Normal Service resumed………

From our correspondent who reports on a very high-class end to the 2020/21 Season………

“Of the six Ballbashers who turned out for today’s final match of the Summer League at Huntswood only John T had missed the character building delights of our ‘last day of the Ryder Cup tour’ game at Broadstone Golf Club on the previous Wednesday. And, of the five who were there, memory tells me that two scored 21 points, one scored 19, one 15, and one 14… although to be perfectly honest I’d spent most of the week trying to eradicate a lot of the “Broadstone (or as John H called it “Broadmoor”) Experience” from my memory banks.

But, as today’s scores showed, there’s no gain without pain as those same five players scored more than double the combined points total they’d amassed a week before – a fairly staggering improvement that could be due to intensive remedial training, or, successful visits to local sports psychologists, or, more likely, the sheer relief of facing fairways that weren’t littered with multiple score sapping or “blob” inducing hazards.

Anyway, as the scores showed, the Broadmoor Experience had definitely resulted in an upping of everyone’s game and, to make things even better, a very close match. Team 1 (Mike S, Bill & Nick) took on Team 2 (Alan, John T & Rob) in a best of two scores Stableford game and after 18 relaxed holes in benign autumn weather both teams tied after posting a very respectable 86 points each. Scores that were, in part, precipitated by two titanic battles for Summer League Honours, with Mike S & Nick scoring 40 points each in Team 1 and with Alan & Rob scoring 37 points each in Team 2. A situation that for Mike & Nick in particular represented a gargantuan change to their previous week’s scores which, in both cases, had included a difficult to achieve, even at Broadstone, 5 points on their front 9s.

With the Summer League already safely in Richard’s hands, the individual scores were solely for Master Golfer purposes: Mike scored 40 points, Nick 40, Alan 37, Rob 37, John T 32, and Bill 29. Team scores were: Front 9, Team 1: 38, Team 2: 42; Back 9, Team 1: 48, Team 2: 44; Totals, Team 1 & Team 2 86.

The spring in the step of all of us as we departed after an excellent al fresco lunch was quite noticeable…