Well, that's the summer season over. I've played virtually every weeekend competition, won the Challenge Cup and come down by 10 from 24 to 14; Julie has played all year, got her handicap, reduced it from 36 to 31 and we have a fine silver plated candelabrum on the sideboard to prove it. Peter has played for the junior team, representing them at two of the finest courses in the midlands. I've played with some extremely nice blokes, had some good arguments, learnt a huge amount about the game and how it is played, thoroughly immersed myself in golf. That was the summer that was.
Saturday was the traditional season closer, the Turkey Medal. The prizes were not of money or pro shop vouchers but of meat vouchers for the local butcher, including the top prize of a Christmas turkey. Well, didn't really get close. Actually really a long, long way away from close. If you must know, I shot 95 for 95th place... Peter played too and had a nightmare of 107 for 99th. We were both just above the N/R's. Conditions were foul, but that's no excuse. Rubbish.
Needless to say, played again on Sunday, just nine holes and was under par. That's golf, I suppose. Julie had another birdie. That's three in the last couple of weeks, after not having had one before.
Before that, I was in the team for the Alliance match at Wollaton Park. That was interesting - Wollaton is a Nottinghamshire stately home, and the course runs through the deer park. I'd never played there before, but Peter had and told me that you get quite close to the deer. He wasn't kidding! The deer are rutting, and several times we had to wait for the stags to stop bellowing at each other and get off the fairway. It's the only course I've played where there is a local rule that you can ment hoofprints on the greens. Tee to green I played single figure golf. Hit every fairway apart from one and was great. On the greens I was rubbish. 33 points anyway, should have been 36 or 37, but there are lots of should haves in golf.
Bring on the winter. I probably won't post as often through the winter, as the competitions are more casual and none are 'qualifiers'. Hope you have enjoyed reading it so far.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Monday, 19 October 2009
Madness at 4am
Next Saturday sees the last competition of the summer, the Turkey Medal. That means that the following week, October 31st, is the start of the winter comps. Now, the way it works at our club is that a member may put his name down along with four others in a time slot, which becomes that team's slot all the way through the winter. There are, therefore, only about 40 slots available and up to 200 people wanting a game...and booking opened at 5am last Saturday
Our designated 'slotter', Eddie, was down there at 4.15am, and got ticket number 15. People had been there since 2.30! By 6am the feeding frenzy was over and all the good slots had gone. And our start time? All the way through the winter? 7.56! In the bleedin' morning! I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Had a bit of a weird weekend of meeting people and making connections. When I was a teenager we were all bikers, and we all went to the same parties, listened to the same sort of music, had long hair and all that. Last Tuesday I went to a seminar on internet marketing given by Absolute Design in Nottingham, and very good it was too. With an hour to kill beforehand I dropped into a local pub and happened to meet a couple of old friends from that time. All a bit sad really - one had clearly had long term alcohol problems and was frankly a bit of a mess, and the other, despite being the one among us who was most likely to succeed, being a self-employed electrician by the time he was 19, had had a breakdown 20 years ago and hadn't worked since. Shame. Anyway, not to dwell.
Saturday, I played with the Anderson brothers Colin and Gareth. Really enjoyed the round, and it turned out that Colin had been in the year below me at school, and not only that but he lived next door to the house where we had the best parties and had been to a few, so we must have met many times without realising it. The golf was out of the window a bit while we er, expressed our opinions about our schoolmates. Hope nobody was listening. Shows me up for a pompous ass for my previous comments about swearing. Colin also knew the characters I'd met in the pub. Not only that, but Julie and I played in the mixed comp Sunday, and John, last year's captain and in the pair we were playing with, turned out to know another of the lads from that time, Gino, who now is also a golfer and plays for Cotgrave. Small world.
And we were second in the mixed comp! TWO big tins of Quality St and two bottles of wine! Hoorah!
Our designated 'slotter', Eddie, was down there at 4.15am, and got ticket number 15. People had been there since 2.30! By 6am the feeding frenzy was over and all the good slots had gone. And our start time? All the way through the winter? 7.56! In the bleedin' morning! I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Had a bit of a weird weekend of meeting people and making connections. When I was a teenager we were all bikers, and we all went to the same parties, listened to the same sort of music, had long hair and all that. Last Tuesday I went to a seminar on internet marketing given by Absolute Design in Nottingham, and very good it was too. With an hour to kill beforehand I dropped into a local pub and happened to meet a couple of old friends from that time. All a bit sad really - one had clearly had long term alcohol problems and was frankly a bit of a mess, and the other, despite being the one among us who was most likely to succeed, being a self-employed electrician by the time he was 19, had had a breakdown 20 years ago and hadn't worked since. Shame. Anyway, not to dwell.
Saturday, I played with the Anderson brothers Colin and Gareth. Really enjoyed the round, and it turned out that Colin had been in the year below me at school, and not only that but he lived next door to the house where we had the best parties and had been to a few, so we must have met many times without realising it. The golf was out of the window a bit while we er, expressed our opinions about our schoolmates. Hope nobody was listening. Shows me up for a pompous ass for my previous comments about swearing. Colin also knew the characters I'd met in the pub. Not only that, but Julie and I played in the mixed comp Sunday, and John, last year's captain and in the pair we were playing with, turned out to know another of the lads from that time, Gino, who now is also a golfer and plays for Cotgrave. Small world.
And we were second in the mixed comp! TWO big tins of Quality St and two bottles of wine! Hoorah!
Monday, 12 October 2009
Another 'almost' round, wanton vadalism, and a milestone
Saturday was the final round in the club Millennium Medal, where you take the best three of five medal rounds. After four rounds I was lying sixth with 238, so I wanted a solid round, ideally a couple under, just to cement that position and hold off any challengers. I would have needed a great round to move up the leaderboard, so just wanted level or a couple under so someone else would have to have a great round to knock me off. And it oh so nearly was. TWO over GROSS for the front nine......................apart from the 7th, where I had an 8! In the hedge and lost, followed by in the hedge and unplayable. Although I parred the 8th and 9th, my mojo had gone at that point - 45 on the back nine wasn't too bad - two pars and two double bogeys, but 86 for a net 72 not as good as it should have been.
One really disappointing thing was the vandalism that again we have had on the course. The course is bounded on two sides by housing, with a school, cricket field and roads on the other two, and we do have trouble from time to time with teenagers coming on the course. They run out and steal balls etc and very occasionally it goes a bit further. Not usually a big deal - kids etc flexing their muscles a bit. The last couple of weeks have been something else though - tee boards have been smashed up, some benches have been smashed, 150 yard posts stolen and a couple stuck into one of the greens. Some of the lady members verbally abused. Friday night, things really went bad, with about 25% of the third green completely dug up and the pieces thrown into one of the bunkers. A right mess. Completely unplayable. We had to play on a temporary green, which we very very rarely have to do. I don't know what the police plan to do, or how they will try and catch the people responsible. A golf course is inevitably very vulnerable, and if people are determined to cause trouble there's not much we can do, short of standing in the undergrowth with a baseball bat ;). If it was youngsters, it just makes you despair. Mischief is one thing, but destruction is another entirely. I blame the parents.
Anyway, played with Julie on Sunday, and she hit a new milestone - her first birdie! Very nearly an eagle, actually, the ball bounced into the hole on her approach to the 5th and out again. We agreed that a birdie is worth more than an eagle, because a birdie is skill, an eagle is usually just a fluke! She was naturally delighted.
One really disappointing thing was the vandalism that again we have had on the course. The course is bounded on two sides by housing, with a school, cricket field and roads on the other two, and we do have trouble from time to time with teenagers coming on the course. They run out and steal balls etc and very occasionally it goes a bit further. Not usually a big deal - kids etc flexing their muscles a bit. The last couple of weeks have been something else though - tee boards have been smashed up, some benches have been smashed, 150 yard posts stolen and a couple stuck into one of the greens. Some of the lady members verbally abused. Friday night, things really went bad, with about 25% of the third green completely dug up and the pieces thrown into one of the bunkers. A right mess. Completely unplayable. We had to play on a temporary green, which we very very rarely have to do. I don't know what the police plan to do, or how they will try and catch the people responsible. A golf course is inevitably very vulnerable, and if people are determined to cause trouble there's not much we can do, short of standing in the undergrowth with a baseball bat ;). If it was youngsters, it just makes you despair. Mischief is one thing, but destruction is another entirely. I blame the parents.
Anyway, played with Julie on Sunday, and she hit a new milestone - her first birdie! Very nearly an eagle, actually, the ball bounced into the hole on her approach to the 5th and out again. We agreed that a birdie is worth more than an eagle, because a birdie is skill, an eagle is usually just a fluke! She was naturally delighted.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Golf, watching golf, women and Society Golf
Saturday was a pairs competition. Betterball Stableford full handicap. We scored 33 points, and I scored on 15 of the 18 holes. That's all I'm saying...
Sunday, went along to watch Peter play at Hollinwell. This is one of the treats of the year for the juniors. He's already played Sherwood Forest, another fabulous course, and now the Nottinghamshire Golf Club, a wonderful heathland track. He played a very pleasant young man called Lewis, 12 year old 19 handicapper, chatty, interested and keen to play good golf. He was telling me that he had been on a Lee Westwood Academy day and ended up winning a new Ping G15 driver, a putter to go with it and a round with Lee himself at Lindrick. What a great prize! He's had the round - I asked him what Lee was like and he said 'oh, he was really nice. If he thought I was doing something wrong he showed me the right way and explained what he would do in the same situation'. I don't know if he saw my jaw drop! You couldn't buy that, could you? Lee apparently is hugely committed to junior development and good for him.
Now, Hollinwell is one of those places that has a er, traditional approach, as far as the women/men thing is concerned. Women are apparently not even allowed on the premises before 2pm on a Saturday, and there are three bars, one for men, one mixed and one for women. There are actually four, there's an extra little one inside the men's visitors changing room! Rumour has it that a path was diverted so that men wouldn't have to see women walking past on their way to the Ladies changing rooms. I had a free and frank discussion on the subject with a chap in the men's bar. He seemed to think that the 'men's bar' was justified, and indeed that juniors shouldn't be allowed into men's competitions, on the basis that after a week at work, men should be allowed to 'express themselves freely'. I suggested that we should do away with the men's bar and replace it with a 'swearing bar' but that didn't go down well. Isn't it odd that the approach is that the men want to swear, so ladies and juniors should be barred? It never seems to cross the mind that it might be more appropriate, if it's an issue at all, that a swearing ban be put in place so that everyone can enjoy their golf together, but let's not get silly, eh? The argument ranged freely around other issues including dress code, but let's not go there.
One other thing. Hollinwell is so posh that the local Porsche dealership leaves examples of the latest models in the car park. All very nice, and the lads were drooling over the cars, but they missed the best car in the place - an immaculate, beautiful 1964 Aston Martin DB5. Mmmmmmm.
Monday was The East Midlands Packaging Society golf day at Kedleston Park. I chair the Society, so I had the usual job of herding cats to get people onto the tee, back into the bar, then getting on my hind legs to make a speech and thank everyone. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the sun shone, but the weather was fantastic for golf, not a breath of wind. The staff at Kedleston looked after us really well and the meal in the evening was excellent.
I hope everyone enjoyed the day. For the record, the winner of the Norcros Trophy and owner of bragging rights for the next year was Mike Young. Outside the main prizes, we also awarded a 'Longest Driver' award to Steve Fletcher of Manor Bakeries, for coming back (from the Wirral!) after last year's disappointment when the host course put us on temporary greens (a horrible thing, as any golfer will tell you) and having enough confidence in us to bring a group of colleagues; a 'Violence to Local Wildlife' award to Polly Wells for hitting a duck on the lake hole, and a 'Mental Focus' prize to Malcolm Clipson for losing not only his glasses but also a hearing aid. His prize was a bottle of wine, which he forgot.
