Ben Mason

Golfing Herald met up with former European and Challenge Tour player Ben Mason for our Meet the Professional series.

Ben caught the golfing bug more than 30 years ago when his dad dusted down his clubs for a charity golf day. Ben hit some balls whilst his dad practised and the rest as they say is…

As a member of Roundhay Golf Club, Ben initially played golf at weekends and during school holidays but then, aged about 14 or 15 he started to show promise in junior opens at the club and representing the junior team.

Ben’s dad had the vision to believe that in time Ben was good enough to become a Professional Golfer and so aged 16 Ben left school to play full-time amateur golf. Having left Roundhay Golf Club, Ben joined Sand Moor, near Leeds, a golf club renowned for nurturing talented golfers (if you have time then please look at the Honours Board on the club’s website).

Over the next few years, Ben enjoyed an illustrious amateur career, which we chatted about at some length, but for now an abridged list of his key achievements and honours:

• 1995 ~ Leeds & District Amateur Champion
• 1997 ~ England Youth International & Amateur Championship Quarter-Finalist
• 1998/99 ~ England International (19 Caps)
• 1998 ~ Emirates Amateur Champion & Amateur Championship Semi-Finalist
• 1999 – Hampshire Salver & Walker Cup Squad

Ben turned professional at the end of 1999 and over the next decade or so played on the European and Challenge Tours, during which he reached a career-high world ranking of (about) 250. Ben’s best finish on the European Tour was as runner up in the 2003 St Omer Open and on the Challenge Tour, he won the 2007 Open Mahou de Madrid.

Towards the end of the 2010 season, Ben was starting to struggle on the Challenge Tour but through a chance conversation, the next chapter in his golfing journey started to take shape. Waterfront Golf just happened to have a vacancy for an Assistant Professional which Ben accepted. At Waterfront Golf he eventually became the Head Teaching Professional, building a reputation as a well-respected coach for golfers of all abilities. Still competitive, in 2014 Ben won the prestigious Leeds Cup.

In 2017, he was approached by Iain Mackenzie to be the Head Instructor at the iGolfStudio in Sheffield where he utilises modern technology to improve the game of his ever-increasing and diverse client base.

iGolfStudio

iGolfStudio was established in August 2015 by owner Iain Mackenzie, who has wealth of corporate and playing experience in the golfing world. As a player, Iain was Yorkshire County Champion in 1977 and 1980 and the European Mid-Amateur Champion in 2004. He was also Captain of the Yorkshire County Team in 1992 and 2002 to 2007.

Located on the Sheffield Business Park near Junction 33 of the M1, iGolfStudio is a state-of-the-art indoor facility that utilises leading golf technology to deliver a fully integrated offering for golfers of all abilities with the objective of improving their game.

Comprised of the Full Swing and Putting Studios, iGolfStudio provides an array of services including coaching, fitting, training and corporate events.

Aligned to the specific needs of a client, the Full Swing Studio uses Video Analysis, Flightscope Data and MySwing 3D Technology as required to fine-tune or improve a golfers game.

The Putting Studio provides an environment to improve the putting performance of a client and for them to learn how to control the speed and the spin of the golf ball whilst putting.

Ben offers a variety of lessons tailored to the needs of an individual in the Full Swing Studio and the Putting Studio which can be booked online (refer to www.igolfstudio.co.uk for full details).

The First Tee

Golfing Herald (GH): Sheffield has changed so much since I was an undergraduate in the Steel City some ** years ago!! Having said that, the Sheffield Parkway which links the M1 motorway to the city of Sheffield has hardly changed at all and it was not far from this very familiar dual carriageway that I easily found the ultra-impressive iGolfStudio, nestled in the heart of the very modern Sheffield Business Park. After treating Ben to an Americano (the absolute least I could do, my words not Ben’s!!) I started by asking Ben when and where his golfing journey ‘teed off’.

Ben Mason (BM): My dad played when he was younger and then stopped playing. Then I think he got invited to a charity golf day and so he got his clubs out of the garage and said: “I best go and hit some balls”. I think I was about 11 years old and asked if I could come along and hit some balls with him…got the bug there really. Not really taking it too seriously at that age.

First Club

(GH): When do you think you first started to take golf seriously?

(BM): I was about 14 or 15 when I started getting some success. Just at the club in some junior opens and playing for the junior team at the club.

(GH): Which golf club was that?

(BM): I was a member of Roundhay Golf Club, Leeds. A 9 hole municipal golf course, it was shorter than most of the other courses in the area.

(GH): A fantastic ‘starter course’ to learn golf?

(BM): Perfect. I made my first par when I was 12 years old. All the Par 4’s were between 250 and 300 yards so it was great in that I could get pars and birdies very early in my golfing life. Even though standard scratch for the course (playing the 9 holes twice) was about 8 below par it didn’t bother you so much because you could actually like I said, make some pars and birdies which was great.

(GH): This topic has been a common theme in quite a few of the articles in this series where other Professionals have called out that it can be soul-destroying for a 12 or 13-year-old to play on a 450 yard Par 4 and they don’t make a par…

(BM): Absolutely. I think it depends on the child obviously. Everyone is an individual. I think most kids are going to grow up to be club/hobby golfers with the odd one turning into a Rory McIlroy.

Golfing Apprenticeship

(GH): Can you remember your first official handicap?

(BM): 28…I stayed on 28 for quite a while as I was only playing golf at the weekends and in the holidays. That sort of slowed my progress down a little bit. Then, as I said earlier, I started to show some promise at about 14 or 15 years of age. I wasn’t particularly happy at school. If I could go back I would apply myself differently but at the time I was not that happy at school. My dad said basically there is a route for you in golf somewhere along the line. He saw that I could be good enough to become a professional in some way and said why don’t you leave school at 16 and I will start you off on a sort of an apprenticeship!!

(GH): All the professionals I have interviewed to date have had differing ‘amateur to professional flightpaths’ but this approach suggested by your dad sounds unique. What did this apprenticeship actually entail?

