Tuesday 25th July........

Hey folks. The significance of the title of this diary entry is that on the above date I received all the relevant paperwork to confirm I had been accepted into the PGA and that I am now officially Professional! I havent yet received my PGA Membership card but this should be through in a couple of weeks. Until this comes through it wont feel proper really although I rung up the PGA to clarify that I am pro now.

I have booked in for my Year-One Residential Course at the Belfry in November. This is basically a week of lectures and workshops all geared towards training all us 'trainees' in what we will need to know for the first year of the PGA Foundation Degree programme. During the week we stay in the De Vere Hotel at the Belfry. I have decided to pay a bit extra and have a single room so that I don't risk being given a room to share with someone that wants to get pissed every night (which has happened to a few people I know!).

In addition, I have also booked in for my level one coaching course. I am doing this at the Olympic Golf Centre, which is a small driving range complex near Swanley in Kent. I'm looking forward to this immensely. Nothing is more appealing than the thought of being able to earn money for giving golf lessons but I don't want to start until I feel I am ready. After all, if I teach whilst being under-prepared, then I could jeapordise future lessons and it'll look very bad on me. People say I should just get stuck into it, but my pride won't let me do this until I feel I can offer a decent service.

In terms of my golf, I managed to shoot a couple of sub-par rounds last week which was pleasing. I am currently gearing towards my first pro tournament - the Mid Sussex Pro-Am on August 18th. This is exciting as I feel I could maybe earn some money as obviously I know the course. I understand that a 'nightmare' is the usual initiation for one's first professional tournament but I dont think this will be the case with me as I know that it won't come close to the pressure of a PGA Playing test. A couple of mates of mine unfortunately have failed this recently. Obviously I can fully empathise with them. I know all too well how it feels. This renewed the relief that I have with finally doing the thing myself. I perhaps appreciate it more now than in the couple of weeks following it. It certainly rates high among my achievements, more so because of my perserverence than anything. I wonder how many people actually get to that 8th or more test before giving it up. I am so proud that I didn't give up and finally got through and it is a full demonstration that with patience, hard work and dedication you can get anything you want. I'll certainly remember this next time I come up against an obstacle!!

Not a lot else to write just now.

Stay tuned.........

Onward and Upward........

Hello again. The Hollingbury Pro-Am, which was my last tournament as an amateur, could not have gone any better. I shot a level par 72 which included a treble bogey and a bogey on a simple par 5. The most fitting thing was that I birdied my last hole, the last hole i'll ever play as an amateur golfer in competition and this was sweet. Beaucoup de beers were consumed that evening and it was a very memorable day. Sam recovered brilliantly from a 42 (+6) front nine shoot a 3-over 75 which I think left him feeling very relieved indeed! He was noticably nervous to begin with, which I can fully sympathise with. He was a member there for a long timr too and a name whose score everybody would be interested to see which is a lot of pressure. I'm sure i'll feel exactly the same next year.

I finally had my lesson yesterday. I have been in need for quite a while for a lesson as I've been losing my way a bit and as usual, my teacher left me going away at the end very excited about working on new stuff and feeling reassured about my game too. I was surprisingly pleased about how good things were looking on camera. My rhythm with my swing is fantastic right now (probably the best its ever been), and I've generally got the club in some pretty good positions. I was worried i'd gone backwards but learned that the majority of the causes of the shots i've losing to the right recently have been because my hands have now lost their ability to compensate for the occasional bad swing. This is a good sign, as I used to have a big problem with my hands overcompensating which caused me to hit hooks.

There are two new things I have been given to work on. One of those things is to work on getting my wrists set as quickly as possible on my backswing (something I attempted to work on last year, without success). I now have a drill which should be much more effective in me implementing this so we'll see how it goes.
The other thing was to do with my transfer of weight through the ball. Basically I dont transfer enough which has been causing some real inconsistencies with my stroke and also a ball flight which is much too high and will cause problems on windy days.
I'm excited about getting to work on these things as I know I will have much better control over the ball when it starts working.
The biggest reassurance I had came when I asked if it was ok to focus on these things on the range, but use my normal swing thought (to stay down on the ball) when I'm on the course still. He said 'yes it is' and that over time these changes shoud gradually bed themselves in. We'll see how it goes.


My PGA forms go off this week, which I am very excited about. I guess now i'll be in a stage where I'm not an amatuer nor a professional until my forms come back. I'm eager to learn what happens next. When can I start to teach and earn some dosh??? Soon I hope, although I feel I have a bit of work to do to begin to feel confident with this.

We'll see. Speak soon folks....

One more amateur event........

Hello again loyal readers.

Would love to report some good news on how I did in the Mid Sussex Club Championship but unfortunately it was a disaster. I had more hits than 'The Beatles' so would prefer not to elaborate on what was a rubbish day for me. All I'll say is that my gameplan was to attack and win (not come second or third, just win!) and it completely backfired. Whoopsey, nevermind its not a big deal. I knew there was a chance of it happening if I was to play aggressively all day.

