The League to Dubai Regional Finals experience at Macdonald - Donnington Grove 23-24 Sep 2013

Having qualified for both the Pairs and the Singles regional finals at the Macdonald Donnington Grove, Max and I organised to stay for two nights and have a practise round on the Sunday in preparation. We arrived too early to check in and just cracked on with our practice round. We played from the competition tee boxes as the two Jasons had mentioned that the League to Dubai tees wouldn’t be too far forward from them.

What a beast of a course! 7100-odd yards is a new experience for me!

Max and I had a great practice round. We managed to score 42 points off ¾ handicaps (both of us shot rounds of 34points!) and we were feeling very confident about our chances the following day in the pairs South Regional final. I did mention that it was a practice round.

We had a couple of strong lemonades after our practice and hit the hay before midnight in preparation for our big day, the last chance to get to Dubai as a pair.

Not 100% sure what went wrong. Was it the fact that we wore shorts in anticipation of the promised sunshine? Was it just the pressure of our expectations? Was it the nerves from playing with such a prize on offer? We will not likely ever know the answer, but the end result was laughable! Our chances to get to Dubai together were dashed by the dreaded countback! The fact that we were in equal last place on 30 points and the countback was for the final place is irrelevant!

I really feel quite bad about how poorly I played in that pairs game with Max. I couldn’t hit my driver straight (a little bit crucial on that course), my approach shots were poor which led to very poor chips! I have managed to blank most of that round from my memory although there were a couple of memorable moments.

I hit the ball absolutely incredibly on the driving range. Max said he did the same. Sadly, I left that form on the range. The first tee was a little bit daunting especially as Max and I had spent the better part of an hour watching all the other groups teeing off. I was a little bit nervy and my first ‘necky’ drive was the result. Max leaked a little right and our accompanying pairing of James and Nick smashed their golf balls with their shiny Nike Covert drivers into oblivion. James put on a clinic for Max and I, especially his driving. It was awesome! Nick got almost as frustrated as I did through most of the round, possibly more so. He and James would have been in with a shout of winning on a normal day, something just didn’t click for them around the greens.

The par4 5^th hole is almost driveable with bunkers most of the way down the left and water just short of the green on the slicers side. James smashed his drive to the fringe of the green and Max and I both faded to the right. Max came out of the tree short of the pond and I was smack-bang in the middle of the tree. Rummaging around in the tree I found that I could chip out to the fairway and chose to do that instead of drop in the rough. Amazingly it worked! And I managed to escape with a bogey and a solitary point.

The 7^th hole is not too long. It’s a dogleg left with a large group of large trees on the right. I found those trees and found someone else’s ball but never found mine. I ran back to the tee (should have hit a provisional, but the ground was clear and open under the trees) and swiped a drive to within a yard of Max’s ball. The delay and rushing around may have scrambled our heads. Max managed to hit my ball instead of his and we both ended up with zero points from that hole.

The highlight of the round for me was a fantastic 3 hole par stretch for 8 points by Max over the tough 15^th to 17^th holes. Nick and James were a delight to go around the course with and they finished with a much more respectable score of 37 points which was quite a way short of the winning mark.

The pairs competition was won on 45 points by Colin Ledwith (2) and Alan Smith (8) and the runners up also on the plane were Joe Sach (5) and Dan Smith (7) with fantastic golf on a pretty testing course.

Max and I found ourselves in the bar again after the debacle that was our spectacular failure of attempting to qualify for the finals in Dubai. We had a great time having a pint or two with Bob and Narinder and just managed to get to the room before my coach turned back into a pumpkin.

Max and Narinder were both saying that Bob and I would be sans caddy for the singles as they were going to have a round of golf together. Their minds were changed in the morning as their stomachs were a touch seedy and their brains were trying to escape through their eye sockets. They looked a picture! The other factor that probably helped to change their minds was the fact that you could not see more than 50 yards away due to some pretty thick fog, so the chances of escaping before the first group were slim to none.

Speaking of the first group, it was me in a two-ball with Roger Gonsalves and I was first to tee off. Eeeek!

I just didn’t want to finish last for the second day in a row.

I had a break through on the range before teeing off and realised that I had lost the spine tilt at address with my driver the day before leading to my righty-rights. I love the feeling of a well struck drive. I love knowing almost without looking that it will be where you were aiming. I love being able to pick up your tee from where it was placed (minus the ball!). I love the feeling of ‘nothing’ in your hands on and through impact. I had all of that on the first tee, plus the fact that I wouldn’t have seen it land even if I had looked, it was still quite foggy!