(BM): He backed me to practise and play and see how good I could get. Basically, my dad funded me to play full-time amateur golf. He made sure I was alright by giving me a little bit of spending money to buy lunches and different stuff at the golf club and then all of a sudden being given that opportunity to practise and play all day every day I got good very quickly.

(GH): Were you still a member of Roundhay Golf Club?

(BM): No. I had left at that point. I had a brief spell at Leeds Golf Club (Cobble Hall) but then I joined Sand Moor Golf Club.

Move to Sand Moor Golf Club

(GH): Why did you join Sand Moor Golf Club?

(BM): It was a no brainer really. I wanted to be as good as I could get.

(GH): Did they (Sand Moor Golf Club) approach you?

(BM): No, they didn’t approach me. They actually got a (lot of) bad reputation for poaching juniors. That never happened. I approached them. Basically, because they had all the best players there and I knew that if I wanted to be as good as I could get I needed to play with and against the best players.

(GH): Was this on or around the same time you left school?

(BM): Yes, when I left school at 16.

(GH): Effectively a clean start aligned to your ‘apprenticeship’?

(BM): Exactly.

Most Promising Junior Award

(GH): What was your handicap when you moved to Sand Moor?

(BM): I was down to (a handicap of) 4. That summer I qualified for the Daily Telegraph junior golf championship in Portugal. I think I was the highest handicap junior who was there. I was fortunate to be presented by Tony Jacklin with the most promising junior award. I didn’t play amazingly well but they saw some promise in me. Then going back to Sand Moor Golf Club, at the time we had so many good players there…the likes of Iain Pyman, Stuart Cage, the Pullan twins, Gary Harland…all sort of Yorkshire Champions and Walker Cup Players.

(GH): In that ‘competitive environment’ you just feed off each other?

(BM): Of course…one year I think there were 12 people who represented Yorkshire from the Club. You knew if you got in with those lads and you played with those lads regularly you had to shoot a really good score if you wanted to win. Being the competitive person that I am I knew that I had to ‘get good or do something else!!’.

Full-Time Golf Begins

(GH): Did you and your dad agree on a plan of action for your golfing apprenticeship? For example, did you have a ‘5-year plan’?

(BM): Not really. We always knew there was the option of going through the PGA. I was a 4 handicap at the time which is what you had to be so I already had the credentials to join the PGA when I was 18 and start the PGA Training.

(GH): Effectively your safety net?

(BM): Suppose it was. We talked about college in America but not being at the time academically interested we didn’t go down that route. We kind of looked at how good I could get. That first year, 1994, when I had just turned 17 I finished 4th in the Yorkshire Boys Championship, got picked to represent Yorkshire Boys, then got picked to play in the County Finals at the end of the season. Off a 3 Handicap. My handicap never really reflected how I was playing. Whenever I played in any Match Play events I was doing really well. Then the following year, 1995, I started like a house on fire and by the end of the year, I was off +1 handicap!!

Healthy Rivalry

(GH): What do you think made such a difference in 1995? Physical? Mental?

(BM): Could have been. You know what, it was probably just because I was a year older. More experience. I had been playing for a full year. Maybe I expected too much during the first year. Maybe I just settled into the environment.

(GH): When you got to +1 did you then start to play in national events?

(BM): Absolutely. I played in my first ever English Men’s Amateur Championship. Unfortunately got beat in the 1st round. I continued representing Yorkshire Boys. I got called up to represent the Yorkshire Men’s Team. I remember at the end of the season winning a few men’s events at County level. At that time Simon Dyson was in the Yorkshire Team and we built up a friendship and also a competitive spirit between us.

(GH): But a healthy competitive spirit!!

(BM): Exactly. We were both progressing at similar levels. We both nearly got selected for England Boys. We built up a healthy rivalry between us. We travelled together. We stayed together. We wanted to beat each other which was great!!

Amateur Championship 1996 & 1997

(GH): Whether it is fantastic timing meeting up today or just pure luck but the R&A Amateur Championship is being played this week and back in 1998 at Muirfield you reached the semi-finals of this prestigious Championship. Had you played in this event previously?

(BM): Yes. I played in 1996, 1997…and 1998 and 1999 as well. My best result was in 98 when I reached the semi-finals. In 97 I got to the quarter-finals. 96 was a funny year for me again as I had moved up to men’s level and didn’t really play as good as I had the year before. Possibly getting used to the new environment. Seems to be a bit of a common theme throughout my golfing career.

(GH): Sort of like rapid progression, plateau/consolidation…repeat.

(BM): Yeah. Looking back it was very much getting comfortable in the new surroundings. All part of the learning curve.

(GH): You must have gained some great experience from playing in 96 and 97, in particular reaching the quarter-finals in 97?

(BM): I remember in 97 it was played at Royal St.George’s and it was incredibly windy. The qualifying scores were really high and it was almost one of those ‘get your head down and battle’. I think Sergio Garcia shot something like an 85 in the first round that year!! I qualified, the wind dropped and I kept winning my matches and reached the quarter-finals. I think my thought process got ahead of itself and all of a sudden I am winning the Masters…I ended up losing!!

(For the record, Ben only lost by 1 hole in the quarter-finals)

Amateur Championship 1998 (Qualifying)

(GH): In preparation for meeting up with you today, I visited the excellent R&A website and printed off the Stroke Play and Match Play results from 1998.

(BM): Wow!!

(At this point we looked at the printed results)

(BM): Where did I qualify that year (in the stroke play)? Was it 4th or 5th? Yeah, tied 4th with Sergio Garcia!!

(GH): As you will see, I went through the entrants that year and highlighted those players that have gone on to win a Major Championship…Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy, Henrik Stenson…not to mention players such as Edoardo Molinari and Gregory Havret…and many more!! Ben, what can you remember about 98?

(BM): I was much more prepared and had already played for England.

(At this point it was my turn to say a Wow equivalent!!)

