TRAVIS SMYTH

“The last few days I’ve done nothing basically, I have just hung around I’ve been at my parents’ house just hanging out with them, watching Netflix, all the boring stuff,” said Smyth, who offered up free tips to golfers over social media while undergoing a 14-day quarantine period. “But since I started doing tips on Twitter and Instagram I have been so busy, I have had probably over 50 or 60 asking for tips so I have been doing that for a few hours a day.

“It was just an idea, I have done it before in the past and through it I have actually had a small sponsorship come out of it, I’ve got some friends that I speak to still today from helping some people before, so, I have nothing else to do, but that and read books or watch movies, so it keeps me occupied which is good. 

“I get a kick out of helping others, like at my home course (St Michaels) I always help out the young kids and the juniors, it’s satisfying in a way watching them improve from tips that I have given them, so I get a little out of it and they probably get a lot more out of it.

“I have literally never in my life had nothing to do, it’s quite weird. I had two full days of just watching Netflix and it gets so boring, you’re just watching the hours tick over and your mind looks for something to do. So, read books , giving out lessons has just been keeping me occupied and I might start hitting some balls in the backyard into a net in a couple of days.

“It’s very boring, I find going on holidays quite boring not having anything to do, I would rather just be playing golf every day. Even if it is just nine holes to take up a chunk of the day, when you have literally nothing to do, it’s quite annoying.

“Once I can start playing again, there are still some technical issues in my swing that I want to try and address, which is quite hard to work on when you have a busy schedule. I am hoping this can be a blessing in disguise and I can come back and play some really good golf. But in terms of tournaments and stuff, not sure when the next one is going to be.

“I was quite bummed when they cancelled the Maybank Championship, because they cancelled that before we played the Malaysian Open. I was quite bummed because that is one of the Asian Tour’s biggest events, European co-sanctioned and I really wanted to do damage in those sorts of events and get on the European Tour for next year. So, when that happened I was kind of bummed, but when all these other ones followed and the virus situation got worse, it meant everyone was in the same boat, no one was playing tournaments, everything is going to be shut down and it is what it is.

“But it does kind of suck a little bit, because I had a good start to the year, just work on the game and hopefully I can get a couple of invites to events later this year from my good start and we will just see where we are at the end of the season.”

LUCAS HERBERT

“Not a lot to be honest,” the European Tour winner said when asked how he has spent his time. “At the moment, we are kind of getting ready for a potential lock down, so keeping an eye on that. Getting everything sort of prepared if we do shut down for two weeks or longer, but generally day-to-day, I am doing some physical training in the gym, now is probably the best time to do it because you sort of don’t really have to try and keep any energy and flexibility to go and play golf in the afternoon.

“I can sort of just smash it in the gym and rest for the remainder of the day. So basically get up and hit the gym, then chill out for the rest of the day and watch Netflix and YouTube stuff and try and keep occupied.

"It is kind of just like being in a holding pattern, most of the things I like going and doing I can’t really go and do anymore, so nothing is really great fun. But on YouTube, most of the majors have put up replays from the last 20 or 30 majors ... " - Lucas Herbert.

“I have never really been a big fan of trying to get in the gym, I have gone through phases where I have tried, but generally when I am playing, I don’t really find I have the time and the energy to do it. Then I probably also don’t really like the feeling the day after when you’re trying to play golf. It’s alright when you’re just at home, you train and get some exercise and feel strong in a way, but when it’ around golf I quite like to keep everything as similar as I can to the day before, so I haven’t been much of a fan of training while at golf tournaments, but obviously with anywhere up to eight months off golf, it’s a pretty good time to get into that sort of stuff and get some gains in that way.

“When we get a bit more of a timeline when the golf will be coming back, then that will give us a better chance of getting back into playing and hitting balls and whatnot. But I have hardly touched my clubs in three weeks now, trying to have a good break and get away from it and enjoy some other things in life at the minute.

