Top driving tips from Tshwane Open champion Dean Burmester
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Zimbabwean Dean Burmester is one of the biggest hitters in world golf and that hugely valuable asset helped him register an impressive victory in the European Tour’s Tshwane Open in South Africa yesterday.
Here, Burmester reveals how he achieves reaching prodigious distances off the tee as well as giving some useful driving tips for average club golfers seeking extra driving length….
How he does it
“I’m very fortunate because I do believe you are born with distance and speed – it’s then just how you control it and how you fasten it onto your golf swing.
When I was young and growing up, my dad always told me to hit it as hard as I could and work on straight later! So that’s probably why I’ve got the clubhead speed (average 122mph but can reach 128mph) and 320-yards is pretty good and consistently where I tend to hit it.
It’s a massive asset because there are some courses I can rip apart. A lot of bunkers can be in play for many players but unfortunately I’m able to knock it over them.
Last year at a tournament in South Africa I was three off the lead standing on the 412-yards par-4 13th but managed to whack it onto the green and putted in for eagle.
Width in the backswing is a massive power factor: you’ve got to have width, lag and timing and for me when I feel I’m striping it and hitting it really long, I’m definitely wide and in a good balance.”
How you can do it
“If I could say one thing to an amateur, it would be to hit the ball on the up because most amateurs hit the ball on the down and with a fade.
So I would say try and hit it on the up which will bring the spin rate down and make the ball go further.
Also, with modern club technology, golfers are fortunate they get fitted by top experts and getting the right driver fitting is critical.”
