A Farewell Round

On Wednesday I played my final round of golf as a full member of the club.

Next year I will have social membership only, this means that I will have to pay to play, although it will only be £20.50 per round and I will be able to play anytime I'm available.

We arrived early for a little practice beforehand.Unfortunately whilst we were whacking balls all over the place on the range, in a good imitation of my actual game, many people arrived and started queueing by the first tee. We tried a bit of putting practice and than waited our turn. While we stood by the first tee, a solitary golfist cam along and we invited him to join us. This is a little difficult for me as I get slightly intimidated when playing with people I don't know; it manifested itself as my tee shot only ran 20 yards along the ground. Ignoring this, I took another whack and placed my ball slap bang in the middle of the fairway near the top of the hill. The second shot was pretty good, followed by a couple of duffers but my fifth left the ball a couple of inches from the hole leaving an easy putt for a creditable 1 over par 6. So far so good.

I doubled my score on the second; no, not a total of 12 shots, but 12 shots for the hole! Oh dear intimidation city here we come. The par 3 third is best left unmentioned, but on the fourth I played a blinder. The tee shot went straight and further than I had before on this hole. The green on this hole is off to the right of the fairway down a hill. It is possible for a big hitter to drive the green, but most mortals stick to the fairway. I pitched towards the flag but left the ball just on the fringe, however a further chip put me next to the hole. So my first par of the day.

Normal service resumed on the fifth but the sixth was a good hole, only 2 over on the hardest hole on the course, well according to the SI, actually the twelfth is harder.

The seventh; although well over 500 yards, has been a good hole for me. Not on this day, a 14 was not really going to get me below a sub 100 round. The eighth was not much better but I made par on the ninth, followed by a couple of decentish holes. The twelfth is usually my nemesis and this was no exception. The short par 3 thirteenth was another par.What was going on? My game was going up and down more often than a disreputable lady's under garments!

And so to the fourteenth. The tee shot did a rawhide after bouncing off the ladies' tee box. The second flew long and hard into a staked tree, making a very loud bang as the protective cover took a bashing. The ball was unplayable so, after  free drop, I lined up my third shot. It started low and was just starting rise when about 15 yards into its flight it hit a very very narrow tree trunk slap bang in the middle. The ball rocketed back finishing about 10 yards further back from where it had started. How could I have hit a tree that narrow? I usually can't hit a fairway 80 yards wide! I did get onto the green 2 shots later and 2 putted to finish off.

Two further disaster holes saw me on the seventeenth tee. I decided to use the driver, and bugger me it flew straight and further than I normally achieve on this hole. I managed a very creditable 2 over par 7.

We proceed to the eighteenth, my last hole for 2011, and my last at the club for who knows how long.
I hit a beautiful long tee shot with my driver which flew skywards and again, further than I have hit before on this hole. The only problem was it had landed over the trees on the first fairway! Undaunted, I hit a magnificent shot back over the trees to finish 20 yards short of the green. I was flying, at last. Unfortunately, not for the first time, my short game let me down. I took a further 4 shots to finish 2 over for the hole.

All in all it was a typical round for me shots, mixed with some bloody awful ones. This actually summed up the past year for us, some really good times, mixed with some truly awful ones. If ever golf was a metaphor for life, then my final round of the year was magnificently appropriate!

Today is New Year's Eve, so all that remains is for me to wish a Happy New Year to all of you who take time to read my ramblings. I look forward to blogging again in 2012.

So Happy New Year, and don't lose too many balls!

A Pleasant Afternoon

I flew back from Scotland on Friday morning.

The weekend had been planned for some time. It was Ross's birthday on Tuesday; so a night out at an Indian restaurant had been planned. It was also our wedding anniversary, Michelle's, her mum's and sister-in-law's birthday; thus another night out was arranged for Sunday. Of course there was also the small matter of the Portsmouth v Southampton match on Sunday afternoon!

Saturday afternoon was free and Michelle, bless her, had arranged with Ross for me to go a-golfing with him. Thus it was that Ross called for me in his gentleman's conveyance, well Tracey's conveyance actually, at noon. It was a C class Mercedes estate of similar vintage to my previous car. On arrival at them club we found that there were no bookings Fi them rest o f the day so we went straight out. There were a couple of problems, however. First of all, it was winter tees. This was no great shakes really, but the second one was; temporary greens! In other words no point in trying to putt whatsoever.

