On Tuesday the 1836 Tour was at Hollinwell (Notts) GC. It was my first time there so a quick walk of the course in the morning was in order, to check out where not to hit it. It looked a serious golf course, playing at over 7,000 yards and windy as well (a common theme at every event this year it seems).

 

The par was 72 so I was thinking anything around 69 or 70 was going to be a great effort and in with a shout of winning, as it turned out, that was about right. To give any amateurs a good perspective, the Standard Scratch is 76, tough track!

Before playing, I went through my normal warm up routine but was not feeling in the groove at all, for some reason. I was trying to figure out a swing feeling that would somehow get me round, but it was a struggle. Anyway, I had to go out and use whatever I had on the day.

I started off pretty well, a couple of pars and then a birdie on the par 5 3rd. A shocker of a 9 iron into the 4th however resulted in a very slack bogey, not good enough. To make amends, I hit a piercing 4 iron into the par 3 5th, to 8 feet and rolled in the putt. back to -1. I was quickly to -2 through 6, after a pitch from 50 yards to a foot on the par 5 6th lead to a birdie. My next move came after a nice shot into the 10th, a 9 iron from 159 to 20 feet past the flag, a sloppy 3 putt and back to -1. The next 8 holes produced all pars, with a disappointing lip out for birdie on 18, after a good 3 iron to 9 feet.

71 (-1) was a fair effort on the day, especially as I felt totally out of control with my ball and ball striking. It was good enough for a 3rd place finish (-3 won), that is 3 in a row now on this tour, and moves me further ahead at the top of the Order of Merit. www.1836tour.com has all the results and info on forthcoming events.

I am at Fixby Hall next, on 14th May, and then a PGA event on the 17th at Cottingham.

For any pro's that are looking for some competitive golf, get playing in the 1836 Tour events. The courses are top notch and the standard is too. www.1836tour.com and contact Jon.

Cheers

 

Tom