Round 2; League to Dubai 2014

Back to the old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr for the second instalment of the 2014 League to Dubai group games. I wasn’t feeling too bad about my game and was pretty happy to be back at the Coed on a beautiful Summer day. The course looked fantastic even though the greens had been scarified that morning. The rough was very healthy!

Dayne Bossano was my opponent for this game and he had won his first two games by pretty healthy margins and we were both playing off ¾’s of twelve receiving 9 shots which meant that the first hole was a ‘no-shot’ hole. Dayne was away first and split the fairway with a nice drive. I hit quite a nice drive slightly left that bounded into the deep rough just left of the fairway never to be seen again resulting in no score (Blob count #1). Dayne hit the greenside bunker and managed to get out and 2-putt for an opening point. 1 behind, not too bad.

The 212 yard par3 was next and Dayne’s trusty 7-wood came up just short of the green and I chose to hit my hybrid with short being the preferred miss to being long. I scuffed it straight and just about made it half way. Bum. Easy pitching wedge was the order for the next shot aimed directly at the flag. Hit it slightly less easy than I wanted and went through the green and got hung up on the bank leaving a difficult chip with up and down required for a point. Dayne fluffed his first chip and then stiffed his second leaving a tap-in for a point. My chip was short and the tricky downhill putt missed. (Blob count #2)

The 3^rd hole can almost be driven with a really good whack over the deep rough across the dogleg and over 2 bunkers. I decided to leave my driver in my bag and walked to the tee with my 3iron. Dayne and I both decided to aim for the plateau on the corner of the dogleg and Dayne’s shot just leaked right into the rough behind a tree and I finally hit a solid tee shot and found position A 150 yards from the centre of the green. Dayne’s ball had buried itself in the grass and left a glimmer of hope for Dayne to advance it to the fairway which Mr Magician duly obliged and popped it out just running through the fairway into the semi. I aimed at the centre of the green with my 9iron and hit a nice shot that just got pushed by the breeze to the back right corner of the green. A GREEN IN REGULATION! Dayne just went through the green on the left but at least he was on the right side of the tiered green. My first putt had to climb it’s way up and across a steep tier while also needing to stay up on top. The pin was right on the edge of the cliff and I made it to the top tier but was 5 feet away from the hole. I took 2 more putts to find the bottom of the hole but still I HAD MY FIRST POINTS! With 2 points for the bogey on our first ‘shot hole’. Dayne hit a nice chip from the back and his putting let him down giving him a single point for his 6^th shot.

150 yards over a small lake for the downhill par3 4^th hole and it was my honour. 9 iron again as I would rather be long than short and I left the face slightly open through impact fading off to the right of the green which increased the carry distance to clear the water. Just made it over and the little bugger scurried back into the hazard. Dayne hit the green on a similar line to my shot and left himself a long putt for his second shot which was a lot better than my penalty drop for my second shot leaving me a difficult flop to a small target carrying almost the entire water hazard. I played it pretty well although a little right (must have been scared of the water) and was left with a 15 foot putt for a point. Good putt. Just missed. (Blob count #3). Dayne managed to 3 putt for another point and our scores where an almighty 4 vs 2! Inspired golf!

Dayne hit a great shot just right of the fairway on the par4 5^th which turns left around the ancient walled garden and my first drive was a snap-hook left into the tree/wall/rough never to be seen again. My second tee shot was a stonker that just ran through the fairway at the dogleg and hid behind a tree. Dayne’s approach was on the dance floor leaving himself 2 putts for 3 more points which he gathered up and popped in his piggy-bank. I chipped a 5iron from 110 yards hoping to run the ball onto the green and just fell off the left edge towards the back of the green and still had a chance to get up and down for a point. I hit a nice chip the right distance but ended up 6 feet from the pin to the side and just missed the putt. Sigh (Blob count #4).

