Turning Pro at 57

It’s been an eventful few weeks since my last blog, with golf, injury, withdrawals and now back to golf.

My game felt in control at Alwoodley down in Leeds for the Open Qualifier so I was really looking forward to the Staysure Q Series at Bramall Park near Stockport – the first of four events offering a chance to qualify for the Legends Tour PGA Event at Trump Aberdeen.  I was real happy with my first round, 1 under par 69 to sit 5^th equal overnight. I started the second with a birdie and was comfortable on 2 under.  Then at the 6^th suddenly I couldn’t put weight on my right leg! Turns out I had pulled a muscle in my butt !  Anyway I had to withdraw at the 12^th and that was the end of my tournament…..I was raging. 

How did it happen? Well, the week before I had been hitting drive after drive on the range trying to find something and could feel the muscle complaining in the morning…..I knew I was hitting too many balls but I’m a bit (butt) stubborn !!  

My plan was to play Donnington Grove the following two days then back up to Lytham at the end of the week. As it turned out, I had to withdraw from them all along with Birkdale the week after.  Never happened to me before so you can probably imagine how frustrated I was….particularly as I was in a good place with my game.  

I gave the second Staysure Q Series a go at Mottram Hall but it was not pretty between protecting my butt muscle and rusty golf.

I then played the Senior Welsh Open Qualifier at Machynys Peninsula near Llanelli where, although I didn’t have my A game, I ground out a 76 which was a few shots too many for the five places up for grabs.  Great course and a great week down there.  

So now a couple of weeks off and happy to say that the muscle is back to normal with some help from John the physio.  I’ve been spending some time on the mind game with Coach Pete and some of Karl Morris’s material…..he has some really good podcasts which are worth a listen, you can find them at “Karl Morris, The Brain Booster”.  

Next for me is the LIV Asian Tour Qualifier up at the Fairmont with a few spots up for grabs for the tournament at the end of the month. Now that would be a thing if I qualified for that one……rebel!

Catch up soon…..

Calum           

So a week past Monday was The Open Regional Qualifying at fifteen venues throughout the UK for places in the Final Qualifying played last week.  Many LIV players were in Final Qualifying as their only way in this year.   My prep the week before was golf with three friends down in the Lake District….golf, food, wine and great fun.  Great to relax – and then it was on to the weekend practice rounds.

I chose Alwoodley, a Heathland course down in Leeds.  I was so pleased with the way I approached the day and with how I played.  I reckoned level or one over would stand a chance, and as it turned out it was the one overs who played off for a spot.  Anyway, I got it to two over on the 16th tee having just come off a birdie and from a good 3 wood tee shot, had another 150 yards in and a possible birdie again.  It had been flying lies in the semi rough all day but this time I got some sort of flier and rocket ball (no spin) combined….result 10 yards over the green. Birdie chance all but gone even though my third ran past the cup by an inch.  Result was birdie chasing into the wind at the last two holes but sadly no cigar!

The other story of the event I’d like to share was such fun.  Practice round, the first was a driver into the wind, short of the fairway bunker and trees…..perfect I thought.  Look at the forecast for the Monday and the wind was shown to turn 180 degrees. Sure enough, when I arrived the first was downwind, and ahead of me they were all hitting irons.  Now the first tee is right in front of the Clubhouse terrace and I guess there were around 70 members enjoying the show.  Even though I have gained a lot of first tee experience, I would rather hit driver than a three iron off the first !  On the range my friend Mark, who was on the bag, commented that I was hitting 5 wood solid so the 1st tee club decision was made, 5 wood it is!

Once announced the gathered crowd gave a huge round of applause to which I graciously tipped my cap……while thinking “wow I hope I can give them something to cheer about”…….routine and then relief to see that I had made contact and indeed produced a great strike down the middle…….more applause and more cap tipping followed.  Me?……I’m now loving life !…….and so another small step along the way.

All the best 

Calum

I’m writing on my flight back from Paris – what a trip, won a cheque at the event, backed a winner at the Chantilly horse racing today and got lucky with a free extra leg room seat from Easyjet on the flight home……how much better can it get ??

