I've been slacking a little bit recently with my blog, so since my last post I have travelled to Germany, Switzerland and France.
Starting with Germany, in short it wasn't the best week as I missed the cut by 2 with a double bogey on my last hole! I was faced with a pretty tricky 4 iron out of a fairway bunker over the water to a small green and in truth I would not have taken the shot on if I didn't think I needed a birdie to make the cut. But I did go for it and found the water on the right unfortunately. As expected I was pretty gutted as I came off the course but even more so when I found out I could have made par to be there for the weekend! If I knew this then a lay up and trust myself from 50 yards would have been the plan....oh well, I will live and learn!
The week after Germany was in Switzerland, so a few of the players got a bus in between that just took the 8 hours! Having eventually loosened the back off we got a practice round in and to be honest it was one of my favourite courses of the year. The rough just off the fairway didn't look much but it played pretty brutal! If your ball slipped just a foot off the fairway it was followed by what can only described as a hack out! The course wasn't the longest however so good scores were definitely out there. I can't say I played my best but made the weekend which was nice because it was up there with the best events we have had this year. I finished the event by holing a curling 30 footer as well, much to the delight of the crowd! The sponsors did a great job with everything to do with the week, including a very nice players party on the Saturday night! The free bar was not taken advantage of though by myself!
After Switzerland I took a week off as I didn't want to play 6 events in a row, so had 2 or 3 days off and managed to spend some time with my girlfriend, something that hasn't been possible for a long time! I think it's extremely important to have a good balance as it is easy to become engrossed in your golf and all that goes with it, forgetting that golf isn't the only thing in life! So after a recharging of the batteries I was planning on getting back to practice for 4 or 5 days before my next event. However I picked up a virus and was knocked for six for the 4 days! Not ideal as I didn't eat anything and must have lost a lot of weight (anyone that knows me will realise that is the last thing I need!) Anyway I thought I would at least make the journey to France and see how I felt come Thursday. I drove down with my brother who was caddying, and the 7 hour journey passed without any issues. A quick note to my car sponsor Burnt Tree, who have supported me for just over a year now. The car they supply me with is quality for such a long journey and I realise I'm extremely fortunate! The branding in the sides of the car gets a lot of looks as I drive up and down the UK and French motorways!
So onto the golf, first things first I did peg it up on the Thursday, despite feeling horribly weak! I am not what I would call a 'power player' so plotting it round is right up my street anyway. The first round was a little scrappy but -3 was half decent. A second round of -2 ensured I was there for the weekend and after getting a few meals down me eventually I was definitely feeling more normal. Round 3 didn't start til mid afternoon on Saturday due to some storms that delayed play on Friday therefore meaning we didn't finish the 3rd round in Saturday. I left the course on -3 for the day and came back on Sunday morning and added 3 more birdies to finish with a 66 -6. So at -11 thought three rounds I was in a gret position to post another low one and produce maybe my best finish of the year....however this didn't materialise! A steady front 9 of -2 was followed by 2 dropped shots on the back 9 and a level par 72. It was a disappointing way to finish but a worthwhile week and a bit more money on the board.
My next destination is Helsinki for the Finnish Challenge followed by an event in Norway. Quite bizarrely, I am posting this while on the plane to Finland, I've never had wifi at 40,000 feet!
Anyway, quite a long blog this time so I better keep it more up to date and less boring!
One last thing actually, a huge thank you to Nick at Tour X for helping me with an emergency club repair in between France and Finland...you genuinely couldn't get that service anywhere else. For anyone that has never been/heard of Tour X then you're missing out, it's a golfers paradise.
If you've made it all the way through the blog then thanks for reading and I will update after Norway.
Cheers,
Tom
Starting with Germany, in short it wasn't the best week as I missed the cut by 2 with a double bogey on my last hole! I was faced with a pretty tricky 4 iron out of a fairway bunker over the water to a small green and in truth I would not have taken the shot on if I didn't think I needed a birdie to make the cut. But I did go for it and found the water on the right unfortunately. As expected I was pretty gutted as I came off the course but even more so when I found out I could have made par to be there for the weekend! If I knew this then a lay up and trust myself from 50 yards would have been the plan....oh well, I will live and learn!
The week after Germany was in Switzerland, so a few of the players got a bus in between that just took the 8 hours! Having eventually loosened the back off we got a practice round in and to be honest it was one of my favourite courses of the year. The rough just off the fairway didn't look much but it played pretty brutal! If your ball slipped just a foot off the fairway it was followed by what can only described as a hack out! The course wasn't the longest however so good scores were definitely out there. I can't say I played my best but made the weekend which was nice because it was up there with the best events we have had this year. I finished the event by holing a curling 30 footer as well, much to the delight of the crowd! The sponsors did a great job with everything to do with the week, including a very nice players party on the Saturday night! The free bar was not taken advantage of though by myself!
After Switzerland I took a week off as I didn't want to play 6 events in a row, so had 2 or 3 days off and managed to spend some time with my girlfriend, something that hasn't been possible for a long time! I think it's extremely important to have a good balance as it is easy to become engrossed in your golf and all that goes with it, forgetting that golf isn't the only thing in life! So after a recharging of the batteries I was planning on getting back to practice for 4 or 5 days before my next event. However I picked up a virus and was knocked for six for the 4 days! Not ideal as I didn't eat anything and must have lost a lot of weight (anyone that knows me will realise that is the last thing I need!) Anyway I thought I would at least make the journey to France and see how I felt come Thursday. I drove down with my brother who was caddying, and the 7 hour journey passed without any issues. A quick note to my car sponsor Burnt Tree, who have supported me for just over a year now. The car they supply me with is quality for such a long journey and I realise I'm extremely fortunate! The branding in the sides of the car gets a lot of looks as I drive up and down the UK and French motorways!
So onto the golf, first things first I did peg it up on the Thursday, despite feeling horribly weak! I am not what I would call a 'power player' so plotting it round is right up my street anyway. The first round was a little scrappy but -3 was half decent. A second round of -2 ensured I was there for the weekend and after getting a few meals down me eventually I was definitely feeling more normal. Round 3 didn't start til mid afternoon on Saturday due to some storms that delayed play on Friday therefore meaning we didn't finish the 3rd round in Saturday. I left the course on -3 for the day and came back on Sunday morning and added 3 more birdies to finish with a 66 -6. So at -11 thought three rounds I was in a gret position to post another low one and produce maybe my best finish of the year....however this didn't materialise! A steady front 9 of -2 was followed by 2 dropped shots on the back 9 and a level par 72. It was a disappointing way to finish but a worthwhile week and a bit more money on the board.
My next destination is Helsinki for the Finnish Challenge followed by an event in Norway. Quite bizarrely, I am posting this while on the plane to Finland, I've never had wifi at 40,000 feet!
Anyway, quite a long blog this time so I better keep it more up to date and less boring!
One last thing actually, a huge thank you to Nick at Tour X for helping me with an emergency club repair in between France and Finland...you genuinely couldn't get that service anywhere else. For anyone that has never been/heard of Tour X then you're missing out, it's a golfers paradise.
If you've made it all the way through the blog then thanks for reading and I will update after Norway.
Cheers,
Tom
