New blog post from Gary Wolstenholme

Published:

The Handa Cup Senior Masters

Japan is a beautiful country and the course at Ohmurasaki Golf Club, Saitama, is fabulous, with some breathtaking scenery. My game seemed to suffer at the beginning of the event, and it was complete carnage on the first day as I shot an unimpressive 73.

The course certainly favoured the locals, with three players in the top four positions being Japanese. It was, however, great to see Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam play so well. Ian is one of the legends of the game and proved how much desire and appetite he still had for competing with his 5th place finish on 12 under par.

Having played well in Australia (finishing third), I really wanted to go two better and win in Japan but having had a hectic last couple of months tiredness may have been a factor. But I did well to recover and make the cut and finally finish 27th, maintaining my top ten position in the Order of Merit – something which has to be a target for me in 2011.

2010 Order Of Merit winner Boonchu Ruangkit had a great week and looks set to challenge for the title again this year. I’m really looking forward to playing and competing against the likes of Boonchu, Ian, Sam Torrance and Sandy Lyle.

Next stop is exotic Mauritius and a chance to enjoy some sunshine in the midst of the cold snap we are having in the UK at the moment.

A special mention for Martin Kaymer who has had a great year and is fully deserving of his title as European Number One. He has played some scintillating golf this year and his USPGA Championship win was another great result for the European Tour on the whole, as was Graeme McDowell’s US Open win which was a magnificent achievement.

Join me for my next blog when I will hopefully bring back some good news, and better weather, from Mauritius!

» The Long and the Short of It – The Autobiography of Britain’s Greatest Amateur Golfer by Gary Wolstenholme is published by John Blake Publishing and available to buy at selected Waterstones Book Stores and on Amazon.

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