Holiday Golf in Devon

We went on a family holiday to Dawlish in Devon this week to make the most of the outstanding summer weather we have been experiencing this year. The clubs were left at home as there would be no golf on our holiday.
Dawlish has a market on wednesday which Clare wanted to see so she sent me off to the Warren Golf links to see if I could hire some clubs.
After my short walk to the clubhouse I discovered that there was a set (Wilson X30 or something) for hire and after passing my readdies to the very friendly and helpful pro I was on my way with a big grin. What a fantastic little treasure the Warren turned out to be! It's fairways were paying the price of a long, dry and warm (serious! No Sarcasm!) summer and were a bit sandy in places but the greens were fantastic! I imagine the Warren would be a great place for matchplay as there are many risk verses rewarrd choices to be made all over the course.
Enough words from me. Mark Crossfield did a links golf special from the Warren links course the week before I was there (it was 7 days drier for me) so I have popped the 3 vids here for your perusal and enjoyment.
I played OK and discovered that my bad shots are the same with Blades as they are with game-improvement irons.

Trilby Tour Matchplay, Round 4

Round 4 of the Trilby Tour matchplay had me playing at home against Richard Mills from Pontardawe golf club playing off a handicap of 10 giving me 5 shots. I was feeling reasonably confident leading up to the match even though the last couple of times I played, I didn’t play very well.

I’m not really sure what has happened to my golf game. Things just haven’t been following my imagined plan! At the moment I don’t have a reliable poor shot off the tee. My first tee shot sliced way right leaving me with a longish shot which I dumped in the bunker while Richard was on the green after two beautiful golf shots with a great shot at a birdie. I blitzed my par save attempt miles passed the hole after a poor bunker shot left me over and off the green. 1 down after 1……hmph.

The second hole saw me utilize my hybrid and pull hook the ball left by about 50 yards after seeing Richard slice his shot right by almost the same. We ended up halving the par3 in 5’s. Less than inspirational golf on that hole which led to me trying to lay up on the plateau on the third and fading my hybrid into the rough almost behind the trees. Trying very hard not to get frustrated by now as I KNOW that frustration and anger do NOT help my game! I felt like I was still in with a chance on the third when Richard pulled his approach shot way left and onto the 2^nd tee ……. That chance was diminished when he stiffed the chip leading to another lost hole leaving me 2 down after 3…….. ggrrrrr…hmph.

The pin was placed in the centre of the 4^th green taking all of the danger away (if you have a regular and small usual landing area!!). Richards went right and into the short rough next to the green, I also went slightly right and a bit shorter leading to a ball in the pond hitting my third shot onto the green after a penalty drop. I managed to get up and down for 4 and amazingly won the hole to get back to 1 down.

A slightly better drive faded into the tall trees guarding the 5^th fairway and popped out with almost a shot at the green while Richard slightly pulled left towards the wall requiring a chip out into space. I saw a punched 9 iron to the green as my option for my second shot and hit the big ball before the little one which fortunately made it to the fairway leaving a sand wedge to the green and 2 putts verses Richards first three putt to get us back to all square. That sand wedge was my first good shot of the match and I was lucky to be all square standing on the 6^th tee.

Big ball first again left me in the fairway needing a drawn 9 iron around the big-arsed trees guarding the 6^th green which worked a treat leaving me about 20 feet for birdie. Two fantastic shots by Richard left him with a similar birdie chance and we halved the hole in pars. Still all square.

I had a shot on the 7^th hole and threw the hole away by putting my first and provisional shots in the very deep rough on the left with my very ‘safe’ 4 iron. I probably should have walked back to play 5 from the tee, but didn’t have enough golf balls to throw another one away.

I put my tee shot on the 8^th green and knocked the 10 foot putt in for a birdie to take the hole and start to play some decent golf. So decent in fact, that the 8^th was the first of 5 in a row and we were standing on the 13^th tee and I was 4 up. We halved 13 with a really nice pair of pars after being in the trees on the left.