I had the touch and the feel on the front nine! I parred the first three holes and only bogeyed 2 from 9 holes leaving me with a 2-over score of 21 points! I didn’t have many easy birdie opportunities, but I didn’t really expect to. I was just happy to be playing well again. My long putts were going close enough and I was confident over the 2 to 4 foot putts I was left with. Most of the chips I was left with were the putt with a 6 or 7iron type and were going close too! It was feeling like my day.

It was, however, a very long walk between the outward nine and the start of the inward nine. I was trying SO hard not to get carried away with my thoughts, but 21 points on the front 9 had the little gears spinning. I managed to scramble bogeys with shots over the next 4 holes for 8 more points. My drives were starting to leak and my approaches were a bit wayward but my chipping and putting were keeping the finish line in sight.

Jason and Jason caught up to us on the par3 14^th hole. I hit a pretty nice 3iron to the rough adjacent to the front left of the hole while they were watching and was pretty pleased with myself. I then hit a chip about 6 inches from where I wanted it to land so that it stayed on the top of the little bank, tried to putt down the bank and the ball developed brakes and a ‘chute. I putted twice more for a 5 and my first and only blob of the round. I was a little bit steamy at myself after that.

I then managed to slice on the difficult par5 15^th hole requiring a provisional. The provisional ball allowed me to remember my loss of spine tilt with the big stick and the slice was gone again. I did manage to find my first ball. Max found a very ambitious line from the deep, juicy rough over a steep embankment, over the lake to the next hole's teeing area. I couldn’t see it working so I chose to punch out under some branches back to the fairway. I hit the branches and had to play from the rough again, but I still think I would have ended up in the water the other way. More scrambling led to a 7 for 1point and a deep thankful sigh that I got a point. I had been in a few bunkers throughout the round so far and was very pleased with how I was playing from them.

Par3 16^th saw me in yet another bunker, this time I was on the downslope needing to climb over a substantial bank. I had been using my 56 degree wedge from the bunkers all day but this shot called for the 60 degree. I kept my knees bent and hit with confidence and bingo! It came out and landed on the green. The putt left wasn’t fantastic, but it was better than another bunker shot or a pitch from the rough! I just missed the putt for par and settled for another bogey and 1 more point. 

I now had 2 points from a three hole stretch and should have been feeling a bit ‘tight’. The fact that I had managed to scramble points from the two previous holes instead of blobs had me feeling a bit buoyed!

I smashed my drive straight down the left centre of the 17^th fairway leaving myself a short iron down the massively steep hill to the green. It came up short but another chip with a long MP32 iron had the ball perched on the same level as the hole about 8 feet away, just begging to be holed, so I did. 3 points and a massive smile and sigh of relief!

Another extraordinarily long hike to the 18^th hole and it was all to play for. I had 34 points so far and didn’t have a shot on the last hole. A drive over the left fairway bunker was the order of the moment and I mishit it so badly left that it was heading into the Booneys! The ball hit the base of a tree before the bush, ricocheted up the hill above the fairway bunker and perched in a small, pruned shrub about 2 inches off the deck. Lady Luck was smiling on me!

Roger saw me grab my pitching wedge, told me to put it back and grab my 5iron instead and to punch out to the front of the green and two-putt for a par4. I saw exactly what he meant, did exactly what he said and got it to the front of the final green. Thanks Roger! 

Two putts from there were going to be a bit challenging. It was the only hole that I had to disagree with Max’s read on and I managed to get it close and pop it in for par and 2 more points to finish with 36points! I was feeling pretty good about that score even though I had left quite a few shot on the course.

Roger and I had pulled out a substantial gap over the rest of the groups so we enjoyed the sun and chatted to Jason and Jason for an hour or so while the next two groups came in. In one of those groups was Paul Johnson with 34points. I got a bit nervous after that, how easily had he got those points? How many others had the rub of the green today? Was I going to get through??? AAaargh!

Back to the bar to wait and watch the rest of the groups come in and enter their scores onto the system. Rob Flanagan came in with a 35 and freaked me out by saying he thought a 40 point haul was capable. 

I hoped he was joking, nodded and smiled.

We sat together and hoped, getting more nervous and excited each time 3 more cards came in. Paul Johnson was eventually joined on 34 points by Tim Clayton and John Taylor with John taking the third place on a countback after no more scores better than their 34’s came in. That left the three of us booking our places to Dubai! I still can’t quite believe it, I am so excited about this once in a lifetime experience I am about to have. There might be more than one blog post about the Dubai experience!