(GH): In which event(s) had you represented England?

(BM): I played in the Chiberta Grand Prix in Biarritz, France and I then represented England in the Emirates Amateur Championship at the Emirates course in Dubai which I won, beating Peter Hansson in a Playoff. I then got selected to represent England against France, played at Les Bordes Golf Club near Paris in May 98.

(Funny story relating to the aforementioned Peter Hansson coming right up in the next section)

(GH): Your game and yourself had gone up to another level?

(BM): Yeah. I felt like maybe I had been accepted into the environment. I was going into the 98 championships as one of the people ‘to look at’ as an International and I think my confidence level was higher. I was playing well. I qualified well.

Amateur Championship 1998 (Quarter-Final)

(GH): Yeah…you got the same qualifying score (of 141) as Sergio…sorry, Sergio got the same qualifying score as you!!

(BM): Yeah…he got the same score as myself did Sergio!! Then I just kept winning my matches. The funny one being the quarter-final match with Peter Hansson. When we were at the Emirates Amateur in Dubai I was coming down the last, the Par 5 over the water. It was into the wind and we both had to lay up and I had a 1 shot lead. I hit a pitch shot and it landed on the green but spun off the front edge. Fortunately, there was a collar of rough at the front so it didn’t go into the water. He hit his shot and went over the back onto the fringe at the back of the green. I then chipped my next shot to about a foot and thought that’s brilliant I’ve won. Then he chipped in!! So we had to go into a playoff. Fortunately, we went down the 18th and I birdied the 18th second time around and won the playoff. Roll forward to the quarter-final at the Amateur Championship and I’m 1 up playing the 18th against Peter Hansson. I drive it down the middle of the fairway, he drives into a bunker. He splashes out of the bunker and I think I hit a 2 iron into the green. It just went long left about 6 feet from the green. He then hits his third shot to roughly the same place as me, just a little bit closer. I chip my ball down to about 4 feet and thinking this is looking good. Then he chipped in!! So I had to then hole my putt from 4 feet to win the match. I holed it and then walked over to shake his hand and the first thing he did was show me the club and he said: “Ben, it was the same club as Dubai!!”

(Once we stopped laughing…Ben continued)

(BM): It was amazing. Since then whenever I meet Peter Hansson we always talk about his chipping and every time we played on Tour together he chipped in a lot.

(GH): When he showed you the club you were not tempted to do what Patrick Reed did recently and snap the club over your leg!!

(BM): No!!

Amateur Championship 1998 (Semi-Final)

(GH): OK…so you have now reached the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship. Did you have chances to win the match or was it just one of those days?

(BM): I never really got going in the semis, unfortunately. I think during the match play stages you are always going to have one of those rounds that you are not really ‘fully at it’ but hopefully you come up against somebody who isn’t ‘at it’ as well.

(GH): It was your seventh round of the week (2 stroke play and 5 match play).

(BM): Playing seven rounds in a week you are not going to be ‘on it’ in all of them but Craig Williams who I played against was and that was the end of that, unfortunately.

(For the record, Sergio Garcia beat Craig Williams 7&6 in the 36 hole final)

Favourite Format

(GH): Linked to the Amateur Championship, at that time did you prefer Stroke Play or Match Play?

(BM): I always seemed to do better in Match Play as an amateur. I got better at Stroke Play. I liked the 1-on-1 aspect of Match Play, seeing what your opponent does. It could be a case of when you are playing amateur golf it was literally 70 to 80% Match Play. When you represent the County or your Country, everything is Match Play.

Walker Cup

(GH): You were then selected for Walker Cup Squad for the biennial match against the USA.

(BM): Yes. The next Walker Cup was in 99 and at the end of 98, I was selected to go into the squad and go up to the training sessions and get-togethers that we had up at Nairn which was great. Unfortunately, in 99 I didn’t quite have as good a year as I did in 98. Although I was getting better there weren’t as many good performances. In hindsight, I maybe should have turned Pro at the end of 98 when I was actually playing really well.

(GH): Was it all down to the opportunity to represent GB&I in the Walker Cup that delayed your move from the Amateur to the Professional ranks?

(BM): Yeah. The Walker Cup was a carrot dangled in front of me. My goal at that point was to be a touring professional.

(GH): When did you make the decision of becoming a touring professional? Was it back when you started your full time golfing apprenticeship?

(BM): I think that was always the ultimate dream. It was a question of just go for it and see how close to it you can get. I stayed on (as an amateur) for another 12 months. Maybe in hindsight knowing what I know now possibly it might have been a good time at the end of 98 to have gone to Qualifying school. But we decided that the Walker Cup was a goal that I wanted to achieve as an amateur.

(GH): Unluckily you did not make the final 10 for the Walker Cup team but were you still representing England in 1999?

(BM): Yeah. I played in the Home Internationals, I played in England vs. Spain. Thinking about it I had a good start to 99 though I had a little bit of illness during the middle of the year which set me back a little bit.

Hampshire Salver

(GH): Talking of your ‘good start’ I recently came across an article which covered the (2019) success of Sam Bairstow in the prestigious Hampshire Salver. Near the end of this very interesting read, it said that this 72 hole stroke play event (comprised of the 36-hole Selborne Salver played at Blackmoor Golf Club and the 36-hole Hampshire Hog played at North Hants Golf Club) had been previously won by golfers such as Justin Rose, Simon Dyson and a certain Ben Mason!!

(BM): I did win the Salver in 1999. I won the Selborne Salver and then finished well enough in the Hampshire Hog, which I do believe what Sam did. Interestingly I helped Sam with his putting!!

(GH): Talk about synchronicity. Was your help specifically for this event or in general?

(BM): No, in general in that I help Sam Bairstow with his putting. That’s a nice little link from when I was there!!

(GH): But even that success was not quite enough for you to be selected for the Walker Cup team?