Sam unfortunately didnt get through to Open Qualifying stage. He did very well though and really could have had a great chance if could get his short game together. Considering he started with 5 straight bogeys and then battled back with 3 birdies, he put a great run together at doing something good until a bit of bunkering misery put paid to his chances, finally shooting 78 (+7) and missing it by a few shots. Never mind bro, there's always next year. Hope we can both do it.
I really enjoyed going to the Open Qualifying event. It was my first sight of how these big tournaments are run and there were loads of spectators. I've got to be honest, although I wished I was playing in it, I'm relieved I wasn't as I would have 'bricked it'. I'm nowhere near ready for playing in anything like that!

It's getting frustrating for me right now. With the exception of the day I passed my test, I have been playing pretty crap for about a month for some reason. At least I pulled it together on the day that mattered most. It's been a while since my last lesson but thankfully I have one coming up this week. I can't wait for this. The guy I go to said he really wanted me to get through my test before we start working on proper stuff and all he was trying to do was sort my game out to test standard which, fair play, he did. I can't wait to tell him I got through. However, it's a totally different ball game trying to compete with professionals and I know I've got a lot of very hard work to do! All facets of my game are going to have to improve 200%. I can't wait to find out exactly what i'm going to be working on this friday. It'll give me some renewed focus and motivation. I know that this winter, I'll be working harder on everything than I ever have done in my life as there are things I want to attempt next year, such as getting on the Europro Tour and going to Open Qualifying etc as well as qualifying for the bigger events locally.

I have been putting together a stats page on Microsoft Excel for myself. It's really coming along and I'm very chuffed with it. I'm hoping that maybe one day I might make some money out of it but I need to improve my knowledge of excel to make it a really quality finished product. Watch this space. Perhaps I'll be able to download an example onto here if I figure out how.

I still dont have my fees together for my course yet but am hoping to know more in the next couple of days with any luck. All of my contracts and forms etc are filled in and ready to go. I even got a haircut for my passport photo which will go on my PGA card. The PGA card is probably the biggest perk of turning pro as it entitles you to free golf ANYWHERE (with the exceptions of posh places like Wentworth West, Augusta and the other hugely prestigous places). Other perks include:
-free entry to all PGA and European Tour events!
- some sort of car dealership with Peugeot (not sure the specifics of this)
- I can begin to teach and earn dosh (although I'm not sure exactly what the procedure of this part is)

As you can see, this is gonna be cool. I'll be proud of the fact that I can announce myself as a 'Professional Golfer' but I know I've got a lot of work to do for my actual golf to back up my status. I just want to get rid of my amateur status now. I've got the Hollingbury Pro-Am this week with Sam as our pro and this will be my last amateur event. It's fitting thatmy final shot in competition as an amateur will be at the place I grew up and learned golf. I was I a member there for 11 years.

Thats about all I have to report right now.

Stay tuned

Moving on......

Hello again. Since my last blog I have celebrated passing my test and have been getting organised with my PGA stuff. It was true what I was told, the whole test thing was a bit anit-climatical. Don't get me wrong, I was and still am ecstatic about finally doing it. However, the excitement lasted probably two days before it was engulfed by shire relief.

I promptly received my PGA pack a few days ago. This basically outlines everything the PGA needs from me, including contracts, photos, many 'adminy' forms etc and ultimately the matter of payment. I had actually forgotten about this element and had wrapped myself up in just 'getting there!' This is a sticky point. The first year is quite a hefty sum. I would like to point out at this stage that yes, I will accept donations ;)

Once I have sent back the fees together with all the forms and contracts etc, then (subject to approval and acceptance from the PGA) I will become at last a Professional Golfer (1,2,3 - woohooo!!).
One thing that has dawned on me is the reality of 'shit, now I'm gonna be a professional golfer!' - quite ironic obviously. I suddenly realised that this really is only the beginning and that the test was certainly not the end - whoops!
I have been putting a bit of work (but not a great deal) into my clubs Club Championship this weekend. This will be my penultimate amateur event and it would be really sweet to win it. I've got to say, I'm loving my chances. I feel entirely pressure free as it really doesn't matter how I do, I know how to handle the pressure if I get in a position to win and I also know what it takes to put a solid days golf together and have 110% trust in the way i'm swinging. Basically everything the test taught me stands me in great stead. I certainly won't be out of the top 3. It would be so cool to finally get my name on a Club Championship. I was runner up at my old club Hollingbury no less than four times, twice from a playoff!!! I want one before I turn pro.

My final amateur event will be in the Hollingbury Pro-Am. This will be great as my brother Sam is our pro and I know we're gonna have a great day. Talking of Sam, I'm caddying for him at Open Qualifying tomorrow at Effingham. Fingers crossed, I think he's got a great chance of getting through. I certainly hope I can help play a part in this. We'll see.

To go off on a slight tangent, I saw my little nephew at the weekend and this was awesome. He's a real little boy now with a gorgeous smile I had missed loads. I can't wait to see him again very soon and am very excited.

Till next time good people.....