Byron Kalies

Lookouts on the 10th fairway

Beginnings

Brawdafad is a tough course, in a tough part of the world. the land was bought in early 1925 (year of the Ammanford Anthracite strike, founding of Plaid Cymru,birth of Ruth Ellis) and a few short weeks later was opened. A report from the local newspaper makes fascinating reading;

“At the opening ceremony Captain Dr. K. Rowlands asked Dr. Gwyn T. Bara, Chairman of the club to declare the course open. Dr Bara, their enthusiastic and highly efficient chairman was presented with a wonderful weapon, a golf driver, with which to drive a mighty ball from the first tee (laughter and applause). He thanked the lady and gentlemen of the committee for honouring him by asking him to open the course. He refered to the early beginnings of the club and its uphill struggles and said that were it not for the generosity of a local businessman, Mr. D. S. Snips of Aber Annwyd the club would never have reached its present state (enthusiastic applause).

Dr. Gwyn T. Bara explained that the situation reminded him of a remark Mr Ramsay Macdonald, the ex-premier made that ‘Life is like golf. The more you face the less you cover.’ (embarassed silence). Dr.Bara duly took the first hit on the course and hooked it through the clubhouse window.” - Brawdaf and Annwyd Valley Express Monday June 8th 1925

The club was bombed during the Second World War by a rather wayward squadron of German bomber. It was reported after the war that with all the bomb damage the course had never looked better.

It is a mountain course. It is rough and rugged and sheep-lined. It must be pretty much how many early Scottish courses looked. However, not many early Scottish courses were built alongside council estates. There is a scarcity of land at Brawdafad and every inch of the ground is used. It feels like someone has placed a full size snooker table in a small lounge. Each tee seems to be against a fence and at times it seems that you’ve barely enough room to take a full backswing.

The rough is very rough. Pensioner Steve once sliced a drive into the rough off the 6th tee and against all our advice went chasing after it. He disappeared from view for a good few minutes. Feeling slightly anxious we called out to him;

“Pensioner Steve have you found your ball?” we called.
“Not yet,” came the reply, “But I have found a golf bag and a set of clubs.”

Unable to get a ticket for Ryder Cup – long story - so ended up traveling to Cardiff for a meeting with other like-minded, like-budgeted folk. Due to meet up in ‘The Cottage’ at 2 so get to Cardiff early and wander around. Seems a lot quieter in Cardiff – some shops have golf displays but not too many. Not the feeling of any thing exciting happening at all – perhaps this is a mistake.

‘The Cottage’ is quiet – we talk, and wait for everyone to turn up. Drinks are bought, lives are caught up with and we watch the occasional report in the background on Sky Sports news. There’s a number of mobiles ringing which announce the fact that all who are here are here and we roam a little. First there’s the traditional “One in the Goat” – big mistake, in golfing terms. Three minutes later we’re in the Old Arcade – nice - it’s become a bit posher than we like and we have a few. Later that evening there’s a talk organised by a number of golfing types – we agree to return (we never do) and someone hears a report that there are a couple of old acquaintances in a different pub. We leave, get chips in Caroline Street, eat them and cross the room. At last….

We wander into O’Neill’s – It’s exactly like a rugby International – many, many excited, semi-drunk Welsh people talking, drinking, watching, analysing and cheering simultaneously. It’s still early but already all the shots are being cheered or jeered and favourites are emerging – Rory, Poults and Luke are current favourites and a mix of responses to Tiger – generally polite, very low level comments, all intermingled with ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ at the shots he plays.

The treatment of Monty has totally changed over the past week or so – where has the miserable, growling, grumpy Colin gone. Who or what has replaced him with this caring, sharing, human. “What have you done with the real Monty!” someone cries out , “Bring him back,” “No!” comes the chorus and the pretend ego-free Monty carries on talking eloquently, respectfully and politely on the giant screen. No-one is fooled – the real Monty will be back. We miss him.

