Nicolas Colsaerts, Renaissance Man
Nicolas Colsaerts©Phil Inglis23 Nov 2009
There are few greater sins than squandering a God-given talent, and for a time Nicolas Colsaerts was in danger of doing just that.
Colsaerts, of whom great things had been expected when he earned a European Tour card just days after his 18th birthday, started last season without a category to his name, having gradually fallen from grace in recent years.
Indeed, he was in danger of falling into complete obscurity and becoming a mere footnote which, for a player of his ability, would have been criminal.
But after two Challenge Tour victories and a further eight top ten finishes in his most consistent season to date this year, the Belgian took third place in the final Rankings to get back to where a player of his prodigious talent surely belongs – on The European Tour.
The man himself puts his renaissance down to a new-found maturity, both on and off the golf course.
He said: “At the start of the year I didn’t even have a category on the Challenge Tour, so the goal was just to try to get my European Tour card through the Qualifying School if I could. But then as the season went along I had to set new goals all the time. I’m starting to understand myself a little better now, both as a person and as a player. I’m definitely a lot calmer now than I was.
“Winning in Finland this year really felt like the first step on a journey to get back where I feel I belong. My thinking all season was really clear, which is where I’ve maybe struggled in the past. Even if things weren’t quite going to plan and I found myself over par, I’ve managed to stay patient and haven’t toss away rounds as much as I used to in the past. If I miss a shot here or a putt there, I don’t let it eat away at me any more – I’ve learned to forget about it and think about the next shot. I guess it’s all part of growing up, and I think I also realised how much I missed playing on the Tour.
“It’s the old cliché that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, but it’s true. I’ve felt great this year, being able to play tournaments most weeks, and more importantly being able to compete most weeks. I got a real buzz out of it, and I guess I rediscovered my love for the game. Whenever I had to take a week off because we didn’t have a tournament, I got restless and didn’t know what to do with myself. I just wanted to keep playing, and I haven’t felt that way for a while.”
When he first burst onto the golfing scene as a fresh-faced youngster in 2000 Colsaerts, with his good looks and precocious talent, seemingly had the world at his feet.
Having joined the professional ranks on his 18th birthday Colsaerts took the Qualifying School by storm that year, successfully negotiating all three stages to win the fifth card and become the second youngest player to achieve the feat.
The youngster might’ve been forgiven for thinking the pro game was an easy ride – he has certainly never lacked for confidence – but any such notions were quickly quashed as he made just eight cuts the following season to finish 172nd on the money list and necessitate a return to the Challenge Tour.
Despite narrowly failing to capture his maiden title the following year – he finished runner-up at the Open des Volcans – Colsaerts did enough to secure a return to The European Tour as the tenth graduate.
Seemingly older and wiser, he made 17 cuts in 2003 to secure 77th spot on the Order of Merit – his highest finish on The European Tour – to keep his card with something to spare.
Having apparently learned some harsh lessons along the way, he was finally beginning to build up some momentum and fulfil his undoubted potential.
Most pundits predicted that Colsaerts – as long as he could harness his natural enthusiasm, and remove a tendency to become hot-headed and erratic after making mistakes, however minor – had the potential and ability to become the first Belgian since Philippe Toussaint in 1974 to triumph on The European Tour.
Indeed, he nearly achieved just that at the 2005 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he led going into the final round but ultimately had to settle for second place behind Italian Emanuele Canonica after closing with a round of 75.
But that was a rare highlight in an otherwise fairly moderate campaign which culminated in him finishing outside the top 100 for the second successive season.
Amidst rumours – since acknowledged by the man himself – that he was perhaps partying harder than he was practicing, Colsaerts continued to slide down the money list in subsequent seasons until he hit rock bottom in 2007, when he finished outside the top 200 on the Order of Merit.
Albeit it from just 12 starts – a legacy of an inconsistent campaign in 2006 – Colsaerts made just six cuts, with tied 21st (again at the Johnnie Walker Championship) his highest finish. Having also failed to make the Qualifying School – Final Stage, he suddenly found himself in no man’s land, without a category on either The European or Challenge Tours.
After failing to make the most of his starts via sponsors’ invitations on the Challenge Tour in 2008, Colsaerts took a long, hard look at himself and decided to rebuild his career – starting in Brisbane, Australia.
He said: “I worked with Ken Berndt at the A-Game Academy, and not only did it help my game, but because I was away from friends and family for so long, it also gave me lots of thinking time which helped me change my approach to life in general. So I’m excited about go back there this winter, because last year it was great preparation for the season, and I want to hit the ground running if I can. I can’t wait to get my teeth into The European Tour again – I’ve been counting down the weeks for a while now. I was playing really well towards the end of last season, so I just wanted the new season to start straight away.
“But if I don’t make a fast start, it’s not the end of the world – I should have at least 25 starts, so there’s plenty of time to find my feet. It’s been a while since I’ve played on the main Tour, so I don’t know how much more demanding the courses have got in that time – not too tough, I hope! But the good thing about the Challenge Tour last season is that we played on quite a number of courses which were set up like they are on the main Tour, with thick rough and narrow fairways. The difference between the courses from when I first got onto the Challenge Tour to now is huge, which is probably why a lot of the guys who graduate from the Challenge Tour do so well when they get onto the main Tour.”
Now Colsaerts will hope to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Tano Goya of Argentina, Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl and Sweden’s Christian Nilsson, all of whom captured their maiden European Tour titles this year after graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2008.
If he were to follow that quartet into the winner’s enclosure, it would cap a remarkable return from the brink for a man who could justifiably claim to have experienced a rollercoaster ride of emotions during his ten years on Tour.
