You’re heading to Q School where, hopefully, you’ll be playing six rounds but how do you stay sane and focused?
Over 150 players compete across six gruelling days at Infinitum in Spain. Of course, the practice facilities will be busy, as will the local restaurants and bars.
The competitors need downtime and places to spend it, and some will need it for six days if they make the 72-hole cut in pursuit of DP World Tour status.
There are only so many chips you can hit or drills you can run through on the driving range. Surely players will want to avoid over-action outside of the ropes. But how else is there to spend time? What company would you assign to your entourage?
The NCG team took this on and revealed their pearls of wisdom if it were them competing for a coveted spot on the formerly-named European Tour.
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DP World Tour Q School golf week: How would you fill your time?
Dan: Chipping and putting, chipping and putting, chipping and putting. That’s what will make the difference and that’s what needs to be really sharp. That’s the theory.
In reality, I’d be determined to sort out, once and for all, why it is that the occasional driver goes high and (very) right. Then I’d be obsessing on a new move that would change my ball flight forever. All this in mid-tournament. I doubt it would end well. Which is why I typed this from an office in Leeds rather than at Infinitum.
Joe: I’m sure it would be different if I played golf for a living but I like the idea and seem to be pretty good at letting it go once I’ve finished playing. I’d want to have a couple of mates there to spend the evenings with. We wouldn’t be spending every night in a Spanish nightclub but I’m a big fan of eating at decent restaurants and having a few drinks so I think that’s what I’d spend most of my time doing.
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Other than that, I’d be obsessing about whichever area let me down the day before.
Steve: Lads, lads, lads. Am I right? I actually think getting the off-course stuff right is even harder than what happens on the course. A week in a goldfish bowl, under that kind of pressure, you need something to stave off the madness or it’s a sure-fire 75 right when you don’t need it.
Infinitum’s pretty chilled at this time of year, most of the beach set have gone home, so there are fewer distractions. I’d probably be like most of the footballers – a PlayStation and a week’s worth of unwatched box sets. That and an infrequent refreshment.
My verdict: I’d worry about taking a good mate, or any sort of loose friend, out with me as a) he’d probably want to go out and drink, and b) we might burn ourselves out chat-wise by day two. I think I’d fly solo, get a push trolley and do it all old school. A bite to eat a few nights with a couple of peers would be ideal, all low-key and with nobody that would do my head in too much. There would be plenty of negative energy knocking about with just me.
Otherwise, it would be my Headspace app and a box set of the Sopranos.
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