I’m 4 days into August. Having played one club competition.
And all i can say is i shot my worst score in nearly 2 years. A 96! A fucking 96!
Here’s my issue with that score.
I was shooting that on a regular basis when my hands, hips and legs were crippled with arthritic flare ups and pain, this was a weekly occurrence. I didn’t mind doing that back then, because my body wouldn’t let me play my best golf, or anywhere remotely close to good golf. But that was ok, I had the mother of all excuses, and I accepted it.
Saturday 2nd August conditions were absolutely perfect for good scoring. No wind, perfect temperature, no rain, good group of playing partners (not that this affects me any more) and the course was in good condition. I had absolutely no mobility issues, no niggles, no twinges…nothing.
I went through my pre-round routine that I documented way back in March, and I’ve been sticking to it before every round. Nutrition, stretches, warm-up’s the whole lot.
So how the fuck could i go and shoot a 96?!?! At this point I’m beyond words.
Spent 2 nights on the course in the days running up to the competition, did some range work as well, and for what?? An absolute disaster of a round.
See…this is the point a lot of people make about golf. It’s the most humbling sport on the planet. I’m not saying I found something in the days running up to the competition, everything was pretty normal stuff. I decided to up the ante in terms of practice and physical fitness work and ended up getting the least return from a round of golf in recent memory.
You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.
I may be going about this the wrong way
At the time of writing I’m a bit pissed off with both myself and the game in general. I think I may be going at this the wrong way at this stage, and I feel a bit lost right now, and can’t think of a solution, but trust me “I Will”. The only saving grace was that it didn’t affect my HCI as none of my HCI counting scores were dropping off. I have a 78 dropping off after my next comp, and if i dont replace it with something better will probably be right back where I was back in March.
Fucking hell…
To be fair i have changed my driver shaft from a 55g reg, to a 65g reg, and i don’t think Im seeing any improvements so far, so i may change back to the slightly lighter shaft. I have a swing speed weight coming so whichever driver shaft i don’t use, I can attach the weight to this and use it for swing speed training and warming up before rounds. I might still be suffering a wee bit from the gym sessions from last week, but I didn’t feel any muscle soreness or mobility issues on Saturday, so I’m not really prepared to blame the gym (as much as i would like to) I also didn’t feel like my mind wasn’t in it (and i know what the feels like) i was focussed and concentrating on every shot. It’s so frustrating though, but I’ll persevere.
Anyway, on the 6th of August I have a round of Golf at Royal Troon to look forward to courtesy of Paul Moultrie of Mind Body Golf. And despite what I’ve just written and how I’m feeling about the game, I’m really looking forward to it. I walked the course during the Open in 2024 and only dreamed of playing it. I won’t let how I’m feeling right now get in the way of enjoying what is one of the most prestigious golf courses on the planet. Paul has invited some other golfers along, every one of them is a very low handicap, scratch and better…wait till they get a load of me!! (insert Jack Nicholson’s Joker)
Today’s the day! Wednesday 6th August 2025
I’m due to play a round at Royal Troon today with a tee off time of 4pm.
My playing partners are Paul Moultrie, his friend John who plays off 5, and another one of his students, a younger guy called Ryan who plays off 0.8. These guys are all very good golfers based on handicap index, but I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t mind playing with these guys, I’m never daunted by anyone on a golf course, and hopefully I can learn a few things along the way.
There are no nerves, when most people would get nervous
It was the same when I played in bands for years (mainly a vocalist) a friend of mine would get these confidence crises before gigs about his ability, and he is an amazingly talented drummer. He would ask me “Why don’t you get nervous?” and my answer would always be the same “if Robert Plant was standing at the back of the room and we were doing a Led Zeppelin number i would be thinking “Here Robert, have a piece of this”
This has and always will be my mindset. Even though I might not have the same skills as the person, I’m always confident and assured of my ability, and at the end of the day, it’s only a gig, or it’s only a round of golf, it’s supposed to be fun. If your hobby starts stressing you out, you have chosen the wrong hobby.
Unpacking the round at Royal Troon.
It’s Friday 8th August, and I’ve had a few days to think things through.
First off I would like to say “Wow!” What an amazing experience. From arriving in the car park, meeting Paul at the entrance, walking through the corridors to the lounge for a pre round coffee and a chat. The whole place oozes aura and history, it’s unavoidable. Images of past champions on the wall, an oil painting of Arnold Palmer in the lounge, a modern yet historical feel to the lounge, the decor, the construction of the building. Walking through to the changing rooms there’s more history on the walls that accompany every single step. If you were to stop and read and absorb all the info on the walls it would probably take about an hour. I did stop a couple of times at Arnold Palmer and Jack’s information. Amazing!