Sunday, went along to watch Peter play at Hollinwell. This is one of the treats of the year for the juniors. He's already played Sherwood Forest, another fabulous course, and now the Nottinghamshire Golf Club, a wonderful heathland track. He played a very pleasant young man called Lewis, 12 year old 19 handicapper, chatty, interested and keen to play good golf. He was telling me that he had been on a Lee Westwood Academy day and ended up winning a new Ping G15 driver, a putter to go with it and a round with Lee himself at Lindrick. What a great prize! He's had the round - I asked him what Lee was like and he said 'oh, he was really nice. If he thought I was doing something wrong he showed me the right way and explained what he would do in the same situation'. I don't know if he saw my jaw drop! You couldn't buy that, could you? Lee apparently is hugely committed to junior development and good for him.
Now, Hollinwell is one of those places that has a er, traditional approach, as far as the women/men thing is concerned. Women are apparently not even allowed on the premises before 2pm on a Saturday, and there are three bars, one for men, one mixed and one for women. There are actually four, there's an extra little one inside the men's visitors changing room! Rumour has it that a path was diverted so that men wouldn't have to see women walking past on their way to the Ladies changing rooms. I had a free and frank discussion on the subject with a chap in the men's bar. He seemed to think that the 'men's bar' was justified, and indeed that juniors shouldn't be allowed into men's competitions, on the basis that after a week at work, men should be allowed to 'express themselves freely'. I suggested that we should do away with the men's bar and replace it with a 'swearing bar' but that didn't go down well. Isn't it odd that the approach is that the men want to swear, so ladies and juniors should be barred? It never seems to cross the mind that it might be more appropriate, if it's an issue at all, that a swearing ban be put in place so that everyone can enjoy their golf together, but let's not get silly, eh? The argument ranged freely around other issues including dress code, but let's not go there.
One other thing. Hollinwell is so posh that the local Porsche dealership leaves examples of the latest models in the car park. All very nice, and the lads were drooling over the cars, but they missed the best car in the place - an immaculate, beautiful 1964 Aston Martin DB5. Mmmmmmm.
Monday was The East Midlands Packaging Society golf day at Kedleston Park. I chair the Society, so I had the usual job of herding cats to get people onto the tee, back into the bar, then getting on my hind legs to make a speech and thank everyone. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the sun shone, but the weather was fantastic for golf, not a breath of wind. The staff at Kedleston looked after us really well and the meal in the evening was excellent.
I hope everyone enjoyed the day. For the record, the winner of the Norcros Trophy and owner of bragging rights for the next year was Mike Young. Outside the main prizes, we also awarded a 'Longest Driver' award to Steve Fletcher of Manor Bakeries, for coming back (from the Wirral!) after last year's disappointment when the host course put us on temporary greens (a horrible thing, as any golfer will tell you) and having enough confidence in us to bring a group of colleagues; a 'Violence to Local Wildlife' award to Polly Wells for hitting a duck on the lake hole, and a 'Mental Focus' prize to Malcolm Clipson for losing not only his glasses but also a hearing aid. His prize was a bottle of wine, which he forgot.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Playing for the team, and an 'almost' round
Getting towards the end of the season now, so we're looking forward to the winter golf comps. I'm going to be playing with Roy, Eddie and son Peter again, so after my first full year of Saturday comps it will be nice to be a bit more relaxed about the game, I hope.
Last Wednesday I played my first game for the club, as part of the Notts Alliance. The Alliance has been going for over 100 years, and provides an opportunity for club players to compete among themselves and with professionals at courses around the county. It's limited to 16 handicap players or better, and you can be drawn to play alongside professionals from many Nottinghamshire clubs. Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson, to name but two, have played in Aliance games. We played at Retford, a brute of a course off the back pots. Well, probably not so bad if you can hit the ball straight. It has some interesting tee shots though, through mature woodland, over hills, 270º doglegs and all. I felt as though I played OK, I parred all the par 3 holes, even the 219 yard one and the 180 yard off a precipice! Very easy to get in lots of trouble though, and I had an odd round of 3-pointers and blobs, ending up with 25 points. Normally that would be a disaster, but I discovered that apart from Tim Newham, our pro, I was joint top scorer. I even ended up level with one or two of the pros (OK, taking into account the extra 12 shots I got!). Tim won the entire event with 38 points, well done to him, but we ended up third from last in the team standings.
On Saturday, I almost had a fantastic round. 5 over for fifteen holes. What a shame there are 18 on the course. Two doubles and a TRIPLE pushed me to a gross 83, nett 69 and 23rd place. Still good, but could have been so much better. A poor approach on the 13th and a wayward tee shot on the 14th cost me four shots between them, and they were pretty much the only bad shots I played all day. Shame. Lost the 0.3 on my handicap to take me down to 14.0. I don't think there are enough games left this season to go up even if I have a shocking run in, so I'm likely to be 14 for the winter. Not that I'm complaining - if you'd told me when I started writing this that I would be down from 24 to 14 I would, as football managers say, have taken that.
Last Wednesday I played my first game for the club, as part of the Notts Alliance. The Alliance has been going for over 100 years, and provides an opportunity for club players to compete among themselves and with professionals at courses around the county. It's limited to 16 handicap players or better, and you can be drawn to play alongside professionals from many Nottinghamshire clubs. Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson, to name but two, have played in Aliance games. We played at Retford, a brute of a course off the back pots. Well, probably not so bad if you can hit the ball straight. It has some interesting tee shots though, through mature woodland, over hills, 270º doglegs and all. I felt as though I played OK, I parred all the par 3 holes, even the 219 yard one and the 180 yard off a precipice! Very easy to get in lots of trouble though, and I had an odd round of 3-pointers and blobs, ending up with 25 points. Normally that would be a disaster, but I discovered that apart from Tim Newham, our pro, I was joint top scorer. I even ended up level with one or two of the pros (OK, taking into account the extra 12 shots I got!). Tim won the entire event with 38 points, well done to him, but we ended up third from last in the team standings.
On Saturday, I almost had a fantastic round. 5 over for fifteen holes. What a shame there are 18 on the course. Two doubles and a TRIPLE pushed me to a gross 83, nett 69 and 23rd place. Still good, but could have been so much better. A poor approach on the 13th and a wayward tee shot on the 14th cost me four shots between them, and they were pretty much the only bad shots I played all day. Shame. Lost the 0.3 on my handicap to take me down to 14.0. I don't think there are enough games left this season to go up even if I have a shocking run in, so I'm likely to be 14 for the winter. Not that I'm complaining - if you'd told me when I started writing this that I would be down from 24 to 14 I would, as football managers say, have taken that.
Monday, 21 September 2009
FINALS DAY....Gold letters?
Well, what a weekend, building up to Sunday's Finals Day, where I was through to the final of the big singles matchplay competition, the Challenge Cup.
As I mentioned last time, I played in Gary Disney's Breast Cancer charity day, this year being played for the third time in memory of his wife Anita. Really enjoyed the day and went up for the presentation in the evening. Delighted and astonished to discover that the day had raised over £20,000. A fantastic effort, and Gary, his family and the people who helped out with organisation, food, sponsorship and everything else should be very proud of their achievement. Some fantastic pink outfits out there too, and Gary Brown is not only a fine swimming coach, he swings a great mic as a charity auction MC too!
That was Friday. I chose not to play on Saturday, didn't want to use up all my good shots before the final. We ended up going into Nottingham for a look at the Nottingham Food and Drink Festival. I had a fantastic sausage cob...
OK - the big day. Up at SIX am for a tee time at eight. Got up to the club bright an early ready for the Englishman's traditional prep of a few swishes with a six iron and a bacon sandwich. Distressed to find that the kitchen didn't open until 7.30. Peter was acting as caddie, and had diligently been up at 6.15 making sustaining sandwiches for the round. He took his duties very seriously all day and was great, encouraging when I hit some bad ones and giving me a bit of advice when my swing wasn't working as well as it should. Never has a man had such well-polished grooves, either! What a star.
Tony Beech and I had a great scrap all the way round - twice! The final of the Challenge Cup was contested over 36 holes of match play. Hardly any holes were halved - we took turns in making a mess of our shots, but with neither of us giving way we were both playing well under handicap (probably). All square after the first 18, soup and a sandwich, and back out at 1.30 for the second round. I had no rhythm at all at first, and after six holes I was four down and Tony was cruising to an early, easy victory. Seven to 11, though, I turned into Tiger Woods - in the zone! Hit the middle of the green and won 7,8,9 and 11 to get back to all square. We halved the 12th, which I was disappointed with. I hit a wayward approach into the fringe of the green when I should have been close and three putted for a six. Tony then birdied the par-5 13th to go one-up and I knew I was in trouble as he was receiving shots on the 14th and 16th. He duly won the 14th (2-up), I won the 15th but he took the 16th to go to the 17th dormie.
If the match had a turning point it was Tony's chip on the 17th. I had hit a good rescue wood to about 10 feet from the pin, but anyone who knows our 17th will know that you can easily three putt from there. Tony was up on the bank at the back of the green, with a difficult chip down. He hit it very very nearly perfectly, but it just hung up literally 2 inches from running down to the hole. He was then putting down onto the green for three, down in five and we were going up the 18th dormie one. I hit a shocker, in the rough on the right but blocked from the green by a big tree. Tony had gone with an iron from the tee and left himself a shot from a downhill lie across the valley. Unfortunately he found a tree on the left and he had to take a penalty drop, from where he hit a good chip to about 8 feet. I hit my second into a greenside bunker, and then hit the bunker shot into the OTHER greenside bunker. Had to really fight down the sense of having blown it and calm down. I hit the bunker shot of my life to a foot from the pin. Tony missed his eight footer but got the return and I was able to hole my putt to send us down the extra hole all square.
So there we were, all square after 36 holes. I think we were both mentally and physically exhausted by now. We both hit our drives right, but I got luckier than Tony as my drive popped through the tree line onto the practice ground beyond. We both put our seconds down close to the front of the green. I was feeling pretty unconquerable, actually. I was sure the momentum was with me after the last couple of holes. Tony chipped first, to 10 feet or so. I got a little beauty off, it rolled all around the green and ended up lipping out, rolling on to 18 inches. Tony missed the putt, leaving me the 18 incher for the match. 18 inches and about a mile and a half. I had to really force myself away from all thoughts of the win and just see it as a golf shot. It was very, very hard to do, but I just went through the routine and knocked it in for the match.
Oh yes!
To the casual reader, this may all seem a very small thing, but I have worked really hard all year on my golf - I've put hundreds of hours into practice and play. I'm not talented, beyond a basic ability to 'play games' but I wanted to see how well I could do at this frustrating, wonderful sport. I've come down by ten on handicap, won a few quid on the way in competition and met some great people. It was important to me that I put the cap on it with a mention on one of the honours boards, and for it to be the Challenge Cup, arguably the biggest prize in the club (I know the winner of the Scratch Cup might disagree, but that's just one day!) just makes it better.
Wonder what next week's comp is?
As I mentioned last time, I played in Gary Disney's Breast Cancer charity day, this year being played for the third time in memory of his wife Anita. Really enjoyed the day and went up for the presentation in the evening. Delighted and astonished to discover that the day had raised over £20,000. A fantastic effort, and Gary, his family and the people who helped out with organisation, food, sponsorship and everything else should be very proud of their achievement. Some fantastic pink outfits out there too, and Gary Brown is not only a fine swimming coach, he swings a great mic as a charity auction MC too!