The 6^th hole is driveable but requires a draw. I wasn’t feeling a draw today so chose to poke a 3 iron to the corner. Dayne went with the big stick and pushed it a little to be on the corner as well. I chose my sand wedge for the 100 yard flick to the centre of the green and left myself pin high with about 30 feet for birdie and Dayne had about 31 feet. 6 feet left for Dayne and my birdie attempt just missed leaving me a simple tap in for par and doubled my points tally to a mahoosive 4! Dayne rolled his par putt in and we were 1/3 of the way through with 4 points to me and Dayne had 9.

7wood down the left of the fairway for Dayne and a 3iron in the left semi for me on the difficult par4 7^th hole. I had never seen anyone hit their approach shot short into the steep bank and bound up the hill and onto the green before........ until today as that is what Dayne did. Golf is a funny game. I hit a really nice 9 iron to the left of the pin which bounded through the green and perched on the steep bank at the back leaving a difficult chip to a tight pin. Dayne putted all the way across the green and a couple of nervy putts later had a point for his double bogey 6. My third shot was a duffed chip which fell down the bank. 4^th was a reasonable putt leaving about 2 feet for a tap in bogey. I missed that one and the next one for yet another blob. Grrrr. (Blob count #5).

150 yards again on the tricky par3 8^th hole and Dayne used the members route to the putting surface up the left and down the bank. I slid under a 9iron and missed the green short and right (don’t do that yourself when you play there!) and had to chip onto the small green perched on the second storey roof. I managed to get up and just rolled off the back of the green leaving a simple 2-putt for a point. I missed the 2 footer back towards the hole after just missing the par put and Dayne made simple work of his 2-putt for par. (Blob count #6)

Another tricky dogleg par4 with danger every where is the 9^th hole. You don’t want to out of bounds left down the entire length of the hole. You don’t want to hit it in the pond on the corner. You don’t want to go through the fairway passed the pond, more out of bounds and thick rough under the trees. It is almost easier to have a go at driving the green except the green staff are very good at growing extremely looong rough and it isn’t far from the fairway or green. Discretion rather than valour for both of us and we flirted with the corner a little bit but found the fairway (me with a drawing 6iron) and semi (Dayne with his trusty 7 wood). Dayne was hoping to run his ball down the slope in front of the green and just came up short and my easy pitching wedge came off the hosel and shot into the tiger rough on the right of the green. We were being called through so the boys watching were able to point out my ball in the 4 foot high grass. I’d have rathered not be able to find it. I wasn’t within 2 club lengths for an unplayable drop and I’d have had to have gone 250 yards to the 14^th fairway for a line of sight drop so I had two swings at the ball and picked it up. Unplayable drop twice might have been an option, but I didn’t think of that at the time (Blob count #7 from 9 holes!!!!! O.M.F.G.Y.H.T.B.K.M!) Dayne collected 2 more points to get his total for the front nine to 14 points compared to my 4. Surprisingly, I wasn’t actually that angry and just nonchalantly carried on.

RESET.

A new 9 starts on the long 10^th hole into the breeze. Dayne hit a great drive to the fairway and I unleashed a pearler of a drive 300 yards down the middle leaving myself 135 yards to the green. Dayne’s approach with his 7 wood was a little right and my pitching wedge was pin high and just rolled off the green leaving a makeable birdie putt. That putt just missed but an easy 3 point par and I had nearly doubled my points tally! I also got 2 points from my 10 point deficit as Dayne could only manage a 6 from the tricky spot his 7 wood left him.

I finally had the honour again on the long par3 11^th hole and squiffed a 5iron into the greenside bunker. Dayne’s 7 wood must be wearing out because he hits it everywhere! He followed me right and just missed the bunker leaving one of those pitches we all need Phil or Seve for. I left myself a bit too much on the putt from my bunker shot to get up and down but 2 points for the bogey was gratefully received. Dayne made it over the bunker and had a difficult 2-putt for the same points and made it.

Still into the little breeze for the par4 12^th hole and I hit a slightly toey drive straight up the middle leaving 135 yards uphill and into the breeze for my second. Dayne’s 7 wood went just through the green and I was short and in the greenside bunker. No sand save for me on this hole either as I left myself 15 feet for par and just missed. Dayne gifted me a points gap reduction by missing a short bogey putt and only collecting 1 point to take his total to 18 and mine had shot to 11. 3 down, 7 to go.

