Nick Faldo - The finest things in golf - My personal top 10

1. To kick things off, one of my favourite views in all of golf – looking back towards the town from the 14th at St Andrews, across the fescue, the bunkers and the gorse to the skyline, the steeples and the R&A clubhouse. That, for me, is one of the great golfing views in the world. On a nice sunny day with the skylarks singing. That's golfing heaven.

2. For me, cashmere is one of life's true luxuries and so as a favourite all-time item I’m going to include my winning yellow Pringle cashmere intarsia sweater that I wore to win my first Open at Muirfield in 1987. It was the finest cashmere – those things were £300 a pop. Now you can pick up a cashmere for 50 bucks!

3. Speaking as someone who always loved to tinker with equipment, I’d say the ultimate technology in golf is the clever gadget that allows you to click and change a shaft in just a matter of seconds. That is just brilliant. Back in my day, a change of shaft involved a trip to see [clubmaker] Barry Willett, drill the shaft out, break the pin, then you’d have to wait 24 hours for the glue to set…only to hit it once and say ‘I don't like that.’ This instant technology is the greatest thing for a pro and anyone else who is really serious about their golf. You can hit 50 different shafts to find the one that really works for you. All of a sudden you hit upon one that just feels perfect, the flex is just right, kick point and so on. What a great capability that is. Trackman is another brilliant device. I’m with TaylorMade right now and I love testing all their new gear and looking at the numbers on the monitor. Talk about feedback – constructive feedback. How I wish I had all that information at my disposal when I was playing. I had to hit a million shots to find out what I was doing and improve it; these days, if you know the right numbers you can adjust your swing accordingly, get the feeling and work it in. It has taken all the guesswork out of it.

With Trackman, the key number for me would be the angle of attack. To get the numbers you have to get a certain feeling – a light goes on: ‘Oh, OK, that’s what I’m looking for. I'll work it in.’ Distance control is another of the vital skills this sort of device can help you with. Without moving from the spot you can go through the bag and discover your precise landing distances with every club in the bag. Wow.

4. On a general level one of the greatest things about golf for all of us is the sheer variety of playing experiences we are afforded as golfers. You know, in tennis it’s the same lines and four different surfaces. We have such variety – links golf, parkland golf, desert golf, sand belt courses, jungle golf, mountain golf. I always count myself fortunate that I picked a game that offers you that – and it is something I appreciate more and more in course design. The most challenging terrain as an architect is a flat piece of land!; the most fun is when you're given a great piece of property, you know there’s a golf course out there and it's your job to go find it. Like here at Lough Erne. There were a number of times we stumbled across natural green locations and just went ‘wow!’.

5. The Ryder Cup – a huge part of my career. There are many standout moments but a couple of very special ones. One of my earliest recollections was Seve in 1983 when he burst into the team room at PGA National and told all of us – and all of Europe – that we should celebrate. We’d lost the match at Palm Beach, albeit only narrowly. But it was a watershed week for Europe and Seve knew that. In fact, he was the reason. I hadn’t realised until only recently that one of his great Cup moments was when I hugged him in 1987 behind the 18th green at Muirfield Village. For me, I’ll never forget the scenes in ’95 at Oak Hill, Seve bear-hugging me with tears rolling down his cheeks. Those moments are so special. Golf-wise ’87 was the greatest of all Ryder Cup victories – we outplayed them and out-putted them for our first win on American soil. I should watch those tapes back; I don’t do that enough, actually.

6. Pulling a good old-fashioned trolley and playing on a sunny day. That’s a great feeling. I’d play 36 holes on a links in summer and marvel at the way the golf course changes totally in the afternoon.

7. Opening a new box of balls. Or finding a new ball when you were a kid. How good was that? You’d go rummaging about in the trees, see a shiny white ball....you'd hook it out with a club…looks like it’s only been hit once...it’s brand new! And how about this for another great memory: walking on a golf green for the first time – can you remember that? I can. My very first round of golf, at 14, Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. On the first two holes there was one of those old sprinklers on then green – you know the hose with the old-fashioned ‘tooshh, tooshh, tooshh…’ swirling around – so the very first green I actually walked on was the 3rd. And I couldn’t believe it; the look, feel and the smell of the green. For golfers, that’s a special moment.

