Golf Pro David Nickson

HAPPY CHRISTMAS
It has been an eternity since I last posted anything so here I go…

I have spent the last 6 months starting my PGA Course, learning all about coaching, more about the game in golf in general, etc, etc. It’s a great course and a decision I did not take lightly.

But after considering all my options I signed up and was able to pass the criteria to get onto the course. I have npow been through my year 1 residential, ARP and Level 1 and all is going well.

I haven’t had much time to play golf though unfortunately as I have been working at Lewes Golf Club and doing nights at Sainsburys to pay all my bills without taking a loan. My plan from here is to save my money, complete my PGA course, gain further knowledge of my own game as well as building up a strong coaching base and look forward to the future!!

I will be far more vigilant about updating this website so look out for more updates on how I am doing. This year I will be playing a lot of local competitions so will keep you adrift of all my results in the near future.

Have a great holiday.

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73(+1) – 73(+1) = 146 (+2) M/C

After a fairly solid 2 days of golf I am hugely disappointed with my result. Looking back I feel that I didn’t play that bad at all, making very few mistakes.
I struggled on the greens, which is where these tournaments are won or lost. The greens were true and fast, rolling at about 12 on the Stimp. With the greens so much faster then where I have been practicing I found it hard to read the greens as they react differently.
I still had drama in this tournament, standing on the last tee I thought a birdie might be enough to make the cut. The par 3 last hole is the best hole on the course with 2 huge trees protecting the right half of the green and the clubhouse behind the green!! I hit a perfect 5 iron to 3 inches nearly going in. As i got to the green I saw the projected cut was +2 which is what I would be after I holed my birdie putt. But as I holed out and had another look at the board the cut went from +2, to +1 meaning I had missed the cut by 1 shot!
It’s hard missing the cut by 1 as I automatically start looking back at where I could find that 1 missing shot. The flyer I got on 10 in the second round for example cost me a double bogey, the divot my ball lied in on the 13th meaning I had very little shot.
But you can’t do that as you will only get down on yourself. The best thing I can do is look forward and decide how to best prepare for the next tournament.
As I have a month till my next tournament I am going to take this week off golf completely and come back the week after revitalized and ready to attack the game. I have a lot planned for my week off, it certainly won’t feel like a holiday. I’ll keep you updated with what I have achieved as the week goes by!

As always thanks for reading and happy golfing!!

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The Second EuroPro event has arrived located at Burhill Golf Club in Surrey. Burhill is a great golf course with fantastic practice facilities. After playing a practice round last week I turned up and it was still in great condition with lightning fast greens and I knew scores would widely range. I had a shaky start with a double bogey on the 2nd wasn’t what I was after, but I drained a 50ft putt on the 5th to get my round under way. I stayed steady until the 11th where I slipped after our group was told to catch up with the group in front making bogey on 11 and 12. But an eagle on 14 equaled the bogeys out.
I made 4 pars coming in and finished 1 over on the day and T- 50th.

I feel ready to make a score tomorrow and push towards the top of the table.

As always, thanks for reading and happy golfing!!

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The players club is one of my favourite courses on the Jamega and EuroPro circuit and I look forward to playing each year! I went in to the tournament feeling pretty confident and with fellow golfer James Baron on the bag maybe it would give me the edge I was looking for!
I started on day 1 very steadily but just not managaing to make enough birdies. 1 over with 4 to play I felt like I needed 2 birdies to get into contention but went the other way making 2 bogeys and dropping to 3 over, 8 behind the leader! In hindsight, I let my self get into outcome thoughts, trying to control the uncontrollable. I’ve been working on trying to stay in the NOW & NEUTRAL and I failed on those last 4 holes to achieve that!
I came to the course the next day ready to burn it up and post an early score. On the range I was not in a good place, hitting the ball as badly as I ever have and not feeling 100%. But my caddy and I prepared the best we could in the time we had. After a bogey on the 1st hole we were both thinking it could be a long day. A birdie on the second changed that round and put positive thoughts running through our heads. After that there was no turning back. After 14 holes I had hit every green on the course in regulation and was 4 under par for the day and looking menacing!
But again I let outcome thoughts creep in, thinking I needed to get to 6 under for the day for a chance! Whilst chasing these birdies I missed my one and only green on 16 and made bogey. Then I watched my 25ft birdie putt on the last race past the hole and missed it on the way back.

I finished 2 under on the day and 1 over for the tournament. That left me Tied 20th! It ‘s another soild tournament but a dissapointing one as I keep playing well, not being able to put 2 low rounds together! But its early on in the season and if I can put the work in it can only get better!

As always, thanks for reading and happy golfing!!

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The 1st EuroPro Tour event started on Tuesday 27th April. I felt ready for the tournament, in good form and high hopes. But I received a major set back in my plan. After a couple of mistakes and a bit of bad luck put together I was 7 over through just 6 holes! The worst start to a tournament I have ever had. I had a little word with myself on the 7th tee, trying to convince myself to start again and get on with the the job I had come to do!! From then on for the rest of the round I played a near faultless round, with 4 birdies and 8 pars I came back to 3 over for the round!

In reflection I was very happy with the result after such a disastrous start. A lot of people might have given up, including me a year ago; but in my new frame of mind and confidence I knew I could bring it back and I did!