(BM): No, the Salver wasn’t quite big enough. You have to be looking at events such as the Brabazon Trophy, the St Andrews Links Trophy and the Amateur Championship. In the 1999 Amateur, I qualified again for the match play stage but I got knocked out in the 1st round. I came up against ex-Walker Cup player Jody Flanagan in Northern Ireland around Royal County Down. His experience (around there) beat me.

Amateur to Professional

(GH): So at the end of 99 you made the decision to turn Pro?

(BM): I decided halfway through the year. Whether I made the Walker Cup team or not I was always turning Pro. The only thing left to achieve as an amateur was the Walker Cup with the thinking ‘If I don’t get it this year I am not waiting another couple of years’.

(GH): When you finally turned Pro, did you initially get some tournament invites on the back of your illustrious amateur career?

(BM): None whatsoever. It was a brand new start. My first event was a EuroPro Tour Event at a place called Dale Hill in Kent. I think my first cheque was £150.

(GH): Did you frame for posterity your first cheque?

(BM): No!! It was spent straight away. And then I entered the European Tour School at the end of 99. I comfortably got through the first stage and thought right we are on our way. Played at the second stage of Tour School at Empordà, shot 68 in the first round and was really pleased. At the end of the day, I was tied 25th!! That was a massive eye-opener to the standard. It was either a 3 or 4 round event and I think I finished at 5 or 6 under par and did not get close to qualifying. I knew then I had to go up a level.

(GH): What changes did you have to make to go up a level and thus transition from elite amateur to the first rung of the professional ladder?

(BM): Mentally definitely. I had to understand about low scoring. Looking back, as an amateur, it didn’t really prepare you for life as a professional in terms of scoring. As an amateur, you played around very difficult golf courses and level par was a great score. You saw my score at Muirfield in the Amateur Championship where I shot 70-71, 1 under par and qualified in 4th. As a professional, 1 under par misses the cut!!

Confidence Returns

(GH): What happened next after not qualifying at Tour School?

(BM): I went to Asia. I had a go at the Asian Tour School. Same experience. Felt like I played well and got nowhere near. It was at that point where it was a case of “am I good enough and what do I need to do to be good enough”. So, I went back and had a year playing the EuroPro Tour and the Mastercard Tour and I think it was on the Mastercard Tour where I shot something like 15 under par over the 4 rounds which then, all of a sudden, made me realise that you know, I can make it.

(GH): And did you win that particular event where you shot 15 under par?

(BM): No!! No, I didn’t but it gave me the confidence that Ben, you can start to shoot some lower scores. Went back to the qualifying school at the end of 2000 and went back to the same course at Empordà for the second stage and if I remember rightly I think I shot 63 in the first round and led!! And that was a big difference. I had learnt how to shoot low scores. When you start playing well as a Pro you have to ‘stay out of your own way’ and keep going low and never protect your score. Because you don’t get those days that often. If you take out the top-level pros, most pros will earn 90% of their money in 10% of the events they play in. Basically, they play well when they get hot and the rest of the time they are scratching around trying to build up their prize money. So if you play in 30 events you probably have 3 events where you really perform. And you have to understand when you are hot you have to be hot!!

(GH): By getting through the second stage at qualifying school in 2000 did you then play on the European Tour the following year?

(BM): No!! I got through to Tour School (from the second stage of qualifying school) and missed the cut at Tour School. The following year I got a few Challenge Tour starts and had some good weeks. Managed to finish 3rd in Germany and I think I finished about 60th in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. That got me a full card for the following year and got me exempt through stage one of Tour School. Got through Stage Two again and got to the final Tour School. Made the cut this time, so again those little progressions but didn’t get a card. So, in 2002, I played a full season on the Challenge Tour and I also got a couple of European Tour starts. Had some good finishes during the year and I finished in the Top 45 in the Order of Merit and I went to the Challenge Tour Grand Final.

Different Approach

(GH): How did you get on at the 2002 Grand Final?

(BM): I had a bit of an eye-opening experience there. The course was wet so played very long. I remember playing with a golfer called Francois Delamontagne and he was about 50 to 60 yards longer than me from the tee!! It was at that point I had a really good chat with a friend of mine Stuart Cage and I just said: “I am not long enough to compete and I don’t feel like I strike the ball well enough to do what he does”. I can remember Francois hitting an 8 iron into the last hole and I was going in with a 3 wood. I felt like that was really holding me back. I could compete on shorter courses on the Challenge Tour so I decided I needed a different approach.

(GH): What did that ‘different approach’ entail?

(BM): I sought the help of a chap called Gareth Benson who was over in Manchester at the time. Just to try and change the ball flight a little bit and get a bit more speed into my game. A bit better ball striking really. I went and saw him after the Grand Final and then a few weeks later it was the European Tour School. I went around Empordà and finished 20th in the Tour School, 18 under par and got my Card.

(GH): Instant Reward…Instant Dividend.

(BM): Yeah it was. Whether that was working on something new that gives you a little bit of a buzz, I don’t know, but I felt instantly that I had better compression on the golf ball. That really helped me move forward and I got my European Tour card and that was my dream.

St Omer Open

(GH): Your best finish on the European Tour came during that first year (2003) with second place at the St Omer Open in France. Did you have a chance to win?

(BM): I had a chance coming into the back 9 in the final round. Brett Rumford won it in the end. I was playing with Brett in the last group. He started with a 3 shot lead and I remember getting to within 1 shot after 8 holes. Then the 9th hole was a Par 5 dog-leg left and he has hit it into the right hand rough off the tee. He went for the green from the rough and he must have got the club tangled and his shot went left towards the out of bounds and his ball hit an out of bounds post and stayed in bounds!! I have hit a 3 iron just short right of the green and I think he pitched to about 15 feet from the flag. I chipped to 6 feet, he holed his putt and I missed. Then he played the back 9 amazingly and eventually I lost by 3 shots. Who knows where I would be now if not for that out of bounds post? Probably in the same place!!

Play Your Best

(GH): What was your approach over the next few years playing on the European and Challenge Tours? Did you think next year will be the year?