8. The fact that whatever score you make you put down on the card. You cannot cheat yourself. I remember playing in one of my first medals and I left a birdie putt overhanging the edge of the hole. My mate says: ‘I’ll put you down for a three.’ I said you can’t do that. It’s a four. And I think one of the greatest things about golf is that the Rules are black and white (at times the worst thing about golf is the rules are so black and white. Some of them are harsh!). But the best thing is honesty it teaches you, integrity, your own personal values. You apply the Rules even if you are out playing on your own.

9. No matter what your age or your standard, one shot can change a round of golf. We’ve all experienced that – you hit a shot that changes your whole mood, your whole day. Like the time you first properly connect with a driver and get that wonderful feeling when it all just comes together. I miss the sound of the ball coming off a good piece of persimmon. I remember playing with my son, Matthew, around the Executive Course at Wentworth. He was about six, and he wasn’t really enjoying himself. Then he went in a bunker and hit the most wonderful 20-yard shot that bounced once then check up and stopped dead to the hole. It was a shot I would have been proud of…

My greatest shot? I’d say the 3- iron to the 18th at Muirfield in the ’92 Open. Took the paintwork off it. It was all about the takeaway. I can remember being so focused on getting the club past the first two or three feet and then it was all on automatic. The Ryder Cup wedge in ’95 in the match with Curtis [Strange], that was a really nervy one. Ninety-three yards. A total feel shot. As I went down to the ball my knees went ‘boing!’. It took me right to my max.

10. You learn something new about the game and about yourself every time you play. All of the competitors here at the Faldo Series Grand Final will leave having learned so much about themselves – about playing in tough conditions, dealing with the pressure of competition and that’s one of the great attractions of golf. It is a non-stop learning experience.

Faldo on Seve - Rivalry and friendship

“While there was always a huge rivalry between us as competitors, there was also a tremendous warmth, a huge respect and a deep friendship with Seve. And nothing prepared me for the outpouring of emotion I experienced at his funeral in Pedrena; suddenly it hits you, the memories of all the moments we shared over so many years came flooding back. Great memories.

“On a personal level I will always regret that we never really were able to share memories and stories and friendship. I remember standing on the tee at the Seve Trophy when we were captains and Seve said, ‘You know we have been great competitors and now we can be great friends.’ And he was right. We had had many battles, but there were no scars. But you just don't make the time and I wish we had. “HBO recently did a great documentary on Borg and McEnroe and showed moments of how competitive they were but also how close they were. They loved each other, and that’s the way I felt about Seve….he was inspirational to me and to so many others and it is just so sad that we have lost such a rare human being at such an age.

“There is one moment I remember vividly. A fun picture in Jamaica, Seve was walking back from the beach and I was on the range hitting balls in bare feet. He came over to watch me and within a few minutes he was hitting shots in his Bermuda shorts. We talked about the swing but Seve never really got the technical side. Why would he with the gift he had? In the latter stages of his career he was bouncing between different coaches, didn’t trust any of them. In hindsight he would have been better off working with a player. A player has the feel factor. He didn’t need a lesson, he needed one gem, a tip, a feeling. Something simple. That would be all he needed to get going. As we all used to say, if he pictured a tree bang in front of every tee, Seve could get it around anywhere.”

Faldo on Equipment - The Long and the Short of it

“The obvious opening statement on any equipment debate is that it’s a different era now. Twenty years ago when someone took out a long putter you knew their nerves were shot. Now, thanks to the technology available, we can measure every facet of the stroke and the roll of the ball – and a lot of golfers have discovered they actually make a better stroke with a long putter. The youngsters use this technology to their best advantage, and they are quite within the rules to do so. So all of a sudden the long putter has lost its stigma.

“My only criticism of it is that it does not fit with the traditions of the game – the action we use to strike the ball is called a golf swing, not a golf hinge. This thing [belly putter] is hinged to the body. So I don’t agree with that. In the tradition of the game I’d lean towards it should be banned. I fully understand the position of the R&A and USGA, who would argue it increases enjoyment for the majority, but in the professional world I honestly think pros should have different rules and our own governing body. To begin with, the size of the driver should go way down – leave it at 460cc for everyone else but if you play tour golf you use a driver of, say, 300cc maximum. I think that’s more important than the ball. We are the most skilled players and yet we are taking full advantage of technology. We should be reigned in. Give back the advantage to the better ball strikers. In my era 280 was a huge drive. Nowadays you are plodding at 280. Bombers are up at 320. I think it’s a shame. They [the R&A, USGA] could do it. Give themselves two years to work