Second doubles game in the League to Dubai. The Neath Pair.

Max and I were both ‘bricking it’ with regards to playing our match today against Richard and Paul from Neath. They both play off handicaps of 2 and I have never played golf with anyone that has as low a handicap before. ¾ handicaps left the Neath blokes with their handicaps untouched while Max and I would be playing off 13 and 11 respectively, effectively receiving 10 shots. I don’t remember ever doing it before, but I managed to par the first three holes to keep up with Richard and Paul who both showed their class with some amazing golf, especially considering they had never played here before. Paul and Richard’s pace with their putters was phenomenal right from the start.

A trend developed for Max and I when I dumped my tee shot into the lake on the 4^th hole and Max managed to chip his second shot to almost gimme range for a par to pick up the slack and keep our par streak going.

Standing on the 5^th tee I was deciding that I would have a go at reaching the green with my drive if Max’s drive put him in a good position. His drive was good and I tee’d up my ball a bit higher so that I could smash my drive on the way up. I changed my mind while I was standing over the ball and aimed for the usual part of the fairway, took my usual swing and skied my drive which caught the wind and parked itself in the tall grass next to the 15^th century wall guarding the out of bounds. Bum. Richards tee shot left him with a difficult, blind approach which he played to the green brilliantly and Paul had a very straightforward shot at the pin which went a little long for his liking. I took a penalty drop for an unplayable lie and squirted my third shot to the gap between the green and the front right bunker while Max felt some additional pressure and duffed his second shot and put his third shot about six feet from the pin. Unfortunately Max missed his putt and after I chipped to about a foot from the hole to tap in we were happy with a 5 on the fifth for 2 points. Richard and Paul both just missed their birdie attempts and had to settle for par again.

I tried to punch a 3wood into the wind on the sixth hole and managed to top it into the rubbish next to the ladies tee. Richard belted his new Ping G20 driver through the fairway into the long, juicy stuff and Paul and Max hit the fairway with Paul being in position A. My provisional shot was chipped reasonably closely, although I shouldn’t have bothered as Max hit a couple of great shots to have us leave the sixth hole with another par.

Max hit the fairway on 7, so I had a lash with the driver to try to clear the stream/ditch at the bottom. I came up short leaving about 100yards uphill to the pin from a juicy, downhill lie. Paul also hit the fairway leaving Richard to have a go with his driver which found the stream/ditch requiring a chip out. Paul and I came up just short with our approaches while Max topped his into the rough and Richard went through with his third. Paul and I chipped through the green with our thirds shots and I managed to putt in from the fringe for a par4 and Paul just missed, taking a 5. That put us 3 shots clear.

None of us hit the 8^th green. I was in the deep bunker at the front, Max was left and on the correct level, Paul was right and also on the correct level and Richard was just off the green and nearest to the pin. With a tentative bunker shot, I just scraped onto the green and drained a pretty big putt for par. Richard just missed his birdie attempt and we walked to the 9^th with pars again.

There were no lay-ups on the 9^th with 4 drives being hit and three balls in play about 50 yards from the pin. Richard and Paul both played great pitches to within 4 feet and I missed the green long (missed my mouth with a spoon) and three-putted for bogey while Paul got their first birdie and three points to have 19 points at the turn compared to our 21.

3 off the tee again for me as I pulled left on ten into the rough to lose my ball. Max was safe and had a great 5 while Richard and Paul both just missed birdie attempts to leave the 10^th with 3 points from par on the hardest hole at Coed-y-Mwstwr. Max hit a really, really nice 6 iron into the teeth of the wind on the par3 11^th hole and was the nearest to the pin with Paul being the only other of us to hit the green and the hole was par’d by them both (or was it Richard with a great sand-save?).

