This is not meant as a “where on earth were you” sort of message to the 5 players who pulled out between Monday and today but it truly was the best day for weeks on which to be on a golf course enjoying the company of your fellow Ballbashers and a round of coarse golf.
The four who did turn up were swiftly divided into two teams – MikeW & RobM versus MikeS and Richard and we elected for a simple game of Better Ball Stableford which turned out, as always, to be a highly competitive and very tight game, the result of which swung on 2 holes.
It is often the case that when you are playing against Robert, it is never a good idea to count your chickens before they have hatched or often even before they have been laid. The 1st holes was a classic example of this. Whereas my drive went very nicely straight down the middle and the two Mikes were over by the trees on the right-hand side, Robert had almost stuck his tee-shot into the boondocks about 80 yards off the tee on the left-hand side. I had spotted where his ball went and was able to guide him to it, thinking while I did so, about the lead we were about to gain on the 1st hole.
I had not bargained for the mess that I made of my 2nd shot or the fact that after 2 more shots Robert’s ball was about 6 feet from the pin from which point he sunk the putt for a par. So shaken was I by this turn of events that I missed my putt for a par and they walked off with a 1 point lead.
Robert then was having all sorts of problems with his tee-shot and, on the 4th, MikeS advised him not to take any practice swings – a touch of the pot calling the kettle black but, none-the-less Robert followed this advice with immediate benefits and on the 5th he almost scored a hole-in-one as far as we could see from the tee – fortunately it was about 8 feet past and MikeS managed a good rescue putt from off the green and we halved the hole.
By the time we came off the 7th we were all square. Much to the derision of my fellow players, I elected to use the driver on the downhill 8th but with the pin right at the back and the ball stopping dead when it landed on a green, I thought it was a sensible choice and, so it proved when I landed about 6 feet short of the pin, ran past it and stopped 4feet beyond. Despite MikeW rescuing a par from miles off the green, I birdied the hole for a 1 point lead which we retained through the 9th and finished with 20 points to their 19.
Robert started the back 9 just as he started the front 9 with yet another par out of the blue to once again give them a 1 point lead but MikeS took advantage of the temporary green on the 11th to score a 4-pointer and bring us level. MikeW then scored the 3rd 4-pointer of the day on the uphill Par 3 13th by chipping in from off the green – it was n’t luck either as his ball ran slowly across the green and dropped into the hole. Given that I thought that it MikeS, my partner, who had played the shot, it came as a bit of a hammer blow when the truth was revealed to me. Fortunately I decided to play my ball at any rate and scored a par which I thought was irrelevant, otherwise the damage could have been fatal.
As it was, we reached the 16th all square on the back 9. MikeW had not been able to find his wedge at the start of play and he borrowed a club from the Pro’s shop. Being left-handed he did not have a great choice and he reckoned that the borrowed club was for a left-handed midget, or height-impaired person to be more PC. This was to prove crucial at this hole where his wedge ended in the bunker to join his partner from where they managed to score a single point versus our 3 points.
One again Robert appeared from the wilderness on the 17th to match our score and so we went to the 18th tee holding a 2 point lead. They huffed and puffed but the hole was halved with 3 points each and so MikeS and I won the back 9 by 22 points to 20 and overall by 42 to 39. It was a very tight game played in lovely Spring-like weather and we finished in the clubhouse with an excellent bowl of soup to round off the day.
We were not joined by any of the missing BBs which was just as well for them as they might have got a tad bored as we explained how we managed to score the 3 birdies between us.
Three of the 5 absentees (Nick, Roger, and Bill – all YBs) decanted to the Desborough Bowling Centre to improve our skills in anticipation of Rob’s annual contest. Out of a 60 minute booking we were bludgeoned into only 15 minutes of bowling by our new friend, GEOFF,aka LIBERACE. This guy hangs around center for hours on end, hitting on all men of handsome demeanor, and in need of ‘lessons’. Geoff talks for England, non-stop on anything which comes to mind, and is only too willing to help you stroke the bowl with physical assistance. This time he targeted Nick who got very po’d. The bowling was OK but we will not go again if Geoff is there!!