I am back in the UK, at last, having just come back from my second Challenge Tour event in Kenya. After the disappointment of missing the cut in my first event, I was pretty determined not to do the same again! Thankfully I didn't repeat the poor performance of India, and managed to make the cut finishing in 45th place.
I can't say I am over moon about the finishing position, but making the cut is just another step forwards and again I have definitely come back a better player than when I went out there.
I began the event with a really solid first round of -4 with a bogey free card, I was extremely pleased with that having struggled a bit the previous day in the pro-am. This left me in 2nd place just one shot behind, a great start! This might have been down to a last minute putting grip change, going from my normal '2 Thumb' style to a left hand below right grip...as my girlfriend pointed out it was a pretty bold and maybe stupid move on the first day of an event, but it seemed to work out and I felt really comfortable on the greens.
Going out for the second round I didn't feel quite as good in the warm up and it showed on the course. At the first hole I hit my approach shot to no more than 2 inches for a birdie start but it was downhill from there! A run of 4 holes where I dropped 5 shots meant I went out in +5 for the front 9 holes, and suddenly the cut mark was looming! I was pleased with how I dug in on the back nine, getting it back to +3 for the round with 3 to go, and looking fine for making the cut. I did however proceed to make 2 silly bogeys down the 16th and 17th to shoot 76 +5 and leaving me a shot inside the cut line....job done, just!
It was really satisfying to be playing over the weekend, compared to India where it just felt horrible watching all the guys go out to compete while I was left on the range with the other miserable pro's! I suppose the experience must have helped, although it wasn't nice at the time, so that's another positive from the first two weeks of the year.
Over the weekend I didn't have my A game really but had 2 reasonably solid scores of +1 and Level par. The course at Karen Country Club was really nice, with narrow fairways and tough, horrible rough. It really put a premium on solid golf, as it was hard enough finding the ball in the rough, let alone reaching the green from it and stopping the ball on the firm fast greens. It has got to be good for my game playing in different climates and conditions, especially like this week at altitude where distance control was really tricky.
Kenya as a country, what we saw if it, was really good. The people were really friendly and I got on really well with my local caddy Jessy, and the guy who looked after the range called David, who I gave a couple of lessons to. I also gave him a glove which he was over the moon with, they really appreciated even the smallest of gifts! Jessy was chuffed with his Srixon balls and was great all week, reading putts well, standing in the correct places, and even pointing out the odd bit of wildlife on the course, a monkey being the highlight! However I do blame him for me being in the left rough every day on the 3rd, as in the pro-am he informed me there was a leopard on the loose in the trees down the right!
Anyway, as I write this I'm on the last leg of my 18 hour journey from Kenya to Dubai, Dubai to Birmingham, Birmingham to home.....I'm ready for my own bed!
Thanks to the people who tweeted supportive messages this week, hopefully the experience I have gained from this week and India will lead to some positive results once the Challenge Tour kicks off in Europe, in April.
For now thanks to the people who read this, hopefully it isn't too boring and mundane!
Cheers
Tom
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