Canadians travel to Scotland and Ireland every year to challenge themselves on courses where the sea and the wind meet, and where the game has been played for hundreds of years. Names like Carnoustie, Ballybunion and the Old Course are immediately recognized by golfers regardless of whether they’ve made the pilgrimage to England, Scotland or Ireland to play links golf.

But every year at the British Open you’ll find the world’s best golfers making some adjustments to their clubs and the way they approach their games in order to try and prepare for what a links golf course will throw at them. They’ll bump-and-run shots with 7-irons, and hit low-running stinging 2-irons that bound into greens, all in an attempt to win the Open Championship. All of these shots will be on display at Royal Portrush.

Here’s a quick primer on how to incorporate some links-like strategy into your game.

Learn the bump-and-run

Links courses often feature turf that is much firmer than typical North American tracks. And players make quick adjustments. Instead of using a lofted wedge, for example, you’ll see the best pro golfers chip with 7-irons and use the ground contours to try to get shots close to the hole.

Don’t fight the wind—use it

Seaside winds, which can be ever-present on most links courses, are always part of the challenge of playing at places like St. Andrews or Royal St. George’s. The best golfers understand that wind can play havoc on their games, so they learn to hit shots that use the wind to get the ball to spots on greens.

Hit the stinger

Sometimes, however, you can’t use the wind, so you have to find a way to deal with it. That’s why you’ll see pros hitting 2-irons at the British Open in an attempt to keep shots low so the wind doesn’t impact them much and the ball will hit the firm turf and bound forward.

Change your bag composition

High-launching hybrids don’t usually make sense on links courses, unless you’re going to use them to chip with, as British Open winner Todd Hamilton did. Instead, you’ll see players changing their sets to include things like 2 and 3-irons that keep shots lower. However, lofted wedges are extremely useful on deep sodwall bunkers, so you’ll see different bag combinations for the British Open. Consider your set makeup when you head to play some links golf.

Play one club less on your approaches

Because links courses often have very firm greens and surrounds, you’ll need to think about bouncing the ball towards the flag. That means hitting one less club and letting the ball release to the hole. After all, golf wasn’t always an aerial game.