Max’s help was invaluable throughout the day, he kept my wits about me very well and his support and encouragement were comforting and timely. I hope he or I win the lotto so that he can come to Dubai and be my caddy! Massive thankyou to Jason Swann and Jason Tabor who are the faces, hearts and souls of the League to Dubai. It is a fantastic competition and a great format, I have had a phenomenally excellent time.

Final huge ‘Thanks’ has to go to my League competitors, especially Paul Culliford. Without him beating Neil in the last singles game, I wouldn’t be going. Next time I am anywhere near the Vale Resort, beers will be forthcoming!

There will be some pictures on The League to Dubai's facebook page at www.facebook.com/leaguetodubai .

Almost a slam dunk!

I was that close to my first ever hole in one yesterday! Would have been a cheap shout too with only a few of us at the club!

Bandit?

I don’t want to be that guy!

There seems to me to be an underlying and quite entrenched misunderstanding of the term Bandit at my golf club, across a couple of social media sites and on some forums. I believe it is quite damaging to the enjoyment of golf from all perspectives.

To me a Bandit is a cheat. It’s not a word I like to be called and it generally draws quite a poor response from me.

A bandit is not someone who tries their best every week. A bandit is not someone who might happen to play to their handicap more than three times per year (a ludicrous statement!). A bandit is not someone who is consistently reducing their handicap through the documented and approved process set out by CONGU (or similar). A bandit is not automatically someone who can smash a drive nearly 300yards, they probably struggle around and on the greens and quite often will be any number of yards to the side of the fairway and playing many provisional balls.

My understanding of a bandit is ‘someone who protects their handicap’ to put themselves in a better position to win ‘special’ competitions.

That could be through throwing away points deliberately to finish competition rounds outside the reduction zone. It could be through playing at two different clubs and not maintaining your handicap at your home club (is that even possible in this day and age?). It could be through only playing non-qualifying’ events that don’t effect your handicap until your ‘special’ event.

I don’t want to be that guy.

I want to get to scratch or there-abouts and there will be many more 40-point Stableford scores to come if I am to achieve this. It’s not possible without them and it is possible for a low handicapper to achieve 40 points, how else would there be amateurs playing from +4 or +5?

I have found myself in a situation though.

I have entered this weekend’s medal competition at Coed-y-Mwstwr. If I'm free, I play each Saturday. On Monday and Tuesday I have two regional finals for the League to Dubai. VERY SPECIAL COMPETITIONS for me!! My game is feeling really good at the moment and I am certain I can do very well, very soon. I am going to try my best this Saturday. I may not win, but I am fairly sure that IF I can keep it in play from the tee (unfortunately a BIG if), I can get my handicap to come down some more. 

Would there be many (if any?) who would play their best in this situation?

I entered the League to Dubai competition as a 22-handicapper in March and have had my handicap reduced to 14.7 so far. I even volunteered a scorecard from one of my non-qualifying (for handicap purposes due to being from ¾ handicap) league matches to our handicap secretary so that my handicap would come down and people would stop calling me a bandit! I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes I bite (Sorry Martin!).

Anyway, I am going to try my best on Saturday and even if I do get my handicap reduced I believe I can still play well on Monday and Tuesday and the reduction will just get me one step closer to my golfing goal of category 1 golf. Also the fact that the League to Dubai competition is from ¾ handicap softens the potential reduction.

Feel free to leave a comment below or on facebook or twitter. I’m interested in your thoughts on my understanding of Banditness.

My Kind of Backyard!

John E Morgan checks out the house Rory grew up in as part of the coverage of the 888poker PGA EuroPro tour. They've stolen my backyard!
Check it out!

League to Dubai 2013. Final Doubles match. Burghill Valley.

An extension was granted of one week to get our final game played in our League and any one of three pairs could have made it through to the Regional final. The maths were fairly simple for Max (17) and I (15): we had to win or draw. Chris (14) and Greig (19) were our opponents at Burghill Valley and they needed to win with a whopping score of 47 points from ¾ handicap to progress and our first opponents from the Glamorganshire needed neither of us to achieve our aims to get to the regionals.

It was all to play for!

Burghill Valley is a stunning golf course set in amongst orchards in the Herefordshire countryside with length off the tee not a great advantage and a premium on accuracy as the penalties for wandering off line were pretty severe in some places. I had some Army flashbacks while we were walking around as we could hear the dulcet tones of a small arms firing range, helicopters and fighters in the near distance and I took an artillery barrage from an apple tree after a wedge shot too!

