Golfer, Niall Kearney's blog

The European and Asian Tour Schools

Well it has certainly been an interesting couple of months out on the fairways. European Tour Q School took place in mid- December and I went there with high hopes and expected success. This was my third trip back to the battleground! My preparation for the event was quite intense but very enjoyable at the same time. I got myself into great physical condition with the help of my friends over at Medfit in Blackrock. I felt invincible and was raring to go!

With all this great preparation, what could possibly prevent me from achieving success. Oh yeah, the crazy game of golf!!! I finished up on even par for the 4 rounds and missed out on qualification for final stage by 3 strokes. What a bummer! I was hugely disappointed afterwards but wasn’t long before I got myself back in gear and signed up for my next challenge. Asian tour school!

I left Dublin bound for Bangkok on the 20th of December and was really looking forward to playing golf in a t-shirt again. I had holidayed in Thailand many times before but knew that this particular mission was going to be far from a holiday! The school consisted of 2 stages, first and final with the goal being to qualify out of first stage and then finish in the top 40 of final stage to win your card for the 2012 season.

My preparation was again very enjoyable and quite interesting. The melting heat was certainly a challenge and made it difficult to keep the concentration during practice. My hands were pouring with sweat and ended up using gloves that you would normally use in the rain to try and get some grip on the club.

Onwards and upwards

Hi Folks, Just taken off from Dublin on my final 3-week swing of the Challenge Tour schedule for 2011. The destinations include Tenerife, Lyon and then on to Rome for the last one.

My season so far has been disappointing but have learned so much in my first year out here on the Challenge Tour. I have played over 20 tournaments so far this year which is a bit much and is something I will address going forward. Very important to give myself some more time to practice and rest rather than just playing. Watching guys that have been out here for a few years, they are very wise about how they schedule themselves and keep themselves fresh for the whole season.

That being said im feeling confident about the remainder of the season and expect good results from myself. Been working very hard and doing all the right things so just need it all to click now..

I recently returned from a 2-week swing in Kazakhstan and Russia. A great experience to visit both these places for the first time. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by Kazakhstan. The tournament was held in the city of Almaty. A fantastic, tight, old style golf course. Played nicely all 4 rounds but my strategy was maybe a bit too conservative which left me with loads of pars and not enough birdies.

From Almaty to Moscow I went. I was situated on the outskirts of Moscow which was a very strange experience. The official hotel was in the middle of nowhere and about 30 mins from the golf club. Felt like a prisoner for a week! Another fantastic course, very modern with great features. I unfortunately made too many mistakes and missed the cut by 2 shots.

The race was now on to get home to Dublin for a couple of days before heading off again. Managed to get a flight leaving early Sat morning. Taxi booked for 1am. 3 hour trek through Moscow in what felt like a golf buggy! Flew Moscow to Heathrow and then waited 7 hours for my connection to Dublin. The joys of travel! Wasn’t all that bad as I got to see Ireland beating Australia in the rugby world cup.

I played really good golf last week in Toulouse but didn’t score as well as I should have. I set out a very aggressive game plan for the week which included hitting lots of drivers and attacking almost every pin.  It is fun being in that fearless state of mind but it didn’t quite work for me over the weekend. On a positive note I hit the ball really well which is a good sign heading into the final few weeks.

Onwards and Upwards

St Omer Open, France - June

I am currently in France playing in the St Omer open. I have had a hard stretch in the last few weeks because I have missed some cuts. My game is in great shape and I am playing well. I have just thrown in some destructive shots at the wrong times and I am learning how expensive that can be on my score card. More importantly, I am learning the way of life on tour. Time management is very important and it takes some time to get used to it. There is a saying out here that a golfer makes his money three weeks of the year.

Having said that, I am getting more comfortable every week. Today I had my Dad on the bag and we were happy to finish round one on one under par on a difficult windy course. This is a European Tour event and I hope to finish well this week. I am off next week and then it is on to Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and England. I will keep you updated.

Thanks for all the support.

Paris - 5-8 May

After the early season long haul events I was all set for the European swing which began in Paris. The event was being played at Eurodisney resort.

My Uncle Eamon came over to caddy for me which was great as I enjoy his company on the bag. We decided to rent a house for the week beside the golf course. This worked out great as it meant we could prepare our own meals and make sandwiches for the course etc.

I enjoyed playing the course. It was very tricky and you had to hit good shots to be rewarded. The scoring was very good during the week and the cut after 2 rounds was 2 under par.

I practiced hard during my time off after Kenya and my swing felt as good as ever. I was getting a little frustrated as I felt as though I was playing better than my score would suggest. I remained patient and had a decent weekend.

I have friends that live in Paris and they came out to support me during the week which was nice and gave me a bit of a boost.

Again I finished inside the top 30 for the week.

I feel my game is good enough now to be contending for these tournaments as I look forward to the rest of the season.

Kenya - 31 Mar-3 Apr

2011 was my second year to play the Kenya open. It was an event I was looking forward to ever since the schedule came out.

A friend of mine, Rina Hanrahan who is from Ireland and now lives just outside Nairobi in Kenya, gives me a bed for the week in her house and looks after me extremely well. Rina is great company and cooks meals that I would be familiar with which gave me peace of mind.

I can honestly say that I have never played golf in such hot and sticky conditions that I have experienced in Kenya over the last couple of years. I was drinking a bottle of water per hole and was still finding it difficult to keep my concentration and stay focused.

Again, my game was solid all week and a birdie-eagle finish on Sunday put a smile on my face.

Colombia - 10-13 Mar

My second tournament of the 2011 season took place in Medellin Colombia. I was a bit apprehensive about the trip as I heard reports of it being a dangerous place etc.

My journey over took me to Heathrow, then to Miami and finally down to Medellin. It was a very long trip with alot of flying hours which had an effect on the body and the mind.

I made a big mistake of not withdrawing American dollars in Miami and ended up using the local pesos in Colombia. A difficult currency to figure out as it came in hundreds of thousands.(rookie error).

I was surprised at how beautiful the place was after the reports I had heard. The golf course was old fashioned, very tight with tiny greens. I picked up a local caddy on site which worked out great, he spoke no English which suited me and kept the bag stocked with drinks and food.

After plenty of rest and few hours practice early in the week I was ready to get going. My game was good and ended up in around 30th place for the week which was satisfactory.

After the week I analysed how I had played, learned from my mistakes and planned for my next event which is held in Kenya in March.

India – 13-16 Jan

The first event of the season was in India on a course in Ahmedabad. I shot a good score 73 in the first round leaving me lying ninth. Unfortunately, I then succumbed to Deli Belly and ended up hospitalised for a couple of days. Lesson learned.