Thanks very much for coming back and reading my blog. my next event was the Czech disabled golf masters near Prague in the Czech Republic. I was really looking forward to playing in this event as beforehand we had the chance to play in a Pro-Am. However my story on this blog doesn't start with the first days play or indeed the Pro-Am, in fact it starts the day before at 11 AM when I was waiting for delivery of my new clothes from my fabulous sponsor function18.com.
Finally the postman arrives with a big box and when I rip into it, to my delight there is an absolute cornucopia of golfing goodness courtesy of function18.com
I know that I was going to look good, all I needed to now was to make sure that I played well !!!
I decided for this tournament that I would travel there by coach, firstly to save money secondly as it would take almost the same time As it would to drive myself.
The trip there was terrible, I did not enjoy it at all. I certainly will not be travelling by coach to any events in Europe from now on. In fact I've decided to drive to Holland for my next event but I will get that later.
So after finally arriving in the Czech Republic after a 22 hour coach journey, I was tired, it was hot, but to make up for it, I was picked up by the lovely Jana. Jana very kindly took me off to the hotel via some beautiful backroads, through the woods, And over a rickety old Ferry,staffed by the local gossip apparently :-). The scenery was wonderful, and when I arrived at the golf course I certainly was not disappointed in how it looked. I got my bags up to my room and decided to go and have a look at how the course was looking up close and personal. I went up to the putting and chipping Green and decided to have some practice with my new belly putter and my chipping, when I first looked at the Green I was not disappointed but I was slightly wary of them as they didn't look brilliant, however, after playing on them they rolled absolutely truly, they were slow granted, but they played very very well.
DAY ONE - PRO-AM
So the day of the Pro-Am had arrived, I was slightly nervous on the first-tee, as I was playing with a very famous guy from the Czech Republic. His name was Kryštof Michal, and he is the lead singer and public face, of the czech group support lesbiens. He was an absolutely brilliant guy, very funny and a superb golfer with an lovely slow controlled swing and hits the ball and mile too. As I said, I was nervous on the first day, and then preceded to hook my first shot almost square left into the rough
Brilliant.
After four more slashes at the ball I've just managed to get onto the green, of course, three putts followed, triple bogey eight.
What a fantastic start !!!
Okay not the best start :-)
Things can only get better from here, that's what I got in my mind.
I hit first from the second tee.
and
the ball goes straight into the bunker.
Now, I really am not happy. Bogey 4, off to the next !!
By now I'm thinking, what must this guy think of me.
How unlucky for him to be partnered with me in the Pro-Am. But then, on the next tee box, something just seemed to happen. I seemed to find my swing, I seem to find my confidence. The bunkers seemed to shrink, the rough didn't look quite so long or tough to get out of. I seemed to be able to pick out my line and visualise the ball travelling along the path I wanted and that in turn gave me the confidence to relax and just trust my game.
4 easy pars followed, with 2 decent birdie chances that just burned the hole on the way past.
We moved onto the 7th, a tricky little par 3 with a bunker guarding front right and the pin tucked just behind it as the course planner is obviously a sadist :-)
It was a perfect yardage for a full 8 iron, coming in from right to left and using the bank to get the ball towards the flag.
I flushed my 8 iron, and the ball flew towards the green following the path I had visualised beforehand. It landed front right and kicked left towards the pin, I knew it was good and it should be close for a decent birdie chance,
But,
I never got the chance at a birdie putt, why ? You ask,
Well,
It's only gone in for a beautiful hole in one !!!!!! And to make things just a little sweeter, it was the designated hole for the nearest the pin competition during the pro-am event.
The rest of the round passed in a bit of a blur to be honest and I finished with a very respectable 78 (+6).
All in all it was a very enjoyable day, with great company and a hole in one to celebrate with my good golfing buddies. It also gave me a great look at the course and that night I started to formulate my plan of attack, and looking at what holes I can really go for and which ones were a bit more dangerous and that I should approach with caution. I was quietly confident :-)
Finally the postman arrives with a big box and when I rip into it, to my delight there is an absolute cornucopia of golfing goodness courtesy of function18.com
I know that I was going to look good, all I needed to now was to make sure that I played well !!!
I decided for this tournament that I would travel there by coach, firstly to save money secondly as it would take almost the same time As it would to drive myself.
The trip there was terrible, I did not enjoy it at all. I certainly will not be travelling by coach to any events in Europe from now on. In fact I've decided to drive to Holland for my next event but I will get that later.
So after finally arriving in the Czech Republic after a 22 hour coach journey, I was tired, it was hot, but to make up for it, I was picked up by the lovely Jana. Jana very kindly took me off to the hotel via some beautiful backroads, through the woods, And over a rickety old Ferry,staffed by the local gossip apparently :-). The scenery was wonderful, and when I arrived at the golf course I certainly was not disappointed in how it looked. I got my bags up to my room and decided to go and have a look at how the course was looking up close and personal. I went up to the putting and chipping Green and decided to have some practice with my new belly putter and my chipping, when I first looked at the Green I was not disappointed but I was slightly wary of them as they didn't look brilliant, however, after playing on them they rolled absolutely truly, they were slow granted, but they played very very well.
DAY ONE - PRO-AM
So the day of the Pro-Am had arrived, I was slightly nervous on the first-tee, as I was playing with a very famous guy from the Czech Republic. His name was Kryštof Michal, and he is the lead singer and public face, of the czech group support lesbiens. He was an absolutely brilliant guy, very funny and a superb golfer with an lovely slow controlled swing and hits the ball and mile too. As I said, I was nervous on the first day, and then preceded to hook my first shot almost square left into the rough
Brilliant.
After four more slashes at the ball I've just managed to get onto the green, of course, three putts followed, triple bogey eight.
What a fantastic start !!!
Okay not the best start :-)
Things can only get better from here, that's what I got in my mind.
I hit first from the second tee.
and
the ball goes straight into the bunker.
Now, I really am not happy. Bogey 4, off to the next !!
By now I'm thinking, what must this guy think of me.
How unlucky for him to be partnered with me in the Pro-Am. But then, on the next tee box, something just seemed to happen. I seemed to find my swing, I seem to find my confidence. The bunkers seemed to shrink, the rough didn't look quite so long or tough to get out of. I seemed to be able to pick out my line and visualise the ball travelling along the path I wanted and that in turn gave me the confidence to relax and just trust my game.
4 easy pars followed, with 2 decent birdie chances that just burned the hole on the way past.
We moved onto the 7th, a tricky little par 3 with a bunker guarding front right and the pin tucked just behind it as the course planner is obviously a sadist :-)
It was a perfect yardage for a full 8 iron, coming in from right to left and using the bank to get the ball towards the flag.
I flushed my 8 iron, and the ball flew towards the green following the path I had visualised beforehand. It landed front right and kicked left towards the pin, I knew it was good and it should be close for a decent birdie chance,
But,
I never got the chance at a birdie putt, why ? You ask,
Well,
It's only gone in for a beautiful hole in one !!!!!! And to make things just a little sweeter, it was the designated hole for the nearest the pin competition during the pro-am event.
The rest of the round passed in a bit of a blur to be honest and I finished with a very respectable 78 (+6).
All in all it was a very enjoyable day, with great company and a hole in one to celebrate with my good golfing buddies. It also gave me a great look at the course and that night I started to formulate my plan of attack, and looking at what holes I can really go for and which ones were a bit more dangerous and that I should approach with caution. I was quietly confident :-)