Trying to break 90 again: my return to golf after a long layoff

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There is an opinion – and a very good one – that since I write about golf I should play a lot too.

But here’s the thing: I’ve played one round of golf since 2019. That was in 2021 I think although it was a long time ago I don’t remember.

In a broader context, this absence from the game is new so let’s turn back the clock a bit.

From playing pitch-and-putt at the Alfred Rose in Aylesbury as a child on holidays with my grandparents, I’ve done my fair share of club swings.

I even joined the club once – Cookridge near Leeds in 2001 – and shot my lowest round: 81.

There was a Bob Beamon segment about that. My previous best was 89 but, without the benefit of the height that helped BB break his long jump (and world) best at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, I managed a significant jump of my own. Eight shots from my previous ground and Cookridge is only 650 meters above sea level.

But with golf, you should never think that the 81 turned into something in the 70s and, due to the strange refusal to have a lesson, and the arrival of popular children, my golf game plateaued.

Which is a kind way of saying it got worse. I was able to shoot a few rounds in the 80s but from about 2008 onwards I decided I was a 22 handicap.

There was nothing bandit-like about that. A bunch of bogeys and the odd shocker averaged a few pars and I was up to around 94 or so.

Through my career, I was fortunate enough to play some great courses. St Andrews, Le Golf National, Hoylake, Birkdale, Lytham, Muirfield, Gullane, Wentworth, The Belfry and a couple in Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

These were great events and there were highlights: a birdie in a difficult opening Birkdale par 4, a 90 at Hoylake and four pars in a row – remember I’m a hacker and that’s cool – at St Andrews including 18th and 1st played the Old Course in a shotgun format the day after the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

Those days walking in the footsteps of the greats were full meals, bucket list activities in a few cases, although there was a strong feeling that I would have enjoyed them more if I had been decent.

Maybe six to eight rounds a year – maybe half of that at a high level – was a good way to enjoy my golf.

Ironically, I even had an annual match with KK Downing from heavy metal legends Judas Priest, my friend and colleague Matt Cooper joined me in a Mods v Rockers tournament against KK and local musician Pat Bristow. That is a story for another time.

How did it all turn out?

Of course Covid played a role in my clubs gathering dust. Not because I’m afraid to go out but because I turn inward and return to simpler, safer times by playing snooker – my childhood passion – on a 6×3 table at home.

When the Lockdown was lifted I hit the snooker hall rather than the golf course and got the urge to make the break of the century.

I was always much better at snooker than golf – 10,000 Malcolm Gladwell hours and all that – so it was nice to feel good about something as I increased my best break to 135.

What would be the equivalent of that in golf? I’m not entirely sure but it would mean that I would be very helpful. The truth, of course, is that if I replace a snooker cue with a golf club, I go back to being very poor.

But here we are again, back at Golf365 where I was an editor, suddenly golf clubs winked at me again.

Maybe you, or someone you know, is in a similar situation and hopefully following my journey (sounds like I’m bragging but I’ll go with it) might just give you the nudge to find golf again. I hope so.

Looking good, a break from the game might have done me the world of good.

And since I’m doing yoga in 2022, I’m probably more flexible than I was and this will translate to my golf swing.

I’m at the stage where anything seems possible again. The flesh scar has disappeared. I’m looking forward to standing on a four-foot putt or getting out of a bunker or hitting over the water. I’m full of golf wanderlust.

Forget my age (55 if you ask), if I can’t set a PB in snooker in my 50s, I’ll probably be a late bloomer in golf.

81 seems far away but what about this target: breaking 90. I don’t think I’ve been able to do that in over a decade.

First step back: driving distance tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

PS That picture of me above was taken in 2019 and that’s the last time I was caught on camera on the golf course. I think it’s Moortown in Leeds, an Alister MacKenzie design that hosted the second edition of the Ryder Cup.