TG Blog: Freddie plays with golf legends Torrance and Woosnam

I haven’t been out on the course too much in the last couple of weeks, pretty much since my cricketers were taught a lesson by Harry Redknapp and his team of footballers at the ‘Bat and Ball Challenge’ before the De Vere Club PGA Seniors.

I had a great week at The Open with fellow ISM stable mates Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Charl Schwartzel and Simon Dyson, doing my Radio 5 Live show from a house in Sandwich. I was hoping to be able to take some pointers from the guys, but Lee just seemed to see it as a chance to slate me!

I saw Darren after his first round and he was beaming. He seemed pretty happy with his game and knew that if the wind blew over the weekend it would suit his game. He’s been a great player for years and said that it just takes four good days to win a Major. We all know how it ended for him at Royal St. George’s. Brilliant to see!

In my last blog, I wrote about how I was looking forward, rather nervously, to playing with Ian Woosnam and he didn’t disappoint. He was great fun and we had a tight match against Harry and Sam Torrance. It was close the whole way round and ended in an honourable half.

It was amazing to see Sam and Ian going through their routine, but I’ve decided I’m not a fan of the crowd being quiet when we’re playing! I asked the spectators to clap and cheer when we were playing the 18th and it was probably my best hole! In the end our result didn’t matter anyway; Steve Harmison and Goughy let me down by getting trounced 7&6 and 5&4 in their matches!

I had a great couple of days at Slaley Hall with my team and Harry’s footballers though and playing the Hunting course in tournament condition was definitely a tough test. The less said about my opening drive the better I think. I’m not ashamed to say I was relieved to see it didn’t make it onto the Sky Sports coverage!

After being down at St. George’s I went up to Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s, which hosts the Open next year, for an AF Foundation golf day. It’s a fantastic course although my game wasn’t great and I think I need a few more sessions with Mark Pearson at Oulton Hall before I try to tackle any more of the Open venues!

I’m off to Carden Park this weekend so looking forward to getting in a few holes on the Nicklaus course there. I’ll certainly be visiting the range there too. I’ll be getting full use of my De Vere Club membership while I’m travelling round the country during the summer holidays and think I’ll put in a bit more practice time and hopefully my scores will come down!

Freddie Flintoff is a member of the De Vere Club, which is a flexible points based membership offering golfers the opportunity to play at 16 courses across the UK, including The Carrick on Loch Lomond, Slaley Hall and Wychwood Park. For more information visit www.thedevereclub.co.uk or call 0844 980 80 60.