Jay Tabb gets into the swing

JAY TABB admits he swaps penalties for putters as soon as he gets away from the Coventry City training ground.

During his playing days at Brentford, Tabb struck a deal with a Bees fan who worked at Wentworth Golf Club to swap a free session on the world-famous course for tickets to Griffin Park.

And he kept his passion for golf going when he moved to the West Midlands by playing a host of local courses to keep him ahead of the other Sky Blues swingers.

"I love golf, it's just one of those things I've always enjoyed," said Tabb, who admits to having a handicap of between 10 and 12.

"I think it's because it's such a hard sport and you never really quite crack it - one week you can be amazing and the next you can be shanking them off the tee.

"It's a big challenge, when I was younger I used to get really annoyed if I hit bad shots but now I just love playing it, love being out there and it's a great way to relax and unwind.

"Luckily enough I've got a guy who is a Brentford fan and works at Wentworth Golf Club, I used to get him tickets for games and he used to get me on there, which is something I'm eternally grateful for because it's my favourite course in the world.

"I've walked around watching people play it in tournaments but to actually play it was a dream come true.

"I watch any golf that's on the TV, when they have it on the BBC and they have coverage from 10am till 6pm - that's me in front of the TV watching it all day long.

"I played at the Emirates in Dubai over the summer and another one of my favourites to play is one in Ireland called Mount Juliet, which is an amazing golf complex with an old manor house building.

"I played the Forest of Arden in a charity day for Cure Leukaemia with Steve Ogrizovic. We used to have a corporate membership at Warwickshire where we could go and play for free but we don't have that any more. I also play at Stratford.

"Kevin Kyle is better than me, Ogrizovic is good as well, there's a few of us at Coventry who are pretty good so we have a good game together.

"I imagine life as a top professional golfer must be awesome."