Captain's Blog

The Final Curtain

2011-08-27T12:30:00.000+01:00

Well, that's that then.

Somone asked me a tough question a couple of months ago: what have you achieved in your captain's year? I couldn't think of anything but on reflection I'm not sure it's the job of a captain at Bamburgh TO achieve anything. I saw it as more a role of continuity, to encourage and support what works and to try to encourage adaptation where necessary. I think most things work well here and I tried to support them. I've tried to push a couple of things: with Keith I've tried to make the friendly matches more popular by making many of them half day affairs; Nicky and I have tried to increase interest in mixed golf events and lastly the club is going to prepare a policy document for the golf course which will help members understand how the course is managed.

A much easier question was, have you enjoyed it?; or alternatively, will you miss it? Yes, I have enjoyed it: it has been good fun - but although I will miss the parking space I won't miss the role. One year is enough. I saw a quote from a Jeremy Clarkson car review just after I'd started being captain. I thought it was appropriate:

"You don't join a club because it's convenient or because it will save you money. You join so that you can be a member. So that you can be part of a gang. And that, of course, means you are weak.

We see evidence of this among those who play golf. The captain of your local club, I can pretty much guarantee, is almost completely useless at his job and has very few friends. In the real world he is a halfwit, a nobody, a tragic soul with a chip on his shoulder and a family that hates him on a molecular level.

But by being diligent at the golf club, and organising events, he has become a somebody, a person with standing and power and respect. Let me put it this way. Captain Mainwaring would be the captain of the golf club. Wilson would just play golf."

I'm looking forward to being Wilson again.

A final comment. Some things worry me: slow play; walkers across the golf course; they are a sign of selfishness that is probably an inevitable consequence of modern life. But most things don't; the club's mix of membership and its low key approach - and its location - mean we are well placed for a challenging future for golf clubs. So a final thanks to the members for their support of me and more importantly the club over the past year.

Last Things

2011-08-19T19:17:00.001+01:00

The season is coming to an end at a rapid rate: twelve months ago August 2011 seemed a long way off - a year away, even - but as a number of people had predicted the last few weeks of captaincy fly by. I missed out on the McKeag competition (I had guests to play, but saw a pleasingly large number of people take part) but did get to the final competition of the Workmen's club.

This was the captain's day, with a special "hidden hole" prize, and the Tea Caddy/Purvis Tankard competition which had been postponed last week. This meant we had to record gross, net and stableford scores. The main things I learned about the club, whose annual subscription of £5 is an even better bargain than the main club's, is that the standard of golf tends to be high, that they have good trophies and most importantly they have a prize for last place on their captain's day. Bill Robson was looking smug about this, but he hadn't taken account of my lack of ability (an 11 on the 11th and 4 points on the back 8 must surely be some sort of record) and my 24 points romped home. Of lesser importance, John Moffet and Dan Taylor won the gross and net prizes respectively.

On the subject of good trophies, earlier in the week I presented the prizes for the Junior championship, well organised as ever by Keith Whitfield. Despite a wet afternoon, there was a good entry and Johnny Moffet won the gross competition (the RS Rutter trophy) and Tom Hamilton the net, Alex Mackay being second in both.

Royal Burgess friendly match

2011-08-14T20:57:00.009+01:00

I've noted before that we are fortunate to have a regular friendly match with the Royal Burgess Golfing Society, founded in 1735: their clubhouse reeks with the history of the game and they are also very good hosts (albeit competitive ones).
There were some things we did well: we all caught the bus up there. We all remembered our golf clubs and our jacket and tie. After dinner we produced (thanks to Derek and Ken) the best quantity (if not quality) of jokes, with Luigi making a characteristic appearance. And after we said farewell, the bus rocked. (The suspension wasn't great).
Unfortunately, the match was a golf match and there we didn't do so well. Keith and I set off well - we were level after 2. But however much it's meant to be OK to lose to a birdie it isn't really. The half way house was after the 12th hole, and our game was wrapped up by then, but not by us. Interestingly, after a drink of alcoholic Crabbies our game improved dramatically and had there been a bye we would have won it. Peter Hinson and Trevor Thompson did win their game, and John Cairns and Derek Wymes halved theirs, but the others lost. Although the results are roughly equal since the match started 25 odd years ago, Burgess have won the last four. Something to sort out next year...although I had thought we had a pretty good team this year.

