As its the first time:
The 1st was across the mud. The 2nd was back across the mud again. The 3rd was across the edge of the lake. The 4th was a long one into the wind. The 5th was off to the left by the dyke. The 6th was a par 3 to the closest of the pair of greens. The 7th was a nightmare par 3 with a dyke. The 8th was a long one across a ditch. The 9th was back parallel to the 8th to the other close green. The 10th was a blind shot right then over the hedge. The 11th was a par 3 across the lake. The 12th was across a hedge. The 13th was back down parallel to the 4th. The 14th is a very odd dogleg right round the lake. The 15th goes away from the lake across a small ditch. The 16th is a par 3 protected by trees and a small hill. The 17th is elevated with a fairway on the left and over a hedge to the green. The 18th is a par 3 over some bushes.
We set off well with a pair of 4s on the first. We both struggled on the 2nd over the mud and M hit the only tree to bounce back. This was 1 up for me. Over the lake we had no idea how to play it. I went into the bush for a penalty and M was short but no balls lost and a draw. The 4th was a disaster for M with lost balls and a load of duffs for me. The wind was very strong against!. But I was the least worst. We had a long pause before starting the 5th as we were unsure. It was left along the dyke. M had trouble and went well right. On the par 3 6th M won his first hole and I was just 2 up. On the nasty par 3 over the dyke we both lost balls from the tee. It should have been easy using 2*PW. On the long 8th M had more trouble than me and I went 3 up followed by another on the 9th. This was the start of my longest run of 4s ever. I had a lucky break on the blind 10th. We both managed to get safely over the lake on the 11th (something we would have struggled with n the past). On the 11th I had another lucky 4 and was 5 ahead. On the long 12th with the wind behind M beat me due to a poor tee shot. On the 13th I had no idea where the hole was but got a lucky break onto the green in 3 and with an audience I holed a long put (feeling pretty pleased with myself). This was my last win as we drew the remaining 4 holes. On the 15th we struggled from the tee going right. On the par 3 right we both got stuck on the hill for 5s. On the elevated 17th we both got 4 with a nice fairway. On the 18th M managed to get over the trees and I did a feeble right round the trees but it was a draw in the end.
So 18 holes completed and we returned for food and drink. After a while we wondered if we could create a 9 hole starting near our lodge. M drew a map and we had time to test it before sunset. The order was 15, 16, 12, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 17 and 18. Which we later realised was 10. It was fun to play with no competition and we both improved a bit on our earlier performance. On the 18th we were challenged by the security guard and luckily M had the tickets so all was deemed to be OK.
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| M in the Bad Lands |
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| Danger deep water! |
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| Me |
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| Preparing for the par 3 across the pond (both made it!) |
