I had a great day before I flew out to Madrid with the
Newcastle School Sports Partnership and the Golf
Foundations Golf Roots day at Benfield School. There
were 100 school kids playing Tri-Golf, they all had a
great time and were very enthusiastic about playing
golf. You never know we may have had some future
professionals making their first swings!
The two events in Madrid and Portugal were my last two
on the European Tour this season and were
disappointing as I missed the cut at both events. It
has been a frustrating year as I have been striking
the ball very well but not converting this into great
results, for my long-term plan I am happy with the
improvements I have made to my swing and am pleased
with the changes I have made to my equipment.
I have spent the last two weeks playing and practising
as I am going to US Q-School next week. It is
something I have wanted to do for a couple of years
and with my exemption on the European Tour
guaranteeing my playing rights in Europe until the end
of 2010 I thought this was the right time for me to
try. I have qualified through to the 2nd stage of the
qualifying school and will play at Lake Jovita near
Tampa in Florida. The tournament will be from the
14-17th of November. I enjoy playing in America and am
hoping that it will be a successful trip, my regular
caddy Davey is coming too, so that will be an
advantage. He knows what I like and what I don't and
he knows what clubs I hit from certain yardages. We
are also looking forward to a trip to Appleby's for
spicy chicken wings and blue cheese sauce; this became
a favourite on our trips to Augusta last year.
One game I played with some friends at Matfen Hall and
Mel who is the centre forward for Newcastle Women's
Football club, in her 8th game of golf she managed to have
57 stableford points!!!! If she decides to stop
playing football and take up golf seriously I think
she will get a handicap and a low one very quickly.
This time of year is also very busy as I am
negotiating sponsorship deals and looking for new
sponsors as well as ordering new clothes and equipment
for the 2008 season as regardless if I am in America
or Europe I will need everything in place before
Christmas as I will be back out on tour in the second
week of January.
I will update the site and let you know how I get on
at 2nd stage and hopefully will tell you all about my
plans for final stage in Orlando