The gap year of golf! Why the DP World Tour should be cherished…
Let’s forget the quest for money for a moment, says NCG’s Matt Chivers, and focus on the magic and the memories offered by golf’s most global circuit…
You’ve saved a pot of coins ready to take around the world with your parents subsiding the vast majority of your airfares, hostels and pedalos.
You’ve always fancied Australia. Who hasn’t? But an authentic safari in South Africa has always been at the top of your bucket list too.
Why not head to Brisbane, nip over to Johannesburg, and then return to Sydney to start your expedition with a bang?
You loved South Africa so much though, so let’s head back and discover Joburg all over again, followed by Malelane.
There’s only one way to see out the first portion of your travel log, and that’s on the stunning island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
Now imagine embarking on this exact journey, but playing golf along the way. May I introduce the Opening Swing on the DP World Tour?
On this staggering circuit, you play golf in every corner of the planet and this was evident in its first portion before the turn of the year.
It is the gap year of golf tours.
It’s the tour for the explorers of the game – the ones with their clubs in a duffel bag and a guitar bursting out the top.
It’s the tour of dreadlocks underneath the golf cap, and campfire singers. It’s where you ‘find yourself’ and discover the ‘true meaning of life’.
You adapt to every terrain, every grass type. Hard sand, fluffy sand. You’ve survived near-death experiences in heinous hazards full of deadly wildlife, and now you can make a score from anywhere.
Sure. You get the Scottie Schefflers and Patrick Cantlays who go straight into work from university. They’re earning the big bucks, and good luck to them.
The United States has the undoubted lure of cash and some of your acquaintances have taken placements within a new Saudi-funded initiative too.
But will they see what Thorbjorn Olesen has seen at Amata Spring in Thailand? Or will they ever boast a scrapbook like Jorge Campillo’s from Nairobi?
Even Max Homa, one of the richest office junkies around, took unpaid leave (very much PAID leave) to discover Sun City at the end of 2023.
You’ve lived, and I can think of no better way to summarise golf’s global tour.
Money? Forget it. That will come and go. The best things in life are priceless.
The DP World Tour’s new itinerary has shown that when you stop and take in the view, there is no other place like it, and that’s what should be celebrated.
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Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spent time with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