Slice followed by a provisional pull and a pushed 4^th shot lost me the 14^th and I think Richard knew that steady golf from him would probably win the match. I also knew that steady golf from me would DEFINITELY win the match, I just couldn’t get it right. Although a great drive followed by a duffed lay-up and a short approach on the 15^th led to a hole halved in pars and dormie 3 on the 16^th. I hit a reasonable drive leaving a nice pitching wedge to the green from the semi rough. It’s a shot I normally feel like I can do in my sleep. I must have been dreaming because I shanked it straight into the trees just near Richards drive and now we were both battling the trees short and right of the 16^th green. I hit an awesome chip that left me a putt to win the match of about 10 feet. I missed and we went to the 17^th 2up with 2 to play.

We both pushed our tee shots to the par3 and had reasonably straight forward chips to the green with an up and down contest. I knew it had to land softly so I chose the flop shot. I would normally test the grass before hitting any chip. I failed to this time and the grass caught the hosel, closed the clubface and sent the ball over the green. WTF!!!! Richard bumped his chip down the little hill onto the green and left himself about 6 foot for par which he JUST missed and somehow I must have chipped and two-putted for a five to have us still at dormie standing on the 18^th tee.

Now the tension was definitely getting to me. “nice and easy swing to just knock it onto the fairway” was the thought. The practice was a nice easy swing mis-timed and a massive slice put me in the trees next to the 7^th fairway. A beautiful drive from Richard put him just through the fairway with a clear shot at the green. I played my provisional ball with anger and smashed it into position A+. I found my first ball and had a clear shot to chip out onto the fairway and still be in with a chance as I had a shot on the 18^th. My head nearly exploded and my vision turned red when I SHANKED THE CHIP and it squirted about 20 yards away and into the massively long rough!!! WTF!!! WTF!!!

Richard hit an amazing approach shot to 18 and birdied the hole to take us to extra holes all square. It must have been hard for him to control his laughter by now, I was feeling pretty ordinary. Richard found yet another fairway with a fantastic drive on our 19^th hole. I hit the same swing as my provisional on the 18^th and it sailed straight into the tiger rough on the left. My provisional ball did exactly the same thing, just further in.

Richard played amazingly well under pressure and deserved the win. I fell apart and didn’t swing the clubs at all well and unfortunately this has ended my Trilby Tour experiences for this year.

I’ll be back next year! It has been a great experience.

Look out for Richard Mills at Rockliffe Hall!

10 Scary things about being a caddy on the Trilby Tour

Today I asked Gareth if he had any thoughts he could put into writing about taking part in the Trilby Tour at St Pierre as my caddie last Thursday and this brilliant little gem is what he came up with!

10 scary things about being a caddy on the Trilby tour (in no particular order)

·         Wearing a boiler suit when your 17 stone on a boiling hot day and wondering if you will melt into a puddle

·         Getting stitched up by a millionaire tailor into betting £10 on a Welsh winner when only about 3 welsh guys played-pride always comes before a fall

·         Watching your man hit the best opening tee shot of the day….and following it by pulling a short iron 50 yards left of target

·         Continuing the theme in getting a random over the top pull from nowhere every 5th shot?????????

·         Playing your second on the par5 14th from a bunker 40 yards in front of you and 40 yards left behind trees on a down slope…and being asked a yardage

·         Being asked the same question on the same hole from the next shot 50 yards closer but 30 yards even further left…now hitting over trees, bunkers , the 12th green (full of players) and a dozen loitering marshalls

·         Watching the other 2 golfers in the group also implode and trying not to have the giggles

·         Watching your wife try to scrounge the Trilby from Johnny (2nd golfer in the group)…….without success

·         Sitting next to William Hunt discussing the merits of James Voce (world Trilby Champ) without asking for my £10 back

·         Scariest of all….being delighted if I was asked again to bag carry for another stint.

Thanks again Gareth! Ledge!

League to Dubai. Singles game 2. Oake Manor with Peter Jeanes

Bit of a trek to my second singles game in the League to Dubai! Nearly two hours each way to the beautiful Oake Manor golf club in Taunton, Somerset! I was greeted in the carpark by Peter Jeanes and after a quick warm up and practice putt, we were away down the first. I managed to leave my Garmin G5 at home so I made use of the great course planner I got from the very nice pro shop.

My honour on the first and sliiiiiiced it almost onto the 2^nd fairway. Pete went almost as far right as me and managed to lose his ball and after I clattered into the trees trying to escape them, we recorded blobs each for the first hole. Not the start either of us was after.

