Andy Fowlie's account of winning a 36-hole event on Cyprus

Stiffer shafts in irons
may have been key
factor in playing so
many shots just
the way I wanted

In Part 2 of his article about golf in Finland generally and how he won the Finnish Audi Tour (for over 30 year olds) 36-hole event at Aphrodite Hills Golf Resort, Cyprus, in particular, Royal Aberdeen Golf Club country member ANDY FOWLIE, a former North-east of Scotland youths champion, writes:

I am a software program manager for Nokia and I have been in Finland for four years. I am a member of Kytäjä which is a wonderful club. I have played over 150 golf courses in many different countries but I have never played a better inland course than the South East course at Kytäjä.
This is high praise indeed when I have also played Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire and courses like Lochinvar, Champions Club and Woodlands TPC in Houston.
Kytäjä is over 7,000yd, par-71 with extremely difficult greens, both to hit to and to putt on, and water galore. The second course (7100yd, par-72, also with plenty of water but with less undulating greens) is also first class.
The practice facilities, clubhouse and surrounding scenery are all in line with the quality of the South East course. All in all a true five-star golfing experience.
My handicap is not much different from 10 years ago. It is currently 3.1. However I would say that I am now playing better golf than ever before, especially considering the challenges caused by living in Finland where there is no possibility to play golf from October to May due to the weather and I have a greatly reduced possibility for competitive golf.
I played 15 rounds which counted for my handicap during this year compared to an average of 60 when I was playing in Aberdeen.
My handicap is also following a downward trend, having been up to five at the worst three or four years ago.
Now for the Finnish Audi Tour 36-hole event on the island of Cyprus:
FIRST TOURNAMENT ROUND
I had a pretty poor start to the round. I made a double bogey on the second and bogey at the third, fourth and fifth, leaving me five over par after only five holes.
I then missed a short birdie putt on the sixth. My swing was a little bit off and I didn't have a very good feeling about how I was hitting the ball. But I worked out what was wrong with my swing during the sixth hole and then started to play a lot better.
A good recovery
The seventh hole was a really dangerous hole all week and I hit a great five-iron onto the green to start the recovery. I made par at the seventh and then holed a three-metre birdie putt on the eighth to get back to four over par. On the 9th I hit a really good second shot (looking forward to seeing it on the TV) which landed about four metres past the hole and then spun back to about 50cm from the flag. Birdie! This meant that I was only three over after nine holes, which was a very good position after being five over after five holes.
A lightning delay for 90min did not do me any good at all. I had just birdied two holes in a row and was on a hot streak. Then I had to sit around for an hour and a half before going back to play the next hole. I made a disappointing bogey at the 10th (which I had eagled a few days earlier) after the delay.
Tough finish in the strong wind
The wind was now really blowing hard. This made it very tough on the back nine but my Balgownie experience helped very much with knowing how the wind was going to affect the shots (eg judging what club to use in each situation).
On the holes from 11 to 17 I hit a lot of really great shots but my putting let me down. I three-putted the 13th after hitting it about five metres from the hole with a great second shot. I three-putted the 15th after hitting a 210 metre seven-iron shot onto the green and I missed a one metre par putt on 17.
On the last a hit a terrible drive up the right and lost my ball before missing a one metre putt and ending up with a double bogey for a 79.
Overall feeling
I was only two shots behind the leader after the first round as the wind played havoc with the scoring. So it was a good position to be in but I had the feeling that it was a missed opportunity. I had hit a lot of good shots but missed nine putts from two metres or less. I felt that I could easily have been two shots ahead of the field instead of two shots behind the leader.
In such a significant wind 79 was still a very decent score. You could pretty much score anything if you didn’t get it just right. One guy, who won back-to-back events earlier in the Audi Tour shot 98 and the guys who were first and second in the Order of Merit standings going into the final 36-hole event had shot 85 and 82 in the first round.
TOURNAMENT ROUND TWO
After bogeying the second (another short putt missed) I hit an excellent shot into the third green, a fade with a six-iron from 164 metres which ended up 80cm from the hole - birdie.
On the fourth I hit a great eight-iron second shot from 138 metre which ended up 50cm from the hole. birdie. After just missing a birdie putt on the fifth I got another birdie on the par-5 sixth, a good drive and a four-iron followed by a chip to one metre and I holed the putt. Three birdies in four holes - which took me to two under par after six.
This was a very important part of the round. It set things up for me but it also might also have had an effect on the guys behind because I heard later that they had heard a rumour that I was three under par (which I wasn’t!).
A bit of a wobble
After the excellent start I then let things slip a little bit. On the seventh and eighth, the putting troubles returned. On the seventh I missed a par putt from 75cm, on the eightth I three-putted. Two bogeys to return me to level par.
A key moment
