Fieldsend fired up for PGA Play-offs
25/10/2017
Matthew Fieldsend will be the youngest player competing in this year’s PGA Play-Offs at Walton Heath but he sees his participation as anything but a case of making up the numbers.
The 24-year-old earned his place in the Play-Offs courtesy of a dramatic one-shot victory in the Galvin Green PGA Assistants' Championship in August.
As a result, Fieldsend, a PGA Assistant at Drayton Park in Staffordshire, will be up against the likes of recent PGA Cup winners and former European Tour pros Robert Coles, David Higgins, Damien McGrane and Andrew Raitt.
But he is not fazed by the competition and is determined to use the three-day tournament to his advantage.
“It’s a small field of 24 players and they’re the pros who have probably played the best throughout the year so it’s going to be tough,” said Fieldsend, who took up golf when he was 14.
“But to have that opportunity is going to be amazing - playing with better players is something I know I’m going to enjoy and it’s good to see where your game is in relation to theirs.
“I’ve always felt that when you play with players of a better standard than you then it makes you elevate your game to their level.
“Ultimately it’s an opportunity to pick up on some things they do well that you can maybe put into your game as well. So as much as I’m there to try and do the best I can, it’s also a learning week.”
As well as giving Fieldsend the chance to claim another trophy, there are some big prizes on offer.
The prize fund has been increased to £25,000 and there are additional incentives: the top four will earn the right to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May, two places are available in the British Masters and there will be opportunities to play on the Challenge Tour.
“There are some really good rewards to come out of it if you play well,” Fieldsend continued. “Even so, I think you have to try and forget what could be and treat it like any other week.
“It is slightly different knowing that it’s a smaller field but I’m just trying to approach it in the same way I would any other event.
“I like the way the course is set up. I’ve got a practice round in already at Walton Heath so I’ve seen the course and I know which areas of my game I will need to work on for that week.”
Fieldsend sealed his place at Walton Heath in dramatic fashion. Rewind three months and he was standing over a tricky eight-foot putt on the 18th green at Coxmoor Golf Club in Nottinghamshire to win the Galvin Green PGA Assistant’s Championship.
He had missed similar putts on the first two days of the tournament but the ball dropped when it really mattered and he was £5,000 richer.
“When I walking up the 18th I looked across and could see that everybody had come out of the clubhouse to see the last group come through,” he recalled.
“I knew at that point after checking the scoreboard on 17 that there were two players in the clubhouse at level par.
“I also knew there was going to be a lot of pressure on getting up and down but you just have to try and block it out as best you can.
“It sounds a cliché but if you can try and forget they’re there and just hit the shot then it makes it a little easier.
“I’ve had a little bit of time for it to sink in now and I just feel incredibly lucky. You look at the names of the people that have won it in the past such as Tony Jacklin and Peter Alliss, so it’s great to have my name alongside theirs. The week itself was brilliant and everything else that followed has been amazing.”
That win also earned Fieldsend a complete golfing wardrobe of his choice, selected during a recent visit to Galvin Green as he became the company’s ambassador for the year.
Best of all, he flew to Australia this week for the trip of a lifetime to play in the 2017 National Futures Championship.
It leaves little time for him to prepare for the PGA Play-Offs and jetlag could be an issue at Walton Heath, but that is not a concern for Fieldsend who is looking at entering next year’s European Tour Qualifying School.
“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about with the travel and with them being so close together,” Fieldsend added. “It’s a great opportunity to be invited to play in their event so I’m going to enjoy that week.
“It’s a great experience. I’ve never been to Australia before so I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be a different type of golf which is something I’m going to try and get used to while I’m over there but I’m not going to let it change the way I prepare for the PGA Play-Offs.
“Hopefully when I come back from Australia I won’t be too jetlagged and it won’t affect me too much.
“That’s what’s been so difficult, trying to let all of it sink in: the trip to Australia, the relationship with Galvin Green and a place in the PGA Play-Offs. Everything that has come with it has been fantastic.”
