What’s 1 tip to help my grandson break 80?

NAPLES, Fla. – I’m sorry, Mason. I was just trying to help.

If I embarrassed you before Nelly KordaI apologize.

Wait, what? Wild, right? I will try to explain. Mason is my 16-year-old nephew and, in his uncle’s estimation, has real potential for golfing fame. But first he has to break 80 consistently.

Korda, of course, you know. Seven-time winner this year on the LPGA. Fifteen times winner overall. By all accounts, she excels at golf. She is also in this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, the final event of the LPGA season.

And me too.

So I thought: Why not? I asked Korda and other LPGA pros this:

My 16 year old wants to break the 80’s. He shoots in the mid-80s now. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

It was a bit frivolous. But the benefit, I think, was threefold. Players chat shop. Mason gets a tip. Maybe you too.

Except now Mason is worried that Korda thinks he’s not that great. Whatever. The child will live.

Maybe break 80 consistently, too.

The full exchanges are below.

What is one piece of advice you would give my nephew on his journey to break 80?

Nelly Korda

Nelly, easy question. My 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 for the first time. It shoots in the mid 80s, high 80s. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

“A piece of advice I would give him? Well, two,” said Korda. “Many of the people I see who are ams never have a handicap. If you don’t know where you’re aiming, chances are you won’t know where you’re aiming on the golf course.

“Tip number two, I see a lot of people standing on the range and just hitting golf balls or just practicing a lot instead of going out and visualizing.

“At the end of the day, golf is a game of creativity and you’ll never have your A game. One day the wind will be from the left and one day the wind will be from the right. The hole will play completely different. It’s all about creativity.

“So going out and playing a lot.”

Lexi Thompson

My 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 for the first time and shoots in the mid 80’s now. What’s one quick tip you’d give him?

“What I’d give to break 80?” Lexi Thompson he asked. “How long has he been playing?”

He has been playing for about four years.

“Oh, that’s very good then,” she said. “He is going in the right direction. I always say that the biggest piece of advice that helped me when going out and exercising was to always have a goal in mind. There is always something you want to improve on. It can be the smallest thing or the biggest thing, the mental side. As we know, golf is such a mental sport. It could be working on the mental side and visualizing shots.

“So going out there with a purpose. Don’t just go out on the golf course and act like I’m going to hit some balls today or play. You have a goal, something you want to improve. That way, you’re not wasting time and it’s always productive practice.

“Even if you struggle a little, you had a goal, you committed, and you’re trying to be better.”

Lydia Ko

This is an easy one. It is based on guidelines. My grandson is trying to break 80 for the first time. It shoots like mid 80’s, high 80’s. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

“A piece of advice. I would say try and determine what the consistent reason is – I think when you’re shooting in the 80s or the 70s, it’s not always because you’re consistently making a bogey, but it’s more like a hole where you have made a duo.” Lydia Ko said. “And most of the time, those mistakes are very repetitive. And even for me, I play and play – it’s the same reason why I make those mistakes. Try and determine what that main dominant is and that way you’ll be able to work on that and I think that slowly gets fixed without trying to break everything and try to make everything better.”

Ally Ewing

My 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 for the first time. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

“My advice would be to go to a spike box that makes it realistic,” Ally Ewing said, “and then when you break 80 on that spike box, move it back one box. So I’d go up to a tee – like maybe some people would say it’s not good. I think scoring is scoring and you have to learn to score.

“You know, shooting 61 from the fairway is still very difficult. You still have to golf your ball. I would encourage him to go to a machine box where he feels like he can achieve that and steadily move back and continue to challenge himself that way.”

Ruoning Yin

My 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 for the first time. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

“Holiday 80? Practice your short game and putting,” Ruoning Yin said, “because that’s what you spend most of your time on the golf course. Let’s say a 62 stroke course. You’ll probably spend half as much on setup.

“If you want to break 80, I’d say spend time on your setup.”

Yin Angel

A question about golf instruction I had. So my 16 year old nephew is trying to break 80 and make his high school varsity team next year. What is one piece of advice you would give him?

“Hit through the ball and not at the ball. It’s simple,” Yin Angel said. “I think a lot of people try to hit the ball because it’s a ball game you play where the ball is really stationary and you have to go after it. In football they throw you; tennis, the ball is coming at you – you are reacting. Where should you go, I don’t know, go after the ball. It’s a little different. You have to get the ball moving.”

Jenno Thitikul

(Editor’s note: Jeeno Thitikul was this year’s winner of the Aon Risk-Reward Challenge — so I asked her a risk-reward question.)

If you were talking to a higher handicap player, how would you advise them to take a risk or play it safe?

“Well, it’s hard for me,” Thitikul said. “I know that golf is very difficult. It’s like a really – there’s the ball and the club is so big. I think sometimes it takes faith. You need confidence and you are not afraid to make a mistake if you are going to take a risk. I think that’s the big key, when you have a really challenging hole, a really dangerous hole, water or something that you have to carry. I think confidence is the most important thing.”

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