García has the balls to challenge Augusta

García has the balls to challenge Augusta

John Hopkins finds the Spaniard in a confident mood before the Masters
SERGIO GARCÍA will tackle the Augusta National golf course in this week’s Masters with a new ball and a putting style that he took up only a few weeks ago. García was showing off the ball, one of TaylorMade’s new TP red balls, yesterday morning.

To remind himself to keep his spirits up, García drew a smiling face on the ball next to the red letter O that signifies its type and around the side from where his name, Sergio, is stamped in bold, black letters.

A new ball, the first major championship of the year, a different putting style? Will all this bring him luck at the event where he first competed as the Amateur champion in 1999 and finished 38th? “I hope so,” García said, flashing that famous toothy smile.

Professional golfers change their putting styles regularly, but to see someone as young as García, 26, putting with his left hand below his right in an attempt to hole more putts is a surprise. García began using this technique nearly a month ago when he was frustrated with his lack of success at putting the conventional way for right-handers.

“I talked to my father and we decided to change something,” he said. “I putted very well at Bay Hill, particularly in the first two rounds, and putted well in the first three rounds at The Players. Putting with my left hand below my right is feeling better and better. In fact it is feeling better than it has for some time.”
The world No 6 was speaking at Reynolds Plantation, 50 miles from Atlanta, Georgia, on his way to Augusta. He has not seen the changes that have been made to Augusta National for this year’s event, “though I have heard about them. If I play well, they will favour me, but if I don’t then it is going to be a struggle because it is very, very difficult.

“I like Augusta. It is the kind of course that gets your adrenalin going. It has got a lot of places that get you pumped up and this is what a good course should do. I don’t know whether lengthening it every year is the right way to go, but that is what they have done.

“Driving is a lot more important than it used to be there, and now even more so. Before, hitting an eight-iron from a first cut of rough was difficult, but now hitting a six or a five or a four-iron from the rough is going to be even tougher, so driving accuracy is very important.

And your iron play has to be on. And even if it is, you are going to miss some greens. You are going to make mistakes because the course is so tough. If the course is firm, the greens are the most difficult ones we play on all year.”

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We walk down the bank, passing several anglers standing in the middle of the river in their chest waders, until we find an empty stretch. Mayfly are swirling about so we all tie on our best imitations. But why would a fish go for mine when there are so many real ones on the surface of the water? It’s all to do with the skill of watching for a rise - the sign of a feeding fish - and then landing your fly, without the faintest ripple, slightly above the rise if it’s a grayling (it swims diagonally to the surface) or directly above for a trout.

Already my husband and I are at a disadvantage as we only have thigh waders so even with our longest casts we can only cover half the water. The technique here is more akin to reservoir fishing: you stand still, wait for a rise, and then cast assiduously at it. And after a few flicks, and a few furtive glances at Beber and his brother, I realise that my casting is definitely not refined enough to fool these canny fish. Still, all fishermen live in hope and I continue, drinking in the scent of the acacia blossom and the sound of the crickets as I stand in my allotted spot.

The rises all seem to be just out of my reach so I just cast anyway. After a while my non-neoprened thighs feel icy – the water comes from the deep holding pools above the barrages at Argentat – and I decide to move on down to faster water where I can fish with a wet (submerged) fly and keep moving. But there too I run into trouble with the depth.

Time to explore further downstream so I clamber back on the bank and find myself at the edge of a grassy meadow where I stretch out and watch the artistry of our French companions as they unroll immaculately straight lines, far across the water. They have a patience that I sadly don’t share. But I expect that when eventually they do catch a fish, their sense of achievement is even more intense.

Suddenly there’s excitement. There’s a big rise close to where Beber, who is now taking stock on the bank, has spent the last two hours fishing. He gallantly invites Pierrot to go for it and within a minute, the line straightens, the rod bends, and the fish is hooked. Our friend Chris joins him with a net and they bring the fish in for us to admire: a handsome silvery grayling with a blue-tinged back, about 20cm long. Honour saved. I take a photo of the first grayling of the season, and they release the fish.

It’s past six and we return to Maryse’s for a post-mortem and a beer. We visitors agree that even though we didn’t have much – well, any - action, it’s been a great chance to practise our casting technique.

