Hello everybody and welcome to the 2016 season, since my last tournament in 2015 I have been working very hard on my game and also on my personal fitness in preparation for the start of 2016.
I have had regular swing lessons with my golf coach and have also been using a personal fitness trainer which has seen me lose over 30lbs in weight and I feel as fit now as I have ever been.
With the 2016 season only a month away I travelled out to Spain to enjoy some golf in the sunshine as I’m sure you’ll agree, the winter here in UK has been a very wet one.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jerry and his family for putting me up for my stay, I had a great time and could easily move here (especially as it’s on a golf course)
During my stay we found out the Spanish Gecko Tour would be playing Guadalmina Golf Club where I was staying and decided to play this to get some good tournament practice.
I had a few days of lovely warm weather practise before the start of the tournament and thank you to the members of Guadalmina for making me feel welcome and arranging my practice rounds for me.
My practise on the South course could not have started any better when I reached the 11th hole a beautiful par 3 alongside the ocean.
After taking a few pictures to show my family when I get home, I pulled out my 9 iron to play a lovely shot into the 167yrd hole and to my surprise / amazement watched as the ball took one bounce and jumped straight into the hole for my third hole in one of my career : )
Before the tournament I had a last minute call up to play in the Pro-Am.
I played some very steady golf and finished with a round of -2 under par, I wasn’t sure where this finished in the field but I found out the next day it was enough to earn me €75 for the day
Day one of the tournament and I was playing the South Course probably the slightly tougher course of the two we would play.
A nervous start see me bogey the first as well as the third, I then settled down a bit with a few pars before reaching the 8th hole.
I hit a bad tee shot which found itself behind a tree and after I chopped out I still didn’t have the greatest of lies, I went for the green and just missed but caught the cart path and the bounce it took sent me out of bounds and I ended up making a triple bogey.
Another bogey on the 9th and then the 14th and I’m now standing on the 15th 7 over par and really frustrated.
I needed a big finish to stay in contention of the cut and played the best golf of the round in the last four holes, a birdie on 15 followed by an eagle on 17 got me three shots back, then a long holed putt on 18 for another birdie see me shoot 4 under for my last four holes – now back to three over for the comp and back in contention.
Day two and my target was to shoot 3 under to get back to level par which should make the cut.
Needing a steady start to hang in there I started with 11 straight pars before an eagle of the 12th got things moving.
Back to back birdies on the 13th & 14th and all of a sudden I’m now 4 under par for my round and 1 under for the comp.
On the 16th a loose tee shot see me drop back to level but I thought this is still going well no more mistakes.
A final birdie on the 36th and I was finished, a 4 under par 68 to go with my first round 75 and I’m one under par for the tournament.
In fact I actually ended up playing my last 22 holes to 8 under par!!! however my joy of shooting 68 soon turned to despair as I signed my card to see the cut had moved to 2 under par and I had come up one shot short.
Absolutely gutted to not make the cut and play the final 18 holes and make another pay day, but on reflection its been a great week, a hole in one, a small pay day for Pro-Am and a great fight back showing what I can score (my 68 was the 2nd best round of the day) all in all very happy for first comp of the year
Thank you for all your support and messages
I wish you all good luck with your own games for the 2016 season
Matt
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