We spot a celeb on TV and discuss how they managed to get a ticket. Chris Evans appears on screen and the pub is polarised. We all cheer as Mark Roe says something probably witty and insightful ( can’t hear a thing ).

Hours later we’re in an Indian restaurant reflecting on the day, eating and starting to work out how we’ll get home, when we’ll meet again and promising that next time we will go and see it in the flesh.

Celtic Manor resort– Founded 1995

In 1888 one of the factors behind the opening of Tenby golf club was to attract visitors to the town. Once there
they would stay in the hotels, spend money in the town and enjoy the golf. There is obviously an element of
that at Celtic Manor resort. To assume that the whole venture is solely a money-making scheme would be as
naive as believing it’s a totally philanthropic exercise on the part of Sir Terry Matthews. 

Sir Terry Matthews is Celtic Manor resort. In the same way that the coal barons of Cardiff and Penarth bought
and developed land in Cardiff and Porthcawl for their sport, so Terry Matthews, virtually single-mindedly has
done the same with his golf resort. The parallels with early golf club founders are obvious but so are parallels
with the modern day moguls, the football club owners. Terry Matthews is the Roman Abramovich of Welsh
golf.

There is a great deal to admire about the way the resort has developed. Throughout the development there
has been a willingness to share with other golf clubs in Wales. 

Jim McKenzie, Director of Golf Courses and Estates Management, is passionate about the good Celtic Manor
can do for golf in Wales. Greenkeepers visit the club to look at different techniques, secretaries visit to
network and talk about the future. Jim quoted Einstein’s definition of insanity “Doing the same thing over
and over again and expecting different results. This was the way some clubs in Wales behaved. Golf needs
to change in order to survive.”  He talked about the £2 million Ryder Cup legacy fund has helped golf clubs
throughout Wales. It was set up to encourage players new to the game to play golf.  There have been
projects from Caernarfon to Carmarthen. There have been projects such as the Driving Change training
programme designed to help club officials. 

“But more than that,“ he added “there seems to be more of a sense of a Welsh golfing community”. He feels
that golf had to become more business focused, “Golf alone is never enough to sustain golf these days.”
Jim’s passion is obvious as he talks about the unique opportunity we have in Wales, “Tiger Woods made golf
cool. Youngsters have become interested in golf. This is a great chance for golf. “

Unsurprisingly, behind much of the Celtic Manor values and approach is the business philosophy of Matthews.
A number of the initiatives are training courses, partnerships, with the emphasis being on working with golf
clubs not giving handouts. The quote from Sir Terry Matthews seems to encapsulate this, "I like things to be
profitable and sustained, then they are stable and last a long time. If they are not profitable they will
eventually die."

THE CLUB 
It’s easy to forget that Celtic Manor is a golf club. It has several hundred members, monthly competitions and
Gareth Edwards as the honorary captain .It’s easy to forget because the Celtic Manor is primarily a resort. It’s
a golf club but more. It’s unlike any golf club I’ve ever been to in Wales. It’s impressive. There are estimates
that it has cost £200 million to build. It looks like it has. It’s cathedral quiet, non sexist, non ageist. As a lady
or a junior you can play the same times as the men. It costs a lot of money to join. It’s expensive. It’s almost
too perfect.

BEGINNINGS 
The focus of Celtic manor resort is the Manor House. This was built by Thomas Powell in 1860. Thomas Powell
was the largest coal nine owner in South Wales and the biggest coal exporter in the world at the time. 

The house changed from this to a hospital. It was here in 1943 that Terry Matthews was born. 
Thirty something years later and the story goes that Sir Terry was driving back from Cardiff to London and
saw the old hospital where he was born up for sale. His company, Celtic Inns Ltd purchased the derelict
Manor House in 1980. Although there is a tinge of romance there the venture is a commercial venture. Sir
Terry saw the potential in the site and has invested a massive amount on the project. 

