Banahan aiming for new life as a golf pro

HAVING played in his first professional golf tournament, recently retired rugby star Matt Banahan admits turning from lock to wing was a far easier transition.

- JON NEWCOMBE

The former England, Bath and Gloucester fans’ favourite took part in the recent PGA EuroPro Tour event at the splendid Cumberwell Park in Wiltshire, his home course.

“Ali James (club manager) and the Cumberwell team gave me an opportunity to play in the EuroPro and I thought it would be interesting to see how I would match up against these pros,” the father-of-three, below, said.

“Us amateurs, we are very critical of professionals when we see their scores so I thought I’d put myself in the deep end rather than look on and be critical and give it a go.

“You get to understand what it takes a little bit better, because the courses are set up tougher: the tees are set back, the fairways are narrower, the rough is longer and the greens are harder to read because they are faster than what they are for members … it is more punishing.

“I wanted to pressurise myself and see how my golf stood up. I learnt so much playing in it and hopefully I can kick on and get down to scratch by maybe the end of the summer or next year.”