Sonia O’Sullivan: Getting into swing of golf may take time

One of my favourite places in Melbourne to go for a run is the Caulfield Racecourse. The surface is perfect and it’s quiet, with no stopping at traffic lights.

Once inside the white perimeter fence, away from where the horses race, it’s as peaceful a place to run as anywhere, with some curiosities to ponder while running.

This is the middle of the spring racing carnival in Melbourne, and it’s nearly impossible to avoid any mention of the races, particularly the Melbourne Cup, which took place here on Tuesday.

Known as the race that stops the nation, it's easily the most famous race in Australia. It's also one of the richest races, which means it attracts many of the top horses from around the world, trying to break into the local stranglehold on that coveted cup itself. It takes place at Flemington Racecourse, and although I didn't make it there, my day still revolved around making sure I would see it. The Melbourne Cup is not the same without picking a few horses to pique the interest so I placed a few small bets before watching from the couch.

It turned out to be a heartbreaking day for the Irish owners of Heartbreak City, who came so close to winning only to be edged out by Australian-owned Amandin. It was said to be one of the closest finishes in the long history of the Melbourne Cup.

Dawn training

While running laps at Caulfield Racecourse, you often see horses training on the inside tracks. The course also doubles as a public park, and although it doesn’t officially open until 9.30am, you can sneak in a little earlier, as long as you stick to the outsider perimeter and keep moving.

This is when most horses are out for their dawn training, and it’s fascinating to watch them flying around. You often wonder which horses they might be. This, after all, is the training ground of Black Caviar, one of the recent heroines of racing in Australia, so it’s likely some great champions train here.

For me, this always adds an extra little bit of energy to the morning run, watching and wondering how they train and what actually makes a champion racehorse.

Another favourite place to go running is around a golf course, and there’s no shortage of them in Melbourne. They are stricter when it comes to letting anyone run on them, so you need to read the course to best navigate your way through without interfering with the golfers.

Again the outside perimeter is generally fine if you’re early. There is no nicer place to run than on the soft grass of a carefully tended golf course, with its gentle undulations and pleasant surroundings.

Whenever I'm back in Cobh, I try to get a run around the beautiful Fota Island golf course. I've several prestigious golf courses ticked off in my running diaries over the years, including the Merion Golf Club, which hosted the 2013 US Open. This was a regular venue for secret training on Mondays back in my Villanova days, running between the trees; the key was to just keep moving fast and you could blend in to the surroundings or so we thought. My local golf course in Melbourne, the Malvern Valley, is a public course, so I regularly run through here to extend my morning run.

The strange thing is that despite all these years of running around golf courses I had never actually played golf. I suspect a lot of distance runners would say the same. I’ve been watching a lot more golf lately as well, given the success of Irish golfers on the circuit, so in many ways it was about time I got that first round under my belt.

Like most things, it began with a chat among friends, what you might do for the weekend, and suddenly you have agreed to take on a new challenge. Then it just takes someone with a little initiative to organise it all. I have a set of golf clubs lying in the garage from a few years back, so I was all set to go when I got the call from a friend: Melbourne Cup day is a holiday here so would I fancy playing a round of golf?

There’s nothing like a challenge like that, especially from a friend, and sometimes you just have to dive straight right in and hope for the best. So I had my usual early morning run around the racecourse, before getting ready for my first proper trip to the golf course. I had no idea what to expect but as we were heading to Malvern Valley I felt familiar with the surroundings and thought that was a good start.

What I soon realised is I could have done with a caddy, not just for my bag but also to give me a few tips on which clubs to use. I probably could have lightened the load and left a few clubs at home, but that was all part of the introduction. I also managed to lose a few balls, but the fun thing about that is how you end up finding a few extra ones while searching for your own.

Like most golfers, I suspect, I stood over the ball on every tee and pictured exactly where I wanted the ball to go and how many shots it would take for me to reach the green. Of course, it never quite worked out that way. Every now and then I hit a shot that made me think, “I can do this”, before a sudden taste of reality would bring me back down to Earth again.

Energy levels

Still, I never thought playing a round of golf would feel like such an enlightening experience. I didn’t start with any expectations and the visualisations in my head will take some practice, but with a little patience maybe some of it can come to fruition. I was also surprised at the levels of energy required and how quickly the time passes. I started off with quite a few layers of gear on and soon warmed up and by the end was stripping off the layers.

Whenever you try something new like that, it always puts a different perspective on what you see from the couch. I certainly got that experience from my first round of golf. I’m just not so sure my next challenge will be inspired by what I see running around Caulfield Racecourse every morning.