THREE TIMES FOR MONTY

pic: Putt Magazine

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, popped down to watch the final round of the Senior Masters at Woburn G. C., on their Dukes course. There were some extra activities such as a putting hole and bunker shot competition. It was good to see a few kids enjoying the putting challenge, unfortunately most were dressed in plastic polo’s, though I’m sure their parents thought they looked very smart; like mini pros, just don’t look beyond the label. Plus you could book a free 10 minute lesson from a PGA pro. The word free is like a magnet to a Golf Refugee so I naturally booked a slot. Fortunately my pro was the excellent Denise Hastings. She had me practising a couple of drills to help improve my shoulder / hip turn; one where your feet are placed in a tandem position and you try and then hit the ball. Being an alien I found this relatively easy, I seemed to have more control and balance with my feet in tandem then when in the regular address position. Explain that one golf gurus?

The final holes of the tournament were quite exciting. Drummond three putted the final green, which meant Monty required birdie to force a playoff. Hats off to Monty as he went for the green with a driver and produced a great chip to set up a birdie. On the first play off hole, which is a repeat of the 18 th until someone wins. Both players reached the green in two. Then Monty had a moan, he could hear the minnows having their free lesions in the practise nets at the back of the stand. Monty’s head was shaking, which triggered the blazer squad into action to stop all noise creating activities. At one point I thought they were going to replace the ‘quiet please’ boards with ‘hold your breadth’ boards whilst Monty putts. You don’t expect to have to hold your breath for 4 minutes as a golf spectator.

Personally I'm not convinced pros need absolute silence to play at the highest level. But it works for Monty as he became the first player to win 3 events in succession on both the European and Senior Tours.
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