The Road to Alwoodley – Week 8: And relax
Preparing for the Brabazon Trophy: Week 3
Monday April 15
Days until the first round: 44
Inspired by Tiger’s Masters win I am up at 5.45am and train for an hour in the local park, take the kids to nursery and then go and practice my pitching for an hour before arriving for an 8.30 meeting at 9.15.
In the evening I am in the gym to do my speed work, which involves doing the exercise in the clip below. The guy on the treadmill is genuinely my back surgeon.
This is called a banded plate lunge. As well as looking like I t*t. I am doing it wrong. The man on the treadmill is a back surgeon. I like to have one on hand. pic.twitter.com/iGIinBFu07
— Tom Irwin (@TomIrwingolf) April 16, 2019
Tuesday April 16
Have a golf lesson in the afternoon so think it might be prudent to do some long game stuff before work. Bump into the reader of this blog on the range. He inquires if I am a trained journalist or not. I take this as a positive. I get back to my 10 draws and 10 fades and conclude that I am stuck between patterns so I go to the office.
Golf lesson is mixed. Jack says, “This is the best you have ever played, isn’t it?” He then goes on to say, “Good job you came for a lesson as you were on the road to some bad golf.” I have no idea what to make of this so we do a pitching test on Trackman which says I am off 4 – 10 shots worse than the lowest handicap in the Brabazon Trophy.
We go outside to work on bunkers. I tell Jack I do not want to reinvent the wheel. He tells me I should have a square stance and try and decelerate. These are entirely new concepts to me and I knife a couple of flop shots so far that Jack refuses to fetch the balls back.
I book in for 2 hours next week.
Wednesday April 17
Back at the range this morning, and The Reader is there again. Wonder if this is getting a bit weird but decide I like being famous and peel off a record 7 in the 9-shot drill.
This afternoon I am up against a chap called Damian in the handicap knockout, I am giving him 22 shots.
He can’t really reach the fairways and I play most of the round with a 4-iron but I am still buoyed by seeing him off 3&2. The game ends when he fails to remove himself from a cross bunker, we shake hands while standing in the bunker. He seems delighted.
In the clubhouse there is some chatter about my forthcoming Brabazon Trophy entry. Someone I have never met describes me as “the main man”. This is getting out of hand. On the drive home I wonder how you secure your own image rights.
Thursday April 18
I assume we will be finishing work early as it is bank holiday. So it is a bit embarrassing when I leave at 3pm and everyone is still working.
Have two hours before I am due home and have a lot to get through. Par 18 goes well (20), 9-shot drill also goes well (6.5). I head to the range but The Reader is there again, so I back away and head to the golf course.
I play a game called ‘Deliberate Miss’ that Karl has given me, this involves playing golf on your own and deliberately missing greens with your approach. It is supposed to have lots of benefits, help you build resilience, consider the best miss and prepare you for off days. It just feels like golf to me, and I am five from six on up and downs until I forget what I am doing on 17 and hit it stiff.
Drive back past the office and people are still working. Feel bad, so send some motivational WhatsApp messages.
Friday April 19: Have a brutal hangover after an overly refreshing dinner with our ‘village friends’. They don’t play golf, but they are alright I supposed
To punish myself I go for a run at 5am, and then head to the gym for some more speed work at 6. I am on the practice area at Scarcroft by 8 ahead of a few holes with two colleagues. Start dreadfully as I am exhausted and hungover, but rally and make two birdies to be level for the nine holes. I bounce home celebrating my ingrained resilience. Cheers Karl.
That afternoon we have a BBQ for 20 people at my house which I had arranged while over refreshed the night before so I am asleep before my toddlers.
Saturday/Sunday April 19/20
Spent almost entirely paddling in a stream in North Yorkshire or eating ice cream. It is exhausting.
Monday April 21
Have arranged an Easter Monday knock with my friend Charles at Ganton. He really wants us to play properly so we set off from the white tees pretending it is important. This suits me and a bouncy, frazzled course suits me too.
I am out here doing it, hitting the right shots, using shape to take distance off, not being phased by bad bounces or missed putts and am under par until I get the giggles and fat it off the 14th tee.
Things sort of fizzle out from there but it is still my best ever Ganton effort. Charles says, “You are playing so far within yourself I can barely recognise you.”
That is good, right?
Anyway see you next week. Unless you want to follow me on Twitter. I’m on there all the time…
Missed week 2 of my preparation for the Brabazon? It’s on the next page…
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
