Another warm day greeted the society in the hills, although after the furnace of the previous couple of days, this felt almost mercifully civilised.
A slim field in numbers, if not necessarily in stature, of 36 players (including two course members and one guest) rolled up to the opening tee and immediately faced the day’s first tactical decision. Sensibly, most opted for the left-hand route over the hill towards the 1st green, and then sensibly again kept left, deciding that donating a ball to the water hazard before the round had properly begun was a generosity best saved for another day.
It quickly became apparent that the course was not quite in showroom condition: the greens had recently been spiked and sanded, making them a touch bumpy, although still perfectly playable, and the fairways improved as the round wore on. There were, inevitably, a few mutterings. Then again, golfers can spot an unrepaired pitch mark from 50 yards, yet remain gloriously incapable of seeing a three-foot putt.
The cold beverages afterwards were received with the sort of enthusiasm usually reserved for short putts uphill. The scores this week:
Gold: Kenny Winton (40 pts)
Silver: Graeme Forbes (42 pts and best score of the day)
Bronze: : Richard Cleary (36 pts)
There were seven (!) twos this week, shared very thinly between John Osborne and Dave Friedman (3rd), Ivan Hanak (8th), Phil de Lacy and Lee Eastman (12th), Noel Twomey (16th) and Mick Kilcullen (17th). Nearest the Pin honours went to Dave Friedman (3rd), Noel Twomey (8th and 16th), Phil de Lacy (12th) and Mick Kilcullen (17th).
Meanwhile, Carol Hanak clearly felt she had made a compelling case to take the McBride Bottle home as well and, judging by the scores, she was far from alone in that particular scrap at the foot of the table. Steve Fleet took home the dosh from the football card with Swansea.
Next week we head south to Mar Menor.
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Pictured (L–R): Bill Crichton, Richard Cleary (Bronze), Graeme Forbes (Silver), Carol Hanak (McBride Bottle), Drew Niblock (PBomber), Mick Pryke (Captain), Charles Jones (he deserves to be in it at 90!), Noel Twomey (Two), Matt Newman (PBomber) and Kenny Wilton (Gold).