Back in Sarlat the non-fishers have booked a table for us at Le Quatre Saisons where we dine like kings. The next day we fishers join the others in some lounging by the pool followed by a glorious drive through the Perigord to the hanging gardens of Marqueyssac on a bluff overlooking the Dordogne.

These recently restored gardens, planted with hundreds of box hedges hand clipped into a swirling tapestry of organic shapes, ooze yet more French artistry. There’s still time for a leisurely lunch overlooking the valley before zipping back down the motorway for our early evening flight. Now that’s what I call a well balanced weekend.

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Villa holidays in France, with fishing trips arranged, can be booked through French Affair. The cost of permits varies according to the region, and number of days. http://www.frenchaffair.com/ or call 0207 381 8519.

On the upper reaches of the Dordogne, professional ghillie Jean-Pierre Coudoux offers fishing tuition and guiding, from May to November. Contact him on 0033 555282635 or email jp.coudoux@libertysurf.fr

Le Quatre Saisons, 2 Cote de Toulouse, Sarlat 0553294859
Jardins de Marqueyssac http://www.marqueyssac.com/ 0033 553313636

Fishing on the Dordogne

Anne Gatti was limited to a catch of five fish when she went fishing in the Dordogne, but as it turned out, catching just one was hard enough, so it was lucky that her ghillie, Berber, was more skilled

It felt odd filling the suitcase with clumpy boots and jackets for a May weekend break in a Dordogne villa, but the email from M Beber Reix, who was to be our ghillie on our fishing trip said, "Bring waders, preferably neoprene as the the Dordogne is a cold river; a nine-foot rod and flies such as 'cul de canard'." Cul de canard (duck’s arse in English) is a much valued feather used to tie dry flies – the kind that float on the surface of the water.

We set off early in the morning for Toulouse, a party of three keen fly fishers and three Francophiles intent on sampling Perigord specialities such as foie gras and truffles. We made our way up to Sarlat, which is 10km west of the Dordogne river, and flopped in the villa’s pool before treating ourselves to an alfresco meal in one of the town’s many secluded courtyards.

From here I called Beber to arrange the rendezvous for the fishing trip next day. "On my head" he offered helpfully, "there will be a cowboy hat."

Next morning, we spot him easily in the designated car park with his young companion Max, an expert fly tier. "We will be going to a place that is beautiful and a little bit wild," Berber tells us.

We follow him up the valley, catching glimpses of the wide waters of the Dordogne between the poplars and wild acacias trees. It is lush, green and beautiful, but not wild in the sense of the landscape where my husband and I normally fly fish - on spate rivers that tumble down through miles of uninhabited bogland in the west of Ireland.

We stop at the pretty single-track bridge at Monceaux and peer down to see the condition of the river. It is clear and fast flowing, and as wide as the Thames. Beber says the water is higher than he would like but that today is the opening of the grayling season - grayling is a trout-like fish that has been introduced to this part of the Dordogne and seems to be flourishing in its cold waters – so we have a chance of some action.

As Beber’s favourite spots along the way have been taken, we retire to Maryse’s bar to take coffee, buy our €8 day permits, and hatch a plan for the day. Permits, Beber explains, are sold in fishing shops but also in bars and tabacs, and access to the river needs local knowledge. Not to mention the best spots to encounter them.

The plan shapes up: we will have lunch first, in a pretty spot he knows, and then spend the afternoon fishing. Over lunch – a serious affair with wine, saucisses and paté - we inspect Max’s flies and Beber tells us about fishing etiquette: keep a distance of at least 50 metres from the next fisherman (in France, it seems, women anglers are rare), and always place yourself downstream so that you don’t create waves.

He also warns us about the canniness of the grayling, which in England is usually caught by coarse anglers, on the worm, but here in the Dordogne is prized by fly fishers more highly than the trout. Trout, he reminds us, are shy and elusive, preferring to stay near the bank of this wide river.

Finally he informs us that our catch will be limited to five fish per person, two trout and three grayling, and we must release anything under 30cm.
Beber’s brother Pierrot rolls up and there are more discussions about where we should go. A spot downstream of the bridge is decided on and we set off.

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