Clive Relf breaks 80; The full story from Iain's pupil who is aiming to go from hacker to scratch in a year...

Friday was always going to be a relatively short day due to travelling with Lindsay to collect the kids from Witney in the afternoon.

The weather forecast was for rain all day so I didn't hold out much hope of play on the course and it was to the driving range that I headed to first to loosen up and work on a bit of draw and fade.

As it turned out, after a murky start the weather lifted and after a promising hour or so session at the range I headed to the course with hopes of at least finishing off the 3 holes left over from Thursday.

Just before I left the range I chanced on a brief chat with the chap in the bay next to mine and he turned out to be the new Men's Club Captain of Nizels, TrevorPullen. After a good chat I was honoured to be invited to play with him during one of his regular rounds in the weeks to come which I'll really look forward to.

On to the club then and luckily the poor forecast had emptied the course and I was able to go straight to the 16th to finish Thursday's round.

My trudge across the 18th fairway to get the 16th tee was illuminated by the most beautiful rainbow which seemed to cast a confident light on my 3 hole sprint finish to what I hoped would be my best round ever.

Strangely I didn't feel tense or nervous and the par I made after knocking another 20 foot big breaking putt close on 16 served to settle my nerves further still.

I just missed the greens on both 17 and 18, chipped to within 8 feet both times but missed the putts. I didn't really care to be honest. I'd held myself together and achieved my next big milestone of shooting less than 10 over. Breaking 80 will have to wait for another day!

The final card of my new best round ever - but I wasn't finished there…

Obviously I was delighted with that result - but I had a 12.30 tee time booked too and as the weather had lifted I spent just a few minutes putting and chipping before setting out again for as many holes as possible before any more rain set in.

As it turned out it stayed dry and the next 9 holes were set to push my achievements even further than the day before…

6 straight pars - is this really my golf I am writing about?

Scrambling well on 1 and 2 for those pars set the scene for putting a score together and I shaved birdie putts on 3 and 4 to really give myself hope of achieving something special.

My only distraction was getting tight for time knowing that Lindsay would be waiting for me in the car park before I was due to finish. This got into my head at 7 where I duffed my tee shot, laid up but still missed the green from 100 yards out resulting in a 6.

Birdiying 8 for the first time with a 6 iron to 12 feet over the water was just awesome. To pull a shot straight back on a dangerous hole that has previously cost me very dear after a poor hole is something I've rarely done - but appreciate will need to become habit if I am to achieve.

I rushed 9 - and was lucky to get away with a shocking 5 wood driven into the trees off the tee. I still had a shot towards the green, albeit very much obscured by trees - but proceeded to hack my way through the scrub up the right hand side of the hole and foolishly knocked my chip / approach into a tree. Scrappy and a really amateurish error of judgement.

In the end I was glad to get down with a 6 - and 3 over for the front 9. Another new PB for me - but how good could it have been stood on the 9th tee at +1??

While I know very well the further trials and tribulations to come, days like Friday confirm my true golfing potential and spur me on re-double my efforts to gain the consistency I'll need.

What a great couple of days. I feel like I can really do this.

Iain is here to help you to get the most enjoyment out of the game. Call Reception on 01732 833833 to book your lesson or call Iain on 07753 807158 or drop Iain a line on i.naylor@theclubcompany.com