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We caught up with Callaway Staff Professionals Alvaro Quiros, Alex Noren and Danny Willett, as well as the UK’s Coach of the Year Pete Cowen before this year’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s, and asked them some questions regarding the Open and the unique challenges of links golf.

How have you been preparing for the Open? Have you been working on different shots or playing links courses?
ALVARO QUIROS: Actually I haven’t… My wrist has been bothering me a bit so I have spent a lot of time around the greens. And on the beach…!
ALEX NOREN: I played in the Scottish Open the week before to get into the “playing mode” and tried to play my best there. As it was a links I got all the necessary practice on the course. I like to work a little extra on the low shot, both draws and fades, to be ready mentally to hit these different shots that we usually don’t play. I’ll also work a lot on putting from outside the greens, which I use a lot on links courses.
Danny Willett: I’m working on different shots, particularly being able to run the ball in low. I’ll have a X-Tour driving iron in the bag this week instead of a hybrid, and also a new Diablo Octane driver with less loft.

Pete Cowen’s thoughts: They’ll spend a lot of time working on the ball flight and how to control it in the wind. That is the most important thing for these players. They’ll try to play links golf as much as they can, and in different conditions wherever possible, just to get it clear in their heads how the ball flies and reacts. They’ll work on getting a lower flight with rescue clubs and practice short game shots that might not be used that often in regular tournaments.

Any gear changes or club set-up tweaks? Why?
AQ: No, because I love all my Callaway gear as they are!
AN: No changes in equipment for me. I’ve had the same line-up for the last 5 years and it’s very comfortable and nice to work with the same clubs all the time. I work on being able to hit the clubs I have in many different ways instead.
DW: I’m working on different shots, particularly being able to run the ball in low. I’ll have the driving iron in the bag this week instead of a hybrid, and also my new driver with less loft.
PC’s thoughts: The 1-iron is pretty much obsolete these days but a large number of players will probably put in a 2-iron or driving iron and maybe take out something like a 5-wood. Other than that they won’t make any changes. All the preparation will have already been done and they will know exactly what their set-up is for the week.

Most important club in the bag for the Open and why?
AQ: Driver, or maybe the tee shots over all. I love my RAZR Hawk driver and if that one performs then the rest usually works..! Putter is of course also always important.
AN: The putter for sure. Especially as I’ll use the putter off the green a lot as well. It’s very important to hole out well to get a good feeling for the next hole and keep up the momentum at the Open, especially when the conditions are tough.
DW: You’ve got to keep the ball in play to have any chance on a links course, so whatever I’m hitting off the tee! If the driver and the driving iron are going well I would hope to score well. And of course, the putter is always vital.
PC’s thoughts: The putter, without a doubt. It’s always the most important clubs. If you don’t putt well you cannot win a tournament. It’s extremely rare that great ball striking alone wins a tournament, especially a major. Rory McIlroy at the US Open was close, but he holed his fair shares of putts. Majors are so tough and you will miss greens so your scrambling and putting has to be superb. The ball also plays a vital role and is just as important but players wouldn’t change to a lower-spinning ball just for this week because it takes time to get used to the flight and the distances. They will stick with their existing ball and work hard on the strike, hitting more into the equator than hitting down onto it, in order to keep the spin under control.

How do you deal with the bad weather a links can throw at you? How does it affect the way you play?
AQ: It affects my dear caddie more than me! I guess we all get more concerned with keeping the ball “under” the wind.
AN: I’ll try to think of it as a challenge for myself. I try to not think of anybody else’s game or how I’m standing. It’s just about challenging myself and proving to myself that I can stand up to the challenge. It usually makes me keep my concentration up and to get motivated.
DW: The first thing I do is to remember that it’s the same for everybody else and they will all be finding it tough. Other than that I just try to concentrate on making really solid contact with the ball, not trying anything too risky, just focusing on getting the ball round carefully and doing the best I can. You can’t let it get to you because it can easily affect you mentally.
PC’s thoughts: In really bad weather you have to understand that par is a great score. Sometimes it can take half the field out of contention straight away because a lot of players just don’t like it. But the flip side is the players who know that if they battle away and grind out pars they can move up the field. Sometimes a 72 in awful weather is far more satisfying than a 62 in calm conditions. That’s the reason why I fully expect a British or Irish player to win this week.

What is your favourite links course and why?
AQ: I like all the links courses because it is so different from the other weeks. And it feels like links golf makes you use your whole arsenal of shots. You have to use your imagination which I like.
AN: St Andrews because it is totally crazy. It plays differently every time you tee up. It’s hard one day and super easy the next. There is no other place on earth like it. Maybe the moon…
DW: It has to be Royal St George’s doesn’t it? It’s a fantastic test of golf with some of the best greens you’ll ever putt on. I was lucky enough to win the English amateur there and have nothing but good memories of the place.
PC: Royal Birkdale because it is such a tough but fair test of golf. You get your rewards for good shots and you get punished for bad ones.

What is biggest challenge of links golf?
AQ: The weather. The course can play 15 shots tougher from one day to the next.
AN: To be patient and be calm when it doesn’t go your way. There is a little bit of luck involved when playing links golf. More so than inland courses where the ball doesn’t bounce as much.
DW: Links golf is tough but also very exciting. The challenge is so different to anything you encounter week to week on the Tour. You just have to deal with whatever the course throws at you and carry on.