Back down breeze for the 525 yard par5 13^th hole and parched in the middle of the fairway 246 yards from the pin was my drive while Dayne found the right semi. 7wood to the left of the massive tree for Dayne and an ‘almost topped’ hybrid to the base of the same tree for me. I should have hit the 3iron. Dayne squeezed his shot under the tree to the front of the green and I was ready to chip out with my 7 iron. I walked up to the ball and my inner Seve convinced me that I could punch and slice the ball around the tree to the green. I saw the shot vividly in my head and had a crack. It cracked just off the edge of the tree and into the Tiger rough to my left never to be seen again. No shot received on the 13^th so replacing the ball and chipping out with my 5^th shot would have been a waste of time. (Blob count #8). Dayne must have been feeling some tension now as it took him 3 shots to get down from the edge of the green and he only clawed one point back. Disappointing hole and back to an 8 point gap.

The par4 14^th hole has often been a card wrecker for me but I didn’t have a card to wreck to I followed Dayne’s fairway finder with a nice drive into the left semi-rough 110 yards from the raised green. Dayne hit the green with his approach and bounded through into the rough leaving a tricky chip. I just missed the green to the right and had a simple chip for an up and down par and 2 more points compared to Dayne’s single point after a not-so-special chip and two putts.

I must have hit my drive on the par5 15^th hole right out of the bottom of the face as the ball just sort of tumbled onto and up the centre of the fairway while Dayne hit his worst drive of the round with a slice near the 16^th green. A bit of rough hopping for Dayne resulted in a hard-fought 7 for a single point. I hit the green in regulation after a really nice 3 iron followed by a pretty good sand wedge which then rolled back off the green to un-hit it still leaving me with a birdie chance for 4 points. I had a good go at it and just missed. Par (Nett birdie) for 3 points was not to be sneezed at though, I just needed more if I was to have any chance of getting back to Dubai this year. Still there were 3 holes to go and I was now only 5 points behind.

The 16^th is driveable on a really good day with a decent tailwind and I chose to hit a 3iron to the fairway and leave myself a full shot to the green. Dayne missed the fairway but still had a decent shot at the green and rolled through with his approach but stayed in the fringe grass. My approach was beautiful. PW straight at the pin, pitched on the green and ran through, up the green and through the fringe into the light rough. A tentative chip left me a very tricky downhill/sidehill putt for par which just burned the edge leaving me a tap in for bogey and 1 point. Same result for Dayne after his second putt also burned the edge of the hole. I now needed 2 birdies and for Dayne to not score for me to win the game. Not likely, but you have to keep trying!

My 7iron from 152 yards uphill and into the slight breeze came up just short (surprise!) and Dayne leaked his shot right and into the rough followed by a lovely chip to 5 feet. I had to chip in. It was close but not to be and a tap in par for 2 points was all I could do. Dayne’s bogey for 1 point left me needing an eagle to win and a birdie to tie providing the man who had not blobbed a single hole all day, blobbed the last.

I walked to the 18^th tee with my driver and only 1 ball. There was no need to take a second ball as this drive needed to be my best and it was! Over the tree on the corner and sitting proudly on the fairway 135 yards from the centre of the green. I loved that drive! Dayne also found the fairway and left himself 7wood distance from the green. He hit a lovely shot which just went left and short while my attempt at an eagle was on the green, but not in the hole, about 20 feet away. Dayne almost got up and down for a par and tapped in for a 2point bogey. My birdie attempt was close again but in the end I had to settle for a 3 point par and my second loss. 4 on the front and 18 on the back left my 22 points floundering (8 BLOBS!!!) against Dayne’s 14 out and 11 back 25 point tally and the win. 

You can’t really expect to win after a front nine like I played today and a massive congrats to Dayne who is now well on his way to the regional finals in Newbury at the MacDonald Donnington Grove. Although both Paul and Wayne can still get there with wins in their final games providing Dayne loses his last. That is one of the best things about this competition, you just don’t know until the league is complete!

