From our correspondent in the winning circle:
Is there a better venue for the Ballbashers’ Sandbucket than Seaford Golf Club? I doubt it: the course is excellent and is an ideal level of difficulty for a Ballbasher competition; the location, with its stunning views of the sea and the South Downs, is beautiful; the accommodation is just right for a night away; the evening meal and hearty breakfast are first rate; the staff are always pleasant & attentive; plus, the price for all of this is extraordinarily good value. And, while it’s tempting fate to say so, every time we visit we seem to spend a lot of our playing time bathed in sunshine.
And so it was this year as 12 of us competed for the Sandbucket on this Ballbasher perfect course, with the added advantage of fairways that were running very long and a sea breeze that, on many holes, pushed the ball along even further to produce some flattering and immensely satisfying results from well hit drives & fairway woods.
With various hip, knee & other medical problems to cater for and with Stuart unable to join us on the first day Ashley was faced with the unenviable task of organising enough buggies to get us round the course in a sensible order while ensuring that the team competition worked with only 11 players attending for one of the rounds. Not easy, but his plan worked and the team games for Day 1 resulted in an excitingly close set of scores with Mike S & Nick on 38 points, Robert M & Malcolm O on 37, Pete F & Stuart on 36 (takes time to explain), Roger & Mike W also on 36, Ashley & Rob A on 33, and John S & Peter R on 25.
Quite what went on in the other groups is difficult to say but I can report that in our team Mike S played exceptionally well, scoring the vast majority of our points as a result of admirably consistent golf, with me dovetailing with him to score points on the few holes where he encountered “difficulties”.
The undoubted highlight of my round was when I managed to deposit my second shot to the 18th green two feet from one of the clubhouse’s large dining room windows, following which a somewhat bemused group of members who were happily enjoying an early evening drink on the clubhouse patio prior to my ball landing only a couple of yards from them provided some “guidance” on the local rules that allowed me the opportunity to try to hit a 40 yard sand wedge onto the green from a small patch of grass close to where they were sitting. Whether having to perform this feat right in front them was some form of punishment for endangering their clubhouse is conjectural.
Motivated by the prospect of a “full English” breakfast Stuart arrived early on Wednesday morning to ensure we had a full complement of 12 well fed Ballbashers to compete for Day 2 day of the trophy. And, in what proved to be another close contest, Pete F & Stuart and Mike S & Nick scored 41 points, John S & Peter R scored 38, Roger & Mike W scored 36, Ashley & Rob A scored 33, and Robert M & Malcolm O scored 32.
Again, I’m not sure what happened in the other groups but there was clearly a major improvement in Peter R & John S’ performances while in our group Mike W & Roger set off strongly with the clear and initially successful objective of eradicating Mike & my two point day-1 lead over them before I decided to step up to the mark resulting in a switch around of our day-1 performances as I started to clock up the points and as Mike S unerringly scored 2 or 3 points when I encountered “difficulties”.
All of which was going very well until I decided to repeat my previous day’s attempt to reach the 18th green in two only to watch as the ball shot off at even greater speed & height straight towards the clubhouse’s dining room windows. This time, another group of members who’d been enjoying a drink on the patio were less helpful, simply saying that they hadn’t heard the sound of breaking glass. The ball’s eventual resting place remained a mystery but fortunately, for us at least, Mike ignored all the kerfuffle and scored what proved to be a crucial 2 points on the hole.
At the post match lunch the Sandbucket, which seems to have become indestructible, was paraded prior to being consigned to the nether regions of the winners’ display shelves for another year and the final results were reported as follows: Mike S & Nick – 79 points, Pete F & Stuart – 77 points, Roger & Mike W – 72 points, Robert M & Malcolm O – 69 points, Ashley & Rob A – 66 points, and Peter R & John S – 63 points.
There was some confusion over leaving the markers out for the individual prizes (probably caused by too much enjoyment of the views and weather) but the day-1 prize for the Longest Drive went Robert M and the day-1 prize for Nearest the Pin in 2 was tied by Mike W and Ashley, while the day-2 prize for Nearest the Pin in 2 was won by Robert M.
So, many thanks to Ashley for organising another memorable trip along with some excellent wines for the team prizes and for having the foresight to ensure that we’re already booked into Seaford for what I’m sure will be another highly successful visit next year.
