If Yes! Putter technology gives you courage, 19-year old Englishman Oliver Fisher showed terrific guts in a nail-biting playoff against Frenchman Thomas Levet at the Andalucia Open  in Marbella this weekend. (At lunchtime on the fourth day there were three Yes! Putters in play among the leading five players – Michael Jonzon and David Lynn also carried C-Groove sticks).

Heartbreak comes in many forms, but at just 19, Mr Fisher has the brightest of futures ahead of him and a 2^nd place cheque of €111,110 to help soften the blow.

It was hard to fault Fisher’s form on the greens. The C-Grooves on his Tracy putter gave him tremendous confidence to hole some very tricky putts on greens that were reportedly quite inconsistent in terms of speed, grass length etc. Notably, he drilled an exceptional shot on the 18^th in the 3^rd round; easily a 25-foot putt up over the ridge to plop into the cup without even touching the sides - all for 67 to finish at 11 under, going into the 4^th day.

Fisher has been carrying the Yes! Putter since the start of the 2008 season, when he visited the Harold Swash Putting School at Yes! Golf in Southport to look at improving an area of his game he considered a weakness in 2007.

After struggling on the greens somewhat in Korea recently, and eager for continuity in his work he requested the help of putting coach Phil Kenyon for an intensive day’s coaching on the Monday prior to the Andalucia Open.

Such commitment proved vital, as at Aloha he averaged 28 putts per round– 3 lower than his average during last season.

“Ollie was always going to do well this weekend,” says Phil Kenyon. “His growing confidence with his putting alongside a fantastic long game meant he was inevitably going to be among the top players.”

An astounded Richard Boxall reported from his commentary position that Fisher’s tee shot on the par 5 16^th during the final round stopped rolling at 333 yards! Only four players in the Round 4 stats table have a longer average drive than his (av 310 yds).

Michael Jonzon – who finished tied 6^th – only took up his Yes! Dianna Putter after landing in Marbella, which says a lot for the psychological edge that can be had from knowing your putter causes topspin ball roll sooner than anything else on the market, says Kenyon.

HSPSE are please to announce the successful completion of its first level 2 Accredited Instructors programme.

A year after completing level one Bart van der Wind (Holland), Bart Bollen (Belgium) and Christian Schonfeldt (Denmark), attended the 2nd tier of the coaching programme to further educate themselves along their journey as specialist putting instructors.

The early part of the year has been a busy time for HSPSE as the Harold Swash Accredited Instructor Scheme continues to grow. The scheme  educates teaching professionals in tour proven coaching methods to help them specialise as putting instructors.

January saw Rob Roelofs from Holland and Stephen Campbell from Germany completed the 2 day course while.

Has the undisputed world leader in golf groove technology got the yips? What else could explain the sight of the world-renowned Yes! logo on a wedge?