When you're going yeah when you're going to chat man. And stuff and the difference between it in a green and in a green side trap is that some people can't get out of a millimeter i mean it's it's mad two degrees at what age did you realize you were gonna make it was there ever a time because you mentioned earlier just off the podcast you've been playing what you'd see as almost elite golf since you were eight year old yeah when did it kick in. And go i'm i'm doing this this is this is going the way i want it to go probably about 26. [Music] really no it did uh i think you no i was i would say i was um i would say i was very confident about 18 19 um like when i finished school i had i gave myself two years of full-time goals. And i um i did i really practiced art um like again like i've always sort of had a really good work ethic that um to be honest comes naturally um i like working a lot you know i like practicing. And i like doing those things so i had two years of that and then.
I played um like you look back and it's more like you look back and look at what you did rather than at the time because you realize what you're actually doing i mean um you know i was playing. For england i got in the walker cup team so i was 18 at the time that was at marion. And um i wasn't i wasn't really ready to turn pro um i didn't i kind of thought about it at that time because when you get to that point a load of the people that you're playing with turn pro it's the natural progression into it from natural progression and i remember like i used to ask people about it because still 18's really really young of course um and uh i would always say like said if i ever met a tour pro. Or anything i would say like when you know when should i turn pro when's the right time and they would say oh you know you'll you'll know like what good's that right it's not told me anything and um and then.
In but i suppose you asking that question probably told you yeah i'm not right. And then.
When i was 19. And i'd played so after the walker cup um i think i traveled to argentina that winter i traveled to australia. For two months that in january like i was doing a load of traveling with england um i was obviously one of the guys left that i played walker cup. So i was in a way i was one of the older ones i was you know playing really well um i had amazing i had an amazing season where i didn't win a lot. But i finished second like so many times i won um and then.
Won a couple of events on the english amateur and stuff and um i sort of knew by junish that year i was like i'm going to turn pro i'm kind of like done. And then.
It did make sense because i knew that that's what i wanted to do i was kind of. And um i finished i got to well in one amateur i won the english amateur we won the home internationals again with england i think we won the europeans that year. And i was just i'd done everything that you'd accomplished everything i've done everything i wanted to do as an amateur really. And um that was kind of it. And then.
I i sort of i was i was very very confident at that stage like i i turned pro should have won on challenge tour uh as an amateur. And should have won on challenge tour um as as i just turned pro and um play challenges till the next.
Year and like not flew through it but you know i won the biggest event which was lucky in a way that i chose that time to play well um. And then.
You know qualified to get on tour at that time so i was pretty i was confident then..
And i was i thought i'll probably push on. And i thought i probably thought i'd do better than what i did winning the english amateur does that get you into majors no it's the british amateur that gets you in the mail yeah finished second on that one when i was 17. And got nothing would it have changed however. could you turn pro anyway would you still um no well at the the changes i don't know. But that is always a tricky one because you're like you get into these mages like. And then.
And then.
You end up waiting and it there's definitely i've probably seen you see you see both sides of it i think people turn pro too early. And then.
I think people wait too long of course. And then.
I think you know it it definitely um sort of stutters people's progress just not quite getting it right yeah i i think it has changed now i think it's cheap you know i always think it's mad when you're going like wikipedia look at the british amateur organs amateur some of the names obviously go on to be like proper elite elite golf then.
There's some that you just never hear of. And it always battles me how somebody can be such an elite amateur yeah. But yet going to the pro game is obviously a different ball game just a completely different game yeah like the um especially sort of i would say the european. Or british side we play so many links courses but i mean we play the best courses like we really do. But um it's it's a completely different game when you turn pro i i think like the egu. And and so the government like the governing bodies i think they do. And i think they are doing a really really good job. And i think it's definitely i was sort of at the time when i was around it was probably transitioning into where you you were getting guys ready to turn pro where i think it was always you know before my time it was you know you had guys that did stay amateur like all their lives. And i think definitely now is you know what players you know what sort of lives they want to lead. And i think everybody kind of is working to get them ready now which is better. But it is just such a such a different game like i found the jump from challenge tour to the european source such a a big gap um. And struggled like i really struggled my first year it's just um as the levels go up the standard of play gets higher the golf courses get tougher and um you're playing for more prize money as well yeah. And some people just ease into it and some people find it harder so the question and probably the answers both but is it that it's. So much harder to to win or which i guess it obviously is than the challenge. So but it's also the cut becomes so much harder because the actual field are better yeah cuts are uh the cuts in some events like really like just are amazing i think i think it's um somebody like there's the both sides of it like you get you know. So you get a sort of scorable course where you have to shoot 25 under like two wins which is an obscene number. And then.
Um on top of that the cut is you know going to be low. But then.
You get a tough course cuts still like level par under par um and like those those two things are just they are the standard of golf is. So insanely high probably doesn't get the credit sometimes like of because it's easy to so you know you probably people you don't always get better but like if you sort of struggle the standard doesn't drop with you like and yeah you know the standard keeps getting higher. And it um it's just it's just a you know a strong sport i think it's one of the hardest things to almost get across the general goal from probably people listen to this podcast how bloody good tour players are how bloody good you are as a goal. For light hopefully a video that we're going to shoot today.
Will highlight that. And really kind of i'm not sure that's one of the other questions actually put it into perspective because it is i think it's difficult unlike other sports like i can't tell what it's like to come up against the one of the best footballers in the world in that setting in that crowd because i don't get that opportunity. But weirdly in golf you do. And it's the beauty of golf i can go. And play robertdale yeah. And almost pretend i'm playing in the open you play against me like yeah. But it's not the open the rough's not us anywhere near as hard you know it's not nowhere near as hard a situation the t's aren't as far back as the guy when you play it yeah i think people don't i think the setup of golf courses that we get. And especially when you get towards a sunday i think is something people um probably the one of the only things in golf that people don't experience in a way that's like um i would say like um a bridge that people don't quite get to experience as much as like a sunday setup of an office where it's firm. And fast the pins are tucked away like it might be windy. But you know at the same time i think we probably don't. Or don't think about enough is how hard golf is. So high and and we'll play pro ams and i watch guys like hit hitting the ball like you know you can go on a range. And hit the ball and everything's great and then.
You get out there and there's bunkers there's water and i'm like is you watching him well. And i i i think how hard golf it's such it's such a hard it's ridiculous to go on a golf course. And score if you think about what golf is you're propelling a tiny little goalkeeper hits my head with it with a metal yeah yeah it's it's like. And you're that much difference in the face can make like miles difference in accuracy are you talking degrees well when you're going yeah when you're going to chat man. And stuff and the difference between it in a green and in a green side trap is that some people can't get out of a millimeter i mean it's it's two degrees.
