When the phone rang on the 15th of February with the news that my interview had been a success and my line manager had offered me a contract to work for Europe’s largest golf travel company, a hundred thoughts ran through my head.
 
I should probably start off by giving a little bit of my background. Being brought up on a farm in South West Scotland and with my father being a former South of Scotland Representative rugby player, rugby was always going to come before golf.  This love of the oval shaped ball game only increased when as an 11 year old I was pulled out of my local primary school and shipped off to the infamous boarding school that is Fettes College.

Again I must state that whilst at primary school and between the ages of seven and eleven I did have a junior membership to New Galloway Golf Course, an incredibly idyllic little nine hole course, untouched by any commercial involvement which overlooks the vast, unmatched beauty of the Dumfries and Galloway countryside which of course included my Father’s farm. Although not playing an enormous amount of golf, most of which was played during the school summer holidays, I do remember the feeling of striking the ball cleanly and producing a more than substantial approach shot was a feeling like no other. I did enormously enjoy playing golf and remember winning the local, annual primary school tournament because my handicap at the time was 54, I didn’t play enough golf to improve my handicap which definitely helped me win that tournament.

Anyway back to my rugby career and my time spent at the Eton of the North. At the tender age of twelve I was selected for my first ever representative rugby team. This team combined all the Prep Schools in Scotland and was thus named the Scottish Prep Schools XV. The next representative team I would play for wouldn’t be until I was fifteen (however this blog isn’t a jibe at the poor setup of Scottish rugby so I’ll get back on track). From fifteen onwards I played for Edinburgh Gunners u16 through to u18.  At the same time I had been selected for various Scotland Squads but never quite achieved an age group cap. My goal, however, was achieved at Under 20 level where I received two caps against Belgium and France in a warm up for the RBS U20 Six Nations. I was included in the U20 squad for the Six Nations tournament, however,  like so many times before I wasn’t played during the entire Six Nations which lead to my exclusion from the Junior World Cup Squad which was played in Argentina.

Now of course, just like any other sportsman trying to make it at the highest level or any other human in this case, I felt annoyed, frustrated and was now looking for something different, this links me back to the phone call I received on the 15th of February a week after the selection of the World Cup Squad. I remembered that feeling of striking the golf ball, back when I was teeing up on the infamous Par 3 on the 4th at New Galloway Golf Course; this spurred me to take this great new opportunity. I had been studying International Business at the time and being a keen sports fan on top of being a business student, the opportunity to work for a thriving golf company seemed the perfect opportunity for my placement.
 
I have to admit I have not been disappointed. On top of the office being incredibly friendly and welcoming the opportunity to take a break from rugby and enjoy a much more relaxing and peaceful sport has been magnificent. In the office there are some fantastic golfers which has lead to me receiving free tuition which has greatly improved my game. The fact that we get to play so many varying golf courses ensures that the game of golf does not get boring, unlike so many of the repeated training sessions you get when you play rugby. My heart still lies for the game of rugby over golf, however, like so many other sportsman, using golf as a getaway and as active recovery has completely changed my outlook on my primary sport. It has to be said that golf is one of the most sociable and relaxing sports out there. There is nothing like playing a four ball with your mates and having a beer in the clubhouse afterwards, discussing each hole in vast amounts of detail and giving each other feedback on particular shots you played around the course like you were Tiger Woods’ caddy. I also admire golf greatly as a sport, because it allows for people at all levels to play together. A twenty-eight  handicapper can hack his way round with a ten handicapper but in rugby a National two player could not cope playing in the Premiership. I haven’t had involvement with golf at a district or representative area so I cannot comment on that but my peers in the office that have competed at this level rarely complain about the set up of golf in Britain at grass roots through to the top level. I don’t mean to be like any other blogger out there but there must be something going right with golf in Britain and Europe if we won the Ryder Cup.

Harold Segall onces said “Golf is not just an exercise; it's an adventure”, I have to agree with this statement in many ways, each course and each hole are different, it is an adventure. This is why I have written this blog today. Although I have concluded that at the end of all this I do still prefer rugby over golf. Golf offers something different that rugby doesn’t. I cannot relax on a rugby pitch, I rarely laugh on a rugby pitch and if I’m having a bad game of golf I cannot be substituted. Rugby is the sport I am more successful in and maybe that’s why I prefer it over golf. But I can safely say that I will continue to play golf and thoroughly enjoy it even if I have been labeled the office hacker.