I’ve got two home games at Pyle and Kenfig coming up next. Hopefully I can restore some pride after only playing half of each of my two first games.

Welsh Mid Amateur Golf at Machynys Golf Club

What a beautiful course!

I had a practice round on Wednesday and although I lost 7 balls, I really enjoyed the course. I had been told it was a 'bombers course' but found out that anything crooked was very costly. It was a beautiful day and I had great company playing with Nathan Hill-Haimes who was booked as Nathan Hines so I was half expecting a former Scottish International from Wagga Wagga to trundle onto the first tee! It was also very nice to be able to jump in the car after the round and be home in my own bed 45 minutes later!

The competition format was 36 holes to play on Thursday with a cut enabling 30-odd players to play a further 18 holes on Friday. I wasn't really expecting to qualify for Friday, but I was going to try my darndest! My group for Thursday consisted of Me, Colin Hogg from Machynys and Willem Van der Waal from Holland. Two top blokes who played in great spirit and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic conditions and top notch course.

Round 1 and I found the fairway on the first tee!! I made a few mistakes around the course but ended up carding a pretty respectable (in my eyes) score of 88 for a nett score of 76 against a CSS of 75. I was actually in the running for getting one of the Nett score places in the final round!

Round 2 was a very different story. 7 more lost balls and a score of 101 with 50 out and 51 back in. I actually started the second round with a par and was thinking it was going to be a great afternoon, then I started getting fast. I didn't notice it, but Willem pointed it out to me towards the end of the first round and I just kept getting faster and faster. I think my swing/arms were getting so fast that I was almost in the finish position as the club was getting to the ball (or the ground, or the rough, or nearly missing the ball!). In a nutshell, my timing was waaaay off and the pink mist well and truly set in.
In all this my bunker play and my putting helped me to keep things relatively 'together' as a humungous score was possibly on the cards (yes, worse than 101!).

I really did have a fantastic day and want to say a massive thanks to Jason Morris for setting up the Mid Amateur Golf Tour. Also huge thanks to Machynys for the outstanding facilities and for the effort they put into the course, it really was outstanding. I wish I had taken some pictures. I carried the video camera around with me for 36 holes and didn't touch it.



I got beaten to a pulp on Saturday by P & K and it's ridiculous rough. I know it was my fault for going in it, but the tension crept back in (only took two holes!) and the speedy Gonzales swing was back with mis-hits galore, more lost balls and 99 shots for 21 stableford points. 

I have GOT to figure out a way to keep my relaxed range swing all the way through a round. Something to concentrate on next time I'm out.

I've got my first Nike Matchplay (Formerly Volvo Matchplay) game on Sunday at home followed by my second League to Dubai game on Monday at my old stomping ground of Coed-y-Mwstwr. Hope I can figure it out by then because my good swing is pretty bloody good!

Ganton Mid Amateur Golf. With a couple of vids!

I’ve been struggling with how to go about writing about my experience of the Mid Amateur tour at Ganton. I started writing about 36 individual holes and thought you might struggle to read it all so here is a truncated version!

It was an epic day. I had planned on doing a bit of a video log of the day but only managed to get a tiny bit of footage and then I ran out of steam, it was a long day.

I left the house at 8pm Thursday and got back home at midnight on Friday. Scarborough is quite a long way away from Bridgend in Wales.

The course was awesome! It can bite you pretty hard though and the rough was very long and luscious. If you don’t like bunkers, you might be a bit intimidated. They had been breeding them on the course. Even if you do like bunkers, these ones would test your sand-play ability to its limit! They were seriously deep and very well placed around the course. The killer for me was the rough and the gorse. I drove the ball very well by my standards on the whole for the 36 hole competition, but when I was off line, I was severely punished! I ruined what would have been a belter of a round in round 2 with 8 on the 7^th and 9 on the 9^th! I followed them up with 41 on the tougher back 9 to finish the round.

