Week of attrition… Complete!

Hello everyone, this week has been my final event of my UK summer swing. European Q school week is always one that is a tough slog and this week at Donnington Grove was no exception. I think over the course of the week we had every season, apart from a light dusting of snow ( good thing as it is September).

I’m writing this sat on the plane back to Abu Dhabi (Thank you Cpt Ian) and will be honest, halfway through the event it looked like we were heading for a Saturday finish which would have been less than ideal for travel arrangements. The weather caused havoc this week and for the first time all season it seemed I got a good draw which allowed me to dodge the heavy downpours. In the first two rounds we were a two ball at the start of the field so we’re able to run round and only play two holes in sideways rain. The wind was still there (20-40mph) for the first two rounds but staying dry was a massive help. I started off the week with 72 (level) and 66 (-6) for my first two rounds and was in good position with two rounds to play. A 17.07 tee time on Thursday meant we could only complete 8 holes before dark and left a monster day of 29 holes yesterday to contend with. Round three was equally solid and managed to post 68(-4) to put me in very good position to qualify for second stage in November.

From the first tee shot on round 4 it was a bit of a battle, for some reason sitting down and waiting between rounds caught up with me and my body felt awful after what seemed like a normal solid warm up for round 4. It was probably the best 73(+1) I have shot in a long time and just dug in and ground out the result to qualify through to Spain in November. Absolutely buzzing to have made it through and has made the time away from Lauren and Hugo worth it. Can’t wait to be back with them both tomorrow.

Huge thanks goes out to Ollie (my brother) for caddying this week, he was a superstar on the bag and somehow avoided trench-foot traipsing around a pretty much waterlogged field for 5 days. To my sponsors, literally couldn’t do this without you, things are getting more and more expensive as we all know and professional sport is no different. Can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to play, you guys are superhero’s.

To Lauren, Thank you! You are a superstar! For letting me be away and get my head down and prepare for these events while Hugo causes absolute chaos for you in Abu Dhabi. Can’t wait to be part of the chaos tomorrow but I know how amazingly hard the little fella can be so a massive thank you! Love you very much.

I have the next month back in Abu Dhabi to have some chill family time but also get some work in to prepare for the second stage of European Tour Qualifying so will keep you updated how things go. Been a fun summer in the UK and great to see so many faces. Take care and hope the summer drags out as long as possible…

Back to the sandpit we go!!!

Cheers Luke