TREGO’S TEEING OFF...
THE BIG-HITTING BATSMAN QUIT CRICKET LAST MONTH AND IS NOW PURSUING A CAREER AS A GOLF PRO
It IS not the prospect of trying and failing that has plagued the thoughts of Peter trego in switching sports to golf. Not trying, now that is a different matter.
‘that’s one of the great things about being a British sportsman. You are programmed to put yourself out there. I could do something else to earn a living and be none the wiser,’ he tells Sportsmail, as he watches his Nottinghamshire team-mates’ final flings at winning the County Championship.
‘But I don’t want to be the bloke sitting there at 60 going: I should, could, would have done this or that. I’d rather be the guy who tried and failed than the guy who didn’t and talks a load of s*** in the pub — the ones who tell you they were a better centre back than the one on the telly.’
there have been plenty of triedand-failed moments for trego, 40, during a cricket journey that began with his native Somerset in the 20th century.
A Championship runner-up six times, it was not until his last season in 2019 that he won his first medal with the club. Having announced his retirement from professional cricket last month, he will be remembered as one of the best players of his generation not to gain an international cap.
Most of all, he remains one of life’s great competitors, which is how we come to be chatting about him turning professional in golf, days after his final first XI appearance for Nottinghamshire in August. He is entering the PGA’s EuroPro tour — a catalyst in the career rises of tommy Fleetwood and tyrrell Hatton.
‘I can’t wait to tweet a picture of my first cheque. Even if it’s 50 quid. that’s my first goal,’ he says. ‘the second, to consistently make cuts. For year one, if I can make a handful of cuts, it will validate the mission I am on.
‘Half the people who follow my progress will want me to do well but the other half will want to see the bad score to take the p***.’
Let his remarkable back story influence the side you take: selftaught on fields adjoining his childhood home in Weston-superMare, trego did not take up the sport properly until his mid-20s.
‘I come from a working-class family and so golf was never a thing from an affordability point of view but I remember my mum getting a set of clubs from the local charity shop for me and my brother to share,’ recalls trego.
‘Our house backed on to four rugby pitches, so we made a little nine-hole course around the posts. that’s where we learned to be creative and shape our shots.’
trego’s first handicap, when he started attending established clubs in his mid-20s, was five. A decade later, extra practice propelled him to another level. ‘I managed to get up to +4 and that’s a viable time to give pro tournaments a chance,’ he says.
James White, who runs a small mentoring business, will provide sponsorship and professional advice on coping with the pressure of tournament golf — something trego says he did not do when he shot six-over at British Open qualifying in June. the two dozen players who did progress carded even or better.
‘My issues are not my actual golf game, it’s the mental side because even after playing sports for 20-odd years, standing on the tee of a professional tournament is a level of pressure I never thought I’d experience,’ trego says.
‘there are a few moments in cricket — a final or a match — where there is something on the line but in tournament golf, every shot you play feels that intense.
‘I need to bring the element of Peter trego the showman to the golf course. Henrik Stenson is emotionless, while Ian Poulter pumps himself up. It’s about finding your performance mode and mine isn’t the Iceman.’
trego reckons he was nearer to his true self last month at Leven Links, Fife, when he hit a secondround 69, the first time he has gone under par at elite level.
this is not the first time he has been at a sporting crossroads. As a teenager, he asked both Julian Wyatt, his second XI coach at Somerset, and the football management team at Westonsuper-Mare where his various careers were heading.
trego said: ‘Weston said I could be a really good league-standard footballer but Julian said I could play for England — and that was my decision made for me.’
During the early years in his career, he made more money as a goalkeeper than a cricketer. He saved a penalty on his debut for then Conference South club Margate in 2004-05 and scored with a 70-yard chip in another game. He continued to pursue his England cricket dream, though, after returning to taunton in 2006, and played 10 times for the Lions without winning a full cap.
‘that would be my one regret, really. I am the only player to win the MVP of county cricket and not get the opportunity to play internationally,’ he reflects.
‘Whenever I played, I wanted to ruin someone else’s day from the opposition. I’ve tried to entertain: to hit big shots, and I’ve always loved a diving one-handed catch. My attitude has always been, “If you don’t go, you’ll never know”.’
It is the approach he seems to be taking into the next chapter of his sporting life.