Sat 25 Jan 2014 - 18 Holes at Tinsley Park

This one is an unexpected one. Not the best circumstances but it turned out to be a very nice day.

My playing partner today is B, an old friend and neighbour and drinking mate and running mate (now we are going back more than 20 years!).

The golf course is one that my Dad played back in the day (more than 50 years?). I never knew he played golf until recently.

The weather had been very poor but somehow we managed to play in the dry for all of the 18 holes.

It turns out that B had started golf about 2 and a half years ago, while I started 3 years ago. We were both worried incase we were to play badly and spoil the game for the other one. We needn't have worried as we were almost perfectly matched.

The course was very wet in places and the greens were not the best but given the rain they were acceptable. There were several temporary greens which can sometimes improve the score. There were also a few hard tees.

We were following a fast (but elderly) 4 ball that never held us up and were followed by a 2 ball that never pushed us. So that was good. The amazing thing was the weather held until we got into the car then there was an impressive downpour!

B played well off the tee using his driver on almost every hole and mostly got onto the fairway. I managed to play social golf not being too far behind with my 4i. At the end of the day B won by a couple of strokes. My score is here. For a first time at a new course I was very pleased with my score. I messed up 4 holes. The 4th was the worst with a 10 after I hit my tee shot into deep undergrowth and also hit a bunker. I also messed up the 9th with a good tee shot near the green and then hit a tree and took 4 to get to the green. The 16th was a long sloping par 5 with no even ground and I took 7 to the green. The 17th was a long par 3 and my second shot resulted in a penalty as I went over the back into the trees. So on another day I might have done a bit better on these 4 holes. (But probably worse on some others!)

Waiting to start

Weather OK

B in action on the green

Tee off the top of the hill

Nice Weather

B in action on the fairway

The flag and turbine.

Sun was low

The narrow par 3

Into the sun on the 17th

Social golf from the 18th tee

Sat 11 Jan 2014 - 9 then 4 Holes at Chichester

This was not a good day due to a sad and unfortunate family incident.

The day started well with good breakfast at the hotel with M and family.

First was 9 holes on the par 3. We set off on the back 4 to avoid waiting and I managed 4 3's in a row. On the front 5 I managed another par and the rest were 4's. I suppose 5*3+4*4 is one of my best scores.

The first hole of the 18 saw a 2 for me then I managed 5 on the 2nd. A great start. Then I hit 2 into the lake. On the 5th I got a phone call and we abandoned. Thanks to M for taking me back!

Tue 31 Dec 2013 - 5th Xmas Challenge (Dummer)

The last of the Xmas Challenges with M.

M paid for both...

We started off with S in the lead by 2 holes .. very close.

The weather was not kind. We had 14 balls each warm  up and I hit some great shots. We did a few 9i pitches then set off early as there was no one around.

As my shorthand card shows I hit a lot of duff's in he early part of the game which is a bit annoying as I have been fairly reliable recently. This affected my front 9 score in a bad way. On the back 9 my playing improved and despite the bad weather I managed to keep my score below 110.

The heavy rain started on the 6th and we sheltered under an umbrella for the worst of it. In the end we just got on with it but we were so wet that it was uncomfortable and cold. We were followed by a very quick 3 ball and we let them through at the 9th where we put some wet stuff in the cars and put on some dry stuff.

Looking at my score here. I messed up 4 holes.. about my normal number these days. On the 2nd I hit a poor tee shot and went into the ditch for a penalty. 1 shot lost. On the 3rd I hit several duffs and then 3 putt.  1 shot lost. On the 6th again a couple of duffs and a 3 putt. 1 shot lost. After this I played ok only messing up on the last hole with 1 duff. My putting was 1 over. So thats at least 5 points that should not have happened.

Thats  a miserable end to the Xmas challenge.. back to less intense golf in the new year.

In the end S won this match by 5 holes winning the trophy by 7 holes.

The only pic on the first tee. (Before the rain)