I haven’t won much in relation to golf during my 31.5 years on this planet, and my limited ability means achievements like this will almost certainly continue to be few and far between.
Twice a year, the entire staff at Golf Monthly and a handful of our freelancers converge at a lovely golf course somewhere in England in order to capture imagery before and after testing various apparel products from dozens of different brands.
While the work aspect is obviously important, another huge part of the day is a Stableford competition in teams of four and as individuals for a cash prize. It’s serious stuff.
Before this year, I’m not sure I’d broken the top-20 on the individual side (about 24 people usually play) in five attempts and I was resigned to the fact that wouldn’t change after hearing we were playing the beautiful yet incredibly challenging Tandridge Golf Club.
The 18th green at Tandridge Golf Club (foreground) and the ninth behind the 10th tee box
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
“It’s probably the hardest course we’ve played at one of these test days,” I heard someone say beforehand. Fantastic. As someone who has struggled badly at far more straightforward courses and has the mental strength of smoke, I wasn’t expecting anything else than four hours of unrelenting punishment.
I told Golf Monthly editor Neil Tappin as much beforehand. “I’m not really looking forward to this, if I’m honest,” I admitted when asked if I was ready.
I’d tried absolutely everything to give myself a chance at one of these test days – playing the day before, playing regularly in the build-up, practicing, not practicing, staying close by the night before, driving up in the morning. Nothing had worked.
“But I’m just going to try and enjoy it because I don’t expect anything,” I continued. “The weather is nice, it’s a beautiful place, and I haven’t been out onto a course in about a month. I’ll just try and play with the right attitude and we’ll see what happens.”
For me, that is a huge task. If I can be candid,…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Latest from Golf Monthly…