Hello to all my golfing friends. I’ve given you enough tips to ruin your scorecard.

Today is Kindness Day, so I’m going to give you a proper tip to save your scorecard.

Actually, Kindness Day is 13 November. But for me, it’s every day except 13 November. If you’d like to find out more, read my article on the subject

But let’s get back to golf. And to my tip. First of all, purists and pros, I urge you to stop reading here; otherwise, in five minutes’ time you’ll be calling me every name under the sun, starting with ‘iconoclast’ or ‘con artist’.

The rest of you – my fellow sufferers, the clumsy ones, the not-so-talented – follow me.

When you’re playing on a course with relatively narrow fairways lined with trees on either side, such as at the Royal Golf Club in Hua Hin (Thailand), even a good tee shot is likely to end up in the trees.

When your ball ends up against a tree trunk on the right-hand side, it’s not necessarily that bad. You’ll probably be able to find a stance to play a short shot back onto the fairway. Perhaps…

But when you stray to the left – for a right-hander, that is – it’s far more complicated. If your ball, travelling in the direction of play, ends up behind a tree, it’s likely that the ideal spot for your stance is actually occupied by the tree trunk.

Not great. When the ball is right up against the trunk, amongst the roots, as in the photo below, there’s not much else to do but apply Rule 19 and take relief two club-lengths away with a penalty stroke.

As you know, there are two other options, but you rarely go back to play the ball from its original spot, especially in the case of a drive, and particularly if the holes are quite close together.

As for taking relief on the line relative to the flag, this generally risks making the problem worse in this situation by sending you deeper into the woods.

However, I’ve seen videos – including some featuring professionals – showing that when there’s a bit of space between the tree and the ball, you can try to play the ball without incurring a penalty by choosing one of the following options:
– play the ball left-handed
– turn your back to the fairway and try to pitch the ball, holding the club in your right hand, upside down
– Slip between the tree trunk and the ball and use a hybrid or a long iron to make a putting motion

Let’s examine these possibilities:

– Playing the ball left-handed: as I’m not particularly good at playing right-handed to begin with, I don’t even try it.

– Playing with my back to the fairway: I enjoyed trying this shot for a long time, but its success is so hit-and-miss that I’ve lost more strokes than I’ve gained. Obviously, when it works, it’s brilliant.

– As for the putting motion with a long iron or a hybrid… let’s take a closer look at that

I understand why this solution is suggested. Indeed, if you take a swing – even a half-swing – near a tree, there’s every chance you’ll hit the tree, either on the backswing or after striking the ball. In either case, at best the shot will be a miss; at worst, you’ll snap a shaft (speaking from experience). No shot is worth the price of a shaft.

I promised you a tip, so here it is:

Why use a putting stroke with a long iron or a hybrid?

The idea seems sound; these two types of club will allow the ball to travel quite a distance towards the fairway.

BUT in my opinion, it’s extremely difficult to do.
Because the putting stroke is something we’re used to doing with… with… the putter! Correct!

With a long iron or a hybrid, it’s not the usual way, it doesn’t feel natural. You have to grip the club shorter, and you end up with a long bit of shaft sticking out, which gets in the way. What’s more, for those who, like me, use a jumbo grip on their putter, finding your bearings with a much thinner grip and executing the stroke correctly is very tricky.

So the option that’s increasingly allowing me to get back onto the fairway without losing a stroke is to play this putter shot… with my putter!

Unconventional, no doubt; unprofessional, perhaps, but I can assure you it’s effective, particularly when the ball is resting on fairly hard ground, wood shavings or pine needles…

And I’ll go even further. For some time now, I’ve got into the habit of often using my putter in this situation, even when I’m on the right-hand side of the fairway. Yet there I can take my stance and often complete my swing without the risk of breaking a club (watch out for roots, though).

I can, of course, play a pitch or a chip shot with a 7-iron, but very often there are only a few metres to cover to get back onto a bit of fairway, with the odd low bush in the way. The putter proves to be a formidable ally here too.

Right, I promise I won’t give any more proper advice, and I’ll save some more ‘loser’ tips for next time to help you ruin your scorecard.