I’ve misplaced the card we used to record our scores, so I’ll do my best to remember most of our round without it. I don’t think I’ll forget the first tee shot in a hurry! I was within a gnat’s whisker of missing the ball and it hobbled off the tee and went about an inch forward. Pissa! Hopefully not a sign of things to come! Max smashed his 5wood to just short of the green on the blind, downhill par4 1^st hole while Greig and Chris went right and left respectively. My second attempt at teeing off left me about 80 yards in and I popped it on the green. Max’s chip was a touch too long and landed on the downslope to scoot through the green. We ended up with a 5 compared to their 4 and were one point behind after the 1^st hole. Not to worry, long way to go.

The second was another reachable par4 and another tee shot not requiring driver for me with a safe hybrid to about 100 yards from the pin my chosen play. Max went for the green and nearly made it, as did both Greig and Chris. Up and down for pars for everyone on the second and on to the treacherous par3 3^rd hole. It was only short at 120-odd yards, but you could tell that it was going to cost you to miss it. I found the green and missed my 12 foot birdie attempt, Max went through the green and played a fantastic chip to have a 10 foot putt at par and Greig also found the green but had a long two-putt for par which he duly knocked in the hole to extend to 2 the advantage going to the 4^th hole.

Long dogleg par5 up next. Had to start out to the left to have access to the green for second or third shots. It was a tiny bit narrow to get out from the tee box, but a massive landing area was waiting. Chris went too far left, Greig went right, Max was safely down the right and my drive went straight into the tree to my front left, ricocheted back through some more trees into the rough about 15 yards behind me! “Oh My Golly-Gosh” were not the words that went through my head and may have even escaped my antipodean potty-mouth. I had to hit a really nice chip just to get back onto the tee box and then decided that my Hybrid was going to see a LOT of action today and the driver was retired (mostly). I must have scored some extra run because my Hybrid and 7iron had me just short of the green in 4 while Max saved the day and recorded a par5 for 3 points and reduced the gap back to 1 after Greig was in the hole for 6 shots.

I really am getting sick of shanking short shots but that is exactly what I did after two reasonable shots had me in the rough to the right of the 5^th green which left me in the rough through the back of the 5^th green! Max was in a similar position for his second and our short game display on this hole can only have inspired confidence in our opponents as Max’s dreaded double-hit chip came back after chipping through the green. My 4^th shot was a good one and I managed to get up and down for a bogey and 2 points. Chris played the hole as it was designed to be played and came away with 3 points from his great par4. After all this turmoil, my putter was still feeling really good and the greens were a pleasure to putt on!

Dangerous par5 6^th was up next and the hybrid from the tee was the play for me to get a regulation par, avoiding the rough, out of bounds and multiple water hazards. I even had to keep the local ducks at bay while Max hit an approach shot. Cheeky blighters wouldn’t be deterred! I think they get fed by some golfers or staff. My par was matched by the home team and the points gap remained the same. We left the golf course and went into the orchard for the 7^th hole and it looked like a safe hole for me to see if my driver was behaving itself yet especially after Max was safe on the right edge of the fairway. It wasn’t too bad a strike but it went into the apple trees 90 yards short of the green. I was left with a very steep escape route under one branch and over the next tree which needed my 60 degree wedge’s loft and the distance of my 52 degree. The loft won the brain battle and I ended up in the bunker short. I had a volley of apples unloaded onto me by the retaliatory tree after I knocked it on my follow-through which gave the boys a good laugh and was a bit of a surprise for me! I can’t remember who got the 5’s, but both teams did and we went to the par3 8^th still 2 points down.

Nice easy par3, 165 yards to the pin with a water hazard al the way down the left (didn’t see that until later!) Greig was on the green, Max and I were short with Max and Greig both having the best chances for par while I was in the bunker and Chris was long and left. We went a further point behind after Greig got the par3 and Max got the bogey.

The 9^th tee was a bit of a calamity with Greig being the only one of us to get passed the front of the water hazard although he did go through the fairway and only have a chip out option available. Max and Chris both hit the trees to our left and got absolutely beautiful bounces leaving them with shots towards the green while I hit the ground behind my ball and pushed it to just short of the water but in the hazard. Max and Chris were just short of the green with their 2^nd shots and I chose to lay up short of the bunker with my second shot with my 8 iron. The lay up didn’t really work as I hit it about 10 yards further than I thought I could and cleared the bunker but scooted through a shrub and had a shot at the green. I got another member’s bounce with my approach shot and had a good chance at par which just missed and we settled for 5 while Chris and Greig got 6 and the points gap was back to 2 with our 19 points playing their 21 after 9 holes. 

