Was this to be the deciding day..?
We arrived in plenty time as we planned to have a golf club breakfast before play. However the golfing gods were unkind to us (and the Chef) as we heard he was visiting A&E. We assume he was OK as we were told he might be back by the time we got to the 9th hole. Anyway the compromise was we had a couple of slices of toast with coffee/tea and were charged 7 quid. ;-(.
The round was also the most expensive I have paid for some time. at 29 quid each (for the record .. I paid).
As I drove to the course the weather was terrible but we were lucky and it cleared up before we started.
and stayed sunny(ish) until we finished. The low sun was only a problem on the 4th but luckily we managed to find each ball...
We were told that we could set off early and that sounded like a good idea as we could see no one in front. (Or behind). I made a great start winning the first 3 holes as M had some trouble finding his swing. I wondered if it was due to the missing breakfast. All this changed on the 4th as his swing returned (with a par) and by the end of the first 9 I was just 1 hole up and therefore we were drawing. At the 6th we caught up with a 3 ball that were taking their time (you know the sort of thing we all do from time to time, looking for balls, writing scores down on the green and generally taking no notice of other golfers.) I understand that you want to enjoy your round without rushing at 1 pound 50 per hole but its easy to let folks through. Rant over!
On the back 9 it went pretty even until M got 2 holes in a row on the 15th and 16th. In the end I pulled one back and we ended with M up by 1 (no change on the day). One big problem for both of us was that the 3 ball in front turned into a 4 ball on the 10th. Playing especially slowly on the 10 and 11th. They had several chance to call us through but none were taken they were oblivious.
But ... back in the bar there was some discussion about a couple of doggy incidents that have been referred to the rules committee.
The ruling follows..
S took a practice putt on the 9th green and hit the ball by mistake, no penalty was taken at the time. 1 penalty point has been added to S's score on hole 9. On the 11th M hit a great shot that bounced on the road. This was technically out of bounds, however he was not given the chance to take a mulligan. 1 penalty point has been deducted from M's score on the 11th. On the15th S hit a tee shot that went in the ditch. M found the ball and S took an illegal drag shot out of the ditch instead of taking a drop penalty. 1 penalty point has been added to S's score for hole. On recap it turned out that 1 ball of M's had been found by S and 2 or 3 balls of S's had been found by M. No adjustment was made to the score as mulligans cannot be carried over from game to game. Finally it was noted that M did not need a mulligan, again this did not affect the final score.... (as it was not a draw).
After adjustment M hole 11 was a draw the other 2 holes did not affect the outcome. This means that M is in the lead by the narrow margin of 2 holes with 2 matches yet to play.
For myself I was a little disappointed with my score being over 110 and 10 shots worse than in the week. I messed up 5 holes. The par 3 8th I went short (ok) and did a poor chip and was still short (bad) then went over. So thats 2 shots wasted. On the 9th I did a poor tee shot right but got short of the green in 4 so should have been 7. Instead I did another poor chip short then over then messed up my practice putt for a 10. Thats 3 shots wasted. On the 10th I did an unforced duff another point wasted. On the 15th I had my worst disaster I hit the first into the lake (mulligan) then did it again. Then took a drop shot and put this in the lake, then 3 putt. at least 3 points wasted. Finally I lost a ball and did an illegal shot on the 16th (2 more points wasted). So thats 1 possible 11 points... Next time! On the other hand I made my first par on the 13th with 2 fairways and a green and 2 putt. My putting was also ok! My adjusted score is here.
This blog is serious as there is a trophy at stake! ;-)
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| The sun just making an appearance on Hole 1 |
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| The path to Hole 2 |
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| M waiting on the 7th |
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| M in action on the 9th |
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| Waiting at the16th |
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| The 18th! |
