From our correspondent:
“As the Summer League lives up its name we ventured onto the parched landscape of Temple to see just how far the golf ball will travel on hard concrete in breezy conditions. There was some confusion as to who was playing, as the availability sheet provided only a rough guess as to the participants. We were due to be six, and with the addition of Pete, who was not playing, we arrived for lunch before our tee time at 1300. We were behind a society outing of the Thames Valley Police – so best behaviour all round.
By the time we got to the first tee we seemed to have lost Rob, who has been recently suffering from an injury, as most elite athletes do from time to time. In fact he decided he really needed a buggy, and since the police had taken all but one, he would wait to see if one turned up and then join the rest of us on about the third hole. Alas that was the last we saw of Rob for the day, as the police were obviously keeping to the speed limit. Mike W and Mike S both decided to file a card in the hopes they might raise their WHS handicaps, and so they were dispatched as a twosome. The second tee off comprised Nick and myself (Peter) in the buggy, and Bill ambitiously walking with a trolley, as the temperature reached about 29deg in bright sunshine. Our three balls went in all directions off the tee, and in my case right across the 12th fairway, and a very long way. By good luck I found myself approaching the green from right angles, and making par from a long putt. The moral is never give up, and don’t be discouraged by a wild shot off the tee, so long as you can find it (see below!).
The day took another turn when after three holes Nick decided that, bearing in mind his domestic commitments to taxi grandchildren later, his complete inability to hit within 45 degrees of the intended direction, and an increasing concern about Bill’s survival in the Saharan conditions, he would terminate his round and let Bill take the spare seat in the buggy. So now we were four. Bill and I had a very good first nine, and to our surprise we caught up the two Mikes at the 10th tee. So now were a foursome. The cause of this slow speed became apparent as the Mikes had both had a terrible first nine, with Mike S having lost most of his stock of balls, and both struggling to score. It was entirely coincidental that they were putting in cards, and just a case of needing a rehydration break as do world class footballers these days.
We continued for the second nine in much the same pattern, with Bill and myself showing unusual consistency, and the Mikes trying hard to lose even more balls. Indeed Mike S was down to his last ball by the 17th. It was made worse when Bill mistakenly played Mike’s ball and was happily looking to a short chip onto the green when the error was revealed. This left Mike with his single ball, which fortunately survived until the finish.
After a lively if somewhat confusing round in near perfect conditions, the results were Peter 39, Bill 29, Mike S 27, Mike W 27. Peter & Bill won all three piles of bashcoins with team scores of 46 against 40. The two Mikes are probably happy that their WHS handicaps will increase. Success all round.”
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