Let me assure you that the late arrival of the blog is in no way a reflection of the magnificence of the golf played this week! Week 12 of the Winter League turned out to be a hotly contested affair. We had our closest result in a month.
Six intrepid golfers headed up into the chill to do battle with the Winter League/the course/themselves…
To see oursels as others see us!
The leading group made an excellent start with two 2’s and a 3 on show. Proving to Linda it was worth it to run back to the clubhouse for her putter! It earned her the lovely 5 for 3. Those of us in the following group had a slightly more mixed fortunes with 3, 2 and 1 pointers between us. You might be able to tell from the following expression, who got the 1 pointer…
See the front o’ battle lour;
In our group, Marena made the strongest start over the first three holes, earning 3, then 2, then 3 points (with a lovely 4 at the 3rd – an excellent score in any conditions). Erica and Elena went head to head with steady 2’s all the way in the first 3 holes. And Linda was on a great streak with 3, then 1, then 3 points.
Onto the 4th, and in our group, no-one picked the right club for the unexpectedly stiff breeze. All three of us were well short. From halfway down the fairway, I was chuffed to bits with this chip down to within a few feet of the pin…
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Just as well I took a picture, as seconds later Marena chipped down from the right hand side of the fairway and re-bounded off my ball. Hers stopped mere inches from the pin whilst knocking mine several yards away! Apologies to the leading group who assumed my outraged hollering meant a hole in one or at least a two had occurred!
Using the reference photo, I was able to replace my ball to where it lay. And miraculously putted out for a somewhat unlikely 3 (but only for two measly points. Gah!) Kay ignored our shenanigans and sailed serenely onto a 3 herself (for 3 points. Pah!)
Onto the 5th and once more into the wind…
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud and shrill’s I hear the blast,
I’m sure it’s winter fairly.
Up to Spion Kop where Kay and I excelled ourselves by earning 3 for 3’s despite neither of us driving the green (IIRC).
Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
Back to the clubhouse for some delicious birthday cake courtesy of Erica…a slightly revised apricot and almond cake. Utterly delicious and at least one of my five-a-day.
As lang ‘s my arm.
Totting up the scores, we didn’t have any holes-in-one or twos today. But we did have some excellent scores.
I managed a partial return to form for the front half only and amassed the same amount of points I scored in my entire round last week (19 for the record). Sadly, I collapsed faster than an English batsman (though, as someone helpfully pointed out, I didn’t swear nearly as much as an English batsman!). After Kay remarked on how well I was doing at the turn, I didn’t even manage to get into double figures on the way back. Boo! But just about enough for joint 3rd with Marena who had a very steady 14 in each half to gather 28 points.
It was a very close run match in the other group with Linda on 15 points, Erica on 16 points and Elena on 17 points at the turn. On the inward half, it stayed extremely close. Both Erica and Elena racked up the only blob-free rounds of the day. Erica scored a tremendous 3 for 4 points on the 12 hole (mainly to annoy Kay I imagine?)
Overall, it was Elena who triumphed with an amazing 32 points. It was an exceptionally consistent round with only two slight slips to 1 point, nine net pars and four 3-pointers. Only one other player has scaled the giddy heights of 32 points this season so far. Speaking of Erica…she finished a mere single stroke behind on 31 points. Sadly, it wasn’t quite enough for 5 victories in a row. But she has maintained her overall lead in the league and is the first golfer to break 100 points. Ton up! as I believe they say on the darts.
Well done to both on excellent scores in not the easiest conditions. And a great victory for Elena on only her second week back after a few weeks away.
Next week…more Winter League excitement.
