Stephen Bowditch. How does he tackle his ATT Byron Nelson Defence?
A special report by Kiran Kanwar, Irving, Texas.
Steven Bowditch is an Australian professional who, this week, will be returning to the scene of his glorious victory at the ATT Byron Nelson in Irving, Texas.
Catching up with him on the driving range earlier today, asked what his plan of play would be to defend his title.
He said it will depend on the weather and how the golf course reacts, and he’ll go from there. Last year it had been soft so attacking golf was possible, but the two years previous, golfers had had to play more defensively and scores were higher. He would watch until Wednesday afternoon.
So, what sort of plan do these golfers make to be either attacking or defensive, other than the obvious plans such as avoiding a driver on a tricky hole or attacking the flagstick rather than playing to the middle of the green? Are they able to pull off, at will, exactly the shape of shot they wish to, under pressure? If so, how often? Can they crank up speed at will or shape their curved shots with precision?
Does the latest driving range fashion help in their plans? What fashion? Well the one of all caddies carrying not one bag, but two. The first contains about 14 golf clubs and the second – a launch monitor. Every golf professional seems to own one.
Bowditch, when asked whether he uses any science in his game said just “Trackman”, for club information and swing direction. How are professional golfers able to make swing changes which these days are typically made during the downswing? Can they replicate such changes during play? Especially given that the downswing lasts a mere 1/4 second? What are the odds? Why are launch monitor numbers the only scientific application used by the community of golf professionals, while the swings remain basically the same as over the past many decades?
The next superstar of golf, who can win consistently rather than win one week and miss cut the next, is sure to be the one who gets ahead of the herd by using every scientific piece of knowledge known to mankind.
- Developer of The Minimalist Golf Swing System -100% scientific, simple and specific
- BS (physics, math); MS (sports science, nutrition); PhD (biomechanics – student)
- Class A Member: the LPGA, The PGA (GB&I), The NGA of India, The PGA of India