Prepping for a Major (Or Your Club Championship)

Guest post by Ryan Crysler, Senior Instructor, Butch Harmon Floridian & Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher – Florida

Preparing for The Masters

We’re always grateful for the opportunity to prepare for a Major Championship like the 2025 Masters. While the goal is always to make Masters week feel like any other event, that’s not possible, even for past champions. 

This year, I’m working with two players, Dustin Johnson and Noah Kent. Our preparation began in February to make sure everything is dialed in long before the first practice round. At this level, success depends on arriving with a clear, tested plan, not on discovering one at the last minute. Since we have a ton of history, data, and experience playing the same venue like Augusta National, our game plan is locked in well in advance.  Some holes will have multiple plans, like hole 3, for example, the short 350 yard par 4.  

We prioritize early practice rounds at Augusta to get players comfortable with the course. Ideally, these rounds include Augusta members or past champions. The purpose is not to make technical changes, but to settle in and confirm that our strategies align with real conditions. 

Because Augusta demands a wide range of shot types, we focus on:

• Full shots from uphill, downhill, and sidehill lies
• Practicing shots from extreme fairway slope
• Practicing putts to holes, and in our case, tees on extreme slopes (3+%)
• Practicing known scenarios based on past data, especially for holes like No. 3, which often requires more than one game plan

One of the most overlooked aspects of Augusta is the variety of lies players encounter. On Hole 8, players face a net 270-yard second shot to a green that feels like it’s halfway up a mountain. On Hole 13, the ball often sits at belt height on a net 250-yard approach. These lies are challenging to execute and require specific preparation, which we’re able to prepare for at the Butch Harmon Floridian training facility.

The greens are fast, undulating, and consistently set up with pin locations on 2% or greater slopes. A 9-foot putt that breaks over 4 feet is not uncommon. Success on these greens comes from being on the correct side of the hole and rehearsing those extreme breaks with clarity and repetition.

Preparing for Your Own Competitive Rounds

Even if you’re not heading to Augusta, the same preparation principles apply when getting ready for your Club Championship. We believe that playing the game is more important than having a perfect technique. Some players simply play the game better than others regardless of what their swing looks like, how far off target they might be, or even how they feel about their game that day.

There are simple rules to live by as you prepare for the big event. Here are five lessons to guide your preparation:

Lesson 1: Set Your Own Course Rules

One of the course rules we’ve adopted this year challenges the common belief that you should always play as close to the green as possible on approach shots and par fives.

We advise players to intentionally avoid leaves of 30 to 80-yards because under pressure, this distance can be difficult to execute. Even tour players have three to five times fewer attempts from 50 to 100 yards than from other ranges, so they will intentionally avoid this area. Adrenaline in high-stakes moments rarely helps players produce the finesse required here.

Your personal rules might include:

• Avoid specific yardage ranges where you are less comfortable
• Only go for a par five in two if you are inside a defined distance
• Commit to conservative targets, regardless of what your competitors are doing

The goal is to design a strategy that plays to your strengths.

Lesson 2: Build Multiple Game Plans

Factors like course conditions and the flow of a round are unpredictable. Wind, pace of play, and pressure from your opponents all influence decision-making. Prepare for these variables by creating multiple strategies for each hole.

Think of it like calling an audible in football. When circumstances change, having a backup plan keeps you calm and committed. Indecision leads to uncommitted swings, and uncommitted swings are one of the biggest performance killers in golf. By planning in advance, you can stay adaptable without losing focus.

Lesson 3: Make Practice Harder Than the Tournament

A common challenge for golfers is transferring skills from the range to the course. The range lacks the adversity you face in competition. There is no pressure, no consequences, and no elevated heart rate.

To overcome this, make your practice more difficult than the event itself. Try these methods:

• Adjust tees based on scoring—move forward or back after each birdie
• Remove your driver and wedges for an entire practice round
• Play with a single ball and treat it like your tournament ball, protecting it as if your round depends on it

Training under these conditions builds resilience and helps you handle adversity when it counts.

Lesson 4: Practice With an Elevated Heart Rate

Pressure and adrenaline elevate your heart rate in competition, which changes your physical feel and rhythm. To prepare for this, intentionally raise your heart rate during practice.

Before executing a delicate chip or a high-pressure bunker shot, do short sprints or jumping exercises. Practicing shots under this physiological stress helps simulate tournament conditions, improving your ability to perform under pressure.

Lesson 5: Embrace Adversity as a Skill

Overcoming adversity is not just a mindset, it is a trainable skill. Every one of these lessons is designed to make you more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Whether you are navigating unexpected course conditions or the tension of a must-make shot, preparation allows you to face these moments with confidence. Approach your practice with this mindset, and you will build the tools needed to play your best golf when it matters most.

Success in tournament golf, whether at Augusta or your home course, comes down to preparation. Not perfection. The five lessons we’ve outlined—setting your own course rules, building multiple game plans, making practice harder than the event, training with an elevated heart rate, and embracing adversity as a skill—are all about putting yourself in control when the pressure rises.

When you approach your preparation with intention, you reduce surprises and increase your ability to play freely and confidently. Great players don’t rely on perfect swings alone. They rely on preparation that builds trust in their decisions and resilience under pressure.

It’s not about having every shot in your bag. It’s about knowing the shots you trust, having a plan for when things change, and embracing the challenges the game presents. Preparation shapes confidence, and confidence shapes performance.

---