Having climbed to the dizzying heights of 127th place on the Official World Golf Ranking from a lowly 1194th at the start of the season, Colsaerts will be keen to make the most of his second chance.
Colsaerts, of whom great things had been expected when he earned a European Tour card just days after his 18th birthday, started last season without a category to his name, having gradually fallen from grace in recent years.
Indeed, he was in danger of falling into complete obscurity and becoming a mere footnote which, for a player of his ability, would have been criminal.
But after two Challenge Tour victories and a further eight top ten finishes in his most consistent season to date this year, the Belgian took third place in the final Rankings to get back to where a player of his prodigious talent surely belongs – on The European Tour.
The man himself puts his renaissance down to a new-found maturity, both on and off the golf course.
He said: “At the start of the year I didn’t even have a category on the Challenge Tour, so the goal was just to try to get my European Tour card through the Qualifying School if I could. But then as the season went along I had to set new goals all the time. I’m starting to understand myself a little better now, both as a person and as a player. I’m definitely a lot calmer now than I was.
“Winning in Finland this year really felt like the first step on a journey to get back where I feel I belong. My thinking all season was really clear, which is where I’ve maybe struggled in the past. Even if things weren’t quite going to plan and I found myself over par, I’ve managed to stay patient and haven’t toss away rounds as much as I used to in the past. If I miss a shot here or a putt there, I don’t let it eat away at me any more – I’ve learned to forget about it and think about the next shot. I guess it’s all part of growing up, and I think I also realised how much I missed playing on the Tour.
“It’s the old cliché that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, but it’s true. I’ve felt great this year, being able to play tournaments most weeks, and more importantly being able to compete most weeks. I got a real buzz out of it, and I guess I rediscovered my love for the game. Whenever I had to take a week off because we didn’t have a tournament, I got restless and didn’t know what to do with myself. I just wanted to keep playing, and I haven’t felt that way for a while.”
When he first burst onto the golfing scene as a fresh-faced youngster in 2000 Colsaerts, with his good looks and precocious talent, seemingly had the world at his feet.
Having joined the professional ranks on his 18th birthday Colsaerts took the Qualifying School by storm that year, successfully negotiating all three stages to win the fifth card and become the second youngest player to achieve the feat.
The youngster might’ve been forgiven for thinking the pro game was an easy ride – he has certainly never lacked for confidence – but any such notions were quickly quashed as he made just eight cuts the following season to finish 172nd on the money list and necessitate a return to the Challenge Tour.
Despite narrowly failing to capture his maiden title the following year – he finished runner-up at the Open des Volcans – Colsaerts did enough to secure a return to The European Tour as the tenth graduate.
Seemingly older and wiser, he made 17 cuts in 2003 to secure 77th spot on the Order of Merit – his highest finish on The European Tour – to keep his card with something to spare.
Having apparently learned some harsh lessons along the way, he was finally beginning to build up some momentum and fulfil his undoubted potential.
Most pundits predicted that Colsaerts – as long as he could harness his natural enthusiasm, and remove a tendency to become hot-headed and erratic after making mistakes, however minor – had the potential and ability to become the first Belgian since Philippe Toussaint in 1974 to triumph on The European Tour.
Indeed, he nearly achieved just that at the 2005 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, where he led going into the final round but ultimately had to settle for second place behind Italian Emanuele Canonica after closing with a round of 75.
But that was a rare highlight in an otherwise fairly moderate campaign which culminated in him finishing outside the top 100 for the second successive season.
Amidst rumours – since acknowledged by the man himself – that he was perhaps partying harder than he was practicing, Colsaerts continued to slide down the money list in subsequent seasons until he hit rock bottom in 2007, when he finished outside the top 200 on the Order of Merit.
Albeit it from just 12 starts – a legacy of an inconsistent campaign in 2006 – Colsaerts made just six cuts, with tied 21st (again at the Johnnie Walker Championship) his highest finish. Having also failed to make the Qualifying School – Final Stage, he suddenly found himself in no man’s land, without a category on either The European or Challenge Tours.
After failing to make the most of his starts via sponsors’ invitations on the Challenge Tour in 2008, Colsaerts took a long, hard look at himself and decided to rebuild his career – starting in Brisbane, Australia.
He said: “I worked with Ken Berndt at the A-Game Academy, and not only did it help my game, but because I was away from friends and family for so long, it also gave me lots of thinking time which helped me change my approach to life in general. So I’m excited about go back there this winter, because last year it was great preparation for the season, and I want to hit the ground running if I can. I can’t wait to get my teeth into The European Tour again – I’ve been counting down the weeks for a while now. I was playing really well towards the end of last season, so I just wanted the new season to start straight away.
“But if I don’t make a fast start, it’s not the end of the world – I should have at least 25 starts, so there’s plenty of time to find my feet. It’s been a while since I’ve played on the main Tour, so I don’t know how much more demanding the courses have got in that time – not too tough, I hope! But the good thing about the Challenge Tour last season is that we played on quite a number of courses which were set up like they are on the main Tour, with thick rough and narrow fairways. The difference between the courses from when I first got onto the Challenge Tour to now is huge, which is probably why a lot of the guys who graduate from the Challenge Tour do so well when they get onto the main Tour.”
Now Colsaerts will hope to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Tano Goya of Argentina, Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl and Sweden’s Christian Nilsson, all of whom captured their maiden European Tour titles this year after graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2008.
If he were to follow that quartet into the winner’s enclosure, it would cap a remarkable return from the brink for a man who could justifiably claim to have experienced a rollercoaster ride of emotions during his ten years on Tour.
Having climbed to the dizzying heights of 127th place on the Official World Golf Ranking from a lowly 1194th at the start of the season, Colsaerts will be keen to make the most of his second chance.
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