This was my last friendly match. They've been good fun - and for someone with a poor weather reputation, mostly dry - but it's not always easy to get teams for them. I've put some effort into trying to change the format to make them a bit more accessible, and most next year will be half a day and a bit more casual. In the end, 39 people played in this year's friendlies, which is good as I also wanted to make them more widely enjoyed.

Tea caddies and coffins

2011-08-11T12:46:00.001+01:00

A couple of things to round off the season - I had wanted all year to play in one of the Workmen's events (I would have joined this long before, but they play on a Thursday evening when I have other commitments). It's an important part of the club with a history (as a separate club) going back to 1904. So I turned up for the "Tea Caddy" competition only to find a healthy attitude to poor weather: it had rained all day and so too few people arrived to play. Hopefully I can do so next week.

The day before, I'd gone to Foxton watch the final nail in the coffin of the North Northumberland league this year as they played Alnwick. It was a drab evening but an exciting match: Alnwick needed a decent score to avoid relegation and they very nearly got one - three matches went to the 18th and they were up towards the end. But in the end Foxton won 8 - 4, so winning the league.

(Alnwick are in a play off with Rothbury to see who is relegated; Seahouses join Division A next year, with a play off between Longhirst Hall, Foxton B and Goswick B to see who else comes up. Bizarrely the play off is a stableford comptition; Concerningly none of the three are ideal: Longhirst is in North Northumberland only if you are fairly fluid with geography and I'm not sure it's desirable to have a seven team league containing two teams from the same club. However, the North Northumberland league did agree the former and the latter has happened by default).

Midsummer

2011-08-06T15:49:00.010+01:00

Saturday started well but then became a bit wet. So all a sensible golfer could do was sit inside and commiserate with people as they came in and wonder about those who went out.

But I had had a game the evening before, the last of the summer mixed greensomes which took place on a calm sunny Friday evening of the type we'd imagined when we suggested the idea. Eleven people turned up so to keep a relatively simple structure, we had three groups of two teams each; I was a greensome team all on my own. After a bit of negotiation, it was agreed I could have two drives with the loss of one off my handicap. I liked the idea of having two drives and choosing the best one; it's a lot better than that three off the tee stuff. But in the end 34 points wasn't enough to trouble the scorers. There were, however, only two points between the other five teams, with a clear winner with 39 points - Nicky Rose and Malcolm Cresswell and second place decided on the back six -Alison Reed and Will Rose. As before all those who took part enjoyed the game and I hope they continue next year. Malcolm was kind enough to give Nicky and I a specially labelled bottle of wine as a thank you for organising them - "..the best vines avoid The Dinkie...etc.."

And the day before I'd had just as challenging a match, one I'm pleased to say I won despite having to break for the weather half way round. Gil's Ruin, my Black Swan quiz team, had its first annual Crazy Golf tournament. I'm a great fan of the course at Seahouses which I think is good training for normal putting. With these games behind me I didn't mind missing out on Saturday.

Final NNL Match

2011-08-04T15:40:00.009+01:00

The weather was perfect and the course looked good for our final league match of the year.

As always a decent group of our supporters turned up but unusually a bunch of people came from Foxton as well: their captain had commented to me the other day that he felt lonely with the number of spectators we provided so he had obviously drummed up support and some caddies for their players. It was an important match for both teams which would probably decide the league title.

Unfortunately, and despite (?) the sugar rush Keith's sweets provided, we got off to a bad start. But we then started to come back and at the 14th tee vantage point all the games were close, with Chris Forrest (a welcome new addition to the team for this game) being in the lead.
They all went to the 17th or 18th, and walking down the 17th with the final game we were all square; we then lost one match and Johnny Moffet needed a good putt to halve his match and leave us with a 5 - 7 loss and a technical chance of still winning the league (rather than a 4 - 8 result which would have meant Foxton would win). And the last putt of our season duly went in for a birdie and a 5 - 7 loss. I got a lift to Alnmouth station afterwards with some of the Foxton team; they had enjoyed the close match and would have settled for a 5 - 7 loss themselves.

2011 final putt..