12 was into the stiff breeze as well and I was left with a 4iron from the light rough from 178 yards. It was a shot that I will keep in my memory for a while and felt amazing. It pitched about 3 feet from the pin and rolled out to about 8 feet! I was stoked! I was also the only one to find the green with Paul being the nearest having just gone through the green. Max and Richard went right and had very tricky shots from above the hole which they both played exceptionally well with Richard getting his par, matching mine after two putts from me.

I’m going to have to change the way I hit my driver. I hit the power lines on the 13^th tee shot for the third time in 2 rounds! It was an awesome first drive that might have even matched Max’s monster had it not hit the lines requiring a reload and spraying it into the trees. My chip out didn’t even reach Max’s drive! Max selected his 6 iron and flicked it onto the green! The man’s a brute! Two putts and a 4 on the par5 for 4 points pretty much putting the nail in the game in our favour. We were now 5 points ahead with 4 holes remaining.

I’m going to have to figure something out about my energy levels as I was starting to fade by now. My punch shot was ugly but effective and my approach was wayward on the 14^th leaving a pitch into the bank over a bunker, from under a tree as my only option to a raised green. It actually worked and I just missed the medium putt for par taking a bogey and 2 more points. Both Richard and Paul found the rough with only Paul’s ball being found. His first attempt from the rough got snagged and it looked very painful. Green and two putts from 120ish for bogey for Paul too, but they needed birdies. Max probably won’t want me to tell you about his duffed chip, so I won’t tell you about his duffed chip. He would have had a bogey as well had he putted after a nice chip after the duffed one (whoops, I told you about his duffed chip! Sorry Max).

Max and I both managed to scrape sixes on the par5 15^th while Richard pulled a point back with a great birdie. Max to the rescue on 16 with a fantastic drive and chip to about 10 feet away from the pin and two putts for a par and 2 more points in the kitty. A fantastic par by Paul from the trees on the right had them keeping pace with us.

17 saw 1 point each with bogey 4’s from both teams and the 18^th was all up to Max as I sprayed my drive right to lose yet another ball. A fantastic birdie by Paul piled some pressure on Max and the final score was a WIN to us with 40 points and Richard and Paul with 37 points.

I just wanted to lay down and sleep after that game. I was spent.

A couple of JD and cokes in the clubhouse and a great chat with the lads was a top finish to a great day. Max and I are over the moon to have won. Richard and Paul are fantastic golfers and Max and I just had the rub of the green today with one propping the other at the right times to keep steady progress. Massive thanks to Richard and Paul from Neath! Top blokes and great sports! Huge thanks to the man- monster that is Max! Well played partner!

I’m Knackered and I’m going to bed. Up in 5.5 hours for work.

Trilby Tour Matchplay. Round 3. 29/06/2013

Jess Ivall had a bit of a trek to get to Coed-y-Mwstwr for our third round match as he was coming from Leominster-ish but he made it safe and sound. I had just come in from a stableford comp (18 holes as a warm up ….. was that really a good idea?) and found Jess talking to Paul (our quality PGA Pro). My initial thoughts were “crikey… he’s tall”. A quick drink and a mars bar and we popped to the first to begin our duel! Our handicaps were 13 and 15 with me receiving 2 shots over Jess and after witnessing his beautifully smooth and powerful swing I was feeling like I was going to need them, and then some more.

We halved the first hole and then Jess smashed a 3wood to about 10 feet from the 210 yard par3 second hole that didn’t require putting after I squirted my shot into the rough about half way to the green and chopped out to pick up and concede to hole. Not a particularly good start for me and a fantastic start for Jess.

I’ve lost the scorecard that I use to prompt my memory when writing these accounts and I’ve played a LOT of golf this weekend with all the shots seeming to blend into one.

I do remember it being windy, I remember Jess developing a hook that was accentuated by a strong breeze into us and from the right for 4 out of 6 holes on our inward half and I remember Jess seeming a bit frustrated.

I also remember being absolutely knackered.

