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!
Saturday 31 December 2011
Tuesday 27 December 2011
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.
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.
Sunday 11 December 2011
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.
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.
Thursday 1 December 2011
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!
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!
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