Epic Golf Shots And How To Play Them

Welcome to the legendary Brabazon course here at the Belfry, home of four Ryder Cups

We've teamed up with Callaway and Alex Elliott and I are going to show you how to play seven epic shots

we're here at the third hole on the brabazon it's a reachable par five so a real tempter

alex has got his tee shot quite a way down but as you can see we've just slipped over into the

rough here so there's a decision to be made alex what are you thinking right now um i guess there's

two options depending how your game's going right now you could have started well you might feel

confident enough to take this on. Other options you've got here is

if your game's not feeling quite good, and sometimes we have those days, is we could actually

lay up down this right-hand side. But, we've seen people play these shots. I want to take it on right

now as well. So, we're in the rough. Now, with this ball sat down

a little bit, we've got to sort of use a club that's going to help us get it in the

air. Out the fairway, we could probably get away with those long irons, the four-iron

potentially something around there. But 190 yards out, I'm thinking hybrid, help me get that ball in the air

a little bit of help is all I need here Great stuff, right, so you've decided you're going for it Yes

We've got the hybrid, talk us through the technique of how you're going to play this shot

So I guess there's sort of a feeling I want people to use here

I sort of kind of teach along sort of the feeling route So ball position's really key

We need to make sure we've got the ball in the correct position and the feeling through the shot I want people to attach this very close to an iron shot

let's not try and help it in the air let's try and feel like we get a little bit of a downwards hit

and on a downwards line as well that's really really important so in terms of ball position

what i really like to see for golfers with a hybrid is a club head inside the left heel

probably where they're going to attach their longer irons or potentially like a five wood or

three wood but then the feeling through the hit and i do this for every single shot on the golf

course make a few practice swings just inside the ball looking where i want to contact that ground

so I'm really looking to sort of brush that grass in front not sort of get a

feeling of scooping it up into the air and I mean I think it's amazing you see

some of the best players on tour do this they do exaggerated feelings relative to

their swing thoughts from the coach but also relative to the shot that they've

got absolutely all right there we go so we've got take a hybrid to help you get

it up in the air make sure you're aware of that ball position and make sure you

get down into it with that exaggerated feel you've talked us through it I've talked a big game here

you've talked it up now let's see it in action okay so here we go work for your routine take

on one of these shots and we all know our plane partners will enjoy it just as much as us if we

get it on oh that looks pretty let go a little

so you're up around the green chipping a puck for a birdie

epic shots call for epic locations and it does not get any more epic or iconic than the 10th hole

here on the Brabazon course at the Belfry look at that behind me we can all remember

Seve Ballesteros being the first man to knock it on there. The amazing Ryder Cup moments we've seen

You're here, you're stood on the tee. What's the thought process about how you're going to tackle this incredible golf hole

I think first and foremost, if you're here, you want to have a go, don't you? Yes, you do. You just want to have a go

I think if we look at this logically, we've got to sort of put it in that category of

it's just another drive. Now, I know it's not. I know it's not

But if we're going to hit our drive our best and give ourselves our best opportunity of getting it nailed, getting it on

I think if we stick to sort of three simple rules. Good alignment

Try and put some good rhythm on it. And in your head, really try and hone in on the target rather than a wide open fairway

So triple track ball, what I would do in terms of my routine, and actually not just for this hole, I'd do this on every single hole

I'd always stand behind and place my lines down towards target. So I know straight away I'm aligned to where I want to be

Second, I'm going to take my stance, build my stance around that

honing on my target rather than looking at wide open space. So in this case, a very tight front flag

And now all I want you to picture is, can you be balanced? Because this would be very easy for any golfer of any level just to give it a little bit more because of the situation and think can I get it there so be balanced and try and not make it more than it is and just on shot shape

obviously most amateur golfers and certainly myself included we play with a fade yeah verging

on a slice at times that suits this perfectly so let's roll with it let's go with it set up

allowing for that shape taking it into the hole and if we're honest if we hit a good one and it

does leak a little bit right we might get a friendly balance off the tree and end up on the

Well let's see how lucky we're feeling today. Hopefully very. So ball down, keep

checking your target, checking your alignment, build your stance around those lines on the ball, last thing be balanced

Oh that looks pretty. If that's the right length. Oh, he's right over the top of it on the green

There you go. Epic moments, epic shots. We're on the 17th

Another beautiful hole here. It's a par five. It's reachable. Every chance to go for it in two from here, Alex

but just one problem. Those branches are overhanging, but you've got to go for it, right