Now, almost 30 years later the resort now has; a 19th-century 69-bedroom 4-star hotel; a 334-bedroom,
32-suite luxury 5-star hotel; 2 Presidential suites;a 1500-delegate conference suite; an exhibition hall;
40 function rooms ; 5 restaurants ; 4 bars; 2 health clubs; a shopping centre; 2 tennis courts; a golf training
academy and 3 Championship golf courses. 

COURSE DESIGN 
The Roman Road championship course was built by the late Robert Trent Jones Sr. around the many Roman
roads that cross the area. It hosted the Wales Open in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Robert Trent Jones Sr., was born
in Aberystwyth and has designed over 500 golf courses. They include Firestone in Ohio, Spyglass Hill in
California and Valderrarma in Spain. He was an advocate that golf should be a “no risk, no reward” sport.

The par 59 academy course for beginners, Coldra Woods was opened in 1996 and later replaced by The
Montgomerie.This was also designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. which was described as “one of the finest
short courses in Great Britain.”

The Wentwood Hills course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 1997 had a number of
changes due to the opening “ski-slope holes” and difficult climbs. 

The Montgomerie opened in 2007 and incorporates elements of the Coldra Woods and Wentwood Hills
courses. It was designed by Colin Montgomerie. Montgomery has designed a traditional parkland course that
has elements of a links course – deep pot bunkers for instance. 

Under the supervision of architect Ross McMurray of European Golf Design the course for the Ryder Cup is the
Twenty-Ten. The course has been specifically designed for the 3 day event 1-3 October 2010. The course is
designed to be exciting and watchable. There are water hazards on 9 of the holes and great visibility for
spectators. It’s set in a “big, wide, windy and largely treeless bowl of the Usk Valley”
It’s believed that 15 – 20,000 spectators will be able to see the 18th.

Ross McMurray,“We wanted to create a fantastic stage for the players to walk down." 

I will not be watching the Ryder Cup from the upper tier of the 2010 clubhouse at Celtic Manor this year. I will be watching the Ryder Cup in the equally salubrious surrounds of the Old Arcade, or ‘The Goat’. I will probably tell some that this is my choice. I will point to all the drawbacks of watching the match wandering around a field in the company of 49,999 other souls; “You won’t be able to see anything”, “You’ll never get a drink”, ”The queues to the toilets will be horrendous,””What. I’ve got to park in Tredegar Park and take the bus in?”, “What if it rains?”.

In truth it all comes down to one thing… money. As a Saturday Morning Ball School colleague put it, “£130! I’d want to play in the Ryder Cup for that amount of money.”

It will be expensive. Aside for the entrance fee and the £20 parking fee there’s the food and drink (you’re not allowed to take your own food and drink you know) and all the restriction on cameras, phones etc..

Is this too much? Couldn’t billionaire Terry, sorry multi- billionare Sir Terry lower the prices a little in these harsh times? There’s an argument on both side here. On the one hand ‘why should he. It’s his game and he can charge what he likes. If you don’t like it you can go to the Old A with Byron and watch it on tv.” On the other hand how much does Sir Terry need another million or two.

GB and Europe have already given up home advantage to play at a golf club few of the players have even driven past let alone played before so why not at least have a really partizan, working class crowd. In rugby a large proportion of the tickets go to the rugby clubs. Wouldn’t it be excellent if that happened in golf and hoards of everyday golfers descended on the Celtic Manor – now that would be a home advantage. I hardly think 50,000 champagne-swilling, blue-blazered, televison-golfers will put Phil Mickelson off his swing. The combined might of Bargoed, Castell Heights, Caerleon , etc. golfers may well do.

