John Rhodes travels to Woodsome Hall to meet Chris Hanson, a pro with his eyes on the European Tour.
John Rhodes travels to Woodsome Hall to meet Chris Hanson
For the third of my reports, I've been invited to Woodsome Hall, Huddersfield, the home of Europro Order of Merit 2011 winner Chris Hanson.
I'll be making up a four-ball with Chris, his caddie Steve (handicap 8) and former European Tour player Ben Mason.
Woodsome Hall is a James Braid designed course which boasts numerous bunkers and the key requirements are accuracy and precision. Described as a "hidden gem" by Peter Alliss, the 6,200-yard layout is certainly not long by Tour standards, but Chris told me it's always a good course for him to practice on as it requires every aspect of the short game to be working in top order.
As I drove through the huge gates to get onto the course I saw Chris busy practising away on the range so, instantly, I knew he meant business!
Good news then that when we threw our golf balls in the air on the first tee, I ended up being paired with Chris.
A quick handshake with Steve and Ben and then it was just a question of organising a little bet to spice up our better ball match further.
I had previously been invited to play with Chris back in June but it was then that he went on a hot-streak on the Europro Tour (www.europrotour.com), winning the Motocaddy Masters at Bovey Castle, taking fourth at Longhirst Hall the following week and rounding it off with a second victory of the year in Ireland at Galgorm Castle where he shot a final round 65 to beat fellow Yorkshireman Graeme Clark in a play-off.
His schedule had changed a lot after that and he had to postpone our arranged game - probably a relief as I certainly wouldn't have wanted to bring him down to my standards while he was in the form of his life!
From then on Chris' season got better and better and he rounded it off with a third victory at Mottram Hall where he routed the field by an impressive seven shots.
That meant he amassed over £37,000, won the Europro Tour Order of Merit and guaranteed himself one of the top 5 cards for the 2012 Challenge Tour. It also gained him automatic exemption into the 2nd stage of Qualifying School in Spain in early December.
As our four ball match unfolded there wasn't a lot in the game, with Ben birdieing the first and Chris chipping in for a two on the par 3 third and making birdie on the tough fourth to put us one up.
I finally managed to get on the card with a four net three on the sixth, but that was only good for a half as Steve holed a curling 25 footer. However, on the 171-yard seventh I hit a crisp seven iron onto the green and rolled in a 15 footer to get back to one up.
With Ben making birdies on 9 and 11 the momentum swung away from Chris and I and we eventually found ourselves two down with 3 to play.
Both Chris and Ben reached the short par five 16th in two but it was Ben who stepped up to the plate by rolling in a monster 40 footer for eagle to seal the match.
Game over and Chris and I were fishing in our pockets and handing over tenners to the winning duo!
Conversations
I had some really interesting conversations with all the guys during the round, chatting firstly with Steve about how he went to Scotland on a caddying course a few years ago and then with Ben (@benmason2377) on his former European Tour exploits.
Ben vividly recalled a time in 2003 when he finished second in the St Omer Open in France behind Australian Brett Rumford. Going down the ninth hole he talked about how Brett snap-hooked his second shot to the par five and was going way out of bounds only for his ball to hit the OOB marker and bounce back into play!
With Brett holing from 10 feet for birdie and Ben missing an eight footer the tide turned and Rumford played solidly on the back nine to win by five shots, with Ben four shots clear of third placed Fredrico Bisazza of Italy. The notable name of 2010 Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson was fourth.
It was breaks like that on the ninth hole that Ben talked about being huge in players' careers. He went on to win his maiden professional victory in 2007 in the Open Mahou de Madrid on the Challenge Tour but now has given the game up tour wise and is teaching in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
His ability was evident on the day, as he went round in five under par, and I'm sure if he really wanted to he could make a comeback to the paid ranks.
Chris talked about the life of a professional on the lower tours and told me how he had to give the game up for a while due to lack of sponsorship in 2010 before fresh backing saw him rise to a career best in 2011. I'm sure he won't be looking back.
With winnings over £50,000 this year, including local Yorkshire PGA events, I asked how difficult life is on development tours like the Europro Tour when you aren't in contention for titles every week, and not surprisingly Chris was glad he wasn't in that position this year after the gruelling 2010 he had to endure.
One interesting fact was that, with the guaranteed fall back of the Challenge Tour next year, Chris said he was going to Tour School stage 2 for the fifth time.
Having a fall back option for the first time left him feeling very positive and focused in his goal to make final stage and hopefully earn some sort of European Tour Card for the 2012 season.
A positive mental attitude is key for Chris and he works a lot with his good friend Duncan McCarthy (europro player) at Ignitesports (www.ignitesports.co.uk) on this side of his game. He also has a good team behind him too, with coaches Mark Pearson (De Vere Oulton Hall Leeds) and John Eyre (Woodsome Hall), physio Craig Coulson and of course Steve Tooby his caddie since 2009.
At only 26, Chris has plenty of quality years ahead of him. He is a fantastic ball striker and has what every handicap golfer (myself) dreams of - a slick short game. When he did miss greens during our round, he got within a foot of the hole with his recovery shot every single time, which got me thinking I need to visit the range a lot more!
I'm sure he won't be thinking about ever playing the Europro Tour again.
The worst-case scenario for Chris next year is a season on the Challenge Tour and, without doubt, he has the ability to contend for titles at that level. However, a full European Tour card through Qualifying School will be his top goal now.
To fine tune his game before QS started, Chris headed down to southern Spain for the HI5 Pro Tour - a new tour set up for European golfers from November to February which has seen the likes of Romain Wattel and Lloyd Saltman be victorious in recent seasons.
Chris made a good start too, finishing third in his first event.
I had a great time in his company and all I can say is good luck Chris in your quest for a European Tour card!
* You can get up-to-date info from Chris' website at www.chrishansongolf.com or follow him on twitter @hansonprogolf.
* Catch Chris in action at Stage 2 QS in December at El Valle Golf Course on www.europeantour.com and for all the latest odds on the Qualifying Schools visit www.skybet.com for a comprehensive odds guide.
