RobertM has taken over responsibility for organising the majority of the increased number of Novelty games in the just-started season and if today is anything to go by, we have obviously got to concentrate harder on the 1st tee to ensure we have a better grasp of the likely-to-be-complicated rules. With an excellent turnout of 8 golfers, today’s format was based on Canadian Greensomes with a topping of bonus points for oozlums, ferrets, golden ferrets and other such mis-understood creatures of the undergrowth.
The balls fell so that MikeW & PeterR were partnered playing with Bill & myself. The other 4-ball comprised Alan & MikeS and RobM and JohnS. Handicaps were set at 50% of each team’s gross handicap which I thought was great news as I was partnered with Bill and thereby playing off 23 rather than my normal measly allowance of 16. No sooner had the teams been sorted than MikeW and PeterR were on the tee and powering huge drives down the middle. Bill and I did our best to keep up with them, both teams scored pars and the game was underway.
As we left the 2nd tee, it occurred to me that I was in the company of 6 metal knees – perhaps a record but the group behind probably came close. I presumed that the buggy was equipped with copious supplies of WD-40 to be used in an emergency but I heard no squeaking the whole round so I presumed that everyone was well-oiled before the start.
As always a good start was followed by a steady decline and it wasn’t until Bill and I par’ed the short 5th that we scored our 1st oozlum courtesy of chipping the ball from off the green to 4 feet from the hole and Bill sinking the putt to give us 4 points while our immediate opposition scrabbled for 1 point. The tables were soon turned on the 6th where they scored a par with a single putt on the green which, with 2 shots courtesy of their handicap, gave them 5 points versus our measly 3 for a standard par involving 2 putts on the green,
Revenge came swift and sweet when we scored 5 on the 7th and they fell foul of the front bunker and ended with a blob. Our 5 was courtesy of a superb bunker shot by Bill which ended less than 3 feet from the hole. A sandy par no less which came with a 1 shot bonus.
We scored 3 points each on the downhill 8th but ours’ came with the bonus of an oozlum following a long chip by Bill and a an equally long curling putt by myself which fell into the bucket-sized hole of the temporary green. When we totalled up our scores after 9 holes Bill and I had somehow scored 25 points versus Mike & Peter’s 17 and they vowed to turn the tables on the back 9.
They started well with a bonus oozlum on the 10th and we then all realised that the trick was to leave your approach shot just off the edge of the green from where you could get the ball very close to the hole, sink one putt and score an oozlum. In this fashion Mike and Peter scored an apparent 6 oozlums on the back 9 while Bill and I got 5 and we arrived at the 18th tee all square with 22 points. Mike topped his wedge approach to leave them 5 feet from the hole in 3 and Bill hit a brilliant long-range putt from just off the back of the green to leave me a 6 foot putt. Both teams had the great fortune to see their putts crawl to the edge of the hole, look in and then fall in for 3 points each plus an oozlum bonus each for a tie on the back 9 or so we thought.
We all agreed that we had had a very enjoyable game with a superb backcloth of autumnal golden trees and much less rain than had been forecast.
Back in the clubhouse, our opponents following behind us reminded us/clarified the oozlum rule – apparently the bonus was only given if you ended up with a proper par – we had been awarding oozlums if we only took one putt on the green. A hasty recalculation followed in which Mike and Peter suffered the loss of five points and Bill and I lost just one which reduced their back 9 total to 21 and Bill and mine to 25.
The denouement revealed quite a wide disparity in scores:
Bill & Richard 25 + 25 = 50
MikeW & PeterR 17 + 21 = 38
Alan & MikeS 20 + 16 = 36
JohnS & RobM 13 + 17 = 30
We look forward to whatever Robert dreams up for the next Novelty game!