I was pretty pleased with how I played overall. Round 1 I shot 44 out and 46 back for 90 gross and 78 nett and after a pretty yummy lunch in the quite spectacular clubhouse, I shot 51 out and 41 back for 92 gross and 80 nett with a grand total 182 gross, 158 nett.

I had the pleasure of Stuart Basford and Brendan Sparks company for the two rounds and had a fantastic day. Stuarts ability to get up and down from short of the green was something to behold.

Things that stand out from the fantastic day for me were the amazing bunkers, the linksyness of the course and the general condition. It was a fantastic course and well worth the 11 hours drive and the entry fee.

Here are the very short videos I took from the day. I’ll try to do a better video log in the future.

Next up is the Welsh Mid Amateur at Machynys golf club near Llanelli. Can’t wait for that one!! 

League to Dubai 2014. The Vale Resort. my first league game.

My first game in my attempt to get to Dubai in the League to Dubai for 2014 was against Wayne Pearce at the Vale resort near Cardiff on the Lakes course. I had played there once before, probably in 2009 or thereabouts and had a vague recollection of the finishing hole, but that was all. I definitely did not remember all the ‘out of bounds’ areas. Nor did I remember the ‘slight’ undulations, I could have done with some mountaineering practice for the front nine!

I was feeling pretty reasonable about my game having just completed 54 holes in the previous two days (Ganton Mid Amateur and PandK Saturday medal).

I met Wayne on the first tee and we were away. Quite a seriously sloping downhill par 3 to start and we both scrambled a bogey to get the nerves out of our systems. A dogleg par 5 right was second up with a deep, deep rough/water hazard in your face on the tee shot. I actually didn’t know it was there as I was concerned about the very real possibility of going through the dogleg if I was left at all. That was until I squiffed my drive straight into the long grass in front, never to be seen again. 3 from the tee against Wayne (never in trouble) Pearce wouldn’t win in a match and a blob against his ‘nearly a birdie’ par wasn’t the start I was after.

The par3 third saw me get a point back as Wayne found his nemesis, the sand, and allowed me to scrape a point from a bogey 4. The 440 yard par4 4^th looked really narrow from the tee with the corner of the dogleg looking like the safe option. I hit my hybrid there and watched as Wayne went left with his first and his provisional. Sweet, things were looking up! Got to the dogleg and saw acres of space to have launched a drive over the corner and be in a position to have a go at the very well protected green raised above a hazard. We also got there to see Wayne’s first ball sitting in the semi-rough, back to reality. At 240 yards to go, I had no option other than laying up so aimed for a spot about half way with the goal of going close with my third shot. Wayne had the same plan and we played very social golf for our approaches. Wayne hit a great shot to get on the green and in for a bogey and I was just over the hazard and short of the green needing some good short game to match him. Missed a chance with the putter and a double bogey for a point would have to do. 4 points verses 6 after 4 holes.

I obviously hadn’t had enough of the 4^th fairway, so I went down it instead of the 5^th while Wayne took the traditional route. I was too close to the tall trees that divide the fairways to have a go at getting to the proper fairway so I revisited the corner of the dogleg on the 4th hoping to get up and down from 100 yards over a massive tree. I opened up my 9iron a bit and unleashed. The shot was perfect and left me with about 30 feet downhill on a very tricky green for my par. This green was also guarded by water, glad I didn’t really know! Wayne had layed up short of the green and was also on the green in three. He won the putting contest with 2 putts compared to my 3. Wasted a point putting again. The par5 6^th hole was uphill and the green was 483 yards away with a very narrow landing area for the drive. I bounced off the right of the fairway and nestled near a tree leaving myself a tricky chip-out which I put into the rough on the other side of the fairway. I was pining for the right rough, so I went back into it with a sliced lay-up shot for my 4^th and was short of the green with my 5^th shot. Starting to steam up now. Finished the hole with 7 shots while Wayne parred it to power away with 10 points compared to my measly 5 after 6 holes.

