Why is golf soooo bloody hard?!
Let’s start with the variables!
Weather, wind, rain, temperature….
Then we can talk about slopes, altitude, different grasses, different lies…
We can even talk about the situation, who you’re playing with, the difference in competitions (pressure), even the time of the day you’re playing….
Then you change club all the time, and due to the above you pretty much change the shot you’re playing every time too – there are not many sports with so many aspects you can’t control!
The only thing consistent about golf is that it’s inconsistent, so start to accept this and you’ll become a better player, there is no god given right that you will and should play well – even if everyone else thinks you should.
So how many of us strive for perfection and strive for consistency? Something to think about there…. why not just embrace the battle?!
I got a text after round one at stage 2 asking if “I was ok?”. I’d shot +2 and I felt the person thought I was not myself, something had happened, why I hadn’t shot under par…but in all honesty, it’s just bloody hard (hence the title).
Something I speak to a lot of people/lessons about is the on course battle and the mental struggles…we all have them, whatever our ability, but I think a lot of the time we only think it’s ourselves who are struggling at that time!
Tiger had the ‘big miss’ and at times I’m pretty sure he was petrified it was going to happen. The wrong hole at the wrong time and it’s tournament over.
Round 1 at the Final Stage of Q-School my best club in the bag became my worst, I had lost my driver feeling for most of that round and it became a guided safe swing, which actually produces worse shots than my fast committed swing, but mentally I revert to slow and safe when I can’t feel the shot…it’s a tough cycle to break and the importance of hitting fairways is huge when the course is set up for the tour, so it heightens the pressure to then do so!!
So firstly, you’re not alone with any doubt and fear, so again accepting that it’s a normal/natural feeling is key, but then there are many actions you can implement to help combat these feelings.
So how was Tour School?
It was as tough as I expected, but in my defence, I reckon I’m the only golfer in the field who isn’t a full-time golfer and the only player juggling a coaching business around some practice and a few tournaments.
So, what did I notice and how did it go….
- The difference in golf course set up is massive, it’s never really spoken about but playing in the UK in mini tour events around members’ courses where they’re set up for members to enjoy their golf and not dishearten them is crazy… the premium on driving it straight is massive, so then with any added length it’s a huge advantage, if you’re in the rough you want to be as far down as possible so then you are hitting more loft out.
With the flooding in Spain over so much of the country the last few weeks it meant the course at Infinitum was so soft and playing pretty long, but the rough off the fairways was brutal, you pretty much couldn’t reach the green if you missed the fairway and then the rough around the greens was savage, it made short game so difficult as the greens got up to 11.5 on the stimpmeter too, but as they had some severe slopes, the speeds soon felt a lot quicker at times. Any time you missed a fairway or green you gave up so much control!
- The difference in the grass – from stage 2 to final stage the grass massively changed and due to being out of the game for a while I underestimated how much I had to change my short game technique to adapt – the strike becomes so much more important as the margin for error is minimal, then once you lose that strike the fear of misstriking it plays such a pivotal factor!
- The amount guys practise – after my first round I’d shot +5 and was a little pissed off (disappointed) I won’t lie, but James and Adam sent me off to the range to practise for a bit, it was so busy, you couldn’t get a spot!! This was the same for the chipping green, putting green and gym truck!
Again, a huge factor many mini tour players don’t realise, they think a good practice day may be a few hours on the range then 9 holes with the members. Guys are putting in ten hour shifts daily, back-to-back to back!
- How much money you simply can’t avoid spending – eating, drinking day-to-day of course adds up, but how costs have skyrocketed for things such as hire cars!
- There are soooooo many good players, and this is the qualifying for the ones who are struggling on the Tour or trying to climb the ladder. Just look at the multiple past tour winners and Ryder Cup players on the leaderboard and the number of guys shooting 7, 8, 9,10 under and even one player shooting 59 in round 3!
I’ve certainly learnt a lot more about myself and what areas I’d need to focus on if I wanted to compete again at a higher level. It’s certainly given me the belief I can still compete with the lack of competitive golf I’ve played compared to many of, if not all, the other players in the field!
- I don’t really have a shot shape
- I need to keep working on making driver a super strength
- I still need to over read putts and hit them softer
- I need to keep up practice time with the wedges
The one thing I had forgotten, which you soon slip back into, is the ‘grind’ of the same shit different day, we’re all robots out there, we all strive for a routine, the daily routine, same timescales, same practice drills, same warm up, same shot routines, same eating patterns, same foods, it’s relentless and at times it really is boring which sounds bad when you are out there in the sunshine – but it’s true, you’ve got to love it!
But you also spend a lot of time just passing time on your own, you also need to enjoy your own company, and I know some lads struggle with that. I’m personally glad I have some other ventures/interests away from playing/coaching where I can pass that time a little easier, even if they do mean sitting at a laptop, I’m sure many guys just get scrolling on their phones and never stop!