My tee shot at the first was straight but not very long; it was on the fairway however. Ross had put his over to the right making for a difficult second shot. I soon found that a long break had made little difference to my golf; I was as awful as ever. We had decided not to score the round, but to use matchplay. This resulted in me going one up after the first hole; hitch I won 9 to 10. The second was worse and Ross levelled the score.

Ross won the next two holes, but I did pull one back at the fifth. I never really managed to do well after this, and by the tie we got to the twelfth Ross was 6 up with 6 to play. At the par 3 thirteen I got the score to 5 with 5 to play, but despite a great tee shot on the fourteenth, Ross won the hole making the rest f the round irrelevant. We still wanted to play but we were stuck behind a very slow 3 ball, we decided to cut across and replay the eighth before repairing to the bar for a well earned pint.

I am determined this will not be the last time I play the course before I turn my membership to social, so we have arranged to play sometime between Christmas and New Year.

Sunday was a bit of a contrast, it was 'Derby Day'; this meant road closures in Portsmouth and an early start as the kick off was to be at 1 pm. Michelle and I got to her mum's around 10, had a cup of tea and then wandered off to the ground. It wasn't quite a full house but the atmosphere was electric and threatening.

The final score was Portsmouth 1 Southampton 1; a fair result at the end of the day. Fortunately the was litte trouble and we got home safely at 4.

We returned later to pickup Michelle's mum and go for a triple birthday dinner at Gunwharf.

I returned to Dundee the following day and then drove back home on Thursday. Christmas has been great, we have eaten far too much but tomorrow I can start walking it off; Ross and I are off to play golf.

Living the High Life!

I have been back in work for 7 weeks now and have spent the entire time (excluding weekends) living in hotels. Well just 2 actually; one in Milton Keynes and one here in Scotland.

If you think that staying in hotels is glamourous and you live the high life; think again. During my time in MK, I stayed in a lovely old coaching inn.

I had 4 different rooms during the 6 weeks I was there. Each had their own characteristics; one had a bath with a fixed shower off the taps but you couldn't reach the controls from outside the bath as the sink was next to the bath and a wooden post holding up the ceiling. Another had a bathroom so small you could turn the shower on from the toilet! The third had a floor that meant the table needed cardboard under a couple of the legs to keep it level and I rolled into the middle of the bed. The telly was small and at the other end of a long room so you needed binoculars.

My favourite room had a large telly and not too far from the bed. The bathroom had an interesting feature; it had a sloping ceiling and I was just the right height so when I went to the loo my head brushed the slope at the correct distance from the toilet, a handy feature if drunk!

I also spent 'glamourous' nights in my room eating salad as I tried to keep the weight off. This was to counter the occasional curry and beer. Even then most nights I was in bed by 8.30.

This last week I have been staying in a place called Broughty Ferry, near Dundee. There are five of us and tonight is the first I have managed to stay in my room and eat Slimming World food. I will try and stay in a couple of more times this week and watch telly or read.

I'm off home on Friday, just for the weekend. I will be flying from Edinburgh to Southampton; I hope the weather doesn't turn nasty as we are going out for our wedding anniversary, Ross's birthday and Michelle's mum's birthday. Besides all that we also have to fit in the game against Southampton.

On Monday I fly back up here to work, for a rest.

Sorry about the lack of posts!

It's been quite a while since my last post; for which I apologise.

I was in Milton Keynes all this time (ok, I went home at weekends) where I was preparing for the job I am on now. On Monday I travelled to Dundee for a press refurbishment. I realised a couple of days ago that when I arrived on site, on Tuesday, it was 12 months to the date since I last set foot in a press hall. It's been a tough time for us since then but now things have picked up significantly and, although I have to be away from home, I am doing a job I know and love.

As part of my preparation for coming to Dundee I looked up local golf courses. St Andrews and Carnoustie are not far away, but in all honesty I really don't think they are ready for my style of golf, so I shall not grace them with my presence, yet!

