Another great game in the Ashley Tankard Series saw a runaway victory by MikeS and Alan. Luckily for the 4-ball that I was in, we were completely unaware of how well they were doing and instead enjoyed a very close match between us.

The balls had been thrown and JohnH and MikeW who were sharing a buggy were also partners and they were playing with Ashley and myself. The other 4-ball comprised MikeS playing with Alan and Robert M playing with RobA.

Our 4-ball were due to go off first because we had the fast buggy riders in our midst but when I came to get my driver out of the bag I realised that I had left it in the car because I had been using it as a measuring stick for boot space in a car I had been test driving. So as I disappeared back to the car park, we were relegated to second off and then had to spend the next 18 holes watching the 4-ball in front emerging from all sorts of unlikely places on the course. Robert started the day with injuries consistent with having been dragged through a hawthorn bush multiple times – luckily he did n’t reveal what he looked like after the game.

Ashley and I got off to a terrible start with just 3 points after 3 holes while MikeW and JohnH had racked up 8. We halved the next 2 holes and then Ashley scored 4 points on the 6th and they suddenly dropped any pretence of fake concern for our welfare and fired up the normal barrage of helpful comments. Giving as good as we got, Ashley carried on the comeback with his 3 points on the 7th and mine on the 9th we managed to draw level on 19 points each (nowhere near what MikeS and Alan had scored but we were blissfully ignorant of that.

At this point I have to mention that, while my putting had been miles adrift, I had been driving the ball a long way straight down the middle. I’ve no idea why this was happening but I did enjoy it. And on the 10th, with a smidgeon of wind assistance, I managed to drive the ball into the bomb crater about 8 feet from the pin. Ok it took me 3 putts form there but that’s the first time I have achieved that distance for at least 10 years.

Later on I managed to drive the ball through the group in front on the 14th which they recognised in the time-honoured fashion of balancing my ball on top of a tee-peg. I felt obliged to lift my ball off the peg which gave MikeW the opportunity to reach the real depths by claiming that touching the ball on the fairway was illegal and I should be penalised. Given that I put my next shot straight into the bunker beside the green, I felt that I was penalised enough and ignored his mithering.

The intense competition was still raging between us and Ashley and I arrived on the 18th tee with a 1 shot lead. We all drove well and so it came down to the chip and the putt. Mike secured their 3 points but then had to watch as I sunk my first long-range putt of the day for a birdie and 4 points. Ashley and I thereby ended up with 40 points to Mike and John’s 38.

Over a cup of tea and a mountain of tea-cakes we found out that MikeS (37 points) and Alan (40! points) had scored a better ball 24 + 24 = 48 points and the two Roberts had 38. MikeS had also won two of the NPin2 prizes and RobertM had won the 3rd.

Ashley then presented the winners with a bag each of goodies from the Italian Continental which they took home to present to their General Managers who they knew would be a tad more excited than they normally are when seeing the Sand Bucket coming through the front door.

A fun day played in excellent golfing weather with everybody happy about something.