Another year, another trip back to School!
But this time I’d done my homework; having competed at final stage back in 2013, I knew that it entailed more than just the 6 brutal rounds!But this time it was under a different circumstance … I will try and give you an idea of how categories work on each Tour.
After graduating to the Challenge Tour (CT) in 2012 from the Europro Tour, I had a category on CT which turned out to be quite poor … I got into most events but was always reserve at close of entries … (frustrating).
The following year (2013), after just missing my full card on CT in 2012, I had a worse category again so another frustrating year of planning … Again in 2013 I just missed retaining my full CT card.
So it was all or nothing at the School – make the 4 round cut or back to Europro!
That year I won 2nd stage of the Tour School (at Lumine) and had a great chance of gaining a full ET card with 9 holes to go in the final stage – and that left me with a great CT category but also the last category on the ET, as I had made the 4 round cut!
That’s why in 2014 I played 7 ET events and managed to keep my CT card by finishing 53rd in the OOM.
So from that successful season (2014) I then had a FULL CT card but no category on the ET, and that’s why my focus was solely on the CT in 2015!
But it worked! I had my best season to date, qualifying for the Tour final and finishing 42nd on the OOM!
So for 2016 I already had one of the top CT categories and my best ET category to date (possibly to play 10 events).
But it didn’t stop there – Tour school had become very interesting; it was the first time I’d been able to play having only the top 25 and a European Tour card in sight!
No other category from the Tour School could improve my ranking on either Tour other than a full card! (Top 25)
So for me I could go and enjoy the marathon 6 round event, whilst most people were trying to earn a CT card or win back their ET status after a bad year.
TO THE GOLF….
Firstly, a huge thank you to my good friend Mike Whilby (aka Arnie) from The Oaks, who runs the BEST pro-am in Europe at the Tour School venue.
Through his good business out there, he managed to land me a free room in the hotel he uses!
It’s perfect too!!!!!
(morning view from bedroom)
So after getting back from the grand final in Oman, I had three days at home before heading to Spain. That was just enough time to see my coach Mark Pearson for an hour on the Tuesday before heading out early Wednesday!
A little bit of fine tuning with my driver, and some good swing thoughts with my irons, I left the lesson saying “I’m ready”, with Mark’s response being “I know you are”.
So a super early start Wednesday morning meant after all the flying and driving we got to PGA Catalunya by lunch time.
9 holes Wednesday afternoon, 18 holes Thursday, and 9 holes Friday with some light practice around the playing as it’s a long week! That’s the best advice you get – rest up and enjoy what you can!
The Taylormade Tour truck was on site too, and the help that fine tuning my three wood before the tournament gave was amazing, from slightly struggling to it being the best club in my bag – I can’t thank Adrian at TM enough!
(€100 well spent for the green detail book along with my yardage books – as me and Steve say, “knowledge is power”).
THE GOLF…
So off we went … The Stadium course was clearly the tougher of the two, and the scoring showed! I shot a steady -2 in the first round and that’s always respectable round there, I was happy!
But the Tour course being easier doesn’t mean you’re going to score lower; it adds a bit of pressure knowing that you need to make your score on that course.
But I certainly did! It’s a par 72 for members but we played it as a 70 with two par fives shortened to 4’s!
I shot 63 (-7) my joint low round of the year and probably at the most important time! I was delighted, and it jumped me up into contention! What a feeling!
Day three I was back on the Tour course; for 11 holes I played great and was battling the frustration of not holing a putt!
But on 12 I got my reward for not forcing it and made my birdie!
A solid par up the next and then magic struck; the par 4/5 I was talking about which I birdied the day before, I made eagle!
186 yards into the wind, full 6 iron at it! Off the club face I called it to Steve “that looks so good”.
But walking up to the green to not see the ball close was gut wrenching, as we felt it must have rolled off the back, but it was IN!
Elation and what a boost! I shot 4 under in the end and finished the day buzzing!
Day 4 and back round the ‘beast’. The Stadium course was starting to show its teeth with some guys as it was ‘cut’ day!
I played solidly and shot -1, a good day all round that kept me top of the leader board!
So now after the 4 round cut it was two more rounds but back on the Stadium course.
Tour School is like nothing else; you’re not really playing for money, you’re not really playing to win, you just want to qualify!!
The emotions through the week are so mixed, your head is scrambled and it’s SO hard to keep in the present!
It’s great but it’s tough at the same time; you get a constant stream of messages saying how well you’re doing. People prematurely saying well done on getting your card … passing on words of advice which I know are sent with the right intentions but sometimes are the worst things to hear!
“make sure you birdie the par 5’s”
“don’t three putt”
“avoid the water”
It’s pretty mad, but it’s part of it and I know that, and they also make the tough times a whole lot easier too!
You start thinking about flights to South Africa the following week, but all you should be thinking about is the next day!
But that’s easier said than done!
Tour School is brutal, there is no getting away from that! We never normally play a 6 round tournament.
Of course in round 5 you want to push on, but you don’t want to go backwards!!
I played nicely, shot +1 which, like I said, is not a bad score round there and kept me 6th on the leader board!
So far the only slip up of the week was a flat tyre on the hire car! Having the worry of the crazy excess they try to charge you, we managed to get the tyre fixed/plugged and managed to share a few lifts with Tom Murray from the hotel and not use the car unless we had too!
So one more restless sleep, trying my best to think about anything but golf, impossible task I can tell you … but sitting 6th after 5 rounds sure was a position I would have taken at the start of the week!
