The Chris Wood column

Last updated: 9th June 2010

Hi everyone, this week I'm talking to you as I get ready to catch my flight to Lisbon for the Open de Portugal.

Coping with lots of travel is a huge part of being a professional golfer and, thanks to my experiences in the amateur game, I've been able to cope smoothly with that transition. It is something I thought would make an interesting topic this week.

I was a member of the national squads which are run by the English Golf Union (based at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire). Obviously we did a lot of work on our game but there was also off-the-course training and plus lots of travelling which educated us on what was needed and how to be strong enough for life on tour when we turned pro.

The sort of opportunities I had to play around the world just wouldn't have been available if I hadn't broken into the English teams and got that EGU support.

I travelled all over the globe - to Mexico, America, Russia, Australia and all over Europe to play individual and team competitions. I perhaps didn't always realise it at the time but those trips made me a better and tougher traveller.

The other big advantage of being in the England set-up was what happened in the winter: instead of staying at home, trying to practice in the freezing cold, I joined my team-mates in southern Spain, often at a course called Arcos Gardens, where we could sharpen our games for a week.

I still return to Arcos Gardens as a pro because it is a great venue: it is really quiet, the facilities are superb and after five days there with the national team I used to go back to England feeling like a much better player.

Being around a bunch of competitive golfers who are doing well is another benefit of being in your national squad. For example in early 2008 Danny Willett won the Spanish Amateur which got him invites to two professional events in Spain. He finished top 20 in both and I was able to think, "I play all the time with Danny, if he can do that on the European Tour, so can I."

When you understand how important being in the England set-up was you can appreciate how desperate I was to get in it - and yet during my junior days I always fell a bit short, even though I sometimes thought I had done enough to earn a place.

But it is really important how you respond to failures. For example, I was also very disappointed to miss the cut in the Brabazon Trophy later in my amateur career (when I expected to do very well) but both times I used the setbacks to drive me on; to make me determined never to let it happen again; to motivate me to work harder.

In those early days before selection I would look at the England players with their England shoes, wearing the England rose, being part of the team and I wanted it too: it created a picture of what I wanted to achieve.

And then eventually I got there: I became part of the under-21 squad, then the A team and finally the full England team itself.

Probably my best feat during that time was to win the EGU Order of Merit two years in a row. The first year was a Walker Cup year which made it quite special, as was defending it successfully; it kind of cemented me in as one of the better amateurs in the country.

Around about then they also introduced an amateur world ranking which was pretty cool - I think second place was my best position and I think only Rickie Fowler was above me!

I also won plenty of individual events and one of those was the 2007 Russian Amateur Championship which was typical of the trips I was describing earlier - a learning experience!

We often went away in little groups of three or four and as 17 or 18 year-olds you can imagine it's a bit of an adventure!

You learn to become independent quite quickly, doing adult things whilst you're still a teenager - things like coping with missed flights and lost baggage, dealing with confusing situations and being in foreign countries that are very unlike home.

On that first visit to Moscow we got into taxis and two hours later we were still in them wondering where we were going and if we would ever get the chance to play golf!

I went on to win that event and consequently was invited to return a few weeks later to play in the Russian Open, then an event on the European Tour.

I was really happy to go back because the Le Meridien is a totally lush course, really top class. In fact I'd go back and play it now if it was still on tour I liked it that much.

I took my dad with me as caddie on that second trip and we had a bit of a transfer disaster.

We were on the same flight from Heathrow as all the other players but when we went through security they seemed to find a fast lane and we got stuck in the slowest one of all which meant we missed the courtesy bus.

When we got outside the airport we couldn't find anyone who knew anything about the golf club and were being pestered by a bloke who had spotted we were fishes out of water.

We tried to ignore him but in the end we had to go and get his help - we ended up paying him about $200 to get us a car to the course.

That sounds bad enough but Golf365's Matt Cooper has since told me the journey should only cost about $35 which makes it all the more ridiculous - we got absolutely done over!

Someone I spent a lot of time with in my amateur days was Sam Hutsby who has since joined me on the European Tour.

We were both in Russia for the Amateur and did organise a trip into Moscow to see the nightlife but we bottled it in the end! There were four of us planning to go but it was going to be quite expensive, a long drive in and we got a bit twitchy about the man who was organising it for us! Looking back we should have done it.

For four years Sam and I played foursomes and roomed together so I can tell you that he's a great partner on the course but a bit of a nightmare off it!

He loses things, can't remember anything and even used to forget to enter tournaments sometimes! It makes him very funny to room with but a bit chaotic.

When we were in Australia one time we both needed to buy some beach shorts. He was told there was a shopping mall "not too far away near the airport". It took us two hours to walk there!

My amateur days ended with my appearance in the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. It was a great week and I finished in fifth place, being roared on to every green by the packed galleries.

After such a tremendous experience I felt that the prospect of returning to amateur golf and playing in front of no-one at all would be tough to do; a bit anti-climactic. Once you've had a taste of that excitement, it is so difficult to give it up.

I was desperate to play in the Walker Cup but that was 18 months away and apart from playing in that I had pretty much achieved all I could do in the amateur game so I thought, "I've got into a great position, I've made a bit of a name for myself, I'm feeling good, let's go for it."

I think it was the right decision.