Be prepared to spend the next few hundred words feeling extremely jealous as you read about one player who is taking the phrase ‘golf trip’ to a whole new level. Alex Perry sat down with Hugo Chambre to get the itinerary.
We’ve all dreamed of chucking our golf clubs in the back of the car and disappearing from real life for a while. Hugo Chambre is currently embroiled in that particular fantasy.
A simple getaway with nothing but his sticks was not enough for Hugo, though. He needed something a bit more extreme. The mission he concocted is, in theory, quite simple: “I’m not coming home or going back to work until I play a round of golf under par.” Practically, it’s not impossible, but the 29-year-old is going to have to do something he’s never done before in order to achieve his goal.
Undeterred, he put his clubs, a tent, and as many polo shirts he could fit into a Fiat 500, turned his ‘out of office’ on, and set off from his central London home for the deepest depths of Cornwall to embark on a Land’s End to John O’Groats challenge with a golf-flavoured twist.
Starting with Mullion, the UK’s most southerly golf club, Hugo will play as many as 40 courses over a six-week period, culminating at Reay, Scotland’s northernmost 18 holes, in September.
It will see him trek through Cornwall and Devon, around the entire Welsh coastline, across the English Midlands, before moving over the border into the Home of Golf. Including the drive from London to Mullion and then Reay back to the capital, Hugo will cover more than 3,250 miles and spend 70 hours – almost three days – in the car.
When TG caught up with him, he was taking in the delightful scenery of Cardigan Bay on the shores of west Wales. “As Brits, we always say it would be nice to holiday in the UK,” Hugo muses in the small talk that opens our conversation. “But then EasyJet and Ryanair have cheap flights to Spain and Portugal, so we do that. I’ve always wanted to see more of the UK, and this is probably not news to a lot of people, but it’s stunning.”
It’s here, overlooking the crisp blue Irish Sea, that Hugo has just played his favourite course of the trip so far: Borth & Ynyslas – a Harry Colt redesign that lays claim to being the oldest in the country. “They didn’t really believe me when I told them,” he smiles. “I came in and asked them if I could just go out again – which was not the most sensible idea given how much golf I’ve got lined up, but it was just so fun. You can’t beat somewhere where you get breakfast, 18 holes on a brilliant golf course, and a meal afterwards for fifty quid.”
“It’s just been amazing to not worry about work for a while, and all those really small, everyday things that get you stressed.”
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves a bit. Because first we need to ask the most obvious question. Why on earth are you doing this? Hugo, a 6.6-handicap at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club in south west London, let’s out a huge sigh. “It’s a good question,” he says.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit. Obviously I love golf. I love playing, and I’m quite competitive and challenge-minded – whether it’s on my own or playing with friends. And I’ve had a few rounds where I’ve come close to shooting level par and I’ve always thought it would be quite cool to do one day. As a seven-handicap, it feels possible but not easy.
“I’m getting married next year, I had a bit of annual leave to take and no holidays on the horizon, so I just went for it.
“My fiancée, Lily, was amazing. Maybe this says a lot about what it’s like to live with me, but as soon as I mentioned it, she was fully behind the idea. We’re always quite good at being encouraging of each other, and she probably likes the idea that the flat might be clean for six weeks without me there. She’s currently on holiday, so maybe it will be slightly trickier when she’s back at home and at work, and I’m not around, so we’ll see.”
Talksport newsreader Hugo Chambre, a 7-handicap golfer at Hampton Court Palace Golf Club is attempting to break par for the first time.
As anyone reading this will know, any kind of golf trip requires a tremendous amount of administration. This challenge takes that to a whole new level. Hugo managed to get most of the rounds booked in before he embarked on his mammoth journey, but some of that is still being dealt with as he goes along. Then there’s making sure he gets to each campsite on time, the erecting and dismantling of his tent each day, and trying to work out if there’s a launderette anywhere en route. While “smelly clothing and camping gear” isn’t causing much distress, another problem has arisen. And it’s one we all know far too well.
“The first few days were tough because my body hadn’t physically got used to playing golf every day and sleeping in a tent, and I stupidly bought a new pair of shoes that just destroyed my feet. There was a particularly difficult day when I played 36 at Royal North Devon and Saunton. Amazing courses, but I played so badly and my feet hurt so much. That evening, I rang one of my friends and asked him to go to my flat and get my old golf shoes to post to me. I’ve had him send them to a golf club I’m going to in a couple of days, so hopefully they’re there.”
It’s these little things you don’t have to think about normally. But regardless of the state of his feet, Hugo has no plans to halt the journey should he achieve his goal of scratching a number matching level par into his scorecard, saying instead that he would “figure out another challenge for the remainder of the trip”. But what if he doesn’t do it?
“Well, I’m hoping that it doesn’t come to that and that I have enough time,” he says, with just a hint of nervousness in his voice. “I don’t particularly want to speak that idea into existence, but I can go further north – there’s golf in the Shetland Islands! – and I’ve got more than thirty rounds left so I’m trying not to think about that.”
Hugo’s boss at Talksport, the radio station where he works as a newsreader, might be less understanding than his loved ones. “If this continues for an extended period without success on the golf course, then there could be some interesting phone calls to make,” he laughs.
Above all, though, it seems like it’s been a cathartic experience for Hugo – and we all need more of those in our lives.
“Honestly, it’s just been amazing to not worry about work for a while, and all those really small, everyday things that get you stressed when you’re navigating the nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday rat race that we’re in.”
In his downtime, Hugo has been occupying his time by making short videos and keeping a journal where he rates each course and how he’s played.
“I phone home a bit, but I’ve actually been OK in my own company,” he explains. “And I know this sounds a bit pathetic, but there is a strong correlation between how miserable I was when I was playing badly and how my spirits have picked up now I’m playing…”
He pauses.
Good?
“Less badly.”
You can follow Hugo’s Land’s End to John O’Groats golf adventure on Instagram.