The first tournament of the year was a long time coming, but what an amazing place to start the year it was. The Apes Hill Resort in Barbados is a relatively new golf course, opening only 15 years ago but since then, the course has undergone one or two changes, particularly to the green complexes where they’ve been softened. Situated near the top of the island, when you eventually get to the 15th tee, you can see both the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Caribbean Sea to the West so as it’s an amazing view. As you can imagine, it’s rarely calm up there, and the warm winds certainly added difficulty to club selection.
The Clubhouse at Apes Hill
Obviously, you’re always a little anxious to get off to a good start in the first event of the year, but I played decently in practice at Apes Hill and really enjoyed nine holes at Royal Westmoreland in the company of our CEO, Phil Harrison, my longtime colleague Bill Longmuir, and one of our Legends Tour Amateur members, Nigel Williams. They were suitably impressed with my golf, but my putting was still an issue.
The first round began on the 10th tee for me, and I opened up with 3 straight pars. At the 13th, even though I hit the green in regulation, I was circa 25 feet from the hole and proceeded to 3-putt. I ignored it and relaxed. I made pars at 14 & 15 and then missed the green left at the 225-yard par 3, 16th hole. A good pitch shot left me with a 10-footer for par, which I missed. I missed a birdie from 8 feet at the 17th and then went to the par-5 18th hole starting to feel a bit tense. I stood on the 635-yard 18th and whipped it straight left into the hazard, and I just lost it. Where did that come from? Ten minutes later, I’d walked onto the 1st tee three over par and wondering what the hell was going on. I won’t bore you with the rest of the round, save to say that I made two birdies and another bogey to shoot +2 (73).
The 16th Hole - Apes Hill
The second round started a little better as I pitched into the hole for eagle at the short par-4 2nd hole. Another 3-putt at the 3rd drove me nuts before pitching in again for eagle at the par-5, 6th hole. A few pars later, I got to the par-5, 9th hole where I hit a decent drive followed by an 8-iron to 20 feet. Two putts later, I was out in -4 (32) and -2 for the tournament. At that point, I honestly felt really comfortable and like I could go low. Pars at 10 and 11 were followed by a missed green at the par-3 12th hole (way right) which turned into a bogey. Pars at 13 & 14 were followed by another 3-putt at the par-4, 15th. Fortunately, I managed a birdie at the 18th for a -3 (68).
The 2nd Hole - Apes Hill
All in all, I hadn’t played really well over the first two days; it was a bit scrappy with too many three-putts. However, I genuinely felt that I had a low score in me going into the final round.
Sunday came, and this is where I became perplexed, impatient, and actually really angry with myself. I hit driver, a nine iron to 4 ft at the first and rolled it in for an easy birdie. I stood on the 2nd tee with a 3-iron in my hand (short par-4) and winged it 30 yards right, straight out of bounds. I mean, what the hell? Where did that come from? So I made double, played lovely the next few holes, birdied the 6th to get back to level for the day, and thought, "Okay, we’re back on track, let’s go."
I flushed it down 7, had a little 8-iron in and blew it straight over the green into the back bunker. I didn’t get up and down. The 8th was a short par-3 into the wind, and this time, my 9-iron stalled in the wind and came up short in the bunker. I didn’t get up and down, so another bogey. Then the par-5, 9th hole. I hit driver, 6-iron to 20 feet and three-putted. Now I’m mad. I felt like I was pulling £50 notes out of my back pocket and throwing them away!
I hit the back nine and 3-putted 10 for bogey. Then I missed the green at 12 and didn’t get up and down, so another bogey. I dug in and birdied 13 and 15 and thought that if I could play the last 3 holes in -1, I’d finish inside the top 25, which would have been acceptable given the number of mistakes I’d made during the week. The long and the short of it was I finished bogey, par, triple!!!
The Tee Shot at the 13th Hole - Apes Hill
The week was beautiful in so many ways; the island is stunning, the weather was great, my friend Bill Longmuir (with whom I stayed) was amazing company, and we shared many stories and laughs which is time I’ll always cherish. The staff at Apes Hill were incredible, as were the facilities and food and beverages. The only thing that wasn’t good was me. I wasn’t good, and I lost my patience and my self-control and I’m determined that I will not repeat this again for the rest of the year.
I will work harder on my putting but try to be kinder to myself because I know I’m overly critical of myself.
Much work to do over the next month before our next effort… Costa Navarino in Greece.
Thanks for your continued support.