The Investec Structured Products Open 2010

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In September hundreds of IFAs using structured products turned out to compete in a further five of the qualifiers for the Investec Structured Products Open 2010. Courses were played from Surrey, through Norfolk, Birmingham, Cheshire and Leeds. We spoke to the winners of the qualifiers, who all had an eye on the final to be played at Turnberry on 12 October

Off to a good start

A par on the first hole and a birdie on the second, gave Richard Tasker, senior financial consultant with Thompson & Richardson, “a very positive start” to the King’s Lynn qualifier.

That he then missed the fairway on the Longest Drive and the green on the Nearest The Pin, dented what was otherwise “a fairly steady game throughout, going out on 16 and back in 18”, Richard says.

He adds: “King’s Lynn is a tree lined course, so you have to keep the ball in play.

With a handicap of 11 I didn’t have that many shots to play with, so I was very pleased to win with 34, particularly as usually at these events someone comes in with 36 to 38 points.”

Richard lives and works in Lincoln. He has been a financial adviser for 35 years – and focuses now on pensions and investments.

A member of the Blankney Golf Club, Richard has been playing for 40 years, since the age of 17, but admits to being a spring and summer golfer these days. That said, he had a handicap of ten until last year, “but then I got a shot back”, he says.

Like US golf professional Phil Mickelson, Richard says he plays a left handed swing even though he is naturally right handed. “I am the same in cricket, I bat left handed too.”

Richard had played King’s Lynn once before although many years ago so he didn’t find it was an advantage on the day. As a course he adds, “it is definitely one I would go back to”. Other courses in Norfolk he has played and recommends are: Hunstanton an 18-hole links course, Brancaster and Royal Cromer. “In Lincolnshire we have a very fine course at Woodall Spa – a classic heathland course. It is one of the best in the country,” he says.

Richard has also played Turnberry before, again “many years ago”, and describes it as “a magnificent course”. Given this foreknowledge, how does he rate his chances in the final? “They have go to be as good as anybody else’s. It’s a links course so if the wind blows the scores will be low. If I can hit the ball straight and sink a few lengthy putts, that will be useful. That, after all, is what it is all about. But it is such a lovely course, in a great environment, that whether or not I win on the day it will just be a pleasure to play there again.”

What about preparation for the day – will he get in a few extra rounds to hone his game, or have some tuition maybe? “No, not at all,” he says. “I am going to mentally prepare for it by going on holiday for two weeks.”

Something up his sleeve

Having played the Mere Golf & Country Club course three times a year for the past four years definitely gave Toby Powell, financial adviser with Greystone Financial Services an advantage in the qualifier, he believes.

A regional qualifier course for the Open Championships Mere is a 6,817 yard course, designed by Open Champions James Braid and George Duncan in 1935.
A flat parkland course, with the backdrop of the Mere lake, it has ravines, thick vegetation and water to overcome. “Mere is known as a reasonably tough track, which is why having experience of playing there quite regularly helped on the day,” Toby says.

“I started well, which is always great. I had a couple of bogeys on two toughish holes and then with some decent putts I went four pars on the run. In the first nine holes I was only three over par, where someone with a lower handicap would be 7-8 over par. So to that point I was doing really well,” he explains.

“Then in the back nine it became really wet. When we got to the 13th, which is the longest hole, the heavens opened and it began raining. I hit my drive but it wasn’t a particularly good shot and it went left into the trees. Then the lightening began.”

Clearly, at that point the players suspended play until the storm abated. “We sat in our buggies until it had stopped, but when I went to look for my ball in the trees I couldn’t find it – so I scored nothing for that hole,” Toby says.

“Of course, you have no idea how other people are playing but, the 13th hole aside, I kept it going really well, and I was very pleased to have qualified for the final.”

Toby is a member at Mottram Hall Golf Club, near Wilmslow and has been playing six years, clocking up on average a game a week in the summer, he says.

While it is not the place to talk business, the golf course is a good place to get to know you clients better, Toby says. “A game of golf can be a great opportunity to talk outside of the usual environment and to help build long-term business relationships.”

If he looks to emulate any particular professional player, it would be Ernie Els. “I’ve always been a great fan of his. He is a fantastic player, with a calm demeanour, for which they call him the Big Easy. The name suits him well.”

And if he has an ambition to play any course in the world then he sets his eye on Pebble Beach on the west coast of America. “It looks stunning, so that would be one I would want to try out; and of course, Augusta, where they hold the Masters.”

Playing off 15, even with a three quarter handicap Toby feels he may have a decent chance at Turnberry, “if I play a good round”. Toby also has something up his sleeve when it comes to the final. “I am having lessons at the moment from a Pro who is on the 2010 PGA EuroPro Tour. He has played Turnberry quite a lot so I am hoping he will be able to give me a bit of a steer for the day,” he says.

All on the front nine

Garry Godwin, managing director of Newell Palmer Financial Planning, in Bromsgrove, West Midlands, describes himself as a keen golfer which translates into playing a game, he says, “whenever the wife and kids allow, which when the weather is fine is once a week or so.”

Having played the Arden Course, where the qualifier was held, on half a dozen occasions, Garry says, “it is a fabulous course normally, but the day of the qualifier the game was a little spoilt by the weather.”

