Desert Swing: Week 3

02 Feb

Three weeks on the European Tour’s superb ‘Desert Swing’ came and went in a flash, or so it seemed. I’m now back in Florida for a week off with the family.

Having won three times at the wonderful Emirates Golf Club, but also had three second places and been third another three times, it’s obviously fun to go back and tee it up there. This is one of those courses that suits my eye better than most, although Royal Melbourne and Wentworth’s West Course would also be in that category. Anyway, this year the Majlis was in absolutely perfect condition and the greens were just unbelievable. It just didn’t work out for me this time around, though. It was frustrating, but I had an enjoyable week thanks to our hosts in Dubai, who as always put on a great event with trademark impeccable hospitality.

Assessing my first four tournaments of 2015, I do feel there are some good early-season signs. Alongside my coach Claude Harmon we’ve been looking at old footage of my golf swing and that’s been interesting. I certainly feel like I’m swinging the club well at the moment, with great width in the backswing and nice overall rhythm. We’ve just got to keep working hard, keep putting in the hours, and get ready for the start of my 2015 PGA TOUR campaign. That tees off at Pebble Beach next week in the AT&T, followed by the Northern Trust Open at one of my favourite courses in the world, Riviera Country Club. I think anyone who loves golf, professional or amateur, would look forward to those two weeks.

Away from the golf course, the big news for me last week was announcing a new partnership to launch First & Foremost Family Hotels. This new association with Mike Scully and the rest of the team at First & Foremost Hotels & Resorts feels like the perfect fit. Mike is one of the most experienced people in the hotel business, someone I have the greatest respect for. It’s an exciting venture. Family holiday time has always been important to me and I have stayed in a lot of 5-star hotels worldwide that do not really offer a complete family holiday experience. You want a fun and relaxing environment for everyone! We are going to provide that with First & Foremost Family Hotels.

F and F hotels launch pic3

In addition, we are going to ensure a safe environment for families on the autism spectrum and, as you can imagine, that’s something that we are really excited about. In fact, all First & Foremost Family Hotels will be autism-friendly. Expertise and the latest systems from The Els Center of Excellence will be utilised to produce highly trained staff. The new family hotel concept will also offer unique employment opportunities for adults on the spectrum across departments such as accounts, maintenance, sport and recreation, and administration amongst others. That’s a huge thing for us and hopefully our lead will encourage other organisations to follow suit.

Okay, that’s it for now. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy

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