The King Cup, Thailand – New Blog!

So two weeks at home passed by pretty quickly and after the busy three week stretch on the road it was nice to have some time off!

I was under the weather all week in Scotland and it took me a full week at home to fully get back to 100% fitness!

I think I must be like a lot of guys, though, I find it hard to actually take time off, but I need to learn to manage myself better; I’m not saying I practise the most out of anyone, but I always like to do something!

I personally feel guilty for not doing anything … leaving the clubs in the flight bag, just chilling out and spending time with the kids, I feel like I’m not getting better, and players are passing you! But rest is just as important as practice at times.

So after calling in to see my physio Craig Coulson at Elmwood (Holmfirth) for a knee check-up, which I passed with flying colours, he instantly spotted that I did need some rest. So plans for the week slightly changed…

I had a few days off before my day in Leeds on Thursday with my coaches Mark Pearson, Mark Baber, and Rachael Tibbs, then for the rest of the week had a light practice session Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.

Mark Baber, loving his European Tour range access pass…

Mark also agreed with what Craig had said, and actually said he was surprised I made the cut in Scotland after leaving there on the Thursday night seeing me already fatigued. But he did say if I’m going to do some light practice that it still had to be very productive!

We set some goals to achieve for the following week, to get my driver swing more on the inside on the downswing, and work on improving my lower leg action…

I did, and I did it very well, with Mark happily ticking my progress report off the following week!!

Check out the picture from the lesson, this is the first time on Trackman I have recorded a carry over 300 yards, more proof that the work with Mark and Rachael in the gym is paying off!

So two weeks came to an end … I had some great time with my close family and friends, some great days out, and some fantastic time just spending it around the house with the kids!!!

But then it was back to work and I headed off to Thailand for the King’s Cup; this was the smallest event on the European Tour schedule but could have been the most important! At the end of the season every Euro on the OOM counts and some people will be cursing they did not take this playing opportunity in Asia!

I think it was about 26 hours door to door this week; that included two 7 hour flights with a stop off in Abu Dhabi for nearly 4 hours.

So on arriving at Manchester airport via the train, I headed to the Etihad desk to enquire on any upgrades as I had heard they currently had a 50% sale on upgrades….

My brain was working overtime … what would I pay to make the journey out more comfortable … maybe £300 for 14 hours’ flying time would be good value, but maybe that was optimistic!!

Etihad “of course you can upgrade Sir, that will be £900 for both flights”!

Me “oh, that’s ok I will leave it, how about the exit seats with legroom?”

I ended up paying £140 to guarantee the exit row seats on both flights just to get that extra leg room and comfort, as I dreaded being stuck in a middle seat for 14 hours. Coming home it’s not a problem, but to get there before an event and feel fresher is very important!

Flight 1 to Abu Dhabi went by quite smoothly, a bit of food and a couple of films and it was over, it was then 4 hours to pass in the airport which didn’t sound too much fun!!

Time for flight 2 … on arriving at the boarding gate I handed over my boarding pass, and soon had it returned with my seat number crossed out, and my NEW seat in business class noted down!!
What a bonus, maybe it was because I had enquired, or maybe it was because I had paid some money for those exit seats that they looked favourably at me … but I was very thankful!

So what a place to start writing this week’s blog!!

On arriving in Bangkok you suddenly remember how hot and humid this country is! Personally, it’s far too hot!! I only like sweating when I know it’s from me exercising, not from just walking around doing nothing and sweat pouring off my body!

I guess on the course it’s something else that’s very different from playing mostly in Europe, always wiping your hands, your face, changing gloves, drinking water by the bottle every hole. It’s a different kind of golf, and again different grass and a challenge which the Asian golfers know so well.

If there was an exam in how the golf swing looks, not many Asian players would pass the test, they are all very individual but there is one test most of them do pass, and that’s scoring!!!

They sure know how to get the job done in their own back yard!! It’s like the challenge you have when you’re in South Africa, the home players are tough to beat!!

This week it was nice to be in the official hotel, and for once it was cheap! I guess that’s where the Asia Tour differs from Europe, but Thailand is a cheap place to travel around!

We were down the coast from Pattaya on Jomtein Beach, it wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds but I know it was a million times nicer than the road hotel the caddies were staying at in the centre of Pattaya.

Nicely Photoshopped!

For anyone who knows Pattaya, you know exactly what down town is like, and I won’t be going into detail on that one!

THE GOLF…

The course this week was and played very short, they changed two of the par 5’s to par 4’s to try and strengthen the course, but it’s only real protection this week was the firm small greens and in parts the poor quality of them.

It’s rainy season at the moment, and unfortunately some greens had been washed out prior to the Tour arriving!

But all of a sudden this made the course very tricky, and some pin positions were unplayable if you put your ball in the wrong position off the tee.

My game this week for two rounds was pretty average, but still to miss the cut after a fast start which had real potential to be 5 under through 5 was disappointing!

I knew I had left myself a lot of work to do in round two to make the weekend, but felt shooting 3 under would be safe, I was up for the challenge!

Round 2 I did give myself plenty of chances of making the cut but didn’t capitalise on any of them leaving a sour taste for the week! With 7 holes to go I played some good stuff, birdied 3, but then missed from 5 feet on the next two holes for birdie, and that was the end of my challenge.

So a missed cut, which in the end fell at +1, but one that will hopefully now shake me up and get me back on the right track in Prague in a few weeks!

Thankfully I managed to get my flight changed to fly back Friday evening which got me into Manchester Saturday morning!

A missed cut is never easy to take, but at least when I sit down at the end of the year I can say I gave myself the best chance by taking all the opportunities the Tour has thrown at me.

As I always say … “have clubs, will travel!”