Carl Watts
European Tour Professional
PGA Professional...
YOURGOLF TEAM
CARL WATTS & PAUL LAMBERTY
Carl has been described as passionate, creative, informative & determined to help players improve their game. with over 30 years of competitive and coaching experience your game is in the right hands.
YOURGOLF COACH…
BMW International Open 1997
Golfclub München Eichenried, Eichenried, Munich, Germany
AMATEUR
- Dyke Club Champion 1987
- Worthing Club Champion 1987
- Sussex Boys Champion 1987-1989
- English Boys Championship runner up 1989
- BRITISH BOYS CHAMPION 1989
- England Youth Captain 1991
- Midlands Open Champion 1992
- English Matchplay Championship semi finals 1992
- England Teams 1988-1993
Turned professional September 1993
EUROPEAN TOUR SCHOOL
SEVE BALLESTEROS
In 1991 I competed in my first European Tour event as an amateur in the Monte Carlo Open. Arriving early on the Monday of that week I went to the practice ground & my idol Seve was there practicing, after a a few minutes of watching Seve I approached him & asked if I could join him to practice, much to my delight he said yes. For 4 magical hours I practiced with Seve, putting, short game, bunker shots, on the driving range, he shared advice & as he always did he loved manipulating shots & taking on what seemed the impossible…
HIGHLIGHTS
- Caddied at European tour school 1987-1992
- Turned professional September 1993
- European Tour school stage 1 winner 1993
- European tour school finals – qualified for Challenge & European tour card 1993
Dual playing rights on the European Challenge tour & European tour
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR
THE CHALLENGE TOUR CHARITY
Whilst competing on the European Challenge Tour I started raising funds for supporting children in Africa, the two ways were creating tournament yardage booklets for players to use during events, so each tournament 144 were sold at £10 each, the second way was players donated used balls after each round which I then sold to the local professional raising several hundred euros at each event. These activities raised thousands of pounds & was amazing to be part of.
Full European Tour card for the 1997 season
EUROPEAN TOUR
FORE MAGAZINE
Throughout 1997-1998 I wrote an article for FORE magazine called ROOKIE ON TOUR, where I used a dictaphone to review each day, each round & each tournament giving a real insight into life on tour through a rookies perspective. The monthly article gained a huge following of fans, long before the days of social media. The first article was titled “it feels like Christmas everyday” as I was suddenly playing alongside the likes of Seve, Ernie Eles, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, every golfers dream.
HIGHLIGHTS
- BMW Open runner up 1997
- First player in European Tour history to score -24
- European tour order of merit 1997 – 60th
- European Tour player of the month August 1997
- Career high world ranking 200th
- European Tour results
LEARNING FROM THE BEST
During my time competing on tour I had some incredible opportunities to meet, play & practice with some of the worlds top players. In South Africa I had a practice round with Bernhard Langer, who shared incredible insight into course strategy & short game. In Dubai I spent time with Greg Norman asking him all about putting & fitness, he arranged for me to meet his fitness instructor who created a training program for me. In Australia I approach Gary Player who then spent a few hours with me explaining all about bunker play, how to practice effectively & fitness training. In Switzerland Colin Montgomerie approach me having read the Rookie on tour articles offering advice & support about time management on tournament days. All of these & many more tour experiences have contributed to developing THE GOLF SYSTEM that is now available to you.
THE AMATEUR PROFESSIONAL
On reflection of my time on tour I held the players I competed against to highly, yes they were great players but I thought I had to be perfect every time I played which if I had studied the stats correctly I didn’t need to, so I added unnecessary pressure on myself leading to working & practicing too hard & regularly burning out, I looked at these players through my amateur eyes rather than my now professional eyes. Over the years this lead to poor form & slowly losing my playing rights & more importantly my love of this great game.
THE PROFESSIONAL AMATEUR
This is another experience that has contributed to creating THE GOLF SYSTEM to help players of all abilities become the very best players they can be by approaching the game as a PROFESSIONAL AMATEUR, staying focused on their game, their strengths & weaknesses & not getting pressured into playing a different way because others can or decide to, there’s far more to this game than meets the eye.
