At the beginning of the year I set my stall out to play the Jamega Tour and as many Challenge Tour events as possible.
So far I have just played the one CT event in Kenya where I made the cut, so my main focus has been the JT.
The JT is a fantastic setup, very well run and a very friendly tour. They are into their 9th season now and it’s still going from strength to strength with more incentives being added to the tour each year.
For the first ten events of the JT they have been running a mini order of merit called ‘The race to the gulf’, where the leading two players after the tenth event qualify for the MENA TOUR along with some substantial help towards the expenses of the trip such as flights, entry fees, and membership.
The MENA Tour is an 8 week stretch in the Middle East with again a massive incentive – qualifying for three big European Tour events from the Mena OOM including the Dubai Desert Classic.
So, after the great run of form I managed to get myself on, I have already qualified for this exciting trip after just 8 events, and after a T4th place last week at Caversham Heath, Reading, I moved a little bit clearer at the top of the ‘points’ OOM.
This really is a massive opportunity and I can’t thank the JT enough for giving all the players a chance to play for this in the first place.
So moving on to next week, the JT heads to the Warwickshire Kings Course and so do I! It’s going to be a fun event as I have my good friend Mike Ockenden on the bag for the few days, and family and friends are also joining me to support too.
I will keep you posted on how the week goes…
The Warwickshire – 13/14th May
It really does go to show what a weird and wonderful game it is we play! Round one I felt I was close to playing my best, controlling the ball well and giving myself plenty of chances, just not holing many putts. (70, -2)
Then in round 2, I probably played the worst I have all year….
It sure is a game where you can’t get ahead of yourself and expect to go out there and play well every day!
But as my coach Mark always says “you don’t become a bad golfer over night”. We always have days like this throughout a year, and some people more than others, but we must accept that, keep working hard and move on to the next one.
My personal favourite quote I say to a lot of people is…
“Learn to accept but never expect”.
Maybe this week was a week when I should have listened to myself!! Too late now!
So after rounds of 70, 75 for a +1 total I finished down the pile in 17th position.
The first ten Jamega events have come to a close and I now have a week to practise at home and hopefully prepare for a few weeks on the Challenge Tour in La Gomera and the Czech Republic.
Fingers crossed!
Hope you’re all managing to sneak some golf in around this poor weather we are continuing to battle and it’s been great to hear from many of you over the last few weeks.
The words of support have been fantastic.
Happy Golfing
Chris
*A few of my recent STATS, something a bit different for you to see*
All from www.strokeaverage.com (anyone keen to improve check out their free trial)
Jamega Tour total rounds (x18 rounds) = 3 over par rounds, 12 under par rounds, 3 level par rounds
Total to par for Jamega events = (-30)
Basic stats for all of this year (25 rounds)
Driving accuracy = 57.8%
Green in regulation = 67.3%
Scrambling = 65.3%
Putting = 29.24 per round
Lowest score 65 (-7) Highest score 75 (+4)
Here is a picture of a putting game/drill I complete most practice sessions! Starting the ball on line, then 5ft around the hole putting challenges…
