Denison driving forward to underline recovery

Danny Denison speaks with the clarity of mind of someone who has been to the brink and back.

Four-and-a-half years have passed since he nearly lost his life in a car accident in Austria.

Two years were needed to rebuild his life, his leg and his golf swing. A further 18 months were required to get back to where he was before his world came to a shattering halt.

Now, one more year on, Denison is at last about to take his first steps as a fully-fledged member of the European Tour, emboldened by his life-affirming experience and determined to embrace his opportunity.

“It has changed me, I look at things slightly differently,” says the 26-year-old, who was left with a badly damaged right leg that required pins and a multitude of surgeries to correct.

“I don’t get as frustrated on the golf course as I used to.

“But it has changed me away from the course as well, I’m a bit calmer.

“I can look back and say I had a lucky break there and look at things a little bit differently.

“When I get in a car I’m not the best passenger, especially abroad. I’d rather be in control.

“There’s been a couple of coach drivers this year where I’ve found myself gripping on, wondering ‘what’s going on here?’.

“They drive a lot differently on the continent, a lot faster, and I’m not too comfortable with it.”

Scarred he may be, but scared he is not.

He has travelled Europe chasing his dream on the continent’s second division, so the prospect of criss-crossing the planet on the more far-reaching European Tour is one that he relishes rather than fears.

Time spent fighting his way back to the levels he reached prior to the crash is not a period he reflects on as wasted.

It has been more the making of the man.

“I’m quite proud of coming back from the injury that I had, that I’ve fought back to get my card,” says Denison. “Now that I have, I want to achieve all the goals I had four years ago.”

His manager and agent, Chubby Chandler, told the Yorkshire Post last month that Denison is a ‘tougher lad’ because of the accident.

And no matter what he does in his career, people will always refer back to that horror crash in Austria.

Denison is comfortable with that. If people are talking about him then he must be doing something right on the golf course and, as he looks towards a bright future, that is the priority.

“It will be a great feeling, stood on that first tee at the African Open in January, knowing I belong out there,” he says of the start of a year in which he intends to play between 25 and 30 tournaments.

“The first thing I want to do is secure my card, that has always been my first goal since overcoming injury.

“Now I’ve got to try and crack on and look for a win. I’ve got to push on from here.

“Knowing I don’t really need a fast start will help me settle in. I’ve got 25 to 30 tournaments so there’s no massive rush, but it would be nice to get a couple of good early results.”

There is no guarantee either that earning a win in your maiden season is a golden ticket.

Just ask John Parry, the Harrogate golfer, who won the Vivendi Cup in September, 2010, but 15 months later is contemplating a return to qualifying school after finishing outside the top 115 players.

Denison is aware of the pitfalls, but, as he embarks on his journey, he is only looking up.

“I want to try and put myself into a position to win and the more times I do that, the more chances I’ll get,” says the Howley Hall member, who earned his Tour status by finishing sixth on the Challenge Tour. “John proved that you can win in your first full year on tour. You can achieve anything in this game, it’s only four days, four days of good golf and who knows?”

Denison has spent time in recent weeks with Parry’s Leeds-based coach Mark Moore, who has helped the former Yorkshire amateur tighten his chipping and putting.

Denison says: “A short game is what sets the guys playing on the top tour and the guys playing on the Challenge Tour, apart.

“I can rely on certain shots now and play a variety of shots with a bit more confidence. My putting is getting a bit more consistent as well.”

It was his putting that almost let him down in his high point of 2011. In contention for his first Challenge Tour win at a tournament in Denmark, Denison three-putted the last green when the chips were down.

“I didn’t know what position I was in coming down the stretch,” he recalls of his summer win. “It was the first event I’d been at where there were no leaderboards on the course.

“The only thing to tell us where we were was a few guys coming to watch our group.

“I had a 35-footer, a bit of a snake, on the 18th and I thought I’ve got to give this a chance because I didn’t know if I needed it or not.

“I missed that, and missed the putt coming back, so I was fuming coming off the green, but it was a relief to discover it was enough to win.”

Some may hear that story and think he was overcome by nerves, while others may look upon Denison as being brave enough in the first instance to blindly go for the initial putt from such a distance.

It shows he is a man willing to grasp his opportunities.

He was just as brave before the accident, putting his name at the side of such golfing greats as Jose Maria Olazabal and Sir Nick Faldo on the practice days of his only Open appearance in 2006 at Hoylake, when he was still an amateur.

“Playing with Olazabal is something I’ll never forget,” he says.

Denison will always carry his memories around. He will never forget the hard work that has got him this far.