A report from our corresondent…………………..
“Following Pete F’s truly “big day” on Monday – when the arrival of his second granddaughter at 12.00 pm was followed, only two hours later, by a hole in one at Wycombe Heights par 3 course (which, we learned, was actually his second on the course) – chickens came home to roost when he was corralled into grandparenting duties for today’s BB outing at Temple, leaving four of us to devise a “novelty” format for the game. The decision – a “full handicap pairs better ball stableford matchplay” competition – was as difficult to comprehend as its name but after the traditional ball throwing ceremony the two teams, John T & John S and Bill & Nick set off to see what it all meant.
Bill got it straight away and was out of the blocks on the 1st and 2nd to win both holes while the rest of us grappled with the “just cut” rough that had left large areas of the course covered in long evenly spaced ridges of newly mown grass that resembled an entry in a best Japanese Garden competition and which were, visually at least, very impressive. As I quickly found leaving the fairway was likely to end up with a lost or, at best, very difficult to play ball in this ridge strewn rough, mitigated only by the likelihood of finding several other balls that the grass cutting exercise had revealed after months of hibernation.
Bill however seemed oblivious to this ever-present risk as his impressive start was followed up by wins on a further three holes leaving the rest of us with only one or, at best, two wins each, usually because Bill’s concentration had temporarily flagged. Unsurprisingly, Bill & Nick were 3 up at the turn, and by the 15th it was all over, with Bill & Nick winning 4 & 3 and then adding another win on the 17th to take the back 9 as well. The big question is, of course, whether Bill’s return to form will continue in the Ryder Cup…
As we wait to see if it will, you may be interested in the other big news… i.e. that work on the new par 4 tee on the 9th at Temple has now started. It’s around 50 to 60 yards in front of the old par 4 tee and the temporary tee that we used was just in front of where it will be, giving us an opportunity to see what playing the hole from this shorter distance will be like. The general consensus was very good… it converts a tricky (some would say ridiculously tricky) par 4 into a much more enjoyable experience, not least because if your drive is long enough your second shot now has some chance of hitting the green and stopping on it. A positive and, some would say, long overdue change…”
