Duckster
Tour Rookie
Right then, straight out of the box, a huge thanks to Golf Monthly, Footjoy and also Lee Westwood! Great day!
Soooo. Drove down the M6 car park on Monday (few beers near Guildford) as was an early start.
Tuesday morning arrives and I thought I'd rather be earlier than later, so expecting "southern" traffic I gave myself a good 90 mins to get there. Took 35. Still, I was met by the pro (really nice chap) who showed me where to get a brew. Must admit, Royal Wimbledon is a great set up. Club house is a wonderful mix of the historical side of the club, yet mixes it with a very modern feel.
Rob (winner from Twitter) and Dave (Curls) also rocked up quite early so we had chance to meet each other before the day really started.
We were soon off the see the Footjoy lads (and Mike, tip tapping away on his lapi, wondering why he follows Everton rather then the mighty non-league Charnock Richard FC, but that's another thread entirely
) Anyway, back on point.
The shoes. Spikeless. I hold my hand up, don't think I've ever been a fan. Fail to see how they can offer the stability and grip of normal spiked shoes. Well, that opinion got thrown out of the window after we'd also played 18 holes. Mike mentioned that they are his main playing shoe, I can understand why. Very solid (if that's the right word) feel on the course, with great grip and were comfy from the first step.
We also got fully kitted out with the Footjoy apparel, all outfits fully colour coordinated with mine being a white / green look with blue trousers. Look good play good. Know what I'll be wearing for our Presidents Prize this weekend!
Once we'd been suited and booted, it was of to the range for a golf clinic with "Westy". First surprise was seeing a Tour player carry his own bag. Even for just a few yards buggy to range tee. Billy had better watch out. Quick few wedges to warm up and then he got stuck in. It was a nice, relaxed clinic. Westy went through set up, alignment, ball position. All the time he was answering any question from the group that was thrown at him. Played shots to order, including sticking a drive, into wind, straight over the trees at the end of the range. This lad can play! He even gave a few tips for where amatuers go wrong in these area's and how to improve your game (PRACTISE!)
Managed to get a few pics including the now standard selfie.
Once that was done, we left Westy to do some other filming stuff and Rob, Dave and me headed out for our 18 holes of golf. Royal Wimbledon is a really nice track. The greens were perfect, fast and true and the general condition of the course was top notch. We even saw, this is no word of a lie, one of the green keepers tidying up some scruffy grass on the 1st fairway with hand scissors!!! Rob played well and managed to get a few birdies in. Dave, again very steady. Personally I played like a drunken octopus, 1 good hole, 1 bad kind of thing. Company was great though and we pretty much managed to miss the expected rain apart from one very brief downpour.
After a great day we all departed, in fact the only downside was that I get stuck in the traffic for the coach fire on the M40, fortunately no one injured, so only got back in at 10pm.
Small price for a day that money couldn't buy! Loved every minute of it!
Soooo. Drove down the M6 car park on Monday (few beers near Guildford) as was an early start.
Tuesday morning arrives and I thought I'd rather be earlier than later, so expecting "southern" traffic I gave myself a good 90 mins to get there. Took 35. Still, I was met by the pro (really nice chap) who showed me where to get a brew. Must admit, Royal Wimbledon is a great set up. Club house is a wonderful mix of the historical side of the club, yet mixes it with a very modern feel.
Rob (winner from Twitter) and Dave (Curls) also rocked up quite early so we had chance to meet each other before the day really started.
We were soon off the see the Footjoy lads (and Mike, tip tapping away on his lapi, wondering why he follows Everton rather then the mighty non-league Charnock Richard FC, but that's another thread entirely
) Anyway, back on point. The shoes. Spikeless. I hold my hand up, don't think I've ever been a fan. Fail to see how they can offer the stability and grip of normal spiked shoes. Well, that opinion got thrown out of the window after we'd also played 18 holes. Mike mentioned that they are his main playing shoe, I can understand why. Very solid (if that's the right word) feel on the course, with great grip and were comfy from the first step.
We also got fully kitted out with the Footjoy apparel, all outfits fully colour coordinated with mine being a white / green look with blue trousers. Look good play good. Know what I'll be wearing for our Presidents Prize this weekend!
Once we'd been suited and booted, it was of to the range for a golf clinic with "Westy". First surprise was seeing a Tour player carry his own bag. Even for just a few yards buggy to range tee. Billy had better watch out. Quick few wedges to warm up and then he got stuck in. It was a nice, relaxed clinic. Westy went through set up, alignment, ball position. All the time he was answering any question from the group that was thrown at him. Played shots to order, including sticking a drive, into wind, straight over the trees at the end of the range. This lad can play! He even gave a few tips for where amatuers go wrong in these area's and how to improve your game (PRACTISE!)
Managed to get a few pics including the now standard selfie.
Once that was done, we left Westy to do some other filming stuff and Rob, Dave and me headed out for our 18 holes of golf. Royal Wimbledon is a really nice track. The greens were perfect, fast and true and the general condition of the course was top notch. We even saw, this is no word of a lie, one of the green keepers tidying up some scruffy grass on the 1st fairway with hand scissors!!! Rob played well and managed to get a few birdies in. Dave, again very steady. Personally I played like a drunken octopus, 1 good hole, 1 bad kind of thing. Company was great though and we pretty much managed to miss the expected rain apart from one very brief downpour.
After a great day we all departed, in fact the only downside was that I get stuck in the traffic for the coach fire on the M40, fortunately no one injured, so only got back in at 10pm.
Small price for a day that money couldn't buy! Loved every minute of it!