It was a disappointing result - probably the week before had sealed it against us - because the team had done well for most of the year after a slow start. But at least there's been a proper fight for the league title; the two division split with home and away matches has worked well as has our team. Thanks to Peter Sanderson for being team manager and leading from the front, to regulars Mark Dawson, John Moffet, Johnny Moffet and Angus Smith and the others who took part: Colin Brown, Alex Mackay, John Cairns, John Porteous, Chris Forrest, Peter Hinson and Phil Holmes (apologies if I missed anyone out there). And thanks also to the many supporters.

Meanwhile, in other countries, Garrick Porteous has been selected for England in the Home Internationals played in Ireland next week; he is currently playing in the European Amateur championship in Sweden (the leaderboard is here for the next couple of days; at time of writing he's in the top 10 after two rounds).

Update: he was 9th equal in the European Amateur.

Update 2: England won the Home Internationals, and Garrick was one of only two unbeaten English players over the three days.

That's golf for you

2011-08-02T12:13:00.008+01:00

Actually, it’s life as well.

I watched the Ladies Championship final, played for the Joan Phillips trophy, and as Joan was a distant relation and had originally proposed me for membership I was honoured to present the trophy – to Lynne Johnston, who had played Nicky Rose and won 2 & 1. The match was well supported, close and exciting. Alison Lambert refereed with style and conviction.

It wasn’t all a bad weekend for Nicky – on Saturday, she equalled the ladies course record with a 70. And also on Saturday Peter Sanderson equalled the men’s record of 63 in the Challenge cup, although this wasn’t enough to win as there was a net 57.. But 63 is a pretty impressive result.

I remember the “handicapping myths” I looked at last year when ruminating on handicaps which confirmed that low handicappers generally win – although I continue to believe that our competitions should have a maximum allowance of 18 as a condition of entry (and in this case it wouldn’t have made any difference to the result).

Captain's Trip

2011-07-30T23:59:00.012+01:00

You may wonder what that bright thing in the sky is. It’s the sun. It hasn’t put much of an appearance in for events I’ve organised this year, but after 11 months we had good weather for the Captain’s Trip to Dunbar. It was a lovely seaside course –almost at sea level – and by starting at 3.00 we had a reasonable deal and some enjoyable golf. There were 8 groups of 4: unusually no-one cancelled: the 32 who came were the 32 who’d spotted the notice about the trip and put their names on the list. Despite that, not everyone read the notice on the first tee to see which were the nearest the pin/longest drive holes. There was some comment that there was a ball or two nearer the pin on the 3rd than John Shaw, who won: but there could be no doubt that Scott Priestley’s was the longest drive. Most things went well – except that just as I was about to get on the bus I realised I’d left the prizes at home. Fortunately Dunbar sells little bottles of Dunbar-labelled whisky which did duty as a token. And after all, as I’ve often said when I’ve lost, it’s the taking part that counts.
Our group had a mixed round; I had a par at the first: John Cairns took up the challenge for the other 17 holes, and we won our fourball. But we didn’t trouble the leader board – maintained, with my gratitude, by Keith – and Ian Armstrong won with a very creditable 37 points. Ben Galbraith and Scott had 36, Scott winning best gross with a 74. After a drink or two Travelsure then got us home more or less in a decent state.

Hey, there's almost no pictures of me on this blog. So this one can stay.

NNL Match 11

2011-07-28T12:02:00.011+01:00

Dunstanburgh Castle, at home. Just as for the Mail on Sunday match at the start of the season, the Dunstanburgh players were there before the home team (unusually so was I). Delay is often a good tactic but it didn't work in an ultimately disappointing evening: it was a glorious evening in terms of the weather, and the first three games went to us, but the last two were much tighter and although John Moffet and Alex Mackay took their games to the 18th green (Alex coming back after being three down after 14) that wasn't quite enough and we drew 6 - 6.
I don't know what it's like to play week in week out in those sorts of matches, but I know it's both exciting and tense to watch. We finished the night 4 points above Foxton who have a game in hand: next weeks match against them at home should be interesting. Interesting word, interesting.