“It is definitely frustrating to have a hiatus having played some good golf and moved up the world rankings. But the good thing is the world rankings are frozen, it’s not like there is guys out there playing tournaments I am not in. It’s frustrating but then again, I don’t feel like there is any reason I can’t go and get myself into the same form I was in when I started the season again. It’s frustrating, but in my situation it’s not the worst thing to ever happen either.

“Even four months ago, this situation would have put me under the pump a fair bit, but obviously for me it’s the perfect timing to happen if this was ever going to happen. That’s definitely the positive out of this. It will be interesting to see how it all goes out there with status and everything once everyone gets back out there. It is pretty rare that any player has six months off, let alone the whole Tour having six months off. It will be funny to watch the first few events and see how rusty guys are.

“This year is going to be a funny one whether events are going to be rescheduled or not, you would like to think next year/next season, will probably be back to normality, that’s where you are probably looking for any sort of patterns in term of where you can play.

“It’s one of those things for me that there isn’t really a timeframe of getting into the top-50 in the world, it’s obviously not easy to do and it is going to take a fair bit of work and good results. It just happens when it happens and I feel like it will happen at some point, it is just a matter of when. There’s no rush, I think that was probably the one thing I kind of got caught up on the last time I was very high on the world rankings and was making a good fist of it, was I sort of wanted to things to happen too quickly and there was too much internal pressure, trying to do too many things and it ended up having the opposite effect on me.

“So far this year I have done some pretty good stuff, so that’s what we need to repeat and go back to those habits and it will be interesting to see how different things feel whenever we go back to play.

“It is kind of just like being in a holding pattern, most of the things I like going and doing I can’t really go and do anymore, so nothing is really great fun. But on YouTube, most of the majors have put up replays from the last 20 or 30 majors, so I have watched a few of them to almost feel like there is sort of a sense of normality with golf still being on.

“I have actually found that quite interesting, watching how players develop through their own careers and maybe compare myself with them at earlier stages in their career and see what has changed in their games is something you don’t really get a chance to do when you are flat out on the road all the time. But now you get the chance to sit back and have a look at it.

“You would think six months ago, you would think nothing could really derail society, then a virus like this comes along and how different the world looks compared to three weeks ago is pretty insane, I think. It is going to be one of those ones that is going to affect the world for a long period of time and something that we will talk about our entire lives that we lived during this pandemic.”

Herbert admits his win in early 2020 has made the enforced hiatus much easier to get through than it would have been otherwise, even just four months ago. PHOTO: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

JAKE MCLEOD

“Royal Queensland is still open at the moment, so I have been going out there most days and doing a little bit of practise. But to be honest nothing too hectic,” the former PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner said.

“Obviously there is nothing to sort of work towards for the moment, so I have been going out there for a few hours each day. But other than that, trying to look after the lawn a bit (laughs). I’ve downloaded a new game on the Xbox, Call of Duty, a lot of the boys have been playing that with the time on their hands, so trying to get involved in that. That’s about it really.

"I built a home practise setup last week. You heard all the stories that we might be in lock down or something like that, so I went to Drummond and bought a big net, and I got a mat from Vic Park and I got a putting mat as well." - Jake McLeod.

“The lawn is nowhere near Smithy’s level. My girlfriend and I are just renting, it’s their Mum and Dad’s place, and the guy who was living here prior to us left the lawn as basically all dirt at the back, no grass at all. Now it’s got probably 90 percent grass. It’s just a couple of little patches I need to fill in and then we are good to go.

“We are away for a lot of time and don’t get to see family, or my girlfriend (Maddy) or friends as much, so it has definitely been a good time to take advantage and go and see them. But obviously at the moment with the restrictions that is different, but trying to hang out with a couple of people and catch up and spend some time with the family and Maddy, do that sort of stuff.

"I also had a little bit of a break over Christmas, which wasn’t too long ago, so I still kind of want to go out each day and do two or three hours’ practise, to keep swinging. And try and work on a couple of things.

Jake McLeod during the VicOpen earlier this year. PHOTO: Getty Images.

“I definitely want to improve in a couple of areas and now is a good time to do that. But my coach and I are sending videos back and forth. The other day we did a bit of ball testing, so I changed to a new ball (Pro V1x) and getting a bit more out of that, which is cool, sort of the first time I have ever done that.