Walking to the 10^th hole Greig helpfully pointed out that the next three holes are affectionately known as the Bermuda Triangle (or was it the Devil’s Triangle or Triangle of Hell?) and regularly make or break many a competition round.  

Standing on the 10^th tee I could see plenty of potential for failure with apple trees reachable straight ahead, dense rough and out of bounds lining the fairway on both sides and a blind tee shot to top it off. Trusty hybrid was a little left of where I aimed and took a lovely kick off the downslope right to be 143 yards from the pin in the middle of the fairway! Cheerin’! I would normally have grabbed my 8iron for a 143 yard shot, but I had gone long with the 8 on the previous hole so I pulled the 9iron from the bag, hit the ball as sweetly as you like exactly where I was aiming and it landed no more than 2 feet from the pin for a tap-in BIRDIE!! And a tidy little 4points from the first of the killer 3 hole stretch. Chris made a lovely par for 3 points on the 10^th so the gain was only a solitary point but we were only 1 back now.

The 11^th was an uphill dogleg par5. It’s only 485 yards but the elevation makes it unreachable for me, especially with the way I was hitting the driver so I hit the hybrid again with the aim of three safe shots to the green. 4iron was second up and I pulled it into the trees on the left of the fairway needing a chip out to about 60 yards short of the green in 3 shots. I still really struggle with choosing the right shot for steep uphill approaches and came up short of the green with my 4^th shot, but only by a little. My fifth shot was only a 7iron bump’n’run chip up the steep front of the green to a front pin position. I saw it very clearly and popped it in the hole for par and 3 more points!!  Chris and Greig were in for 6 and our points were now even with 7 holes to play.

Downhill, 150 yards, par3 12^th. Very pretty hole that I felt quite good standing on the tee of. 9iron again (steep hill!) and slotted it on the green. Max was short of the bunker on the right, Chris was in the bunker and Greig was in the trees on the left. Chris got out of the bunker and then chipped to tap-in range with a great chip and a bogey with 1 point. My birdie putt was soooo close! But it still missed and I tapped in for par and 2 points to take the lead! So that was Hell’s corner over and done with and I had stolen 9 points from those three holes! Feeling chuffed!

13^th hole was punishment to those who slice (kind of a recurring theme on this course!) so the hybrid was chosen to perform another miracle and I found the right rough but still had a shot. Speaking of miracles, Max sliced right with his first and we were all pretty certain it was out of bounds right, somehow it must have hit something and bounced into the middle of the fairway! 

There were quite a few very lucky bounces and kicks during this game with the most helpful trees surrounding a golf course I have ever seen! 

I can’t remember the rest of the hole but the scorecard (I found it by the way!) says we both scored bogeys for 2 points on the stroke index1 hole. The par3 14^th was 170-odd yards to a green protected by sand. Max hit a fantastic shot to about 10 feet and popped it in for his Birdie and 3points! GO-ON Maxy-Boy! Chris and Greig could only manage a bogey and fell a further 2 points back.

There was heaps of room on the 15^th hole so the usually trusty 910D3 driver was deployed. It was long, but it was waaay left. It was far enough left to have cleared all the trouble and left me a shot to the green from the 7^th fairway. Greig safely found the fairway and Max and Chris found the apple trees guarding the left of the fairway. Max and Chris both collected a tree or two on their way to the green and Greig and I were slightly right of the green with our approach shots and we both made 2point par’s.

More calamities from the tee, this time 3 of us found the lake (I didn’t even use my driver!) guarding the inside of the dogleg right 16th. Max missed the water, but he almost missed the ball too leaving it in very thick grass short of the fairway taking another 2 shots to get out of. A drop and a lay-up left me short of the two-tier green and a ¾ 60 degree wedge was required to get to the top tier. I hit about a 5/8 shot and hit the steep rise and rolled back onto the lower tier. Chris pulled his third shot and it bounced once, went out of bounds next to the greenside bunker and reappeared in bounds a second later! NICE KICK!! He hit a fantastic chip shot to a couple of feet from the pin and popped it in for a bogey and 2points. I two putted from the bottom tier for a double bogey and 1point. Back to 2 points!