That is putting it mildly as the marshals eventually called off the event.
“Frankly,” Garry adds, “the torrential rain made it a nightmare for everybody. By the time we got to the fifteenth green it was under water.”

How did this affect his game? “As the second group to tee off we probably had an advantage over some of the others who came behind us, because the weather became increasingly worse as the day progressed.”

As a result, the event was scored on the front nine holes. “When the marshal told us this on the fifteenth I was quite pleased as I had done very well on the front nine, scoring 19, which considering the rain I thought was quite good.”

It could all have turned out differently, however, because, he explains, “having been 150 yards out from the ninth green in perfect position in the middle of the fairway, I managed to conspire a seven. It was one of those silly mistakes you make from time to time. I did think that might cost me dearly but thankfully it didn’t.”

With the opportunity to play the old course at St Andrews high on his wish list, Garry says he is particularly motivated to win the Investec Structured Products Open, a day at St Andrews being the prize for winning.

An admirer of Nick Faldo “for his single mindedness”, Garry has been playing for around 15 years, has a handicap of 10 and plays his weekly game at the Worcestershire Golf Club, in Malvern. “It is on the side of the Malvern hills so it is a great course to play.”

The event at Turnberry will be the highlight of what for Garry has been a “pretty good year, playing reasonably well”. As to his chances of winning the final, Garry says: “Well, as they say, you have to be in it to win it. If I play well and have a bit of luck, because that will come into it, and nerves don’t get me on the day and I play freely, maybe I’ll have a chance.”

An unusual grip

Trevor Steele, partner at Goldberg Steele Associates based in North West London, describes himself as “a regular golfer”. A member at the Potters Bar Golf Club, he is currently club captain.

Playing off a handicap of 6, he went around the Foxhills course with “a 5 and 4 handicapper, and we were in and out but we had a great day”, he says.

“I birdied three out of the par 5s, and it was that which kept my score at the level it was – otherwise I would have ended up being seven over par not four over par.

“It definitely helped my game because I’m not a big hitter but I was getting on to some of those greens in two shots. It’s rare that will I drive a par 5 in two – unless the ground’s like concrete!” he jokes.

Given the Foxhills event was one of the largest played in the Investec Structured Products Open, with some 55 players, Trevor admits to being “over the moon” to have qualified.

Trevor’s experience on the golf course stretches back 25 years and currently, he plays three times a week. “I’m not a golf nut but I like to play and it’s helped me get my handicap down from an eight to a six this year.”

He also has what he terms “a very unusual grip. It’s very under the club. To most golfers it would be unrecognisable as a golfing grip.”

Playing so often, one might expect Trevor to combine love of the game and the opportunity to foster client relationships on the course. However, Trevor says he tends to keep work and pleasure separate, not seeing the golf course as somewhere to talk financial services. “If I occasionally play a game with a client we talk golf matters; I like to keep the two sides apart,” he says.

St Andrews alongside Turnberry being on the list of British courses he would like play, Trevor is delighted to have got through to the final. “I’ve not played any links courses so I am very much looking forward to playing Turnberry.

“I have a real motivation to win and get to St Andrews.”

As to his chances on the day, Trevor says: “I suppose I have as much chance as anybody. If I play well on the day I have a good chance. But ultimately, it’s about being at the event and playing on that lovely course. If you don’t win it, well, there will be another day.”

Familiar terrain

Living just a mile from Alwoodley Golf Club and having played there “on several occasions before”, may have helped Richard Treweek in winning the qualifier at the course.

He is a member and usually plays at the Moortown Golf Club. However, the fact both courses are within 500 yards of each other and are both heathland courses means he was more than equipped to tackle the terrain of Alwoodley on the day.

Both Alwoodley and Moortown are courses Richard would recommend to other golfers. He says: “Moortown was the venue for the second only Ryder Cup back in 1929; it’s a championship venue. I’ve played it for 24 years and it’s a wonderful place to play.”

Although a keen golfer since he was a teenager, Richard says he has fallen out of love with the game of late, playing just three times since July whereas normally he would have played every Saturday.

This is reflected in the fact that having been a scratch player he recently moved to a handicap of 1. “I’m on the way up, I think,” he muses.

Nevertheless, he won on the day. His winning strategy was to play “my usual steady golf without making too many mistakes. We had a couple of showers but nothing like some of the IFAs in the other qualifying rounds! We played steady golf in nice conditions with some great guys. And the whole event was top draw,” he says.

Richard believed that even with a low handicap he stood a decent chance at winning.

“From experience I know how hard Alwoodley is and that it probably favours the low handicapper who can cope with difficult situations. The handicap system doesn’t always work out so well on a really hard course.

“I finished badly but even then I knew I would finish between 34 and 37 points, so I figured I would be in with a chance.”

Richard has been in financial services for 20 years, seven of those as an IFA.
At Pearson Jones he specialises in investment advice, with 80 per cent of his work centred on managing investment portfolios.

Given a worldwide selection of courses, Richard picks out Royal Melbourne, Augusta and Cyprus Point as those he would most like to play outside of Britain.

Will he win at Turnberry? Richard says: “I feel I’m past my prime as a golfer – a bit like a football player whose legs have gone. So I’d say I’ve got no chance. I suppose I’ve got as much chance as anyone – then again, I bet everyone has said that.”

Follow the Investec Structured Products Open 2010 on www.investecstructuredproducts.com via Twitter and Facebook.

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