Davies and Tate 2005

The weather has taken a turn for the worse over the last couple of days. I have found this frustrating because with the start of the golf season just around the corner, and recent signs of summery weather, I want to get out and play as much as possible. This applies this week especially as I have a big tournament at the weekend, the Davies and Tate.

This is a Sussex Country Club Scratch knockout with teams of 8 in each side. I have been in my club's team for 7 years now since I was 14 and was captain last year. I absolutely love and thrive on playing in this tournament. I have always enjoyed playing in team sports but this takes the biscuit.

In the morning we play foursomes (alternate shot) in pairs and in the afternoon it is singles. This year for the first round, we have been drawn away against a Hastings club, Sedlescombe. They are a team we beat 10-2 last year at home but as we have found out, home draws are an enormous advantage.

My favourite thing about playing in this is that it seems to bring the best golf out of me and I love nothing more than winning, especially in matchplay when its person on person. Our team is by no means the strongest on paper - I am the lowest handicap on 2, my brother s plays off 3 and the rest are 5's and 6's. Compare that to Lewes for example whose highest handicap I think is 1 and its not hard to work out who the favourites are. But having said that, there is always a high team spirit with us and we all support eachother. As soon as a match is over we will all walk back and support our team mates and this I think has made us a great team with a lot of determination and drive.

This weekend for me starts my golfing season officially and then its full steam ahead for the summer.......

Shank update and discoveries

Well I have more or less shaken my shank infection, the little buggers are clinging on till the last and seeming to manifest themselves in any shot I have from 100 yards or closer to the green, any shot that demands distance control basically!!!

My outlook on golf has changed a bit just lately since the discovery of a website: www.freegolfinfo.com . This is an outstanding website that any serious golfer should take a look at. It's basically a free (cos i'm a cheapskate - haha!) website that tracks all relevant statistics such as putting averages, fairways hit, greens in regulation as well as your average for par 3's, 4's and 5's. Basically over time it begins to show patterns of your strengths and weaknesses in you golf game.

I have recommended it to T at college and my brother S and we have since created a group which allows us to compare our statistics with eachother. The best thing about this website is that it has made me approach each shot I play as an oppportunity to improve my statistics. This has aided one of my biggest errors in golf - not staying in the present because now whenever I play I am thinking about enetering that score into my computer and each shot is vital to that score.

This taught me a lot about myself on this particular day because I had an awful day with my swing today and due to the need to make my stats as good as possible, my course management has automatically improved! I shot 78 in the morning (which shouldve been about 82) and 74 in the noon still struggling but I certainly didnt make any bad decisions on the course about my shots and this was certainly beneficial and showed me that you can play the game without having to be in great form every time. I really think this is a the key to becoming a successful ly consistent player and is what separates bad from good and good from great players.

There you are, just a few ideas and findings from a typical day on the links..........

The PGA Playing criteria

As promised I have found out a bit more about the process of turning professional. I have found out the standard you have to play at to maintain your PGA Professional status. The whole process has changed...

In the past, all you had to do within three years of turning pro was to complete 5 (I think!!) scores within 2 of the course standard scratch (course rating). Considering that most active pro golfers will play at least 15 tournaments a year this is pretty much a piece of piss!

Now, upon turning professional the objective is to maintain a playing handicap of 4 or better for your first three years. THIS IS DAMN CONFUSING as the distinction between being an amateur or professional is that when you turn pro is that you are supposed to lose your handicap!

You have to play a minimum of 7 tournaments a year and get a buffer of 2 shots (thus you can shoot 6 over par) and not go up .1. It operates in the same way as normal handicap so anything better than +4 gets cut .1 depending on how many better than +4 you are and after three years your 'handicap' must not have gone above 4. If you do, then your performances will be 'discussed' by the PGA to establish whether or not you get another chance.