There are some much nearer courses; one of which is about 2 minutes away fom the site and is quite cheap. I will, however have to wait until the spring or later to play as I don't think there will be much time to get out there. As the job is going on until next October a round after work is definitely on the cards due to the long, long days.

Michelle has had to cope with me being away and has done so magnificently; although she was ill for a week. She is going down to 2 days a week after Christmas giving her some time to write her book. This will also mean that she'll be able to visit me at weekends occasionally. It's also been tough as her Grandma and father have been ill. Hopefully they will recover soon.

The situation at Pompey has also taken a turn for the worse, hopefully a new buyer will surface soon. I am able to get to the next two home games, including Southampton! I just hope they aren't our last.

This time last year Pompey were in the doodah and I was about to leave the print industry. This year I am back in the print and Pompey are still in the doodah.

Bugger knows what next December holds!

50 not out!

Well, I've finally made it; today is my 50th birthday! I never thought I'd get this far; especially in my 20s as I was convinced my liver would give up the ghost. This was exacerbated by becoming a commissioning engineer and drinking on expenses.

Survived I have, however, and am now firmly in the land of the middle aged. I don't feel middle aged though, I still feel young even if my knees are knackered and I play golf.

I'm still in Milton Keyes training and will be here for a couple more weeks, with time off for good behaviour at weekends. Yesterday, though, I had the best surprise of my life. Trying to lose weight, I have been staying in my hotel room in the evening and eating salads from Asda. I finished my repast and retired to bed for a splendid evening of televisual pleasure, it was 10 past 7 of the evening clock. There were knockings on my door; I got out of bed and hastily dressed. The hotel duty manageress presented herself and said unto me that, as it was my birthday, I had been upgraded and a bigger and better room awaited downstairs. She then offered to help me move my stuff. My inquiry as to how they knew it was my 50th birthday went unanswered but I went along with her to my new room. We entered and I placed my suitcase down on the extra bed (yes, extra bed, this room was much bigger than my hitherto residence). I caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of my eye and looked around to see Michelle coming out of the ensuite to give me a kiss and a hug!

I was speechless; this was the best birthday present I could ever have. Michelle had come straight up from work and had planned this in advance. After fetching her car and suitcase, she changed out of her work clothes and we went to the pub for a steak and much beer; so much for the diet

We had a wonderful evening and, ahem, birthday celebration. Unfortunately, due to her running a Slimmimg World group on a Wednesday night, and having to be in Waterstones in Petersfield, Michelle had to leave right after breakfast.

This evening I went out for a splendid curry and some marvellous beer in the pub opposite. All in all, I've had a brilliant birthday; certainly a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

Saturday evening we're off out for a meal with friends to round off the week.

My liver still has a lot of work to do.

It only took one day

I am now gainfully employed again.

I have returned to work with a company that I've worked for twice before, and will now be back in the print industry as a Commissioning Engineer. The first three weeks will be spent training on old kit; which I've forgotten about, and also on the new kit. It's good to be back in an industry I've been involved with for nearly 25 years.

There is a side effect however, well two actually. I will be staying in hotels, a lot. This means eating in restaurants and pubs. It will take a great deal of will power to stay off the beer but it will be worth it, and also difficult to find food I can eat but keep within slimming guidelines.

Weight gain is one side effect which I will try and reverse but the second side effect has manifested itself after only one day. I speak of CEA, that is Commissioning Engineer's Arse! This is the bain of the CE's life and hit me this morning. Last night I went for a curry and had one with quite a few chillies; this morning the chillies reappeared rapidly and with malice.I was extremely glad that the extract fan in the bathroom was working at maximum efficiency

Tonight I will go for a Chinese, but I think I'll give the Szechuan section a miss.


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Location:Milton Keynes,United Kingdom

Sam Snead's Shoes

Ross came back from Guernsey on Saturday morning.

He's been fitting a new kitchen at his ex wife's house, and came home for a few days. This meant that on Monday morning we set off to play golf. He was still working hard when Karen (the ex) checked and found that he was on an earlier ferry than he thought, so he rushed around chucking his stuff in the van, including the golf clubs. It was only when he was safely ensconced in his cabin and at sea, that he realised that he had left his golf shoes in Guernsey!

