Thomas Devine Golf

A short story about my “selfie” with Tiger Woods.

It was 2014 and The Open was at Hoylake.

I had tickets with my good pal Phillip Akers for the Friday.

It was the World Cup year and with not wanting to look like a total golf w***** at the golf, I decided I would wear my England shirt and a pair of jeans.

With the weather a bit chilly and gloomy over in Leeds, I decided to put a waterproof top on, over my shirt.

As we crossed the Pennines and headed over towards the West Coast, the weather improved and when we arrived at the course, it was beautiful.

Even better, we managed to sneak in to the clubhouse and on to the putting green area. The jeans and waterproof top must have given some sort of casual importance look.

Now, the setup is different at Hoylake….if you have a normal public ticket, you can’t get anywhere near the putting green, so we knew this was a great opportunity.

Rory and Tiger were playing around 2pm. It was 10am. But we knew if we left this area, we might not get back in.

We also knew that Rory and Tiger would undoubtedly come to this putting green. We would get up close, it was a given.

Tiger is my hero. This was the best chance to get up close, in a quiet and relaxed environment.

I wasn’t leaving.

So, we waited. We stood there for 4 hours.

As time went by, I knew I couldn’t take off my waterproof jacket and stand by the putting green in an England shirt and a pair of jeans.

It was unnecessary attention and my land yard was tucked in to my jacket….of course hiding the fact I didn’t have the access to this area.

I sweated with panic that security would remove us. But regularly head nods and the security guard was on side.

4 hours later, I got my moment.

Hands shaking, I took out my phone and attempted the sly selfie.

A pretty average selfie was produced but here was my hero.

He finally left and so did we. By this stage it was even warmer and my England shirt and boxers were wet through.

Would I do it again? Yes!

And maybe one day I might actually get to shake his hand.

Tiger. The GOAT.

I have coached juniors by this motto for a long time now….

Kids have years to perfect their skill and if we want to foster a true love for the game, they need to enjoy the environment they are in….particularly at a young age.

If they enjoy it, they come back and if they come back, they get better.

I feel too many times that the focus is on the latter without embedding the former. It’s important that short term gains are not prioritised over life long participation.

But…I am sure that with good coaching, we can develop a long term love for the game, develop skill effectively and ensure life long participation.

Just my two cents.