Interview: Coventry City’s Jay Tabb

We all know that footballers enjoy a bit of golf, but why is that? We managed to grab a quick word with Coventry City midfielder Jay Tabb (pictured), and he admits that when he’s not aiming for the goal, he can often be found aiming for the hole, on the golf course!

Hi Jay, how long have you been into golf?
I have always enjoyed golf. I’ve been playing for about 10 years now, since I was about 14.

Which golfers do you admire?
My favourite golfers are Ernie Els, Luke Donald and Colin Montgomerie. They are all great Pro’s and I like their swings!

Are you a member at a club?
Yes, I am a member of a club called Wimbledon Park back home in London.

Do you play off a handicap?
I play off a handicap of 9.

Which clubs do you use?
I use Cobra Woods, an Odyssey putter and Mizuno Irons. My Irons are the same as what Luke Donald uses!

Do any of your team mates play?
Yeah a few play. Kevin Kyle is a very good and Steve Ogrizovic can play a bit, but I’ve never played with any of the others.

Is golf something you will look to go in to after you finish playing?
No, I’m not good enough to play golf professionally when I retire from football, but I will definitely play a lot more often just for fun and in competitions at my golf club.

Why do you think that so many footballers play golf? relaxation? competitiveness?
I think they play because most footballers are pretty good at most sports and golf is very challenging and gives you a good test, it’s very hard to crack, but it’s also quite relaxing.

Finally, how’s the football coming along this season? It seems that Coventry’s only consistency this season is inconsistency!
It’s going OK, we just need to grind out a few good results to get us going again. People only seem to remember the last results and not all the good games we’ve played this season! The wins against Birmingham and Southampton have proved that we are capable of big performances, we just need to produce that form more often!

Thanks Jay, and good luck with the golf!

Poults driven out

In the Chinese year of the Rat, someone made off with Ian Poulter’s driver at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, leading the Englishman to pull out of the £3.2m Singapore Open.

There were posters all around offering a reward for Poulter’s Cobra driver. While the thief, whose back view was captured on camera, whipped the club from outside the players’ lounge before heading for the professional’s shop where he had a few swings.

Heaven knows what kind of punishment might attach to pinching a driver in those parts. But whatever it might be, it would surely pale into insignificance against what Poulter would like to do to him!

Organisers of the Singapore Open have drafted on India’s Anirban Lahiri as Poulter’s replacement.

But what of Poults decision to pull out? He told BBC Sport that “It’s disappointing, as I did not come all this way not to play, but with so many world ranking points at stake, if I played badly I may have lost ground.”

Fair enough, perhaps.

But is Poults being a little pretentious? Should the loss of his driver really affect him in such a way? Personally, I think that it’s a load of nonsense. You would have thought that he should have been able to get a driver with similar attributes in time for him to play! I mean, I would have lent him my Cobra if he was that desperate…

However, on the other hand, if his head is not right, then poor golf will ultimately follow suit, and with world ranking points at stake, you have to respect his decision.

Cobra announce new L5V driver

The new adjustable Cobra L5V driver is sure to be an instant hit with the mid to high handicappers. Cobra’s new adjustable flight technology has two flight bias settings allowing standard and draw setups.

The new driver has been built with the Cobra Dual Rhombus Face Insert Technology which allows for superb forgiveness of the tee and with the centre of gravity pushed even further back on this new driver the clubhead produces a higher launch angle and much lower spin, helping to achieve greater accuracy and distance.

Perhaps one of the best options this driver has is the ability to change its shafts, with over 30 custom shaft options available this driver really is targetting a wide audience.

Have a look at the review from Today’s Golfer and judge for yourself…

This club will be hitting the shops very soon, but you might be better off waiting a while and getting one second hand, as you could be paying anything up to £330 to own this bad boy brand new!