That was Friday. I chose not to play on Saturday, didn't want to use up all my good shots before the final. We ended up going into Nottingham for a look at the Nottingham Food and Drink Festival. I had a fantastic sausage cob...
OK - the big day. Up at SIX am for a tee time at eight. Got up to the club bright an early ready for the Englishman's traditional prep of a few swishes with a six iron and a bacon sandwich. Distressed to find that the kitchen didn't open until 7.30. Peter was acting as caddie, and had diligently been up at 6.15 making sustaining sandwiches for the round. He took his duties very seriously all day and was great, encouraging when I hit some bad ones and giving me a bit of advice when my swing wasn't working as well as it should. Never has a man had such well-polished grooves, either! What a star.
Tony Beech and I had a great scrap all the way round - twice! The final of the Challenge Cup was contested over 36 holes of match play. Hardly any holes were halved - we took turns in making a mess of our shots, but with neither of us giving way we were both playing well under handicap (probably). All square after the first 18, soup and a sandwich, and back out at 1.30 for the second round. I had no rhythm at all at first, and after six holes I was four down and Tony was cruising to an early, easy victory. Seven to 11, though, I turned into Tiger Woods - in the zone! Hit the middle of the green and won 7,8,9 and 11 to get back to all square. We halved the 12th, which I was disappointed with. I hit a wayward approach into the fringe of the green when I should have been close and three putted for a six. Tony then birdied the par-5 13th to go one-up and I knew I was in trouble as he was receiving shots on the 14th and 16th. He duly won the 14th (2-up), I won the 15th but he took the 16th to go to the 17th dormie.
If the match had a turning point it was Tony's chip on the 17th. I had hit a good rescue wood to about 10 feet from the pin, but anyone who knows our 17th will know that you can easily three putt from there. Tony was up on the bank at the back of the green, with a difficult chip down. He hit it very very nearly perfectly, but it just hung up literally 2 inches from running down to the hole. He was then putting down onto the green for three, down in five and we were going up the 18th dormie one. I hit a shocker, in the rough on the right but blocked from the green by a big tree. Tony had gone with an iron from the tee and left himself a shot from a downhill lie across the valley. Unfortunately he found a tree on the left and he had to take a penalty drop, from where he hit a good chip to about 8 feet. I hit my second into a greenside bunker, and then hit the bunker shot into the OTHER greenside bunker. Had to really fight down the sense of having blown it and calm down. I hit the bunker shot of my life to a foot from the pin. Tony missed his eight footer but got the return and I was able to hole my putt to send us down the extra hole all square.
So there we were, all square after 36 holes. I think we were both mentally and physically exhausted by now. We both hit our drives right, but I got luckier than Tony as my drive popped through the tree line onto the practice ground beyond. We both put our seconds down close to the front of the green. I was feeling pretty unconquerable, actually. I was sure the momentum was with me after the last couple of holes. Tony chipped first, to 10 feet or so. I got a little beauty off, it rolled all around the green and ended up lipping out, rolling on to 18 inches. Tony missed the putt, leaving me the 18 incher for the match. 18 inches and about a mile and a half. I had to really force myself away from all thoughts of the win and just see it as a golf shot. It was very, very hard to do, but I just went through the routine and knocked it in for the match.
Oh yes!
To the casual reader, this may all seem a very small thing, but I have worked really hard all year on my golf - I've put hundreds of hours into practice and play. I'm not talented, beyond a basic ability to 'play games' but I wanted to see how well I could do at this frustrating, wonderful sport. I've come down by ten on handicap, won a few quid on the way in competition and met some great people. It was important to me that I put the cap on it with a mention on one of the honours boards, and for it to be the Challenge Cup, arguably the biggest prize in the club (I know the winner of the Scratch Cup might disagree, but that's just one day!) just makes it better.
Wonder what next week's comp is?
Sunday, 13 September 2009
FOURTEEN!!!??
Not sure I like this new policy of cutting people on general play. After being in the prizes again last week, I'm down another one. That makes TEN this year. I accept that I was overpriced during the early season, but steady on, chaps. The good news is that Tony Beech has also been cut by one, so the differential between us remains in place for next Sunday's showdown in the final of the Challenge Cup.
Played with Lee, Liam and Chris Bruce this week. I shot 89 for what is now 75 (4 over), which is not a disaster, seeing as I had two eights on the card. Pretty steady apart from that. We all had at least one birdie. Chris, a 7 handicapper, had an astonishing round. Off the tee he was either in perfect position or so far left he was occasionally nearly across two fairways. His approach shots were sheer poetry, though, and he made some great putts, including one for an outrageous birdie on the sixth after a 200 yard approach from at least fifty yards left of where he should have been over a stand of 40 foot conifers. The wheels finally came off for him on the 16th where he lost two balls. You could see what a good player he was, though.
One interesting thing from the weekend - I took the pro's offer up of having my wedges re-grooved. WOW! As long as you don't mind the cover being taken off the ball after a couple of decent wedge shots, the backspin was incredible. Our greens are hard (just up the road there's a brickworks, apparently the clay is perfect for it!) and when they are dry, there's no way you can stop the ball - but you can get pretty damn close with sharp grooves!
I'm hoping to get away this week with working in the mornings, golf in the afternoons and practicing guitar in the evenings. I'm looking forward to playing in Gary Disney's charity day on Friday. His wife very sadly died of breast cancer a couple of years ago and the very young age of 46, and Gary runs this event to raise money for breast cancer charities. This is the first chance I have had to play in the event. A lot of our members are supporting the day, and I hope it raises a good sum.
And a gig next Friday night - The Bricklayers Arms, Ruddington. Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Golf, that's what I say!
Played with Lee, Liam and Chris Bruce this week. I shot 89 for what is now 75 (4 over), which is not a disaster, seeing as I had two eights on the card. Pretty steady apart from that. We all had at least one birdie. Chris, a 7 handicapper, had an astonishing round. Off the tee he was either in perfect position or so far left he was occasionally nearly across two fairways. His approach shots were sheer poetry, though, and he made some great putts, including one for an outrageous birdie on the sixth after a 200 yard approach from at least fifty yards left of where he should have been over a stand of 40 foot conifers. The wheels finally came off for him on the 16th where he lost two balls. You could see what a good player he was, though.
One interesting thing from the weekend - I took the pro's offer up of having my wedges re-grooved. WOW! As long as you don't mind the cover being taken off the ball after a couple of decent wedge shots, the backspin was incredible. Our greens are hard (just up the road there's a brickworks, apparently the clay is perfect for it!) and when they are dry, there's no way you can stop the ball - but you can get pretty damn close with sharp grooves!
I'm hoping to get away this week with working in the mornings, golf in the afternoons and practicing guitar in the evenings. I'm looking forward to playing in Gary Disney's charity day on Friday. His wife very sadly died of breast cancer a couple of years ago and the very young age of 46, and Gary runs this event to raise money for breast cancer charities. This is the first chance I have had to play in the event. A lot of our members are supporting the day, and I hope it raises a good sum.
And a gig next Friday night - The Bricklayers Arms, Ruddington. Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Golf, that's what I say!
Monday, 7 September 2009
How to make a prat out of yourself and why oh why can't I hit a 40 yard shot!?
Didn't play in the Bogey Cup on Saturday. I was innocently swishing my club around in the garden on Wednesday when I felt a muscle twang in my shoulder. Not bad on Wednesday, bloody painful on Thursday and Friday. I thought I could probably play through it but decided that if I left myself not able to play on Sunday in the Mixed Open with the good lady wife I would probably be in trouble.
What oh what do you do on a Saturday when you aren't golfing? I moped about, didn't have a clue what to do with myself, did a bit of work, eventually went to see my dad who has Sky Sports and watched the golf on his telly. Think I'll just play through the pain from now on, Saturdays are just too boring otherwise.
Anyway, dropped Peter off at Wollaton Park GC Sunday lunchtime for his competition (The Henderson and Carlisle Trophy, a junior open) and went up to Mapperley. Made a complete fool of myself in the bar before the round. A chap walked in who I was at school with. Haven't seen him for 30 years. I greeted him with 'Didn't you used to be John Wayne?' He walked straight past me. The penny then dropped - this was Neil Walton, who looked a bit like another lad in our year called John Dwayne. So I had greeted a very distant acquaintance by asking him if he was a long dead cowboy actor. What a dick. Went and spoke to him properly, his face said 'hello mate' but his eyes were going 'what a prat'. Ho hum.
33 points in the comp. 19 on the front nine, and feeling as though we were minorly in the hunt for a prize. All fell apart on the back though. The format was Greensome, where both players tee off and then you choose one of the drives and take alternate shots thereafter. A nice format, especially for mixed comps. Our inexperience showed through though. I'm pretty good from anything over 80 yards where I can take a fullish swing, and OK around the greens, but not so hot from 40 yards away. Julie couldn't quite reach the greens with her approaches, so I had a lot of these awkward chips to play, and left her with some impossible putts. We'll learn. Out of the forty-odd couples in the comp we were about 8th or 9th, so we can't really complain. Just outside the prizes.
I did notice that Neil and his wife had 27 points - he wants to try getting off his horse.
we did have to send our eldest son Tom to pick Peter up. Now Tom's a nice lad, but not sartorially elegant, so we had warned him not to go into the clubhouse. That would have been fine if he could have found the golf course. Not quite sure how he managed it, but we think he ended up driving across the course itself (on roads, don't worry) and Peter had to climb a fence to get to him. Best not to ask, really.
What oh what do you do on a Saturday when you aren't golfing? I moped about, didn't have a clue what to do with myself, did a bit of work, eventually went to see my dad who has Sky Sports and watched the golf on his telly. Think I'll just play through the pain from now on, Saturdays are just too boring otherwise.
Anyway, dropped Peter off at Wollaton Park GC Sunday lunchtime for his competition (The Henderson and Carlisle Trophy, a junior open) and went up to Mapperley. Made a complete fool of myself in the bar before the round. A chap walked in who I was at school with. Haven't seen him for 30 years. I greeted him with 'Didn't you used to be John Wayne?' He walked straight past me. The penny then dropped - this was Neil Walton, who looked a bit like another lad in our year called John Dwayne. So I had greeted a very distant acquaintance by asking him if he was a long dead cowboy actor. What a dick. Went and spoke to him properly, his face said 'hello mate' but his eyes were going 'what a prat'. Ho hum.
33 points in the comp. 19 on the front nine, and feeling as though we were minorly in the hunt for a prize. All fell apart on the back though. The format was Greensome, where both players tee off and then you choose one of the drives and take alternate shots thereafter. A nice format, especially for mixed comps. Our inexperience showed through though. I'm pretty good from anything over 80 yards where I can take a fullish swing, and OK around the greens, but not so hot from 40 yards away. Julie couldn't quite reach the greens with her approaches, so I had a lot of these awkward chips to play, and left her with some impossible putts. We'll learn. Out of the forty-odd couples in the comp we were about 8th or 9th, so we can't really complain. Just outside the prizes.
I did notice that Neil and his wife had 27 points - he wants to try getting off his horse.
we did have to send our eldest son Tom to pick Peter up. Now Tom's a nice lad, but not sartorially elegant, so we had warned him not to go into the clubhouse. That would have been fine if he could have found the golf course. Not quite sure how he managed it, but we think he ended up driving across the course itself (on roads, don't worry) and Peter had to climb a fence to get to him. Best not to ask, really.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
You can't keep a good man down
Woo-hoo, back in the vouchers again!