So, up to the course for the last time, I was actually feeling ok … My warm up was good, I was hitting it nicely and ripped 3 wood off the first!
I played the first 3 holes pretty textbook and it settled me down!
But all of a sudden things got a little ‘watery’!
My tee shot down 4 clipped the trees and left me with an adventurous recovery, it bounced back into the edge of the water, I got my feet wet and hacked it onto the green, 2 putting for bogey with a sigh of relief!
The next, if you know it, is a brutal par three, 200 yards, a massively elevated tee, water all round the left and bunkers right!
They tuck the pin on the back small ledge which is nasty – I hit it in the water left! Ouch!
Penalty drop and a great chip and run to get up and down! Two ‘good’ bogeys!
I played the next perfectly! A nice birdie three and it all settled down again!
Out of position on 9 cost me, but a front nine of +2 was never a disaster! Guessing the cut line would be -8, I had shots to spare!
But that’s how it was starting to feel, I was looking away from the top of the leader board as my playing partner Adrian was cruising to victory and I felt like I was losing the battle!
A really BAD three putt bogey on ten, compounded my negative feelings and I felt rock bottom!
But this is where you have to have a top caddy, and I have! Steve’s great at talking trash (sorry Steve!) and he comes into his element here … Anything but golf, and that’s what you need! Light hearted banter and plenty of it!
12 was a chance, a short par 5, but I just made par! Hanging on but I shouldn’t have been. I was -10 and that should have been a comfy position! But it’s Tour School!
It takes a strong mind to not think of disaster at times, our minds are wired up to think of negatives and protect ourselves from problems … That’s not good for golf!
You need to free wheel it!
I ripped it down 13; I’d done the hard work but left myself an ‘in between’ yardage. Hard gap wedge or little wedge, but I didn’t want the spin … But I tell you now, a half hit PW was not the answer – seeing the ball roll back into the water for the 3rd time that round was painful!
(tee shot down the 13th)
I got up there, and after getting my feet wet again, I had a hack at it. I moved it a yard onto the banking and failed to get up and down! Double bogey six and now I’m
-8 on the mark!
What have I done? I’m not going to lie; I’m thinking it’s over! Crazy I know; I’ve got five holes left to make birdies!
I hit it to 10 ft on the next and missed it, one chance gone! Now for the ‘easy’ par 5.
Perfect 3 wood into position A. I then hit three iron just off the back fringe and inches into the semi.
I chose to putt it, fast down the hill, but the ball was covered in mud! Still my chance to give myself a cushion!
8ft short and another missed birdie chance! Now if there’s three holes you think you need to par, it’s not these three!
Again, I had in my mind the conversation I’d had with Sebastian Gros in Oman about how he’d bogied the last three holes last year to miss by one!
I hit the green on 16 … saw the leader board and the mark had fallen to -7… So to then leave my putt 5 feet short and miss the putt was a huge kick in the teeth!
That was my chance to have a cushion with two to play!
17 is a strong hole. I killed three wood down there and managed to leave myself 145 to the flag. I flagged my second shot, all over it! It landed on the top tier at the flag and spun back down the steep slope to 50ft from the pin! My honest thoughts were “not another long putt!”.
My other playing partner Jean Hugo was a true gent. Walking down there we chatted about our shots into the green, and he said “come on buddy, hang in, you’re still in it”.
Leaving my putt 12ft short I somehow holed it, meaning a par up the last was good enough!
I’ve had some mess ups over my career and put people through it with live scoring, but this would have topped them all off!
My new Taylormade M1 driver was great all week and I smoked it off 18. I could not have placed it in a better place! I then hit 9 iron all over it, but it hung on the back fringe … I knew the putt was fast!!
The last thing I wanted was a three foot putt for my card!
Here came Jean to the rescue again, and what a guy! He had a slightly different angle of putt to me, on a similar severity of slope and a similar distance!
He played first – and that gave me a great idea of the speed of the putt! He tapped it, and I watched it trickle down to the hole, it was fast!
What a guy! I tapped mine down from 20ft to a foot and had a stress free tap in to gain promotion to the EUROPEAN TOUR!
Wow!
A childhood dream, a lifetime ambition, everything I’ve ever worked for in this game has been to play on tour! The sacrifices my family has made, the milestones I’ve missed with the kids have all been worth it to give us this opportunity in life!!
My wife is amazing, my family is amazing and the support from sponsors and friends, not just this year but for 15 years, has been overwhelming!
This is not just for me, it’s for everyone! Let’s enjoy it, because I’m sure going to blog about the next chapter of the journey for you all to see!
This is just the start of it, there’s a long way to go!
(celebratory meal in Mc Donald’s)
A huge thank you must go to Steve Tooby, what a guy, what a friend! We re-united back in Oman for the grand final, and then to get a card for main Tour together is unbelievable! He’s a true professional, and anyone who knows him will vouch for that!
MY SEASON IN NUMBERS
Flights: 57
Flights missed: 10
Lost luggage: 1
Countries: 20
Continents: 3
Events: 22 Challenge Tour
Other events: 3 (Gecko, Tour School)
Wins: Gecko (Spain)
Top 10’s: 2
Top 20’s: 4
Cuts made: 17
OOM position: 42nd
Highest finish: 4th
Lowest round: 65 (-7 Madrid) 63 (-7 Tour School)
Highest World ranking: 498
Euros (€) made (gross): €44,000
Pounds (£) spent: approx £40,000