This has really baffled me. I can't understand how a handicap can be allocated to a professional golfer. From a selfish point of view this is not so bad as I play off 2 so am effectively getting 2 more shots to play with but I want to be able to be able to go out and play, on that day, BEST SCORE WINS, whatever it is and without worrying about handicaps. Its a strange system of doing things but hopefully it shouldnt be a problem.

I'm not overly bothered though in honesty because in realistic terms, if my playdoesnt match up to the above criteria, how can I ever hope of making a succesful career out of playing golf??!

There you go, stay tuned..........

Attack of the shanks!!!!!!!

Wow Ireland is a very distant memory considering its only been 2 days since I got back. I have been infected with a crippling golfing disease called the 'shanks'!! Oh it hurts just to read or hear the word. Let me first elaborate on what a shank is.... (the following link is a good explanation too): http://www.topendsports.com/sport/golf/shank.htm

In basic terms, for whatever reason, the strike on the ball seems to come from the hosel of the golf club, causing the ball to go right at almost a 90 degree angle. If you ever saw Tin Cup, its the problem Kevin Costner had before the US Open, where he was hiting shanks on the driving range, virtually de-capitating the other players. Ugh, there is a horrible stigmatism that goes with the shanks cos nobody really knows where they come from or where they go, just they are probably the most destructive shot in golf that virtually guarantees a double bogey, OR WORSE as I have found out over the last 2 days.

Coaches can argue that a shank is caused by a technical problem, but in all honesty whilst this may be partly true, once the shanks have set in, it is a mental problem that gradually disintigrates confidence.

I know of peope who have suffered many a time but in the 12 years I have been playing, this is the first real time I have been faced with this problem. Apparently the best way to get rid of them is to completely change your attitude and switch off your brain to golf. In Tin Cup, Costner's coach gets him to 'put all your change in your left pocket', 'turn your hat sideways' - anything so he wont think about shanking the ball so I will try this approach as fortunately I can build up my confidence very quickly, sometimes in just a matter of a few shots! Thus, I am looking at this as being character building as to be honest, in golf there is no worse feeling than hitting a shank!!!!

There you go, nuff said............

Back from Ireland

Wow what can I say. Ireland was amazing, and I was out in the sticks, not in the busy towns like Dublin. Amazing scenery, friendly people, abysmal driving (seriously ambitious overtaking on narrow roads!!!) as the only negative but a very highly recommended destination.

We were staying just outside the small town of Charlestown and were in the middle of some truly spectacular countryside that thus far I have not seen in England. On Paddy's day we went to the small of Killshimogh (I think thats how it's spelt) to see the parade which was incredible. There were hundreds of different themes and it was impressive to see how passionate the Irish people are about their country.

A night out in Ireland on Paddy's day was an experience to behold! It was very refreshing to be surrounded by hundreds of drunk people and not feel even slightly intimidated. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and having a laugh. I had quite a few people stop me on my way to the bar just to shake my hand and chat.

We also went to the town of Sligo, which was right on the coast so once again the scenes were stunning. Think I must be growing up cos that stuff is starting to impress me more and more these days.

I hate that feeling when you get back from a break and wish you were still there. I'll definitely be going back if possible.

anyways, back to reality.........

Kilkelly, Co. Mayo here I come

Just a briefish blog today. Haven't had much to report golf wise. The 3 successive 75's I've had have not been particularly inspirational but for this week golf is on the back burner.

Tomoro I am going to Ireland for the first time ever. R's friend knows a guy over there (Paddy of all names - lol!) and me, her and 3 of her other friends are going over to celebrate Paddy's day. I dont't even know what St Patricks day is all about but I gather it's an excuse (as if I need one) to have a few white wine spritzers! I've been told to try the Guiness but normally I cant stand the taste of it although i'm assured that 'Irish' Guiness is much better, we'll see! My friends from college W & S are both Irish so naturally they are livid about me spending 'THEIR' day in 'THEIR' country. Haha have given them plenty of stick over that!!!

