Jamega Tour – Spanish/Portuguese Swing
After a few very productive weeks at home and another 4 competitive rounds under my belt since Kenya, I really feel I have got my game in good shape.
It was great to analyse where my game was after Kenya and then be able to spend the next two weeks working on a few issues and to also continue to strengthen the parts of my game that are really strong at present.
Commitment to shots on the course is a massive thing for me, and some quality time with Duncan (Ignite sports) and Mark (Nike Golf Academy) on this area has been key to my improvement these last two weeks, and of course some time spent on it myself.
Taking your ‘range’ swing and your practice to the course can be tough for anyone, so the last four rounds I have played is where my main focus has been, take care of the process and the result takes care of itself – I hope it does . . .
Simple stuff, but sometimes the simple stuff is what you forget to do and what really can make the biggest improvements to your scores.
So I now fly out to Faro for the first three events on the Jamega Tour. It’s a Tour based mainly in the South West of England but they have put on a Spanish/Portuguese swing with a fantastic incentive.
The winner of the swing is to receive an entry into the European Tour event in Madeira. That would be massive for me as it’s co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour and those vital OOM points I’m sure will be so important come the end of the year.
But as I’ve just said I can only control the process each round – so that’s the plan and let’s see where I finish after the three events.
…………………………
The first tournament of the ‘swing’ at Costa Esuri is now over and to finish T3rd was not a bad start. Each of the three events are over two days and after a mixed round of 5 birdies and 5 bogeys in the first round, I shot level par.
I played a lot of good stuff and felt I could push up the leader board the following day!
Crazy hail storm!!!
After waking up to shocking wind and rain, we never thought we would even get to play… But we got out on time and the weather took a turn for the better and so did my score. I played solidly and managed to shoot 68 (-4) to move up 13 spots, earn a bit of cash to cover some of my expenses, but earn some valuable points towards the ‘swing’ OOM.
The next event was back into Portugal at Quinta Do Vale starting Thursday after the pro-am.
All I had heard from people was that Quinta Do Vale was a great track… Maybe as we played it in a three club wind it affected my opinion… But it really was not my cup of tea… Some holes are far too extreme and overall most players just thought it was crazy!!
In round 1 I shot +1, which was actually 18 pars but a penalty shot on the putting surface became my only bogey!!! 🙁 Not to worry, my game throughout the round was not great but I managed it well and my bad shots came at the right times.
T7th going into the final round three behind the leaders!!! Time to charge, I hope…
A slight charge it was, I shot the joint best round of the day of -2 and moved up to third on my own which, combined with the first event, put me in 3rd position on the OOM with a realistic chance in the final event of challenging the leaders…
The third event was at La Monacilla in Spain, and what a course it is! It was a long practice round in some poor weather – which this time did not affect my opinion as it really was a great course and one I would highly recommend. Over 7500 yards off the black tees and quite narrow in parts. It’s sure going to be a very good test over the next few days!!
Round one I played really solidly and covered the back nine in -4 to share the lead with 68 (-4) – that was great after a week of promise to put it together and post a score in the first round.
Day two the forecast was shocking, and they were right! Torrential rain all morning and after a few delays we just managed to tee off at 1 o’clock as a shotgun start. I battled round in a strong wind but finished poorly which cost me getting in a playoff and again I finished 3rd.
Costa Esuri – 72, 68 (-4) T3rd
Quinta Do Vale – 73, 70 (-1) 3rd
La Monacilla – 68, 73 (-3) 3rd
Jamega Swing OOM = 3rd (www.jamegatour.co.uk)
Overall the ten days of golf have been very productive, again I found areas of my game I need to work on, but again I proved to myself that most of my game is in a good place and I can compete early in the season.
But this has been the longest and toughest 10 days away from my family ever. Last Friday my dad passed away after his long battle with the effects of Parkinson’s disease. It had been awful to see such a wonderful person suffer for so long and we are all sure he is in a much better place now!
I can’t thank my family and Laura’s family enough for their close support of my Mum through this tough time and I really hope I did my dad proud these last ten days!! Knowing he was watching really put my performance into perspective! There are worse things happening in the world than a three putt, that’s for sure!
My dad really was my golfing hero and I learnt so much from him, his attitude on the course was impeccable and his record in the local area on and off the course was pretty special too!
A lovely text from a friend who myself and dad spent many golfing summer holidays at Crosland Heath with, said about him ‘your dad was an inspiration to me growing up and made such an impact on my life, they don’t come around like him anymore, top guy’.
Thank you all for the kind messages to me and my mum, really appreciate it!
Dad, we love you loads and will be thinking of you always! Thanks for everything!
Son!