Following last week’s Top 10 finish in Berkshire, Isle of Man tournament professional Tom Gandy took another step closer to securing his place on the first tee at the EuroPro end of season event at Desert Springs in southern Spain in October with another excellent final round at The IFX and Winged Boots Championships at Foxhills Club and Resort, just outside London. Rounds of 70, 73, and 67 saw Tom finish in a 2-way tie for 12^thplace at the event, and lifting him up another 7 places in the Order of Merit to 40^thposition. This latter statistic is especially important as, not only is his place at the end of season finale almost certainly secured, this brings with it automatic qualification for the EuroPro Tour for next season. Although Tom’s 2019 ambitions remain even higher, this now allows him to plan for another season of guaranteed professional competition and start looking at options for other events in April next year – a time when the majority of his EuroPro peers will be back into the mix of qualification.

Tom lining up a putt on the 4^thgreen in Round 2.

One of the great marks of a top competitor is their ability to climb the leaderboard on the final day of an event, when the pressure is on and the ranking points – and prize money – start to loom large in players’ minds. Over the last two weeks, Tom has gained an average of 17 places on the leaderboard with two excellent final day performances which have included 13 birdies.

“I felt good out there from the off and just took each shot as it came, not trying to get ahead of myself – the next minute I was 6 under for the front 9!”

What’s that saying again? Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a habit… With last day performance so important in every sport, next week’s Nokia Masters at the Mannings Heath Golf Club in West Sussex would be a great time to cement this habit!

After an increasingly set of positive results over the first half season on the EuroPro Tour, Isle of Man professional golfer Tom Gandy finally scored his first Top 10 finish in the summer sunshine in Berkshire at last week’s Pentahotels Championship at Caversham Heath Golf Club. Tom got off to a great start to the week by leading his Pro-Am team to victory on the Tuesday, picking up some welcome Prize Money in the process, before showing the maturity and experience he has built over the first half of his rookie year with some really consistent scoring to end the week just three shots away from a maiden victory on the Tour.

Tom with his Pro-Am Team

Tom was especially pleased to have such a strong finish on the Friday, carding a 68 – the third best round of the day – and climbing a dozen places up the leaderboard.

“I was delighted to piece three rounds together as previously this season I seem to have one mediocre round that holds me back.”

Playing an hour or so in front of the last pairing, Tom managed to get to within 2 shots of the lead with 3 holes to play but just couldn’t find any more birdies to put pressure on those behind, allowing overnight leader Jordan Wrisdale to hold on and clinch victory with a total of -13. However, there were lots of positives for Tom to take from his week’s work. As well as his first Top 10 of the season, the birdies were flowing each day with 15 in total across the three rounds.

“I’m feeling more and more confident out there each week and really enjoying my golf, so it felt like it was only a matter of time until the results started to come. I will try to use the positivity and momentum and roll it into the next event.”

This finish propels Tom up to 47th Place in the ‘Race to Desert Springs’ Order of Merit, with the Top 60 players qualifying for the end of season event at Desert Springs Golf Club in Almeria in Spain over the 24th – 26th of October. The composure he showed on the final round, keeping his card bogey-free while finding 5 birdies will surely give him confidence to push on for the last 6 events of the regular tour and hopefully a place on the first tee at Desert Springs for that end of season finale.

The Dawson and Sanderson Classic – Longhirst GC (4^th-6^thJuly 2018)

Although I played some solid golf around what was a tricky venue, I didn’t play to the best of my ability but managed the game I had that week well. After a 2 over par opening 74, I birdied the 17^thand 18^thholes of my second round shoot 1 under 71 and make the cut with a shot to spare. I went out on the final day playing alongside one of my friends on the Tour and, again, played solidly, but not my best. However, I did manage to navigate my way around to a another 71 for a Level Par total that saw me climb a few extra places up the leaderboard to a finish of Tied 25th.

The Clipper Logistics – Moor Allerton GC (11^th-13^th July 2018)

This event provided a really good lesson that hopefully will stand me in good stead for the future. Day one was a bit of a day to forget for me as I didn’t play my best golf and struggled to card a 1 over par 72. However, I came out fighting on day two and put together a terrific round of golf, shooting a 2 under par 69. Unfortunately an incident with a rules official on the 5^thhole (my 14^th) led to me missing the cut by a shot. His initial ruling was trying to make me take a penalty drop 50/60 yards away in some deep rough, which persuaded me to try to play the ball instead. This resulted in two wasted shots before he decided that my initial claim was correct and that I could actually drop the ball where I had initially wanted to under the penalty. Those 2 wasted shots resulted in a double bogey rather than a par and left me little time to get back on track. I did manage another birdie on my 16^thbut this was still not quite enough to make the two round cut so despite a 2 under par 69 I was heading back to the Island a day early.

