Apparently, we are in the merry midst of National Psychic Week. No, I didn’t see that one coming either. You probably predicted that hoary, cornball gag arriving, though.
Whether it’s astrology, tarot reading or palmistry, all this psychic lark is supposed to help you connect with higher wisdom, seek spiritual growth and gain a deeper understanding of the universe through mystical guidance.
You can, of course, get all of this and a bit more by simply reading the illuminating haverings of the Tuesday golf column.
According to the bumf I received promoting this particular week of observance, psychic practice occupies an unusual cultural position.
It’s often dismissed by mainstream science as lacking credible evidence, yet it remains an enduring and commercially significant industry that millions of people engage with regularly for entertainment, comfort or genuine belief.
Again, just like this column then. Or something like that. So, let’s move swiftly along, shall we?
It’s been a quite a lively few days in the wacky world of golf. A thrilling AIG Women’s Open at Lytham, for instance, grabbed the headlines when Charley Hull played a prank on her caddie and the fall out was akin to a nuclear explosion.
If you missed it, Hull bought a fake scratch card in a Blackpool joke shop, gave it to her bagman and filmed his reaction when he thought he’d won £100,000.
While Hull, and her caddie, shrugged off the whole caper, just about everybody else moved into shrieking, pitchfork-wielding mode as social media, inevitably, blew up like Krakatoa.
An unrepentant Hull was given dog’s abuse and put on a par with Lady Macbeth but, like all these things, it blew over and everybody moved on to the next faux outrage.
Talking of nonsense, President Trump claimed to have won his 43rd club championship at his own Bedminster course at the weekend.
“I won with a score of 70, and am so honoured,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Unlike the rest of the field, I’m given very little time to practice, because I’m focused on many other things. It’s called TALENT, and I have it, and they don’t!”
As ever, a very humble, magnanimous champion who embodies the spirit of the game, eh?
Far removed from the Hull hysteria and Trump’s conceited trumpetings, there was a welcome success for Scottish golf as Rory Franssen won on the HotelPlanner – formerly Challenge – Tour.
His victory in the Estonian Challenge on Sunday was his first on the second-tier circuit and energised his push for promotion to the main DP World Tour.
He’ll continue that assault on home turf this week in the Scottish Challenge at The Roxburghe near Kelso.
Franssen earned his place on the HotelPlanner Tour through Paul Lawrie’s Tartan Pro Tour and his three wins last season handed him automatic promotion before the season was finished. Just for good measure he topped the order of merit to gild the lily.
As always, we have to doff our hats to the tireless endeavours of Lawrie and his team.
What started as a six-event series during the Covid pandemic, to provide playing opportunities as lower-tier tours were decimated, has grown rapidly into a hugely important part of the domestic scene; a home-based circuit that home-based players, and those from further afield, can use to progress up the professional ladder.
Those of you who display wonderful synchronisation of body movements in the golf swing – don’t make me laugh I hear you splutter – will know that timing is everything in this pursuit.
Lawrie got his spot on as the golfing clouds of Covid at least had something of a silver lining. One tour’s misfortune, meanwhile, was another tour’s opportunity.
When the PGA EuroPro Tour went belly up in 2022, after 20 years of offering a pathway up the order, Lawrie seized the moment and accelerated the development of his own circuit by claiming those valuable promotion places to the next level.
Speaking to this correspondent at the time, Lawrie said: “We were actively trying to get a Challenge Tour spot before the EuroPro Tour closed down but there weren’t any additional spots and, to be honest, we thought we might never get one.
“But suddenly we woke up one day to the news that the EuroPro was being discontinued. It was a huge pity, but this is business and there was an opportunity for us.”
In this game, you’ve got to take your chances when they come along. Lawrie did, and Scotland’s golfers continue to benefit from his vision, commitment and unbridled enthusiasm. We’re lucky to have him.
By 2024, Lawrie’s flourishing circuit, which now boasts a 15-stop schedule at some cracking venues around the country, was brought into the Official World Golf Ranking.
The following year, it was upgraded from a feeder tour to a satellite tour and was given a battlefield promotion place to the HotelPlanner Tour for a player who wins three times in one season.
Franssen earned his stripes last season with his triple whammy of triumphs and has now knocked off a highly significant success on the second-tier. He needed it.
The 27-year-old had made just two cuts in 11 starts before barging his way into the winner’s circle and changing the course of his campaign. It’s a funny, unpredictable old game.
What will the rest of the season hold for the Scot? I’ll probably need to dig out my tarot cards to answer that one.
