Four out of six players using buggies was indeed a new record for our playing in the UK but that was n’t the record that I was thinking of.
The new record was set by Robert (who else) who had one shot off the 1st tee, as a result of which he lost his ball in the woods to the right and, after which, he was driven from the course by torrential rain.
The six of us had debated the wisdom of playing with a whole set of contradictory forecasts to-hand, the majority of which did suggest showers may be a possibility and thunder a remote possibility. But the rain stopped as we kitted up and the sun shone so, not being wimps, we set off.
The balls fell so that MikeS, PeterR and I formed a 3-ball and we set off first. Peter’s drive struck a tree on the right and very nearly came back onto the tee – perhaps that was an omen? If so, we ignored it and played on. By the time we reached Mike and my drives on top of the slope down towards the green it had started to rain quite heavily. By the time Mike and I had putted out, part of the green was already under water.
We decided it was prudent to wait beside the second tee taking as much shelter as we could from the monsoon which had engulfed us. It slackened off slightly and Mike thought it was a good opportunity to put on some protective trousers but he discovered that his shorts were saturated right through and the last sight I had of Mike was of him hopping around under a nearby tree to gain some shelter while he tried to get his trousers on while taking his shorts off.
It was at this point that Peter and I decided it would be sensible to pack up. The first green behind us now looked like a lake and the fairway running down to it closely resembled the Iguazu Falls in Argentina (reckoned to be the world’s largest). Peter, being in a buggy, shot off as fast as the battery would allow leaving me to wade along behind him trying to find the best way to cross the many rivers that now lay between me and the clubhouse. I have no idea what happened to Mike – though Robert did report that he had seen him fleeing from the club resembling a piece of sodden blotting paper.
The rest of us refugees decided that a coffee was a good plan and the lady in the Pro’s shop awarded us all credits to be used for our next round without any demur, once again underlining just how good at customer service Huntswood is.
We left during a sunny interval and those of us who had parked uphill were very pleased that we had done so as we passed Robert pondering how to reach his car without taking off his shoes and socks. Apparently, there being no boats to-hand, he was loaned a buggy to use as a sort of ferry. I wished that I had hung around because there must have been a good photo to have had at the point when he was suspended between the buggy and the car!