The 17^th has some trees left, Max and Greig found them. The tee for the 6^th is on the right of the fairway, I found that and I think Chris found the fairway. My hybrid (always the clubs fault!) was starting to let me down. I had 185 to the middle of the green and smacked my 4iron onto the green and it rolled off the back. After a false start, Max’s approach shot was a good one and he two-putted to be down for 5 and 2 guaranteed points. My first putt from the fringe wasn’t my best effort and left me with about 8 feet for par. Knowing that Max already had 2 points helped me to hit the putt firmly and with confidence into the back edge of the cup for 3 points and a 3point cushion going up the last after Chris and Greig could only manage a 2point bogey.

The 18^th was a drivable par 4 uphill and protected by lots of sand and some out of bounds on the right. 4Iron lay-up for me leaked a little but was safe and Max went for the green with his first shot and found the Greens-staff yard. 3 from the tee was just short of the green with his 5wood. Greig found the greenside bunker with his drive and Chris was up by the green with his drive also. My approach from the rough landed on the downslope leading to the front of the green and rolled through the green onto the fringe. A tentative shot from the fringe left a longer putt than I wanted for par which I missed and we settled for 5 shots and 1 point to have a total of 21 on the back 9 and a grand total of 40 points. I can’t remember if it was Greig or Chris that closed out their round with a 5, but they matched our bogey for 1 point and a total of 37 points gave Max and I the win! Massive thanks to Greig and Chris for hosting us at their beautiful course, top chaps!

I had a great time in all of our games in the League to Dubai and have surpassed any expectations by just getting to the regional finals for the South section.

We are on our way to Donnington Grove Baby!!!

League to Dubai Singles. Match against Graham Gregg. Monday 12th August 2013.

I’ve been finding it difficult to write about this match. I’ve let this report drag over into the fifth day so far, I’ll just have to harden up and finish it. I hate golf sometimes!

It was my final game in the League stage. A win or draw would guarantee my progression to the regional final at The Donnington Grove Hotel & Country Club at the end of September. No pressure then!

Crack on!

Work done at 2pm. Tee off time of 2.30pm comes around quick-smart without much time for a warm-up! Suck it up Princess….. we were off!  Graham plays off 6 from Burnham and Berrow in Somerset and has a daunting swing as a 66 year-old. His drive on the first was awesome and my sprayed drive almost found the waist-high rough through the second fairway. “Play with the swing you have on the day” they say. Aimed at the pin expecting the slice to be countered by the uphill and ball above the feet position to smash the ball out of sight left and going lefter! Grrrr!

Provisional ball led to no points on the first while Graham made a very nice par after just missing his birdie putt and he was off to a storming 2 point lead after a solitary hole.

Standing on the second tee after Graham pulled his shot slightly left and long I convinced myself that it was the lie on my approach shot that caused the leftedness and had put the shanked chip shot out of my mind………..Swing away and I did have the lefts afterall! My six iron landed long and left, just near Grahams and we had ourselves an ’up and down’ comp which Graham won to go a further point ahead. Booo!

I chose the conservative option from the third tee while Graham pulled left of the rough inside the dogleg and OB. His third was short of the trees and I had a great opportunity to get possibly all three points back. I managed to squander that opportunity by taking 4 shots from just through the green for a single point. Ho..hum. Every point is important.

We both missed out on points on the par three 4th and I made yet another donation to the ‘feed the fish a golf ball’ fund. The 5^th hole I was conservative again and layed up with my hybrid which led to a birdie attempt from about 20 feet which just missed for par and 3 points with Graham matching the score with a great up and down from through the green. We also both got par on the 6^th hole, which was nice (I should have got birdie from 10 feet though).

I was next to the green in two shots on the 7^th hole with a great chance at getting at least 3 points while Graham had to chip out of the rough on the fairway to be on the green in three shots. I three putted from way too close and Graham matched my 5 for 2 points. 

Golf is a Funny game. Graham pulled a point further away on the par 3 8^th hole after missing his birdie putt and I was very lucky to have scored one point after two poor shots left me through and above the green leaving a very tricky chip  down a bank to a green sloping away. I was standing over the chip trying to decide between a flop (which had just put me in that position) and a chip to the top of the bank and hope the rough slowed the ball down enough to not run off the green. I chose the latter and it nearly went in! Easy putt for the point, phew!