Standing on the 13^th tee after winning the 12^th hole to go 6up with 6 to play, I let my tiredness get the better of me and threw away the next two holes. Actually my first drive on the 13^th was BEAUTIFUL….. until it hit the power lines requiring a re-load. My re-load also hit the power lines but this time saved me from slicing into the trees and my third drive was pulled straight left into the other trees. That may have messed with my head a little, but I suspect that fatigue may have got the better of me as after I chipped out of the trees I put my third and fifth balls into the long rough on the left, never to be seen again.

The par5 15^th proved to be our last hole which we halved to finish our match with me winning 4&3. Jess reflected that he felt as though he was beaten by the greens. We must have looked like a couple of mountaineers returning from an attempt at Everest walking back to the car park and clubhouse. I know I felt like it. I hope Jess made it home safely, thanks for a great game and top company. 

Round of 16. Tony David Bronze plate. Match against Craig Davies, 24/06/2013.

I am playing a LOT of golf lately, Massive thanks to Clare for tolerating it!

Finished work at 6, bombed straight to the Coed for a quick warm up before our agreed tee time of 1830. Craig arrived at the same time as me and we had a quick chip and putt together before heading to the first tee, shaking hands and hitting our drives into trouble, followed by a provisional each. Not the perfect start by any stretch. The search for Craig’s ball on the left proved fruitless and I found mine on the right and needed a penalty drop to be able to play it. My approach to the green was a great settler. A 6iron onto the green leading to a win on the first hole.

Our match was a pretty high-quality game with some outstanding golf from both of us (also some quite poor golf each) with alternate holes being won most of the way through our match. Our first halved hole was the 8^th and we were standing on the 12^th tee all square wondering who was going to take the bull by the horns. Craig sprayed his drive into the hedge behind the 11^th and I calmly knocked my drive down the middle …… IN MY MIND!! I pull-hooked left into the long deep stuff. What a Drongo! Both our provisional balls went right so we traipsed towards the 13^th fairway. Craig found his first ball right next to his provisional so was able to play his second shot as a chip out through the trees. My 4^th shot was a swipe with my 3wood hoping that I could get enough height (13.5 deg loft and a very stiff shaft!) to clear a tree and get to the green or just short. I managed to find the tree and escape through the other side to land on the fairway about 70 yards short of the green. Craig had a bit of a shocker, you might even call it a tree knocker, which ended in a lost ball and a concession. That hole wasn’t the golf that dreams are made of for either of us.

We had our second halved hole on the 13^th after some eventful army-golf ending in a bogey 6 each. I managed to win 14 and 15 to be 3up with 3 to play standing on the 16^th tee. I’ve never played that hole as well as I did on Monday night and birdied it to win the match 4 & 2.

Thanks for a great match Craig! Looking forward to meeting either Jerry or Kevin in the quarter finals!!

First singles game in League to Dubai. 23/06/2013

The Bristol golf club was the venue for me to take on Neil Luczynski in my first game in the singles for the league to Dubai. A 50 minute drive down the M4 and M5 had me arrive with plenty of time to take advantage of the great practise facilities on offer. It was nice being able to step onto the first tee knowing that I had a swing that would keep the first shot in play. A driving range is something we don’t have at Coed-y-Mwstwr and would be a great addition if we could afford it and fit it on the site one day.

I bumped into Neil at the driving range and discovered that he is a really nice bloke, was a pleasure to play with and a credit to the Bristol as one of their members.

I’m trying to write this while Bubba Watson is having a meltdown on his 16^th hole and I’m struggling to concentrate! I think Bubba is about to fire his caddy.

Anyway…… our game.

The wind was UP! Not as bad as the previous day, but still 20 mph, which is enough to be a concern. The first hole really gets your attention. It is a reasonably straight par5 with out of bounds all the way down the left and a big drop off (visually, not practically, unless you really slice it hard) on the right. The wind was rocketing up the slope and hurting and I watched Neil hit his ball left and get thrown back into the clear by a very helpful tree. Nice. My drive was a good one and made it almost exactly half way leaving 250 to go. My brain was working today and I managed to talk myself out of going for the green (250 into the wind with the 3wood) and laid up to 80 yards short leading to a par to start and my first 3 pointer.