Saturday was the Cyril Bradshaw trophy at Mapperley Golf Club, the only one of our 'board' competitions that can be played off full handicap whatever it happens to be. Not that that matters to me anymore, being off 16 (swank). I don't know who Cyril was, or is, but I choose to believe that he was a fine club member who played for decades without ever quite managing to get his handicap below about 24, and so endowed a trophy that he and his mates could compete for. A reminder that a golf club is about much more than the scratch boys. This year won by a 26 handicapper who shot 89 for a nett 63.
However, despite having been viciously chopped to 16, I shot 84 for a nett 68. Level with second place but fifth on countback, and cut by another one to 15!
I chair The East Midlands Packaging Society, and we have a golf day on 5th October at Kedleston Park in Derby. It's a beautiful course and a subsidised bargain at £35 for the round, prizes and a two-course meal (let me know if you want to come and play!). Obviously, in the spirit of professionalism it was important to test it out so played with my Austrian friend Christian yesterday. I shot 87, which is exactly to my new handicap. We had to come off for a thunderstorm at one point. I was playing so well I even marked the ball.
In other news, Julie played in the ladies comp on Tuesday and shot a new record for her, 102. She's only just been playing for a year, and that was good enough to see her handicap down from 35 to 31 (the rest of the ladies had struggled, so CSS was a massive 76!).
Saturday was the Cyril Bradshaw trophy at Mapperley Golf Club, the only one of our 'board' competitions that can be played off full handicap whatever it happens to be. Not that that matters to me anymore, being off 16 (swank). I don't know who Cyril was, or is, but I choose to believe that he was a fine club member who played for decades without ever quite managing to get his handicap below about 24, and so endowed a trophy that he and his mates could compete for. A reminder that a golf club is about much more than the scratch boys. This year won by a 26 handicapper who shot 89 for a nett 63.
However, despite having been viciously chopped to 16, I shot 84 for a nett 68. Level with second place but fifth on countback, and cut by another one to 15!
I chair The East Midlands Packaging Society, and we have a golf day on 5th October at Kedleston Park in Derby. It's a beautiful course and a subsidised bargain at £35 for the round, prizes and a two-course meal (let me know if you want to come and play!). Obviously, in the spirit of professionalism it was important to test it out so played with my Austrian friend Christian yesterday. I shot 87, which is exactly to my new handicap. We had to come off for a thunderstorm at one point. I was playing so well I even marked the ball.
In other news, Julie played in the ladies comp on Tuesday and shot a new record for her, 102. She's only just been playing for a year, and that was good enough to see her handicap down from 35 to 31 (the rest of the ladies had struggled, so CSS was a massive 76!).
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Into the Final!!
Played my semi-final of the club knockout competition yesterday. And WON!
Thoroughly enjoyed the game against Steve Ash, a 6-handicapper (so giving me ten shots). We were both right on our game, at the end he reckoned he had played to his handicap or just better, I was a couple under so won one-up (on the 18th, for those who don't know how match play works).
A real ding-dong battle, exactly why I love match play. He won 1, I won 2, he won 3 with a birdie, halved 4, 5, I won 6 etc, etc. Steve was 2-up after 15 but stuffed his drive into the trees on the tough dog-leg 16th (stroke index 1) when he just needed to hit a straight one. I got a shot on that hole, so I was able to keep it straight to win the hole in 5. The 17th is a 202 yard par 3 with a very difficult green, so is stroke index 5. We both took 4 so we got to the 18th all square. I tried to keep the pressure on with a straight one, and Steve went for the big one and put it into the trees. Afterwards he said it was the best match he had ever had, any mistake by either of us was punished. Points out again what hard work it is for the low handicapper with full handicap difference, he's certainly the best player I've come up against, anything from within about 150 yards was laid to within 10-15 feet and he made several really long putts and four birdies, but giving me ten shots he was really up against it.
Tony Beech in the 36 hole final on Sept 20th. I've played with Tony a couple of times and he's very similar to me - better than handicap a lot of the time but inconsistent. Should be another good game!
Thoroughly enjoyed the game against Steve Ash, a 6-handicapper (so giving me ten shots). We were both right on our game, at the end he reckoned he had played to his handicap or just better, I was a couple under so won one-up (on the 18th, for those who don't know how match play works).
A real ding-dong battle, exactly why I love match play. He won 1, I won 2, he won 3 with a birdie, halved 4, 5, I won 6 etc, etc. Steve was 2-up after 15 but stuffed his drive into the trees on the tough dog-leg 16th (stroke index 1) when he just needed to hit a straight one. I got a shot on that hole, so I was able to keep it straight to win the hole in 5. The 17th is a 202 yard par 3 with a very difficult green, so is stroke index 5. We both took 4 so we got to the 18th all square. I tried to keep the pressure on with a straight one, and Steve went for the big one and put it into the trees. Afterwards he said it was the best match he had ever had, any mistake by either of us was punished. Points out again what hard work it is for the low handicapper with full handicap difference, he's certainly the best player I've come up against, anything from within about 150 yards was laid to within 10-15 feet and he made several really long putts and four birdies, but giving me ten shots he was really up against it.
Tony Beech in the 36 hole final on Sept 20th. I've played with Tony a couple of times and he's very similar to me - better than handicap a lot of the time but inconsistent. Should be another good game!
Monday, 24 August 2009
I had a lesson and now I'm in trouble. Plus, how do you cope with offensive attitudes on the course?
Thursday, I had a lesson with our pro, the estimable Jon Newsome. Jon's a great teacher, he explains the biomechanics involved in any change he proposes, but keeps it to a level that you can implement. He isn't going to turn a 48-year-old fat bloke into a champion, but he can help me to play as well as I can.
Anyway, I'm hitting the ball well but I have developed a bit of a slice (a bit?). I had self-diagnosed an out-to-in swing path but Jon reckoned it was more to do with my grip. The teaching pro's try to avoid changing the grip too much, but my left hand was too weak (the 'v' formed by my thumb and index finger was pointing at my left shoulder rather than my right, and my right hand had become too strong to compensate). A small adjustment and hey presto, slice gone! Also, my swing path is too steep and that also tends to lead to a 'push' shot, apparently. Anyway, most of the time since then, certainly with my irons, that appears to be working well. It'll take a bit of time to settle down but I can already feel that it's the right thing to do. It's always the way, though, that you know you've taken a step forward, but it feels like two steps back. I've played 54 holes since Thursday, had a solitary birdie and parred about another half a dozen, plus lost half a dozen balls. It'll come though, it'll come.
One problem is that I'm hitting the ball further (again). I played on Saturday and ended up 'N/R'ing (no return on the competition) after I hit a ball out of bounds. Now, when I say out of bounds, what I actually did was hit a BUNKER shot from a fairway bunker, 200 - 220 yards, past the green and into a wood. With a 6-iron. Didn't blade it, hit it fair and square. The hole's a bit downhill, granted, the sand was dry, and there was a breeze behind me, but only a breeze, honest. Distance control is clearly the next challenge.
In the group I was playing in, two of the blokes got into a discussion on politics, and more specifically the politics of immigration. And not, if you know what I mean, an intellectual discourse on the mechanisms by which a modern society deals with the inevitable global shifts of population and provides a welcome to its new members. I'm really not a wet liberal, I believe that we have to find the right way from a simple resource point of view to manage immigration, but I found some of the conversation hard to stomach, and I ended up sniping which, along with the heat, fighting my new swing and the 5-hour round, made for not the most agreeable day I've had on a golf course. I suppose I should let it wash over me, I don't expect to agree with other people all the time, but sometimes it's harder than others.
Wednesday, I have my semi-final in the club knockout! Wish me luck.
Anyway, I'm hitting the ball well but I have developed a bit of a slice (a bit?). I had self-diagnosed an out-to-in swing path but Jon reckoned it was more to do with my grip. The teaching pro's try to avoid changing the grip too much, but my left hand was too weak (the 'v' formed by my thumb and index finger was pointing at my left shoulder rather than my right, and my right hand had become too strong to compensate). A small adjustment and hey presto, slice gone! Also, my swing path is too steep and that also tends to lead to a 'push' shot, apparently. Anyway, most of the time since then, certainly with my irons, that appears to be working well. It'll take a bit of time to settle down but I can already feel that it's the right thing to do. It's always the way, though, that you know you've taken a step forward, but it feels like two steps back. I've played 54 holes since Thursday, had a solitary birdie and parred about another half a dozen, plus lost half a dozen balls. It'll come though, it'll come.
One problem is that I'm hitting the ball further (again). I played on Saturday and ended up 'N/R'ing (no return on the competition) after I hit a ball out of bounds. Now, when I say out of bounds, what I actually did was hit a BUNKER shot from a fairway bunker, 200 - 220 yards, past the green and into a wood. With a 6-iron. Didn't blade it, hit it fair and square. The hole's a bit downhill, granted, the sand was dry, and there was a breeze behind me, but only a breeze, honest. Distance control is clearly the next challenge.
In the group I was playing in, two of the blokes got into a discussion on politics, and more specifically the politics of immigration. And not, if you know what I mean, an intellectual discourse on the mechanisms by which a modern society deals with the inevitable global shifts of population and provides a welcome to its new members. I'm really not a wet liberal, I believe that we have to find the right way from a simple resource point of view to manage immigration, but I found some of the conversation hard to stomach, and I ended up sniping which, along with the heat, fighting my new swing and the 5-hour round, made for not the most agreeable day I've had on a golf course. I suppose I should let it wash over me, I don't expect to agree with other people all the time, but sometimes it's harder than others.
Wednesday, I have my semi-final in the club knockout! Wish me luck.
Sunday, 16 August 2009
16 - Think I may have found my level of incompetence...
It's early days, but I'm being traumatised by my handicap. Saturday was, I submit, very windy, and a pairs Stableford, which are always more tricky, I find. Anyway, I scored 32 points, 91 shots (ish). Now I have two holes where I don't get a shot, that's two holes where I didn't damn well score. Not too disastrous, I suppose, four over nett, would have been 40 points and a prize a few weeks ago though...
Pleasant round though. My partner was Chris Sutton, so I ran out of places to hide to avoid paying him the £50 I owed him for his Mizuno 24º rescue club. I can't hit with it, but bought it for Peter. Chris looks as though he may become a victim of the recession. He's an aero engineer and tells me that the particular job he does for a major aero engine manufacturer is being outsourced. He also tells me that the company doing the work are incompetent, which is reassuring.
The other two guys we were playing with turned out to be churchgoers (actually, I think Chris is too), making me the atheist in the minority. Still made for much harmless fun teasing them for using divine intervention when their drives went suspiciously straight. When mine clearly bounced uphill on the 14th to lie behind a tree I made the point, 'divine intervention is one thing, chaps, but I didn't think you would use it to cheat'. Still, nice for God to stop worrying about all the starving people, wars and disease in the world and watch a bit of golf for a change.
Pleasant round though. My partner was Chris Sutton, so I ran out of places to hide to avoid paying him the £50 I owed him for his Mizuno 24º rescue club. I can't hit with it, but bought it for Peter. Chris looks as though he may become a victim of the recession. He's an aero engineer and tells me that the particular job he does for a major aero engine manufacturer is being outsourced. He also tells me that the company doing the work are incompetent, which is reassuring.
The other two guys we were playing with turned out to be churchgoers (actually, I think Chris is too), making me the atheist in the minority. Still made for much harmless fun teasing them for using divine intervention when their drives went suspiciously straight. When mine clearly bounced uphill on the 14th to lie behind a tree I made the point, 'divine intervention is one thing, chaps, but I didn't think you would use it to cheat'. Still, nice for God to stop worrying about all the starving people, wars and disease in the world and watch a bit of golf for a change.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
That's not a handicap, that's a disability!
15.7 for a playing handicap of 16. No vouchers for me, then...
