A Touring Life: Golf Blog 2
Englishman Lee Heaton gives an update on life playing on mini-tours in the USA in his monthly golf blog
A Touring Life: Golf Blog 2
It has been a month since I landed Stateside to begin the season touring the US playing mini-tour golf and PGA Tour qualifiers. Practice on the whole has been positive and I am really encouraged by the work I have been doing in the gym.
Unfortunately, there hasn't been much in the way of success on the golf so far. The first event of the year was held at The Palmetto Hall Plantation, on the Robert Cupp course, Hilton Head Island. With wet and windy conditions I never really got going. There were some positives to take away with a few stretches of solid golf but it was my driving that let me down on a very penal course off the tee and I wound up at +12 for the two rounds.
The second event was at nearby Callawassie Island, Okatie, South Carolina. A beautiful course with greens in excess of 12 on the stimp-meter. Again, I was unable to use the British-like conditions to my advantage, and although being -1 through the first 7 holes of my round, I stumbled to another missed cut. So 2 missed cuts to begin the season, not the start I wanted but positives to take and a lot to work on.
For the two weeks I stayed with a host family. The Egolf tour sometimes does this so we can save a little cash on hotel rooms and also it is a great opportunity to meet new people. Luckily, I played in the event last year so I had pre-arranged the same family as last year. I had a lovely time but it is now time to crack on again.
This Friday I am heading to the Golf Club of Georgia to visit the PING nFlight centre. I will be custom fit for clubs as I look to revamp my whole bag. The reason I am doing this is quite simple. I am due, and also I want to be able to maximise everything to my advantage, gaining optimum performance from my personal specifications.
I will report back in soon with an update of my equipment. My next event is the Cowans Ford Open, held at Cowans Ford CC, Stanley, North Carolina. The event will begin on the 26th March.
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Lee was a freelance writer for Golf Monthly from 2013 to 2015.