Newbury golfer Max Nicholls ready for Thai adventure
Newbury golfer Max Nicholls is about to embark on a Far Eastern adventure.
He’s set to compete in the qualifying school for the Asian Tour, held in Thailand.
He discussed his start in the sport, career so far and his ambitions for the future.
“I started when I was twelve, which I guess is quite late compared to a lot of players now,” he recalled.
“I knew I wanted to do it pretty fast, and I had a bit of success at county level.
“I was about fifteen playing for the under-18s.
“Then I had a period where I worked on my game and got to about +1, +2 by the time I was eighteen.
“I always knew that I wanted to do it… I knew that if I worked hard I could make a career out of playing.”
Nicholls turned professional in 2018, following success on a tour out in Portugal.
He played mini-tours around Britain for the duration of the following year, but his momentum was disrupted by the pandemic.
“I wanted to keep on pushing on, but COVID hit,” he said.
“I probably wasn’t having good enough results to ride that out.
“So I started my PGA coaching qualifications. Three years on, I’m ready to go full time again.”
Nicholls began coaching at Donnington Grove Golf Club, passing on the benefit of his experience.
“I’ve always been based in Newbury,” he said.
“I joined up there in 2018 and met with the director Tom Fleming.
“He was incredibly supportive, I can’t stress that enough.
“I asked if I could represent the club, in return for use of the facilities, and I began teaching there.”
Nicholls now has his sights set on the Asian Tour, with a Clutch Tour card already secured.
“I’ll fly to Thailand on December 2nd for the Asian Tour School,” he explained.
“I entered Clutch to do as a backup to be honest!
“I shot four under in total at the qualifying school, which qualified me for a tier one card.
“Clutch Tour is probably a third tier tour. It gives all the players access to jump up to the challenge tour.
Nicholls flew out to Spain in preparation for his trip to Thailand, practising on similar greens and warmer conditions.
“The main thing is to secure my Asian Tour card.
“The tour has gotten quite big since LIV Golf got involved.
“They wanted their players to have world ranking points, so they injected a lot of money into the tour.
“It would be a huge stepping stone towards my main goal, which is to get onto the DP World Tour.
“If you do very well, you could get into the PGA Championship.
“So it’s a big tour, but the main thing is it being a stepping stone towards that World Tour.”
Nicholls has understandably put his coaching on hold for now, with eyes fixed firmly on the prize until January at least.
He is however, always in need of sponsorship, with a sponsors evening announced for November 28th at Donnington Grove Golf Club.
The evening starts at 6:30pm, with shares available to purchase for the 2025 season.
“I’m selling shares of myself essentially, so people can buy in,” he explained.
“But even if they just want to see what the world of Pro Golf looks like, myself and my coach Nick Mitchell will be giving talks and hosting the evening.”
Anyone interested is encouraged to RSVP by contacting max@maxnichollsgolf.com, or calling 07414169338.
