When a golfer find himself in a different country to his clubs, it’s rarely a good thing. When it happens twice in a week, then it’s nearly a crisis.
Scott Jamieson was stuck in this predicament last week as Air France misplaced his golfbag – on a direct flight from Edinburgh to Paris, no less – and then couldn’t get them to him in time for last week’s Open de France.
Eventually, Jamieson missed the cut in Paris, and when the airline eventually found his precious tools – the bag hadn’t even been loaded on to the flight and was still in Edinburgh – he told them to keep it there. Unfortunately, they’d already made arrangements and when the Scot arrived back home, the clubs were arriving at Charles de Gaulle.
“I could have played decent golf with the clubs I got in France, but my putter is specifically tailored to me and the replacement wasn’t to my liking,” he admitted. “Also there’s training aids you can’t get now and some personal things in there as well that I need.”
Some choice words from management company ISM got the bag back quickly for this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scopttish Open at Castle Stuart as Jamieson attempts to find his form at his home Open at a venue he has good memories of.
“I made the putt to finish third and get into the Open here five years ago, and it’s great to come back here,” he said. “It’s just a fun golf course, it’s matured as well and it looks really good.
“There are a plenty of risk and reward holes which I like and a lot of different strategies. It’s not necessarily a bombers course or a short hitter. It asks a lot questions and the winner will be the best golfer and the best thinker.”
Jamieson has been working with David Leadbetter on some swing changes and thinks he’s close to seeing them bear fruit.
“You want to be in contention every week, but I’m happy with changes that I’m making to the swing, the good shots are all good but it’s not quite there under pressure.
“I spoke to Leadbetter last week and he’s confident it’s moving in the right direction so you have to trust someone like that.
“We’ve been quite careful not to try and change everything at once. The strike is different, the flight is different, my control over the half shots is way tighter than it used to be, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
