Deer Park Masters Qualifying

I’ve not played in the Deer Park Masters Qualifying for at least a couple of years, and this was always an event I used to qualify for while sometimes playing reasonably well.
My golf has been very up and down recently but I was hoping a visit to Livingston would bring back some good memories. I was paired with a couple of younger Pros who I was not familiar with and hoped for some good interactions. 

The boys were very quiet over the front 9 and it’s unusual for nobody to mention my attachment to LGMS in the first few holes.
There did come a point half way through the 9 where I did share a bit about my family with one of the lads and surprisingly he confirmed that he was a Christian. He’d been brought up in the church from a young age and this allowed me to share how I came from a similar background.
A really encouraging chat and my hope was he’d support our event in September. He seemed keen.

I was still struggling with my swing a bit and just wasn’t 100% sure of the shots I wanted to play.
After playing the first 7 holes in 5 over it was very difficult to stay positive and I chatted with my Dad about this before we entered the back 9.
He mentioned it looked as though I didn’t have the same conviction in my follow through, and I was probably thinking too much about it rather than just playing.
Some good advice, and I decided to just play the game rather than trying to do everything exactly right. After all, its not how but how many.

There was very little conversation from either of the boys as we played the back 9 but this was mainly due to them struggling a bit, and also they were quiet lads anyway.
I’d managed to stabilize my game which allowed me to play the back 9 without dropping any more shots and even throwing in a birdie on fifteen.
As we finished I knew I was probably a shot off the mark of qualifying, but I wasn’t too bothered as I’d finished well and would be one of the first few reserves anyway. I could very well end up playing in the event come August all things considered.

After we posted our scores I mentioned to my fellow believer about our ProAm in September and he was really keen to come, however after he checked his diary he was away on that date and sadly couldn’t attend.
I have his contact details anyway and said I’d keep in touch. Although this was disappointing, while Dad and I had a bite of lunch I saw one of the guys I’d played with a few weeks back and reminded him of our event also.
He confirmed his details to me and I passed him the info for the day so hopefully he can make it instead. Interesting timing.

We keep going and trusting, especially when its difficult!

Vincent Brown, PGA Professional, Logos Golf Ministries Scotland Ambassador to the Scottish Tour.

To get in touch with Vincent by email go to contact page