Tiger has his say

Tiger Woods has broken a prolonged silence this week to talk about his latest recovery from two back operations. I was rather surprised to hear that up to this point he has not done anything more strenuous than lots of walking! Apparently, as he says, with nerve problems you cannot put time frames on recovery as they can all be different.

You will all know that I have had a connection with Nike for 13 years now that pretty much came about because of Tiger Woods' success in his early years. We have all (apart from the very youngest of you reading this) lived through the Tiger years that have to a large extent shaped the professional game that we see now. The increased money and interest in the game from fans and sponsors is largely down to him and we now have players leading the game like Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler who pretty much put their initial interest in the game down to him. Bear in mind that when Tiger had his unbelievable year in 2000, Rory would have been 10! Tiger had already been winning majors for three years at that point. Whilst some of the things that have happened in his life are morally questionable (my problem with that is that I wonder how many young men, put in his position, would be much different? I just wish he hadn't felt the need, for whatever reason, to get married!), I do believe that most of us would love to see him back competing at the top of leaderboard with the young guns.

Unfortunately, I now don't see it although it pains me to say it. The biggest problem, as this writer knows only too well, is that time stands still for no man. Tiger is 40 just after Christmas and he isn't even swinging a club. I know from my own experience just how much things changed physically for me in my 40s. Of course Tiger is a far more athletic and trained player than me, but on the other hand I had no operations and he has had somewhere in the region of ten, most of them being since 2008. We all know our bodies deteriorate as we get older so when you look at that sentence it's hard to see a good scenario. If you add to that his insistence (trust me most of us looking on who teach shake our heads at this) to change his swing again and again, which puts strain on muscles and joints as they age, then surely it can only get worse.

It is hard to say it but I don't think now we'll ever see Tiger anywhere near his best again. Time is too harsh and he's using up too much. I could of course be wrong (he's way too talented to just write off) but I think we will have to be content with our memories of his great years.


How it could have been

I am of a mind at this point to mention two of his competitors - Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie. No swing changes, at least not major ones, and neither does much, if any, work in a gym (don't think Monty knows what one looks like - sorry, Monty!). Almost no injuries to mention between them and both still playing incredible golf. Another would be Miguel Angel Jimenez who is famous for his wonderful stretching exercises - pretty sure he doesn't do many bench presses though! No they weren't as prolific as Tiger but I could write pages about the problems of over stressing the body in golf.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong but let's be clear here, it's not like golf is suffering is it? We are currently in a wonderful era of the game with four or five young players all gunning for majors and more coming through. The future is definitely bright but I think it will now be Tiger-less.


Back at Chestfield

Back at home we have had not one but two more hole-in-ones! I mean this is getting ridiculous people! In one week we have had first James 'Maverick' Garner and then Barry Vane both achieving aces in Mitrebeens games. I'm trying to do the maths on this but all I can say is it seems the odds on getting an ace at Chestfield are much better than at other courses! Well done, guys - hope they weren't too expensive.

Just a quick mention about our captain, Richard Punyer, who unfortunately had to leave the course at the weekend as his back gave way. I know he has had back problems for some time but this is the first time he has stopped playing. I hope all is well Rich and we'll see you back soon. He left me to take on the Hatton brothers and although I played very well (under par) I got spanked! Well played guys, but that's still a half on the captain/pro sheet!


What's happening in the shop?

Christmas is approaching fast! There are lots of bargains in the shop and, of course, you can always buy vouchers for goods and lessons. One really good present that I thought of was a re-gripping voucher. Most people are very bad about spending on new grips and they often end up with grips that should have been changed years, let alone months earlier. A voucher specifically for grips gets around this problem and means their clubs will be transformed without them having to worry about the cost, which clearly stops a lot of people.

Remember there are also offers from Motocaddy (£50 cashback) and Titleist (ball personalisation - more below) plus we have our own sale on summer style shoes and shirts. The Christmas Draw is ongoing as well - £1 a number sees you up for the top prize of a £250 driver plus 25+ other prizes. Get yours soon!