League to Dubai finals itinerary has arrived!

OH MY GOD!!!!
I'm so excited that for £35.00 entry fee I have been able to be eligible for and qualify for this amazing finals experience. It's really looking like a once-in-a-lifetime deal (unless I can qualify next year, Sorry Clare!).

On the 12th December we are meeting at Manchester Airport's Etihad check in desk at 0545. That's going to be an early start from Bridgend, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make!!! It is the start of what I am certain will be six days of incredible golf and an amazing trip, all complimentary, to the United Arab Emirates. We will be arriving back at Manchester airport at 0600 on the 18th December.

Arabian Golf TV will be covering our entire finals experience from our arrival at Abu Dhabi airport to our departure from the UAE with the main focus on our 3 round, 3 course final shootout. AGTV can be found on facebook and youtube and I'm looking forward to meeting fellow Melbournite Sarah Lawrence.

We are staying on Yas island in Abu Dhabi at the Rotana hotel which looks awesome and I hope the person I'm sharing a room with likes Jack Daniels and can sleep through snoring! The Rotana Hotel looks pretty damn cool and I can't wait to make the most of it's top class facilities.

Our first golf experience in the UAE will be under floodlights for a par3 challenge at the Yas Island Golf Club. It should be a lot of fun and a great way to get to know the other competitors lucky enough to have made it to the finals.

The 3 final rounds of golf will be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. First up is Arabian Ranches Golf Club and looks like a good introduction to desert golf with a lot of sand around the course! 

Second is the absolutely incredible, world renowned Yas Links (Widely regarded as the finest links course outside Scotland!) 

and the Final course is the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf. I can't wait to play the courses our favourite pros have all enjoyed and been challenged and tested by.

Really looking forward to representing Coed-y-Mwstwr Golf Club and Wales/Australia in the finals experience and hope I can do them proud!

Keep an eye on my blog, Arabian Golf TV and League to Dubai over the finals dates and get inspired to take part next year!

Record Keeping

In the interest of keeping records and tracking some stats to aid setting goals for improvement, I created a little excel file to help me out. If you woul like a copy (I can't upload it here, sorry), send me an email to clayts@landells(dot)com.au

First sub 80 today!

Today was the first time I have ever had a sub 80 round of golf. It was from the yellows (general play) but it was in a comp so I'm quite pleased with myself! I went around in 79 strokes. I had two birdies, one was a tap in from just over a foot for a two! And the other was a long downhill putt on the difficult 16th.
I scored 37 points from my new handicap of 11. Stoked.
The difference from Saturday's 27 point debacle was a looser grip pressure allowing the club to lag and not cast, combined with a more solid core and a stronger right leg to coil against.
Saturday I experimented with a different mindset too. I tried to concentrate on each hole in its entirety (aim for par by going....) rather than each individual shot and its process. Not sure it worked, my swing was poor and had no chance to follow through on my goals.
Looking forward to more improvement!

Golf fitness with TPI and Adam Scott

I think I take my golf fitness a little (lot) for granted. Check out this episode from the TPI guys with Adam Scott. Got some work to do yet!
TPI link to video