Oh, 100%. I think this is a great situation. risk and a bit of reward here or a lot of reward where the green's set with it sort of funneling

with those bunkers it sort of lends itself to that ball landing short running up towards that flag

if we can pull it off so with that in mind we've got to play a punch shot essentially to get it

under these branches and running up onto the green explain to us how we do that so the first thing

we've got to sort of go for is the the lowest lofted club in our bag now for some people this

may be a six iron some people it could be upwards of a three iron we've got a three iron here so

i'm going to choose my three iron if you've got a six iron five iron just choose your least lofted

club so we've got to control a few things here how much we hit down on the golf ball and the loft

the golf club has an impact also we could put speed into that mix as well so we want to feel

as though we're going to hit more down and reduce our loft now there's a lot of these things that we can do at the address position so let's work through in sort of like a five stage map as i kind

i'd like to think it so first off let's grip down that golf club it's going to help us control the

speed second we're going to build our stance with that ball towards the back of our stance

number three can we get a little bit of weight on our left side yep number four i always like to do

this um without going too much into detail we need to make sure that we're bodies aiming a little bit

left because we're hitting it early in our arc so aim a little bit left with that body and then

the fifth point try and put a smooth three-quarter swing on it all these factors help us control

angle attack help us control the loft of the club and hopefully see that ball fizz out nice and low

great stuff let's see it in action let's go so i think as we've spoken about throughout this whole

series it's having a routine that you can stick to on these shots so pick my target i'm going to

walk in gripping down that golf club place that golf club down ball slightly back in the stance

weight left now we're in a position to go very nice chasing up in between the bunkers onto the putting surface you've got an eagle putt

we're on the 15th another beautiful hole here Alex has hit a very very rare bad shot you've got

yourself in a little bit of trouble you're short-sided yeah there's a big old yawning

bunker in front of you what are you going to do to save your par from here well i think there's

only one thing to do in the flop shot big high flop shot we're thinking phil mickelson style

100 like it's almost like like the hero shot if it comes off good you're a hero if it doesn't it

can make you look a little bit of a fool so what are you assessing to decide whether you can carry

that off i think the most important thing to do is i always work it from the ball to target like

a ball to target line so I'd have a look at my lie I think if we're going to hit this flop shot

we want that grass just to be cushioning that ball up a little bit on a bare lie we might have

to look at a different option I then would walk around this bunker probably walk to where I want

to land it yep because you get a good understanding take this hole here for example we've got a bit

of a backstop not a lot of green between the fringe and the flag so assessing it going to

where your target is and you can get a full good understanding of where you want to hit that ball

Great stuff. So we're going to go for the most lofted wedge in the bag

How are you setting up for this one? I keep it really nice and simple

Bunker shot is all I'm sort of thinking. So I would walk through a routine

So I place that club down with the face open on the ground I would then take my hold If you look at that there Kit like my hold to me is relatively neutral but relative to the club face the club face is really really open and then place

that club down behind the back of the golf ball and for a lot of people now it'll be a bit of a

scary situation that club face looks like it's pointing a little bit to the right but we'll

correct that in a second so then take a nice wide stance with the ball just favoring the left half

and then this is the key thing here you sitting down a little bit

and getting the weight a little bit left actually will get that loft pointing

somewhat to target I want you to actually work through a different

sort of feeling in release I want you to imagine there's a little smiley face on that club face

as you're swinging through can you point it back at you rather than most people would release a club like this

we want to feel a little bit more of an element of this

make sure you take a few practice swings get used to the lie as well

You've got to get used to that club working through the grass. Picture how much force you've got to put into it

because I think the hard thing for most amateur golfers here and club golfers is

it requires a lot more speed than you think. So place your club down

take your hold, ball up in your stance, sit down a little bit

mirror that loft back at you. All right, very high. Very soft

in soft catch it on the right level and that is a very makeable par putt it's the tricky 16th now

we've got an approach but it's a difficult one we all know how tough it is to be good from fairway

bunkers you're in one right here alex that pin is tucked what are you going to do i think again

it's like we've had in this whole series have a little bit of a formula for these big epic shots

So first and foremost, have a look at the lie, because if this is not lying well, we can get a bit of a clump of sand behind it, sometimes even get a fried egg here

We've got to take our punishment and just take it out of the bunker and use the most lofted club

Then I'd have a look at the side profile. How quick have I got to get this ball up over the lip

Because how many times do we think, yeah, you know what, I can get a six iron and get a five iron out of here

We leave it in the bunker. Double bogey staring us back in the face. so we go light we look at the side profile i then choose a club so i've got 135 here this

would probably be a comfortable nine iron for me but i'm going to go wedge i'd rather get this ball

out come up short and i've got a chance of making it bogey at worst if again if i leave it in here

we're talking making some big scores so then take a nice normal hold i wouldn't change too much on

that um i tend to go with my wedges anyway in the middle and an even amount of grip at the top and

the bottom normal ball position and this is where it differs from what we would have as a traditional

bunker shot we usually screw our feet right into the sand we're staring a fat shot so i think we

want to sort of make sure we've got a compacted bit of sand under us so we've got a stable base

so our final point is then pick out a little bit of a mark in front of the ball make sure the legs

stay a little bit quieter through the shot and really focus on trying to hit down on the ball

not get it in the air. And just one other point, are we doing anything with the ball position here to encourage that

we make sure we get contact on that little white sphere before the sand? You might want to put it a little bit further back in your stance

