As he prepares for this week's Northern Ireland Open Challenge in association with Maui Jim Sunglasses, Steven Brown provides his musings on how his maiden campaign on the Challenge Tour has gone so far, how he bounced back from injury and his goals for the business end of the season in the second part of his blog for europeantour.com.
Overall I've really enjoyed it. I expected it to suit my game pretty well, better maybe than the Alps Tour and luckily it has. I really like the courses, there hasn’t been a single course I haven’t liked so I'm pretty happy with how it’s gone.
Injury woes
I got off to a pretty good start and that got me going early on. Then the worst thing happened and I got injured (during the Fred Olsen Challenge de España). I had been playing really good and had a good finish in the Czech Republic the week before, but I tried to keep playing on for a bit after my injury, which is the worst thing you can do.
I missed five weeks after that, which is the worst feeling ever. I was just sitting there, watching everyone else playing and doing well, looking at the scores just wishing I was out there. I was worrying I would miss out because of my time off and I just wanted to keep putting money on the board.
I had all this stuff going on but luckily it healed pretty quickly and I could get back out there, returning in Switzerland for the Swiss Challenge. Luckily, I played well, so that got me going again.
Blessing in disguise
I had a good three weeks after my return and came third in Azerbaijan, which settled me down a lot. I knew I was back into playing well and the worries were over.
Maybe the injury was a blessing in disguise because I had a break mid-season, which kind of kept my energy levels up and I was raring to go again, similar to like I was at the beginning of the season. Maybe it helped in a weird way and it’s turned out alright so I can’t complain.
Mind on the game
I would have definitely taken my current Rankings position at the start of the year. In my first blog I said all I wanted to do was play every shot as well as I could and see where it leaves me at the end.
As hard as it was when I was injured to not look where I was in the Rankings, since I've come back I’ve tried really hard not to look at things like that and just try to play. It is hard, and when the Rolex qualification was happening I was looking at where I was and if I would get into that, but other than that I'm just trying to leave it until the end.
Those things getting in your head can only be bad. But that’s just for me, maybe some people need to look at where they are for motivation. But for me, I can’t control things like that and my psychologist is big into that. He says, ‘don’t look, there’s no point as it’s only going to be bad for you so you’re only hurting yourself’.
A new lifestyle
Being the first year, you don’t really know where you have to go and how to get there and all that but a few of the guys have helped me out. Jason Palmer has been rooming with me and he’s been out here before so he knows a few of the places, but there are so many guys who will help you out so I've been lucky like that too. I wouldn’t know where to start otherwise!
I think the mistake I made at the beginning of the year was that I didn’t want to lose any ground so I just wanted to keep playing every week. I got into that mind set which actually led to the injury in the end.
I've actually learned a bit about myself, that I can’t push it too much. I try limit it to three in a row now. I did five at the start of the year but it was too much for me. Some guys can do it but that’s why I think that break helped, to get energy back.
It’s about finding the balance between playing what tournaments are right for you but not playing so little that you can’t compete with everyone else. I did find it hard at the beginning of the year to sit at home and watch everyone else doing well.
Because I’ve done well so far I can plan now. I know I can play Kazakhstan, China and the final events and that was one of my small targets at the start of the year, to play those because if you’re playing in those then you’ve got a chance of top 15.
I'm fine with the travelling, I know it’s part of it. Obviously if it all goes terribly wrong and you get stuck somewhere or get cancelled flights or lose bags it might be different but I've been alright this year. Some guys lost their clubs in Azerbaijan and it can happen to anyone so touch wood!
I've given myself a chance, put myself in a position where if I keep playing well then I’ll have a chance. That’s all you can do, go into those final events with a chance you can’t do any more than that.
Slowly rising up the ranks
I've exceeded my expectations already so anything that happens now is just a bonus.
I've always been the kind of guy who hasn’t raised the ranks quickly. I've always learned each year about myself and about golf as a whole and it seems to have been a steady progression. Even in amateur stuff, I haven’t jumped up really quickly, just slowly rose up. Then in the Alps Tour I took a couple of years and then made it up after the second season.
I wouldn’t have even expected to do this well this year. I thought maybe the first year would be just finding my feet because it’s very different the first year you do it, you don’t know everyone, you don’t know the places you’re going so it takes a bit of time to get comfortable.
I think people don’t realise that and put extra pressure on themselves. I try to settle in first, get familiar with it, and I'm more like that now than I was at the beginning of the year. It’s definitely helping playing week after week.
The Walker Cup team played the Alfred Dunhill Links but I haven’t played many European Tour events other than that. Tom Lewis got a lot of invites after the Walker Cup win and he obviously did awesome, winning in Portugal.
Other than that, we didn’t get many opportunities. We got some Challenge Tour invites but European Tour invites were slim. That’s not a bad thing. I like to take my time and work it all out as you go along.
I do think if I had got through Q-School after turning professional, I just wouldn’t have been ready for it, no way. It’s a blessing in disguise that I took my time and learned. The damage it can do can overshadow good stuff that you do later on.
The guys that get through quickly, it does kill their confidence and it’s unbelievable how well they do to come back from that. It’s unbelievable to get the top, drop back down and then get back up there again, that’s unbelievable. Mentally, they must be so strong because it must kill them to drop back down having been there before.
I've been lucky that I haven’t had many downs yet, but even if that does happen if you do the right things and don’t have those outside aims and influences clouding what you’re doing, I think you can work your way back up.
I feel that the level you’re at, you’re there for a reason. The tours and levels don’t lie. There’s nobody on The European Tour that shouldn’t be there. They’re there for a reason. If you can get better everywhere you play, you can work your way up. There’s no hidden secret.
Those guys at the top of the world game are unbelievable and that’s why they’re there. That’s what I want to do, just play with them.
