Many years ago I was invited to join Ian Poulter for a chat about the mental side of the game, the idea being that every handicap golfer could benefit from learning about the confident manner with which he attacks a course.
“Right,” he started, “what’s your ideal start to a round of golf?”
I could see no reason to be dishonest.
“A nice solid bogey,” I answered.
“What do you mean?” he asked, startled into investment in the conversation. “Why wouldn’t you want to start with a birdie?”
I steeled myself to push on with the truth, regardless of the reaction that was inevitably coming my way.
“I’d rather not,” I admitted.
“Why not?!” Poulter gasped.
“Well, it’s all downhill from there really isn’t it? I don’t like to peak too soon.”
The silence that followed probably lasted 10 seconds, but it felt like 75 minutes.
Throughout it all, Poulter’s mouth might have been silent, but his face said a lot.
I thought of that countenance – a combination of disgust, bewilderment and exasperation – again last week when news broke of a 64-year-old golfer in the north of England who carded seven consecutive birdies (and eight of them in nine holes) at Fairhaven Golf Club, a few miles south of Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Allan Harrison, it ought to be added, is a fine golfer. He plays off a handicap of 0.4 and has significant achievements in his log book.
Allan Harrison
Leaderboard Photography, England Golf
While a fortysomething he made nine consecutive 2s in competition on the four par-3 holes at Southport & Ainsdale, and he was Tommy Fleetwood’s regular (and unbeaten) scratch foursomes partner at the same club.
On this particular occasion he was competing in the Silver Pheasant Stableford tournament at Fairhaven and had made a poor start.
“I was 4-over after the front nine,” he recalled. “I went into the halfway house, had a pasty and a drink, and the lads laughed when I said I’d start the back nine fresh!”
That was something of an understatement.
At the par-3 10th he gave himself a 6-foot birdie and drained it.
Another six par breakers followed and, in a magnificent exhibition of ball striking, his longest holed putt was from 12 feet.
However, it was the eighth hole of his run – the 17th – that was arguably the most remarkable.
His tee shot on the 157-yard par-3 pitched a foot from the hole and left him only a 6-foot birdie putt. Alas, he misread the putt before adding a bounceback birdie at 18.
The 8-under back nine helped him to total 40 points in the first round, but he couldn’t repeat his scoring in the second round after work intervened and he spent the morning chasing accountants over payroll errors.
“I was sending emails on the bench at 10, trying to get wages sorted. I double-bogeyed 10 and 11 because my mind was on work. My coach gave me a rollocking – saying I know I do better when I concentrate!”
For context, the PGA Tour record for consecutive birdies is nine, achieved by Mark Calcavecchia (at the 2009 Canadian Open at Glen Abbey) and Kevin Chappell (in the tour’s 2019 stop at The Greenbrier).
England Golf, meanwhile, have claimed that the chances of any golfer making eight birdies in nine holes is 1 in 322 billion.
There is currently no word from them on what impact a negative mindset has on those odds.
But I suspect Poulter has a view about it.
Matt Cooper
