Practice makes perfect?

From our correspondent Nick:

“Seven Ballbashers turned out to play for the first Eclectic of the 2024 season – a decent number, aided no doubt by the prospect for the first time in weeks of no rain or arctic winds.

Teams were selected on buggy usage with Team 1 comprising the fit, no buggy chaps – i.e. Alan, Rob A, Mike S & Mike W – and Team 2 comprising the still medically challenged buggy users – i.e. Bill, John H & Nick. True to forecast the rain pretty much held off until we were all safely back in the clubhouse, leaving us free to admire on the way round the course the several new mini-lakes installed during the winter… a very positive change.  

Unfortunately I’ve no input from Team 1 about the vicissitudes of their games but I can report that for two of the Team 2 members the mantra of “practice makes perfect” was compellingly shown to be a load of old codswallop.

Arriving at the first in a somewhat nervous frame of mind due to John H and Nick having failed to hit any form of golf ball for 3 months or more, and fully prepared for the embarrassment of having to retrieve at least one ball from the practice area to the immediate right of the tee, we were amazed when all three of our drives glided down the middle of the fairway. Surprised, but now more encouraged, we then hit reasonable, if a bit shaky, second shots after which there occurred what can only be described as an epiphany as, despite a total lack of practice since sometime in November, Nick morphed into Player A and proceeded to score a further 16 points on the front 9, including three “3 pointers” and a closely missed fourth.

Inspired by this turn of events John H then decided to confirm even more emphatically that the less you practice the better you get as, despite not hitting a ball since early December, he proceeded to post 21 points on the back 9, including three “3 pointers” and a stupendous 5 points on the extremely tricky Par 3 16^th. And, like Nick’s scores on the first 9, his points tally owed little to luck and could easily have been higher.

In the meantime, Team 1 were posting more than decent eclectic scores, with Alan & Mike W clocking up 36 points and 32 points respectively, and with Mike S & Rob A clocking-up three 3 pointers each… sufficient to win the team contest.

Total Stableford scores are, of course, not the name of the game with eclectics, it’s the 3 points or higher scores that, in the end, count and the individual tallies were:

Mike W (3 pointers = 6), Nick (3 pointers = 5), Alan (3 pointers = 5), John H (3 pointers = 3; 5 pointers = 1), Mike S (3 pointers = 3), Rob A (3 pointers = 3).

All of which left John H and Nick with a conundrum: do they not play or practice at all for the next three months and then turn-up expecting the worst but leaving happy & enthused after an unexpectedly satisfying round; or, do they start playing more regularly, prepared to confront the distinct possibility that the more they play, the worse they’ll get?

Answers on a self-addressed postcard…”