New Beginnings

This post is going to cover two things that have happened recently that I know a lot of people wanted to hear about. I’m going to start with the obvious one, over in LA, a place where things just aren’t normal. Everything is like being in a dream world and I can see why so many people flock to be there, I mean, I would go back in a heartbeat. The weather is incredible along with the people you meet and the places you get to see.

I have been incredibly fortunate recently, I was in LA for the US Amateur and stayed with two lovely people who looked after me well. One an actress and the other a TV Show Producer, and both were incredibly interesting people that I loved instantly. The stories they have and the people they have spent time with are things you can only dream of being able to do. I stayed in their lovely home in their guest house, this is where I found out I would be returning shortly to play in the 46^th Walker Cup match. I couldn’t wait.

I was home a week and I must admit, it felt like a day. I had a meal or two with my girlfriend Sian and I had barely told my family the stories of LA before I was heading to Heathrow to meet with the team. This was an unusual trip for me, and not because it was for the Walker Cup. It was because I was going to be staying in the Sofitel T5 as appose to the usual Travelodge, and then in the morning I would fly Premium Business as appose to Economy, an experience I won’t forget. I’m actually writing this from an economy seat en route to Portugal, but we’ll cover that later. However, I can’t tell you how much I’m missing that premium business seat.

There are many highlights I could talk about to this trip, from the seats, to the VIP Universal Studios Tour and the magnificent Beverly Hilton Hotel. I am only going to pick a few though, the ones that for me tell the story of my Walker Cup.

The first one for me must be from in the Sofitel hotel, a meeting with the team at 17:30 in one of the many meeting rooms. Most of us arrived late from being lost in the hotel but when we arrived, what was inside made us all appreciate what we had achieved. Ten Walker Cup bags lined up on a table, each individually named with the logos on, it was incredible. A feeling I will likely not feel again until I manage to make the Ryder Cup later in my career. It was incredible. One by one, with a camera capturing every moment, we went up to collect our bags presented by our captain Andy Ingram. His speech is what touched us all though, his passion for the week evident but more importantly his respect to Craig Watson who had to step down. The whole team was saddened to hear about his family illness and I know we all were wishing him well. Andy made an incredible captain for the week and really got us all ready for the challenge. Thank you Andy.

The next thing for me was when we arrived at the golf course, the magnificent LA Country Club. I was fortunate enough to get to see the course two weeks earlier but it looked even better now, the greens soft but fast and the grass manicured to perfection all around the property. I could start to feel the buzz coming and I’d be lying if the first tee shot hadn’t crossed my mind already. Into the clubhouse we went and to start the week we had an area in the mens locker room which was great. Later in the week though we were given our team room, the ladies locker room. Everybody was treated like royalty in there, shoes cleaned, clubs put in order and food cooked to perfection. We had two Tv’s with different sports channels on and a speaker we had brought in to play motivational music on. It was our home for the week. Pictures of past Walker Cup Winning teams circled the dining table, Nigel Edwards seemed to feature in most, but we knew who we had to follow. It really was an inspiring place to be and something that stands out for me.

The final thing I want to talk about is the shot every one of us had thought about. Our first tee shot at the Walker Cup. Now we had already been told that record crowds were expected and the first tee shot is actually fairly straight forward, but with thousands surrounding the tee, it looks a tad narrower. The biggest talking point the night before the first round was where the tee would be. LACC has great movability with the tee boxes where the first can play as a long par 4 or a par 5 from the putting green…. Yes the putting green.

All of us were wondering if the putting green would be used for the first session, who would be the first person to take a nervy divot on the practice swing? It was a unique experience and I couldn’t wait. Jack Singh-Brar and myself had played a successful foursomes game earlier in the week so I knew I would be taking the first tee shot. I had practiced it all week, but not how you would imagine. Every time I went on the range I worked on hitting a 5 yard fade but every time I hit the first tee shot I would aim right and hit a 15 yard draw, I knew what I wanted to do but I couldn’t picture it properly.

The time had arrived and I was just preparing to walk to the tee. They had chosen not to use the putting green which I think was a wise move. Captain Andy was there along with hundreds of spectators and he asked how I felt? I felt good, I was nervous of course but I would be worried if I wasn’t to be honest. I said to Andy ‘Once you’ve hit the first tee shot at Augusta in the middle of the fairway everything else seems easy’. I think it was my way of calming myself because I was nervous. It came time to hit the tee shot and I pictured the first hole at Augusta, the 5 yard fade I hit in April, to this day the best tee shot I’ve ever hit. All week I had hit that draw but now I wanted the fade. I set up down the left half and pulled the trigger, a nice mid flight fade to the heart of the fairway. My walker cup was off.

I enjoyed a great week at the Walker Cup and played some good golf. I was outplayed by Maverick McNealy who is an amazing competitor and an even better person but it was Sunday afternoon that prompted my next move. 2 down with 2 to play I had a 35 footer that I had to make, and I did. I then followed it with a 7 footer on the last to square the match and for me, that proved something. It showed me that I have the game under the pressure to compete and that I felt I was ready to take the next step. I think had that 35 footer not have dropped I may have waited until after the County Finals with Hampshire to turn and give myself a chance to leave on a high but something about the weekend convinced me otherwise.

Today I turned professional and right away I got a sense of life on tour. I was having a normal day, gym at 6:30 and at the course by 8:30. I putted until 11:30 and then checked my emails. Sunday night I had moved to 4^th reserve for the Portuguese Masters on the European Tour and now I was first reserve. I asked some people who know about the tour and they felt I would get in and suggested going home to look up flights and hotels. By the time I was home and booking a flight I was called to say I’m in. So within 4 hours of getting the call I was in the departure lounge at Luton waiting for my flight. The flight ended up being delayed nearly 2:30 hours but I can tell you now, my adrenaline is keeping me going. I can’t to tee it up and get my pro career underway. What a week!!

Scott