I was across for the Marc Farry Tour event at Golf d’Ableige just north of Paris. 

The excitement started on the trip out on Thursday evening when Easyjet sat boarded on the tarmac at Edinburgh for about two hours due to thinking we had an extra hold bag that was unaccounted. With the one hour difference, and despite my calls to SIXT, the car hire office was closed at Charles De Gaulle Airport when I finally got there… 

I had a tee time of 12.10 on Friday having never seen the course so it was looking like a night in an airport hotel and straight to the tournament in the morning, until a fellow passenger found a SIXT office open at another terminal.  I ran along there and got to them just as they were switching off terminals.  After I cemented Scottish / French relations and invoked the Auld Alliance they were great and got me a car there and then.  In all this excitement I overlooked my lateness for the hotel, so I pitched up at about 1.15 in the morning to darkness, “oh no” I thought or words to that effect!! 

I phoned and could hear the phone ringing though the darkness…..at this point I had options, either sleep in my car that I’d fought so hard to get or be a pain in the ass and wake someone.  I chose the latter….after some time banging on the door the night porter arrived half naked, waving his arms in the air and shouting some bad stuff in French….ooh lala!  Things were all good between us though in the morning and we got on famously after that …..

And so to the golf, a tough and tricky course with some shots you just had to commit to as there was no room for bailing out, which probably helped my positive mindset which was on shot-making from start to finish over the two rounds.  It may also have helped my mental focus that I had never seen the course before so had to work each hole out and plot my way round.  The result was some good golf and many holed putts to finish 5 over, a birdie count of 6 and tied 8^th with my first cheque of the season.  This combined with amazing French hospitality made for a great few days.

So another big lesson in preparation and mindful approach, intensity and confidence being the big difference this time I feel.

Next is the Pollok Open on the Paul Lawrie Tour next week…..looking forward to it already.

All the best 

Calum

So, I mentioned I popped over to Normandy to play in three 36 hole events on the Marc Farry Tour.   It was my first time on Marc’s Tour…..the events were great and punctuated with a warm welcome to all from Marc and his wife Isabelle.  I met many new friends and plan to return for future events.   

The events and one other at Chantilly at the end of May are part of the Legends Tour’s new Q Series Tour where the top two in the order of merit after the four events each get an invitation to play in the Legends PGA Championship at Trump Aberdeen, with the top three getting direct access to final Tour Q School next January.  So, in summary, there’s a lot to play for.

So how did I do?  At Golf du Champ de Bataille I was 8 over, then 1 under; Golf de Lery- Poses I was 2 over and 2 over (I got it to 4 under after 12); and at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil I was 7 over and 8 over.  A bit of a mixed bag I hear you say!  So this is where it gets really interesting.  I bet you’ve all heard people say something like “90% of golf is between the ears”. I certainly have and my usual stock answer is “yeah you’re right”, without really – and I mean really – thinking about what this means.

I thought you might find my experience helpful. I’m being candid, so please don’t think I’ve gone crazy, but I think I might be starting to understand “between the ears”!

Keep in mind my scores, which for me are not the only measures of success or failure – they are an output. I had decided to play with confidence and enjoyment as normal. However, here’s what was in my head each day.  

Day 1: I stood over every shot thinking a combination of “what if I top this, duff it or hit this heavy?”  Day 2: I forced myself to think “you’re progressing this ball around the big ball (the earth) and you’ve got about 70 shots at it, so stop getting so intense about each shot and expecting perfection”.  Day 3: I really focussed on what I wanted the ball to do and where I wanted it to land.  Day 4: I was walking on air, playing great shots and getting to 4 under after 12.  Then the rain started, I had back-to-back bogeys and my head filled with “I’m going to let this potential 68 slip away” – which is what happened.  Day 5: a big long course with no run and quite simply I started trying to hit the ball hard, which resulted in over-swinging on the way back and a loss of timing.  Nothing awful but the ball was just not going where I wanted it to.   Day 6: the same as day 5….my frustration being that I didn’t work out the over-swinging until after day 6!!