BMW Open
THE STRUGGLING PROFESSIONAL
During my first full season season on the European tour I was struggling throughout the season, making cuts by a shot or missing by a shot or two, making no progress where in later August with a handful of events remaining & such poor form it was clear I was going to lose my European Tour card. In early August I had parted ways with yet another caddie & my long term coach & friend John Woof as a desperate last ditch attempt to find some form. Then inexplicably at the BMW Open I became the first player in European tour history to score -24 & losing to Swedish player & eventual European Tour number one Robert Karllson in a 3 hole play-off. How was this possible, what actually happened for me to go from scoring 1 or 2 over par to the lowest score in European Tour history? At the time I had no idea, I continued onto my next event expecting this form to continue, it never did, I literally went back to normal & within 3 years I had left the sport completely & utterly depressed, frustrated & disillusioned with myself & the game.
THE REVIEW
Over the years that followed I struggled to come to terms with my golf career bewildered by by inability to re-create this form, however eventually upon reflection through becoming a tour coach working with professional golfers the reasons became clear, below are the key reasons to becoming the very best player you can be & is at the center of the development of THE GOLF SYSTEM.
1: THE TOUR CADDIE
The day before the first round of the BMW Open I was still without a caddie having parted ways with yet another caddie the week before when one of the top Swedish players Niclas Fasth withdrew through injury leaving his caddie without a job for the week, we were then introduced. His name was “magic” Johnson. That afternoon we had a practice round & quickly got to know each other. The following day, we teed off early at 08:15, I hit my tee shot on the fairway then this happened. Once we arrived at the ball Magic walked up to me, placed the bag on the ground & said, right Carl you have 128 yards to the front, 137 to the pin, 141 to the slope, 159 to back edge of the green, the wind is 5 yards into off the right, we want to land this at 135 to use the slope behind the pin, its playing 140 because of the wind, here’s a 9 iron, hit it as hard as you can on the left edge of the right hand bunker with your normal draw. Picks up the bag & walks off 30 yards to the right. Now you can imagine my initial response, I’m fuming, who the hell do you think you are, I’m the tour player, I make the decisions, he wasn’t remotely interested, I hit the shot. This continued for the front nine with me eventually realising this Scottish no time for nonsense from his player approach wasn’t going to change, I went along with it, I took my orders & hit the shot, I was -1 as I approached the 10th tee. Then everything changed, the following 9 holes I made 8 birdies, eventually scoring -8 for the round. This continued for the next 54 holes of the tournament, what happened, what did he do, why was it so effective?
REVIEW
Over the years it became very obvious what Magic did for me. ONE, for the first time in my golfing career I played with total clarity & with no fear, he gave me clear information in regards to the yardages & gave me full permission to hit the ball hard where as normally I would be undecided between clubs & select the option where I ease the shot in as opposed to fully commit, just in case it goes wrong, the reverse happened with Magic. TWO, there was no time for feeling sorry for myself, normally I would whinge & moan to my long list of previous caddies about a dropped shot or a poor shot where as Magic told me to shut the f*** up, we have the next shot to focus on, get over it. THREE, Magic had a no bullshit approach, I had accountability to behave a certain way, where as to be totally honest I was a selfish self absorbed professional golfer who had been placed on a golfing peddle-stool his whole life, being told how wonderful I am as opposed to some much needed home truths, something I clearly needed & never had. Through this experience & the experience of working with over 100 professional tour players I am a firm believer over half of the successful players out on the world tours would not be there without the right caddie standing by their side. It is a true partnership, not an individual sport like most believe. How does this help your game, whether a total beginner to a scratch handicap, learn to become both on the course, you learn to be the tour caddie as you work out the shot, your the tour player when hitting the shot. This is where THE GOLF SYSTEM’s strategy system & toolkit will help you become the very best golfer you can be.
2: PRINCESS DIANA
Now your wouldn’t be expecting me to mention Princess Diana in regards to me becoming the first player in European tour history to score -24 but she played a very real part in what happened that week. After 3 rounds I was one shot behind the leader Robert Karlsson, I had never been in this position before & that night I had literally no sleep through nerves & apprehension. On the morning of the final round I got the courtesy car to the golf course, the driver turned the radio on & we both heard the news of Princess Diana’s untimely death, the date was Sunday 31st August 1997. As with all of us shock took over, for many a sense of perspective in life, how could this happen to someone so amazing, so very much loved by so many. At that very point a sense of total perspective & calmness descended on my stressed out lack of sleep mindset, it was very simple, what’s the worst thing that can happen today, I play poorly, I stopped worrying immediately, this then a huge impact on my performance during the final round.
REVIEW
Now unfortunately it took a tragic incident like this to change my state of mind but there are many tools available to us all that can help us think clearly whether on the course or in life, we just have to be willing to research & test them. This is where THE GOLF SYSTEM’s mindset toolkit will help you become the very best golfer you can be.
