A five-month journey for two lucky Golfbreaks.com customers, which saw them have privileged access to the European Tour’s top performance coaches, came to an end at the Portugal Masters Pro-Am when they put all their learning into action, alongside Spanish tour ace Pablo Larrazábal.
Chris Hughman (32) from Epping, Essex, and Nick Blunt (41) from Sevenoaks, Kent, won their places on the European Tour Performance Institute-endorsed Tour Fit For Golf (TFFG) programme, supported by Golfbreaks.com, back in June and have spent the summer working with renowned coach Simon Holmes, sports biomechanics consultant Jean-Jacques Rivet and Rob Hillman, the European Tour’s Director of Physiotherapy.
Following an initial assessment and three subsequent progress reviews at top golf venues inEngland,WalesandFrancethe TFFG rookies were rewarded with a place in thePortugalMasters Pro-Am event staged over Oceanico’s Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura.
During the event they rubbed shoulders with some of the game’s greats, including Martin Kaymer, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie, while preparing to be part of a pro-am team led by Larrazábal, currently 11th in the European Tour Race to Dubai standings.
Chris Hughman, an IT analyst, said: “Playing in the Pro-Am was a chance of a lifetime and to compete alongside a European Tour professional of Pablo’s standing was an amazing experience. You get to understand how good these guys really are, and it has certainly inspired me to continue everything I have learnt on the TFFG programme.”
Nick Blunt, a business and sales development manager, added: “It is nerve-wracking to play in a European Tour Pro-Am but Pablo soon helped Chris and I relax and we were able to focus on using the things we have been taught over the past five months. It was great to enjoy some good golf in front of the galleries…Chris and I are not used to having a crowd watch us play!”
Throughout the programme, the duo have been privileged to visit some of Golfbreaks.com’s finest golf venues, including Celtic Manor, London Golf Club, Aa Saint Omer Hotel du Golf and Foxhills Resort inSurrey. And with the specialist coaching and fitness advice offered by the TFFG programme, both have started to understand their bodies and the biomechanics of the golf swing and how this can help them improve.
For Chris and Nick, the TFFG programme finishes with a final health assessment atLondon’s Urban Golf on October 29 but the pair have found the whole experience so successful and rewarding, they plan to continue their work with Simon Holmes and Jean-Jacques Rivet.
Keith Mitchell, Marketing Director of Golfbreaks.com, said: “Chris and Nick have been on an amazing journey which has immersed them into the life of a Tour pro. They have had access to the best coaching and performance advice in the game, rubbed shoulders with some of the game’s greatest players, and played a variety of leading golf courses and resorts along the way.
“The Tour Fit For Golf programme for amateur players is undoubtedly a great gateway for golfers to understand new and important ways to improve their performance and Golfbreaks.com has been a proud partner over the past five months.”
For more information on Golfbreaks.com visit www.golfbreaks.com and for the Tour Fit for Golf amateur programme visit www.tourfitforgolf.com