No problem, he could call into Portsmouth golf centre and buy a new pair. But what to buy, he already had a black pair and a brown pair, and not being the type who wears trainers, he was left with little choice, and so opted for a pair of white shoes with fake crocodile saddles.

It was with these shoes he appeared at my house early on Monday morning. They were positively glowing in their newness; indeed I suggested that, should we lose any balls in the undergrowth, they could act as spotlights to help illuminate the search.

On arrival we saw that the car park was full and that a large group of senior members were about to go out en masse. We repaired to the bar and partook of coffee and bacon butties. After this, we tried a few practice swings on the range and some putting practice. It was a reasonably fine day (so far) but windy. This was to have a large effect on our game but on the first it wasn't too bad. I did, however put my second shot over the hedge dividing the first and eighteenth fairways taking 2 shots to get back to the right hole. We finished with an 8 for me and a 7 for Ross.

For me the second was a slight disaster, I lost a ball in the undergrowth on the right and took a penalty drop. My next shot put me over the other side of the fairway, leaving a difficult shot to get through the gap. After I had taken this shot and walked forward I noticed a ball on the fairway, looking around I realised that someone on the tee box had taken his tee shot without waiting for me to clear the fairway or to be invited through. This is against all golf etiquette, but I ignored it and carried on. In the meantime Ross played his second shot down the seventeenth as his tee shot had landed beautifully in the centre of that hole's fairway. I finished on an 8 for that hole and I think Ross made par. I made par myself on the next but then made a double bogey on the fourth. By now we had caught up with old chaps in front of us and so we had to wait on every hole; we didn't mind too much though as the banter was good and we were enjoying ourselves. I don't think the 2 chaps behind we're too happy though and the incident on the second wasn't going to be the last. On the sixth Ross made par again and I holed out for 2 over. We weren't playing slowly by any means and so I was slightly miffed when a ball nearly hit me as I walked off the green. There was no warning shout and the 2 chaps just carried on as if nothing had happened.

There were no further instances on the next few holes, but we we're still having to wait for the chaps in front of us; though apparently that was our fault.

My front 9 finished with a 56; making a score of under 100 unlikely, though I might achieve sub 110. Ross, however, was flying. His front 9 finished with a 43. He was determined to break 90 and this was a good start. The shoes were having an effect. Some readers may remember a comic strip in Scorcher, and then Tiger, called 'Billy's Boots'; where a young lad finds a very old pair of football boots which used to belong to a brilliant footballer. The boots are imbued with magical powers allowing Billy to play like the previous owner. Thus it is with Ross's new golf shoes. As the round progressed, and Ross's golf got better and more consistent, we realised these were no ordinary shoes and must have once belonged to a golfing grand master. These were Sam Snead's Shoes, and that's not easy to say three times quickly!

The back 9 was relatively uneventful, I did have a disaster on the sixteenth, but otherwise not too bad. I finished on 59 making a grand total of 115. Considering I've been lucky to be sub 140 lately, that was a very pleasing score. Ross was pushing for his sub 90, and after seventeen holes he was on 84. No pressure going onto the par 4 eighteenth then. Would the power of the shoes desert him or would they help him break the mythical 90 barrier? His tee shot went straight down the fairway, leaving an easy shot onto the green. He now had 3 putts to achieve his goal. The first just missed the hole from 25 feet out. Unfortunately it carried on for a few feet, no gimme at all. The second putt fell short but he sank the third to finish the round on 89! Sam's shoes had done the trick.

As I started walking towards the hole after my second shot, a golf ball landed just behind me, again no warning was issued. Then, as we walked off the green, both of the 'gentlemen' behind started shouting and gesticulating at us to move way. This really was the final straw and Ross was extremely annoyed. The 2 gentlemen don't know how close they came to having to retrieve one of Sam Snead's Shoes from their respective lower intestines. That would have impaired their golf somewhat.

There was no excuse for their behaviour whatsoever. It has to be said their attitude is completely at odds with the rest of the members we have met. I hope they never have the good fortune to find a pair of Sam's shoes, indeed I hope they find Maurice Flitcfroft's hat, that'll stuff them!

