I love playing and watching golf
I love playing golf and I am very competitive by nature, but no matter how well I’ve played, like most golfers, I always feel like I’ve left some shots out there on the course, which does bring out the F word from time to time (FORE!)
I have played off single figures for most of my life and like most golfers have good days and bad days.
I’m currently a member of a Golf Club and I am also a member of the Hercules Golf Society – I served in the Royal Air Force hence the connection to the Society.
A few of my favourite golf photos
About My Own Game
I have played a lot of competition golf on Amateur Tours, such as the Fore Tour, Volvo Amateur Tour (Now the StaySure Tour) and played in events such as the Trilby Tour, I never made it on to Sky Sports but I guess I did manage to avoid Rogues corner!
I love playing in Team Events and Pro-AM’s, especially with my good friend Touring Pro Matt Mumford, who has just overtaken me in the Hole-In-One Stakes 6 to 5
Amateur Golf Tour
I used to own an Amateur Golf Tour called UK AM Golf Tour, which subsequently changed name to Fore King Golf, and which I no longer run. I am currently taking a break from running any golf competitions until the Golf Courses stop taking the piss with their pricing, and which doesn’t seem like it will happen any time soon.
I’m currently a member of the RAF Hercules Golf Society – I served in the Royal Air Force, hence the connection to the society. I play with the society at Manor House and I used to play in all the monthly competitions but since my house move and the distances to the courses, I’m only likely to only play one or two comps a year, if at all.
Over the years I sponsored a Hercules Golf Society event each year and a pairs competition was introduced in the 2019 season and was also played in 2020 and due to COVID didn’t complete until 20 months later in 2021, where the winners got to join me, in my Ultimate Pairs Competition and my end of season Event, which is the most fun pairs competition I’ve ever played in.
Golf Club Membership
I have been a member of a few different Golf Clubs, The Players Club & The Kendleshire, both in Bristol, are probably my favourite local courses, but they’re both over an hour away from home so difficult to get to for a quick knock and their pricing has now gone up too much to make it worthwhile with the added cost of travelling.
Until very recently I was a Pay As you Go member at Orchardleigh Golf Club, but I won’t be renewing as the 9 hole green fee increased to £23 and to make things worse the course was not even in good condition, dodgy tee boxes, and they win the award for the worse greens I have played on in 2024
In June 2024, I introduced Emma (my better half) to the game. We are now both members at Westbury Golf Club, which is a great course for beginners, but has very, very slow greens, and bonus points as it’s only about 10 minutes from home
Emma started, as all beginners do, with air shots and swearing under her breath. But having only started in June 2024 she currently has a WHS index of 37. has already broke 50 for 9 holes, made two birdies, several pars and has hit her first 200+ yard drive…and she has potential to be much lower, needless to say she is hooked on the game…happy days!
I find it very hard to get my handicap cut there, especially with slow greens, as for 9 holes I only get 3 shots and I’ve shot +1 for 9 holes a couple of times; Which the WHS calculated as scores of 8.0 and 8.6.
I think I need to shoot -5 or -6 to get cut…I’m not sure I’ll ever be good enough to do that, but should I really need to break the course record to get cut? I’m off 8 so probably not…but I do think modern golf handicaps are broken, but that’s another story.
My Golfing Milestones
This is a set of milestones I read in Golf Monthly and for me this is still a work in progress
- Break 100 ✔
- Join a Club or Society ✔
- Get a handicap ✔
- End a round with the same ball you started with ✔
- Make a par ✔
- Break 90 ✔
- Get a handicap cut ✔
- Make a birdie ✔
- Represent your golf club or society in a match ✔
- Hit a par 5 green in two ✔
- Win a Club/Society competition ✔
- Drive a par 4 green in one ✔
- Play a round with no double bogeys or worse ✔
- Hit all the fairways in one round (close but no cigar)
- Break 80 ✔
- Play in a Pro-AM ✔
- Play nine holes in level par or better ✔ (-4 Back 9 Wrag Barn)
- Make back-to-back birdies ✔ (-5 for four holes Broome Manor)
- Make an eagle ✔
- Make a 2 on a par 4 ✔
- Get your handicap into single figures ✔
- Get your handicap to 4.4 or below (Congu 5.1, WHS 6.3)
- Win an Open Competition ✔
- Break 75 ✔ (shot +1 about a dozen times)
- Play 18 holes in level par or better (nope)
- Break 70 (this would give me most joy)
- Get your handicap to scratch (A Big NOPE)
- Play a bogey-free round (I always have a double)
- Win your club championship (3rd place 3 times)
- Hit all 18 greens in regulation in one round (I did 16)
- Make an albatross (550M Par 5 On Volvo Amateur Tour in Portugal, hit two three woods to 4 foot away – still my best effort)
- Make a hole-in-one ✔✔✔✔✔ (I’ve had 5 and I would trade them all for a sub 70 round on a par 72)
From a personal game development point of view I have attained my PGA ASQ Level 1 Coaching Accreditation, learned some basic club-fitting and passed the R&A Level One Rules exam.
I used to think about a career in golf, Operations or Competitions / Event Management, but all of the opportunities that came my way were not quite right, either they had rubbish employment contracts or crap pay, often both, so I have no future plans to work in golf other than my website
Our aim with the weekend golfers section is to help beginner and high handicap golfers to improve their game with our online golf lessons.