An enjoyable few days at Royal Birkdale for the British Open. Especially enjoyable as its in my home town of Southport. From a product point of view its a pretty quite event as not many people are looking to pick up new equipment this week with it being such an important event. However with a few guys qualifying with whom I work with it made it a little more interesting.

On Monday I met up with Peter Fowler.We spent some time on the SAM system and we were able to highlight Peter creeping back into an old fault which was causing some inconsistency in his strike. Working on balance we are able to correct this and Peter was looking forward to a good week.

 On Tuesday I also met up and with walked a few holes with David Horsey. David was in the studio last week on his week off to make his final preparations so there wasn’t too much work to be done. David played with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els so it was interesting to see how David’s game compared. In fact it compared very well and I’ve had a cheeky each way bet on him !

Another bet I’ve had is on Henrik Stenson. Henrik spent sometime on the SAM system on Monday and with Harold  on Tuesday. Peter Cowan his full swing coach was really pleased with the small suggestion we were able to pass on, and also told me he believed Henrik was striking the ball as well as ever.  Lets hope this inside knowledge proves fruitful at the bookies!

On Wednesday I also hooked up with qualifier Jamie Howarth with whom I’ve worked with. Jamie only recently turned professional after a good amateur career and has done really well to qualify for the Open so soon. Jamie was struggling a little with missing putts to the right. We worked on his stroke a little, reducing the rotation he had in his backswing. Jamie was soon feeling better in his stroke.

Thats all this week.

The stunning setting of Loch Lomond was the venue this week for the Scottish Open. This is one of the best events of the year as the scenery and the location are out of this world.

Tuesday was a rain interrupted day. However in between the showers Darren Clarke picked up a callie at 33 inches with a new prototype shaft we have developed. The shaft is a weighted shaft that is a lot heavier than a standard shaft. The specific weighting changes the dynamics of the stroke, helping take the hands out of the stroke and helping rhythm and tempo. Darren took an instant liking to the putter as he said it helped him achieve more easily some of the things he had been working on. It will be interesting to see how Darren gets on with it.

Gonazalez Fernando Castano also picked up an Abbie head with the new shaft which he had ordered. Gonzo will be practicing with it over the next few weeks while he has some time off. I met up with Mark Foster this week again and we spent some time on the green working on his stroke. I also met up with Peter Fowler and we spent some time working on the SAM system. Ollie Fisher also came by and we checked on a few things as he was a bit disappointed on the greens last week at the London Club.

I also met up with John Gallagher the Scottish Amateur Champion who is playing in the event on an invite.  John originally contacted me about the Donna putter in the weeks proceeding the event so we arranged to meet up at Loch Lomond. John will be using the putter this week and is due to come down to the studio the week of the British Open to look further at impoving his technique.

Next week its The Open Championshp at Birkdale, Southport. Im really looking forward to the week as its on my doorstep having been brought up, and lived in, Southport all of my life.  Also two of the players I work with David Horsey and Peter Fowler have qualified.  It should be fun.

Phil Kenyon working with Mark Foster

It was back to the UK this week for the European Open at the London Club.  A quite couple of days on the green. Pelle Edberg requested a Sandy that sat slightly open. Pelle has been using the new Sandy model since Austria, a few weeks back, so we made one up in the tour van to suit.

Richard Bland took a donna model with a 2 thumb grip. The two thumb is increasingly popular out here on tour. Colin Montgomery has been using one recently and has seen a return to form on the greens and Mark Foster has also benefitted recently from the the grip. David Lynn picked up a Valerie at 33 inches which is shorter than the valerie model he has been using over the last year.

It was great to see Peter Fowler who I have been working with competing this week. Peter whose first appearance on the Tour was at the 1983 Jersey Open, became the 17th player in Tour history to pass 500 appearances this week, a formidable landmark that Peter himself described in the press as “an achievement for longevity and hard work.”

On the Tuesday and Wednesday I worked with Rob Coles, who recieved an invite to the event. Rob had a top 10 finish at St Omer recently and will be looking to build on that result in a bid to regain his tour card this year. Rob has been working hard on his stroke and it was looking good.

Next week its up at Loch Lomond for the Scottish Open

Le Golf National near Paris has some great practice facilities and probably the biggest putting green of the courses we will visit this year on the European Tour. However the practice days were a pretty quite couple of days in the build up to the event.

On Tuesday Cedric Menut from France picked up the new Groove Tube putter we have available. The Groove Tube has a 3-D overhead alignment system that uses an elevated sightline window and a heads up centering line to verify correct setup position. It provides a very distinctive look and also feel. It will be interesting to see the model is received. For more information on the putter visit http://www.yesgolf.com/store/models.php?model=747

Ollie Fisher is playing this week so we met and spoke briefly on the Tuesday. He was happy with his putting and the slight alterations we made in the studio a couple of weeks back were looking natural. Ryan his caddie was telling me his long game was looking back to his best so Ollie could be a factor this week.