For me, alas, I fear that may have been my final round of the year at the club. I can only hope that next year I am able to get home and play a bit, though a full membership would not be good value for money.

Next Monday I start my new job, I will bring news from the world of work and, hopefully, some far flung golf courses.

I may have to get my own pair of magical golf shoes.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:At home in bed

A suitable car to carry my clubs.

No golfie again this week.

I have been extremely busy; with no time to go to the club or even to the range for a bit of practice. I have been preparing for my new job, well I've been perusing the net for cars as I will be getting a company car. I have a certain monthly rental budget, but as of yet I don't know what this will stretch too with the leasing company that my company uses. I have found a site which will give me an idea of what would be available and I also have a site to work out the company car tax.

My criteria for the car are that; it must have Bluetooth and the boot must be big enough to accommodate 2 sets of golf clubs and trolleys; or a suitcase, a large bag of tools and a set of golf clubs. I have simple needs.

The choice would appear to be either an estate car or a 4x4. There aren't many fourbies that would be big enough and within budget, although I did find one 2wd version of a fourby which would not only be within budget, but come fully loaded with Bluetooth, sat nav, rear parking sensors and camera, auto headlights and auto windscreen wipers. I'm not sure how big the boot is so a trip to the dealer is in order. They also do an estate car with the same spec. The company car tax is reasonable too!

There are another couple of manufacturers I'm considering so I will be lining up some test drives and testing the load spaces with golf clubs.

I have also purchased an iPad 2 as has Michelle. This may appear a little on the extravagant side, but as my new job will mean me be away from home for long periods, we can talk to each other on FaceTime, thus saving our phone bills.

It also means I can carry on blogging as I have done so today. The nature of the blog may change slightly, but I will try to keep it about golf as I intend to play as much golf or go to as many practice ranges as I can.

This should widen my golfing experience; allowing me to play lots of different courses. I shall of course, dear reader, keep you fully informed of my progress, or, more likely, lack of progress.

In the meantime I shall endeavour to play as much as I within the next 2 weeks. Now where did I put those car brochures.. er golf clubs?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bradshaw's Ln,Southport,United Kingdom

Basking in the late September Sunshine

The last few days have been glorious. The weather has been fantastic and the temperature has been in the late 20’s with not a cloud in the sky.

Friday morning Ross and I went up to the club early. When we left the sky was clear and it was going to be yet another fantastic day. As we travelled north through the South Downs the other side was covered in fog. This was not a problem as it would quickly burn off. We arrived at 8.45 and sat in the bar with mugs of coffee; waiting for the fog to lift enough for us to see. After half an hour there was enough visibility to knock a few balls on the range. We hit 20 balls each and then proceeded to the first tee. It was still foggy but we could see far enough to tee off.  I scored a creditable 2 over on this long par 5 and Ross actually made par. The second hole then beckoned as the fog lifted and the course was bathed in glorious sunshine. Alas as the fog lifted my golf game saw freedom and disappeared with the fog; only to be seen occasionally running across random fairways as the round progressed.

The heat was oppressive; it was so warm I was convinced that my golf clubs had turned into soft mints and that was why I couldn’t hit anything. The holes went by and I just couldn’t make any decent shots. On the plus side I was putting well, there were only a couple of occasions where I took more than 2 putts and they were on holes that I had given up on and couldn’t care less. The ice hockey practice made its appearance yet again; fortunately only for a very brief time after which it decided that the weather wasn’t really conducive so retreated back into the shade. 

We completed the round, Ross scoring 101 and I scored 133 which, considering I was on target for well over 140, was a minor miracle. The bar called loudly and so, with much alacrity we went into the clubhouse.  There is a wonderful view from the bar terrace; the eighteenth fairway and hole and the whole of the fourteenth. There were still no clouds and the course was looking magnificent; which is why we were perplexed as to why it was so empty. We saw no-one for about half an hour, before a foursome appeared from over the hill walking down the eighteenth fairway, and then another four started the fourteenth. These were the only people we saw, so we decided to do a few more holes.