This was my first singles game that I have ever played with ¾ handicap and would be playing off 12 instead of 16. I was a little bit concerned, the consolation was that Neil went from 21 to 16. I found the first few competitions without a shot on a couple of holes very difficult to get used to.

Par on the 1^st had my confidence up and the last thing I saw myself doing on the short par3 2^nd was pull-hooking left and nearly out of bounds! I wasn’t impressed especially as it was just a pitching wedge. Back to reality with a thud and one point (they are all valuable!) matched by Neil after he went right with his first. Neil had the first of many very close putts on the second, could they prove costly? We headed downhill next…. Massively downhill, dogleg right. I got my first taste of how hard the greens were with my approach shot. The bounce was incredible! At least 20 feet in the air and through the green. Neil copped the same treatment from the green and another close putt left him trailing further behind.

I found my ball under a tree on the 4^th and took a penalty drop instead of a blind stab. That turned out to be a great decision as I still got up and down for par from 120 yards! I was feeling pretty buoyant about my golf by this stage and was building a bit of a lead (9 points to 5 after 4 holes). The Bristol requires some thought and good decision making..... just blazing away with your driver on each tee would lead to some serious trouble.

The par5 7^th hole at the Bristol wasn't one of those holes and a good belt with the Titleist 910D3 left me with 200 yards to the pin from an uphill lie landing on a downslope with water through the green. After a bit of risk verses reward argument in my head I decided that a good smack with the 4 iron shouldn't be able to go through the green into the water. It turned out perfectly and I just missed my eagle attempt and settled for a birdie for 4 points. Happy days! 8 and 9 were both very tricky holes where the driver stayed in the bag and I still ended up with only 1 (still valuable) point from each hole. Neil made a bit of a surge over the last few holes on the front nine to make the turn with 14 points compared to my 17.

I started the back nine with a par for 3 points and was feeling great walking to the 11^th tee to be greeted by two groups waiting to tee off. We sat around feeling all momentum dispersing for about 20 minutes and promptly scored 1 point for the next 2 holes.

After the blob (0 points) on the 12^th hole I managed to get my head back on my shoulders correctly and finished the round par, bogey, par, par, par and double bogey. One very memorable hole was the 16^th hole. 

Lumberjacks walk is a very daunting par3. Standing on the tee looking between two very stern trees at a tiny green perched on railway sleepers ten feet above a beautiful water feature, all downhill and into the wind off the right with the pin 178 yards away on the back right with 155 to carry the water. Not an easy hole and I had the honour. I was toying with having a crack with my 5iron and finally decided to hit my 4iron instead as I would rather be long than short. I hit a fantastic shot, straight at the pin which pitched right on the edge of the green and stayed almost exactly where it landed. The wind had more effect than I had given it credit for and I was feeling pretty lucky by now although a small kick onto the green towards the pin would have been nice. Two putts for a par and a very welcome 3 points for the tally.

Neil knew it was time to start making a move over the last few holes and he started taking a few risks and the lag putt was no more. 

On the 18^th hole I hit my first duff of the day and scooted my 5 iron (I was being very conservative) about 130 yards along the ground to around 210 yards from the hole. Neil needed to finish with a bang and went with his driver on a more direct route cutting the corner and found trouble needing a penalty drop to have a swing leading to his second blob of the round. I managed to put my approach shot into the pond guarding the front of the 18^th green and scraped through with 1 point after a pitch and two putts. Our game ended in a reasonably comfy victory for me on 33 points to Neil’s 27 points. 

Neil was great company and a fantastic host and those edge-burning misses did prove costly in the end. The Bristol was very well looked after and the views over the Severn estuary and the Bristol Channel were outstanding. The photos aren’t the best, but they are better than none!

