Robert Moran admits he learned plenty about how to manage himself during his first twelve months as a professional golfer and is looking to make sure that his second year on the Alps Tour is his last one.
Moran made a decent start to his second campaign on what is now the third tier this side of the Atlantic shooting rounds of 68, 71 and 70 for a share of 17th place at the Alps Tour opening Ein Bay Open where he picked up a measly €696 for his efforts.
It was the first of three weeks in Egypt and Moran believes his game is sharper than usual for this stage of the season after getting a competitive outing on the HotelPlanner Tour in South Africa where his friend Liam Nolan pulled up trees.
“It was nice to have that. I was in Spain for a few weeks beforehand and I practiced my arse off and I was at home then went to South Africa and Liam (Nolan) was doing well in South Africa so I had knackered myself out to do feck all at home and then travelling to South Africa last minute and I was useless there but the game feels good,” said the Castle golfer.
“Last minute it was a bit hectic, been away from the Irish weather for a while since December so it was nice to not feel rusty coming here this week and starting off the year.”
Moran enjoyed a promising debut campaign on the Alps Tour last year and was in contention for one of five HotelPlanner Tour cards (formerly Challenge Tour) as he finished 12th on the Order of Merit, pocketing just over €14,000 from 16 starts.
While he is not one to set distinct goals for himself for fear of getting bogged down in results and outcomes rather than sticking to the process, the 25-year-old knows that if he wants to make the grade on tour he needs to show he can progress through the levels.
“I’m not really one to set too many goals but it’s pretty obvious once you’re playing here what you want to accomplish. Pretty good at just taking it week by week, day by day really. That’s the best way to go about it and see what happens at the end.
“But obviously you want to get out of here as soon as possible, that’s everybody’s plan.
“It’s nice coming back here I’d say three quarters of the courses we played last year. A lot of lads would have played these courses as lot of the time so it’s nice to not be a first timer playing this year.”
2024 proved to be a learning experience for Moran who figured out the tricks of the trade when it comes to travelling from event to event.
He was seen at the K Club Pro-Am last year packing his entire life into a suitcase before jetting off to Spain in a jiffy. This is the life of a professional golfer on the lower tiers but it is one he is enjoying and he believes making his travel plans as stress free as possible and managing his fatigue will be worth a shot or two come the end of the year.
“It’s been hectic. I played 20 something events last year, I played a decent amount of events as an amateur but it’s that extra four or five tournaments that are filled in on your week off that involves more travel and you have to manage yourself a bit better which I felt I did well last year but as you go along I felt I picked up things on better ways to practice.
“You have so many tournaments that you have to be fresh every week so I found at amateur golf you might have two weeks on, one week off whereas out here there is a lot more three to four in a row.
“Travelling and stuff you pick up a few more travel tips to save time and energy on the way.
“Last year I was meant to have a week off and then a last minute invite would come in and your can’t really say no to it. I’ll be aware that if I get opportunities like that again I’ll not be as burned out as I was. There are far worse things to be doing than playing golf every week, I know it can be tiring, but I won’t complain!
“I have played a lot of the courses on the schedule this year so it will be nice to save energy practicing, maybe play a few more nine hole rounds.”
Struggling for wifi and paying for dodgy internet packages is all part of the fun for Moran who is enjoying his experience as a professional.
“Enjoyment is the main thing. If you are not enjoying it you won’t go down a good route. People moan about travel and stuff like that but I’m pretty good for that now. I know it’s handy to have an iPad or something to download things to kill time on flights I’m not sure it was like that 20 years ago. There’s still so much to learn and improve on and that’s the enjoyable thing.”
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