4 weeks of golf comes to an end…

Hello everyone, hope this finds you well and you have enjoyed the coronation of our new King and enjoy the long weekend.

After a disappointing trip to Malaysia playing on the Mena Tour, the past two weeks have been spent at home playing two back to back Challenge Tour events in Abu Dhabi. For the first time in years I have been able to stay at home for an event and even though it has been fantastic to share the downtime with Hugo and Lauren the golf has not really materialized and if I’m brutally honest my game has been utterly rubbish.

It is been a pretty revealing pattern of late, my ability to get the ball in play off the tee has deserted me and has led to probably the most stressful 4 weeks of golf that I can recall. When you can’t put the ball in play it makes playing tough golf courses, that so much tougher and saps the energy out of you as it’s a constant battle to find grass or actually anything that allows you to hit it again. I have found the last two weeks especially frustrating as it’s two courses that I know and love, but ultimately if your hitting it sideways off the tee, no matter how much will, guts or mental aptitude you bring to the table a lost ball, is still a lost ball and doesn’t make a good scorecard.

The first week in Abu Dhabi was rounds of 76 (+4) and 71 (-1) for a missed cut and this week at Saadiyaat Good club was 79(+7) and 70(-2) for again another missed cut. I got so pissed off with my driver this week that in the final round I went back to my old driver, and even though it wasn’t great by any stretch, at least I could hit off grass more often and subsequently get a round under par.

There are too many superlatives to describe just how frustrated I currently am with how the past four weeks have gone and where my game is currently at, but ultimately It’s on me to fix and getting better off the tee over the next few weeks is top of the priority list which will be some very low hanging fruit to get the scoring back on track.

With every failure comes a place to learn and reflect and I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to even play without the Emirates Golf Federation. I can’t thank them enough for the invites to play two unreal events in Abu Dhabi and showcase what a beautiful part of the world I’m lucky to call home. Both Abu Dhabi and Saadiyaat Golf Club and all its staff need a huge round of applause. Not only for how the course was presented but how all the players were made to feel during their stay, it was fantastic and hats off to everyone involved.

Many thanks goes out to Kamal and Vee for caddying for me these past two weeks, I hope you have finally got all the sand out of your shoes and appreciate you helping find my many of my less than accurate drives. The standard of golf is currently off the charts at the moment and no matter what tour you are playing, if your average, your going home early and unfortunately or fortunately that is been the case for me these past four weeks.

Down, but not out! We go again, we regroup and we get better.

Not 100% sure where I will be playing next, but will keep you posted either way but hopefully will be back in the UK at some point in June for Open Qualifying and a few local events

Have a great rest of your weekend

Cheers Luke