| I was lucky enough to spend last Thursday at the European Masters
(Swiss Open) tournament at Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps. I managed
to follow Seve, Sandy, Woosie, Colin Montgomerie and a few other well
known players, for a few holes each. The weather was beautiful, about
23-24 with a very light breeze, and playing conditions excellent,
although the course had had a lot of rain in the days before. To show
you how quickly weather can change in the mountains, on the next day,
the tournament was interrupted three times, once for fog, once for
torrential rain, and the last time for SNOW!!!.(but I wasn't there).
Sad to say Seve and Woosie both appear to be suffering from 'lack of
confidence'. Seve in particular is woeful off the tee at the moment,
and looks to be really struggling to produce decent results. As I have
seen Seve often in the past at this tournament (which he has twice
won), to see him struggling on a course which he used to tear to
pieces, was rather a sad sight. I hope he gets over this soon, as
Europe obviously needs Seve at his best for the Ryder Cup next year.
Woosie was superb and terrible in patches. With him it's either a
fantastic shot, or something you wished you hadn't seen. He's really in
a strange mood at the moment. Perhaps Seve and he are both overgolfed.
Sandy on the other hand is back to his majestic best (thank goodness),
he really is a treat to watch with his booming drives, and delicate
shots round the green. Colin is another big man with a really good
touch round the greens. He is one of the best putters I've ever seen,
but for all his size and strength, not very long off the tee.
For those of you who have never seen Crans Montana (I suppose that's
most of you), the number 7 hole is the most scenic I have ever seen.
Number 6 is played through a narrow tunnel of tall trees, to a green
which hardly ever sees the light of day. Then you walk through some
more trees to number 7, and emerge suddenly into the sunlight, onto a
small plateau with an incredible view of the whole range of the Swiss
and French Alps as far as the eye can see, and a complete view of the
Rhone valley. It's breathtakingly beautiful.
The hole itself is also a delight to play, and to watch the Pro's play.
It's 300 yards from tee to green, which are at the same level, but
seperated by a very deep gully. The green is heavily protected with
bunkers in front, and just over the green is out-of-bounds. Most of the
Pro's have a go at it (at 4000 feet up, your ball flies further), and
many of them make it. Colin eagled it in Thursday, and I've seen Seve
eagle it on several occasions. It's great to sit at the back of the
green and watch them driving at you.
Finally just like to say that this tournament is still one of the
friendly type tournaments, where you can get close to the Pro's, and
really hear their conversation with the caddy, and discussion over club
selection. Makes your eyes water some times, when you hear what club
they choose, compared to the club you would have chosen. Anyway a great day
out.
Norman
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