29/01/10
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.
Thursday 28 January
Day four now and an early start again as we set off for an 0830 tee-time at the Riverstrand Golf Club, which was not far from the IMG Academy. Riverstrand is a lovely course lined with lakes and marshland, although we were grateful again for buggies as there were some massive gaps between greens and the next tees. It was a lovely morning once again and all the boys were pumped up for a good game ahead.
I was playing with James White and Stevie McEwan and out in front were the two pros, Callum and Gavin alongside Phillip McLean. I hit the ball well, however I struggled a bit on the greens but got it round in one under, which was pretty pleasing given the form with the putter. It’s important to stick in and carve out decent scores when all your game’s not on song. Gav pipped me by a shot to take the honours thanks to a nice birdie at the last!
After a long lunch, we headed back to IMG Academy practice facilities to hit balls. It was a perfect afternoon so I took full advantage in working on my game, as did the rest of the guys. Callum had a session with The Doc and said they got through some good work, so hopefully he’s getting ready for a good tilt on the Tour again and improving on what was a decent debut season.
We got together on the putting green afterwards for a game. The green was so fast which made it difficult to hole putts, but it was a great test for our touch. You have to get used to all sorts of green speeds, with the number of different courses we play on the amateur schedule all over the world.
After a few hours rest, we had pizza back at the apartment and had a good laugh. The team spirit this week has been great and we’re obviously benefiting from being out here at this time of year. Getting use of these world class facilities should stand us all in good stead for next week and beyond.
Great to see Andy Murray getting to the final of the tennis, which is brilliant for Scottish sport. It shows what can be done with the right preparation, hard work, attitude and obviously talent, which we young golfers can learn from.