I mean, with a wedge, traditionally, you're going to have it towards the back of your stance anyway

If you're on a bit further away, taking more like a 7-iron, 8-iron, you might want to put

it half a ball to a ball back in your stance. Brilliant. Let's see you take it on. If you can get it close to that pin, that really is an epic shot

It's a tight flag. So a little bit of digging, keep the legs nice and quiet

Beautiful contact. Just a little bit short, but I'm not turning this situation into a double bogey

Give yourself a chance to save your partner. Here we are on the 18th tee at the Brabazon

It's a beautiful golf hole, but what an intimidating shot. Sometimes you just have to take it on and when there's water lurking short

and you know the more you bail out, the more difficult that second shot is going to be

This is one of those moments, isn't it, Alex? Definitely. Like you said there, you bail out right, you're probably laying up for your second here

Yeah, so how are we going about hitting that absolute bomb off the tee

Well, we've got to stand up and deliver. That's first and foremost. and we'd go with driver here, definitely

So I would tend to have, in my golf game, and as I go through a round

have sort of three different tee heights. My low one, if it's a little bit of a chippier one

into the wind, my medium one, which I sort of class as my fairway finder and then what I call is my bombs away tee height I love it So what I look for here is as I addressing the golf ball is actually having half a ball above the face

I tend not to have this. I sort of have a quarter usually on my fairway finder shot

So first and foremost, half a ball above the face, and then I want to address the ball, ball up in the stance

That's really, really key. And just remind yourself, check what you could do nice and simply

Address it in the middle of your stance with your feet together, Just turn your left toe out, move your right foot away

I know right away I've got that ball in the correct position. Next point, can I make sure my shoulders are actually feeling as though they're parallel to my feet line

A lot of golfers, ball up in the stance, sort of get a little bit this way

And all this is going to encourage this notion. If you think about it logically, if you get behind it, we've got a better chance of this upwards hit

And finally, I call it my gears sort of theory. most of the drives that I hit sort of fairway finders sort of gear four in our car this one

we've got to step up we've got to go gear five so we've got to feel like we've got to be balanced

but we give it just that a little bit more absolutely wow this is a new tee box here for

the british masters you are the first person to hit a ball off it so no pressure I feel it

let's give it the bombs away so walk in right shoulder back

gear five with some balance there's a bit of turn on that as well so the line here is trying to start it at the bunker and if

you do get it to turn on that left edge you're absolutely in the perfect position perfect so

aggressive off the tee committing to it nailed it and now you've set yourself up for that iconic

approach into the 18th here at the belfry Here we are in the fairway then at the 18th and what an epic shot you are faced with right now

Alex. We've got the plaque down there from Christy O'Connor's magical two-iron in that

Ryder Cup. Fortunately two-iron isn't one of the options we need today with all the technology at

our disposal. We've got a few options here you can go hybrid, long iron, perhaps even a lofted

bare way wood what are you going to do from this position i'm gonna go three iron notoriously

a probably difficult club for most club golfers um for a couple of reasons really um if i don't

quite get it i know i've got the cover over the water and if i hit my sunday best i'm not going

to go long so that middle of the road sort of club for me there i think if it went a little bit longer

back edge downhill chip don't like the fancy that one no you don't want that using that long iron

though that brings the microscope onto your ball striking as amateurs we can often struggle when we

get into those long irons yeah i think we look down on it we don't see a lot of loft on the club

i mean nine times out of ten get a little bit thinny in that right shot and that's certainly

in a lot of wet trouble right here so i think if we just think of three simple things and these can

be thought of off the golf ball number one ball position number two can we feel that club is

traveling a little bit lower through impact rather than trying to scoop this ball up high

and the final one sort of ties into that second one and i would simply make some movements i mean

if we look at all the top tour players we mentioned this in the series before of having a feeling to

take into a shot most club golfers a little bit fadey so i would really try and feel we have this

sort of long right arm feeling and this released down towards target so make some little practice

motion just like this without a golf club and you're getting a great feeling and nine times out

of ten this will probably send it dead straight all right we've got the pin tucked away there on

the top of the three tiers yeah this is your moment i feel the pressure show us something epic

come on you've got this walking in ball position i want to feel it's a club head and sort of on

the right edge of this club head here on the heel side inside my left heel down mirror that feeling

hit it away. Oh, what a strike that is. If that is the right club

That is all over it. It's up there on the back tier. I think you might have about six foot

That is a truly epic golf shot. There we have it. That is how to hit seven epic shots

here at the Belfry. I hope you enjoyed those tips from Alex

Next time you're on the course and you're faced with one of those situations, do what he said and you'll have some epic shots of your own

Thanks for watching