AR
The UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood arrives at this week’s Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A with a fresh team, a new approach, and a long run of European events ahead of him.
Supported by the Emirates Golf Federation, Joshua’s recent form may not have turned as many heads as it has in previous years, but context matters. A lot has shifted behind the scenes for the 27-year-old.
“My game just hasn’t really been there,” Joshua says on his recent results. “I wouldn’t say I’ve played badly though. The last four months, I’ve made a heck of a lot of changes in my team.
“I have a new swing coach for the first time in a very long time and a new putting coach. So I’m going through a lot of changes to really improve my golf and to move better. So everything is very new and very fresh.
“I know it’s going to take a bit of time to really bed in and get back to playing some very good golf. But with the changes I’ve made, I think my good golf is going to be a lot better than it used to be. So things are slowly getting there, and it’s not too far away.”
Joshua Grenville-Wood – Harry Grimshaw
After Joshua teed it up on the HotelPlanner Tour in the eGolf Swing in Ajman and Al Ain, the results didn’t quite reflect the work going on behind the scenes. After those events, he stepped away from competition for nearly two months.
“Yeah, after the events in the Middle East events I took six or seven weeks off to reset. I wasn’t happy with how things were.
“I found a new coach and some new team members that have put me on a new track, which is a much better one than to what I was going down. So it was really important for me to take a break, reset and start afresh.”
But now he’s back, and in for a long stretch on the road as the Road to Mallorca enters the second half of the season, and Josh is ready to knuckle down.
“It’s going to be a long stretch now. I’ve got seven events now in eight weeks, so it’ll be very busy. But you know, busy is good. I’m looking forward to the next two months, we will be playing a lot of good golf courses and I’m starting to play some good golf, so it should be quite exciting.
“I’m happy to see where these changes are going to take me.”
View this post on Instagram
Despite currently being ranked 153rd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings — where the top 20 at season’s end earn full cards onto the DP World Tour — Joshua’s change in mindset isn’t just technical. He’s looking to draw confidence from the process rather than the leaderboard.
“The next few events are important for confidence, but I’m learning to take my confidence from other places rather than my results. Priding myself on working a lot harder, working more efficiently and in a professional standard, that’s what I’m really trying to pride myself in and it’s making a big difference. I feel a lot better mentally and physically.”
This week’s venue, SCHLOSS Roxburghe, isn’t his usual stomping ground but he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“This is actually only my second pro event playing in Scotland, I think I played six or seven years ago over here, so it’s been a bit of a while!
“But I have always loved playing in Scotland, especially with all the links golf courses they have, which is fun. The course this week is great. It’s really nice, lush, green and in great condition, so I’m definitely looking forward to this week and having some fun on a really good golf course.”
Joshua gets his first round underway tomorrow at 13:40 local time, alongside France’s Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon and Scotland’s Calum Fyfe.
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Octavio Passos / Getty Images