And what about after the Ryder Cup? Is it possible Sir Terry will stay? Why would he – he’s done it now. He’s had the supreme monopoly / fantasy golf game, played it and won. What could be next? Getting Wales to hold the 2020 Olympics, Canada to hold the 2022 World Cup? There were rumours of the Celtic Manor becoming a centre for sporting excellence – tennis in particular was mentioned. I can’t see it myself. Where is the motivation for Sir T in that. Having climbed Everest what did Sir Edmund Hilary do next? Neil Armstrong? Captain Webb, Chuck Yeager, Ricky Valance. Exactly. No-one knows. For golf in Wales it’s been good. Newport has a new road. Golfers now know, at least that Wales is not part of England, and by the end of the week they will have found out the hard way, that Newport is not part of Cardiff.

As for the match itself Tiger Woods will win all his matches. It’s inevitable. It’s all part of his master plan. Why do you think Tiger’s been out of action for so long – exactly, he’s focusing on the Ryder Cup. Anyone who has bought Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 for the Wii will know this. The game features the most accurate depiction of the course at Celtic Manor that you will ever see. It’s more accurate than being there – say some. Tiger has obviously been busy all summer learning the nuances of the course from the comfort of his armchair and will be a certainty for all points – mark my words.

So, I’ll watch Tiger Woods and the US team narrowly win the Ryder Cup from the discomfort of the Goat Major and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Unless of course someone were willing to offer me a free ticket.

<a href=”http://www.carreg-gwalch.com/product/tenby_to_celtic_manor_-_a_history_of_golf_in_wales/”>”Tenby to Celtic Manor” (Carreg Gwalch) - Byron Kalies</a>

Albert and playing partner contemplating going out for the first doubles match of the Winter

EXT. A COLD AUTUMN WEDNESDAY, BARGOED GOLF CLUB.

2 forlorn figures standing on the 132 yard, par 3, 13th.

Albert, a youngster (for Bargoed) of 48 takes out a 5 iron and swings it ferociously throughout the conversation. There is no wind.
Barry, a 52 year old writer looks on amazed.

BARRY
You know this is only 132 yards?

ALBERT
I do.

BARRY
You know you hit that 5 iron 160 yards on the last hole?

ALBERT
I do.

BARRY
So. Why?

ALBERT
I don’t want to take any chances.

BARRY
Take any chances on what?

ALBERT
On getting it into the hole.

BARRY
But that’s the point, isn’t it?

ALBERT
I never aim at the hole on par 3s on Wednesdays

BARRY
Why?

ALBERT
In case I get a hole in 1

BARRY
?

ALBERT
I don’t want to buy a round

BARRY
It’s Wednesday afternoon. By the time we get into the club there’ll only by 3 people there, including us

ALBERT
I know but Jimmy Pies will be there

BARRY
So

ALBERT
I’m not buying him a drink

BARRY
So you’d rather take 3 more clubs than you need on a hole you’ve never managed to get within 5 feet of in your life because there’s a bloke who may be in the club when you get back you won’t buy a drink for?

ALBERT
Correct

Albert smiles as his tee shot lands 20 yards behind the pin.

*****

It was Albert’s first year on the Scotland golf tour. Every 2 years the SMGS went to Scotland on the Wales v Scotland international weekend and played golf for a week, They played a number of golf clubs every day in and around Edinburgh and watched the match on Saturday. Albert was nervous. He’d been playing golf for a few years but had only encountered the electric, intense SMGS atmosphere on a few occasions and knew very few people in the group.
It was the first tee at a nameless, but tough and windy proper links course. There were 12 waiting around the first tee pretending to stretch and wake up and have their last cigarette (of the front nine).
Dev (has become the self appointed leader, and welcomer)

DEV
Albert. As a special honour you get to tee off first

Very muted applause, some abuse and a general murmur of ‘bandit’.

DEV
Here you are I’ll even put your tee in the ground for you and line you up. It’s tradition

Albert walks onto the tee and stares into the distance. He shakily places his ball on the tee and mutters to himself

ALBERT
Slow swing…slow swing

His bottom is going like a trout’s mouth as he lifts the club and hits it, not great but straight and quite long. He smiles at Dev.

