Tom's August 2023 update
Tom reflects on his performance during the Challenge Tour and Clutch Tour.
August has been a productive month for me, with various events in what is pretty much the peak season. I was off for the first week, practicing and working hard at my game before playing Challenge Tour in Scotland, then Finland and finally a Clutch Tour event at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire.
In terms of the week off, there was some pretty poor Manx weather! But thankfully I was able to get a significant amount of practice in indoors and I left the island to go to Newmachar in Aberdeen in great spirits and feeling ready to compete. Things, inevitably, didn’t go to plan even though it’s a golf course I really like. I hit the ball fairly poorly considering the work I had done and where I felt like my game would be.
On to Finland and with a slightly different perspective on how and what to work on with my ball striking, I felt rejuvenated after the deflation of Scotland. This made a world of difference and I hit the ball brilliantly. Uncharacteristically, but typically of the game of golf, my putting then disappeared and after a late bogey on Friday I missed the cut by a shot. Again, this was another kick in the teeth but genuinely I was encouraged by this change in my long game as I know my putting won’t be off for very long!
I then moved on to Frilford Heath to play Clutch Tour. I had a strong first day, shooting -6 to sit in 3rd place, but a challenging second day of +4 dropped me back. I made the cut and improved on my first-round score on the last day by shooting -7 and moving up to 12th. Golf is very much a game of if’s and but’s, but with the winner shooting a total score of -13, my 20 birdies should have been enough to put me right in the mix at the top of the leaderboard. If I can cut out some of the mistakes, I am definitely making enough chances to get back in the winner’s circle.
Looking forward, it’s hard to tell which Challenge Tour events I will play now until the end of the season, but I have various other options available to me and then Q School which I hope to have another successful run in, as this sets you up for the following season.