“So what’s your golf background?” I’m being asked by Jack, one of the pros about to give me a lesson and wondering whether to lie to him.
I’m at The Grove hotel in Hertfordshire and getting excited at the prospect of walking in the footsteps of Tiger Woods. However, perhaps sensing the extent of my ability probably stretches to a few nights at crazy golf and occasional trips to Top Golf, he walks me over to the range. And he’d be right – not forgetting ‘pub golf’ in my younger years.
As I wait for Jack to begin our lesson, I’m reading one of the plaques highlighting Woods’ win at the WGC Championship in 2006 right here on the Grove’s immaculate looking course. To hammer home quite where I’m standing, there’s also a quote from the five-time Masters winner praising the hotel’s course.
“Not a bad testimonial to have, is it?” Jack says as I ask him about Woods. I also learn there are no memberships required to play here either, with golfers of all abilities keen to go where Tiger has. Players are actually greeted with numerous signs and plaques detailing his achievements and setting challenges to all who ever dreamt of wearing that green jacket.
Walking up to the 9th tee – the 18th at the 2006 Championship – you’re reminded that he eagled it three times and birdied it once. In the end he beat Ian Poulter, Padraig Harrington and Adam Scott thanks in part to an apparent fondness for the 567-yard, par 5 hole known as ‘Ruined Tower’.
I certainly got to feel like I was warming up for The Masters on the hotel’s tour truck, which is parked permanently on the range and where I attempted to hit balls (I was happy with 150 yards) from the elevated platform that opens from the side of the 11-metre long vehicle. Plus, use of the Trackman – a piece of kit professionals spend about £30,000 on to fine tune their game at home – told me where I was going wrong in my swing. Repeatedly.
Later on, in the Glasshouse restaurant, I felt like I was curating my very own Masters Champions Dinner given the buffet on offer with food from around the world – Jon Rahm would surely approve.
But this is the ultimate sporting weekend. A five-minute walk from the course are the pitches where England football teams have trained previously and NFL sides like the Jacksonville Jaguars have been put through their paces – an ideal location given Wembley, where the international series takes place, is not very far.
I’ll never follow in the footsteps of Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, however, as I didn’t fancy getting my trainers muddy on the wet grass. In football speak – the real football – no, I can’t do it on a cold Saturday in Watford. Instead, I’ll stick to the indoor gym and pool, which was tucked away above the spa where my other half was smartly relaxing away from the rain.
Speaking of football and to complete the ultimate weekend, The Grove has an executive box at Arsenal. Guests can book packages that take in stays and match tickets, which includes food and drink to watch Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in action.
A look on the website, though, tells you it is currently sold out for the rest of the season and given the success of Arsenal right now it’s understandable. Guests may even get to see the Premier League trophy paraded to them on 19 May when Everton visit.
And so it could be a case of watching the champions of England next season if they can find a way to get Manchester City and Liverpool out of the way.
News Summary:
- Following in Tiger Woods’ footsteps, ‘training’ like an NFL star and watching Premier League football on the ultimate sporting weekend
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