Last updated on August 5, 2021
No doubt jealous of all of this media focus on gold medals in Tokyo, it is not surprising that Player B should make a significant impact at Harleyford today. There are some who say that the acres of ragwort which comprise the rough at Harleyford are best left alone in case one inadvertently poisons a horse. Player B is not of this persuasion and clearly revels, even frolics, in the stuff. The nett result of this was that Nick set a new Ballbasher record for balls lost in the 1st 9 holes of any course of 10 (brand new Calloways at £3 a pop). This beats the previous record set by JohnH at Les Bordes of 8.
Having made his mark on the front 9, Player B retired from the fray and allowed Player A to make an appearance and enjoy the back 9 – how and why this happens is beyond the wit of any man to determine.
While this rather overdone performance was going on, the rest of us were enjoying some glorious golfing weather while playing for the Harleyford Plate. The course was in great condition having been prepared for a Junior Tour event on Monday. The greens were as smooth as silk and just as slippery which combined with the problems of reading the slopes, caused some of the non-Harleyford members of the Ballbashers some grief – Mike in particular found he was 3-putting more often than not.
The teams were JohnS/Bill and me followed by MikeS/Nick and PeteF.
Our team played quite well on the front 9 – Bill collected a nice 4-pointer on the 3rd – and JohnS was in balletic mode which always results in shots going straight down the middle. We reached the turn with 39 points as a team and then continued in similar mode through the back 9 to score 38 giving us 77.
Along the way all 3 of us missed the 13th fairway which was the designated LD hole leaving that to Mike to win but I had put balls on the NP and and NPin2 greens which were sufficiently close to the pin to collect those two prizes.
The denouement revealed that while we had 39 + 38 = 77 points, they had scored 36 + 42 = 78 points – yet another close-fought result paying testament to the accuracy of the BB handicapping system – who needs the WHS I hear you say. Their change in form from the front to the back 9 could be clearly attributed to the arrival of Player A in place of Player B.
As for the Summer Plate, I had one of those days when I could do little wrong (and also enjoyed home advantage) and managed to score 41 points, followed by Pete (32), Mike (31), JohnS (28), Nick (PlayerA) (24) and Bill (22).
Thankyou for a very accurate summary of my somewhat bemusing round – undaunted I’ve just ordered another 12 Callaway golf balls from Amazon in the hope that their life expectancy follows my performance on the second 9 where I didn’t lose any balls at all.
Player B’s finest moment was on the 9th where, after depositing his impressively long drive just into the rough on the left-hand side of the fairway he hit his provisional straight at the ladies’ tee marker and watched with admiration as it rebounded off it and gracefully arched into the rough on the right-hand side of the fairway. Impressive, particularly as the resulting two lost balls took me past John H’s previous record.
Given the very tricky pin positions and the ever-present risk of a guaranteed lost ball if you ventured even a foot into the rough your score of 41 was exceptional. Nick