Dev smiles back, turns Albert around 180 degrees

DEV
Well done. Now there’s the first fairway

He points down the fairway, in the opposite direction to Albert’s tee shot,

DEV
I suggest you wander back to your ball and see if you can hit a couple of 5 irons back in this direction

In 1926 a group of Penmaenmawr  professionals arrived in South Wales looking for work, women and beer. It was a Saturday and they had time on their hands while they waited for the pubs to open. To kill time they competed against a team of Sirhowy Valley seniors, but lost 13½ points to 1½ points.

Ianto Ryder, a wealthy Welshman, watched the competition, and agreed to provide a trophy to encourage the matches to be played on a regular basis. The inaugural Ianto Cup matches were played the following year at Bargoed Golf Club, and thereafter every two years, with the venue alternating between North and South Wales. In 1973 the Cup was played for in Llanbobl for the first time, and in 1979, after a period of North Walian supremacy, it was decided to include West Walian players in the competition. Since then the contest have been close, and the score remains Taffs 7 wins, Gogs 7 wins, and one tied match. The Ianto Cup remains one of the few great sporting competitions that is played for no prize money.

In 1926 the Saturday morning ball school came into being. The original members were Ianto, Ted the Bread, Aneurin Bevan and Keith. Over time most of the personnel have changed but the principles of fair play, respect, camaraderie and fairness are as distant today as they were nearly a century ago. Every Saturday since 1926 there has been a Saturday morning ball school, apart from a brief period in 1941 when German bombers rendered the course unplayable. As a memorial to the war the course remains as it was after that day – harsh, unplayable, with a dozen 40 feet bomb craters lining the 5th fairway.

The principle rule of the SMBS is turn up, moan, pay up. Although it is now possibly illegal to pay for cash and still be considered an amateur, there are members of the SMBS (well one) that has had to declare the SMBS as his primary source of income for tax purposes. The Club is fairly catholic in that any player born within a radius of almost 3 miles from the club, has a relative, or friend playing in the School and is willing to lose £1 a week  can take part.

There are rules, I suppose, although they tend to vary from week to week. There is however one constant – fun. You’re not allowed to have any. Over the past 8 decades there have been many SMBS members who have used the School as a springboard to go on to bigger and better things – amongst them Bradley Dredge, Ian Woosnam, Alun Hoddinot, Nicky Wire, Kathryn Jenkins and Ban Ki-Moon. All, in their way have contributed to making the world a nicer place – with the possible exception of Moony who left under a cloud still owing £1 (1,800 South Korean won)  from his last game when he lost his bet failed to make 4 after a great drive 80 yards short of the 18th green.

Dredgie was a regular in the school in the 80s but was forced to turn pro and take a drop in wages after the 1991 scandal involved Dredge, Dai Snips, Keith and a candlestick in the billiard room. Dai Snips who had a lucrative barber shop in the middle of Deri with celebrity clients including Julian Cope, was forced to sell up and move to Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he became a butcher and business consultant.

Keith has missed just 7 of the 4,897 Saturday games and still uses the same tee he was given for the inaugural event by Ianto Ryder. Keith has played on the professional circuit, finished runner up in the Welsh Open on 3 occasions and has won 5 cars for holes in one in the past year alone. He is currently playing off 15. He hasn’t handed a card in since 1956 and has 7 children.

In 1926 a group of American professionals arrived in England to play in the Open Golf Championship at Wentworth. They had time on their hands while they waited for the Open to begin. To kill time they competed against a team of British professionals, but lost 13½ points to 1½ points.

Samuel Ryder, a wealthy Englishman, watched the competition, and agreed to provide a trophy to encourage the matches to be played on a regular basis.

The inaugural Ryder Cup matches were played the following year at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, and thereafter every two years, with the venue alternating between England and America. In 1973 the Cup was played for in Scotland for the first time, at Muirfield, and in 1979, after a period of American supremacy, it was decided to include European players in the competition. Since then the contest have been close, and the score remains Europe 7 wins, America 7 wins, and one tied match.