(BM): No, I just kept thinking that wherever you are ‘just play your best’ which is all you can do as a Pro. I always tried to play in the biggest events that I could because that gave me the best chance of success. I had a full European Tour card for 2003, 2004 & 2005 and then a conditional card for 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009 where I was getting starts and I managed to win on the Challenge Tour in 2007.

Open Mahou de Madrid

(GH): Preparing for today, your win on the Challenge Tour was one of the topics I really wanted to chat about…your win came in Madrid?

(BM): Yeah, at the excellent ‘Club de Golf Retamares’ in Madrid.

(GH): What do you remember about that Tournament?

(BM): Lots of delays. Lots of rain delays. I remember chipping in on the 17th and then holing from 6 feet on the last to win. I think I won by a shot from Tim Milford. I just remember there being lots of rain delays so we finished really late and it was a bit of an anti-climax in the end because the presentation was done between myself, the tournament director and the sponsor in a room with nobody else there!! Then, literally I got in a car with the tournament director and we got to the airport with about 2 minutes to spare to check-in for my flight home. It was all a bit of a blur in the end.

(GH): Compare that to the current day where there are interviews with all of the media, the celebrations, etc.

(BM): You dream of winning an event and being interviewed by Sky Sports and the reality was “Ben, we need to get this done really quickly as you have got a flight to catch and I have got a flight to catch”.

(GH): Despite all that the victory can never be taken away from you?

(BM): Absolutely not. A lot of people don’t actually see that side of it. “You won a tournament, that must have been amazing, did you celebrate?”. Well no, I got home at 03:00. I had to fly back into Luton then drive home. “And what did you do on Monday?” Washing!!

Next Chapter

(GH): When was your last event on the respective European and Challenge Tours?

(BM): My last event was at the end of August 2010.

(GH): What was your thinking about the way forward and your future?

(BM): Kind of happened by accident really. My dad died at the end of 2005 and obviously, my dad was a massive influence in what I did and I never really played as well after that.

(GH): Did he caddy for you?

(BM): Not really. Every now and again he did. I don’t know if that was a case of him being a driving force in my success and with him gone if I needed to find another reason to play well. I still had some good results like the win in Madrid but I never really became the same golfer. I always had a dream of playing on the European Tour and I did it. Maybe I didn’t dream big enough. My wife is an actor by trade and she went to drama school and got parts on TV and we both said we had these goals to do these things and we actually achieved them which wasn’t as successful as we probably hoped we would be. Probably we didn’t make our dreams and our goals big enough. Think as big as you can. Don’t think to yourself I want to play on the European Tour but think to yourself I want to win on the European Tour, I want to win Majors.

(GH): What would be your message to aspiring golfers?

(BM): I would say to any golfer with professional aspirations there is no dream big enough…

(GH): Going back to August 2010, what happened next?

(BM): I was struggling away on the Challenge Tour in 2010 and not really enjoying myself very much…it’s easy to enjoy it when you are playing well and earning lots of money but difficult to enjoy when you’re not I suppose. The travel was getting me down. Obviously, when you play the Challenge Tour it’s a lot more difficult than the European Tour because the hotels are not as nice, you are hiring cars as there are no courtesy cars and you are on a bit of a budget. It’s just not as good. When I was moving up the ranks it was brilliant. I found it hard to deal with the situation mentally as I came back down. I had peaked and I was on my way down. I had to make a decision. I asked the Manager at Waterfront Golf in Wath-Upon-Dearne where I was practising…”Coming up in the Winter, if I need to, have you any jobs?”…in case I needed to earn any money over the winter as the Challenge Tour ended at the end of the year and if I didn’t get a Tour card I wouldn’t be playing again until March/April of 2011. He actually said we have an opening for an Assistant Pro to start.

(GH): Just a chance conversation.

(BM): A chance conversation and I just said I would do it and withdrew from all of the remaining events on the Challenge Tour.

Limitless Standards

(GH): Accepting the role at Waterfront Golf as an Assistant Pro, did that mean you had to undertake the PGA qualification course?

(BM): Yeah. I was already a member of the PGA but I applied to join the training programme. Started at Waterfront on 1st September 2010. Not quite sure what I intended to do. I think I had in my mind that I still wanted to be on the European Tour. I think I had in my mind at that time to become a Rules official but in the meantime, I had to go through my PGA training. I remember going down for an induction at the PGA with a room full with about 70 golfers and the gentleman at the front said: “How many of you want to be players?”. I was the only one in the room who didn’t put their hand up!!

(GH): Was there a follow-up question directly to you of why not?

(BM): No there wasn’t. I just looked around and I thought to myself quite possibly I was, without being big headed, the best player in the room and I was the only one without my hand up. It was interesting as I remember the following year at the PGA fewer hands went up!! I think the take from that is basically there are a lot of kids out there with aspirations and go out and become really good golfers but they have no idea how good you have to be.

(GH): Just re-enforcing what you said earlier when you shot 1 under par at the Amateur Championship…a great score then but would be a missed cut as a Pro!!

(BM): I joke with my wife saying I didn’t really make it. I think my highest world ranking was about 250th in the world and she says “You got to 250th in the world…that is phenomenal” but in my mind, I didn’t make it.

(GH): That says to me that you set yourself sort of limitless standards and goals.

(BM): I thank that word limitless is brilliant. A lot of people have an end goal and I don’t think you should have an end goal.

(GH): Where do you go when you have achieved it?

(BM): Exactly. You look at some golfers when they win a major and then you don’t see them for a while. Jason Day played great and won a major and probably hasn’t really contended in majors since. For me, the ultimate goal for any golfer should be ‘Let’s see how good I can be’.

Leeds Cup

(GH): Were you attached to Waterfront Golf Club throughout your 3 years of PGA Training?

(BM): Yeah, spent all 3 years at Waterfront.

(GH): Whilst obtaining your qualification were you still playing competitively?

