26/01/10
Scotland’s leading amateur Ross Kellett reports from the squad’s training camp at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida as the players prepare for next week’s Jones Cup Invitational and the season ahead.
After arriving last night, the weather was terrible when we woke up, raining real heavy, however it cleared up pretty quick and thankfully turned out to be a lovely day. Hardly a cloud in the sky which is what warm weather training is all about.
I’m here with my Scotland squad team mates Steven McEwan, Phillip McLean, James White and David Law as well as my old team mates Gavin Dear and Callum Macaulay. National coach Ian Rae is with us and we also have ‘The Doc’ (Dr Richard Cox from the Scottish Institute of Sport) here working with us. All the guys are in great form and delighted with the weather although it was very windy, hope it stays that way all week.
We had our first group meeting just after breakfast to discuss plans for the week which was lead by Ian and the Doc. We just spoke about making the week productive as possible, working hard and getting the most out of it for everyone.
First up, Callum had a session with the Doc whilst I had a really good short game session with Ian and Gav. We went to the chipping green to hit shots from the Bermuda rough, which is proving to be quite tricky for some of the guys as its nothing like they’ve experienced before! Now we know how tough the US Open must be!
I have to say the facilities here at the IMG Academy are fantastic, absolutely first class. We have our own green to work on our short game and our own area on the range just for us. This is exactly what we need to hone our games for Ocean Forest next week.
It was probably a good thing we didn’t play a round of golf today, as a few of the guys are suffering a bit of jet lag. So after the practice sessions, we all hit the gym about 4.30pm and got an hour’s work out in. The boys really enjoyed it – again the gym is top notch. Hard work but we’ll all sleep well tonight!
Dinner is scheduled for 6.30pm then after that an early bed for us all as we’re teeing off early tomorrow morning. All in all, a great first day at Bradenton and if the weather keeps up it should be a great week ahead.
Read more about the SGU’s new partnership with IMG Golf Academies.