The first 2 holes were good, I managed a 6 on both; unfortunately previous form returned on the third. The fourth hole is interesting. The fairway is wide but lies at 90 degrees to the green; which is off to the right down a hill. It is possible to drive the green so, for the first time in months, I took out the driver. My tee shot started left and then faded right; it wasn’t a slice, and finished 20 yards for the green. I thinned the chip and shot off the far edge of the green, the following shots were not good. We moved swiftly to the fifth and I scored 4 on this par 3.

Our final hole was the sixth. This is the hardest hole on the course; a railway line runs to the right of the hole and half way up the left hand edge of the fairway is a lake. My golf game had obviously tired in the heat and decided to relax by the lake and watch the ducks and moorhens. It saw me approach the tee and hitched a lift in my bag. I took out the driver again. It only went 230 yards but did finish in the middle of the fairway. A wayward second left me 70 yards out; the resulting chip leaving me a 10 foot putt for par. I didn’t make it but was very pleased with a final 5.

By now we were exhausted so we walked back to the club house and went home. It had been a mixed day; the weather was fantastic but the golf awful for the most part. It was a day where the golf didn’t matter, it was just for enjoying the weather and the countryside, and in that it was a roaring success. I took away many positives but it may be the last chance for a game this year as the weather will turn soon. 

There is another reason why I may not get out again; I have a new job! I start on the 24^th of October and it will mean working away from home. It’s a really good job; I’ve worked for the company twice before and I enjoy it, however it means travelling both home and abroad so the opportunities for golfing at my home club will be limited. I will, however, put some clubs in the car and try and play wherever I’m based.

 A new chapter is about to start in my life but I hope my golf game will like travelling and go with me. 

It can send some postcards.

Gluttons for Punishment

It was Thursday evening once more, and time for another game of non-golf.

Yes, Ross and I went out for one of our last Thursday evening thrashes. It’s getting dark about 7.30 now, so we had to set off early to get a few holes in. We arrived at the club at 5.40 and did a little practice in the nets and on the putting green and then set out.

The first hole was ok, a reasonable tee shot, followed by a good second leaving me 150 yards to the green. Alas, I hit the ball to the right and finished in the rough at the side of the green; a good chip put me onto the green leaving a 20 foot putt for par. Last time I made par here but it was not to be on this occasion. I three putted for a 7 but a pleasing start never the less. Little did I know that a theme was starting on this hole. 

The tee shoot on the second was straight but short. I completely duffed up the second by hitting it 5 yards! At this point of the hole there is a large gap between 2 clumps of trees. Unfortunately the gap is split by a solitary tree just to the right of centre. I decided to aim for the left hand gap and keep the ball low. The ball indeed kept low, about 2 feet off the ground and pitched at the base of the lone tree on a root shooting straight up in the air, nearly braining a squirrel as it hit a branch and continued in a forward direction for about 30 yards. It took me 3 more shots to green; where I sank a 20 foot putt for a seven.

We had a choice at this point; continue to third hole, go to the seventeenth or play the seventh. We decided to go to the seventh as we wouldn’t get back to the club house if we continued and would be walking back in the dark. 

It took me 5 shots to the green on this long par 5 but 3 putts to finish on 8. A similar story happened on the par 4 eighth and on the par 3 ninth another disastrous 7. We moved onto the tenth but by now the light was fading badly. My tee shot went 60 yards to the left, so I decided to try using a 7 iron and just try and hit the ball to the hole in small stages. It took 3 more shots and I was on the apron of the green. Yet again it took 3 shots to finish, so the round went:  7,7,8,8,7,7. This was at least consistent but, like Sunday, bore no resemblance to golf, unless it is prefixed by word ‘fiasco’. 

It will be too dark to play next week, so we’ll head off for some range practice instead. I think we need it.

It's only a bit of rain!

It rained, it rained very hard.

Fortunately the weather appeared to clear up and so Ross and I headed up to the club.
We got the clubs out and got ready. At that point the lightning started and thunder could be heard. Golfers headed down the fourteenth fairway from the fifteenth tee; gathering those on the fourteenth and all headed back towards the clubhouse. Golfers appeared from all directions to shelter from the storm. There was very little rain; just a light drizzle and the gap between flash and thunder was over 10 seconds. It also appeared to be moving to the south. Ross and I did some practice in the nets and, as the course was clear, we then wandered over to the first tee. 

