HawkeyeMS
Ryder Cup Winner
I'm back on home soil after what can only be described as an absolulutely Phenomenal time on the Footjoy Mystery Tour.
This might be a long post so if you're not interested, I apologise in advance.
As I was landing in Dublin it occurred to me for the 1st time that I had absolutley no idea what was about to happen. The taxi driver was there waiting with a Footjoy sign with my name written under it so that was step one negotiated and it wasn't long before I was in my room at the magnificent Carton House. It truely is a stunning location and it's no surprise that it is often used as a training camp by football teams such as Real Madrid and the Ireland Rugby team.
Whe I arrived it was raining, not heavy but that horribly persistent drizzle that never looks like it is going to stop. I decided that since I had time to kill I would wander over to the golf club and see if I could get a game, it was raining but opportunities like this don't come around too aften so I wanted to make the most of it. The guy in the shop took me through to the bar and introduced me to Russ the Footjoy marketing manager and his assistant Dave who invited me to join them on the Montgomery course at 16:20.
The Monty course is a great course, even in the rain, quite long at 6800ish yards of the Whites and as far as I could tell there was a much sand as there was fairway, there are bunkers everywhere and being a links style course they are proper bunkers, many with steps to get into them and many I had a lot of trouble getting out of. Getting out of bunkers a couple of feet deep isn't usually a problem for me but these were a whole new experience and I found out very quickly that I don't have the skills to negotiate 10ft high ones (another thing to work on
) Russ and Dave, both good 6 h'cappers gave me something of a lesson Russ going round in 3 over, just pipping Dave by a shot. I was pretty pleased with the way I played, I was 14 over but the bunkers accounted for 3 or 4 of those shots so all i all not too bad. After the round I had a quick shower and went back down to the clubhouse to meet up with Neil Tappin, RickG and Murph who were already well into the Guinness (or Smithwick's in Rick's case). I've never met either before but it was a pleasure to do so and all 3 were great company. We headed off to bed around midnight to get some kip before the big event on Friday.
We met at 9:15 on Friday morning and were taken over the the Titleist Performance Institute where the Richard Fryer(?), who I believe is the Sales and Marketing Director of Footjoy Europe (at the age of 29) was waiting for us. Richard is a great guy and really looked after us. We were given a Polo shirt, waterproof top, belt, socks and glove to change into and then we went through the fitting process. Murph was the first non Footjoy staff member ever to try on the revolutionary shoes. I'm not really sure how much I'm allowed to say about them so for the moment I'll leave it that we were all agreed that they look great, are very comfortable and do exactly what the are supposed to. Following the fitting we got to hit a few balls, I was happily smashing a 910 D2 (I want one) down the range and Rick was drooling over an AP2 6 iron when Padraig walked in. I'm not sure how long he'd been there but he'd clearly been watching as he commented that my right heal was slightly off the floor at address. He asked me to hit another ball so the others could see which I did and although slightly nervous I sent another ball sailing straight out into the range. He asked if I had been working on not straightening my right leg, which I had been all last year so that was obviously the reason but it must be a subconcious thing because I had no idea I was doing it and Harrington is the first person to ever point it out. Luckily he said it wan't a problem so I'll just keep doing it.
I think Paddy was impressed by what he saw from the 3 of us, he asked Richard if there was a h'cap limit on this competition or wheter they had just hand selected some low h'cappers and commented on how good our swings looked (he could of course have been saying it to make us feel better but I don't think he was)
I must admit I was expecting to be nervous in Padraig presence but he seems to have this ability to make everyone around him feel at ease. It's been said a lot of times but he is genuinely a really top guy. He was quite happy to chat with us, talked about what was great about the new shoe and then went out on the range to hit a few balls before we did our question and answer session which was great. Padraig (pronounced Porrig by most of Ireland but Pordrig by his Mum) speaks so enthusiastically about the game of golf and as expected answered our questions in detail and we also added some impromptu ones which he was more than happy to answer. It seemed like we were there for ages but it was probably about 10 minutes, and I got the impression Padraig would have been happy to stand there and talk for hours. It was at this point Padraig agreed to give Homer a call, what an absolute star.
After this we had a few more photos taken in the hotel with Padraig and then watched his clinic in which he went through the whole golf swing in an uncomplicated manor and handed out some great tips. Again his enthuisiasm for the game shines through, it's so infectious just talking to him or listening to him makes you feel like a better player.
A quick bite to eat and then we were out on the course. It was a best 2 from 4 team comp and which there were flashes of brilliance from all of us we all had a troubles as well, mine were back in those damn bunkers which seemed to have multiplied over night but I also started to get tired towards the end and hit some horrible shots. We ended up turning in a very mediocre 72 pts but we all enjoyed it none the less. Tom the GM photographer walked round with us for 14 holes so I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures he took of the 4 of us in action.