Looking forward to my next game. Away again and this time at Oake Manor in Summerset against Peter Jeanes.

Cheers

Clayt

Club Championships, next stage: Bronze Plate knock-out.

The Club championships at Coed-y-Mwstwr get filtered into three groups for the top 64 places players after the two day scratch event. The first 32 play for the Club Championship and the Silver Bowl and the second 32 play for the Bronze plate. I finished in a 3-way tie for 33rd (35th) and am playing for the Tony David Bronze Plate.
My first match for the Tony David Bronze Plate was on Monday against Dean Griffiths. I finished work at 5 and made it to the first tee for our 1730 tee time as arranged. I was feeling reasonably confident although I was a bit worried about giving 6 shots away due to our handicap difference. Dean didn't have his A game with him on Monday and I was 6 up after 6 holes. The seventh hole (stroke index 2) was our first half and I had to par it to halve it! Dean won't want to remember the 8th as it put me 7up with 10 to go. I made a few mistakes over the next few holes and Dean was finding his touch to be standing on the 12th tee 5down with 7 to play. I won the 12th with a really nice par from the fairway bunker and we were at dormie standing on the 13th. Dean absolutely pulverised his golf all straight down the middle at least 300 yards and I pulled mine left into the trees. Dean had a putt for a birdie which he missed but he still won the hole to stay 5down with 5 to go.
I think he was feeling a little bit of pressure as his drive on the 14th was definately not his best effort and led to me being able to make a couple of mistakes and still win the hole and the match 6 & 4!
Looking forward to playing the next match. Will it be Craig? or will it be Jeff?
Clayt 

League to Dubai. First match in group Stage. Glamorganshire

Sunday 9^th June saw myself and Max travel to the beautiful Glamorganshire Golf Club in Penarth to play our betterball Stableford game against Jeff and Duncan. The weather was outstanding and the course was in fantastic condition.

Max and I had good intentions leading into this competition with the aim of practicing together once a week and getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses a bit. The 9^th of June was really the first time we had played together apart from the individual Stableford competition at the Coed the day previous. We were both quite nervous I think and the pint of Strongbow I had before the game didn’t help me at ALL! (lesson learned!)

First tee. Reasonable strike with the driver, little bit of fade and one bounce into a bush, never to be seen again. Max's shot was a carbon copy and his provisional ball ended up just safe near the bush. My provisional shot was lucky to make it passed the ladies tee and parked itself behind a tree, which I hit my next shot directly into and was beginning to feel a bit ‘doom and gloomy’. I was out of that hole and Max ended up missing a long range effort for a point to leave us in catch up mode.

The nerves were still in evidence (or was that the Strongbow?) on the second hole which was a very steep, short, uphill par three with a treacherous green. 115 yards of knee-trembling terror. No points to add to our tally of zero to be nil after two holes while Jeff and Duncan were off to a great start with at least five points after two holes.

Hole three continues uphill for the first shot to the par5 fairway. It is blind as it crests the hill and veers left and runs left into trouble. Jeff explained the hole really well and I had a really good picture in my mind of what I wanted to achieve. I was teeing off 4^th and had just seen Max pull-hook left over the previous green after Jeff said “left is bad” and also saw both our opponents leak right into the trees for “a guaranteed chip out, but you should find it”. I smashed my drive over the hill with a tiny little bit of draw on it and left myself a 212 yard downhill approach shot to the green. I was feeling substantially better after that shot. I pulled my 6iron (normally 170 yards) out of the bag, aimed at the right side of the fairway and connected beautifully for the shot to land short on the right and run down the fairway to the left side of the green! On in two with a chance at an eagle for 5 points!! Chuffed! I cosied the putt up to a few feet and knocked it in for 4 points! Pretty pleased with myself after that hole and I’m sure Jeff and Gordon were relieved that they might actually have a game on their hands now.

