IN LAST MONTH'S column we started our Pre-Shot Routine. We will continue now and shape it into something that resembles a professional approach.

Pro Tip

After the correct line up of the body and feet we must focus on the ?take away? of the club.

The most common mistake made by amateurs is that they tend to 'pick up' the club when they should really ?sweep? it away.

This tendency happens when you?break? your wrists too quickly. The correct takeaway is what we call the ?one-piece takeaway? and proves to provide more distance and control.

The idea is to keep the address position with your arms and the club, until the left shoulder is underneath your chin, with right handers and vice versa with left handers.

You will notice that your chest and arms form a ?triangle? in front off you, that triangle must remain all the way until your left shoulder is underneath your chin. No wrist breaking or elbow bending!

Good luck. Hope the tips improve all of your games. Keep swinging!

Course Report

This month I visited Loch Palm Country Club, self regarded as ?the most relaxing course in Phuket.?

The clubhouse is adequate and clean but I must say it is not one of the best on Phuket and would certainly benefit from an upgrade.

Although the reception staff weren`t unfriendly, they were very business-like and acted quite unlike the normal Thai type of friendliness.

The course however was in great condition and one can see that the money earned is being used to maintain the course properly. The excessive heat and odd bouts of rain had little effect on the course and the greens were a good 9.5 on the stimpmeter!

The course itself plays rather short from the club tees and there are two ?Par Fours? reachable with a driver from the tee. I highly recommend the longer hitters to play from the Black tees which will allow them to use the driver more often.

I really enjoyed Hole 11, a lovely Par Five with a stunning raised green. Hole 14 is a memorable but rather short Par Three, but what makes it nice is an unbelievable drop from tee to green with a nice water hazard surrounding the green.

Holes 16 and 18 really need some rethinking, you get the feeling they ran out of real estate and had to squeeze in Hole 18 and to give it credibility they named it their signature hole.

However, we did really enjoy our round of golf. Loch Palm will see us again, I played with my wife and she enjoyed the walk and the company of her very friendly and helpful caddy.