(BM): I played within the region. The first year was very hard because I literally went from practising all day every day to not at all!! Found it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t play as well as what I did. A frustrating year the first year playing as I was now working for a living as well which was strange…earning money from a proper job I suppose!! I initially had a little bit of success in the Leeds Cup. I lost a playoff there.

(GH): That is a neat link as another subject I wished to chat about today was the Leeds Cup (for those that don’t know the Leeds Cup is the oldest trophy in professional golf that is still played for, with the first winner being none other than Harry Vardon in 1902). I read somewhere that one of your ambitions was to win the Leeds Cup…when did that ‘interest’ all start?

(BM): Many years ago I caddied in the Leeds Cup for professionals such as Duncan Muscroft and a few other guys. I knew Duncan through Roundhay Golf Club and I used to spend hours watching Duncan hit balls on the practise ground. He was a big inspiration to me was Duncan. I remember him going off and playing in the Leeds Cup. So as a kid, for me, the Leeds Cup was a huge event. I went on Tour and the Leeds Cup became less of an interest. But when I came back to play in the PGA Events the Leeds Cup was always one that I had on my mind…thinking, you know what, I am from Leeds, I am a Leeds lad and that would be a nice tournament for me to win. And yes, I did manage to win it in 2014.

(GH): Looking at the list of past winners highlights what a prestigious PGA event this is.

(BM): I think Gary Player might even have played one year…so the Leeds Cup became a goal of mine to win which I did. I also won the Manchester Open. I have been successful within the Yorkshire region and have done well in the (Yorkshire) order of merit. It’s sort of a level I am able to play at without having to do a great deal of work on my game. I can go to an event and who knows what game is going to turn up!! I have got to the stage where I suppose most weekend golfers are now where they turn up on a Saturday morning wondering how they are going to play rather than going confident that they will play well.

(GH): That sounds like me with my game at the moment!! Do you play in events such as Open Qualifying?

(BM): No…those days have gone for me. I have played in big tournaments so I don’t crave what the Open would give me. I wouldn’t have any chance of going there and being successful. Going and qualifying would be an amazing achievement for me right now. Making the cut would be an unbelievable achievement but I haven’t got the time or energy to spend to make that happen.

Waterfront to iGolfStudio

(GH): What next when you attained your PGA qualification?

(BM): I stayed at Waterfront. I was the Head Teaching Professional there until a certain point and then Frank Houlgate bought the place. He was a Professional already so I continued as a Teaching Professional. I had been here to iGolfStudio a couple of times and I knew the owner Iain Mackenzie really well and he just sent me a message which said he was looking for a coach at iGolfStudio, are you interested? I was on the range in December giving a lesson, it was freezing cold, and I replied “Yes”.

(GH): When did you actually move to iGolfStudio?

(BM): I started here in February 2017 and it has been great ever since. I have built up the business really well and I am busier than I have ever been.

(GH): Is the business growth down to say ‘word of mouth’?

(BM): Pretty much. Obviously, we don’t have any walk-in trade. In a way, it is good that I don’t have to do the ‘walking up and down the range’ to network. A lot of my networking now is through Social Media. I started a YouTube channel as a way to attract customers and now it is all about retention and making sure people keep having lessons. I think if people keep having lessons they will keep improving. It’s alright having just one lesson and thinking you have ‘solved it’ but golf’s not like that. We always end up going back to what we always do unless we change the habit. A change in habit is a long term thing.

(GH): When I arrived here earlier today my first impression is that iGolfStudio appears to have everything you would need as a coach and a pupil…very much a space-age look and feel!!

(BM): It’s like being a kid in a sweet shop!! There is a lot of technology…I have got MySwing 3D, FlightScope, BodiTrack, Quintic software, Putting Software and I have got Sam PuttLab in the Putting room. It’s been a great learning experience for me to use this equipment and I have learnt more about the golf swing in the two years I have been here than before. People improve so much quicker once you can show them the technology side of things. The technology provides the facts of what you do and then my opinion on how to change the facts becomes important. Then I can show them the facts again after any changes. I find as a Professional people believe that more.

(GH): Transitioning from the subjective to the objective?

(BM): Absolutely. I think being indoor works as well as you can take the ball flight away from people. They have that little bit of time to get used to something. When you are on a range having a golf lesson and you are told to do something then the first thing that happens is that you hit poor shots whilst you get used to something different. It might be only for 15 minutes or so but that 15 minutes could be ‘make or break’ in a golf lesson of ‘I don’t like this’. I am able to take the ball flight away from people and so they don’t see the poor shots and focus more on the feeling they are trying to create so they get the feeling quicker. Therefore the improvements are there and then you can turn the ball flight monitor back on.

(GH): At iGolfStudio, is your client base all playing levels and abilities?

(BM): All levels. I have some professionals that come. I have some absolute beginners who come. Fewer beginners here than I had at Waterfront as my price levels are now a little bit higher. My main client base would be between 5 and 15 handicaps. I do have some higher and some lower but the core base is competitive club golfers.

(GH): You mentioned earlier about Sam Bairstow and assisting with his putting…is that an example of someone who needs specialist help utilising the equipment you have in this Studio?

(BM): Absolutely…the equipment is an attraction. Hopefully, I am an attraction as well!! The equipment is great but they still need my input. People say what is the best piece of technology you have at the studio and I say me as I know how to use this technology. We are getting more and more good players through the door.

(GH): Golf Monthly ran an article on Dan Walker from the BBC who is a client of yours.

(BM): Dan has been coming here for quite a while…and he has been good for me as well as he is quite vocal on Social Media and posts quite a bit about his golf and how he has improved.

Biggest Change

(GH): During all the years you have been playing golf, what would you say is the biggest change you have observed in the game of golf?