Hole five is a short dogleg left par4 protected by some massive trees on the left. Max popped his shot onto the fairway and I had a lash at the green. I hit it the right direction, just not high enough and it went into the trees. I then lost my provisional ball to the right so the pressure was on Max. His second shot left him with an easy chip and putt for par. After nearly giving up searching for my first ball, I almost stood on it just short of the green after it proved that trees ARE 90% air! Duffed chip and two putts for par too!

I had some serious luck on my side in this round!

Standing in front of the 8^th tee I measured 176 yards to the stream running across the fairway so I grabbed my Hybrid (200 yards) and walked to the tee (15 to 20 yards behind me). I hit a stunning shot, it felt amazing! I nearly wet myself laughing when it landed on the bridge crossing the stream on the left side of the fairway and kicked on 20 yards!!! The looks of dismay directed at me from Gordon and Jeff were pretty priceless too. I still ended with only one point from that hole as I found the bunker, then thinned it to the rough, then chipped up and down.

Hole ten was a very tricky par3 with a very, very steep area of doom to the left of the green. Even chips from the right of the green would be knee-knockers! I went left. Gordon went left (twice). Max was also left and Jeff was right. Gordon’s flop shot with his provisional ball was incredible. The green was at least 10 feet above us and it landed perfectly on the edge of the green and rolled to about four feet. If there was a crowd, there would have been a hell of a cheer! I knew exactly what I needed to do as I was about 3 feet closer on pretty-much the same line. I love flop shots … I popped mine onto the edge of the green and it trickled to within one foot! The crowd in my mind went ballistic!

Max was keeping score and I didn’t really have any idea of the score. I have a feeling Max and I were starting to get a bit of a lead as Gordon and Max were talking to us a little bit less. The game was actually a very high quality match with some amazing golf on display from all of us. 

I had been chipping really well. It is the one aspect of my game that often saves me and I quite like my 60deg wedge. Absent-mindedly, I managed to leave it next to the 11^th green. I spoke to the group behind us and they told me that they placed it safe on the 15^th tee box for me to grab on my way through. When we got to the 15th we found that the group behind them had picked it up and I hoped that I could get it back from them at the clubhouse! I did get it back, phew! But I had to play the rest of the round without it, bummer!

Jeff and Gordon had a bit of a role-reversal over the last five or six holes. Gordon started really playing to his potential and his handicap with some amazingly solid golf really piling the pressure on Max and I. Jeff was starting to fade a little after being the packhorse for their team over the front of the course.

Holes 16 and 17 are two very tough holes. Blind drive on 16 to the top of the hill with an approach shot to a very small green tucked away in a corner with pine trees beside it. My approach was a bit shanky after a great drive and left a tricky pitch/chip of about 30 yards. That shot was made harder by the fact that Gordon had stiffed his 3^rd shot to within a foot of the hole. I managed to pitch it close and knock the putt in to keep our lead heading to the next hole. The 17^th feels like your shot will feed right. You can’t see the fairway as you tee off from far enough back on the plateau that all you can see is sky and trees. Gordon and I both aimed left and thought our shots would be relatively simple to find. Max went right a little and had a pretty simple shot into the green. The fairway does NOT feed right! We found my ball after an extensive search and I had a reasonable shot from the rough to the green too. Max and I both missed left and it looked like we had relatively easy up and down attempts for par. Gordon hit a great shot from the rough to the green which caught the slope (I didn’t know there was a slope) and rolled into the bunker. What a horrible green! The members must walk to that green filled with confidence in matchplay and dread in their medals! I walked off with 2 points after a reasonable chip and two good putts and we went to the final tee 1 point in the lead after both Gordon and Jeff could only manage to get 2 points.

I don’t really remember the last hole. I do remember thinking ‘please don’t pull it left’ as it would have clattered into the clubhouse and the group of people having some sort of presentation. I did go a little left but was short as well so I had a reasonable shot at getting up and down for par. Max went just right and also had a good shot at par. Jeff ended up having a putt to get one more point than us on the hole to tie the game. It was a 15-20 footer which he ran passed a little leaving Max and I to count our lucky stars that we had won our away match 38 – 37 points!!