I learnt a lot from this and won’t just blindly accept a ruling unless I am sure it is right – I should have asked for a second opinion from another referee before opting to play my ball from the water.

The Ablrate Championship – Wychwood Park GC (18^th-20^thJuly 2018)

We received an email on the Sunday, prior to travelling to this tournament on the Monday, to say that the Tour had, for now, decided to continue with this tournament but to be aware that the course was not in good condition. This was due to an issue they have had with the sprinkler system which, combined with the heatwave, meant that there was no grass growth on the course. As expected, it was I fairly poor condition which limited scoring ability although I played solidly, just costing myself a few shots through simple errors. However, again I managed myself pretty well and ‘got it round’, shooting a Level Par 72 on day 1 and a 3 over par 75 on day 2. With the difficult playing conditions, this proved enough to make the cut and, as the week went on the course improved (due to greenkeepers manually watering the course) which was good to see. By the final day there were a few compliments for the venue which was just reward for the greenkeepers’ hard work and my final round of 71 saw me finish in a Tie for 32^ndplace.

Whilst this meant that I didn’t feature towards the top of the leaderboard, I could feel that my game was coming together nicely – different parts were my strengths on different days, showing that all areas were not far away.

The Pentahotels Championship – Caversham Heath GC (25^th– 27^thJunly 2018)

I had deliberately chosen to play this venue at first stage qualifying for the Tour back in March as this was one of the venues that was on the qualifying rota as well as the actual tournament rota – my thinking in March was that it would be good prep for later in the year. This planning paid off and I managed to start the week by leading my team to victory in the Pro-Am on the Tuesday before the competition started on the Wednesday – a nice boost to help me start the week in good spirits.

My golf game grew as the week went on, but as with previous weeks, I felt like I was ‘limiting’ myself with my scoring, almost like a comfort zone thing – getting to a few under and almost trying to hold on, rather than keep pressing (an attitude I felt that I used to have before England Golf days, which seemed to impose an attitude of ‘not to make mistakes’, as opposed to my previous freedom and attacking mindset). The biggest lesson I have learnt in my rookie pro season is that limiting yourself is no good – you have to be able to shoot a low score as the standard is so much higher than at the amateur tournaments. My first two rounds of 71 and 70 left me on 5 under and around 30^thplace going into the final round so when I got off to a good start on the final day, I kept trying to make birdies and go lower, breaking the comfort zone feeling. Whilst I didn’t convert all my chances, I shot 5 under without a single bogey to jump up the leaderboard, I had the attitude of trying to shoot, 7, 8, 9 or 10 under, which I thought was the most positive part of the week. Something I want to do again and again! My 3 round total of 10 under saw me finish in a Tie for 6^thplace – my best result so far during the season and my first EuroPro Top 10 finish.

It was a positive week in all respects and the first time I felt like I had strung three pretty ‘good’ rounds together – the rest of my season has been littered by two good ones and an average round. I learnt a lot from the week and it has given my plenty of encouragement. I know that I can compete at this level; it just takes a bit of experience to do so,. Hopefully this is one of many good finishes and, most importantly, it has pretty much secured me a place at the Tour Finals in October (where the top 60 on the Order of Merit compete in a double money tournament).  Last year this event was won by a player who went into tournament in 56^thplace. Winning the tournament saw him jump to 5^thin the Order of Merit, meaning that he graduated to the Challenge Tour – an example I could potentially follow.

The PDC Golf Championship – Studley Wood GC (6^th-8^thJune 2018)

I hadn’t been overly happy with how I’d been hitting the ball in the two tournaments I’d played prior to this so went for a lesson with my coach the day before the practice round to try and establish what was going wrong. It seemed to work as I played fantastically from tee-to-green over the first two days, standing at 9 under par and in a tie for 8th going in to the final day. Unfortunately the final day saw me shoot only a respectable level par, missing a number of great opportunities. With others scoring much better, this meant that I slipped down the leaderboard in to a tie for 28th place. Of note, this event saw the lowest winning total score in EuroPro history as well as the lowest ever cut, which is why my usually respectable level par in fact cost me several places.

I then had a week’s holiday in Tenerife so missed the next two EuroPro events – a break that felt much needed and helped me return with refocused and reenergised.

British Open Regional Qualifying – West Lancashire GC (25^thJune 2018)

This is a one round event where the top 11 players would move through to the final stage of qualifying for the British Open. After coming back from holiday I did feel a tad rusty, but enthusiastic and optimistic. I played very solidly on what was a very tough golf course. My rustiness, however, caused me to hit a shot on the 15th hole off the tee that I haven’t hit for years and years (I topped it thirty yards in front of me in to long rough, with a 3 iron) and the resulting double bogey meant I missed out by one shot. I finished in a tie for 17th place.

