Today is that unique day in our golfing calendar when the “athletes” in the Ballbashers have to look on enviously while the Prosthetes do battle for the Prosthetic Cup. As a matter of passing interest there was some discussion over the gammon baps beforehand along the lines of “surely the Prosthetes who are now equipped with the very latest in titanium joints are more physically able than those of us who have to rely on 80 year-old lumps of arthritic joints?” – the Prosthetes were unimpressed by this line of argument and were in no way disposed to let the “athletes” think of themselves as less fortunate. As a side-note the gammon baps contain so much meat that they remind one of the 1970s when all of our freezers had to contain half a pig which we consumed in ridiculous amounts per serving.
Alan, who was our organiser for the day, had worked out in advance that we had 6 Prosthetes and 4 “Athletes” and reasoned that since 4 of the Prosthetes were sharing buggies they could all go out in two groups of 3 leaving the 4 “Athletes” to follow along behind. This plan was stymied when RobM pointed out that he was a well-qualified Prosthete equipped with a NASA-standard metal coating on one hip and a complete replacement on the other. The decision was taken that he would continue to play with us 3 “Athletes” and we would provide him with maximum encouragement.
So the teams were Nick, JohnH &Alan followed by Bill, MikeS & PeterR followed by RobM & Stuart and Richard & RobA. Viewed at close quarters, RobM’s game is a thing of amazing wonder – a mixture of dazzling long iron shots with a gentle draw coupled with delicate chip shots versus hooks and fades into the boondock and putts missed from such close range that it would be easier to put them in the hole . He gets maximum value for his green fee by randomly crossing the green backwards and forwards thereby covering many more yards than the rest of us. There is no doubt that had he sunk the several putts missed from inside 3 feet he would have won today but I suppose we can all say that about some bit of our malfunctioning game.
Despite it having 4 Par 4 holes we always tend to describe Sunningdale Heath as a Par 3 course but four of the Par 3s are over 200 yards which, these days, makes them Par 5s in BB-land. The ground was hard and the heather in full bloom – it was not an easy proposition at all, but we always enjoy it. And so it proved today. The new handicap adjustments giving a 10% uplift to the 2-balls to match the 3-balls in Better Ball competitions are so motivating. I found myself getting to shots on the 274 yard Par 4 Stroke Index 1 and thoroughly enjoyed the 4 for 4 points I got as a result.
Us 2-balls enjoyed a real ding-dong with RobA and me scoring 27 to Stuart & RobM’s 24 on the front 9 and then losing with 19 to their 24 on the back 9.
The final results shared under the gazebo revealed really close results:
The team scores:
Nick, JohnH & Alan: 26 + 22 = 48
MikeS, Bill & PeterR: 26 + 23 = 49
Richard & RobA: 27 + 19 = 46
Stuart & RobM: 24 + 24 = 48
The individual scores for the Prosthetic Cup:
Alan & MikeS (39), PeterR and RobM (38), Bill (30), JohnH (29) & Nick (28).
Alan retained the Cup on countback with 18 to Mike’s 17.
The NPin2 balls were won by Stuart & PeterR.
Nobody out of the 10 players succeeded in getting onto the NPinOne green which was the shortest hole on the course at 76 yards!
After refreshments we all mistakenly, like lemmings, scurried home to watch England take on DR Congo – we were fortunate to arrive home 10 minutes after the match had started and thereby missed DR Congo’s opening goal but then had to hide behind the sofa for another 80 minutes before Harry conquered all.
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