It’s been a tough few weeks on Tour! Financially, it’s such a tough Tour to play… your expenses are so high and the returns are so low – unless you’re at the top of the ladder!
I don’t think people really notice but when it says, for example, winnings of €2,000 that’s actually somewhere nearer £1,000 once the exchange rate kicks in and then the withholding tax take their ‘fair’ share too…And don’t forget you can minus your expenses for the week, which are normally somewhere in the region of £800…
All of a sudden that top 20 doesn’t feel as good!
Personally, I was starting to feel the pinch and really needed a good week! So to end the week T12th was a huge relief and a massive confidence boost – the effort I’ve been putting in is not going to waste!
This week myself and two other players rented a house on site (money saver), which was nice – not much travel time and with the long delays all week, that really helped!!
We had a little present from the owners too… She was Russian and makes her own Vodka!
I managed to get out first on Wednesday morning and play a practice round. I played the course last year and finished top 30 but it’s always nice to get yourself familiarised again!
The forecast was shocking all week!
And they were right; it rained, it poured, we had lightning and lots of flooding! And when it didn’t rain we had a testing wind!
We didn’t get the sunshine till Sunday!
Add those elements to a 7,500 yard golf course that did not need to be any softer and you have a tough test!
It sure showed in the scoring too!
Matteo Delpodio won by three shots on -5 and I finished the week T12th on +3 with scores of 75, 70, 72, 70 (par 71).
I was pretty chuffed with that; it’s nice to make a weekend and go the right way up the board for two more rounds – especially when after 6 holes in round one I felt ready to come home!!!
Hopefully that result will also get me a few Euros on the board and help me sneak into China in a few weeks time!
So, a quick trip home for a day and then out to Ireland for the last ‘normal’ event on the schedule!
Let’s try push up the OOM!!!!