A £5 Golf Drill, a 1-Under Round, and an Amazing Scottish Links Nobody Talks About

This week Colin and Ross catch up on a productive stretch of golf, with both of them quietly sliding down the handicap charts. Colin is dropping into the low twenties and threatening more cuts, while Ross casually drops in a one under round that takes him to 0.7, the sort of update only a low handicapper can deliver with a straight face 😆 Before any scorecards come out, there's a proper gear nerd-out: Colin has ditched fiddly towels and dropped gloves for a £5 figure-eight power band to keep his arms connected and rein in his flying elbows, and the pair compare notes on connection ball drills that mostly gather dust in the garage.

From there it's wedges and wisdom. Ross talks through his new cavity-back Cleveland wedges, the tighter gapping he's noticed, and a round that finished with two birdies in the last three holes, alongside an honest confession about misjudging a yardage because the front of an angled green sits closer than it looks. There's a genuinely useful run through formats too: why Ross loves match play while Colin shelters behind Stableford, how to actually use your shots rather than trying to beat better players off scratch, and a plain-English explainer of foursomes, four-balls and greensomes ahead of Colin and his brother Bruce teeing it up in the Royal Dornoch foursomes. Add a neat tip on cutting down a graphite shaft without shredding it and you've got a tidy little improvement toolkit.

The back half is a love letter to underrated Scottish golf. Colin reports back from Buckpool on the Moray Coast, a links he'd never heard of that served up blue skies, revetted bunkers, a couple of ugly early numbers, and the highlight of his comeback: team twos on the same par three. They land on a lovely point about value, namely that the gap between a hidden gem and a famous name is far smaller than the green fee suggests, with cracking courses going for £35 to £50.

Episode Highlights

🟢 The £5 fix for flying elbows: Colin's figure-eight power band that finally beat the towel and the dropped gloves

🟢 Ross shoots one under to reach 0.7, and explains how his new cavity-back Cleveland wedges tightened up his gapping

🟢 The angled-green yardage trap that cost Ross a shot, and why you should laser the pin rather than the front edge

🟢 Match play psychology: how to win by using your shots instead of trying to beat better players off scratch

🟢 Buckpool on the Moray Coast: back-to-back twos, revetted bunkers and proper links golf from as little as £35

Gear & Resources Mentioned

🟢 Power band connection trainer (figure-eight arm band), around £5, search "golf power band" on Amazon

🟢 Cleveland wedges (cavity-back 48, 54 and 58 degree) - https://www.clevelandgolf.com

🟢 TaylorMade Stealth driver and adapter shaft, with cheaper replacement shafts found on eBay - https://www.ebay.co.uk

🟢 Scott Fawcett and DECADE course management, referenced on lag putting and the 50-foot three-putt - https://decadegolf.com

🟢 Buckpool Golf Club, Barhill Road, Buckie, Moray Coast - https://www.buckpoolgolf.com

🟢 Leven Thistle Golf Club at Leven Links, Fife - https://www.leventhistlegc.co.uk

🟢 Royal Dornoch Golf Club (the foursomes tournament) - https://www.royaldornoch.com

🟢 Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, East Course, mentioned as a Solheim Cup venue with cut-price evening tee times

🟢 Both Sides of Par on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bothsidesofpar

🟢 Colin on TikTok and YouTube as Golfing Gray, search "Colin Gray golf"

Weekly Competitions

Leven Thistle Gents Open

Course: Leven Thistle Golf Club, played over Leven Links

Location: Leven, Fife, Scotland

Date: Saturday 8th August

Format: Gents individual singles stroke play, 18 holes

Cost: £40 for visitors, with coffee and a bacon roll included on arrival

Worth knowing: a former Open qualifying links with famously fast greens at this time of year, and early tee times around 7:30am were still showing as available. Entry is via the Leven Links booking site. The club also runs other well-priced opens through the season, including Four Ball Better Ball and Texas Scramble formats.

Chapter List

00:00 Welcome and handicap updates

00:01:41 Connection drills and the £5 power band

00:08:00 Ross's new Cleveland wedges and a one under round

00:12:09 The angled-green lesson: why the front number fools you

00:15:24 Weekly competition: Leven Thistle open

00:16:57 Favourite formats: match play, Stableford and scrambles

00:19:19 Match play psychology: play the shots, not the player

00:23:57 Foursomes, four-balls and greensomes explained

00:28:33 Driver control and cutting down a graphite shaft

00:31:50 Buckpool golf course report

00:36:48 Back-to-back twos: the highlight of the day

00:39:22 Hidden-gem value: brilliant golf for £35 to £50

00:43:04 Wrap-up and where to follow the show