On one hand, I'm delighted to have reached this year's 'stretch' target, with a few weeks left to the end of the season, but on the other I would have liked to have reached it on calculation rather than because the committee wants to make sure the CSS goes up a bit. I think it's right though, probably equitable as far as everyone else is concerned, and do you know what? I think 14 is still in sight...
On one hand, I'm delighted to have reached this year's 'stretch' target, with a few weeks left to the end of the season, but on the other I would have liked to have reached it on calculation rather than because the committee wants to make sure the CSS goes up a bit. I think it's right though, probably equitable as far as everyone else is concerned, and do you know what? I think 14 is still in sight...
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Anniversary golf, Sunday Driver Bargains - CSS, and they're out to get me
Saturday's golf should probably be glossed over - couldn't get any rhythm at all, ended up with 26 points. Awful round, actually made to look better than it was with some decent putting. I think I've finally got the hang of rocking the shulders rather than trying to hit the damn thing. Still can't chip, though. Anyway, 26 points was good enough for 136th place...
As I was standing disconsolately putting my score into the computer, Nick Bramley came over - 'what are your ambitions in golf, Martin?', he said. Caught off guard, I foolishly replied: 'Oh, I think I can get down to about 14, Nick. Probably not this year but maybe next'. 'Hmmm...', he said. 'It's just that we've had a number of letters into the committtee'
'Oh, yes?'
'Yes, not about you specifically, but our Category 1 players are all moaning about their handicaps going up, even though they're shooting 2 over par, and it's your fault. Not just you, but you and some others'
Turns out that CSS (Competition Scratch Score) is calculated based on how a range of players have played. I'm having a great year, and one or two other people have joined this year after a number of years out and their (lapsed) handicaps are tumbling, with the result that CSS is sometimes 68 on our fairly tough par 71 course. Handicap adjustments are made against the CSS, not the par of the course. The low-handicappers can't compete and their handicaps are all going up!
Anyway, Tuesday evening there's a handicap committee meeting, and I may find myself dropped a couple. I'll let you know. I wonder whether I've been winning too often?
Monday was our anniversary (24 years, thanks for asking) so, romantic soul that I am, I booked a Sunday driver at Abbotsley in Cambridgeshire through yourgolftravel . An absolute bargain - a round on each of their two courses, dinner, bed and breakfast for £59 each. The hotel alone would normally have been £99. Beautiful day on Sunday when we played the easier of the two courses. Still a nice round, as the trees grow and the course matures it will become a tough one. Monday we played the main course. Marred only by the Society in front of us (Legal Eagles you know who you are!). Don't mind them playing slowly, it's a Society on a Monday morning, that's fine, but I seemed to spend half my time repairing pitch marks that they had left. That's bad manners, chaps. Anyway, beautiful course, some lovely testing tee shots through trees and over little streams etc. I like courses that set you little puzzles along the way. Long course and I only had my driver out of the bag half a dozen times. Nice, and nice to have a couple of days with Julie doing what we like best.
And playing golf.
As I was standing disconsolately putting my score into the computer, Nick Bramley came over - 'what are your ambitions in golf, Martin?', he said. Caught off guard, I foolishly replied: 'Oh, I think I can get down to about 14, Nick. Probably not this year but maybe next'. 'Hmmm...', he said. 'It's just that we've had a number of letters into the committtee'
'Oh, yes?'
'Yes, not about you specifically, but our Category 1 players are all moaning about their handicaps going up, even though they're shooting 2 over par, and it's your fault. Not just you, but you and some others'
Turns out that CSS (Competition Scratch Score) is calculated based on how a range of players have played. I'm having a great year, and one or two other people have joined this year after a number of years out and their (lapsed) handicaps are tumbling, with the result that CSS is sometimes 68 on our fairly tough par 71 course. Handicap adjustments are made against the CSS, not the par of the course. The low-handicappers can't compete and their handicaps are all going up!
Anyway, Tuesday evening there's a handicap committee meeting, and I may find myself dropped a couple. I'll let you know. I wonder whether I've been winning too often?
Monday was our anniversary (24 years, thanks for asking) so, romantic soul that I am, I booked a Sunday driver at Abbotsley in Cambridgeshire through yourgolftravel . An absolute bargain - a round on each of their two courses, dinner, bed and breakfast for £59 each. The hotel alone would normally have been £99. Beautiful day on Sunday when we played the easier of the two courses. Still a nice round, as the trees grow and the course matures it will become a tough one. Monday we played the main course. Marred only by the Society in front of us (Legal Eagles you know who you are!). Don't mind them playing slowly, it's a Society on a Monday morning, that's fine, but I seemed to spend half my time repairing pitch marks that they had left. That's bad manners, chaps. Anyway, beautiful course, some lovely testing tee shots through trees and over little streams etc. I like courses that set you little puzzles along the way. Long course and I only had my driver out of the bag half a dozen times. Nice, and nice to have a couple of days with Julie doing what we like best.
And playing golf.
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Celebrity moments, juniors, rain and charity
I went along with Peter and the rest of the Mapperley junior team to Sherwood Forest last Friday. For those who don't know, Sherwood Forest is a fabulous track, renowned as one of the toughest in the area and flippin' expensive to roll up and play. Playing for the junior team of course gives them the chance to play all over the County for just the cost of dad's petrol.
Waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, we had a proper celebrity moment. I walked into the bar and thought 'that bloke over there looks like Bill Bailey', and it WAS! We had been to see him on Tuesday at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham. He was brilliant and it was nice to see him up close, so to speak. Peter is a huge fan too, so we introduced ourselves and talked about the show (briefly, wouldn't want you to think that I had disturbed the man's lunch...).
Disappointingly, only five of the eight in the team were able to make it. A variety of excuses - you can take it if someone is ill or injured at the last minute, but the lads who 'had to go to work' really should have sorted themselves out and either swapped a shift or let Alastair know earlier. We need more juniors who want to play for the team. More competition for places might make people take their commitments more seriously.
In the event, despite playing boys who were clearly superb players and being one down before we started, we made a creditable draw. Peter was playing a 13-year-old six handicapper, who clearly will go a long way in the game. On the 500 yard par 5 5th he was easily on in two with a fifteen footer for eagle. One under gross after nine, playing off the championship tees. Peter eventually won one-up, but receiving 19 shots, which is a bit banditty when he's playing well. Jonathan, our captain, was four down after four holes after his seventeen year old scratch opponent eagled the long par four second from 130 yards. He fought back to level after 13 before eventually succumbing 3 and 1.
Saturday, it chucked it down. We got as far as the 12th before we were called in. The afternoon was livened up when Jon, the pro, lost control of a buggy on a slippery slope and put it into a tree. He was fine after he jumped clear, but his trousers and the buggy's bodywork will never be the same again!
Sunday was Captain's Charity day, we will I'm sure have raised many hundreds or thousands of pounds for the Nottingham/Lincolnshire Air Ambulance. I even won a bottle of whisky in the raffle. Less said about the golf the better, to be truthful. I seem to have started pulling the ball to the left. Added to my new problem of slicing drives, and everything's looking like an out-to-in swing issue. Off to the range for me!
Monday is our anniversary. We're celebrating by going off to Abbotsley near Cambridge to try out their Sunday Driver deal. Two rounds, dinner bed and breakfast for £59 a head. Sounds a bargain, let's see...
Waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, we had a proper celebrity moment. I walked into the bar and thought 'that bloke over there looks like Bill Bailey', and it WAS! We had been to see him on Tuesday at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham. He was brilliant and it was nice to see him up close, so to speak. Peter is a huge fan too, so we introduced ourselves and talked about the show (briefly, wouldn't want you to think that I had disturbed the man's lunch...).
Disappointingly, only five of the eight in the team were able to make it. A variety of excuses - you can take it if someone is ill or injured at the last minute, but the lads who 'had to go to work' really should have sorted themselves out and either swapped a shift or let Alastair know earlier. We need more juniors who want to play for the team. More competition for places might make people take their commitments more seriously.
In the event, despite playing boys who were clearly superb players and being one down before we started, we made a creditable draw. Peter was playing a 13-year-old six handicapper, who clearly will go a long way in the game. On the 500 yard par 5 5th he was easily on in two with a fifteen footer for eagle. One under gross after nine, playing off the championship tees. Peter eventually won one-up, but receiving 19 shots, which is a bit banditty when he's playing well. Jonathan, our captain, was four down after four holes after his seventeen year old scratch opponent eagled the long par four second from 130 yards. He fought back to level after 13 before eventually succumbing 3 and 1.
Saturday, it chucked it down. We got as far as the 12th before we were called in. The afternoon was livened up when Jon, the pro, lost control of a buggy on a slippery slope and put it into a tree. He was fine after he jumped clear, but his trousers and the buggy's bodywork will never be the same again!
Sunday was Captain's Charity day, we will I'm sure have raised many hundreds or thousands of pounds for the Nottingham/Lincolnshire Air Ambulance. I even won a bottle of whisky in the raffle. Less said about the golf the better, to be truthful. I seem to have started pulling the ball to the left. Added to my new problem of slicing drives, and everything's looking like an out-to-in swing issue. Off to the range for me!
Monday is our anniversary. We're celebrating by going off to Abbotsley near Cambridge to try out their Sunday Driver deal. Two rounds, dinner bed and breakfast for £59 a head. Sounds a bargain, let's see...
Monday, 27 July 2009
Golf, bloody kids, gloves and match play
This Saturday was the greenkeepers' stableford, a 'draw for partners' betterball. I had the good fortune to be paired with Lee Jakubik, an extremely pleasant bloke, a graphic designer who works at Center Parcs, we played with Martin Shaw, an IT project manager who has just finished work on a big NHS project and Bill (didn't catch his surname), a retired plumber. I only mention their occupations because of a conversation I had this week with a friend who, despite being a professional business owner himself, still sees golf as being a stuffy, elitist pastime. I'm not suggesting that any of the people I played with are anything other than fine, upstanding men, but golf club membership is far from limited to professional types or old school tie. I'm not sure there are enough people who would fit that bill anyway in Nottingham! It does point up a problem that golf still has, that people equate it with a tweedy old fashioned attitude to life. There's probably an element of truth to it, but that also comes from the fact that it is one of the only places where people from 8 to 80 get together for a sport. It isn't a 'young' atmosphere, neither though is it especially old fashioned. I wonder whether it's time for Peter Alliss to retire - maybe a younger set of presenters on television would change the perception of the game. What a horrible thought...
I don't think either Lee or I were on our game, but we consoled ourselves with the greenkeepers' bbq on the 15th tee, we finished 12 shots off the pace.
Sunday, I played with Julie and Peter as usual. I won't say much about the round except that Peter, only just 14, is now outdriving me most of the time. I play a v.expensive Taylor Made driver, he has a block of wood on the end of a stick (OK, a Golden Bear driver, but not a great one) and is 20 yards past me. Lessons required, methinks.
I'm writing this on Monday afternoon, having skived off work today to play the quarter final of the club knockout singles. Which I WON! Through to the semis now. Pointed up again though that when I'm receiving shots, it makes life difficult for the lower handicapper. Jan Kononowicz, a 12, was the opponent today, giving me six shots. Level after 1o, then I birdied 11, parred 12 for two up, Jan got the both back after the next two holes, but then I played a good second on 15 where I wasn't receiving a shot, which left me 1 up, three to play. At Mapperly, 16 is SI 1, 17 is SI 5, so I got a shot on the next two holes which I duly won despite us being all square on both holes gross. Which spoiled the end of the match, unfortunately. With the new EGU rule that says match play is off full difference, it makes life very difficult for the low handicapper. I can quite easily have a decent round and shoot four or five under, that's much harder for a 4 or 5 handicap player to do. I'll let you know soon - next opponent is a 5 handicap...