Par5 2^nd hole had the breeze helping and the dry conditions were giving heaps of run which left me a downhill approach shot to the green with a small stream behind it. I pulled my 5iron a little left and was praying that it would hit the bunker or manage to stop before the water. It didn’t and I managed to salvage a point to Peter’s 2 points after he did the smart safe play.

Water plays a massive role on Oake Manor’s golf course. Aesthetically it is beautiful and I got caught by the water on more than just the one occasion. Luckily I took heaps of golf balls!

Holes 3 and 4 were both blobbed for me and I found myself  4 points behind after 4 holes standing on the 5^th tee looking at trouble everywhere on the hardest hole on the course. I took my hybrid club and placed the ball 200 yards from the green in the centre of the fairway with a daunting shot over water awaiting me. A 4iron landed a few feet short and bounced on to stop about 4 feet from the pin! What an amazing shot! I popped the putt in for a birdie (net eagle) and 4 points to give me a 3 point swing against Pete’s single pointer.

My honour on the beautiful par3 6^th. A reasonably short hole with the water hazard coming right to the green’s edge. I had 132 yards to the edge of the green and chose a 9 iron as the bunkers through the green looked nasty and an 8iron would have put me in them. My first tee shot hit the wall of the hazard. BOOOO. It was about 1 foot from being absolutely perfect. I played my third shot from a good pitching wedge distance and left myself with a monstrous put for a point which only just missed.

I was very pleased with a point from the 7^th hole after putting my drive in the fairway bunker and Pete’s steady run continued with 2 points after a fantastic shot from a deep greenside bunker. I got the last of my points from the front nine on the par4 8^th after flirting with the OB right and leaving myself 100 yards to the green and a par (net birdie) for 3 points and a staggering 10 points after 9 holes. I won’t mention the 4 putts on the 9^th hole! Pete’s tally half way was 14 points with steady as she goes golf.

Golf is a funny game.

I nearly chipped in for a birdie on the tough par3 10^th hole with both of us getting 3point pars and I managed to par 4 from the first 6 on the back 9 to give me a single point advantage with three holes to go! Neither of us could really believe it, but there were still 3 holes to go!

The par3 16^th is the easiest hole on the course and I put it in the water. Fortunately for me, so did Pete. Still 1 point ahead, 2 to play.

Par5 17^th I sliced right, Pete hooked left. Both had an opportunity for a single point with a chip in, both missed. 1 point up, 1 to play.

Played it safe with a hybrid short of the bunkers although it left a blind second shot. Pete blazed his driver as he was chasing and went right. Neither of us received a shot on the 18^th and Pete needed at least a par and 2 points to win it (so he thought). His second shot was a beauty and put him safely on the green. My blind approach shot was pulled left and into the greenside bunker leaving a tricky shot across the green which stopped short at about half distance. My par putt went passed about 3 feet.

Pete’s birdie attempt went passed by about 6 feet and he was fuming when he missed his par putt leaving him with one point and a total of 25 for the match. That left me with a 3 foot putt to take the away match with 26 points. I lined it up, there was a bit of right to left movement in it and I was needing to aim just outside right edge. I stuck to my routine and hit a poor putt that just missed! That left Pete feeling a little better and we drew the match with 25 points a-piece. I can’t really believe that I had the chance to win the game. I made far too many mistakes off the tee.

Still….. a point is a point!

Had a lovely beer in the beautiful and spacious clubhouse, enjoyed winding down, talking about stuff and listening to Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.

Thanks Pete for a great day out! Top company on a fantastic golf course. I didn’t enjoy the fact that I had the first of three night-shifts waiting for me when I got home ……. But I still had a top day.

The Trilby Tour. St Pierre. Wales.

Having seen the Trilby Tour on Sky Sports last year and thinking it looked like a pretty amazing day out, my desire to take part in one was quite high. There were two catches though. The first was that you had to have a handicap of 18 or less and mine was 22 when entries opened and the second was the amount of hard-earned paper bits required. It is pretty good value for that money, just justifying them as ‘spare’ would be very difficult. The moons aligned and I held my breath for the required amount of time while balancing on my left little toe and ‘hey PRESTO’ Wales regional event at ST Pierre @here I come!!!’