The Ryder Cup remains one of the few great sporting competitions that is played for no prize money.

October 2010 will see the Ryder Cup held in Wales, for the first time ever. The Ryder Cup is a three-day competition between teams representing Europe and the USA. It is the third biggest sporting occasion on earth, surpassed only by the Olympic Games and the football World Cup. It is watched by billions of people across the world. In 2010 the matches will be played on the Celtic Manor Resort’s new ‘Twenty Ten’ course in Newport, Wales: the first golf course specifically designed to host the biennial event.

But golf in Wales does not begin and end with the 2010 Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup will obviously be fantastic for Wales, for tourism, for the economy, but for golf itself the hope is that it will bring world recognition that Wales is a great place to play golf. Although there are fewer than 200 Golf Clubs in Wales, compared with over 7,000 in the rest of the UK, the diversity and beauty of the courses is superb. It is hoped that more people will realise that golf in Wales can be a rich and varied experience, every bit as exciting as golf in Scotland or Ireland.

Practise after dark and in disguise

Practice is often treated as a dirty word. You should be very careful when mentioning it in mixed company. Be careful where and when you use it and never, ever use it when you’re unsure of the opinions of everyone in the room. Only use it when you know you’re in a group of true believers;

Scene: Bargoed G.C., first tee, 8.03 a.m. Saturday morning, Autumn;

A gaggle of golfers shivering, moaning, talking general nonsense and catching up
Garin: Haven’t swung a club for 3 weeks.
Alun: Really. Thought I saw you up here last week.
Garin: That wasn’t me
Dev: I think it was I saw your car
Garin: Oh right – but I was only here for 10 minutes practising.
All stop their conversations and look at Garin. Huddle and announcement
Dev: We’ve decided to cut you 2 shots.
Much anger, discussion, rebuttal, denial, an appeal, witnesses called, more discussion and decision upheld.
The moral of the story – ‘Careless talk costs shots’.

So, under cover of darkness, on your own private golf course, or at a different golf course in a different country where no-one knows you, you should practice. It’s better if you can practice on your own – no witnesses. This is easier for some golfers than others. Some golfers can’t take a …. putt by themselves let alone play a whole round of golf. Others love it. However, at some stage in their lives, everyone needs to practice sometimes. Now there is practice and there is practice. Proper practice should be meaningful and designed to help you. It’s not much use wandering around the golf course hitting balls from positions you’d never be in with clubs you never realised you had in your bag. “If I hit my drive to here I’d need to draw a 2 iron over the pond” is never going to happen so save yourself some time and grief and golf balls and lay up.

You need to understand why you’re practising. If you’re not practising but having fun then by all means hit a driver from the fairway and try to bend a three wood around a forest of trees. However if you’re practising to play better it needs to be ‘context specific’. This nifty little phrase says that the way we behave totally depends on the context. If someone is running down the street you have no idea why they are doing it until you have more information. Are they robbing a bank or late for work? Similarly, the ugly duckling is only ugly in the context of the other animals around him. If he were brought up with ducks he would possibly be a good looking duck. OK dodgy analogy but you know what I mean.

In golfing terms if you are practising to improve your new grip then use it all the time. The practice round should be as close to a real round as possible. If you count all the shots in a real round (which I hope you do) you need to count all shots from a practice round. You need to play every ball from where it lands. You need to focus on every shot. You need to finish off every putt. If you use expensive Callaway Hex Tour golf balls in a real competition then you can’t use the old battered Precept Laddie you found at the bottom of the garden after the dog chewed it for the practice round.

Henry Cotton, talking about British Open Champion, Harry Vardon;
“He would not play any course twice in the same day. Why not? Because he was so accurate, that in his second round, his shots finished in the divot holes he had made in the morning, and that took the fun out of the game.”