(BM): I think the whole game is evolving all of the time. The equipment is improving, the fitness levels are improving…I think one of the biggest changes is with information. There is more information available for golfers and coaches to improve. The biggest change and influence in golf has been Tiger Woods and what he has brought to the game. Anybody in the industry of golf earns more money than they would have done 25 years ago because of Tiger Woods. Coaching has moved on because of perhaps of what Tiger Woods has brought to the game. We then have the advent of all the launch monitors…I use FlightScope. We have now got bio-mechanists getting involved in the game. The information now is all readily available with Social Media. I don’t particularly like Social Media but I will use it to find information.

(GH): But it is how you assimilate that information?

(BM): Absolutely. All information is good information but then you have to research it and actually look at it and decide whether applicable, fake news, or whatever. The equipment has obviously changed but they went from hickory shafts to steel shafts. Went from a small ball to a big ball. There are some people complaining about how equipment has ruined the game but if that is the case it has always ruined the game. The ball is going further but in my opinion, that is a good thing for most golfers.

(GH): All about embracing change.

(BM): Exactly…we have to got to embrace change. Strength and conditioning have now become a big part of the professional game. When I first started, on a Tuesday night the bar was full at a Tournament. Nowadays the bar is empty and the gym is full. This complaint that people have that golfers are hitting it too far these days..well, it is the players that are hitting it far and not the ball that goes far. I don’t work out personally in the gym that much and I don’t hit the ball much further than I did.

The best facet of your game

(GH): What would you say is the best facet of your game?

(BM): My resilience. I play until the end. My attitude has been fantastic. Some days I might drive the ball well. Some days I will putt well. I think that is golf. You turn up and play well for different reasons. It might be because you have hit the driver well, or it might be because you hit the irons well. I still keep stats and each time they are different!! It might be I have putted well to shoot a good score or it might be because I have hit my irons close. You look at the stats each time and say you know what, it is different on a daily basis on why you play well.

(GH): But your resilience is a sort of common denominator?

(BM): Yeah…and it is something you can control as well. At the end of the day, you have to accept that on different days, different parts of your game are going to work and every now and again they might all work. But if you can maintain a good attitude all the way through then you will get the best out of your game every day with whatever is working on that day.

Outside of golf

(GH): What are your interests outside of golf?

(BM): I love my Rugby League. I’m a big Leeds Rhinos fan which is not something to shout about this season!! They are going through a transitional period.

(GH): Do you go and watch them?

(BM): I used to. I’ve got two children now so I haven’t got time.

(GH): More watching on Sky Sports now!!

(BM): Yeah…Sky Sports. They used to get on there a lot more than they do at the moment. I’ve got two young children so with my wife Jo we like to spend a lot of time together as a family. Jo and I like to get to the theatre now and again. Go see some musicals. That is more an interest of hers which I have embraced.

(GH): Likewise, my wife and I love going to the theatre.

(BM): As a kid, if you had said to me come to the theatre and watch a musical I would have laughed but as I have got older I have started to appreciate and enjoy the theatre. I am fortunate that doing what I do I control my time so I do get to spend quite a lot of time with the kids which is really important to me as you don’t get these years back. In four of five years time, they won’t want to spend time with me!!

Favourite Sporting Event

(GH): What is your favourite sporting event?

(BM): I love to watch the State of Origin.

(GH): Is that Australian Rugby League?

(BM): Yeah…I would love to go to Australia and watch it. It is New South Wales vs. Queensland in a three-match series every year.

(GH): What is it that makes the State of Origin your favourite sporting event?

(BM): Just the intensity of it. Obviously, I love Rugby League and I believe that the State of Origin is the highest quality of match that you will watch. They showed a statistic that a player in the NRL runs 100 metres a minute in a match but then in the State of Origin, it goes up to something like 115 metres a minute.

(GH): 15% is a significant increase in performance?

(BM): The players just push themselves so much. Rugby League is one of the most professional sports out there even though it doesn’t get the press coverage. I think the guys are absolute athletes. They have to commit 100% to what they are doing, if not they will get found out. I love the sportsmanship. They go out there for 80 minutes, maybe playing against their best mate and they try and ‘knock the hell out of each other’ but then at the end of the game shake hands and have a good laugh about it. They want to win and that is massively important but 10 minutes after the game they are probably sat together having a beer and talking about the game. I love the British Open. I love watching the British Open. It is one of those events that I would like to cross out my diary for a full weekend like I used to do when I was a kid. I actually find golf difficult to watch as it becomes a bit of a busman’s holiday but I will sit and watch the majors.

(GH): The Open championship is different this year as it is being played at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

(BM): It will be an interesting one as none of us will know the course as well as the others, we don’t know what the winning score could be, we don’t know which players it will suit, so it will be interesting to watch.

Fantasy Fourball

(GH): In addition to yourself, who would you pick for your Fantasy Fourball?

(BM): OK…Jack Nicklaus because he is probably the greatest person ever to play the game. Arguably, Tiger Woods in my era has been the greatest I have ever seen but there is something about listening to the way Jack talks when he is on TV. I just like to listen to him. He seems to speak differently to all the rest and it’s clear how his mentality is different to all the other golfers. That different mentality has obviously led him to be the greatest player and probably what has separated him from the rest.

(GH): Jack Nicklaus is your first pick. Still two places up for grabs, so who next?

(BM): Kevin Sinfield. A Leeds Rhinos legend. He is another person that I love to listen to when he speaks. I thought on the pitch he wasn’t the greatest rugby league player but he got the best he could out of himself. He was a great leader. Just the way he spoke he was very articulate and very honest. Someone again who I think would be an inspirational person to spend some time with and listen to.

(GH): One more?

(BM): It would have to be my dad. I would love to have another round of golf with my dad.

(GH): Would it be you and your dad against Jack and Kevin?

(BM): No, I would take Jack so that we could win!!

If not a Professional Golfer

(GH): Ben, if you had not been a Professional Golfer, then what?

(BM): No idea…not a clue!! I was advised by the Careers service at school that I should become an accountant. I was good at maths at school and the Careers advisor advised me to be an accountant and I was told not to be silly when I told them I wanted to be a golfer!!

Favourite Golf Course

(GH): Which is your favourite golf course in the UK?