Massive thanks to Jeff and Duncan for being great sports and fantastic hosts! Glamorganshire is definitely worth a visit, great course and clubhouse. Thanks to Max for playing brilliantly when I played poorly. Sorry I didn’t write about Max’s great play much, but I didn’t really notice it as I had my head on my chest trying to figure out what I had done wrong.

Next game is against a pair from Neath. We have home advantage for that one so we’ll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading

Clayt

Round 2, Trilby Tour Match-play Singles

I went to bed the night before my match against Leigh Jones feeling pretty ordinary about my game. I had just come home from our monthly medal at which I shot gross 99. I couldn’t hit the ball cleanly and had a severe case of ‘the lefts’.
I popped to the Coed for an hour before I went to the match at Dinas Powis Golf Club and managed to sort out my issues in my swing and was feeling much better about my game by the time I got to the course. I met Leigh on the putting green and we got cracking after a few putts.
I was really quite nervous having to play a bloke with a smaller handicap than mine (Leigh plays off 13 and I am off 16) on a course that I have never seen before. Standing on the 1st tee didn’t calm my nerves particularly much either. There were three bunkers lining the fairway where I saw my drive landing and it looked quite tight so I took out my 4 iron and hit a nerve-settling shot to find the fairway. Leigh was pretty nervy too and he managed to leak his drive right and into the trees. I had a blinding start to my round managing to par the first two holes to jump to a 2up advantage and was feeling really good about my ball striking.
I won’t bore you through a hole by hole write up today. There were a few memorable holes though and I had a few lucky breaks along the way. The 8th hole is a severely downhill dogleg left par 4 of 313 yards from the whites. I was playing second after losing the 6th and the honour and Leigh went through the dogleg into the trees on the right. I pulled my drive slightly left and it flew over the trees to be safe just short of the fairway about 40 yards short of the green. My chips and pitches were quite good all day and that one left me with a good shout for a birdie. Leigh ended up not finding his first drive so three off the tee didn’t help him much and we were back to 3up.
I gave the shot straight back on the tenth when I put my second shot into the farmers field at the top of the world. There was some altitude gained and lost on this golf course. Check out the view from 10/15!

Another stroke of luck was on the 11th. I hit a nice drive that leaked a bit right and planted itself behind a tree next to some very nonplussed sheep. I had 110 yards left steeply uphill to the green and had to stay under some overhanging branches. My brain came up with a ‘simple’ plan: Hit a punched draw with the pitching wedge, that’ll keep it low enough and you can go around the lowest branch. I gave it a shot and it clattered into a very solid branch. I had no idea which way it headed ….. until it plopped down in the middle of the fairway about 50 yards away! Phew! Up and down from 60 yards and a par and a win! Leigh had a 3 foot putt to halve that hole and we had been conceding most of them to that point, that one however would have scared the pooh out of me so I asked Leigh to putt it. Some might say it was a bit harsh, but I figured a concession should only be for putts you think are a waste of time putting.
We managed to get to dormie on the 15th (our 13th because 7 and 9 were out of play) with a halved hole after my only duffed shot of the match and I then managed to have my only sliced drive of the match on the 16th so went three off the tee with my hybrid after Leighs fantastic drive put him in position A. My fourth shot went just through the green and we were back to 4up with 4 to go. The 17th hole at Dinas Powis Golf club definitely deserves its stroke index of 1, what a BRUTE! 460 yards of dogleg right, sloping left bogeyville!!  I went driver, 4 iron to hole high and had a downhill pitch to the green and managed to get my first putt close enough for a concession to close out the match with a confidence boosting 5&3 win!! Massive thanks to Leigh for a great game and I am now eagerly awaiting news of my next opponent. How many more rounds until we have only 16 competitors left?!?! Who knows. 
One match at a time………next please!!