer any questions or queries.