Edoardo Molinari tested his prototype shaft on the SAM system and it was interesting to see how it helped improve the tempo and acceleration in his stroke as well as improve the consistency of his clubface rotation. Edoardo will continue to practice with the model and hopefully it will be in play shortly.

It was good to see Mark Foster put in another good performance in Munich last week. Mark averaged 28 putts per round for the tournament in finishing 3rd. A result that pretty much secures his card for the year and enables him to push on for the remainder. Since starting work with us in April Mark has gone from having just 30,000 euro and making 2 out of 9 cuts to having earned over 213,000 euro on the order of merit an having made 5 out of 6 cuts. An interesting stat which shows the impact an improvement in putting can have.

Next week we are back in the UK for the European Open at the London Club.

A steady couple of days in Munich for the BMW Open. First thing on Tuesday I arranged to meet up with Marmat Madan to work with him on his stroke. Having never worked with Marmat before we arranged to meet early to leave plenty of time before the 1st round on Thursday. We used the SAM system and video analysis to create a blueprint  from which we then picked out a couple of simple things to start to work on, mainly focusing on the set up. Hopefully Marmat will take some confidence from the session onto the greens this week.

I also met up briefly with Mark Brown who was at the studio last week, on his week off. Mark was happy with his new grip. set up and putter and was looking forward to the plan and work ahead.

On Wednesday I spent some time with Mark Foster. Mark has had 2 weeks off so we worked on getting back to some basics that help make his stroke work, which include forearm alignment and grip.

On both Tuesday and Wednesday I spent some time with Maarten Lafaber. The work Maarten has been doing is starting to bed in and feel more natural, so he was happy going into the event and feeling confident. He also picked up a new Callie fc with a lighter shaft than he has been using.

This week Edoardo Molinari  picked up a new Callie putter with a prototype shaft that he will do some testing with over the next few weeks. John Bickerton and Peter Lawrie also picked up Donna’s, on which we had changed the sight line for them. Both players prefer a sight line on the top edge instead of the cavity.

A note on last week in Saint Omer. It was good to see Rob Coles kick start his season with a fine performace. Rob had a real chance to win the event coming into the back 9, before a couple of bad breaks left him with a seasons best 7th finish. Altogether a better result and hopefully some momentum for Rob.

Next week its the French Open and one of the biggest purses of the season for the guys to fight for.

With having a week off the tour schedule this week, as the guys move over to SAINT OMER, I thought I would take the time to update the blog with some info from last weeks happenings in Austria. Firstly congratulations to Peter Fowler on his best finish of the season with his 3 rd place at Fontana. Peter has spent a lot of time with me in recent months and even on his week off (during Wentworth) he came up to the studio to work on his putting. At one stage on the back 9 on Sunday Peter looked like he had a real chance to win before a bad break led to a bogey 6 on the par 5 14th. Peter was 5th on the putting stats with an average of 28.3 putts per round.

Interestingly Pelle Edberg who I fitted in Austria was 2nd in the putting statts with 27.7 putts per round which also gave him his best finish of the year, tied 3rd with Peter. Other players that performed well during the week, whom I have been working with include Scott Barr, Maarten Lafaber and Mark Brown.

It will be good to catch up with the guys in Munich next week.

Well at least I made it to Austria this summer! more than what Steve McLaren can say isnt it? The European Tour hit Vienna this week . As Europe’s great footballing nations were preparing for their biannual championship, the continents best golfers were at Fontana for the Bank of Austria Open.

Practice days again were hit by thunderstorms and heavy rain. On both the Tuesday and Wednesday the course and practice facilities were closed for the safety of the players and spectators. In between the storms however the practice green was a busy place. The Fontana  course has excellent facilities and probably the best greens the players will putt on this year.

On the tuesday I spent some time with Pelle Edberg on the SAM system. Pelle was looking for inspiration through a new putter so we used the system to work out the ideal specification he would need to suit his stroke. It came out that the new face balanced Sandy was the club, which we had to bend to 67 degrees (5 degrees flat).

David Lynn who has used a Valerie for while picked up another Valerie which we had counterbalanced for him. David really liked the 60 g weight located at the top of the grip, which he believed gave him more feel. I also met up with David Howell to give him a protoype shaft in his favourite callie head which he had requested. It will be interesting to get his feedback over the next few weeks.

Again the Donna is a proving to be popular model, another 5 players picked up the putter this week. Due to its popularity we are going to produce one with different hoseling and we have also made some with different line options up for the players.

