Tuesday 4th June - Practice Day
After a week off to refresh and get some practice it was good to get back to it this week at Bowood which is another great all round venue. I played here last year so I was familiar with how to play the course. It was a breezy practice day and the course was showing it's difficulty right away. Thick rough either side of each hole with firm greens meant that it was going to be another week that tested driving accuracy and precise iron play.
We played the practice round with former DP Tour winner Paul Dunne which was very interesting to watch. He talked about the top guys being super good mentally and also having something a little extra in their overall skill level to separate themselves.
On the back 9, we got a little money match going and I was partnered with Paul and we managed to win on the last hole for £5 so that's always good fun to take that off the other lads!
During my off week, I really worked hard on my driver to be more accurate off the tee and this felt good during the practice round. I also worked on being a little better mentally so this was my goal this week.
Wednesday 5th June - Round 1
An afternoon tee time to start the tournament for me and the weather was similar to the practice day, dry with a bit of a breeze. After a iffy drive on my 1st (actual 10th hole) in the fairway bunker, I rolled in a 17ft putt for birdie to kick things off. I birdied 14 and 15 to move to -3 and I was feeling very good and in control of everything. My mental focus was all about sticking to my process and being present which I was executing well. My iron play was seriously on form, on the 2nd hole, I hit a 6iron from 206 yards to 1ft, tap in birdie to move to -4. My only bogey of the day came at the 4th the par 5 after pushing my drive behind the trees but I stayed calm and hit another great iron shot into 7 to 3ft to get back to -4. A very good start where I was 3rd, two shots off the lead.
Thursday 6th June - Round 2
A quick turn around for round 2 as I was teeing off at 8:40am, it was a chilly start but much less wind to round 1. Mentally I kept constantly reminding myself to stick to my process and be present, I was playing solid but still struggled with driver a little off the tee and my approach shots were not as tight as day 1. I rolled in a 12ft birdie putt on 6 but other than that, the putter was largely cold for the round. I pushed my approach into the bunker on 13, hit a really nice shot to 4ft but missed that for my only bogey of the round. Again, I was pleased with how I reset myself to not let that carry over and on the 18th, I hit a great wedge shot in to 3ft to finish with a birdie at -1 and -5 for the tournament, only 3 shots off the lead. This is the first time I've been in contention this year so I was excited for the final round going out in the 2nd to last group.
Friday 7th June - Round 3
It was a perfect morning for golf and probably the best day for weather all week.
The breeze would pick up gradually through the day but we had sun most of the round. The goal for today was to enjoy it while sticking to what I said on the first two days, good process and be present.
I got off to a little nervy start after making a silly bogey at the 1st but I managed to hole a 10ft par putt on the difficult par 3 2nd. On the par 5 3rd I hit a great approach to 3ft but lipped out my birdie putt but again, I stayed calm and moved forward to hole 25ft and 36ft birdie putts on the 4th and 5th, it was go time.
Pushing my drive on the 7th left me with another bogey but I responded well on the difficult 8th to hit an 8 iron from 168yards to 7ft and make a bounce back birdie.
I focused on being patient and stay in control of my process but it was a bit of a battle off the tee all day, this would make it tricky to set up good enough chances from the approach shots.
My only 3 putt of the week came at the 13th hole which was a little frustrating and I then made a great 8ft par putt on the 14th, again after hitting my tee shot out of position. I made another great par on the 16th hole as I pulled my approach and hit my chip to 1ft. The 18th I hit one of my best drives of the day which left me with 136yards in the fairway to the pin. This was was a perfect knock down 9 iron into the breeze which came up slightly short in the bunker. I knew I needed to make a par as every shot really counts to how much money is won or lost. The bunker shot was on the upslope with little green to work with and I hit it 13ft above the hole to leave a downhill left to right putt. I composed myself to hole it for a par and finish even for the round and T6 for the tournament, my best result of the season so far!
One thing I want to be honest with here, this week was a massive week because I'm in the position where I need to play well to make money to pay for upcoming events.
Obviously I don't want to be in this situation but I feel a lot of guys are in this situation and it can seriously have a negative impact on their game. There are hundreds of examples of players running out of cash and having to quit and I've been in that position but I've never quit, I've only put it on hold. Because I've been in this position a few times, I feel like I'm more resilient in this position now to put it aside and go and play my game. But I am curious to see how I perform when I am more financially free.
I've worked incredibly hard to set up things like RHG to help generate income towards playing tournaments so I am asking you, come join my team, not only do you help me but I can also help you with your golf.
There are individual and corporate benefits with your business through the different RHG membership options.
Thank you for following my journey and I appreciate any support!
Ryan
