Posted on: 24 September
Another month has just flown by on the European Legends Tour. I’ve played in another 4 countries and now have more frequent flyer miles than Santa!
No time for my passport to gather dust: one week off after the event in Zambia and it was time to get on a plane to India. The weather in New Delhi at this time of year is bordering on unbearable……….. especially for a bunch of old touring pros. I’ve played golf in a lot of places, and in some tough conditions, but the warm temperatures combined with 100% humidity made it a significant challenge. I had a poor start to the event but a solid final round helped me to climb up the leaderboard to finish around middle of the pack.
Next it was back to the land of croissants and champagne. A 1.30am flight from Delhi to Paris and then a two hour drive north to the town of Le Touquet. I arrived in time for some breakfast, followed by the domestic task of laundry. After all that I was ready for bed and some much needed rest. The cooler weather in Le Touquet was a welcome change but a severe thunderstorm appeared from nowhere which literally had us all running for cover on the first day of play. The course is a rugged yet pretty golf course and it tested all parts of your game. I played okay and had another solid week on tour.
The event in France finished on the Saturday instead of the usual Sunday which meant that I had the luxury of taking a flight to Malaga in Spain at a respectable time. Unfortunately, my suitcase had different ideas and decided to stay in Paris for one more day. Travelling every week delayed baggage is bound to happen every now and again. I picked up my car and drove along the Mediterranean coast for a couple hours to Almerimar, the site of the next tournament. The views were spectacular. For the first two rounds the wind blew up to 60kph making good scoring very difficult. Tough to convince yourself to hit a wedge when you have 170m to the flag!! The wind abated somewhat on the final day, scoring became a lot easier, and I managed to finish with a nice round and a decent overall result.
Next stop – Berlin. Held at the Winston Golf course (about halfway between Hamburg and Berlin) the event is a favourite amongst the pros. There are two links style courses to choose from and we play each course every other year. I played well for the week but after 4 events in a row I am definitely looking forward to a few weeks off. After the final round, I had a quick lunch, packed the clubs away, and jumped in the car for the 3 hour drive back to Berlin to catch my flight back to Perth.
I now have four weeks off to recharge the batteries, make some minor equipment changes, and prepare for another 4 weeks on the road. As well as getting a chance to relax it also means I will be back on the range at Wembley Golf Course and available for lessons which will be a change of pace and a lot of fun. To book a lesson visit Michaellonggolf.com and I look forward to seeing you at Wembley Golf Course.
