This weekend saw the Paul Lawrie Par Three Challenge played at his centre up in Aberdeen. This was the second of six Tartan Pro Tour events and had been postponed from earlier this month due to the temporary lockdown in the city. Paul was a great host at a superb venue which was in beautiful condition with nine tricky par threes ranging from 120 yards to 205 yards. I would recommend it to anyone – it really sharpens up your short game with lots of heavy rough and water to catch you out.
I went into this against the younger field of tour professionals thinking this would be my best chance – I mean I wasn’t gonna get outdriven after all! However read on…..
For me it was another story of two halves – big score yesterday as I came out of the blocks firing at every pin and to be honest hitting myself long into trouble most of the time. On the fifth, as I watched my ball still rising as it passed the pin by 15 yards like an Apollo space craft re-entering the atmosphere and straight into the heavy rough, I thought …….”wow Calum two clubs out this time and I might not see that particular Pro V1x again. To be fair it was a strongish North wind which swirled all day in the trees, however the main issue was rather poor course management – oops!
I was given two great pieces of advice last night – aim for the centre of the greens with a club you can’t go long with, and relax with a bit of Zen. I put both into practice today and shot one under – very happy with that.
So all in all a great end to a mediocre week scoring wise.
Next up is The Tartan Pro Tour St Andrews Classic over the New and Jubilee courses.
Time for some practice – mainly on choosing the right shot at the right time.
Calum