Augusta Preparation.

After some problems with flights due to fog my caddie Davey and I arrived in Augusta on Monday morning, driving down Washington road we weren't prepared for what was about to greet us. A right turn and we were on one of the most famous roads in golf, Magnolia Lane, heading for the clubhouse of the Augusta National Golf Club.

We were met by one of the club Pros who showed us around the clubhouse and where everything was. The employees and members of the club are some of the friendliest people I have ever met, nothing was too much trouble. I can only use my regular caddie Davey during the week of the tournament, so Derrick one of the Augusta caddies worked for me for the week. Derrick was a young guy who has worked at the course for around five years, he gave us a great deal of local info on the course, showing us some of the little tricks on the greens, he was a huge help and great company. As Davey didn't have to worry about looking after me he was able to take his time to really look at the course in detail, which will help us on our return.

The golf course is vastly different to what you see on TV, everyone had told me how hilly the course is and they were right. The change in elevation on many holes really keeps you on your toes and has to be factored in as holes like number two from tee to green plays over 40 yards downhill. The one thing that isn't different in person to the TV is the condition of the course, not a blade of grass is out of place and they are the most perfect greens I have ever seen. After hitting a few balls on the range I was like a kid in a sweet shop and couldn't wait to get out onto the course, a few putts on the practice green and I was ready on the first tee. It's the one tournament when I was growing up that I used to sit and watch every shot, while playing the course all the great moments from past tournaments came flooding back, Faldo's putt on eleven to win the play-off in 1989, Larry Mize's pitch on eleven in 1987, Tiger's unbelievable chip on sixteen in 2005, Sandy's 7 iron out of the bunker at eighteen in 1988...I could go on and on.

The course is very long at around nearly 7500 yards I found myself hitting 5 and 6 irons to nearly every hole, with the greens being sloped and quick this puts a huge premium on controlling the flight of your ball and your yardages, a challenge I enjoy. There is no let up at all on the way round, one lapse of concentration and a bogey or worse is waiting for you...just the way the game should be at the top level. Although the course is long, the short game plays a huge part to the golf course with vivid imagination needed, no wonder the likes of Seve and Olazabal have won the tournament more than once each. I managed to play five rounds during the week, each time learning more and more. I didn't really keep score, more wanting to get a feel for the course and more importantly the greens. Hopefully, this will all hold me in good stead when I go back.

I love the history of the game of golf and being at Augusta was a huge treat. In the main clubhouse, just past the reception, is the Masters trophy. It's the same as the replica the champion gets each year but is around three foot in diameter, I always assumed the trophy used at the presentation was the original one but looking at the size of the original I don't blame them, it must weigh tons! Upstairs is the Champions locker room where all the past winners have a locker with a brass plaque with their name and year they won the tournament engraved on, it really is a who's who of golf. Up another flight of stairs gets you to the Crows Nest; this is where the amateurs stay the week of the tournament. Looking at the pictures on the walls up there of how it looked many years ago it really gave me an idea of the rich history of the club. The Grill room has three cabinets at one end where past champions over the years have given Augusta National a club. There was a 1 iron from Sandy Lyle, putters from Seve and Olazabal, a driver from Tiger...you get the picture. In the dining room is another cabinet with a set of clubs used by Bobby Jones during his grand slam year, so much history. Every room you go into has something of interest and I could go on all day. I was sorry to leave as we were made to feel so welcome and felt privileged to play the course, but I'll be back there in a few weeks for the big show. The Augusta National course was so peaceful this past week, not sure it'll be the same last group on Sunday tournament week... just hope I'm around to see it for myself.

After Augusta it was off to San Diego, I got there on Sunday night and after getting a taxi to my hotel and a good night's sleep I arrived at 9am the next morning at Scotty Cameron's Putter Studio. I waited for thirty minutes in reception which was slightly annoying but when Scott Hoch came out and introduced himself to me it wasn't so bad, he had been playing on the Champions tour the week before in Newport beach and told me he had had a bad week on the greens... I know that feeling so I didn't mind him squeezing in, I'll keep an eye on his next couple of results. Scotty wasn't actually there but I worked with Paul Vizanko, his senior fitting analyst. He filmed me putting and started by showing me my stroke in great detail thanks to the many high-speed cameras they use. Surprisingly he said my stroke was excellent, slight inside path just the way it should be and with a couple of tweaks to my set up it was looking really good, if I do say so myself. After that we looked at some different putter models and chatted about what I liked and disliked in putters. After trying many different models we chose a Newport Detour. After trying many different specifications of the same putter we got one that fitted me best. We altered the length, lie and loft until it was correct, Paul then took the putter and stamped my initials on the back of it. The final touch just to really make it mine was a change of paint to tiffany blue... it's now a one of a kind. (Check it out in my What's in the bag section)

Paul gave me a tour of the whole factory and it was great to see the different stages in building and finishing putters. This state of the art facility in San Marcos is used for custom and tour putters only, Scotty doesn't make putters, he makes works of art...no wonder some of his putters sell for $20,000! Before I left I had to sign the wall in the studio, all the tour players who have passed through have signed it so it was cool to be asked. I left with a couple of new head covers but more importantly peace of mind that my stroke is very good and my new putter is right for me.

Home for a few days then off to play in Madeira, I'm really looking forward to getting out to play and see if all my hard work over the last week and last couple of months will pay off. After that my plans have changed slightly, I won't be playing in Portugal as it makes it to difficult to get to the Masters and I want to give myself the best chance of playing well there.

I am also pleased to announce that I am the new Ambassador for the Newcastle School Sport Partnership; it is a great program that aims to raise participation and standards of achievement in PE and sport for all their 30,000 students. I am looking forward to meeting some of the children and hopefully will be able to encourage them to make sport part of their lives.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed questions, I really have been surprised by the interest. Keep the questions coming.