Now on to my round…
If you have played the course or seen it on TV you know that the beach is on the right hand side and lines most of the first few holes. First tee shot…on the beach (where ill be in 3 weeks, and i need it)
Reload, I found the far left, slightly in the rough, but not a big issue…phew!
Another couple of shots and I’m on the green. I could not find the speed of the greens the whole round. They are much faster than they look, and they are tricky in places. I start my round with a 7. This does absolutely nothing for my confidence, but doesn’t take away my enthusiasm for playing the course. I can play the worst golf in the world, my head may go down after a poorly executed shot, but this is to give myself thinking time and to try and analyse my way through what went wrong, and then the head is up again looking forward to dealing with the next situation. No tantrums, or club chucking or anything that would ruin a playing partner’s round, that and the fact, I’m a guest here, and that would be downright rude.
The really good thing about the round was the skill level of the guys I was playing with. I was watching, learning, pretty much downloading all the info I could from all 3 of my playing partners.
It’s at this point where I can’t go any further without mentioning Paul’s golf game. Paul plays off a handicap of +3, and I’ve played with guys in the past who played off scratch and enjoyed watching them play, however, this was a wee bit different. Paul was -2 through 4 holes, and bearing in mind he didn’t have his “game face” on you can see why he’s won a ton of prestigious events and titles over the years. The thing that struck me over the first 4 holes is his accuracy. Hitting greens in regulation is a very good performance indicator, hitting approach shots to within 9ft is outstanding and 2 of them were closer than that, pretty much tap-in’s.
Off the tee he is very, very good. He hardly missed a fairway the whole round. The one bad miss on 12 was quickly rectified, and although he bogied this hole his 4th shot to the green was hit to 6” from about 80 yards!
Everything he did throughout the duration of the round looked effortless and controlled, a stark contrast to me swinging like an octopus falling out of a tree.
The highlight of the round came at the 18th. I found myself in the bunker short left, and before I hit my shot Paul asked if he could offer me some advice, to which I enthusiastically agreed. If a golfer with the skill level of Paul Moultrie cant fix the fucking mess that is my golf game then ill just do jigsaws at the weekends.
He got in the bunker beside me, opened my club face, told me to then regrip the club, pointed to a small piece of sand and said “Hit that spot as hard as you can” and gave me a look of “Trust me”
I did everything Paul asked, the thud into the sand felt and sounded amazing, the ball popped out of the bunker at the right height and speed, and then proceeded to roll directly towards the hole, which was around 15ft away…this has a chance! Then the sound that every golfer loves to hear, the ball hits the pin, then the bottom of the cup.
Cue a wee celebration and a high 5 in the bunker. The buzz was unreal. Ryan also rolled in a 12ft putt to finish his round with a birdie. A well deserved birdie, it wasn’t his first of the round, but shows a lot about his character, and also the reason why his handicap is so low.
If my first shot made me want to take up bowls, my last shot will be bringing me back. I will see that shot and remember the celebration in the bunker for the rest of my life, and every time The Open returns to Royal Troon and its on the TV i will not hesitate to tell people “I holed out from that bunker”
So, what did I learn?
Well, I learned that I still have a long way to go if I want to achieve what I set out to achieve this season. And I’m not unhappy with that. It will make me more determined.
I also learned that golf is a lifetime pursuit. Yes you can get good when you are young, but you can never stop chasing improvement no matter what age or skill level you are at. (Perfection? Nope, Bob Rotella said “Golf is not a game of perfect”)
I also know I tried far too hard to play a good round of golf on this occasion. Not because of my partners, but because of me. I wanted to come home with a great story. Watching Paul play his game and the bunker shot on 18 was the story. I know its the story because i haven’t stopped going on about both of these things since Wednesday 🙂
And, I mentioned confidence earlier in this blog. I’m reading a few books that have teachings within them that point out that confidence is not a thing to be switched on and off, Confidence and even consistency isn’t a light-switch, confidence comes from past experience and belief, and by joining these 2 things together in the appropriate way confidence can be an ever present element to your game, because there is nothing more dangerous on a golf course than a confident golfer…that and my tee shots.
So what now?
For the rest of the month I won’t be as impatient off the course, and by this I mean constantly thinking about the game and how to improve faster. That’s not the answer. Instead I’ll get back to enjoying the process of improvement, I feel that I may have gone off track with this over the last few months.
