When a plan ...

What a week of golf - from the deep lows of a disastrous final hole to redemption when a final hole strategy paid off in a very satisfying way.

I played well on the weekend, very well in fact, only to blow a certain win with a triple bogey on the last hole. It was like a Jean van der Veldt replay where a series of misfortunes compounded the error of a poor drive. I didn't sleep well that night.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity of replaying that hole during my next round only a few days later. This time, I hit iron, iron, and pitched and one-putted, for a par and a lovely feeling of redemption. Maybe the purists would say 'get back on the horse, hit driver', but I found my allegedly ultra-conservative strategy very satisfying nonetheless.

Course management is surely the strength of those golfers who are consistent over a long period of time - the Jim Furyks of the golfing world. The big hitters and gamblers might snare all the headlines, but the steady, smart players prosper and endure.

A course strategy a choice, of course, and no strategy is set in stone. Circumstances change and strategies can even change during a round. This shouldn't be a problem provided each hole or shot strategy is carefully considered in advance, not hurried or made on the basis of anger or hope.

I should confess, the reason I am upbeat about my last round is not entirely related to a successful course management strategy; I am putting better.

Putting has been the bane of my golfing existence in the past month or two. But finally I have realised that no manner of grip changing or swing thinking can substitute for good old fashioned confidence and concentration. The former is about having confidence in one's ability (e.g. I am a good putter) and the latter is about applying one's skills and experience in green reading (i.e. closely linked to imagination) and controlling one's hands and wrists and thus the club face.

As for the full swing, I'm sticking to my plan of not worrying about the precise length or direction of my backswing, other than in keeping the club in front of me (sorry, a slightly technical term), while concentrating on making good contact with the ball (no swaying, dipping, flipping, etc.). It's paying off I think. I'm generally happy with my driver and woods and my irons are improving.

As for chipping and pitching, I'm sticking to my plans of pitching with my gap wedge and chipping with my nine iron, whenever possible, and the recent results have been quite good.

All in all the plans are working well, my handicap is coming down again, slightly alarmingly in fact. But I'm not complaining about that - it is part of the plan.