After parring the 10th one key moment of the round came on the 11th. I hit a terrible hook from the tee with my driver (worst shot of the week) into some bushes. After a couple of minutes of searching, my playing partner found my ball in one of the bushes. This was a good break, even though I had to take a penalty drop from the bush. It saved me at least one shot I think. Finding the ball was a good break... but after taking a penalty drop I still had a very difficult shot - 184 metres to the flag into a strong wind.
There was a bush in the way of the shot so I had to hit maybe 30 metres to the right of the green and then hook it back to get to the flag. I hit a four-iron exactly the way I wanted to and it went on the green.
Bogey was a great escape
This was an extremely good shot, very important for my score. I made a two-putt bogey which was a great escape after the poor drive. One over par after 11.
I three-putted the 12th for a bogey. If only I could putt! Two over par after 12.
The 13th hole is not a particularly difficult hole, a short-to-medium length par-4, but, in the strong wind, this was a lot tougher than normal. After two bogeys in a row I needed something to steady my round again and I got it with a perfect birdie. I hit a solid three-iron off the tee, right up the middle of the fairway, and then a great seven-iron from 152 metres to within two metres of the flag.
The putt was not a very long one but it was downhill and downwind with a big right-to-left break and that made it very fast. I hit a perfect putt (for once) and this was a really great birdie. I knew that was a huge moment and I had to really fight against getting too excited at that point. There were still a lot of tough holes to come. Back to one over par.
On 14 I hit my tee shot into the bunker on the left and had a tough shot from the fairway bunker. I hit a really great shot from there to the middle of the green. Then my putting let me down again. I three-putted for a bogey. My third three-putt of the day. Two over par after 14.
On 15 I hit a good six-iron onto the green (from 198metres) and two putted for par. On 16 I hit a good three-iron from the tee but it bounced to the right and went into a fairway bunker 134 metres from the green. The shot from there was a tough one because there were bushes covering most of the ground between me and the green.
Any small mistake would have meant a big problem, but I aimed a bit to the left to give me a bigger margin for error and then hit a very good shot, just short of the green. I hit an excellent chip with my seven-iron and tapped in for a par. Two over after 16... and starting to get a bit nervous.
On 17 I hit an excellent seven-iron about four metres from the hole. There was no way I would get worse than par. I narrowly missed the birdie putt. Two over par after 17.
A bit too exciting at the finish
Now my only thought was to get the round finished without making any mistakes. All year I been playing well for 14, 15, 16 or 17 holes - and messing it up in the remaining holes. I kept telling myself that there are no prizes for 17-hole scores and that I had to make this count otherwise all the good shots would have been for nothing.
I had a feeling that a par would be good enough for me to win. On the previous day I had messed up this hole and made a double bogey so I decided to be more conservative this time.
I hit a three-iron off the tee, very safe, up the left. From there I was trying to leave myself just short of the lake so that I could play my third shot from as short a distance as possible without taking a risk of going to the water.
I hit a terrible seven-iron for the second shot, a big draw which turned into a big hook. My ball hit the trees on the left with a terrible noise and I thought I had blown it. Luckily the ball was not in a bush but it left me with a very, very difficult third shot.
I had 128 metres to the flag, I was in the rough, I was on a sidehill lie - the ball was ~10 cm below my feet, the flag was very close to the water on a very small part of the green, the wind was blowing strongly towards the water.... and I was pretty nervous after the terrible second shot.
To make things worse the right club from there for me would have been a nine-iron, but I didn’t have a nine-iron in my bag since it snapped when I was playing the previous week.
I decided to hit a ‘small’ eight-iron, play a low shot to the left of the flag and let the wind take it back towards the hole. This was the best option because that way I would not have to hit so much over the water, but it was a very tough shot.
The shot was perfect, perhaps the best shot I have ever hit it in a pressure situation. It went exactly as I had planned and ended up less than two metres away from the hole. I two-putted for a par and I then waited to see how the guys behind would finish.
Five minutes later I was the winner. This was a fantastic feeling. I have been playing competitive golf for 20 years and I have won a few things in the past. But this was the one which gave me the most satisfaction. I had put in a lot of hard work (on the golf course) during this year without getting the rewards I expected but now it paid off when it mattered most and it felt really great.
Overall conclusion
Thinking back through the shots I hit during the competition I can definitely say that I have never before hit so many shots which were exactly as I intended during 36 holes. I recently put stiffer shafts to my irons and I think that they were one key factor here.
I was able to execute all different types of shots as the situation demanded, under pressure, often with little margin for error, again and again and again. If my putting had been better (six three-putts and 16 misses from 8ft or less during 36 holes - 36 putts in round 1 and 34 in round 2) I could have had obscenely good scores.
Now I feel like "I can do it when it matters" whereas previously I felt like "I am pretty sure I could do it... but I keep not doing it". That could be a big difference to me for next season.
+If you have any comments to make on Andy Fowlie's two-part report from Finland, you can E-mail Colin@scottishgolfview.com who will pass them on to Andy.