From our correspondent Bill:
“Coming to the end of this summer’s 2nd ‘heatwave’, the 9 Ballbashers were guaranteed a real challenge on an already tricky golf course. The 11:20 tee time assured us that we would catch the brunt of the 34C sunny heat, but as we had 6 Bashers in 3 buggies and that the 3 walking Bashers (Smith, Reid, and Southgate) are a hardy lot, we all survived quite well the 7 mile walk in the beating sun. We decided to play 3 x 3-balls with each team comprised of one pair in a buggy + a walker.
We were ushered onto the course with an official starter who proceeded to overview the excellent condition of the course, emphasising that rounds are completing in 3:55 to 4:05. We quickly understood we were under “starter’s orders’. The course was playing very well and indeed we were visited several times by our friendly ‘starter’ to confirm our satisfaction with the course and to check we were ‘on-time’. A cooler full of water bottles would have been appreciated, but he was too busy enforcing efficient play.
Convening on the terrace for welcomed cold drinks and tea, the golf-chat centered on the difficulty everyone suffered. This was quickly mitigated by the joyous announcement that THE DOC contributed a 5-pointer with a birdie on the 4th (par 4, SI 11), thereby taking full advantage of his 11 handicap and assuring a chance to take the bash coins. However, Team 3 had a not-so-secret weapon in the languid form of Sir Alan who scored a days winning total of 39 on a tough course in searing heat. Who said only a mad Englishman thrives in the mid-day sun?
Being an Eclectic, the three teams recorded only 3’s,4’s, and 5’s to accumulate their respective team scores. Indeed THE DOC’s birdie proved to cement Team 2’s total victory and assured hauling in ALL those luscious Bashcoins. The team results are:
Team 1: Smith, Roger, Rob – 6 and 12 yielding 18.
Team 2: Doc, MikeW, JT – 23 (!!) and 22 yielding 45
Team 3: Alan, PeterR, Bill – 19 and 21 yielding 40
The outstanding Eclectic league performance award goes to Alan. Starting with an already respectable 42, he managed to add 8 points for a total of 50. This is a remarkable result after only 3 games and put him in a nearly unassailable position to take Marilyn. Mention must also be made of JT who added 21 points to his 19 yielding 40 after his 2 games. And PeterR dovetailed quite well adding 8 to his 36 yielding 44 after only 2 games, a great start.
The next Eclectic will be in 3 weeks at Temple”.
