Swiss Chocolate …
This week the Challenge Tour is in Lucerne (Switzerland), and I have been given strict orders from Laura to bring back as much chocolate as I can carry….!
I’m pretty sure I can sort that out!
Again I’ve been looking forward to this week for a few reasons, I’ve said for a few weeks now my game has been improving so I’m looking forward to that week where it all falls into place. Could it be this one…….?
Also Andy Appleyard from Bradley Hall has joined me for a week on the bag which will be fun, it can be a pretty lonely place out on Tour travelling sometimes, so to have a friendly face with you always helps.
It certainly helped Tuesday after a 3.30am alarm clock for another drive down to Heathrow for an early flight to Zurich! Being able just to talk to someone to keep you awake driving is nice…
The course this week in Switzerland is going to be tough, the course is longer than the last few weeks and the rough again is brutal!! After a decent practice round Tuesday, avoiding the thunderstorms, it meant Wednesday would just be a full day of practice as the pro-am was on.
Below I’ve attached a video link from the chipping green…. You had to be there really but I will try to explain….
Behind the flag was a fairly big slope, Andy asked “would you use the slope for the chip shot and roll it back or just play it normal up to the hole” I said straight away “every time I would play it normal! The safe percentage shot!”
So we had three balls each to see which was the safer shot…
Andy chipped all three in, I missed all three! I then filmed Andy playing the shot a 4th time and he chipped in again!! 4 in a row!!
I still would not use the slope – ha ha!
Coming to Switzerland we did expect it to be expensive, but for the club to charge £25 for a club sandwich plus £5 for a drink, I kind of think that’s taking the mick! It’s tough enough to make a living on this Tour most weeks when your expenses are in excess of £800 so not to have cheaper options for us is tough!
The Golf….
Round 1 was pretty pleasing, it’s always nice to start birdie, birdie and then go on to hit 16 greens in regulation and finish the round -3 after making eagle on 17!
I think throughout the round I had 9 birdie putts inside 15ft which were real chances, some days you will hole a few of those and shoot a real good score – just have to be patient and wait for that day. Maybe it will be tomorrow…..
Going out for a meal in the village was too costly – I know you have to eat well, and prepare properly to play well, but I can’t be spending £30 on a meal each night. So for the third night in a row we had pizza in the canteen at the hotel.
Round 2 I played ok, I hit some great shots and saved myself a few times! We had it pretty unfortunate with the draw and played the last 6 holes in torrential rain. It was awful, too hot for waterproofs but rain so heavy you needed to wear them!!
I hung in there and managed to play them -1 to shoot 69 (-2) and move up the board to T10th.
What a difference a day makes, for Rd 3 the wind really picked up and transformed the golf course, tees were moved forward and pins were moved into sensible places. I played pretty solidly all day, and if it was not for one silly lapse on 14 where I made double bogey I would have been happy!
I don’t know how many times it takes to learn from a mistake, but missing a short putt like that gets real frustrating!! JUST TAKE YOUR TIME, CHRIS!!!
Finished the round with a 73 (+2) to drop to T21st.
Another cost saving exercise and McDonalds for the second night running, still costing £15 a meal. It’s crazy out here, Swiss folk must find it so cheap travelling in other countries!
Last round tomorrow, so hopefully I can move up the board.
Rd 4:
Another day of battling the elements, after a nice par, birdie start, to make such an awful TRIPLE bogey down the par three 3rd was shocking!! That’s not a good way to try and climb the leader board.
From then on, me and Andy did our best to hang in there for the round and played some good stuff till nearly the end. Two nice birdies on 16 & 17, but a bogey to finish for another round of 73 (+2).
Never happy to move down the leader board, I only dropped 6 spots to T27th which wasn’t too bad considering. Again a week full of positives and it’s more money on the Challenge Tour OOM.
I can’t thank Andy enough for making the journey with me, I’m pretty sure it opened his eyes to the standard of the golf, how tough they set up the courses and the not so glam side of being a touring professional.
We both can’t wait to get back to our own beds, and some decent food!!!
Hope you’re still enjoying the blogs, they are definitely helping me pass the hours in a hotel room each evening.
Thanks again!
Chris
– I’m missing next week in Italy and having a week back home to practise, so my next event on the Challenge Tour is The English Challenge at Stoke-by-Nayland, starting on the 26th July – Laura, Jess, Linda, Kevan, mum, Sue Kaye, and brother Mike and Sam Hanson are coming along for the fun!