I BEGAN this week wearing an apron.
And you know, it was actually kind of cool, even if a professional golfer giving a cookery demonstration sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Thankfully it wasn’t too taxing. I was filming a TV commercial for Flogas, one of my sponsors. I had to make a Thai Green Curry but I’d much rather be eating.
For the commercial I had to answer some questions about cooking. It was different but it was really cool. With the cameras filming, you actually feel like you’re famous.
It’s not the type of thing I imagined myself doing when I turned professional at the start of the year.
I decided to turn pro in January. It was something that I was ultimately going to do. No one knows when the right time to turn pro is, no one knows if you’re doing the right thing.
People might say they know but ultimately they don’t. I thought it was the right time to do it. If I had turned pro in May, everything would have been so rushed. I wanted to get a few months experience out here playing as a pro.
Right now I think my game’s really, really good. It’s just been a steady progression and I’ve been moving upwards, which is nice.
From when I first turned pro until now, I’ve just steadily got better. My last event was on the European Tour at the Made in Denmark two weeks ago where I finished tied 44th.
I played well but I struggled on the greens to be honest. I had seven three-putts in Denmark, take them away and you’re in the top 10. It’s all about the margins. If I play well, I can compete on the European Tour.?
This week I’m trying to win. I need a couple of good weeks on the Challenge Tour.?This is the second year of the Volopa Irish Challenge at Mount Wolseley. Between the Volopa and the NI Open at Galgorm Castle, there are now two Challenge Tour events on home soil.
It’s nice to get the chance to play in front of home crowds.?The support we get from Sport Ireland through the Team Ireland fund is great.
The first few years as a pro it’s important to have support in terms of starts and finance. Team Ireland do both. The most important thing is having the Challenge Tour starts and having somewhere to play. It’s something that you can’t really put a price on. It gives us a chance to get a status on the Challenge Tour and ultimately a status on the European Tour.
?I played nine holes on Tuesday at Mount Wolseley and I played in the Pro-Am yesterday. I played here last year as well so I know the course pretty well. I think it will suit me, it’s not too tight and it’s very similar to a lot of the courses that we play on the Challenge Tour. With the Irish weather, it’ll probably be a tad harder this week though.
Team Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin (23) from Ardglass, Co Down is in his first season as a professional golfer and is supported by Sport Ireland through the Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI)