The 9^th was not kind to Graham. It isn’t an easy hole, but I still believe it is easier to hit driver than to try to find the small lay up areas. Par for me and 3 points to even the scores after 9 holes on 13 points each! Blistering!!!

We scored 2 points each on each of the next three holes with some very good golf and some very ordinary golf. I hate not scoring points on a par5 but that is what I did on the 13^th while Graham edged ahead with one point. I managed to claw the point back on the 14^th after finally holing a putt for 3 points.

Graham is a wiley old fox. He knows how to pile on the pressure. I tried to ignore him, but it worked. I went two points ahead on the par5 15^th and he was saying that it was game over. I knew it wasn’t. I’m sure I got into my own head.

I never take my putter from outside the fringe and hardly ever take my putter ON the fringe. Why the pooh did I choose to putt from the rough on the 16^th hole!! I took 4 shots from being through the green in two shots for a blob while Graham was instantly back to even-stevens with par.

We both got 2 points on the 17^th and were standing on the 18^th with one hole to decide our game. I hit a beautiful drive! Middle of the fairway about 70 yards from the pin. Graham was also fine from the tee and then he pushed his approach shot wide! I couldn’t believe my luck (I hadn’t hit mine yet, mind you).

I stood over the ball with a very clear picture of what I was going to do. I wasn’t nervous and was very comfortable. It's a shot I practice lots……………I shanked that little frustrating ball of plastic and resin at a 45deg angle into the thick rough and trees. I was gob-smacked. I was furious. I nearly snapped my wedge on my trolley. I was SO ANGRY!

Graham found my ball for me and I had a little window to try to chip through to get to the green. The game wasn’t finished and all wasn’t lost. There was still a chance to win or draw.

I hit a really nice chip which just hit a small branch. That small branch was very solid and kicked my ball away from the green and onto the fairway. Still up and down from there for two points.

An unconvincing chip left me about 30 feet for the 2 points while Graham had about 5 feet for his two points.

I hit a fantastic putt which just lipped out and I tapped in for the single point. Fingers, toes, legs and arms were crossed while Graham stood over his putt all to no avail as he popped it in the hole for 2 points and the win.

Massive congratulations to Graham. It always feels great to win away from home. I think it is because you know how much the home opponent is going to be hurting from the loss! I HURT damn you! I HURT!

There are still two chances for me to make it to the regional finals at Macdonald Donnington Grove. Neil needs a win and draw at least from both of his last two games to qualify (66 points behind) and Peter needs to win his last game convincingly (43points behind).

Golf is a funny game and anything can happen. Just have to wait and see.

League to Dubai Singles. Match against Paul Culliford. Sunday 4th August 2013

OOOOHHH it’s proper wet!        Proper Welsh wet!

Paul and I were both keen to get our game done today as we have pretty tight schedules so we arranged to try to get our game done in the forecast gap in the rain.

In the August Medal on the previous day I had zero confidence in my full swing with my driver so I popped to the driving range on the way to the Coed and ironed out my issues so that I knew I could stand on the 1^st tee and smack the dimpled white sphere down the fairway (or at least to the right and not left and lost).

The wet weather gear was donned and we were off for what turned out to be a ridiculously high-quality game. I just can’t get over how well Paul chips the ball!

The first was 3 points for par each after I missed a 3 foot chance for birdie and had my first taste of the quality of Paul’s chip shot. I knew the pressure was on from there and managed to hit the green on the right level for another missed birdie chance on the 2^nd hole while Paul scrambled very well for a 4 and two more points for his tally.

My nice drive into the valley on the third left me a sand wedge to the green which I buried into the wall of the wet greenside bunker. It was properly buried and could only be seen from the angle it went in! Paul hit a nervy drive to the plateau and left his approach short to show off his chipping skills again and a bogey 5. I smashed my 60deg into the wall of the bunker just below the ball and managed to get it to pop out for a chip up and down to match Paul’s 5.

The 4^th green was a little wet still, but that is no excuse for 3-putting from the middle of the green for a bogey 4 while Paul (the scrambler) matched my 4 from long and left. Playing from the yellow tees, the 5^th fairway can be driven through so I chose my hybrid and hit a lovely shot to the middle of the fairway and Paul sociably put his ball within 3 feet of mine so that I could show him the way to the green. I fluffed my approach and left it just short of the bunker and had my own up and down to walk off with par while Paul hit the green and 2-putted to match my par.

