Tee Time
Yes, I’ve spelled it right. Tee Time is about my love for golf, in business and in my personal time.
I used to play it whenever I could but now that I’m without a car it’s a bit more difficult. However, I play it in my spare time. On my day off, I switch the phone off and play golf for part of the day. In that time, I do not take any calls from business contacts, clients or family.
I also like a different type of tee time – I’m a big fan of tea, and drink about 12 cups a day. Builders’ brew with soya milk is my favourite, though I also enjoy Twinings Rooibos, honey, and spiced fig. Lovely! Even a splash of soya milk does not harm it, though the herbal tea fanatics are now shouting “No! How dare you?” But I thought I would throw it into the article, because this is a personal journey piece.
When it comes to golf, I don’t have a handicap, because I’m not very good. If there was somewhere I could go just to hack my way around a course, this is the game for me as I currently play it. I can imagine the owners of golf courses now hiding their destinations from me; sorry! But I am getting better…
So why is golf such a good game? For me, it’s a place for myself where I can switch off and just be on my own and play the course. That’s such a lovely feeling. Each course has its trials for you to get used to, but each time you play it gets easier to make the club choice and work out the distance – even easier if you’re utilising an app like Golfshot, which will tell you what club to use or view finder lens which act like binoculars and let you see the actual distance to the hole.
I play a few local courses that are great for beginners like me. Burgess Hill is a nine-hole par-three course. It has a great driving range and expert tutors to teach you swing control, how to hold the clubs and so on.
Singing Hills near Hurstpierpoint is another lovely course I like to play. This is another nine-hole course – well, it actually has three full-size courses but they are all nine holes. That means there is plenty of space to smack a few balls, and to shout “Fore!” a few times.
The other course I like a lot but is not so local is the East Sussex National, near Uckfield. This is a huge, sprawling complex with two championship courses, the East and West. It’s got the hotel, spa, gym and so on, and is the kind of place I’d like to retire to and live out my days in golfing splendour.
Patience, above everything, is required for golf, something I’ve had to learn with kids. Believe me when I say that you can have wonderful days on the course when everything just goes perfectly – and other days on the same course when nothing goes your way. Like the day at Burgess Hill when I lost eight balls in the pond.
That’s very frustrating – but overall, golf is wonderful fun. However, now that I don’t have a car, getting the bag and clubs on a bicycle will be challenging.
P.S (Special thanks to Sam Thomas, Gavin Willis, Ben Bennett and Steve Rackley for joining me this year for golf across Sussex.)
Written by Sonny Cutting – Sussex Business Show