“I am actually working on some speed stuff at the moment, trying to ramp the speed up, trying to catch some of the long guys, but that will be a slow process, I’ve got a couple of little drills I will be working on. And then always just trying to refine the short game and pitching, always working on that. So, it’s a really good time to get into that sort of stuff and then the other stuff I do well already try and keep on that sort of stuff.

“I’m taking it quite easy at the moment to be honest, try and have a couple of little competitive games with the boys, be it chipping comps or putting comps or whatever it is. But only doing minimal practise really because I feel like we won’t be playing until later in the year, I don’t think we will be back on till October at best in my opinion, but who knows. Once I get closer to playing, I will keep doing what I am doing for the next few weeks or so then I will probably ramp up the practise, depending on the golf course as well. They might shut too.

“I built a home practise setup last week. You heard all the stories that we might be in lock down or something like that, so I went to Drummond and bought a big net, and I got a mat from Vic Park and I got a putting mat as well. Our yard is actually quite long, it’s probably 25 metres long and narrow, so I can do my hitting into the net then do some chipping in the backyard, which is pretty handy. And then I setup the putting mat inside and put the mirror down, just do some putting to make sure my stroke arc and setup is consistent, but that’s about all you can do really.

“I think just spending time with the family is my thing outside of golf. Maddy’s younger brother has a boat, and we went fishing last weekend and just for a little dive out there, hopefully we can take that out once or twice. I went down to the footy field with him the other day, he plays rugby, so I went down there and tried to kick a few goals, but I was a bit rusty (laughs). So I actually might do a bit of practise on that, but other than that, a lot of the boys are playing Xbox. I will have to dust the cobwebs off there as well.”

MAVERICK ANTCLIFF

“Nothing much really, just sleeping in really, practicing and working out, that’s basically it,” the three time China Tour winner and European Tour player said of the early period of his time away from tournament golf.

“There was a couple of days where the courses were looking a little bit iffy, but I have actually been pretty lucky to be honest and getting out and practicing.

“I found out the Indian Open had been postponed as I was driving up the coast to see Grant (Field), so I had like a two hour drive. And I was thinking about it and wondered when the last time I actually had a gap in my schedule where I could actually work on stuff. And it has probably been about two and a half years, just with playing in Asia throughout the middle of the year and playing in the Aussie summer, so I thought this is kind of cool.

“I have started working with a new trainer in January, and there were certain things I wanted to put in place that he and I had talked about, and then I was pretty lucky, that the first few European Tour events I played with some pretty good players, like Martin Kaymer and Mike Lorenzo Vera, so seeing little things from that I could work on, the time off was kind of like a little blessing in disguise.

“The strength stuff was more putting into place what we had talked about and gone over, because I am typically here for a week, gone for a couple of weeks etc. so it’s kind of hard to set aside some serious time to smash it out. But the game stuff was a realisation that if I keep doing what I’m doing and then just get better at what I am doing it will be good enough. Playing with good players, they hit shots and you hit shots and there isn’t much difference there, it is more staying patient and stuff like that, so it’s a lot of practice but more so the mental approach, and working on staying patient.

“You want to try and play competitively with some guys for a bit of money in the downtime. I’ve been lucky enough to dust of Jakey McLeod at Royal Queensland, which I was very happy with. But it’s kind of nice, I am taking the approach I don’t have to set my alarm at 6:30am, I am happy to sleep in till 7:30, 7:45 and just kind of ease into my day a little bit more. Recover that way but then make sure I am still putting in a good day’s work.

“The first week home, a few of us caught up and went to a Queensland Reds game, it was pretty good, had a few beers and a good time. But obviously now we can’t really do anything, so I have watched The Test about the Aussie cricket team, I probably should have not binge watched that (laughs). But I have been listening to podcasts, just anything really, downloading games on my phone … I gave my PlayStation away four months ago to a mate, I am now pretty mad at myself for that.

“I will just try and be as ready as I can when my number gets called to go play again, that’s all you can do.”