As promised, I am submitting my story for you. Living in Great Britain, I have always played links style courses and know that these can be very difficult compared to those in other parts of the world because of the wind and poor weather conditions. My biggest problem was slicing and distance control, not to mention taking about 35-40 putts per round. Well, I bought your book over the holidays as a Christmas present to myself and started to practice the techniques and drills as soon as I could. Because the weather was so bad I was not able to go to the course so I practiced the drills in front of a mirror as you suggested and really paid attention to my mistakes. The changes you suggested in my swing felt uncomfortable and wrong but since I was shooting in the low 90's almost every time out, I forced myself to change my habits and rely on your teachings.

Well, the weather finally let up this last weekend and I was able to go shoot my first round at my local golf course with my friends. I showed up late so I didn't have time to hit any balls or practice any chips or putts. I had to go straight to the first tee. What happened over the next 5 hours was, I suppose, brilliant. I kept track of my fairways, greens and putts as you suggested and used all the mental preparation and routine tricks i read in your book. I also used the Components very strictly. At the end of the round I had hit 10 of 14 fairways, 9 greens in reg and had 30 putts. I ended shooting 81 and broke my all-time best score. My friends were astounded...not to mention my own amazement! They wanted to know what I had done differently and I told them I had just done some practicing over the holidays on my own.

Feel free to use my story to show others what is possible. I don't really know how long I can hold out on my buddies but for now, mum's the word.