Cobra Smarter Ways To Lower Scores: 17-handicap Lawrence Stocker's August 2017 Update

Golf Monthly reader Lawrence Stocker reports back on his Cobra Smarter Ways to Lower Scores progress from the Europro Tour Pro-Am at Luton Hoo

Golf Monthly reader Lawrence Stocker reports back on his Cobra Smarter Ways to Lower Scores progress from the Europro Tour Pro-Am at Luton Hoo

This year, Golf Monthly has teamed up with COBRA Golf for the innovative ‘Smarter Ways to Lower Scores’ project, in which two readers have benefited from a full COBRA Golf club fitting and expert swing advice in the quest to knock shots off their scores and handicaps.

Back in March, Lawrence Stocker, a 17-handicapper from Oxfordshire, enjoyed a full driver-to-wedge COBRA Golf custom fitting and received technical tips from PGA Professional Tom Wild.

Towards the end of July, it was time to put things to the test under the gun, as he enjoyed COBRA Golf’s hospitality at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire, teeing it up in the Pro-Am for The Matchroom Sport Championship on the Europro Tour with professional, Luke Cornford.

Lawrence on the right with the COBRA Golf Smarter Ways team pro, Luke Cornford, in the middle

Here’s how he got on…

On the Pro-Am… I’d never played in a Pro-Am before but enjoyed it out there. It was good to play with Luke and interesting to see how he played the holes from tees a little further back than ours.

Lawrence in full flow at Luton Hoo

The toughest hole at Luton Hoo was the stroke-index-one, par-3 13th, which was playing about 250 yards into the wind! My favourite moment came on the 18th where I hit a 9-iron to three feet from 149 yards to finish with a birdie.

On his COBRA clubs… The clubs have been going well. I’ve been doing okay in competitions at my home club and have tried to play other courses as well just to make sure my game isn’t just sorted for The Oxfordshire! I’ve managed to shoot some good scores too, but it’s still a work in progress.

Lawrence's COBRA Golf fitting took place at Silvermere back in March

My COBRA King F7 One-Length irons have made quite a big difference to my game and my shot dispersion. I’m now much more comfortable, certainly with anything from 7-iron down to wedge.

My King Ltd MO driver is a little bit leaky right now, but I’ve had periods where that’s been good and the wedges haven’t been so good. I’ve come down 0.9 so far, so hopefully one more tournament and I’ll come down a full shot, which would be good. I’m still hopeful of being down to around 13-14 by the end of the year.

On his technique…

Expert swing advice from PGA Pro Tom Wild

A big part of what Tom talked to me about was how the start of my swing was causing me to come over the top, so I’m trying to get it more from the inside. He gave me some good pointers, which I’m still working on.

 

Jeremy Ellwood
Contributing Editor

Jeremy Ellwood has worked in the golf industry since 1993 and for Golf Monthly since 2002 when he started out as equipment editor. He is now a freelance journalist writing mainly for Golf Monthly. He is an expert on the Rules of Golf having qualified through an R&A course to become a golf referee. He is a senior panelist for Golf Monthly's Top 100 UK & Ireland Course Rankings and has played all of the Top 100 plus 91 of the Next 100, making him well-qualified when it comes to assessing and comparing our premier golf courses. He has now played 1,000 golf courses worldwide in 35 countries, from the humblest of nine-holers in the Scottish Highlands to the very grandest of international golf resorts. He reached the 1,000 mark on his 60th birthday in October 2023 on Vale do Lobo's Ocean course. Put him on a links course anywhere and he will be blissfully content.

Jezz can be contacted via Twitter - @JezzEllwoodGolf


Jeremy is currently playing...

Driver: Ping G425 LST 10.5˚ (draw setting), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 55 S shaft

3 wood: Ping G425 Max 15˚ (set to flat +1), Mitsubishi Tensei AV Orange 65 S shaft

Hybrid: Ping G425 17˚, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Orange 80 S shaft

Irons 3-PW: Ping i525, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Wedges: Ping Glide 4.0 50˚ and 54˚, 12˚ bounce, True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 R300 shafts

Putter: Ping Fetch 2021 model, 33in shaft (set flat 2)

Ball: Varies but mostly now TaylorMade Tour Response