Never Give Up

For this post I would say it is going to be more about me getting things off my chest, putting things out there and I guess also updating those of you who are always interested in my progress, or lack of it as my scores and results would suggest. I am also hoping this post can help anyone struggling at the moment, not just in sport but in life, the mix of emotions I have felt over the last eight months I am sure many can relate to. I’m currently sat in the cheapest Air BnB I could find having just finished my dinner and beginning to write this post. I suppose you could say this is proof that just because you’re a European Tour professional golfer it doesn’t mean you are living the life of luxery, in fact, if you’re struggling you find yourself at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. Most guys stay on site or in player hotels but if the purse strings are tight it’s more about saving the money to keep going which is fine, but, it does mean you spend a large amount of time in your own company. I have to be honest, as someone who tends to over think things and has a tendency of searching for perfection spending time in your own company is less than ideal.

Anyway, before I go off topic, the main motivation for this post was to discuss the extreme high of getting my tour card to then the enormous struggle that is following. For me tour school is a stretch I will always remember, it was 14 rounds of my favourite kind of golf, rounds under pressure. I was totally aware that the reality of the situation was that if I didn’t make it to final stage I was going to be in my view, taking a step backwards which is something I hate doing. I had that motivation but also the motivation of those who had lost belief in me and started to doubt me and I feel that is a dangerous combination. By the end of November I was a European tour member ready to get out there and attack. 

I don’t need anyone to tell me that things aren’t quite going that way, 12 missed cuts in a row is all the proof you need. However, there have been moments in there where I have played well and just not got the results I have wanted. Don’t get me wrong, there have been rounds there where I’ve wanted to curl up into a ball and just dissapear but that’s just not in my make up. For as long as I can remember I have been told to never give up, it doesn’t matter how tough it gets, never ever give up on what you want. I remember a week before the British amateur in 2016 I was texting my dad, we were chatting about having just missed the cut at the St Andrews Links and I said something along the lines of, it doesn’t matter I’ll just go out and win the British next week... and I did. It’s constant reinforcement to me that if you stick at it, the break is only round the corner. It’s like the image we have all seen of the two cartoon guys mining for gold. One turns away and gives up while the other continues, not knowing how close he was to getting through to the gold. You just can never give up, you keep going until you have nothing left and that’s what I will continue to do.

Along the road so far I’ve been through many different emotions and that is partly the reason I have been quiet on social media for a while. It became too much of a distraction for me, there is plenty of positivity from most but there’s a select few that seem to take pride in trolling you. So I took that particular hobby away from them for a while, I’m sure they found someone else to move on to though. This brings me nicely onto my next bit of advice; don’t judge yourself by what others think of you, for every person that tells you how great you are there’s a long line of those who want to put you down. It’s hilarious to me that someone can call into question my work ethic because I posted a picture of the view from a players lounge, or how someone can make an uneducated comment on my S&C when they’re not an expert. People are willing to pick things out of everything you do, it appears we live in a society full of people that enjoy others failings so I do my best to not take it to heart. Unfortunately the people who put you down or say nasty things are more than likely the people that have failed but GAVE UP, now they want to see everyone else fail. However, look at the most successful people in the world, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan you name them, they’ve all failed thousands of times, it’s important to know that failing is what helps you get to the highest level. To the people that have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all!

I’m now playing the next five weeks and am looking forward to making some progress in my game, mind and body. This week was massive for me, it’s the first week I’ve gone out there and played to a solid game plan that is based around hitting driver on every hole I would have hit it a year ago. I feel I’ve spent too much time trying to avoid the driver as it’s been my main area for improvement and this week I committed to it. Admittedly the first round it went the wrong way, I hit many loose tee shots but I did stick to that plan and then by the back nine in round two I got it going again. I ended up in a position where if a couple of putts had have been half an inch closer to the hole I would have birdied the last 6 to make it on the mark. However it wasnt to be and I'll settle for 4 of the last 5 holes to carry some momentum into next week.

I've had a lot of questions asked and comments made, some about performance and some about the state of areas of my game. Am I worried? Absolutely not... am I questioning my ability? Absolutely not... do I think I can still reach the top of the game? Absolutely, if I didn't I would have hung up my clubs months ago. I'm still working as hard as is possible, spending hours grinding on my game, making every shot count and having a clear purpose to my practice. I know that my hard work will be rewarded before long, and I'll start the long road to the top of the game, a road I am looking forward to walking along.

The take away from this post? You have to keep the intensity up, keep working hard and never give up on your dream! I wont and neither should you,

Scott