I would loved to have had a practice round or two prior to competing on the day, I just wasn’t able to. Fortunately for me, my outstanding Caddie (Club Secretary, very good golfer and all-round nice guy: Gareth Summerton) had played there around half a dozen times and the Strokesaver of the course was excellent. My recent history of playing well the first time I experience a course had me feeling buoyant.

I arrived early (0740 for an 1130 kick-off!!!) and grabbed the gear required for the day then felt the nervousness build and every muscle used for golf get twitchier by the second until I was blasting my putts twice the required distance and spraying my warm up shots on the range all over the place! Gareth tried to get me to swing easier and remember my tempo, I tried to as well.

The first tee is an experience to be remembered! I was very nearly sick. The mention of 3.5million viewers on Sky Sports didn’t help, neither did watching some previous groups tension-induced shockers. I was playing with Dan (2010 Kent champion) and Johnny (sixth Trilby event). Both of them were clearly nervous too, so I didn’t feel too bad. I stood behind my ball and told myself just to stick to my routine, then hit a beautiful drive, straight down the left of the fairway! I almost wanted to fist-pump that, but managed to compose myself and refrain (the TV cameras were on!).

I wish the rest of the shots were as nice as that first one! You really have to be very precise with the placement of your golf balls. My second shot parked me directly behind a very large tree which my 9iron did not manage to clear and I ended up having my first really nice chip for the day to get up and down for a 6 and my first 2 points.

After six holes I was feeling pretty good about golf and had a few very lucky breaks along the way to be standing on the 7^th tee with 12 points already in the bag off ¾ handicap. I hit one of the worst slices I have hit in some time. It went so far right, that it cleared most of the trouble and left me with a reasonable chance at scrambling to the green down the wrong fairway. I almost got a point with my putt just lipping out after being in the green-side bunker and recorded my first blob after a very adventurous hole. This would not be my first very adventurous hole leading to a blob!!

I finished the front 9 with 13 points. I felt as though I was still in with a chance to make the top ten even though I had two blobs. All I needed to do was play some steady golf. TV cameras were following us on the 10^th. My drive was pretty good, leaving me with a pretty easy shot to a green protected left and through by water. I sprayed my approach right into the trees and it popped out just off the edge. Pretty poor chip left a monster putt which I dropped in the hole for a timely par4 and hopefully a little bit of TV time! We’ll see in October.

I had a nice haul of points over the next few holes and was standing on the 14^th tee with 21 points! A nice drive down the centre was required with a bunker at 270yards on the right which should have been out of reach. SNAP-HOOK LEFT into the trees and a lucky bounce out of the tree into the greenside bunker on 13 leading to an extremely adventurous hole which utilized the two previously played holes! Still had a putt for a point, just missed it though.

Gareth gave me the perfect play for the tricky 15^th hole. Hybrid straight at the bunkers on the right leaving a nice approach downhill to the green protruding out into the lake. I did the first part perfectly! I even hit my second shot really well, I just got my clubface alignment wrong and pushed it into the massive grass to the right of the green. I then duffed my provisional shot leaving me a massive chip to go in for a point which went through the green. This hole just became my second chance at getting on the TV! Unfortunately it will be in the ‘Rougues Corner’ bit, if anything. Unfortunately my short game had left me. Duffed approach shots on 16 and 17 led to single pointers and dashed any hope of making the top ten.

The 18^th hole at St Pierre is its signature hole for a good reason! It is stunning! I can also imagine it would be extremely tough into the wind. I was really expecting the cameras to be rolling for our tee shots on this massive par3 from an elevated tee to an even more elevated green 210 yards away. My trusty Hybrid got me onto the dance floor with one bounce and left me a huge birdie putt which unfortunaltely require two follow-up putts to complete the round with 25 points. I really feel as though I had a great opportunity to make it to the finals, but golf had other ideas.

Huge thanks to Gareth for spending his day dispensing invaluable advice and carrying my new Triby Tour golf bag around the place! Your help saved me from me really well! Thanks also to Jackie Summerton for the photos and your support on the day was greatly appreciated. Thanks to William Hunt and his team, along with the marshals from St Pierre. The day seemed to run really smoothly and it was a great pleasure to take part in a top-notch day!

Hopefully I can start popping some pennies aside for next year!