Unless you’re Harry Vardon I guess you may need to get better;

“You can’t teach me anything about golf I’ve been playing it for 30 years.”
“Really?”
“That’s right. I’ve got 30 years experience.”

I suspect that Dai may be incorrect. I suspect that his 16 handicap is not the result of 30 years of experience but 1 year’s’ experience repeated 30 times coupled with the mathematical certainty that on a handful of occasions in those 30 years many of this better shots and his luck coincided in a beautiful day that resulted in a dramatic cut in his handicap - too harsh?

I think not. I think David Kolb (author of ‘Socrates In The Labyrinth: Hypertext, Argument, Philosophy’ exploring the nature of argument in linear and hypertextual space) would agree as well.
His (David’s not Dai’s) model of how we learn recognises that we have to do more than have an experience to learn anything;

New player on course to partner, “What do you hit from here?”
Experienced club member, “I generally hit a 4 iron.”
New player, “Well I hit the same distance as you so I’ll hit a 4.”
He hits a 4 iron short into the bunker.
New player “I thought you said you hit a 4 iron?”
Experienced club member, “I do and I always end up in the same bunker as you’re in.”

David Kolb believes you have to reflect after having had the experience – or the 90 little experiences that make up Dai’s game of golf. Reflecting is the key. For professionals it’s the job of the player, the coach, psychologist, nutritionist and manager to analyse everything about the game. For the likes of us it’s the 5 seconds thinking after we’ve hit a shot, the 2 minutes waiting on the tee, the 10 minutes in the car on the drive home and the 5 minutes before we go to sleep at night. My gut reaction is that we don’t have a particularly structured approach to this aspect of our game. The analysis may well be along the lines of “Sliced it again”, or “Couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo today”. I suspect Ian Poulter’s coaches would be more specific.

Reflecting and then drawing a conclusion from this is not as stifled, serious and difficult as it appears. To some extent we all do this, even Dai. On the first green if we hit it 20 feet past we’ll generally hit the putt coming back 5 feet short. At least we’re learning. The next hole is better and by the 18th we’ve just about got the pace of the greens ( A learning point here may be to have 36 putts of the putting green before we go out).

Apart from the putting though there’s little reflecting we do, and even less analysis and even lesser (not a real word I know) trying something different. We tend to adjust to our faults or rationalise them rather than try to change them;

Having gone through a phase of slicing the ball on every tee shot I starting aiming further and further left until I was practically aiming at my playing partners.

Dai always ends up in the bunker on the 10th ; “At least I get plenty of practice playing out of bunkers” - never any thought of changing.

To improve your game you need to learn. This means you need to reflect, conclude and DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. If you know you can’t reach the green with a 3 iron – hit a 3 wood. I know you’ll occasionally mess up and have a disaster but at least you’re trying something new and learning. It will be uncomfortable; “If you’re not churning, you’re not learning” is pretty much a truism. Constantly hitting a 3 iron short isn’t developing your game. Don’t end up like Dai.

Perhaps more importantly after a round take a little time to think about it. How did you play? What worked? What didn’t? Where did you lose the shots? Approach play?Putting? Driving? Work on this. I don’t mean spend 5 hours every evening on the putting green each evening, but just think about it. There was an experiment carried out by Dr. Blaslotto at the University of Chicago. He split people into three groups and tested each group on how many free throws they could make. The first group practised free throws every day for an hour. The second group just visualized themselves making free throws. The third group did nothing. After 30 days, he tested them again; the first group improved by 24%, the second group improved by 23% without touching a basketball and the third group did not improve at all.

So, theoretically you could improve your golf by just thinking about it. I believe that’s true to some extent. Very often we can’t see what’s happening when we’re involved in it – we can’t see the wood for the trees to use a cliché. If you can work out what’s going wrong you can, at least, know where to start fixing it. As Einstein defined, “If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing again and again and expect a different result – that’s insanity.”

Try something different.