Round 1 – Lakes course
I made a solid par down the first, quite a straightforward opening hole really. Then boom out of nowhere, down probably the second easiest hole on the course, I blazed driver out right with a heel strike and missed the 60-yard-wide fairway, landing the ball on the cart path and bouncing way out of bounds!
A proper shocker!!!!! I then compounded that error all the way down the hole to make a triple bogey 8! Talk about getting on the back foot early!
I birdied the next which always seems to be a common theme after a bogey or disaster but after plenty of poor drives throughout the round I ended up shooting +5 and sat second from the bottom on the leaderboard.
Not going to lie, it’s never a feeling a nice feeling and pretty embarrassing looking back at the standard of that tee shot on the 2nd, but it was gone, and I had to try fight back to make the 4-round cut.
Round 2 – Hills course
I played solid really, it’s a very different course, tree lined with doglegs and lots of elevation changes, whereas the Lakes course is so flat, and you guessed it, covered in lakes.
I made one really stupid double on my front nine fatting a 7 iron in the water but had a good run of birdies around the turn and controlled the ball well for most of the round.
A nice bounce back 69 (-3) which gave me a bit of a chance over round 3/4 to make the cut which we thought may be 6/7 under.
Round 3 – Lakes course
I birdied 8 to get back to one over and had played well for most of the round, it was by far the trickiest weather as it was the only day we had felt any wind.
The 9th was a great chance too, wind down off the right and a massive fairway, again I hit that shocker off the tee and found the OB, double bogey again to really halt any progress, I was well and truly pissed off!
I always find myself setting little targets when on the course, so me and James (caddy) simply said let’s just get it back to level par. There were two very strong holes on the back nine but the rest I would say are good chances (if you drive it well).
Missed a chance on 10, made a straightforward birdie down 11, then hit a 4 iron into 12 from 227 to 25ft and holed it for a birdie on one of the toughest holes!! Bosh!
I missed a sitter on the next, the best chance on the course, bogied the toughest hole the 15th.
But then played the 16th and 18th perfectly, birdieing both par 5s hitting the green in two shots on both occasions!
We completed our mini goal of level par and climbed another 15 spots on the leaderboard. As ever, a café con leche to celebrate – haha!
Round 4 – Hills course
We thought -8 for the day would stand a chance of making the cut getting me to -6 total, but in the end -7 was the mark.
It was probably the best I’d played all week. Starting on 10 I rolled it in for 25ft, game on! Down the next I smashed my drive into position A, but it just rolled into the first cut, I had a massive mud ball, hit a shocker of a shot and compounded that into another double!
Easy birdie up the next and I then played the rest of that nine from there in -3, followed by a back nine where I played well enough to give myself chances on every hole bar one.
My game over all has been pretty good, I’ve had some very negative and defensive moments out there on the course but in general stayed positive and battled hard to finish as high as possible.
As for someone in my situation, every shot counts as it moves you a little higher up the category for next year’s Challenge Tour, if I chose to play some events.
So, what’s next….
I’m not really sure yet, for now I’ll take a little break from competitive golf, spend as much time with my girls, get back to coaching, analyse my game in detail, create a list of what I need to improve followed by a plan of action to make that happen.
But from getting to final stage, I will now receive category 15 on the Challenge Tour which may give me between 5/10 events next season, I just won’t know when and where till nearer the time.
So at least I’m going to have options again in 2025 – as I said at the start of the year I didn’t expect to be in this position.
As ever a few thanks….
Firstly, the Tour and the greens staff, a simply incredible job getting the course playable after the flooding – on arriving Monday and seeing the last green and fairway submerged you would never have thought we would get to play… but the Tour spent thousands in man power and machinery to dig a new drainage tunnel and pump the water away from the course – all bar a couple of bunkers were also back in play, and when you see the size of them, how many there are, that’s a miracle in itself.
Secondly, James Kelly on the bag, he caddied at all three stages plus a few other smaller events earlier in the season!He’s a class act and a true friend! I’d take him to battle anytime, that’s as long as he’d agree to be on the bag again…I’m sure like me he has a few more grey hairs after trying to follow those loose drives OB!
But what a professional, leaves no stone unturned and is a true pleasure to have him on #TeamHanson
Big thanks to my buddy Adam Walker, he flew out for the day to watch me chop it around in round 1 – what a ledge!
As ever, a huge thanks to friends and sponsors for all the support and msgs, it’s incredible!
Thanks Paul (GolfShow), Danny (Bond Brickwork), Karl (Perfecta Driveways) Christian (GolfQuizz) and Peter (Ignis Management).
Plus, shout outs to Dan Konyk (coach), Greg Robertson (Underpin), Mark Bentley (Putting) for all your support.
And finally, the main #TeamHanson back home – thanks for being YOU!
