[Josh]

Ollie Claireaux is a young man in a hurry. After leaving college at 19 years of age with a handicap of 12, he decided he wanted to take golf seriously enough to make a career out of it. Three and a half years later, he now has a handicap of +4.3 and has just won his first notable amateur tournament.

It’s clear from our conversation that Ollie is incredibly driven to succeed. This drive paid off in mid-April with his first regional title on the Northern Order of Merit, which came at his home course, Delamere Forest. Ollie shot 7 under par for 36 holes to win the Delamere Horn, finishing three shots clear of second place.

18th Hole Delamere Photo Kevin Murray

He says his recent success and run of good form, which includes a top-20 finish in the Welsh Men's Open Stroke Play Championship is, down to the hard work he put in over the winter with coach Damian Taylor — and to Clippd. Ollie started using the platform in August 2021 and since then, he and Taylor have structured their practice sessions around what Clippd’s feedback has told them.

“Clippd has had an unquestionable effect on my golf,” Ollie confirms. “Ninety per cent of the work I’ve done revolves around the data I collect. Now, whatever Damian and I see in Clippd we work on together.” Damian agrees: “it has played a massive part in his growth.”

When he first became one of our Beta testers, Ollie said he immediately noticed that his short game needed work. “My Player Quality for around the green was in the low 80s but through specific time dedicated to improving it I’m now on 96 and hopefully still improving!”

“Clippd has had an unquestionable effect on my golf.
Whatever Damian and I see in Clippd
we work on together”

Another area that Ollie credits Clippd with developing is his mental game. He says that before using the platform he felt his off the tee performance was weak. “I’d see a tight hole and wouldn’t have the confidence to hit the big stick. Now, though, I can see it’s the strongest part of my game and I have such confidence in my driving now that it frees me up on the course.”

One of the things he likes about Clippd is the way the information is presented – “it’s really easy to identify what you need to work on and what’s going well,” he states. After finishing a round he often checks through the Scorecard view, replaying the shots in his head before moving onto What To Work On.

At Delamere Forest he had a lot of good shots to dwell on, including a stretch of four birdies in as many holes from the 1st quickly followed by an eagle on the 7th. “I got off to a cracking start to be fair,” he says of his outward nine of 30 in the first round. Knowing he’d put himself in a fantastic position, Ollie then backed up the impressive start with solid golf on the inward nine to card a 67 and lead by two at the halfway stage.

Ollie's front 9 at Delamere

By his own admission, the second 18 didn’t begin quite as well. He found himself +2 through three holes and had to fight off some negative emotions before regaining control. A birdie on the tricky 8th was then followed by a clutch 25ft par put on the 10th, which, Ollie says, “felt like he’d gained a shot”.

The momentum he gained from that crucial par is underlined by the fact he then birdied the next three holes, holing a combined 86ft of putts! When he arrived at the 18th, Ollie wasn’t sure what position he was in but he stuck to his process, trusted his driver (something Clippd has highlighted as one of his biggest strengths), and proceeded to make a birdie.

“If you can see that high Shot Quality on Clippd, it will give you the confidence to carry on hitting those good shots,” says Damian, Ollie’s coach. After teaming up with Damian in early 2020 Clippd has become a focal point in their sessions together. Damian confirms he checks the Team Dashboard on a regular basis to see what Ollie and his other players are up to. “It certainly helps with planning as it gives us a clear plan of what we need to do during that session,” he says. “I look at it remotely and see what shots weren’t great.”

“If you can see that high Shot Quality on Clippd,
it will give you the confidence
to carry on hitting those good shots”

Ollie is just under the Top 25 OTT for the PGA Tour

Damian has plenty of praise for Ollie, stating “he really took it and got a grip of Clippd. He’s so determined and he’s got that drive to do as well as he possibly can”. The coach, who is Director of Golf at the American Golf National Academy at High Legh Park GC in Cheshire, is also a big believer in the importance of inputting your bad rounds as well as your good ones because otherwise “you’d never get a fair picture”.

Although his game is on the up, this year hasn’t all been plain sailing for Ollie. The week prior to the Delamere Horn, he shot a dispiriting pair of 80s in the prestigious Berkhamstead Trophy. On reflection, he realised he’d entered the tournament with high expectations that he’d play well but nothing in terms of process.

“The shots I was choosing to execute led me to spend a couple days banging my head against the wall,'' he admits “along with two sleepless nights.” A two-hour session with his coach followed, one in which he didn’t hit a single ball. The results of that session with Damian were clear to see at Delamere.

Although Ollie’s immediate family are golfers, he credits his Grandad as the one who really got him into the game and who continues to support him today. He’s even gone as far as funding the indoor golf studio that Ollie is speaking to us from today.

Left: Ollie with the Delamere Horn Trophy. Right: The golf studio built by his grandad

Ollie’s explains his aims for this year are to compete in the highest-ranked amateur tournaments across the UK, including The Brabazon Trophy (the English Men’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship). He also wants to become part of the England Men’s squad. His end goal, though, is to compete on golf’s top professional tours.

“I’ve always felt like I’ve been playing catch up,” he says, reflecting on his late start in the game. Better late than never in the case of Ollie Claireaux, who thanks to hard work and Clippd is on the road to becoming one of the best amateur golfers in England.