“Don’t go right” were the wise words spoken by Mr Consistant while standing on the tee of the treacherous 7^th hole. The fairway was slanting on what felt like a 30 degree squint from right to left, Out of Bounds on the right and horrible options to the left. I went right and had to play a provisional. Wayne found the fairway and I managed to not quite reach the out of bounds with my first ball but had the ball about 2 feet above my feet nestled down in some pretty thick grass. We both layed up with our second shots which found the light rough on the left and gave us a view of what I can only describe as the approach shot from hell. Standing over (below really) my ball I had to aim way out of bounds as I felt like I was playing ‘TeeBall’ and knew the ball would go left. Left of the green was not an option, water, sand, rough and jungle all waiting to gobble up the ball down there. My options were reduced to just one, which may have actually helped me, as I hit the only shot I could to reach the green and pulled it off! Wayne went slightly left and long and found his old enemy again and did battle with the bunker ending in a bunker win and no points for Wayne. I had a putt for a birdie and only just missed it leaving an easy par and 2 points. Couldn’t believe we didn’t get a shot on that brute of a hole!

The 8th hole was a 200yard par3, launched of the hillside down into the valley below. I guessed that a 4 iron would do the trick and pulled it long left and couldn’t see where it went so I sprayed a provisional ball out of bounds just for the fun of it and to keep me in a good mood (NOT). Wayne was short left with a shot at par with an up and down from a pretty good spot. I found my ball buried in the lip of a bunker, summoned my inner Seve and smashed it out and over the green. I hung onto my inner Seve and stirred in some Luke Donald for my next chip and nearly holed that one! Pretty chuffed with a bogey on that hole. I think it is one of the only par3’s I’ve played recently that I had a shot on! Wayne matched my bogey for his 2 points. Standing on the 9^th tee I wasn’t ready for the comedy of errors that followed and wish I had taken my video camera to catch it. While Wayne went down the fairway and onto the green in 3 shots, my ball decided to try bumper golf. Pulled straight left into the trees and bounced out across the fairway into the rough on the right. Attempted to lay up into the middle of the fairway for my second to spray it right into the rough behind a medium sized tree. Over the tree, over the lake and onto the green was the plan…….. Into the tree, into the rough just next to the path at the waters edge was the result. Knifed my pitch over the lake and into the deep grass behind the green with my 4^th shot and took 3 more for a blob and threw away the shots I had clawed back to leave us 14 points to 9 points after 9 holes (3/4 handicap).

A quick regroup on the 10^th tee was required. It was only a shorty but it was pretty well guarded by out of bounds, water and sand. I managed to hit the green and pop my putt in for my first 2 in absolutely ages! Stoked to say the least! And I managed to claw back 2 points as Wayne could only manage a 4. The 11^th was a pretty straight forward par4 of only 340 yards. It had a big cross bunker about 120 out from the green so we both chose to lay up short of the bunker. I found the trees on the right and Wayne must have been feeling a bit lonely because he followed me in. We both chipped out to where we were aiming to lay up to and it was then an up and down comp from 120ish. We both came up just short and Wayne managed to get up and down for a point while I failed to score.

The 12^th was a pretty tricky, short par 4. It was only 240 to go through the dogleg so I hit a really nice 2 hybrid to the fairway in the lay up area. Wayne pulled left of the tee and got an amazing bounce to a spot he could see the green from and ended up in the perfect position for this narrow green. His approach was along the green, while mine was across it. We both had to cross water as the green was an island. Wayne hit a fantastic shot to about 12 feet and the pressure was on. I needed to start getting points back! My approach was about 80 yards over water, then sand, then a narrow strip of green then water behind. I had to ‘just’ clear the bunker to have any chance of staying on the green let alone getting near the pin! I had a really clear picture of what I wanted to do and went for it. It was less than a foot from being perfect and fell back into the bunker. Such a nice shot though. A sand save was required as Wayne wasn’t going to take more than 2 putts from where he was and a birdie was likely. I quite like playing from the sand and fancied my chances of a sand save but just ran on too far and missed the return putt for a 5. Wayne missed his birdie putt and we went to the 13^th tee 14 to 19 points.

