Driving Forward: 2022 in Review with Leading Courses Connectivity Specialist Joep Oude Egbrink

• Name: Joep Oude Egbrink
• HCP: 7
• Home course: Utrechtse Golfclub Amelisweerd
• Equipment: PING, Titleist, Taylormade, Srixon, Odyssey putter
• Favourite type of course: Links and woodland courses

That’s a tough one. I played some stunning golf courses this past year - the ones that stand out are La Reserva Sotogrande and De Pan. These courses are very different from each other, but I both really enjoyed them. De Pan is a course that’s been around for ages and therefore it feels as if it’s supposed to be there. La Reserva is more of a championship-like course that is just absolutely awesome to play. Too bad we were a bit hungover from the night before (right, Tim?), because our game wasn’t really up to par. Hopefully, I will get to play it again in 2023 to get some revenge.

My most memorable round of the year was May 8, at Openbare Golfclub Dronten. The course is nothing special but it was memorable because it was the final day of the NGF competition. On this day, all five teams in our poule still had the chance to win the competition. It was an epic battle, but in the end unfortunately we didn’t win. In hindsight, I had a 1.5-meter putt to win my matchplay match and with that putt, I could have won the whole competition. But unfortunately, I missed it. You can imagine that took a couple of hours to get over ;-). All in all, it was a pretty special day to see all teams battle it out in such a tense match.

For me it’s the maintenance that is especially important. I love it when the greens are rolling solid, with a good speed. Or when the tee boxes are super neat.

That’s got to be Shane Lowry. First of all, I am a sucker for Irish accents. Also, he doesn’t necessarily hit it extremely far, but his shot shaping and short game are from another planet. Lastly, I love to look at him and get re-assured that there is still hope to get on Tour with a couple of extra pounds. 

Tying this back to the previous question; I think Shane Lowry’s 5-iron from 215 yards into the 18th green on the final day of the BMW Championship was something special.

Shane Lowry knew he had to make a birdie to win. He must have been pretty nervous hitting the ball at that moment. If you look the footage back you can see his fist pump right after the ball has landed on the green. That’s the stuff I love to see.

I have a couple on my list, one of them is La Zageleta. I have been hearing some good stories about that course and it looks like I am going to play it somewhere in 2023. Also, I hope to get a round in at the Hilversumsche or the Kennemer. I haven’t played them yet but (shame, I know) they are quality courses I heard.

This year I'm going to try to stay away from technical instruction. I think my swing is in a good place. However, when I'm under pressure on the course, I tend to choke (that's also why I've given myself the nickname Captain Choke). So this year I'm going to focus more on the mental aspect of the game. My colleague Tim recommended the book The Inner Game of Golf, by Timothy Gallwey. I just started it, and I'm curious to see how this mental approach can help my golf game.