As Steve and I gazed at the acres of cowslips below us to the right of the 17th fairway amongst which we could see swathes of purple-headed orchids glowing in the bright sunshine we reflected on there probably not being many better places to be standing at that moment let alone playing golf. The occasion was the 32nd battle for the Temple Spring Cup. It’s not quite on a par with the Claret Jug but 32 years is not too shabby.
The first battle was in 1995 and back then we had a rule that the first winner of any new competition should buy the trophy. I was the winner that year and business was not quite going to plan with the result that the Spring Cup is the smallest trophy we have and the “silver” plate on the plastic cup is now wearing very thin. However it remains our first Major of the year and the competition for it is fierce.
Ten Ballbashers turned out and after the throwing of the balls and the normal kerfuffles, the first trio of MikeW on foot accompanied by Roger and PeterR in a buggy set off down the first. They were followed by JohnS playing with Bill and Nick in a buggy and they in turn by Mikes & Steve and Alan & myself.
At the back we were a tad held up in tee’ing off by Bill driving his buggy like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel lost in the windmills of his mind in the trees on the right-hand side of the 1st fairway. We eventually decided to tee off at any rate and then were slightly concerned by the distant Bill picking up our balls presumably hoping that one might be his. We charged down the hill and were relieved to find that he had not made off with any of them.
A titanic struggle then developed between our two pairs epitomised by what came to pass on the Par 5 4th hole. Helped by a very strong following breeze Steve had put his 3rd shot onto the green about 6 feet from the pin. Similarly assisted, mine was level with the pin on the left-hand side just off the green about 8 feet from the hole. I then sank mine for a birdie which caused Steve to use language which I was most surprised to hear before he too, with semi-smug expression, also sank his for another birdie.
He claimed revenge later in the round by sinking his bunker shot for a par which act would have last week earned him a Golden Ferret bonus of 2 points – luckily not applicable in the serious competition this week since we ended the front 9 all square on 24 points per team and very tight on the individual scores.
In the continuing struggle to find solution for perceived problems in my game I had bought a second-hand 9-wood to replace the luck-lustre performance of my 5-iron or so I hoped. In particular I thought it would be very suitable for the Temple Par 3 holes. On the 5th I have been using my 7-wood but hit well it has had the tendency to go through the hole onto the bank beyond which leaves knee-tremblers back onto the green whereby a mis-hit will result in the ball going 50 yards downhill back in the direction it first came from.
So arriving at the 5th I gave my 9-wood it’s first outing. Struck well, away it flew onto the green but when I arrived up there I discovered that it, too, had gone through the green and finished on the bank beyond – is there an 11-wood I wondered?
But the next opportunity came along to test it out on the uphill Par 3 13th hole where the same problem had applied with the 7-wood which threatened once or twice to head down the A404. This time the 9-wood fell about 2 feet short of the green and then rolled back down the slope. The solution is now obvious – I need to carry an 8-wood and an 11-wood on top of all the other implements and thereby need a golf bag about twice the size of the existing one. Of course my partner Alan looked on all of these travails with a whimsical smile carrying as he does about 5 clubs plus a putter and finding that he can get round the course with no problems.
Our competition with Mike and Steve slightly waned on the back 9 when we meshed well and they mislaid their mojos at the Halfway Hut. Alan and I thought that our team score of 46 would easily take the BashCoins but it turned out not so and we were never confident that we had another individual points for the Spring Cup.
On arrival in the clubhouse were greeted by the speedy 3-ball at the front with enquiries suggesting that we must have played 36 holes or suffered some disaster en-route to explain our tardy arrival. I didn’t like to explain that we had been enjoying the cowslips and orchids for fear that they might have been upset to hear of their failures to enjoy Nature at her Spring-best.
As usual the tea-cakes in the clubhouse were enjoyed with a medical discussion – this time about the problems of getting the right prescription glasses post-cataract operation – we have enough medical knowledge between us now to write one of those Home Help guides of the type produced by Mrs Beaton.
The Spring Cup was won by MikeW with a magnificent 39 points followed at a distance by the rest of us: Richard (35), Steve (34), Alan & Peter (33), MikeS (29), Nick (18), Bill (16) and JohnS (14).
The very close team scores tends to suggest that our latest approach to fairly handicapping 2 v 3 by giving a 10% uplift to the 2-balls is working OK:
MikeW, PeterR and Roger: 22 + 24 = 46
Alan & Richard: 24 + 22 = 46
MikeS & Steve: 24 + 19 = 43
Bill, JohnS & Nick: 16 + 15 = 31
LD: Richard
NP in 2 on the 8th: Steve
NP in 2 on the 18th: MikeW
Be First to Comment