GOLF is a great game. It kicks you when you have that inkling for a second that you’ve finally cracked it and it also has a way of bringing you back for another try when you’ve had an absolute disaster by giving you one magical moment to go away with.

Take the PGA Tour’s James Hahn (pictured) for example. In the lead-up to last week’s Wells Fargo tournament at Quail Hollow he had missed eight straight cuts and in the 16 rounds he had played he hadn’t broken 70.

With a change of club manufacturer, a loss off confidence and – by his own admission – anxiety creeping into his game, things didn’t look good.

But four rounds later he was celebrating his second tour title. If your game isn’t where you’d like it to be coming into this week’s competitions, don’t worry. Fortunes can change in the blink of an eye. We’ve had a great start to the season and some great scores posted.

Furness’s Neil Tippins shot a one-under par 70 (nett 66) in the Prince of Wales Trophy, but that was only good enough for second behind George Coulter, who took advantage of the smooth greens to shoot a four-under par 67 (nett 63).

Steve Wall also shot one-under par at Barrow to win the inaugural Kay Morrison/Jackie Evans Memorial Trophy.

It’s always nice to see scoring under par so early in the season as it shows our courses are playing very well.

I had the pleasure of playing Dunnerholme last week and, although Furness captain John Ellis and I were beaten by Dunnerholme captain Billy Brough and ex-captain Steve Knott, the course looked amazing with the flowering gorse and greens putting fantastically well.

With plenty of open competitions coming up, there is an opportunity to get around to different courses, and I can’t speak highly enough of the job Alick Mackay and his staff have done to produce Furness in the condition it’s in, especially with The Evening Mail Open looming next Saturday – a competition we’ll hear more about next week.

Have a great weekend golfing.

PAUL RAWLINSON