Hosted on the Downs Course driving range and putting green, eight juniors were treated to a two-and-a-half-hour masterclass, which focussed on getting the most out of their training. Tree, a European Challenge Tour professional, imparted his wealth of knowledge on warming up and maintaining flexibility, playing different shots and tailoring each training session to achieve different goals.

Stressing the importance of training with others in order to maintain motivation, Tree said; “It’s great that Goodwood hosts events like this, getting the juniors all down practising together. When you are practising, you want friends and a group to work with, because practising on your own can get boring at times and playing with others helps keep you competitive. The set up at Goodwood is really good and the facilities here have personally helped me a lot with my game.”

Talking about how he hoped to inspire the Goodwood juniors, Tree said; “When I was younger there was a few people that I looked up to and being able to see how they did things was really helpful. I think it’s good for them to be able to see players who are bit older, how they play and whether what they do is similar or different – hopefully that can help them improve.”

Among the juniors learning from Tree was Joe Sykes, Goodwood’s youngest ever Scratch Team player. He said; “The session with Toby was a great experience for all the juniors attending and the stories he told us about life on the tour made it really interesting and valuable. I look forward to watching his progress and hope that he can make it onto the European Tour!”

In terms of his own game, Tree reflected on an up and down year, but was keen to look ahead. He said; “I had a good start to the year, with a couple of top fives, a top ten and a top twenty in my first four tournaments, before a decent start to the Challenge Tour, but I was a bit disappointed with the middle and end of the season, especially following an injury playing in Ireland. I have Qualifying School coming up and that is a great opportunity to gain a playing card for the European Tour in 2019.”