One last thing - do you know what a golf glove does? Apparently, according to our club pro Jon, its main purpose is to make both of your hands the same size. Who knew that? Put your tanned hand up if you did.
I don't think either Lee or I were on our game, but we consoled ourselves with the greenkeepers' bbq on the 15th tee, we finished 12 shots off the pace.
Sunday, I played with Julie and Peter as usual. I won't say much about the round except that Peter, only just 14, is now outdriving me most of the time. I play a v.expensive Taylor Made driver, he has a block of wood on the end of a stick (OK, a Golden Bear driver, but not a great one) and is 20 yards past me. Lessons required, methinks.
I'm writing this on Monday afternoon, having skived off work today to play the quarter final of the club knockout singles. Which I WON! Through to the semis now. Pointed up again though that when I'm receiving shots, it makes life difficult for the lower handicapper. Jan Kononowicz, a 12, was the opponent today, giving me six shots. Level after 1o, then I birdied 11, parred 12 for two up, Jan got the both back after the next two holes, but then I played a good second on 15 where I wasn't receiving a shot, which left me 1 up, three to play. At Mapperly, 16 is SI 1, 17 is SI 5, so I got a shot on the next two holes which I duly won despite us being all square on both holes gross. Which spoiled the end of the match, unfortunately. With the new EGU rule that says match play is off full difference, it makes life very difficult for the low handicapper. I can quite easily have a decent round and shoot four or five under, that's much harder for a 4 or 5 handicap player to do. I'll let you know soon - next opponent is a 5 handicap...
One last thing - do you know what a golf glove does? Apparently, according to our club pro Jon, its main purpose is to make both of your hands the same size. Who knew that? Put your tanned hand up if you did.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Playing with the bigger boys - Voucher drought looming
Wasn't the Open brilliant? Despite the myriad tasks waiting for my attention, I spent most of the last four days when I wasn't actually on the course glued to it. It would have been brilliant if Lee Westwood could have pulled it off - is he the unluckiest golfer ever? That bunker shot he played on the 18th on Sunday was just astonishing. Once he missed the last putt and couldn't win it would have been a good story for Tom Watson to have come through, and all I can say is that Stewart Cink has no idea of a proper sporting narrative.
Thrilled as I was to reach the dizzy heights of an 18 handicap, there was an important point that I had failed to grasp, that an 18 brings me out of the calm and benign seas of Division 3, and into the clutches of the tigers of Division 2...For anyone who doesn't know, club men players are divided into (in the UK) three divisions based on handicap - Div 3 is 28 - 19, Div 2 18 - 13 and Div 1 12 and below. The Division you play in determines how quickly your handicap drops when you play well, and of course the Saturday competition prizes are divisional.
I've had a good run, I've won over £200 this year in pro shop vouchers as my handicap has been dropping, but I can see a voucher drought coming now. The wind was howling on the course on Saturday, so much so that on our 202 yard par-3 17th I was 10 yards shy with a driver, when on a still day I would take a rescue club or even a 5-iron (still chipped up and made the putt for par though!). I ended up with 90 gross for 72 nett (one over). Now, in Division 3, the windy conditions meant that 90 for 71 off a 19 handicap was good enough for 2nd place (I couldn't help noticing) and a £40 voucher, while my brave 90 off 18 was only good enough for 16th.
Off 20, I would have won the division. Off 18, I'm buying my own balls and socks again...
Thrilled as I was to reach the dizzy heights of an 18 handicap, there was an important point that I had failed to grasp, that an 18 brings me out of the calm and benign seas of Division 3, and into the clutches of the tigers of Division 2...For anyone who doesn't know, club men players are divided into (in the UK) three divisions based on handicap - Div 3 is 28 - 19, Div 2 18 - 13 and Div 1 12 and below. The Division you play in determines how quickly your handicap drops when you play well, and of course the Saturday competition prizes are divisional.
I've had a good run, I've won over £200 this year in pro shop vouchers as my handicap has been dropping, but I can see a voucher drought coming now. The wind was howling on the course on Saturday, so much so that on our 202 yard par-3 17th I was 10 yards shy with a driver, when on a still day I would take a rescue club or even a 5-iron (still chipped up and made the putt for par though!). I ended up with 90 gross for 72 nett (one over). Now, in Division 3, the windy conditions meant that 90 for 71 off a 19 handicap was good enough for 2nd place (I couldn't help noticing) and a £40 voucher, while my brave 90 off 18 was only good enough for 16th.
Off 20, I would have won the division. Off 18, I'm buying my own balls and socks again...
Monday, 13 July 2009
New Record! New Handicap!
OK, this won't impress everyone, but I shot a new record low score of 83 at Mapperley on Saturday. Striking the ball really well for a gross twelve over. I even left a couple of short putts out there, so I KNOW there's a sub-80 round in there somewhere! It was one of the club majors, the Davis cup, so we're off a maximum 18 handicap. That limited my points score to 42, and limited me to 4th place in Div3, 7th overall. If those two little ones had dropped though, I would have had my name in little gold letters on the honours board.
HOWEVER, it was enough for the powers that be to drop me to 18! 17.7, if you're really interested. The chart shows how my handicap has moved since I started playing the club competitions last year. 24 to 18 since April, that's not bad for a fat middle aged bloke, I reckon.
To be fair, if you couldn't score on Saturday, you couldn't score at all. Not a breath of wind, you could go for your shots with confidence. The greens were a bit slow, after hollow tining and top dressing on Thursday, but for all that they were running well. The key to my new ball striking is to extend through. I think I have been shortening my swing a bit and I'm consciously making sure that I am striking all the way through now. Just need to learn to get the ball to the hole now with the putter. I'm leaving too many putts five feet short. I generally make the return putt, but not every time and four or five 3-putts on a round is killing my scoring at the moment.
Sunday was the first mixed comp that Julie and I played in. Aggregate stableford, which just means that you add the two Stableford scores together. 56 points - 73 won it, so we were quite a long way off the pace. Played in a group with Anne Poxon, who I hadn't seen since 1976, when I played tennis and her two sons James and Steven were winning everything in sight. Apparently James went off to America on a tennis scholarship. Came up against Tim Henman and was beaten in three sets, put a Stanley knife through his strings and never played again. I don't know whether that's an insight into top level sport or an insight into top-drawer petulance!
Monday, 6 July 2009
Captain's Weekend - denied the clap that was rightfully mine.
This weekend was Captain's weekend, where we play a couple of sociable rounds of golf and raise money for whichever charity has been chosen by the Captain. Our 2009 Captain, Peter Adams, has selected the Air Ambulance, a fine and worthy cause and I hope we manage to raise plenty of money for them during the year. On Saturday alone we raised over £600.
A beautiful day, just a slight breeze to ruffle the trees and make a half-club decision a bit more tricky. I played with Dave, Mick and another Martin (we've got three or four, I'm used to being unique!). Dave's birthday, he was 53. He had a broken ankle a few months ago and has has a series of operations on it. My suspicion is that they have fitted some sort of spring in there - getting on for 300 yards off the tee, not bad for a short middle aged fat bloke. That said, everyone in the group hit the ball a country mile - I'm not used to being the shortest driver in the game but I was regularly 30 yards back. Must sort a lesson or two out on that.
I started off badly, entirely the fault of my wife, who gave me extra strong coffee to start the day - caffeine overload and I was pressing on every shot. Three double bogeys in the first five holes and I was starting to worry. Started to pull it round with a four on the long sixth for four points (SI 2), bogeyed 7 then parred the 8th. On our course the half-way house is after the 8th, and with it being Captain's day it was free food and drink for a contribution to the charity. I took a tactical decision and went for the glass of whisky...
...and turned into a golf god. Parred 9, 10, bogey 11, birdie 12, par 13, bogey 14, par 15, 16, double bogey the bloody hard par 3 17th, par 18th. 42 points! Net 65! The Captain and Vice Captain were waiting on the last green with beer for all.
Went home, came back (in a nice shirt) to the presentation. Five prizes in Division 3 - Fifth Prize was for 41 points, 4th prize, also 41 points....3rd prize, ALSO 41 points (this is it) 2nd prize, 43 points ...eh?
Spoke to the Competitions Sec afterwards - no, I hadn't been disqualified for anything. Turns out the computer had fallen over half way through the comp, and they had made a mistake with the cards, or lost mine or something. I'll get a voucher, probably, but I feel guilty now because they'll probably take it out of the competition fund, so potentially reducing the air ambulance fund. I could refuse it I suppose but I really fancy a new 7-wood.....
The really bad news was that the comp was a non-qualifier, so no reduction. Shame, I thought I might come down to 18 for that.
The Ladies (yes, I know, but they genuinely never refer to themselves as 'women') had a nine-hole comp that went out after the men. Julie had 19 points for second place. She's really moving up the rankings now!
Sunday was a pairs comp. I partnered my son Peter. Another beautiful day. We played against Andy Norton, another junior, nice lad, very fluid swing as all the juniors seem to have, and Paul, a little, wiry feller who had been a PT instructor in the Army and is now a personal trainer. Probably older than me and I thought aggressively and unneccessarily fit looking. Suggested quite early on in the round that I would benefit from joining his over-40's fitness club ('get some of that off'), and that I should carry my bag rather than taking a trolley. It wasn't long before I started guiltily sneaking my wine gums out of my bag instead of eating them openly. All I can say (afterwards, quietly) is that I'm taking no lessons in health and fitness from a bloke who smoked six cigars during the round...And we beat them 2&1. Had to get the calculator out at one point to make sure Peter had won a hole (3/4 of handicap difference taken from the lowest handicap), not that I'm being petty...
A beautiful day, just a slight breeze to ruffle the trees and make a half-club decision a bit more tricky. I played with Dave, Mick and another Martin (we've got three or four, I'm used to being unique!). Dave's birthday, he was 53. He had a broken ankle a few months ago and has has a series of operations on it. My suspicion is that they have fitted some sort of spring in there - getting on for 300 yards off the tee, not bad for a short middle aged fat bloke. That said, everyone in the group hit the ball a country mile - I'm not used to being the shortest driver in the game but I was regularly 30 yards back. Must sort a lesson or two out on that.
I started off badly, entirely the fault of my wife, who gave me extra strong coffee to start the day - caffeine overload and I was pressing on every shot. Three double bogeys in the first five holes and I was starting to worry. Started to pull it round with a four on the long sixth for four points (SI 2), bogeyed 7 then parred the 8th. On our course the half-way house is after the 8th, and with it being Captain's day it was free food and drink for a contribution to the charity. I took a tactical decision and went for the glass of whisky...
...and turned into a golf god. Parred 9, 10, bogey 11, birdie 12, par 13, bogey 14, par 15, 16, double bogey the bloody hard par 3 17th, par 18th. 42 points! Net 65! The Captain and Vice Captain were waiting on the last green with beer for all.
Went home, came back (in a nice shirt) to the presentation. Five prizes in Division 3 - Fifth Prize was for 41 points, 4th prize, also 41 points....3rd prize, ALSO 41 points (this is it) 2nd prize, 43 points ...eh?
Spoke to the Competitions Sec afterwards - no, I hadn't been disqualified for anything. Turns out the computer had fallen over half way through the comp, and they had made a mistake with the cards, or lost mine or something. I'll get a voucher, probably, but I feel guilty now because they'll probably take it out of the competition fund, so potentially reducing the air ambulance fund. I could refuse it I suppose but I really fancy a new 7-wood.....
The really bad news was that the comp was a non-qualifier, so no reduction. Shame, I thought I might come down to 18 for that.
