Four of the hardier Ballbashers – Alan, Bill, MikeS and myself were confronted by a very chilly easterly when gathering outside the Pro’s shop at Temple today for the latest round in the aptly named Frostbite League. None of us could think of a valid medical reason for not playing so off we went.
The balls fell so that MikeS and Bill were partnered playing against Alan and myself. It was the first golf outing for Alan following his double cataract surgery so it was not surprising that he took a little time getting used to the new colourful surroundings and, in particular, the aged looks of his playing partners and so he started with a run of 3 blobs followed by a couple of single pointers.
Bill was not faring much better and so it was left to Mike and I to exchange blows. The 8th and 9th holes were closed for irrigation work so the 7th was the last hole on the front 9 and Alan and I arrived on the 7th tee with a 1 point lead. Out of the blue, Bill chose this hole to score a very solid 5 for 3 points against which Alan and I could only muster 2 and so the front 7 was halved on 14 points each.
Alan had now clearly calibrated his new vision equipment as he started the back 9 by scoring 10 points in the first 4 holes singlehandedly fighting the combined efforts of Mike and Bill who scored 10 points between them. I am not claiming it as an excuse but I had fallen base over apex over an invisible string placed about 12 inches off the ground alongside the 12th tee where they are mending the steps – although I fell on the grass bank I have a very sore knee as a result. The fact that I only contributed one point to our team score on the back 9 was however rather more due to Alan playing very well and some poor shots by myself and he managed to get us into a 1 point lead as we stood on the 17th tee.
This time it was Mike who scored a very professional 5 for 3 points despite a somewhat wayward drive, against which Alan and I could only score 1 point so, as we stood on the 18th tee, they were in a 1 point lead on the back 9 and overall.
When we first set off, we had seen that the pin on the 18th green was right back in the far-right corner which makes it even more difficult to gauge where a (hopefully) second shot has come to rest on the green with respect to the pin. We had all driven quite well but Mike and Bill’s second shots were short of the green and both Alan and mine had gone onto the green somewhere so our team’s morale rose. When we reached the green Alan’s ball was nowhere to be seen and mine was about 20 yards or so from the hole.
Mike slightly shanked his next shot and ran off to the lower right side of the green. Bill played a decent chip to about 8 feet from the hole. Alan then discovered his ball just off the green about 9 feet from the pin from where he chipped stone dead for a par. I added another par which was not particularly useful and then Mike totally unusually 3-putted for 1 point. So as stood, Alan and I had restored our 1 point lead.
At this point up stepped the Man from Hawaii and he calmly rammed his 8-footer into the cup for 3 points and victory by 1 point for Mike and himself. Ass had been well and truly kicked by 35 points to 34.
PeterR joined us in the clubhouse where we spent lunch talking about the “joys” of flying these days despite the encouraging drop in accidents such as this week’s one in Toronto.
Scores were:
MikeS and Bill 14 + 21 = 35
Alan and Richard 14 + 20 = 34
For the Frostbite League:
Mike (29), Richard (27), Alan (25) and Bill (22).
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