The Cumberwell Park Championship – Cumberwell Park GC (27^th-29^thJune 2018)

Again, a solid first two days saw me breeze through the cut mark and sitting in a tie for (approx) 15^th, although this was six shots off the lead. Feeling that this was probably a bit too far back for a realistic challenge for the victory, nevertheless I had the attitude that if I shoot a low round, I could really get myself into the mix. I tried to just ‘let it happen’ but birdied my first hole of the day and gave myself great chances on 2 and 3 so felt like I was on it for the day. I pushed and pushed – a bit too hard at times, which ended up backfiring. My 2 over final round saw my -4 total score finish in a tie for 30th.

The Motocaddy Masters at Frilford Heath GC on the 16^thto 18^thof May was my first full event on the EuroPro Tour. Sadly, I was not in control of my golf ball at any stage during the week, despite managing to ‘get it round’ well on day one for a 2 under par 70. I then went to practice that evening to try diagnose what was going wrong and how I could improve it by the morning but, unfortunately, I was unable to work this out and I hit it even worse on the second day, getting myself into too much trouble which made it impossible for me to score well, ending up with an 8 over par round of 80.

As I missed cut, I didn’t play on the final day so went instead to visit my coach to try to work out what the problem was. We also discussed how to self-diagnose better for future tournaments, something I feel better about now.

The was Matchroom Sport Championship at Harleyford GC at the end of the month was my first real experience of the step-up in standard between the professional and the amateur game. I didn’t play well again over the two days, but battled very well to keep myself in it, missing many good chances late on which ended up proving costly. Unfortunately my two scores of Level Par (72), which are not normally bad scores to shoot, fell 2 short of the cut-mark. This showed me that, even when not playing well, you still need to maximise your score or risk missing the cut. When I was an amateur, I can’t think of many cuts that fell below par, albeit the courses I am playing as a professional are designed more for better/more entertaining scores. Level Par was always a good score, whereas now, I need to be able to score better even when I’m not on my game.

Despite the month of May not being the best start to the EuroPro season for me in terms of results, both events offered good learning experiences for different reasons. They have also helped to make me more comfortable at this level, which bodes well for the rest of the season.

3rd – 14th March : Portugal Pro Golf Tour events

I played three tournaments whilst in Portugal this time. I finished 20th in the first event at Quinta do Ria unfortunately letting some shots slip in the back nine after battling strong winds throughout the two days. The second tournament at Quinta do Vale saw me finish in a tie for 11th place at 1 under par, after the tournament was reduced to only 18 holes – the second round was a wash out due to the high amount of rain. I played really well in the first round to get to 1 under, with the course again being exposed to some quite high winds. Finally, the third tournament was at Amendoeira on the O’Connor course. I finished in a lowly tie for 41st place. It was a case of what might have been, as I was stood on the 18th tee 1 under par on day one, but after unfortunately slipping in the fairway bunker my ball went right in to the trees and I had to sign for a final score of 2 over par. The final day wasn’t a great day for me but I battled well after a poor start.

28th – 29th March : EuroPro Qualifying Stage One

I elected to play at Caversham Heath Golf Club for the first stage of EuroPro qualifying. The course was wide open off the tee but due to the heavy rainfall, very wet under foot which made things difficult. Scoring was tricky both days with cold winds meaning the ball was not travelling very far. My first day score of +2 saw me in a tie for 7th place. I played well the first day, but did not seem to get the ball in the hole too well. Day two I didn’t play as well, but managed to score better and my 1 under par score, meant my overall 1 over par put me in a tie for 5th place and safely through to final qualifying.

4th – 6th April : EuroPro Final Qualifying

This was held at Frilford Heath Golf Club, with my first round being on the Blue course, second on the Red and then back to the Blue. I knew I was playing nicely coming in to this week and knew my job – finish in the top 30 out of the 250+ player field and you would have full playing rights for the season. The first round started on the 10th of the Blue course, I made the turn in a stress-free 2 under par, missing only one green out of the nine played. I then managed to hit it to 2 foot on the par 3 12th hole, but somehow missed from such close range! This shook me a bit and I snap-hooked the ball out of bounds off the very next tee. I quickly steadied the ship, birdied my second ball to just make a bogey. I birdied the next two holes and my 18th to finish the day at 4 under par, in a tie for 2nd place.

Day two was a bit of a ‘boring’ round of golf, but again, quite stress-free, although I could feel I was hitting a few more shots that I wasn’t quite in control of. I signed for a 2 under par, for a 36 hole total of 6 under par in a tie for 2nd place, safely making the Top 80 cut. I was in the final group on the final day – a place I’d like to be every week! Unfortunately, after starting very solidly, I failed to get up and down for birdie on the downwind 4th and 5th holes (from 20/30 yards short of each green) before bogeying the very next two holes which instantly put me on the back foot. I battled well, but missed some great chances in the back nine. Unfortunately, a 5 foot par putt slid by on the 18th hole which cost me a top 10 finish (and a few hundred quid!) but my 2 over par, meant my 4 under par 54 hole total was enough for a tie for 12th position. Whilst I wasn’t happy with my performance on the final day, being that close, I would have loved to have pushed on and really contended. However, if you would have offered me that result at the start of the week I would have definitely taken it. The full card is secured which now gives me the flexibility to play whichever events on the EuroPro tour that I choose.