Still my honour on the 6^th and I pushed my 4iron to the right of the fairway leaving a gap wedge to the green around a small tree from the rough stuff which left me a 12 footer for birdie. Paul popped his tee-shot in the long distance green-side bunker and nicely splashed out to make his par. I missed my birdie chance (again) and settled for ‘just a par’ (I wish they were ‘just’ pars! Always pretty excited by Par!).

The 7^th tee saw me teeing off first with a single point advantage over Paul. I slap-pulled my 4 iron left and found it just in the foot-long rough protecting the neighbour’s house. Paul’s first was lost further into the rough and his provisional was in position A. The rough grabbed my club and turned it over leaving me to push the ball out of the rough with my usual 2^nd shot distance as my third shot. I stiffed my third onto the green, missed the par attempt and tapped in for a 5 and two more points.

Paul had a fantastic shot at a birdie on the 8^th after a member’s kick from the tree to the left of the green had him about 10 feet away (un)fortunately he missed the putt and tapped in for a great par. I had to chip on from above the green and limped to the 9^th tee with a 4, a single point and the loss of the honour. Paul chose the hardest lay-up on the course and had to drop after finding the pond on the corner. I took on the corner and found the fairway. I thought it was possibly long so I hit a provisional and had totally miscalculated the wind. My drive was fine and my provisional was way short and gone. I came up short with my approach shot with my 60 deg wedge. Really does feel like missing your mouth with a spoon! After dropping from the pond Paul scrambled for a point and I limped off with a 5 and 2 points. At the halfway mark Paul amassed a total of 17 points and I had 19. Quite a ridiculous total playing off ¾ handicaps! I really felt like I had left a lot of points on the course too!

10 was into the wind and we both managed to keep our drives playable, missed the green with our approaches and we walked to the 11^th with a 6 and 5 and I increased my lead a little more. The 11^th hole plays MUCH shorter from the yellow tees and my 9 iron left me with a long birdie attempt. Paul managed to find both bunkers on his way to a double bogey 5 and I got my par after leaving my birdie attempt 4 feet away from the hole.

My driver was still being my friend on the last of the railway holes into the breeze and I found myself in the fairway needing an 8iron to the green. I chose my 9iron, came up short and used 3 unconvincing shots to get the ball in the hole for a 5 and 2 more points. 2, 3, 2 (points) on holes 10, 11, 12 is nothing to be sneezed at and I’ll take it any day! Paul took the scenic route to the green via the woods and  came to the 13^th tee with another single-pointer.

A big drive on 13 gave me the opportunity to hit the green in two on the par5. My 3-wood was a little slappy and came up very short, but clear of 'the tree' and Paul and I were both on the green in regulation. Paul’s birdie attempt from over 10 yards was excruciatingly close and a tap-in par was the result. My own long range birdie attempt wasn’t as close but I still managed to go to 14 with a par and a smile. For the first time in competition I chose to hit my hybrid on the short par4 14^th. It was a good choice and left me a nice 7 iron to a tight green which slid just to the safe side, off the green, pin high. Pauls approach from the short rough left him almost chipping in from the front of the green and my two putts gave us both par4’s and 3 points each to go to the par5 15^th.

Into the wind and the rain had started in earnest again. So close to a birdie on 15 for Paul and a scrambled bogey for me. Paul was fighting back! His run of 3 point holes had him back to within 4 points. The rain was quite persistent now with a little bit of surface water starting to re-appear after drying out for our first twelve holes. I got to try out my FJ rain glove! It’s awesome! And I hope I am never without one in the rain again! If you haven’t tried one, get one.

16, 17 and 18 were quite uncomfortable holes. The weather was getting to us a bit and we just wanted to get it done. My pull-hook into the trees on 18 was less than inspiring and the lucky kick out into the valley was a god-send. I still tried my best to not score any points on 18 by hitting my next shot into the rough on the right and snagging the club while duffing out onto the fairway to leave myself an up and down from 40 yards for 2 points. Pauls’ last chip of the day was another awesome effort leaving yet another tap-in for 2 points giving him a total of 33 points, which on a normal day would be enough to win on ¾ handicap. My long putt through some standing water miraculously found the bottom of the cup and I finished my best ever round of golf after my 80^th stroke giving me 37 points off ¾ of my handicap! I had a great time today playing with a great sport and a very decent golfer who will not be playing off 20 for much longer I’m sure! Speaking of handicap reductions, I better get this card to the committee for my own reduction. The journey to low single figures continues!

Round 4 is next Monday at home against Graham Gregg from Burnham and Burrow. Hope the form I just found isn't temporary!