Barney's June 2026 Newsletter
- Barney
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Hi Everyone,
We have another major golf week coming up with the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. The USGA are famous for putting on tough tests and last time it was played there, no one finished under par for the 72 holes with Brooks Koepka winning on +1. In fact, being one of the 156 players to tee it up on Thursday is quite an achievement in itself when you consider the ten thousand plus entries for the event! It was nice to see former champion Graeme McDowell earn his place via 36 hole qualifying, competing with many players half his age.
At Mid Herts we have an historical link to the US Open via Horace Rawlins a former professional at the Club, becoming the very first winner in 1895. See a video here. The entry list was only 11 aspirants and no doubt he would marvel at how the Championship has grown.
My link to the US Open, apart from a plucky attempt to qualify in 1985, was I played with a former champion Corey Pavin (at Shinnecock Hills) whilst he was competing on the European Tour. You may ask what I was doing and I like to think I was taking part :-) (aka making up the numbers). He is quite diminutive in fact I thought his bag looked bigger than him. However, 9 holes into our round I had two thoughts. Firstly, wow this guy is fantastic as he hit his irons with radar accuracy and holes every putt he looks at. My second thought was that when I get home I should get a job!!
Clearly to win this Championship or any golf event come to that, a player requires control / mastery in all facets of their game. Keeping the ball in play always helps as does steady putting at the other end of the hole. Perhaps underrated is confident chipping as getting up and down or at least taking no more than three strokes to get down really keeps our scores relevant. What I notice when coaching is a hesitancy to complete what is admittedly a smaller stroke and therefore make good contact. A couple of thoughts here to help you on this are - firstly view the chip more like an underarm throw, where the hand and arm stay connected through the movement. The nemesis to these shots are over active hands looking to "help" the ball in the air.
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The other idea is to practice some one handed swings which really improve our symmetry of movement. You can try a couple of shots in practice if you fancy, however, the main thing here is feeling the flow and connection of the movement and transferring that into the shot when we take a regular set up. In fact this is quite a nice pre shot idea, so do a one handed rehearsal to establish the flow feeling, then step up and execute a crisp chip with the actual shot, whilst embodying that feeling.
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Let me know how you get on and any chip ins that result in financial favour, remember that my customary 10% reward is fine!
A busy sporting time with the World Cup getting up to speed and England clearly with a German manager will choose this World Cup to run out comfortable winners. I know there are many tennis officianados amongst you and Wimbledon starts next week and fingers crossed for our British contingent.
Having predicted that England will win the World Cup, I'm going for an English winner of the US Open in the shape of Matt Fitzpatrick. His form has been excellent and with his unique cross handed chipping, he's equipped to scramble well when required. He's a former winner and knows what is needed down the stretch. His beloved brother Alex is also in the field (got him as a back up bet) and that is quite a feat for two family members to be playing in a Major together.
In between watching all this amazing sport, I wish you all good fortune in your golfing endeavours.
All the best
Barney
Fellow of the PGA
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