And that was that, what a fantatic couple of days. I really can't thank GM, Footjoy and Padraig enough, we really couldn't have asked for anything more, it was an incredible experience.
This might be a long post so if you're not interested, I apologise in advance.
As I was landing in Dublin it occurred to me for the 1st time that I had absolutley no idea what was about to happen. The taxi driver was there waiting with a Footjoy sign with my name written under it so that was step one negotiated and it wasn't long before I was in my room at the magnificent Carton House. It truely is a stunning location and it's no surprise that it is often used as a training camp by football teams such as Real Madrid and the Ireland Rugby team.
Whe I arrived it was raining, not heavy but that horribly persistent drizzle that never looks like it is going to stop. I decided that since I had time to kill I would wander over to the golf club and see if I could get a game, it was raining but opportunities like this don't come around too aften so I wanted to make the most of it. The guy in the shop took me through to the bar and introduced me to Russ the Footjoy marketing manager and his assistant Dave who invited me to join them on the Montgomery course at 16:20.
The Monty course is a great course, even in the rain, quite long at 6800ish yards of the Whites and as far as I could tell there was a much sand as there was fairway, there are bunkers everywhere and being a links style course they are proper bunkers, many with steps to get into them and many I had a lot of trouble getting out of. Getting out of bunkers a couple of feet deep isn't usually a problem for me but these were a whole new experience and I found out very quickly that I don't have the skills to negotiate 10ft high ones (another thing to work on
) Russ and Dave, both good 6 h'cappers gave me something of a lesson Russ going round in 3 over, just pipping Dave by a shot. I was pretty pleased with the way I played, I was 14 over but the bunkers accounted for 3 or 4 of those shots so all i all not too bad. After the round I had a quick shower and went back down to the clubhouse to meet up with Neil Tappin, RickG and Murph who were already well into the Guinness (or Smithwick's in Rick's case). I've never met either before but it was a pleasure to do so and all 3 were great company. We headed off to bed around midnight to get some kip before the big event on Friday.We met at 9:15 on Friday morning and were taken over the the Titleist Performance Institute where the Richard Fryer(?), who I believe is the Sales and Marketing Director of Footjoy Europe (at the age of 29) was waiting for us. Richard is a great guy and really looked after us. We were given a Polo shirt, waterproof top, belt, socks and glove to change into and then we went through the fitting process. Murph was the first non Footjoy staff member ever to try on the revolutionary shoes. I'm not really sure how much I'm allowed to say about them so for the moment I'll leave it that we were all agreed that they look great, are very comfortable and do exactly what the are supposed to. Following the fitting we got to hit a few balls, I was happily smashing a 910 D2 (I want one) down the range and Rick was drooling over an AP2 6 iron when Padraig walked in. I'm not sure how long he'd been there but he'd clearly been watching as he commented that my right heal was slightly off the floor at address. He asked me to hit another ball so the others could see which I did and although slightly nervous I sent another ball sailing straight out into the range. He asked if I had been working on not straightening my right leg, which I had been all last year so that was obviously the reason but it must be a subconcious thing because I had no idea I was doing it and Harrington is the first person to ever point it out. Luckily he said it wan't a problem so I'll just keep doing it.
I think Paddy was impressed by what he saw from the 3 of us, he asked Richard if there was a h'cap limit on this competition or wheter they had just hand selected some low h'cappers and commented on how good our swings looked (he could of course have been saying it to make us feel better but I don't think he was)
I must admit I was expecting to be nervous in Padraig presence but he seems to have this ability to make everyone around him feel at ease. It's been said a lot of times but he is genuinely a really top guy. He was quite happy to chat with us, talked about what was great about the new shoe and then went out on the range to hit a few balls before we did our question and answer session which was great. Padraig (pronounced Porrig by most of Ireland but Pordrig by his Mum) speaks so enthusiastically about the game of golf and as expected answered our questions in detail and we also added some impromptu ones which he was more than happy to answer. It seemed like we were there for ages but it was probably about 10 minutes, and I got the impression Padraig would have been happy to stand there and talk for hours. It was at this point Padraig agreed to give Homer a call, what an absolute star.
After this we had a few more photos taken in the hotel with Padraig and then watched his clinic in which he went through the whole golf swing in an uncomplicated manor and handed out some great tips. Again his enthuisiasm for the game shines through, it's so infectious just talking to him or listening to him makes you feel like a better player.
A quick bite to eat and then we were out on the course. It was a best 2 from 4 team comp and which there were flashes of brilliance from all of us we all had a troubles as well, mine were back in those damn bunkers which seemed to have multiplied over night but I also started to get tired towards the end and hit some horrible shots. We ended up turning in a very mediocre 72 pts but we all enjoyed it none the less. Tom the GM photographer walked round with us for 14 holes so I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures he took of the 4 of us in action.
And that was that, what a fantatic couple of days. I really can't thank GM, Footjoy and Padraig enough, we really couldn't have asked for anything more, it was an incredible experience.