By now there was blue sky appearing from the north and the rain had all but stopped. We teed off; Ross hit a perfect drive up the middle, my tee shot went off to the right into the first cut. I hit a magnificent second leaving me just over 100 yards short and then put my third into a bunker on the left in front of the green. A magnificent shot out of the bunker gave me a 5 footer to par the hole, which was the first time I have ever made par on this hole. I had beaten Ross by 3 shots and was buzzing, this was going to be a fantastic round and I was going to get close to 100. Unfortunately I had hit my peak far too early; what followed was almost, but not entirely, quite unlike golf. I don’t know what it was I was doing but playing golf certainly wasn’t in the top 100 descriptions.

Disaster after disaster happened and I was followed by the bogey fairy. I did manage to redeem myself on a couple of holes; a 6 on the twelfth was good and there were pars on the thirteenth and fifteenth, both par 3s. Overall, however I couldn’t hit a tee shot to save my life; most of the rest of the shots only went 100 or so yards, one actually went 90 degrees to where I was aiming ending up 30 yards behind me. It was a good job there were no other golfers out and that, by the time we got to the seventeenth green it was becoming difficult to see. My putting was the only part of my game that deserved the description of ‘golf’; averaging 2 per hole.

Ross wasn’t happy with his round either and both of us are going to have to get down the range and do some practice. For my part I will have to read the definition of the word golf and see if I can actually do anything that remotely resembles it. 

There were positives from the round though. I hit some really good bunker shots, a couple of my approach shots were good and the putting was much improved. I also added a couple of extra par holes to my tally, so I’m getting close to a par round; albeit stretched over many months and numerous attempts.

With the nights drawing in now it means less time for golf and our Thursday evening jaunts will be severely time constrained. Practice will be done on the floodlight range and the likelihood of handicaps is not high.  

We will try and make at least on last hurrah this Thursday and head out just after 5 o’clock; that should give us enough time for 8 holes. 

Hopefully this time I’ll be able to call it golf; well at least a little bit of it.

I've got my car back

It finally happened. Yesterday I got my car back.

The problem with injector has now been fixed. There is still a problem with the rear washer; I did ask the garage to look at it but they failed to do so. They did also find that the front discs and pads will require changing in the not too distant future. Although this won’t be cheap; they are consumables and need changing every now and then, and as the car has done 186,000 miles I would have been naïve to think this wouldn’t be necessary. The rear washer can be dealt with at the same time.

I do wish, however, that I had asked for a re-spray as the Mercedes Invisible Blue colour scheme is becoming a tad annoying. I have had the car back 1 day, yes 1 day and already 5 people have either not seen it or chosen to ignore it! The first guy decided to come down my side of the road as his was blocked by parked vehicles; even though I was already passing these vehicles. Fortunately there was a gap he could get into, though he couldn’t have seen it when he started to pass the vehicles. The second occurrence happened at the same point; this time the woman driving the other car stopped much quicker and backed up to let me through. The other instances included someone pulling out on me on a roundabout and a couple of idiots on the motorway.

I may finally get to use it to go to the golf club tomorrow; if the weather holds out.  The problem is that it’s getting dark so much earlier now so we have to get there earlier. Fortunately Michelle doesn’t need me to help on Thursday nights, so I can go as soon as I’ve done everyone’s dinner. 

The other good news is that I have an interview on Monday. The job doesn’t pay what I’d like but I can make up for it on overtime. The shifts are Monday to Friday 6am to 2pm so much scope for doing a few hours extra a week. As long as it isn’t on a Tuesday (when Pompey are at home), a Wednesday, (so I can help Michelle), or a Thursday. Weekends when Pompey are away would be ok too. It might work out pretty good. I actually wouldn’t mind doing earlies all the time; so much better that going in for 2pm and working until 10pm or nights.

UPDATE:

It’s now Friday and yesterday evening we played golf. It gets dark a lot earlier now so we left at 5.30 and managed to play 8 holes before the gloom set in. A mixed bag really; some bloody awful shots interspersed with brilliant shots. It was good just to get out; considering the weather over the last few days. 

This weekend is leafleting again but it looks like rain; so it’ll be time to get creative with the papier maché.