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I think it was Bobby Jones who said "there is golf and then there is tournament golf".

Bobby Jones would certainly have known for he is without question the most accomplished amateur golfer who has ever played this game.

The difference between golf and tournament golf is a bit like the difference between a demo golf club and your golf club.

Most of us will have been to a demo day somewhere in the world for all club makers love to put their wares on display whenever they can.

Demo days are great, and fun to stumble upon, whether it is Titleist, Ping, TaylorMade or any other club makers demo day.

When I stumble upon a demo day, I'm chomping at the bit to try as many different drivers as I can.

The club rep that is there will usually be a qualified golf professional, well-versed in the technical side of golf clubs, or at least that is how it always seems to me.

I find myself experimenting with different lofts, different shafts, different this and different that, all the while listening to the club rep, whom I've just met and now trust completely.

Throughout this process of trial and error, my ball flight gets better and better.

My new best friend, the club rep guy, tells me why the driver I've just hit is the answer to all my problems.

He never actually says those words but that is what I hear and it is certainly what I'm thinking.

On that driving range with that demo driver, shot after shot goes straight and true with a ball flight that is designed for television.

I begin to believe that the driver now in my hands is indeed the one I've been searching for all these years.

I put it through the full drill, hitting soft draws, high fades and a wide assortment of other shots that are required from time to time.

My success rate is often very high indeed when I've got a demo driver in my hand.

A few minutes later, as I walk back to my rental car, head down and a few hundred dollars lighter, I find myself wondering whether the driver I've just ordered from what's-his-name will in fact be exactly like the one I've just been hitting.

When we own the club, things suddenly become different.

Now performance matters because now we've invested a few hundred dollars.

At a demo day, how you hit a demo driver doesn't matter and we often find ourselves swinging the club like a seasoned professional. Similarly, on a Saturday afternoon, playing golf with your mates, nothing really matters then either and good scores can come in bunches.

However, tee it up in a tournament and that same player will often begin thinking differently simply because, in tournament golf, performance matters. Tournaments are the equivalent of exams and they show us where we stand. The Bermuda Seniors is in mid-May so why not enter and see where you stand?[[In-content Ad]]

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