On Tuesday I spent some time with Tom Whitehouse. I know Tom from years back when we played pro golf together. However we have never work before on the greens. Hopefully the time we spent working on simple fundamantals will help kick start his season.

On Wednesday I spent some time with Peter Fowler again whom has been working hard on his putting as always.  I also met up with Rob Coles. Rob got in the event from his challenge tour category, as have many of the other players, with the entries going well down the list. Rob has been working with me this year and been up to the studio in an effort to get his tour status back. Rob is class act and genuinely good guy. His stroke was looking a lot better too. Lets hope his improvement will start to show in results. This week is as good place to start, as it for any of the challenge tour players with a 2 year exemption a nice incentive for the winner.

That’s all from Austria, next event for me is Munich in 2 weeks.

It had to happen at some time! The good run of weather we have been having out on tour came to an end at Celtic Manor this week. Waterproof and umbrellas were required on both Tuesday and Wednesday as the practice days saw a deluge of rain, which means there is little to report as there was little work done!

Very briefly during a dry spell I did meet up with Peter Fowler who I have been working with this year. He came up to the studio last week during his week off as he didnt play at Wentworth. This enabled us to be more detailed in our work. In Wales we contnued on the same theme.

I also briefly met up with Ollie Fisher. Ollie continued his good form on the greens last week in finishing 16th at Wentworth. Ollie was 2nd on the stats with 27.2 putts per round average.

Interestingly Johan Edfors picked up a Donna putter this week, which he will be using. This has been the most popular putter I have seen us bring out on tour and with some specialist orders over the next few weeks from players who have requested some adjustments to the model, the count will only grow.

 Next week I will be in Vienna for the Austrian Open.

It was great to be at Wentworth this week for one of the best tournaments and settings of the year. Once again the weather follows the tour, or the practice days at least.

Tuesday was a busy day. I had the new Groove Tube Putter with me this week which has created some interest. The groove tube has a unique sight alignment feature that is very distinctive. Feedback from the players once they had tried it was very positive.

I met Mark Brown this week, the New Zealender who won the Johnny Walker Classic in India. Mark has been struggling with his putting so I spent some time with him on both Tuesday and Wednesday, keeping it simple the week of an event. Mark however will be heading up to the studio when he gets his next week off.

I also spent some time with Vijay Singh on the Tuesday. In particular Vijay asked me to take a look at his stroke on the SAM Puttlab and offer my opinion. I focused on a couple of specifc areas and offered a way to structure his practice which he was happy to take on board.

Maarten Lafeber was happy with his putting and his 3rd place last week in Ireland. Maarten was enthusiastic for the work we had done and the impact it has had in the last few events. Ollie Fisher was also at Wentworth although we didn’t get much chance to look at his stroke. However after finishing 2nd in the putting stats in Ireland he should be in good shape.

A new player I got chance to work with this week was Per Ulrik Johannson.  After fitting per Ulrik for a 34 inch 68 degree lie Donna, in Seville, Per was keen to get on the SAM Puttlab and see what his stroke was doing and was open to some advice. We ended up with Per testing a 30.4 inch Donna 72 degree lie angle. The shorter club improved Per’s club head rotation in his stroke instinctively. Per was happy and keen to test the putter further.

Next week its Celtic Manor.

Phil Kenyon with Vijay Singh

Adare Manor looked a lot different this year in the sunshine, compared to the wind and rain we suffered in last years Irish Open.  A busy couple of days once again in a beautiful setting not far from Limerick. The Donna putter continues to be very popular, Carlos Rodiles, James Kingston and David Higgins all picked one up this week. This week that particular model will be the most popular model we will have in play. Met up with Martin Lafeber again after his good showing in the Italian Open. Martin averaged 26.5 putt per round iin Italy which was 2nd in the putting stats. So a good start to the work we have been doing. If Martin continues to improve his putting we will see a lot of him on our TV screens on a Sunday. We monitored Martin on the SAM system this week and compared him to last week, and statsitsically there was a big improvement. Martin is also using the new Callie fc .

Lee Slattery also got back on the SAM system and saw a similar improvement from the Italian Open where we did some work also. Lee funnily enough was tied 2nd on the putting stats with Martin.

It was good aso to catch up with Ollie Fisher again. Ollie has had a few weeks off after playing in events that were out in Asia. He looked in good spirits and also in good form.

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari also spent some time on the SAM system. Both taking some simple thoughts to take away to improve some minor features. Mark Foster also reported some good form on the greens with his callie and two thumb grip. Interestingly I see a number of over sized grips in play now on the European Tour.

Next week it’s Wentworth for the BMW. A great venue and hopefully another great week.

Phil Kenyon with Ollie Fisher