A downhill par3 of 130-odd yards with out of bounds through and right, water waaaaay left and there was a bunker short across the whole green. Short was better than long and I couldn’t feel the wind so I aimed for the front of the green and hoped I could 2 putt. I love it when a plan actually works and that’s what I did! Wayne was closer to the pin and also took 2 putts. The 14^th was a chance to open the shoulders and belt the bejeezerz out of the ball. It was a long par5 of 608 yards with all the danger up near the green and lay up area. We both hit the fairway and chose to lay up (couldn’t have reached anyway!) on the fairway. We missed the fairway right as the fairway slopes severely left to right and Wayne had a shot at the green and made it on in 3 with an awesome approach shot. I was blocked out by a tree and could only chip out to 168 yards from the green. To see the green I had to walk about 140 yards as it was up hill all the way to a steep drop-off to the green nestled in a deep swale. It was worth the walk though as I found out that the pin was on the left and had something definite to aim at. I launched an 8iron downwind over the hill and hit the green leaving myself an outside chance at getting par. Wayne’s fantastic putt all the way across the huge green was excellent and left himself a short putt for par which he just missed. My putt was pretty good and just missed too with both of us carding 2 more points for our bogeys.

Winding up and around the hill to a very slippery green was the short par4 15^th hole. 7 iron lay up left me an 8iron to the green over a water hazard and Wayne cut the corner to have a pitch to the green also over the lake. I knifed my first attempt straight into the hazard. Fuming. Drop in line with where it went in and my pitching wedge was a good one to the middle tier of the green. Wayne had stayed just short of the green and left himself in prime position for a par which he just missed. My putt was awesome. I played it nearly perfectly and it just rolled passed the hole and then kept rolling off the green!!! More fuming. Missed the putt coming back and picked up for zilch points. That debacle left the points tally at 24 for Wayne and 18 for me. I had to get that gap down as much as I could over the closing three holes!

With shots on 16 and 18, there was a good chance at getting a couple of 3 pointers although the long 16^th hole was ranked the 2^nd hardest hole on the index for a good reason. It was a monster 457 yard dogleg right and although it was downhill, it was into the wind. I smashed my drive 300-ish yards down the left of the fairway and just ran through the dogleg. Wayne found the fairway but was a bit shorter and chose to lay up short of the large bunkers in front of the green. My ball was sitting nicely in the rough, raised above my feet a bit and was 178 yards from the middle of the green. I chose my 5iron and played for a raking draw into the wind and pulled it off! I was super pleased with that shot, the ball held the green and left me with a monster birdie attempt. Wayne chipped on and three-putted for a double bogey and I managed to get in the hole in 2 putts for a hard earned par and 3 points. 

Gap reduced to 4! 

17 is a short par 4 at 270 yards with a sea of bunkers (should that be a beach?) to carry if you want to go for the green. Wayne and I both chose to lay up short and try to get a birdie the conventional way. My approach left me about 8 feet from the pin with a really good chance to make my birdie and Wayne was short of the green. His chip was a bit short too but he nailed an awesome putt to get down for a par. My birdie putt burnt the edge of the hole and I got the return putt for my par.  

Gap still 4.

The final hole at the Vale Resort Lakes course is a par5 dogleg left with a green protected by the same lake that protected the 9^th. I hit another awesome drive that went just through the dogleg but left me a decent shot at laying up on the fairway which I successfully did, finally! Wayne went into the trees on the inside of the dogleg and found a line to the fairway at the same distance as my lay up and hit a great shot. I can’t remember where my approach shot ended up, but I know I got a par and I also know that Wayne got a birdie for 4 points and increased his lead to 5 points with the final Stableford scores off ¾ of our handicap 26 to me and Wayne won with 31 points.

I had a great day. Wayne is a Gent and a pleasure to play golf with and against (although he makes far too few mistakes!). We had a lovely drink outside the clubhouse and reflected on our game, talked about stuff and then I went home exhausted after a mammoth weekend of golf and travel.

Next up is Dayne Bossano at Coed-y-Mwstwr golf club. I know that course pretty well having just moved from there to P &K in April. Hoping for a good one there!