Even when playing well, golfers are always looking for refinements in a bid to improve and that was exactly the case for Laurie Canter as he made some significant changes to his bag ahead of enjoying a strong start to the European Open.
Despite finishing in a tie for seventh at last week’s Soudal Open, the Englishman took the decision to implement an entire new set of irons and shafts for the second event on the DP World Tour’s European Swing.
Buoyed by an encouraging performance in Belgium, the confidence in his game rolled into a new week in Germany as his fresh equipment helped him to card a 68 in the first round at Green Eagle Golf Courses.
At a venue renowned as one of the toughest challenges on the DP World Tour schedule, Canter mixed six birdies with a lone bogey to sit at five under, with Qualifying School graduate Jannik De Bruyn the early pacesetter after a 64.
“I've changed some stuff in my bag this week, which I know people will probably find mad,” he said.
“As golfers, I think we're always messing about [trying to improve].”
Canter ranked first for strokes gained tee to green last week at Rinkven International Golf Club, but still felt there was progress to be made.
“I have been struggling with my distance control,” he reflected. “So, then I worked really hard at it.
“I actually put in a whole new set of irons this week with some new shafts.
“It’s good that my swing obviously feels decent and I was able to put them in and feel comfortable with them pretty quickly.”
Canter, who is ranked 26th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, boasts three top-ten finishes so far this season on the DP World Tour.
All three have come on different continents, proving his game is travelling well and the 34-year-old believes his strength of finding fairways and greens is going to be the key to helping him to mount a title challenge.
“It's definitely a ball-striking course,” he said.
“The reality is if you can find the fairways and the greens the rest of it is manageable.
“If you're out of position, it's very, very hard. So, I think the order of the day for me is to keep trying to hit fairways and greens.
“But obviously, if you're out of position, it's a good course because it's tough to save par or sometimes even save bogey.”