(BM): I love playing Loch Lomond.

(GH): What is it about Loch Lomond?

(BM): The setting. I was fortunate to play the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. It was a big event as well so it was wonderful to play in the conditions of the Scottish Open. It was in peak condition when I played it. The setting around the loch is just beautiful and the layout of the golf course is incredible as well. I think Tom Weiskopf designed the course and I would love to play more Tom Weiskopf designs as it is a really good layout. Really good design.

(GH): And your favourite golf course outside of the UK?

(BM): Paris National is amazing. I played the French Open there. One of the hardest golf courses I have played. Fabulous golf course. Got some good memories from the Emirates Golf Course in Dubai. You are probably looking at those two as my favourites.

Marooned

(GH): You are marooned on a remote Island. What would you not be without?

(BM): My wife and kids…not bothered otherwise. As long as they are there I will be happy.

The Nineteenth

(GH): And finally. You are now in charge of the R&A. What ideas would you like to implement over the next few years?

(BM): The tee situation should be less gender-specific. I think you should be able to play off whichever tee you like. If you want to go to the back tees then go to the back tees but understand it is going to take you longer to get around. Going to be harder. If you want to play from the front tees then play from the front tees.

(GH): Colour coded rather than gender-specific?

(BM): Exactly…and what is to stop a lady playing from the back tees? If the lady is off scratch and wants to play off the back tees then let her play. I think that is something we could definitely look at. Obviously, slow play is a massive issue at the moment. I have got different views on slow play than some people.

(GH): Do you want to expand upon your views?

(BM): I think the courses are too busy. I think it is like the traffic effect in that if you have got more traffic on the roads then your journey is going to be slower even though the speed limit hasn’t changed. If you want to speed play up you have to get fewer people on the golf course. In my opinion, 8 minutes is not a sufficient interval between tee times for a 4-ball. I don’t think 4 people can hit their tee shots, find them and play their second shots before the next group tee off. I think moving to 10-minute intervals would be a recommendation.

(GH): Really weird you should say that as one of my earlier articles ‘Competition Conundrum’ was pivoted around tee times of 10-minute intervals and attempted to illustrate that a 4-ball can actually be quicker than a 3-ball!!

(BM): As you say, there is an equation/theory with the traffic on the road in that if you have more cars on the road and even if everybody still attempts to drive at 70 mph your journey will be slower as all it takes is one car to be slightly slower for the traffic to clog up. You hear it all the time “We went around in 2 & 1/2 hours”. Well, of course, you did as there was nobody else out there and you both shot 68!! You are not going to go around as quickly if you both shoot 100. Players that have more shots and everything else being equal, they are going to take longer to play a round of golf. Slow play for me…it’s a really contentious issue and they are trying to do things to speed it up and personally, I don’t think they are getting it right. One thing that really frustrates me is how they attack the professionals and blame the professionals for slow play. Saying it takes them 4 hours and 45 minutes for a 3-ball to play a round of golf. Well, they can’t go any quicker because generally on a European Tour Event they will have tee times blocked from 07:30 to 09:30 from 2 tees. If you tee off at 07:30 you can’t hit your 10th tee shot until about 09:45. So you can’t go around in quicker than 4 & 1/2 hours…it is just not possible.

(GH): Some people just miss the obvious?

(BM): Exactly. Then they get blamed for taking their time. I’m not being funny, but they are out there earning a living and its really important. We should be looking closer to home with slow play and look at ourselves rather than always blaming the professionals for slow play. The US Open, where players are scoring 4 or 5 shots per round more than they normally would are going to take longer. Finding a way to beat slow play is something the R&A could do a little better. I think they need to look at it objectively rather than just saying dropping a ball from knee height will speed play up. I like the idea of looking for your ball for 3 minutes, that is better. Encouraging golfers to get better is probably what they should be doing more than anything. If you play better golf you are going to play quicker golf and you are going to enjoy it more. For me, the R&A should be looking at some way of encouraging golfers to play better…maybe funding people who take up the game with lessons or something like that. What they do with kids is great and getting the kids into golf and teaching them the right things from square one is fantastic but not everyone starts as a kid. Maybe putting something into the game for adult beginners would be a step forward.

(GH): Going back to one of your points, the R&A should really be looking at the root causes and not just the symptoms. I remember reading an article about Archbishop Desmond Tutu which went something along the lines of…many bodies were observed dead, floating in a river and eventually pulled out downstream but it was Desmond Tutu who asked the question why are they in the river upstream in the first place?

(BM): Exactly. Overcrowded golf courses with too many members playing on a Saturday. It’s going to take longer on a Saturday than it will on a Thursday afternoon. I think people need to accept that golf is a game that takes between 4 and 5 hours. Also, I think we should be doing more for the people already within the game and not focus so much attention on attracting new members.

(GH): Ben, that has been a common theme in a number of the chats I have had with Professionals in this series, in that the existing membership is the lifeblood of a club and how important it is to strike the correct balance between existing and new members.

(BM): And I think we should be valuing the game more. If I said to you “Paul, we are going to go for a round of golf and it’s going to cost you £10” you are not going to get overly excited about where we are going. But if I said to you “Paul, we are going to go for a round of golf and it’s going to cost you £80” you are going to think to yourself ‘where am I going here?’ I think in golf, in general, I bet the average Green Fee has not gone up over the last 20 years. We are almost trying to reduce the price too much and that could be one of the causes of slow play as there are more people playing the game…more people playing is wonderful but we are not providing the right opportunities. The problem is not attracting people to the game. If you go to municipal courses they are very busy, but it is keeping people in the game which is key. It is the same with any business in that you take care of the customers you have got and you will get new ones. I think we should be focusing on ‘Retention rather than Attraction’.

(GH): Brilliant way to finish a really enjoyable chat…Ben, a massive thanks for your time today and for an incredibly in-depth, thoughtful, honest, passionate and at times humorous insight into your amateur and professional golfing journey to date and on the great game that is golf.