Sun 28th Dec 2014 - Snow place to play golf .. virtual golf instead

While on a family visit to darkest Lincolnshire we usually manage 18 holes as part of the Xmas trophy competition. This year it was not to be. A fall of snow on Boxing day caused closures of all the usual courses. So instead of just giving up and heading for the bar, we checked out the internet and found the Peterborough Virtual Golf experience. http://www.peterboroughvirtualgolf.co.uk

Ok it was 40 miles each way but a least it was open. We were not the only ones there at first but the others were gone before we got started. The owner was helpful and got us started on a practice range. This showed us straight away that M hits the ball further than I do. No real surprise there. Without the help of the owner we selected St Andrews and made a schoolboy error. I thought red and white were some kind of colour code for each golfer. It turns out the red was for red tees and white was for white. So I played off the Lady tees. We did not realise this for the first few holes. The putting we found to be more difficult than in real golf. You have to understand the difference between ft and yds for a start. The owner said we should have waited for him to get us started then he would have made sure we had some putting practice. He also said they the greens at St Andrews were not easy. We found that you have to retrieve your ball quickly after playing each shot or the computer can become confused and award a score to the opponent. You can only go back one shot using a mulligan.

After the first few holes we got into the swing of it and both made reasonable progress. With my advantage of having shorter holes it was not a fair contest but I managed to get round in 105 and M scored 110. This does not count to any Xmas trophy but was simply a fun alternative to real golf when golf is closed. I suspect that we would not have scored so well on the real St Andrews!

Would try again in similar circumstances. (Although the owner told us it was likely to close if no one wanted to buy it).

Sat 13th Dec 2014 - 18 Holes after a nice Breakfast

This is the first of 3 Xmas golf rounds for the 2014 trophy. No special rules this year except for a max of 2 out of a bunker.

Meet M at the Clubhouse 8 for the usual great breakfast. We were also treated to a talk from the Golf Pro who said "Get better or get your money back". I was a little shell shocked from a late night at work.

We set off with no-one in front and no-one behind. M hit a great tee shot to the green and down in 1, great start. That set the tone for the first 5 holes and M was 4 up after 5. I had a nightmare 10 on the 5th. I was thinking oh no this is bad. Then I won the next 4 and it was all square after the front 9. It stayed this way until the 14th. The scores ended up identical so it was very close but my 2 lucky breaks came on the 15th and 18th and I won by 2. In particular we both navigated round the last 3 in good style.

The weather was pleasant and we caught up with the people in front after 9 or so. We let a lone golfer through and he had a nightmare which we understand well! We were happy to get round in 4 hours. The course was in reasonable shape and it was a fun day. One of the great comebacks of our time! ;-)

My score in click here.

My putting was +1 and I had 4, 3 Putts so I could have been 5 better on putting alone. I had 8 proper golf scores including 2 pars. I messed up on 4 holes. 4, 5 and 13 were due to lost balls from the tee. All avoidable! On the 9th I had a duff close to the green. So that would have saved another 4 shots. So with 9 less I would have been nicely under 100.

Bring on the next 2 games for the legendary trophy!

The Trophy

On the Green the 9th?

Red Clubs

A Wet One

Have It - or will you dance?

Its Christmas

Tues 9th Dec 2014 - 9 Holes at Skylarks

This was an experiment to see how quick we could be. After 1pm its 7.50 for 9 holes. I books and R paid before I arrived.  The weather was cool and cloudy but warm enough once we got going.

They said we could go when we were ready as there was no one in front or behind. Nice. Pity the workmen were hanging round the 1st tee otherwise I might have had a better start. I went right R went left. The 1st was a mess up for me with a duff 2nd shot and a 3 putt. Never mind.

The 2nd can be a nightmare but I was over the back of the been on my 4th shot so thats good for me. We drew the 1st 4 holes neither of us playing very consistently. Despite a bunker on the 5th I managed 4. My nightmare hole has been the 6th, this time I took a 4i off the tee and was on the green in 3 a few inches from the hole. I followed this with another par on the 7th, and finished off in style with a par on the 9th. My score is click here.

I messed up 2 holes, the 1st I blame the workmen and must remember to take time on 2nd shot of game especially if in a bit of rough. The 8th I messed up with a duff from the tee (grr). My putting was good considering the damp greens but could have been 2 better without 3's. I had 5 proper golf scores including 3 pars. So on a more lucky day I could have saved 4 shots.

So it was my turn to win. We got round in about 1.5 hours so thats a good thing to do to keep golf ticking over in the dark winter months. The course was not too bad despite the extremely wet weather we have had of late.

Good fun and we will no doubt be back!

Sat 31st Nov - 18 Holes at Dummer

With M and A as part time caddy. Met just before 12 for 12:28 tee time. Weather was forecast as mist but it was sunny with wind and clouds. We just had time for the usual 14 balls warm up which didn't feel too good. It was a good 2 weeks since either of us had played. Despite the recent rain the fairways and greens were in great condition.

M seems to have turned a new leaf and did not bring the big Woods. He was also walking as feet have almost recovered.

We were following a 2 ball who kept ahead of us until the last few holes. We were followed by a buggy over the front 9 but we were never caught.

As usual over recent games it was quite close. At the end of the front 9 M was ahead by 1 hole and by the 13th I had managed to draw level. The winning move by M was a par on the 14th when I did a duff 2nd shot. I also messed up my 2nd shot on the Par 3 17th and ended up in the bunker. Again the trophy goes North. Now we are on equal handicap!

Our biggest problem was playing into the low winter sun making it difficult to find a few balls. On 3 separate occasions M lost a ball the was found by A late. Better late then never! I seemed to struggle in a few more bunkers than usual, but I took the opportunity on the 9th to get out using my 60 degree wedge. A first use ever for my 50 quid stick. My score is click here.

My putts were exactly neutral, however I had 6, 3 putts. I managed 8 proper golf scores including 3 par 4's which is nice. (all 1 putts!). On the other hand I messed up 4 holes. Starting with the par 3 5th losing the tee shot in the pond and then 3 putting. On the 6th I went in the big ditch from the tee, got out well and then went in the green side bunker and a 3 putt. The 10th I did a bit of a duff from short range and a 3 putt. The 18th was my only duff from the tee, I had a lucky escape from the lake (stopped short) on my 3rd shot.

Looking at M's score card there were 6 penalties that could have been avoided and 1, 3 putt. If only we had both avoided mistakes it could have been 2 rounds under 100.

Look at the weather in November!

Waiting for the 2 in front on the 16th

M in action on the 16th

Zoom for a golfer on the horizon

Sundown on the 18th

The end