My golf game technically is much better after the work we’ve done and while I do still make the odd poor swing, my technical swing is a lot more consistent.  So all this started me thinking about the conundrum we have all battled with: ”why is my golf good one day and off the next?”  I’m thinking it has to do a lot with our frame of mind and also how “switched on” we are on the golf course.

We tend to measure success by our score, when perhaps we should be measuring it based on how well we applied ourself on the golf course, and our thoughts.

So I’m off to work on mind and brain health……not sure about it all but I’m sure it involves exercise, diet, mindfulness and goal setting for the brain.  All sounds a bit airy fairy but what an opportunity for improvement….especially as we can all work on it.  I certainly will be.

Will let you know how things go.

Next tournament is the Paul Lawrie Tartan Pro Tour event at Montrose on the 10th May, the tournaments are now 54 hole with a cut after 36 so looking forward to it.  

All the best

Calum

I’m sat here with one eye on the blog and another on the Masters.  Last week was the first Masters Pro Event over Stourbridge and then Redditch Golf Courses, both great parkland courses and soft with the rain around Birmingham.

I managed to reverse my fortunes this time and rather than play myself out of it on the first day I shot three over with three birdies to lie 12th, earning a later start start second day. It felt like the same golf on the second day but a few slack shots and no birdies resulted in 82 and out of the prizes.   I gave myself some great birdie chances but none fell in…..it’s a fine line this scoring lark.   

One thing to say was that my short game was so much better following the work I’ve done with Coach Pete over the winter….more shot choices, better shot solving, better execution, more flair and more fun.

The big positive for me was that both days I managed to maintain my two watchwords….to play with confidence and to enjoy the experience.  So that’s a success.

Now, after a quick sprint through the Eurotunnel, I’m out here in Normandy and have played a couple of practice rounds on the Marc Farry Tour.   Tuesday is the first day of the tournament at Champ du Bataille Golf Club….it’s got more trees than Ladybank!!!  Oh and my schoolboy French is getting me by – apart from when I think I asked “may I have the game of golf buggy please”….oops. 

As always will let you know how it goes and meantime I hope your Masters bets came in. 

All the best

Calum  

The season’s kicking off again, it’s Masters Week and, like all of us, I’m excited about the season ahead.

My new season resolutions this year are to play with confidence and to enjoy it more.

So for me it starts down here, just south of Birmingham, with the Masters Pro Tour at Stourbridge and Redditch Golf Clubs – both parkland courses that are new to me.

It’s then on to France to play in three 36 hole events on the Marc Farry Tour.  The age limit on his tour is 44 and over so I’ll be surrounded by ‘youngsters” ….beware the old boy !!   All the courses are in Normandy just north of Paris and pretty much back to back over two weeks.  New faces and a new tour so we’ll see how we go…….brushing up on my schoolboy French in readiness.   

Hope you have all your picks for the Masters…….be good for the game if a LIV player lifts the Green Jacket……only my opinion of course …….. enjoy !

Alll the best

Calum

I mentioned in my last blog that my next tournament would be the Legends (previously the European Senior Tour) Qualifying School at the magnificent Gloria resort in Turkey.  The format was two rounds of Stage One, with 40 players progressing to join the exempt payers in the Final Qualifying with a field of 72 golfers playing over 72 holes for 5 cards for the 2023 season.

I arrived early and got a good look at the course and had lots of time to practise. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, but the tree lined course was set up at 7,000 yards with little run following a few days of heavy rain.  It included several par 4s over 450 yards and 3 par 3s over water around the 200 yard mark.

I didn’t make it to Final Qualifying, but actually played well.  I had so many chances on the front 9 on day 1 but just couldn’t get the birdie putts to go in.  But the experience was amazing and I learned so much from observing and talking to my playing partners. It also reminded me just how much I’ve progressed and I was comfortable teeing it up alongside the others.

