Feeling Comfortable In The Clutch

At a time when the European Tour has only just got underway and the Ladies European Tour still is waiting to tee off again, assorted mini-tours have never had it so good. Take the Clutch Pro Tour. Catchy though the name is, you’ve probably never heard of it.

The man behind the venture is 32-year-old Tom Hayward, a professional who spent the best part of eight years coming close but just failing to make it onto the European Tour. Realising he could not carry on in that vein, but reluctant to tear himself away from a golfing career, he decided to start a private mini-tour.

His parents had a fit. “After all the money that had gone into my golf, it was the last thing they wanted to hear,” said Hayward. “They’d been hoping I’d move on to something sensible.” No doubt they were still more nervous when Hayward and his fiancée, Lily Ross, gave up on everything else to run the show.

Last year, they mustered three events. This year, they had two in March, and then came the lockdown and, four weeks into it, they were on the point of adm...