UAE Golf Columnist Archives

Singing in the Summer Rain!

Sana Tufail on school, exams and Golf!

Sana Tufail: I was to fly to England straight after my History GCSE exam on the last day of school, but my dad managed to slip a couple of discs in his upper back; too many Happy Gilmours I believe without warming up, surely there must be a rule against that sort of thing after 50!

So our departure was delayed for about ten days, which was useful,  because I hadn’t played competitive golf since May, as I had to catch up on all the school work I had missed out over the season; I played and practiced every day in the hot humid conditions until we flew out on July 6th. Dad was still unable to fly and mum stayed behind, so it was left to my brother to organize the travel schedule around England.

It rained cats and dogs, at one stage the greens were waterlogged and you could just see the flag poking out of a pond… Sana Tufail

Our first stop was Dorking Surrey where I had the South England Championship, a two-day strokeplay event with 64 ladies all competing to be amongst the top 16 who would move on to the match play stage. It rained cats and dogs, at one stage the greens were waterlogged and you could just see the flag poking out of a pond, play was suspended. And the course played really long, there was very little roll and if you knew your distances, it was target golf, provided you didn’t mind getting soaked!! Fortunately I just made the cut on countback and was paired up with the top seed Kerry Smith who was a former England Amateur Ladies Champion and Curtis Cup player, her short game was amazing, I was 4 down by the 5th, but managed to steady the ship and narrowed the gap to 2 down with a couple of birdies, but Kerry wasn’t giving anything away and I eventually conceded defeat on the 16th hole losing 3\/2. I was not too disappointed as this was my first competition since May and it was straight in at the deep end literally, after the round, the floodgates really did open and play was suspended halfway through round two.

The next stop was Sandiway Golf Club near Manchester. We transited through Woking for a few days using the local Inn as our base to play for Surrey in the Stovold Cup at two magnificent Golf clubsCoombe Hill in Kingston and Woking Golf Club (my home from home club) which really was in spectacular condition after the wettest summer in history. The vegetation was really at its best, but it was wise not to test the rough unless you wanted big numbers on your scorecard! We won comfortably against Middlesex and Sussex and it was a real pleasure to play both for Surrey and against two wonderful teams. Incidentally one of my teammates Gillian Brooks won the British Mixed Matchplay Final held at the Els Club in May this year, what a small world we live in. Gillian had nothing but praise for her experience at the Els Club and her time in Dubai and Gillian, can you please bring some rain over next time!

A two hundred mile trip to Sandiway Golf club near Manchester found sunshine for the first time in three weeks, it was the only time I could play a practice round at the English Girls Under 18 venue as I was due to play for England in the European Young Masters in Hungary the week before the event. It was very exciting receiving all the England shirts, golf bag, caps, jacket and working out when to wear what and where, needless to say, it took some time to work it all out. Playing for England was a really great experience, once in Budapest, we traveled by the Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Polish teams to Balatonfured, the bus had a river of golf bags along the central corridor, it was not long before friendly banter made the two-hour journey fly by.

If only that 5 wood was there but you live and you learn… Sana Tufail

After two practice rounds at the Royal Balaton Golf Club and the formal opening ceremony where all the teams did a parade with their national flag followed by a photo shoot, round one was upon us. After a shaky start in wet conditions I managed to steady my nerves and be one over after 14 holes, the match referee asked us to speed up and on the 15th  tee suddenly out of nowhere, appeared six buggies full of officials, I panicked thinking they are all referees looking to penalize us for slow play. The next four holes were four boggies silly me, they were cameramen, scorers, media personnel and junior Ryder cup selectors following the leaders end up with a first day score of 77, which was good enough to contribute towards the overall England Team score which resulted in an overall 4th place out of 30 in the team event. Day 2 was another wet day and the effects of missing lunch two days on the trot were beginning to show.

Overall it was a great learning curve and brought home, how difficult touring must be for the pros, who have to travel and play in unfamiliar territory.

I made some great friends during the tournament in Hungary and it was my first experience of playing for England, it was an honour to have been selected. After a week in Hungary we arrived in Manchester at 3.00 am after a 5 hour flight delay and then straight out in the morning for some practice before the start of the English Girls Under 18 Championship. It was no longer sunshine in Manchester, during my absence it had rained heavily and the course was playing long, I missed my 5 wood badly and missed the cut by one shot on day 2, if only that 5 wood was there but you live and you learn.

It would have been criminal not to attend at least one event in the Olympics, my brother had been a volunteer whilst I was in Hungary and also had bought tickets for the boxing events, so we dashed down to London on the fast train to spend a day at the Excel. 15,000 people from all over the world cheering on their athletes was a once in a lifetime experience, the Olympics were just great. We arrived back at midnight the next day; not really the ideal preparation for a round of competitive golf I suppose but it was the London Olympics after all.

What did I learn most from this trip? Keep singing in the rain, it can only get better!

See you soon Sana

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