Apart from that I have very little blogging inspiration just now but am bound to for when I return from Ireland......

The Wonder of Sunningdale

Great day today. Not only was it the first real indication of summer but we got to play a gem of a golf course, Sunningdale. I had been excited about playing here as we all knew that it would be in awesome condition and a great experience also.

My 78 was not a true reflection of how I played as I felt I played much better than that. But, I learned a valuable lesson also in this style of golf course - STAY OUT OF THE HEATHER. I dont know exactly what this stuff is but it is a bloody nightmare. A ball can appear to be lying great and lure you into a false sense of security. I fell prey to this 3 times, and each time made double bogey!!!

I am all too aware of how a great short game and the ability to chip and putt is essential but if you aren't an efficient driver you're buggered, especially on tight tree-lined golf courses. I am generally a good straight driver and can hit it reasonably long but sometimes my misses aren't wide enough - a bizarre concept but sometimes being so wide of the target that you miss all the trouble is better than missing by 5 yards and being stuck right up the arse of a tree!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid game.

Was a bit of a shock to come back to MW which was pretty shocking in comparison!

Thats all for today

Winter and hangovers

Winter can be an extremely depressing and boring time, particularly for a golfer. A typical round of golf will last somewhere between 3 and 4 hours which is a bloody long time to be out in the freezing cold. Add to that the numbness and coldness your hands get which are the most important thing as they are your only contact with the club and you've got a pretty shitty experience. But it doesnt half make you appreciate when the summertime comes.....

Inevitably, college life involves quite a large amount of drinking and I would be lying if I said I didn't occasionally partake! We went out for T's birthday and I am embarrased to say I COULD NOT get myself out of bed till 4 the next day! I am so jealous of those who can drink gallons but always feel fine the next day. T is one and my girlfriend R the other. How do they do it???!

Having said that, I had a rather interesting golf lesson indoors on the wednesday. It certainly has changed my perspective on how things are run in the world of professional golf. My advice to anyone interested, as I will now do, is to make sure exactly what is involved in turning professional as it seems to be changing on a day-to-day basis. Fortunately I have a tutor here who is in the process of turning professional at the moment. I will get the answers I need and post them on here.

The playibility test is a fairly daunting prospect, simply because it should be a piece of piss. To shoot +15 for 2 rounds sounds easy enough but you have to do it ON THAT DAY and I think it costs £60 to do it. As a 2-handicapper, I feel very confident about passing easily but my nerves come from the fact that it will the first time I will have played golf with my future riding on it. I reckon thats when golf becomes a whole new ball game and the process of really handling pressure begins. Some very good players have taken upto 3 attempts to pass it which shows how the pressure and nerves take an effect on anybody.

That said, I think it'll be a lot like passing your driving test with the same kind of emotions involved. I remember the setback of failing first time and then how exited I wass to pass second time easily. Thats my attitude, do my best on the first attempt, but enjoy the experience and learn from that if I do have to take a second test. I have failed many things the first time, but very rarely the second and perhaps this will reduce the nerves I feel on first attempt. What a strange mindset I have about some things but there you go.

Stay tuned........

Lew's opening blog.

Hi to anyone reading this. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Lewis, a 21 year old current student from Brighton. The idea of blogging was suggested to me to my brother (who for discretion and confidentiality I will refer to as 'N'). I will refer to all people by their first initial as I reckon this'll help the anonimity of their identity.

Let me bring you up to speed.......

At the mo I am a golf student in Guildford and am very close to the point of finishing. After which, I want to turn professional as soon as possible so maybe I am using this to record my experiences along the way and sharing them with whoever is interested. Before I continue, I understand that golf to many people can be particularly boring but look at it from the point of view of me being a person just merely trying to achieve my goal in life and documenting the trials and tribulations of the journey. No doubt a lot of it will be nonsensical bollocks and rants and raves but nevermind.


Anyways this has been my opening blog. Feel free to post comments toward me.
Above all, watch this space..........