Tuesday 10 May 2011

My Preparation for Sawgrass

Here is a practice shot today while practising for the 17th Island green at Sawgrass.


Nearly holed it!


I'm there next week for the Players Championship for a Pro Am event.


Cant Wait.

Saturday 7 May 2011

RIP Seve - The Legend

My Golfing Hero has Passed.


Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota (9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011)


What a very sad day, Seve who had fought brain cancer for 3 years sadly lost his battle today.
I have added the link to the official news broke on his website earlier today.


www.seveballesteros.com


I'm sure we all have stories of Seve, personally he was the reason that golf was appealing, like many I played a number of sports growing up to varying levels of success but it was that wining putt at St Andrews in 1984 that got me hooked.
The passion, the flamboyance, the artist, the legend........you will be sadly missed.
You lead European golf into the modern era and transformed the Ryder Cup.....never will we forget.


I was lucky enough to have met Seve in and around 1998 at Wentworth for the PGA Championship, my coach Glenn Ralph had gained access for us on the practice range and whilst he spoke with Pete Cowen I noticed Seve quietly practising on his own.....I couldn't resist, when would I get another chance to met my golfing "god". I approached and asked if I could watch him hit some balls to have a chat, the true gent that he was he said of course, for the next 30 minutes I watched in ore as he hit wedge after wedge on the range, the balls were dancing around the flag and his ability to repeat such control was memorizing.  I will never forget that day for the rest of my life, thank you Seve.
At the academy, above my desk sits a series of images as he celebrates holing that winning putt in 84, in our lounge sits proudly a signed picture from Oak Hill Ryder Cup.


Thank you for the inspiration, the entertainment, the great moments that golf will never forget and for helping our great game develop into a force to be reckoned with.


"The world is not as great now as when you walked among us" 
(Darren Bragg 7/5/2011)







Tuesday 3 May 2011

GTB - Celtic Manor Mini Break Overview

Last Monday and Tuesday Adrian and I took some clients down to Celtic Manor for a 2 day 2 round Golf Tuition Breaks mini break.




Monday 


An early start for me, left the girls at home at 6am! 
Adrian and I set of from London at  around 7am and made our way to Wales, a quick coffee stop was needed on route where we met Andy and Matt (AT wearing his smoking jacket and slippers to suit the Jag........no comment :)). We arrived at the 2010 clubhouse just before 10am and the Ryder Cup experience began.
For those who have not been to CM 2010, once you arrive you provide the staff there your clubs and keys, whilst you are shown around the clubhouse including being shown to your personal locker for the day your car is parked.
After a bite to eat we are chauffeured to the range where we all met. After working on our games we were taken to the first tee and the round began.
 My 1st tee shot 2010

Adrian's 1st drive 2010


A very cold drink (beer) was needed after the round, our clubs were again taken by the CM staff to be cleaned ready for another day, we all received a 2010 bag tag with date, tee time and name engraved as a memento of the day.
After checking into the hotel we gathered for a drink and lovely dinner in the Olive restaurant.
A great day!


Tues


Adrian was up early and decided to go down for an coffee before breakfast, to his surprise Colin Montgomerie appeared and it wasn't long before Adrian was sitting with Colin having a chat. They discussed dealing with pressure/nerves on the golf course and Ryder Cup's, Colin was very insightful and happy to discuss his views on the  subject, interestingly he was of the opinion that "experience" is the best way to learn to deal with pressure and he mentioned that he believed that Rory would win a major for sure soon.


After a very big "welsh" breakfast we hit the range and short game area for some more work with our clients and prepared ourselves for the Monty course, for those that haven't played it you really should use a buggy, it is a touch hilly to say the least. Of course we walked!!


It was great to spend the time with our clients and we thoroughly enjoyed the two days in the sun.


Thanks to all that came with us.


Cheers


Darren