The Ladies (yes, I know, but they genuinely never refer to themselves as 'women') had a nine-hole comp that went out after the men. Julie had 19 points for second place. She's really moving up the rankings now!
Sunday was a pairs comp. I partnered my son Peter. Another beautiful day. We played against Andy Norton, another junior, nice lad, very fluid swing as all the juniors seem to have, and Paul, a little, wiry feller who had been a PT instructor in the Army and is now a personal trainer. Probably older than me and I thought aggressively and unneccessarily fit looking. Suggested quite early on in the round that I would benefit from joining his over-40's fitness club ('get some of that off'), and that I should carry my bag rather than taking a trolley. It wasn't long before I started guiltily sneaking my wine gums out of my bag instead of eating them openly. All I can say (afterwards, quietly) is that I'm taking no lessons in health and fitness from a bloke who smoked six cigars during the round...And we beat them 2&1. Had to get the calculator out at one point to make sure Peter had won a hole (3/4 of handicap difference taken from the lowest handicap), not that I'm being petty...
Thursday, 2 July 2009
I've had my balls assessed
Didn't even know you could do this - I've been playing Bridgestone B330-RX balls for a little while. They are a bit like Pro-V's, but softer for an 'amateur' swing speed. Tim, one of the pro's at Mapperley, recommended them and they are great - I hit them ten yards further than the Titleist NXT I'd used before, they are soft and consistent. Nice balls.
Anyway, Matt from Bridgestone came up to the club for a few hours yesterday with a superfast camera and measured spin speed, launch angle, side spin, etc, etc with a view to suggesting the optimum ball for each player (from the Bridgestone/Precept range, natch). I was a bit worried because I have been so happy with the balls I'm using I didn't really want to hear that I was on the wrong ones, but it was OK, folks - the balls I have are the best for me! I apparently swing my driver at 96 - 98 miles an hour and get a launch angle of 15º ish at 2500 rpm. I lose about 20 yards off my perfect distance because I launch the ball a bit high, with a bit too much backspin, which is interesting because I had always thought of myself as a relatively low hitter with a driver, but not bad. On the simulator I was hitting 225 yards, which Matt said was a probable underestimate of 20%, which sounds about right to me.
In other news, I won my match earlier in the afternoon (which may explain why I took a big divot in the ball challenge...), so now through the LAST 8 in the club knockout. Come ON!
Anyway, Matt from Bridgestone came up to the club for a few hours yesterday with a superfast camera and measured spin speed, launch angle, side spin, etc, etc with a view to suggesting the optimum ball for each player (from the Bridgestone/Precept range, natch). I was a bit worried because I have been so happy with the balls I'm using I didn't really want to hear that I was on the wrong ones, but it was OK, folks - the balls I have are the best for me! I apparently swing my driver at 96 - 98 miles an hour and get a launch angle of 15º ish at 2500 rpm. I lose about 20 yards off my perfect distance because I launch the ball a bit high, with a bit too much backspin, which is interesting because I had always thought of myself as a relatively low hitter with a driver, but not bad. On the simulator I was hitting 225 yards, which Matt said was a probable underestimate of 20%, which sounds about right to me.
In other news, I won my match earlier in the afternoon (which may explain why I took a big divot in the ball challenge...), so now through the LAST 8 in the club knockout. Come ON!
Monday, 29 June 2009
What a top weekend
Look, I don't want anyone to think that I'm a golf obsessive, but...
We took an extra couple of days
off last weekend. It was our daughter Kate's graduation ceremony in Cambridge on Thursday (2.1 in Law from Gonville & Caius College, thanks for asking - what a brilliant day), then piling everything from her room into the car and coming back to Nottingham Friday morning. Once we had unloaded everything from the car that just left enough time for 16 holes Friday afternoon/evening...
Saturday was our invitational pairs comp. John, the senior pro, caught me before the round to invite me to the Bridgestone Challenge on Wednesday, where I can have my balls assessed, apparently, to see whether I am using the optimum ones. I have been using Bridgestones for a couple of months now, and without a doubt they are the best balls I have tried - I'm using the 330's Tour Performance ones (yes, yes, I know, off a 20 handicap) for 'amateur swing speeds' so I'm looking forward to seeing whether I'm using the right ones according to their computerised system.
The competition itself was a great walk round. My partner was Christian: Austrian, a 28 handicapper and I don't think he's ever played to it! Thoroughly nice bloke, though I may have learnt some Austrian swear words. Along with us on the round was Roy Maltby and his bank manager Paul, who was encyclopaedic in those little golf shot definitions. You know the ones - a Dennis Wise (nasty little five-footer), Anna Kournikova (looked great but a poor result), Kate Winslet (a bit fat but otherwise perfect), Tony Blair (too much spin), Jamie Oliver (you really want to smack it but you can't), Richard Hammond (started off straight but veered off at the end), Rock Hudson (though it was straight but you were wrong), Princess Di (shouldn't have taken the driver) etc etc. In deference to Christian we didn't employ an Adolf (two shots in a bunker).
Interesting conversation in the bar afterwards about wives and their attitudes to golf. Christian said that his wife doesn't like him playing golf, so he only plays on Saturdays. Paul's wife is so hostile to him playing that if he manages to sneak in for nine holes after work, he has to put his suit back on to go home! I offered the opinion that they both needed to introduce their wives to the great game. Mapperley ladies have worked hard to increase Ladies membership and so several 'beginners' started together with some free lessons. That way they could all learn from one another and play at the same level at first. My wife plays three times a week, with me and with her friends, and our free time is now pretty much organised around the golf club. It's great.
Sunday was the big junior open comp, the Mapperley Bull. If Peter hadn't missed a 9-inch putt on the 18th he would have won it outright, but as it was he won Division 2 and is the proud owner of a new golf bag. 94 off his 27 handicap for a nett 67. Pretty good as he was on the end of a two-night sleepover at his friend Alexander's house and was shattered.
Julie and I followed the juniors round and both had record scores - I broke 40 on the front 9 for the first time ever and Julie had a 107 gross which beats her previous best by 3. It's really nice to play together and feel as though we can both progress reasonably briskly down the course. Julie's only been playing for a year, and I know more than a couple of men who have been playing for a lot longer than that who would love to shoot 107.
So that was the weekend - Kate's graduation, 52 holes of golf for me, a maiden competition win for Peter, a record score for Julie, the two older children at Glastonbury on a pair of free tickets I won in an Oxfam competition on Twitter and I even won a tenner on the Lottery on Saturday night. Hoorah!
We took an extra couple of days
off last weekend. It was our daughter Kate's graduation ceremony in Cambridge on Thursday (2.1 in Law from Gonville & Caius College, thanks for asking - what a brilliant day), then piling everything from her room into the car and coming back to Nottingham Friday morning. Once we had unloaded everything from the car that just left enough time for 16 holes Friday afternoon/evening...Saturday was our invitational pairs comp. John, the senior pro, caught me before the round to invite me to the Bridgestone Challenge on Wednesday, where I can have my balls assessed, apparently, to see whether I am using the optimum ones. I have been using Bridgestones for a couple of months now, and without a doubt they are the best balls I have tried - I'm using the 330's Tour Performance ones (yes, yes, I know, off a 20 handicap) for 'amateur swing speeds' so I'm looking forward to seeing whether I'm using the right ones according to their computerised system.
The competition itself was a great walk round. My partner was Christian: Austrian, a 28 handicapper and I don't think he's ever played to it! Thoroughly nice bloke, though I may have learnt some Austrian swear words. Along with us on the round was Roy Maltby and his bank manager Paul, who was encyclopaedic in those little golf shot definitions. You know the ones - a Dennis Wise (nasty little five-footer), Anna Kournikova (looked great but a poor result), Kate Winslet (a bit fat but otherwise perfect), Tony Blair (too much spin), Jamie Oliver (you really want to smack it but you can't), Richard Hammond (started off straight but veered off at the end), Rock Hudson (though it was straight but you were wrong), Princess Di (shouldn't have taken the driver) etc etc. In deference to Christian we didn't employ an Adolf (two shots in a bunker).
Interesting conversation in the bar afterwards about wives and their attitudes to golf. Christian said that his wife doesn't like him playing golf, so he only plays on Saturdays. Paul's wife is so hostile to him playing that if he manages to sneak in for nine holes after work, he has to put his suit back on to go home! I offered the opinion that they both needed to introduce their wives to the great game. Mapperley ladies have worked hard to increase Ladies membership and so several 'beginners' started together with some free lessons. That way they could all learn from one another and play at the same level at first. My wife plays three times a week, with me and with her friends, and our free time is now pretty much organised around the golf club. It's great.
Sunday was the big junior open comp, the Mapperley Bull. If Peter hadn't missed a 9-inch putt on the 18th he would have won it outright, but as it was he won Division 2 and is the proud owner of a new golf bag. 94 off his 27 handicap for a nett 67. Pretty good as he was on the end of a two-night sleepover at his friend Alexander's house and was shattered.
Julie and I followed the juniors round and both had record scores - I broke 40 on the front 9 for the first time ever and Julie had a 107 gross which beats her previous best by 3. It's really nice to play together and feel as though we can both progress reasonably briskly down the course. Julie's only been playing for a year, and I know more than a couple of men who have been playing for a lot longer than that who would love to shoot 107.
So that was the weekend - Kate's graduation, 52 holes of golf for me, a maiden competition win for Peter, a record score for Julie, the two older children at Glastonbury on a pair of free tickets I won in an Oxfam competition on Twitter and I even won a tenner on the Lottery on Saturday night. Hoorah!
Monday, 22 June 2009
The weekend's golf
One of the frustrating, or possibly reassuring things about golf is that no matter what you do on a particular hole, your score for the round stays about the same. Have you noticed this? You can lose a ball on a hole and then stuff the second one into the weeds, but that is almost always balanced by an unexpected birdie later on in the round.
Saturday, I had a bit of a nightmare, or it felt like it. Birdied the first, which was great, then balanced that up with a six at the long par four second. OK, not so bad. Had a seven at the fifth (I hate downhill holes), but chipped in for a two on the eighth (brilliantly, actually, I was over the back of the green behind a bush!).
Ended up with a 91, which is level par for my 20 handicap. 43 on the front, 48 on the back. Then went out for a few holes with the good lady later on in the day and shot 43 on the front again, but with a completely different pattern of good and bad holes. Maybe this is what they mean by consistency?
Sunday, played the back nine in 42, a new record for me (our back 9 is far harder than the front). I should have played the front too, but the course was packed.
I think the issue is that when things are not going well, a rank amateur like me stops trusting his swing - you start making a smaller swing, or you keep your head 'elaborately' still, which just makes me pull left, and either way your distances are out of the window and the score goes up. That said, a poor front 9 makes me more careful on the back, and you can save a couple. Conversely, if you have a good front 9, confidence is high and you play better golf. And then again, if you have a blinding start, you go for shots that truthfully you aren't good enough to play, and that brings you back down to Earth. In any case, the 18-hole score rarely varies by more than half a dozen shots.
Still, can't complain - managed to play 40 holes over the weekend.
Even better, my daughter texted me while on the 7th to tell me she had managed to land her 2.1 in Law, from Cambridge! I was so happy I birdied the 8th!
Saturday, I had a bit of a nightmare, or it felt like it. Birdied the first, which was great, then balanced that up with a six at the long par four second. OK, not so bad. Had a seven at the fifth (I hate downhill holes), but chipped in for a two on the eighth (brilliantly, actually, I was over the back of the green behind a bush!).
