We’ve already got a lot of travel under our belts with visits to South Africa, the US, Singapore and India, and there’s lots more to come, writes tour caddy Chris Simmons
It may just be the start of the season back at home, but we’re already flying on tour with events in the books around the world.
While there’s not too much time off with the wraparound schedule, the few weeks over Christmas were brilliant. It’s the one big chunk of time we get at home with family and friends to recharge the batteries. With two little ones, it’s also a really special time of year. While I enjoyed all the food and drink of the holidays, Matty worked hard getting his body in a good place. This is the only time you can push extra hard in the gym without having to be physically ready to play within a few days, and I know he’s put in the hard yards to make progress this season.
I did get some work in myself, mainly lifting Christmas trees in and out of vans – nothing like the level Matty was working at.
Like a lot of players do, we headed to Dubai earlier than we would for a normal tournament week in January. Getting back to hitting balls in the sun, wearing shorts and a polo shirt, is so important for all the guys who are based in Europe. There’s so much good golf played in those first couple of events, particularly the Rolex Series event in Dubai, that you can’t turn up rusty and compete. It’s amazing how quickly the guys get the tour-level sharpness back, within a couple of days they’re right on point.
The start of the season is the toughest for travelling with so many long-haul flights. We’ve already flown from the UK to the Middle East, South Africa, Puerto Rico and Singapore. For that last one I left at 11am UK time on Saturday and arrived at 3pm UK time on Sunday – just in time to watch Newcastle win the Carabao Cup!
On the golf course, the biggest challenge is the heat and humidity – it got close to 40°C in India. On top of that, the golf courses are so firm, which combined with the air temperature means the ball goes miles. Matt also has to play on a lot of different types of turf and that changes the chipping technique and spin rates a lot.
Matt has had a good start to the season with three top-10s and a win in the Team Cup. As I write, he’s 17th in the Race to Dubai. His putting has improved thanks to some changes to his practice and how he reads the greens, and the big goal is still to get a win. All the signs are there – it’s just about getting over the line now and doing all we can every day to make that happen.