From Tenby …..

My book, “Tenby to Celtic Manor.” (Carreg Gwalsch) (on sale from 31 July) is not;

a travel book detailing the 160 mile journey along the A4218, A478, A477, A40, A48, M4, A48 (again),  and B4236 between the South West seaside town of Tenby and the imposing Colditz-style fortress on the eastern side of Newport that is Celtic Manor;

a golf instruction book that includes an opening chapter about your grip with illustrations, a chapter dealing with the 10 most common faults all solved by hitting the ball close to where you’re aiming, chapters called, “Putting – The Game Within A Game”, “Understand Your Swing” or “Warming Up Before Your Round”;

A book with a foreword by a famous player I’ve never met (the best I could hope for is Bradley Dredge as my mum knows his mum, slightly) and as a member of Bargoed Golf Club my other link would be that I’ve had a drink or two in the Bradley Dredge lounge;

a book of colour illustrations of me, or more likely Bradley, shot on a Spanish golf course standing in a gorgeous yellow sandy bunker looking wise.

Reviews of the book will not be the same as the reviews of many golf books found on the shelves.

Reviews will not say;

“this book is the defining point of a lifetimes’s theories… free from jargon… contains everything you will ever need to know ” - ‘100% Golf’, David Leadbetter;

(the book is) “offering a fast track to a lower handicap for all” – ‘The Golf Instruction Manual’, Steve Newell;

“this eye-opening tutorial will empower golfers” - ‘The Negotiable Golf Swing’, Joseph Laurentino.

People will not say the following about my book;

“this masterpiece of simplicity offers a fast track to a lower handicap for all…each chapter offers fascinating insights that are guaranteed to save you shots. - P. Alliss ;

“it’s about as funny as someone shouting ‘one’ when your ball falls off the tee. - B. Forsyth”

“when I started reading this book I rarely broke 100. By page 10 I was playing in single figures. By chapter 5 I had won the weekly club stableford competition 3 times. A week later I was playing off scratch. By the time I had finished it I was on the professional circuit…… I can thoroughly recommend it. - B. Dredge ”.

What the book is a history of golf in Wales illustrated by a range of diverse golf clubs, with a number of themes running through the book; the role of women, religion, industry, poverty and class.

Extract 1: Acknowledgements

“This book is a selective trawl through the history of Golf in Wales to the present day. I’ve tried to get a mix of large Clubs and small Clubs, members’ Clubs and owners’ Clubs, urban Clubs and rural Clubs. This is a snapshot of golf as I saw it and heard it in the summer of 2010 in Wales.

Many thanks are due for the help, support and patience I’ve had from the Golf Club managers, secretaries, captains, members, Club historians and professionals across Wales. Special thanks to the people who have patiently hunted for papers in the backs of cupboards, answered my queries, sent me notes, records, books and photos.

Particular apologies to the club officials who don’t find their Club in this book. In attempting to give the widest range of Clubs in Wales I’ve had to be incredibly selective – sorry. “

Extract 2- Origins of golf

The last fifty years of the Victorian era were a time of dramatic change for Wales. The population virtually doubled between 1851 and 1901. In 1851, 35 per cent of the population of Wales earned their living in agriculture. By the early twentieth century this was down to 10 per cent. In 1850 almost all elected MPs were members of the land-owning classes; by 1914 only three of the thirty-four MPs representing Welsh constituencies were part of the landed gentry. The rôle of women was about to change, as was the power of the Church.
Golf, and sport in general, reflected of the changing times. In 1876 the Football Association was formed in Wales. In 1881 the Welsh Rugby Union was formed. In 1888 Glamorgan County Cricket Club was founded. In 1895 the Welsh Golfing Union was formed with a meeting of seven existing Clubs: Tenby, Porthcawl, Swansea Bay, Glamorganshire, Caernarvonshire, Borth-Ynylas, Aberdovey and Merionethshire…

… to Celtic Manor