Last updated on April 13, 2023
It was always tempting fate to schedule the first summer league game on the 12th April but we really did not deserve to be hit by gusts of wind that must have been about 40 knots with horizontal rain equivalent to being in a car-wash. I have n’t personally rounded Cape Horn on a 4-Master attempting to reef in the main top’ gallants but I imagine that it felt very similar to our experience on the Par 5 18th. It says a great deal about the fortitude of the Ballbashers that at least 4 of the ensemble managed to complete the 18 holes, even scoring 6 for 2 on the 18th while clinging on for dear life to avoid being lost overboard to Davy Jones’ locker.
Today was marked by Mike S’s first outing since his knee replacement, which seems to me to represent a very rapid return to battle and he appeared cheerful both before and after the game which was excellent news.
The draw was arranged so that the 3 in buggies – PeterR and RobA sharing one plus Mike in his own -went out first followed by Nick teamed with JohnS and Alan teamed with me. At this stage we faced a very strong breeze with sunny periods.
Nick played a great 1st tee-shot while the other 3 of us floundered somewhat and random very short tee-shots became something of a theme for the day with Alan I think claiming the honours of the shortest tee-shot with one which did n’t make it off the tee. Given that we had all watched the Masters and could see no valid reason why we should n’t be able to emulate John Rahm, 3 out of 4 failing to do so on the 1st tee was a tad disappointing.
Nick followed his great drive with an excellent second shot which found the green and which he duly converted into a par. Had we been able to predict the future, we would have known that this was a sign of what was to come – from time-to-time that is.
We then enjoyed the best of the day’s weather over the front 9 while having a very tight team battle which we thought at the time had resulted in a victory for Alan and I with 19 to their 18. A subsequent check revealed that I had thought that I was playing off 16 when it was actually 15 and the result of that was a tie on 18 each.
It was when we reached the 14th tee that the forecast gale and heavy rain arrived like an express. I had previously put all my wet gear on to keep out the cold but my playing partners being possibly made of stronger stuff had not done so and now needed to get it on pronto. John then had a massive battle trying to sort out the sleeves of his jacket -he temporarily gave up the fight to hook his tee-shot into the bunker of the adjacent green before abandoning any thoughts of scoring on that hole and returning to the fight with his sleeves all the way down the 14th hole. He finally got his jacket on in time to keep the rain in his jumper firmly inside when the sun came out again and we decided to continue to play the rest of the round. In the meantime, Nick’s glasses had become so steamed up that he had no idea where he was going and played his drive firmly out of bounds.
I, who had put my 3rd shot onto the green, was so gobsmacked by this turn of events that I missed my par putt and had to settle for 2 points. Nick, for his part, was so taken by this strategy that he attempted to repeat it on the next hole, but missed the pin and disappeared into the woods beyond.
We battled on and arrived at the 18th tee all square with very dark clouds looming arriving very rapidly behind us. We had driven off before the wind and rain announced their arrival by knocking my heavy trolley and bag flat onto it’s side. John decided that the appropriate strategy was to take the short-cut back along the 10th fairway which he found to be relatively flat and when we met on the green he took 2 putts for a 6 for 2. I had ridden the wind to be at the back of the green in 3 but took 3 putts against the wind with the result that we had drawn the game.
We then rushed for the cover of the clubhouse where we arrived dripping wet to meet the much drier and smugger buggy-riders who had just finished their leisurely lunch without apparently noticing the conditions in which the gale-struck 4-ball were battling to the finish. It turned out that they too had scored 18 points on the front 9 but the 4-ball were not in the frame of mind to cut them any slack on the back 9 and duly took and shared their BashCoins for the back 9 and overall results.
Nick made an excellent start to the Summer League with the scores as follows:
Nick (30), Richard (28), Alan (24), JohnS (23), PeterR (22 – from 14 holes), MikeS (18 – ditto) and RobA (15 – also ditto).
