Ben Nash - My First 3 Events of 2014

I have competed in my first 3 events of 2014 at Denham Golf Club, the Addington Golf Club and the Oxfordshire Golf Club, and am looking forward to the year ahead! Denham Golf Club My season started on the 20th March at Denham Golf Club, it was a little cold and I felt out of practice as Cooden Beach had only opened a few weeks before, so I had limited practice and playing time before my event. This was only my third 18 holes of the year! I had little expectations, but to my surprise I started off well and was 2 under par through the first 5 holes, I would even say that I was leading the event at this stage. However, I dropped a shot at the 6th hole, hoping for a recovery at the 7th I nearly holed my shot, but at the 8th hole the 190 yard drive with par 3, I pulled the 5 iron left and landed in the daffodils, this cost me a double bogey and it was safe to say there are a few less daffodils. Followed by a few 3 putts on the next few holes I managed to be +4 par through to the 13th hole. A positive from my display is that I managed to play the last 5 holes at 1 under par, which was a good end to a disaster middle 5 holes, helping to achieve 18th position. There was a good result and display by my fellow Cooden Pro Luke Cornford who won the event and finished on -4. The Addington Golf Club The Addington is my favourite Heath Land Golf Club with its tree-lined fairways and heather, plus views over London. The weather was pretty poor with rain and gusty winds. Again, I started off really well, and was level par through the first 4 holes, but I then dropped 6 shots on 4 holes, which didn’t help my score. Similar to Denham, I came back strong towards the end, finishing the last 10 holes level on par, with two birdies and one horrible double bogey on the hardest hole of the course, and I finished 20th. The Oxfordshire Last week I competed at ‘The Oxfordshire’ which previously played host to the Benson and Hedges Open for 7 years, with greats like Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomery winning. It is a long American style course, with lots of water, and I was lucky to be paired with Sam Little from the European Tour and my plan was to beat him!! It was yet again another windy day, and I got off to a good start again paring the first 8 holes, birdied 9th hole then another birdy at the 11th hole. I was a little unfortunate at the par 3, on the13th hole where I hit a good shot but it came up shy in the front bunker. Finding myself with a 6ft lip with no green to work with and a lack of sand under the ball, I managed to get it out but gave me a costly bogey. A few par’s later. I missed a simple 2 footer on the 16th hole, as I started to get more frustrated I completed a bogey at the 17th hole, which was costly! I managed to pull a shot back on the final hole and finished up level on par and was only 2 behind Sam and 4 behind the eventual winner. I came 16th but there are certain signs that I am moving the right direction! I am looking forward to my next event at Royal St.George’s Golf Club on 24th April, which was home to the Open Championship in 2011, I hope my form continues to improve.