I had a good evening and got to bed early as I had an early start in the morning! I started much better then the previous day but was still not at muy best being 2 over through 7 this time and then slipped to 4 over through 11! It was a real set back but again I dug deep and made 2 quick birdies at 12 and 14. After a narrow miss at 15 my drive o 16 found the water on 16 and led to a bogey 6! Another narrow miss at 17 and a consolation birdie at 18 saw me finish 2 over for the day and 5 over the tournament!

Not good enough to make the cut!

In reflection those first 6 holes cost me the tournament! Looking at the stats I made 9 birdies, 1 less then the most anyone made in the tournament! So why did I start so badly. That is the question I need to answer before the next tournament!

My first thoughts are lack of ply before the tournament! I had to work a lot this week, not allowing me ample practice time! Was I too eager to make a bright start? Possibly! I was going in this tournament to win and nothing else! I forgot my thought pattern of…

NOW AND NEUTRAL

So moving on I have to work harder and get ready for EuroPro at Burhill, May 26th! 27 days to get from a missed cut to getting a result!

As always thanks for reading and happy golfing!!

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After a mentally tough week I am happy to report that I have secured my full tour card for the EuroPro Tour. After rounds of 70, 73 and 71 (1 under par) I finished Tied- 14th out of 241 players I got the top category possible for coming in the top 30!

In the last round, I was hitting the ball at my best, peppering the pins all round the course, but just struggled to take advantage of enough chances to really challenge the leaders.

But mainly positives from the week. I now have the ability to plan my year as I want, having exemptions in EuroPro all year, Jamega Tour events all year round and other options available.

I am currently looking for sponsorship for the year now I have my full tour card so if you are interested in any further information please email me!

As always, thanks for reading and happy golfing!!

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With a 2:15pm tee time I had the morning off to relax before the 1st Round! I arrived well rested and with the perfect 50 minutes to get ready to start. After going through my normal pre- tournament routine I felt ready to attack the course. I didn’t get off to the brightest start, 2 over through 4 holes but managed to get my head in a better place and quickly turn it around. I managed to get to 2 under with some good putting holing a 40 footer for birdie. But a bogey on the tough left me on 1 under.

A successful day leaving me Tied 14th in the competition out of 241 players and in a good position to make the cut and secure my card for the year!!

As always thanks for reading and happy golfing!!!

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With Final Qualifying for the EuroPro Tour being played over 2 different golf courses I had a lot of ground to cover today wanting to be able to get a good look at the whole facility so I was ready and prepared for tomorrow!

Woken at 6am, I got ready and was down the golf club by 8am for an early start. Not being able to get on the course and play untill 9:30 and knowing that typically practice rounds are very slow I went and walked the Front 9 of the Red Course, using my course guide to make my normal notes!

Then I was able to attack the Blue Course at 9:30 and flew round, finishing up at 11:45 for the round and got a good picture of what I would have to do in the next few days! Luckily I was able to join a group on the back 9 of the Red straight away, so by 13:00 I had finished my practice rounds of both courses leaving myself the afternoon to make final preparations and relax before my 1st round!

Having had a good look at the course, striking the ball well and looking really solid around the greens I’m ready for a good week and try and secure my card for the season!

As always thanks for reading and Happy Golfing!!

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Hayling Island is located right on the South Coast near Portsmouth and is a classic links golf course. When I turned up on the 29th March I was met by all the elements. With strong winds coming in the afternoon and then the strong rain I had a tough challenge ahead of me with a 12:02 pm tee time. I struggled with my swing all day and scrambled hard around the greens holing a lot of putts and finished 3 over par. I was dissapointed that I had not swung well after playing great golf leading into this tournament. But I was happy with my scrambling and mental attitude staying very neutral throughout the day! It left me Tied- 48th at the end of the day and 8 shots behind the leader.

Hoping for some better conditions the next day I was left dissapointed with gale strong winds and continous rain! Again, I struggled from the start with my swing and had to scramble around the greens. I finished the day 4 over par and a total of 7 over Par (149).

I came off the course very dissapointed with the score and the way I had played apart from my short game. I thought I would just hold my place in the field. But as the scores came in I was climbing up as everyone had struggled in the tough conditions. I finished Tied- 19th out of 103 players.

A solid start to the season but one which could have been so much better!

But this just means I have to go back, work 10 times as hard and get ready for the next tournament.

Thanks for reading and happy golfing!

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With my 1st Tournament in the UK looming I am feeling ready to get on the course and burn it up!

WhenI came back from America I focused a lot of my time to the short game as posted previously after realisng how good you had to be inside 100 yards and I saw instant improvement with my average score dropping and confidence rocketing.

In the last few weeks I have changed my attentions to playing on the golf course. Before a tournament I like to try and get in, what I call, “Tournament Mode”! By this I mean that I am ready to get out there, completely focused on the job in hand and not what position I am at the top of my golf swing, or shall I change my grip on my putter. To achieve this I play a lot more golf on the course as opposed to practicing on the range and practice greens! 36 holes in a day is great for this.

The best drill I found is playing 18 holes worse ball, where you hit 2 shots all the way round taking the worse shot each time before continuing! It is very hard mentalyy and physically. Then, on the 2nd 18 relax and play left handed golf, or a friendly game with your mates! This really gets you ready for a tournament in my eyes because you are geting goof practice playing on the golf course!

So bring on Hayling Island!

As always happy golfing and thanks for reading!

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