I had two key events during April. The EuroPro Final Qualifying took place at Frilford Heath Golf Club between the 4^thand the 6^thand after doing well at Stage 1 of the qualifying process I had comfortably made it through to final stage. This final stage is important to establish whether you can play on this tour (my main goal for 2018) through this season or not.

I started very solidly in round 1 and was in a tie for second place, knowing when going out in to my second round that if you make the cut (top 80) you will more than likely play all events through the season, but it was 100% definite if you finish top 30. Second round was a case of, ‘make sure you get through to the final round’, but I happened to find lots of people going backwards (score-wise) and I stayed in 2^ndplace even though I didn’t play too well.

This saw me in the final group in the final round which was nice, with TV cameras popping up late on and a regular crowd. It was nice to get experience of this and gain comfort going in to the season ahead. Unfortunately I missed two very good opportunities early on, before dropping two shots immediately after which rocked me a bit and meant it was a bit of a battle. I worked hard and ground it out, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be for me and adding a final round of 74 to my rounds of 68 and 70 saw me slip down the leaderboard to 12^thplace.

Although this was slightly disappointing, I had still achieved everything I set out to do and guaranteed full playing rights for the season, which was brilliant, and my first goal for the season had been accomplished.

I would like to put a huge note of thanks here to my Sports Psychologist, Sian, for all of the work we have done together over winter – it was tricky knowing that I couldn’t play much competitively over winter and my year was going to be based around a good result early on, and on one particular week. There are no second chances this year. Sian helped hugely with preparing for this and I’m extremely grateful for all the work she put in to help me.

I ended the month by playing in the Jamega Pro Golf Tour event at Studley Wood GC. Again, I made a positive start even though I was struggling with my game a bit. I was still on for a very good score and a top 5/10 finish but a poor finish cost me dearly. Unfortunately I hit too many poor shots and one in particular on the 17^thcost me dearly. I shot rounds of 70 and 76 to finish on Level Par and Tied 20^thout of a field of 110.

Reflecting upon this positively, I had been playing very well and didn’t have many real problems with my game before this tournament, so this has brought me back down and after visiting my coach I know what to work on over the next few weeks before my first EuroPro event of the year. This was still a positive result given my performance/ball striking this week, showing I can still compete even when not quite on my game.

I met with Sian to discuss my Portugal trip and to discuss building on this to continue to prepare me for the season ahead. I also met with Conor Cummins for a Masterclass again involved with the mental side of sport. I found this very informative, enjoyed the chilled out/casual environment and the open forum. Conor was great answering everyone’s questions and I felt it was good to hear how a successful athlete deals with adversity, what he feels works for him etc. Even though it’s a completely different sport I think I can still learn a lot.
I went to Portugal for some warm weather training, but before going decided to enter an event on the Portugal Pro Golf Tour for the final three days of the trip – I thought, what better way to put your practice to the test than to jump in to a competition?

Prior to arriving in Portugal I had a lesson with my coach in Southport, which helped inform my plan for the three days. I worked tirelessly whilst there and felt like I really got a lot from the three days.

It was really great to get back in to a competitive environment, something I feel I have missed (having not played a tournament since the end of September 2017). The field of 100 players was strong, particularly as the Challenge Tour season has not yet started so several players from this Tour were playing as a means of gaining competitive experience, as was I.

Whilst my expectations were initially low, I started very well and kept trying to push on, knowing scoring would be low. Day 1 was great, but I missed a few good chances coming in and had to settle for -3. Day 2 was a slow burner, nothing seemed to happen and I was drifting away, but a strong finish meant I jumped back up the leaderboard. I also managed to pick up my first pay cheque since turning professional (my second start) so that felt good and capped off a very productive week.

I didn’t play in any events but stepped up my practice in anticipation of my season starting in March. I also finished work on 31st January so was really looking forward to getting back to playing full time. This will see my practice time go up even more as well as a more consistent gym routine (I have been working as a labourer for the last 6/8 weeks; as I have been working physically all day, my gym work has been relatively light and not as frequent as I would like.)

The highlight of my month was the meeting with my Sports Psychologist, Sian. We covered some points I had pre-prepared to discuss with her and the discussion proved to be very positive. I have tried to put some of the items we discussed in to action in my practice throughout January, some to good effect, some less so. However, we will review and discuss again in our next meeting.

Vannin will formally launch on Tuesday the 10th of April at 2.30pm at Rowany Golf Club – Tom’s home course.