Dale White

TARGETING the 2009 Midland Order Of Merit series is high on the agenda for rising golfing talent Dale White.

Dale, 19, the grandson of Dalepak managing director Mick White, is leaving no stone unturned in his committed tilt for success on the greens and fairways this summer.

Currently playing off a handicap mark of four, Dale has spent much of the winter ironing out the creases in his own game to try to create that extra special improvement which will give him an edge over opponents, who might in some cases have 15 years of seniority and experience on the courses.

He said: “My idea for this year is to try to play less club events and broaden out by competing in more county and Midlands events. There are 12 events in the Midlands Order of Merit series from which they take the eight best scores – it is all calculated on a points system.”

An intensive five days spent in Marbella with his coach Alan Partridge when all the snow was lying on the ground in this country in early February, typified Dale’s determined focus.

He said: “It is a frustrating time of year in the country when you can’t get out on a golf course but when I was in Marbella with Alan we would be going out at 8am and practising until lunch time. Then we would go out and play a round until 4pm in the afternoon. I am hoping to get out there again with him at the end of April just before the seasons starts in earnest over here.”

Working on the mental side of his game with golfing psychologist Lee Cromblehome and improving his green game technique with putting guru Phil Kenyon at Southport has also formed part of Dale’s strategy.

Dale said: “Golf is all about mental strength and quite often the difference between success and failure at a tournament is a fine line with just a shot or two in it over a few days.

“I see Lee at The Belfry and it covers all sorts of areas such as monitoring heart rate, breathing and adrenalin.

“Putting is also crucial because ultimately it all comes down to how many shots you can get down in once you are on the green.”

Other target events this year are the Faldo Series which sees the country split into eight regions with players qualifying via divisions and regions with the ultimate prize of a final in China.

“I played in this two years ago when I went out early in the day and had the worst of the weather and was only beaten by players who came in late,” said Dale. “It is run on a ballot basis and I didn’t get to play in it last year.”

A trip to January with Northants County professional and club mate Nick Soto to Portugal almost brought success in a Midlands Regional Pro-Am when they roared into a five shot lead after the second day, following an initial wash out.

“The third day saw a role reversal with a pair going five shots ahead of us but on the final day we both made a bogey on the last. If we had made a par it would have left us joint first and those are the sort of narrow margins we are talking about,” said Dale.