Back's better, must be golf time.

John performed his usual miracle; my back didn’t hurt at all this morning (Saturday). This could mean only one thing….golf!

I dropped Michelle at work and headed off to the club. I went on the practice range and a short while later Ross turned up. I’d managed to get a tee time for 10.58, which as there was a competition on was lucky. I hit some really good shots on the range, practiced chipping and getting out of the bunker, and then we did some putting. I was doing well and this was worrying. It continued on the first two holes; they are par 5s and I took 6 shots on both, scoring 3 points on each. The third only yielded 1 point and I scored 2 on the fourth. Unfortunately the next 2 holes were Alexander Armstrong holes – pointless! 

Ross, on the other hand was playing a blinder. It didn’t start that way however. He managed to get to the green on the first hole in regulation but 4 putted. The second was worse, an 8, and the par 3 third ended up as a 6. After this though everything seemed to click; he finished the round with 7 holes in par, a score of 89 and a Stableford score of 40. In contrast I hit 121, which was 12 shots more than my last round, interestingly though I scored 25 points, only 1 less point than last time.

I only hit 3 bad tee shots; on the sixth, tenth and seventeenth holes. I say only 3, the sixth hole was a disaster and we didn’t count any of the 5 duffed tee shots. Four of them disappeared to the right and onto the railway line; the other went way left into the trees. I never found any of the balls, so I made a drop near where one went out of bounds and took a penalty. My final score was 10, but this was by no means the worst. The tenth was something which I would like to leave an indelible blank on my brain but will be forever etched I’m afraid. The duffed tee shot went 50 yards into nasty rough on the right and it took 2 shots to get out again. It took another 4 to get to the green; then the ice hockey gene took over and I finished on 14.  On the seventeenth I decided that, as my round was buggered anyway, the driver would come out. I haven’t used this in ages and it showed. The first two attempts went 50 yards up the left; the third homed in on the rough on the right. I took the original shot and actually managed a 2 over par 7 for the hole. I finished with 2 pars, no birdies but several squirrels, and unfortunately a couple of giraffes and wallabies.

Over all I didn’t play too badly; 25 points shows that, and if it wasn’t for 4 bad holes I could have been close to a score of 100. A little more care on my next round and then I’ll put a card in to try and get a handicap. That will mean I can play in the competitions. Now I know they are played off the back tees, which makes it harder, but having observed some of the guys playing to day I don’t think I’ll disgrace myself. 

The only trouble will be avoiding the wildlife; it’ll be more like playing in a safari park than on a golf course.