Ended up with a 91, which is level par for my 20 handicap. 43 on the front, 48 on the back. Then went out for a few holes with the good lady later on in the day and shot 43 on the front again, but with a completely different pattern of good and bad holes. Maybe this is what they mean by consistency?
Sunday, played the back nine in 42, a new record for me (our back 9 is far harder than the front). I should have played the front too, but the course was packed.
I think the issue is that when things are not going well, a rank amateur like me stops trusting his swing - you start making a smaller swing, or you keep your head 'elaborately' still, which just makes me pull left, and either way your distances are out of the window and the score goes up. That said, a poor front 9 makes me more careful on the back, and you can save a couple. Conversely, if you have a good front 9, confidence is high and you play better golf. And then again, if you have a blinding start, you go for shots that truthfully you aren't good enough to play, and that brings you back down to Earth. In any case, the 18-hole score rarely varies by more than half a dozen shots.
Still, can't complain - managed to play 40 holes over the weekend.
Even better, my daughter texted me while on the 7th to tell me she had managed to land her 2.1 in Law, from Cambridge! I was so happy I birdied the 8th!
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Golf - Great exercise
I've got one of those Nokia E71 phones that does email and satnav and so on. It's great, and I found a little utility on it called Sports Tracker. In essence, you do your workout - walking, cycling etc, and the GPS in your phone allows Sports Tracker to measure how far you have gone, and then keeps a record of it. Pretty good, actually - it also records how long your routine has been, charts speed vs distance and height etc too.
As an experiment, I tried it out on my Saturday morning competition round. Mapperley is 6307 yards off the back tees, which is just over 3 and a half miles. Add on a bit for 'military' golf - you know - left, right, left right, and walking between holes and you'd probably estimate what? 4 and a half, five miles?
WRONG! - over EIGHT and a half miles, with a variation in elevation of over 80 yards, which you climb four times.
Don't let anyone ever tell you that golf isn't good exercise!
As an experiment, I tried it out on my Saturday morning competition round. Mapperley is 6307 yards off the back tees, which is just over 3 and a half miles. Add on a bit for 'military' golf - you know - left, right, left right, and walking between holes and you'd probably estimate what? 4 and a half, five miles?
WRONG! - over EIGHT and a half miles, with a variation in elevation of over 80 yards, which you climb four times.
Don't let anyone ever tell you that golf isn't good exercise!
Monday, 15 June 2009
John Daly
John Daly is following me on Twitter! How cool is that? OK, I know he's following thousands, but one of them is ME!
If you want to follow me on twitter too, I'm black_buzzer (it's OK, it's a fishing fly)
If you want to follow me on twitter too, I'm black_buzzer (it's OK, it's a fishing fly)
What's average?
I suppose I ought to define what I mean by average. Up to the beginning of last year I guess I had played about 30, 18-hole rounds of golf. I decided it was about time I did something about my 23 handicap, so started playing the competitions on a Saturday morning at Mapperley. As I have said before, it's not the easiest course, so I fairly immediately went up to 24...
The pic is our winter league team - L-R Me, Peter, Roy Maltby and Eddie Robson
At our course, we don't hold qualifiers in the winter, so I was able to play all last winter without any adjustments, and at the start of this year was averaging 92-94 for a round, off the back tees.
Hit a rash of form a month or so back and started shooting 84-85, so came down pretty immediately to 19.4. Never had a teenage handicap in my life and I'm thrilled. Short-lived though - had a bad round on Saturday and shot 94 again (two lost balls, pulled the damn things left, I never hit left!), for the extra 0.1 on the hcp, so back to 20. I WILL prevail, though, and you can read about it here!
The pic is our winter league team - L-R Me, Peter, Roy Maltby and Eddie RobsonAt our course, we don't hold qualifiers in the winter, so I was able to play all last winter without any adjustments, and at the start of this year was averaging 92-94 for a round, off the back tees.
Hit a rash of form a month or so back and started shooting 84-85, so came down pretty immediately to 19.4. Never had a teenage handicap in my life and I'm thrilled. Short-lived though - had a bad round on Saturday and shot 94 again (two lost balls, pulled the damn things left, I never hit left!), for the extra 0.1 on the hcp, so back to 20. I WILL prevail, though, and you can read about it here!
Smart Casual
Much outrage at the club over the last couple of months as the committee has changed the dress code in the clubhouse to 'smart casual'. I sort of knew it would raise eyebrows among the senior members, but in an attempt to stage a coup, the 'antis' managed to push through an Extraordinary General Meeting to debate the subject. Fortunately, through heated debate ranging as far as allowable colours of trainers, the committee developed a rear-guard action, including approaching the English Golf Union for guidance, and maintained their grip. People remain free to occasionally put a pair of jeans on to go for a drink of an evening...
For what it's worth, my opinion - Golf is its own worst enemy on this one. On the course, it's a game of modern materials, ceramics, composites and technical fibres. There probably isn't another sport outside Formula 1 where so much money is spent on product development and new ideas. I've just changed over to Bridgestone balls because they seem to fly another ten yards further compared to the Srixons I used before. Yet in the clubhouse, and I don't just mean mine, this is a general rant, there is a substantial number of people who seem to want a golf club to remain a sort of weird 1930's gentlemen's club, with the emphasis on gentlemen - there are still several courses in Nottinghamshire where women are not welcome in the bar, and how strange and backward is that?
Now, I wouldn't want to tell anyone how to run their clubs, but golf clubs have to understand that there is a huge constituency of people out there, business and professional people in their late 30's, early 40's maybe who, like me, have stopped playing squash or other more aggressive games, want to do something different, would undoubtedly love the sport of golf, but wouldn't for a second put up with the bullshit, or the perception of bullshit, that often accompanies golf clubs. The dress code is probably the prime example of that. I argued the point with one of the members on Saturday morning, and he talked about 'traditions'. I think he's wrong - what he means is 'standards', and while I would hate to throw out sensible or honourable traditions (or even daft ones, come to that), 'standards' should move with the times. A jacket and tie was 'smart casual' in the 1930's, while a pair of jeans was workwear. Now, a pair of jeans is 'smart casual', but even I wouldn't want to see people cluttering up my lovely clubhouse in dirty overalls. I look forward to taking my turn as a dinosaur!
For what it's worth, my opinion - Golf is its own worst enemy on this one. On the course, it's a game of modern materials, ceramics, composites and technical fibres. There probably isn't another sport outside Formula 1 where so much money is spent on product development and new ideas. I've just changed over to Bridgestone balls because they seem to fly another ten yards further compared to the Srixons I used before. Yet in the clubhouse, and I don't just mean mine, this is a general rant, there is a substantial number of people who seem to want a golf club to remain a sort of weird 1930's gentlemen's club, with the emphasis on gentlemen - there are still several courses in Nottinghamshire where women are not welcome in the bar, and how strange and backward is that?
Now, I wouldn't want to tell anyone how to run their clubs, but golf clubs have to understand that there is a huge constituency of people out there, business and professional people in their late 30's, early 40's maybe who, like me, have stopped playing squash or other more aggressive games, want to do something different, would undoubtedly love the sport of golf, but wouldn't for a second put up with the bullshit, or the perception of bullshit, that often accompanies golf clubs. The dress code is probably the prime example of that. I argued the point with one of the members on Saturday morning, and he talked about 'traditions'. I think he's wrong - what he means is 'standards', and while I would hate to throw out sensible or honourable traditions (or even daft ones, come to that), 'standards' should move with the times. A jacket and tie was 'smart casual' in the 1930's, while a pair of jeans was workwear. Now, a pair of jeans is 'smart casual', but even I wouldn't want to see people cluttering up my lovely clubhouse in dirty overalls. I look forward to taking my turn as a dinosaur!
Start Here
OK. Why 'one tanned hand'? Obvious if you think about it. The golf glove goes on the left hand (If you're right handed) so you get a suntanned right hand, a pallid, fish like left. Could have called it 'V-neck tan' too, but it wasn't as snappy! Would be a good name for a clothing brand, so if anybody fancies it - I want royalties!
First, some background. My brother Andrew is four years younger than me. He and I have always been a bit over competitive (OK, I have, not so much him), so we have had an unspoken agreement not to play each other's sports. He played football, I played rugby, we both played tennis, but he made it through to County coaching (I didn't, I'm not bitter...), I played squash, he played badminton and so on. He has played golf since he was about 6, and despite playing about four times in a good year, maintains a handicap of around 10, and could have been much lower. I naturally avoided golf, and heaped much scorn on the game, as was the family tradition. When I was 42, my knees went, really quite quickly, and despite a few months of physio it was clear that it was time to give up squash. I'm built like a prop forward too, so maybe it was time. To avoid playing golf, I even took up crocquet for a while. What a tedious game that is. 3 - 4 hours and you can be an hour between shots.
Then, about five years ago, a client of mine (I run an industrial marketing communciations business) asked whether I wanted to play in their company golf day. Cutting a story short, I borrowed clubs, played, was dead last but enjoyed it, played again six weeks later with the same bunch and was SECOND, and was hooked, hooked, hooked (not the shot, the obsession!).
My youngest son, Peter, who was nine at the time, wanted to join in, so he has had lessons for quite a lot of the intervening period. Now he's 14 he's starting to really develop both in terms of his skill level and also physically, so I'm expecting him to start coming down quite quickly now. He, like me, is not 'talented' - we're never going to play professionally - but it's nice to be able to play a game together. My wife Julie started last year, when the club ran taster sessions and cheap lessons to encourage lady members to join, so rather than being out-driven and depressed playing with us, she was able to make a few friends of people all in the same boat, so they could be frustrated, elated and elevated together. She was delighted to get her first handicap certificate a couple of weeks ago, and has already come second (in Division 3) in two competitions.
We're all members at Mapperley Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, a beautiful but mildly vicious sloping, hilly course with quick greens.
Hope you enjoy reading the blog. All the best, Martin
First, some background. My brother Andrew is four years younger than me. He and I have always been a bit over competitive (OK, I have, not so much him), so we have had an unspoken agreement not to play each other's sports. He played football, I played rugby, we both played tennis, but he made it through to County coaching (I didn't, I'm not bitter...), I played squash, he played badminton and so on. He has played golf since he was about 6, and despite playing about four times in a good year, maintains a handicap of around 10, and could have been much lower. I naturally avoided golf, and heaped much scorn on the game, as was the family tradition. When I was 42, my knees went, really quite quickly, and despite a few months of physio it was clear that it was time to give up squash. I'm built like a prop forward too, so maybe it was time. To avoid playing golf, I even took up crocquet for a while. What a tedious game that is. 3 - 4 hours and you can be an hour between shots.
Then, about five years ago, a client of mine (I run an industrial marketing communciations business) asked whether I wanted to play in their company golf day. Cutting a story short, I borrowed clubs, played, was dead last but enjoyed it, played again six weeks later with the same bunch and was SECOND, and was hooked, hooked, hooked (not the shot, the obsession!).
My youngest son, Peter, who was nine at the time, wanted to join in, so he has had lessons for quite a lot of the intervening period. Now he's 14 he's starting to really develop both in terms of his skill level and also physically, so I'm expecting him to start coming down quite quickly now. He, like me, is not 'talented' - we're never going to play professionally - but it's nice to be able to play a game together. My wife Julie started last year, when the club ran taster sessions and cheap lessons to encourage lady members to join, so rather than being out-driven and depressed playing with us, she was able to make a few friends of people all in the same boat, so they could be frustrated, elated and elevated together. She was delighted to get her first handicap certificate a couple of weeks ago, and has already come second (in Division 3) in two competitions.
We're all members at Mapperley Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, a beautiful but mildly vicious sloping, hilly course with quick greens.
Hope you enjoy reading the blog. All the best, Martin
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