Unlike the previous, what seems like a million, years Vappu (or May Day) was on a Monday so we actually had a day off from work. And what better way to spend it than on the golf course with your buddies?
54 holes with no cuts, invitation only and no OWGR ranking points – sound familiar? That’s where the similarities end. There was no prize money at stake, no butchered journalist’s remains (at least visible) and Sihwan Kim . may have stood a chance.
Today’s journal is not going to be a blow by blow account, instead it covers some of the highlights, what made it fun, what made it challenging and any lessons learned.
The Weather
As is probably the same in every Northern European country the weather at the start of May can be unpredictable. It was not snowing, only rained a little bit, which was positive, but there was a reasonable wind all days and it was f**king cold for the most part.
The Drinking
Being a long weekend, with traditionally a lot of drinking, there was a lot of alcohol consumed over the first couple of days – though thankfully not on the golf course.
The Courses
On Saturday we played on the Forest course, on Sunday and Monday we played on the newly opened for the season Park.
The Format
On all days we played individual stableford. On Saturday were in a group of 12 people so we played a little tournament. What made that particularly interesting was we were given a ball to play with. I was the only one that made it through the round with it.
The Scores
I played OK for the first couple of days, and I would say well on Monday. Although I have been trying to accommodate the ideas in the “Hack it Out” podcast series to shoot constantly under 80 I failed over the weekend. However my scores were just over 80, the season has only just started and the weather, well, was what it was.
On Monday I shot a 2 over par 74, earning 37 points on stableford. This was with 2 doubles on the card, including the final hole. I did however hole out a bunker shot for an eagle in the round so I am not complaining.
The Learnings
Much like the opening weekend summary I was calm and did not get too emotional. I fought for bogies but still made quite a few doubles. Life goes on – it is not the end of the world.
Readers of this blog will have seen a few images of my J6 tracking. I will write more on this in the coming weeks but I feel that I need to tweak the system a bit. It is based on the Tiger 5 tracking but although it definitely measures the weak parts of the game it doesn’t really highlight the positives. Point in hand being Monday’s round. I had penalties, 3 putts and doubles on the card yet I was 4 under par for the par 5s. The verdict was the same as when I shot an 82/81 the previous days.
Overall a really fun weekend and I look forward to the next round: 4 man scramble at the official season opener at Pickala.
PS: Sihwan has a pretty decent record on the Asian Tour, it does seem a bit harsh to criticise his performances: however he has been performing like a mini-tour player (or worse) on LIV. Just saying! Any thoughts on that?