Golf wise, and having chatted it through with Coach Pete, I learned that it’s tough playing three and four irons repeatedly into long par 4s and long par 3s.  My partners both played hybrid, with a bigger margin for error and a higher, softer ball flight.  When they missed a green they were around the fringe. When I missed, I was generally left with a challenging chip to save par.   So we’re off to experiment with hybrids!

That said,  Coach Pete made the very valid point about preparation for the course and having the right clubs in your bag……more learning for me.  I reflect on my preparation and while I looked at the course on Google Earth, I didn’t go into the detail of what clubs I might need.  A good exercise now before all tournaments.

Another thing was: “trust in taking on the shot”.  At all the long par 3s over water I was up the back of the green because my focus tended to be on clearing the water due to fear of penalty rather than playing the shot I would in a practice round.  I was trying to allow for the chance of a slight mis-hit and also the cool air over the water, rather than commit to the shot that was called for.  This resulted in a mix of pars and bogeys for the par 3’s.

So all in all this is what turning pro is all about: the chance to compete at this level over a challenging golf course.  While, of course I would have wanted to make it to Final Qualifying, the experience and the way we were looked after was simply amazing.

Will let you know how the hybrids go…..

Calum

I was lucky to play some golf in the sun last week during the Algarvian 54 hole tournament over the Pinheiros Altos and Laranjal courses at Quinta do Lago.  It was a great event with a field of around 140 golfers.

So how did I get on?   Well, first round 84 followed by good rounds of 75 and 74 that got me tied 36th position.  And, you guessed it….no money.   The big first round is becoming a habit so things need to change.  

Thinking about it I believe I’m distracted from my routine due to feeling a mix of nervousness, anxiousness and excitement.  The result is poor ball striking and struggling from the off.   In my words: “I need to take a good look at myself”.  I now know I can score but need to find a way of doing it from the off.

So that’s what we’ve been working on ahead of next week’s Legends Tour School here in Turkey.  I played the Gloria Old Course yesterday – a top quality golf course on a great resort site.    Oh and by the way it’s raining down here so a few days of wet golf in store I’m thinking – glad I brought the brolly.

Will let you know how we go.

Calum

I remember just over two years ago writing my first blog on the plane to Norway, excited at the prospect of turning pro in the Senior Golf Tour Europe event at Gamie Fredrikstad.

Now having worked with Coach Pete for over two years, having learned so much about playing this game better from Pete and those around me as well as much more about myself, I’m really excited again.   This time I’m on the plane heading to Faro to play in this weeks 54 hole Algarvian over the Pinheiros Altos and Laranjal Courses.  A great tournament which for me was the catalyst for turning pro back in 2020 when I played with James Murphy.   Then it’s on to Turkey for the Legends Tour Qualifying School over the New and Old Courses at the Gloria Resort, Belek.   This is the first Tour School for three years, due to the Covid restrictions.

The prize is one of five playing cards for the 2023 Legends Tour.   There are two stages, Stage 1 is over 36 holes with a cut of players going through to join Stage 2 alongside the exempt players, played over 72 holes with a cut after 54.

It’s been mentioned to me that with only five spots up for grabs success is very unlikely. My view is that to compete gives me a chance and while the numbers suggest it might not be probable, it is certainly possible.   

So I head to Turkey early trying to be as prepared as I can,  and ready to play my golf and see what the outcome is.

As always……I’ll let you know.

Calum

I’ve had a break from golf for the last couple of weeks after the last tournament in Reading, which has been good and I now feel refreshed and ready for my next event.

The Reading tournament was played at The Caversham, a big modern course with excellent, if challenging, greens.  My friend came down from Newmarket and caddied which made such a difference.  I seemed to have so much more time as a player during the round and really appreciated him being there.  I played okay but didn’t score great, my game felt all a big ragged to be honest and on reflection with Coach Pete, it was the last of four tournaments in as many weeks. Stamina and lack of work on my game started to show.  I still managed fourth equal in the senior category though!

Next it’s off to Portugal for the San Lorenzo Classic for a doubles and 36 hole event. Some work on my game this week and a few games in order to get ready is the plan.

Will let you know how it goes.

Catch up soon.

Calum