My birthday week is turning out to be quite the mixed bag so far.
I went for an MRI scan on Monday as my back is still bothering me and it turns out I have bone bruising in my back and may have a small crack in my pelvis.
I mentioned in last week’s column how my back had been niggling away and forced me to miss the Mallorca Golf Open. It also kept me out of the Portugal Masters too.
It seemed so innocuous at the time too. I slipped on a rug in my hotel room in Valderrama after the Andalucia Masters and dropped straight to the floor, landing hard on my backside.
It was painful at the time but I initially thought it would ease off in a day or two but sadly that has not been the case.
The consequences of missing those two events of course is that I now have a date with the final round of the qualifying school in Tarragona in Spain next weekend.
Whether I’ll be able to take part and try to keep my tour card for next season, however, is yet to be determined.
Birthday wish is go-ahead to travel to Q School in Spain
I am seeing the DP World Tour doctor tomorrow and hope to play nine holes.
My flight to Spain is booked for Tuesday and I hope all will be well to be on that plane for the final qualifying round.
When I tell you that the normal recovery period is 12 weeks you can understand why trying to play two practice rounds followed by six competitive rounds of golf in four weeks is going to be a big ask.
I won’t do anything daft.
I will follow the medical advice and trust my own body too for that matter but if it is possible to take some tablets and good old-fashioned adrenaline and tough it out then I’m ready to do that.
But you don’t need three guesses for what my birthday wish is for next week – a clean bill of health.
If I am unable to go to the Q School then I will look to play in the events where I can next year and probably play on the Challenge Tour too.
My preference is to give it a go next week but if I have to rely on invites where possible and then have another go at Q School this time next year then so be it.
Centre of Excellence officially opens today
Before I try swinging a club again and seeing the medical experts I have another important duty scheduled for today.
The Stephen Gallacher Foundation Centre of Excellence will officially open at Kingsfield Golf Centre in Linlithgow and I’ll have a few pals along to help with the launch.
It is a fitting way to mark 10 years of the foundation and I couldn’t be prouder to see the centre come to life.
I have a friend, who has always wished to remain anonymous, who has been a big backer throughout my career and this has become possible thanks to my friend and a man from Gourock named Kirk Beaton.
Kirk has built a bay for juniors in Gourock and has supported Paul Lawrie’s foundation and my own.
I’m really proud of what we’ve built. We have a Huxley putting green, two Trackman bays and PuttView at the centre which is fantastic.
It means youngsters interested in taking up golf will have access to the same technology the professionals use.
Our aim is to work with schools during the day and run coaching camps at the centre while also renting it out to the public and reinvesting the funds we generate into the foundation.
Golf has been good to me and it feels nice to be able to give back.
Open will feature LIV Tour players next year
I was not surprised to see R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers hint the LIV golf members will be able to take part in the Open next year if they are eligible.
Forget the debate about the respective tours for a second, the Open is exactly what the name suggests, an open event for all.
It would have been silly not to have champion Cam Smith pitch up at Royal Liverpool in July and try to defend the title he won brilliantly at St Andrews this year.
The R&A will make an official announcement early in 2023 but if Slumbers’ comments are anything to go by it seems pretty clear the LIV players will be allowed to take part.
But it does not look like we are going back to Turnberry anytime soon.
Donald Trump declared at the weekend the R&A were keen to take the Open back there but they have moved quickly to dismiss his comments.
It’s a shame as Trump did something I did not think was possible in making the course even better than it was.
Whatever you may think of him, his golf courses are outstanding.
Trump is a controversial figure and the R&A quite rightly would want the focus to be on their prized event rather than the host but there is also an issue in terms of how many spectators Turnberry can accommodate.
I reckon you can get around 100,000 at Turnberry. That’s great but it pales in comparison to 220,000 at Royal Portrush.
Other courses are keen to be added to the list of championship courses too.
Whatever you may think of Trump, his golf courses are outstanding.”
I know the McGuirk family have been pushing hard to get Prince’s Golf Club in Kent added to the Open rota and the R&A have been hugely impressed by the course.
The Open will come back to Turnberry one day but the former President of the United States may have to bide his time.
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