No-one saw 2020 coming and how much it would impact on our lives. So, what is Jeremy Ellwood now most looking forward to on the golf front in 2021?
What I’m most looking forward to in golf in 2021
It goes without saying that 2020 didn’t turn out as planned, although I would be keen to stress that my family fared considerably better than many during the strangest of years.
The virus disrupted things far more important than golf, as life as we know it changed beyond comprehension.
It now seems that 2021 won’t be getting off to the best of starts either, but we have to hope and dream, don’t we?
Here, my remit is to focus on what I’m most looking forward to in 2021 in my golfing life, if and when a greater sense of normality returns.
I suspect there will be some overlap between my list and your personal 2021 golfing ‘to do’ list, so here goes…
UK Travel
Several 2020 trips obviously fell by the wayside, and although one or two were resurrected when restrictions eased – including a Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire trip – many weren’t.
More trips to courses like Blackwell in Worcestershire would be great in 2021
Just being able to get in the car and drive to wherever you fancy again on a free day would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?
And the last time I flew anywhere was home from Scotland after a trip to the new Dumbarnie Links and other courses in Fife with my colleague Rob Smith just a few days before we were first locked down.
The last time I flew was in March to play the brand new links at Dumbarnie
So, if and when permitted, I’m looking forward to just getting in the car and venturing off for a few days to continue my voyage of UK golfing discovery.
Overseas Travel
I suspect 2020 will be my first year since joining Golf Monthly in late 2002 when I have not been overseas at all. I miss it and look forward to it hopefully resuming in 2021!
Yes, early starts and airports can be a faff, but there’s always a buzz of excitement sitting airside with security safely behind you as the realisation grows that very soon one of those strange metal contraptions will be whizzing you off to another world, maybe even an exotic one!
It would be great to be able to fly off to more exotics lands once more
My country count has already far exceeded any dreams I might have had when I was working in previous desk-bound jobs, but there are still places I want to go before hanging up my golf bag flight cover for good.
Pastures New
The two countries that have been on my wish list for the longest are Canada and New Zealand.
The former is probably now more likely, but the courses in the latter are some of the most extraordinary anywhere – think Cape Kidnappers!
And if those prove too ambitious, closer to home I’d love to go to Parnu Bay in Estonia, West Cliffs and Praia d’El Rey in Portugal and the links courses on the north French coast, which have somehow always eluded me.
Parnu Bay in Estonia is now firmly on my radar for 2021 if possible
If just one of those were to come to pass in 2021, I think I’d be happy.
And in the UK, I’d love to visit the very far north of Scotland to play more of the courses on the magnificent North Coast 500 route.
Must-Revisit Courses
After 2020, you could argue that life is too short to go back to places you’ve already visited, but I would disagree.
Some places are just so good, you simply have to find time to go back.
Narrowing this down to a few is hard, but it’s a while now since I was last at Doonbeg in County Clare.
It’s been a favourite of mine since I played in the grand opening match there in 2003, I think.
It’s been too long since I was last at the fabulous Doonbeg in Ireland
Staying and playing at Royal Porthcawl is another of my favourite experiences in golf, and a trip had already been pencilled in for late January. I fear that may well have to wait until later in the year now.
And if I could pick just one more, I’d return to Kington in Herefordshire in a heartbeat – a rugged, natural hilltop layout that had long been on my radar and which I only got to play for the first time this September.
Kington in Herefordshire: I loved it so much this year that I’d return in a flash
I absolutely loved it.
Competitive Golf
It’s not a major focus for me these days, but I do still like to occasionally test myself with a scorecard in hand.
2020 will be the first year since I joined my first golf club in 1985 when I have returned precisely zero scorecards for handicap.
This hasn’t stopped WHS giving me the slightly unexpected handicap index of 4.0 though, and I look forward to seeing how far short of that I fall at some stage not too far into 2021!
A Pint On The Terrace
A pint on the terrace sounds nice, doesn’t it?
Even though my tipple of choice these days would probably be a nice glass of red, and we have sort of been able to still do this at times during 2020, it hasn’t felt quite the same.
It would be great just to sit chatting with friends on the terrace again post-round
So, at the first opportunity when I’m not the designated driver, I look forward to relaxing post-round on the terrace just shooting the breeze looking out over the course as the sun goes down.
Even better if it’s somewhere I’m also staying at so time is of little consequence.
The Open Championship
Finally, I’m really looking forward to this.
Living in the south-east, local Opens only come round at Royal St George’s once every ten years or so, so to miss out last year – ultimately the only men’s Major not to be played in 2020 – was a real shame.
The Open Championship at Royal St George’s will be a major highlight of 2021
Who, among us, ever thought that The Open might not take place other than – heaven forbid – in times of war?
2020, of course, had other ideas that none of us could ever have foreseen.
We are all hoping against hope that 2021 will be better and will allow you and I to tick more of the things we’ve most missed this year off our golfing wish lists.
What are you hoping to do in 2021? Let us know on social media
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