3: THE PLAY-OFF
After 72 holes myself & Robert Karlsson were tied on -24 & head into a play-off. The first extra hole it’s fair to say Robert was incredibly lucky, he hooked his ball into a pond skipping across the water to be a foot outside the waters edge, from here, clearly a difficult lie he shanked it into rough on the right side, hit the shot out to 25 feet from the rough, a great shot, he then 2 putted, meanwhile I’ve hit the fairway, hit my approach on the par 5 to 50 yards short of the green & pitched up to 15 feet & my putt to win had a full horse shoe lip out, so close to winning. We parred the par 3 second play-off hole, then out of nowhere I hit literally my first bad shot of the tournament, I hooked my tee shot into the same pond Karlsson had it earlier, I made a bogie 6, he parred & won. The question was why. As the play-off progressed I could sense I was starting to feel tired & my stomach started to rumble as I was clearly hungry, normally I would reach for a piece of fruit from my bag or from the the tee areas where sponsors left drinks & fruit for players to have during the round. Due to the excitement of the final few holes in the final round I forgot to eat & the volunteers & green keepers had cleared away the fruit & drinks from each tee before the play-off began. So on reflection I was now hungry & tired, my focus was clearly effected & dropped, what was very evident was not having a banana or being more prepared in case of a play-off cost me £100,000 in income & the opportunity to win my first European tour event.
REVIEW
So how doe this help you & your game, there is so much evidence on how important energy levels are when competing whether as a seasoned professional or a 36 handicap player new to the game. Most amateur players eat a poor breakfast an hour befor teeing off, then fail to drink enough water & eat at intervals during the round so they are mentally & physically prepared for the final 6 holes, meaning poor shots & dropped shots that most feel are technical issues when in fact they could very easily be like it was for me a poor preparation issue. This is where THE GOLF SYSTEM’s competition blueprint toolkit will help you become the very best golfer you can be.
4: THE TEAM
Golf is perceived to be an individual sport, but as you have seen with the tour caddie story, it truly isn’t. For a player to become the best they can be requires clear thinking, support & guidance. One of the most parts of the business I did not have in place was the ability to reflect on events whether a good or poor result. My background was an amateur golfer who got to a good enough level to turn professional & qualified for the European tour, becoming a potential multi million pound business. The problem was I had to training in how to run a business, no support team who understood this meaning I had no accountability in place to make sure I reviewed with a clear logical & truthful team much like Magic did with me during the tournament. In hindsight if I had a team who were honest with me we would have reviewed the BMW Open & realised the reason for this success as I have mentioned in these stories. The very first thing that should have happened after reviewing the week & realising the massive impact Magic had on my ability to play at the highest level, I should have offered him a deal he may well have found hard to refuse, double his weekly income & twice the percentage he was making working for other players. This would have been a very sensible & well thought through plan of action, I was clearly better off with 80% of something rather than 100% of f*** all. Instead I thought it was all down to me & immediately returned to my normal form the following week, now even more frustrated as I had proven I could perform at the highest level. The problem is I didnt know how I did it.
REVIEW
It doesnt matter what level of golfer you are, having a team around you willing to be honest, help you face the areas of your life, business or in this instance your game you want to improve is vital. This is where THE GOLF SYSTEM’s complete approach to the game will help you become the very best golfer you can be, we become your tour coach, tour caddie & tour player support team.
TOUR COACH
THE TOUR PRO BUSINESS
After competing on the European Tour I started to work with tour professionals competing on the Europro tour, Alps tour, European Challenge tour. My coaching & mentoring role included reviewing players performance before, during & after tournaments on behalf of their sponsors, helping them to assess whether their investment was a wise one & if players were maximising their time & effort. Over the 7 years I worked with over 100 tour professionals travelling throughout Europe attending events & assessing each players tour pro business. During this time I organised & ran tour pro bootcamps in France, ran workshops & spoke at events.
REVIEW
This experience & insight is where THE GOLF SYSTEM’s complete system & toolkit will help you become the very best golfer you can be.
PGA PROFESSIONAL
MANNINGS HEATH GOLF CLUB
Since 2010 I have been based at Mannings Heath Golf Club, coaching players of all abilities from beginners to professionals looking to compete on the worldwide stage.
HIGHLIGHTS
- PGA 2003
- Sussex County Coach 2003
- Spoken at several international golf federations events
- PGA tutor 2007-2010
- Psychology & business seminars for PGA professionals
- Mannings Heath junior coach & organiser 2010-2013
- Sussex U18 club champions 2013
