For 20 years now organisers of the Omega European Masters have been arranging a golf outing for media attending the event.
We play on the Jack Nicklaus-designed 9-hole course across the road from the main championship layout.
The event is a highly contested affair given the wonderful prizes on offer including an Omega wrist watch as top prize along with clothing, balls, gloves, umbrellas and so on.
However on this occasion I arrived to play without golf shoes and not looking forward to walking a golf course in normal street shoes saturated by three days of rain.
Standing at the back of the ninth green pointing to shoes owned by Thomas Bjorn.
Fortunately when I entered the Crans locker room this morning Hugo Benson, and one of the characters of the Tour, had a pair of size 10 Ecco shoes that Dane Thomas Bjorn had left behind a day earlier after missing the cut in the defence of his Swiss title.
“Perfect!” I said to Hugo.
However I was then being warned by a number of caddies milling around the locker room if I was to wear the shoes my demeanour would change immediately.
You’ll find yourself getting hot under the collar, agitated and bursting into bouts of swearing.
And as a wily Scottish-born caddy (no names) pointed out: “And all that before you even get to the first tee!”
Well, I slipped on the shoes and with the bag of rental clubs slung over my shoulder headed out the main entrance across the road and presented myself for registration.
So far so good.
Not one swear word and still very calm and mild mannered.
I hit a decent enough drive down the first to eventually walk off with a bogey five. No problem I thought as I was happy with a five but ready to curse the shoes if it had of been ‘6’.
My drive at the second was left of centre but after taking a drop from casual water ‘The Bjorn Conspiracy’ kicked in as my second shot, a pitching wedge from some 70-yards, hit the front of the green and rolled back into a bunker.
“You bloody rotten b******,”I uttered or something similar.
Alas, a good bunker shot and a 10 foot putt from off the green and I had my first par of the day.
I soon thought myself that it can’t be all that bad playing golf in the shoes of 13-time Tour champion and back-to-back Ryder Cup vice-captain.
I bogeyed three, the No. 1 index playing close to 400-yards, made a mess of four (not the fault of the shoes), poor drive off five but srambled for bogey but then put my tee-shot, at the par three sixth hole, out-of-bounds left and started again blaming the shoes.
I pared the hole with my second ball then had a good par at seven, just missed the green at the par three eighth to take a bogey before heading the final hole, a short par four of 304-yards.
But standing on the tee we could see no more than 25-yards as low clound had rolled in that also halted play in the ‘other’ tournament taking place this week.
No matter, we knew where we were going so I hit my best drive of the day ‘out of sight’ before playing a shot into a green you couldn’t see. My ball was lying just left of the green from where I chipped and two-putted for bogey.
Upon arrival back to the locker room it was like walking into the Media Centre with a dozen or so caddies firing off questions and just generally curious how I had performed wearing Thomas Bjorn’s shoes.
“Not too bad, only a couple of occasions where my Irish heritage temper kicked in,” I responded.
- Thomas Bjorn shoes – no birdies but a couple of good pars over the nine holes.
It was another fun morning but then I don’t think I will be presented with a gleaming Omega wrist watch tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
Thanks so much to Seline Fry, International Press Officer with Omega along with Gabbi from the Press Team at Crans for organising the outing.
Of course, special thanks to Thomas Bjorn.
I’ll catch up with Thomas next week in Holland for the KLM Open and probably make him an offer for the shoes.
But then I think Hugo is looking for the money instead.
