Thanks to Phil we were able to enjoy a round at a quality sandbelt course today for a very reasonable green fee – absolutely nothing! Thanks for your generosity, Phil.

The fairways were well grassed and firm, and the greens were extremely quick. You needed to show a lot of respect, or you could find yourself a long way past the hole.

Three holes of the course were out of action because of maintenance work, and this impacted on three other holes. However, it was an enjoyable experience to play somewhere different.

Group 1 – Phil, Rick and Brendan (the 3 KGC golfers) and Rad

Three of the group scored in the 30s, and one was lucky to get in the 20s!

Highlights included:

Rad – A good pitch on the tough 2nd hole followed by 2 putts resulted in a three pointer. Three pointers were scored on the tenth and last holes. A lowlight for this scribe was the absence of the normal language that we often hear from Rad. Hope he’s not losing the fire!

Rick – Turned up saying how bad his back is – beware the injured golfer. He hit some LONNGGG drives and some very straight approach shots. Putting was a bit off. Solid pars on holes 3, 5, 8, 13 and 15, and a great birdie on the 7th. Enjoyed his post-game beers!

Phil – A consistent round with consecutive pars on holes 3, 4 and 5. The putter was running hot, and he finished with 17 points on the front nine. Three pars in the first four holes on the back nine meant he had 10 points accrued. The par on the 13th was achieved with a monster putt. An unlucky lost ball cost him on 16, and he finished with 18 points for the 9 and a total of 35. He had a crack at his marker for not telling him his daily handicap. How long have you been playing golf, Phil?

Bren – A day to forget. Hooked drives, miffed irons, skinnied chips and bladed bunker shots. Luckily, he finished with a two-putt par on 18 for three points – enough to give some hope!

Brendan

Group 2 – Peter O, Peter G, Nick S, Chris

 Given the weather – cold and windy we weren’t expecting massive scores today and consequently highlights were few and far between for this group.

Front nine:

Peter O had a good 5 for 3 on the second hole – courtesy of 2 shots on handicap – and a comfortable 18 points for the first 9.

Chris started slowly with only one point in the first 2 holes but then hit his straps – 3 pointers on holes 3, 4 ,5 and 7 to finish the front 9 on 19 points. Editor’s note: Nice to see my old mate shoot up the leaderboard to position 3. Well done Chris!

Peter G and Nick also had slow starts but Peter G had a nice 3 pointer on 7A while Nick had 3 points on 6 and 7A. 13 points for each on this nine.

Back nine:

A mixed bag for the group.

Nick had a shocker of a nine – but highlighted on the 15th by sinking a 30m putt from off the green for a 5 for 2.  5 points was all Nick could manage for the 9.

Peter G started this nine exceptionally well with 2 x 3 pointers on 9 and 10. Peter left his best highlight for the last. He thought he mishit his 3rd shot to the green with a shout of anguish only to see the ball finish on the green about 10m from the flag. He then proceeded to can the birdie putt for 4 for 4 and 18 points.

Chris parred the 10th with 4 good shots and 4 points. Consistent golf saw him finish the 9 with 17 points.

Peter O definitely left a few putts out there but again courtesy of 2 shots (on a par 3) left his approach 30m short but chipped to 1 m – 3 for 4 and 21 points for the 9.

Peter O

Thanks to Brendan and Peter for putting together these two reports and lodging them so quickly.

Al