NNL Knock-out: Foxton

2011-07-26T23:52:00.006+01:00

There's a nice bench by Foxton's 7th tee which also overlooks the 6th green and is a small step to the 9th. It meant I could watch the first part of the league knock-out match in comfort without going far yet seeming to be involved and informed. Especially as I kept getting coded texts from the vice captain keeping me updated on what was happening elsewhere (eg H+1,8; J+2,7).
And the front 9 was positive: we were 3 up at the turn. Unfortunately the rub of the green didn't quite go with us and although we won two games quite quickly (one with a chipped in eagle at the long 16th), and could have won two more, things didn't quite work out that way. A large group watched things at the 13th; a very limited number walked up the hill to see the concluding losses.
The good news is that Foxton were beatable; the bad news is we didn't beat them. Maybe next week.

Co-incidentally I'd played Foxton in the morning and found it in good condition, with strange pin positions and very fast greens. I passed on that bit of news as my first (and probably last) piece of coaching advice of the year.

Couves Goblets

2011-07-24T22:40:00.004+01:00

Yet another weekend passed without a full round of golf, but with a very enjoyable alternative: Nicky's matchmaking skills paired me with Gemma Baird in the Couves Goblets, one of the two main mixed competitions, this one a foursomes format. My luck was Gemma's misfortune, but we managed a decent first half - despite the wind - before I started finding obscure gorse bushes with my drives on the back 9.
We did think we were watching the winners: Nicky and Will are a good combination and they put on a good exhibition until a flirtation with the practice ground at the end meant they were in second place. Despite the wind, there were a good number of entries; as I've noted earlier I hope mixed golf continues to develop at the club. Not to take over, but it's a nice complement to the usual stuff.

Alnmouth Village

2011-07-24T22:33:00.007+01:00

Alnmouth Village hosted a charity day to raise money for St Oswald's Hospice in memory of Peter Braidford; it was a Texas Scramble No doubt in recognition of the victory in the Texas Scramble the other week (did I mention that? We're wondering if we should have a board in the bar for that competition) by Keith Whitfield and myself (and a couple of others), Steve Clements, a friend of Peter's, asked us to play along with Mike Robinson for added talent.

I hadn't played Alnmouth Village before: I loved it. Some criticised the conditions and the wait as the holes criss-crossed but I thought it was delightfully quirky, and the view from the 7th/16th tee must be one of the best in golf. This is the second oldest links course in Britain (after Royal N Devon) and I think we're lucky to have it in the neighbourhood.

We didn't win: Steve and Mike played well but Keith and I were more like our form at the Northumberland friendly than the Texas Scramble. But we did come 8th and got a bottle of wine at a packed presentation at the clubhouse. The day raised £4,500.

NNL Match 10

2011-07-20T23:00:00.012+01:00

The Magdalene Fields match has always been tough; in the last two away matches we've lost 7 - 5 and 11 - 1. My theory is (putting aside relative skills of the teams) that it resembles Bamburgh (slopes, green, by the sea except there aren't any islands offshore) but plays differently: the greens are a bit slower (though still true) and the rough off the fairway is a lot thicker. But what do I know? I do know the rough is thicker: my first job on arriving was to help find Phil Holmes' first (and provisional ball) on the third, followed by his partner's.

Despite the distance to travel, a good crowd from Bamburgh watched a close match: two games finished quickly but the other four all went to the 18th; the lead game was particularly tight with Peter Sanderson needing to be 4 under par to get a half. The Moffets and Angus Smith all won, giving us a 7 - 5 win leading up to a crucial last two matches. Foxton were apparently beaten 9 - 3 by Goswick; that puts us 6 points ahead although they have a game in hand. Our last match, on 3 August, is against Foxton at home.

The next league event for us is the knock out at Foxton on Monday 25th; the league game next week is against Dunstanburgh at home.

Bunkered...

NNL Match 9

2011-07-13T23:32:00.005+01:00

Vs Goswick A at home..

Another late arrival for me (again meeting Peter as he walked off the course but this time having won on the 18th), another glorious evening and a number of close matches, most finishing on 17 or 18. We won 8 - 4. A couple of other interesting items from the day:
- a well-known Dutch golf course architect, a Colt specialist working for two clubs in the North East, was walking the course. He was very complimentary about how the course fitted into the environment.
- Garrick Porteous came second earlier today in one of UK's world amateur golf ranking events, the Tillman Trophy at Hunstanton.

Next match: Magdalene Fields away.

Northumberland Friendly match

2011-07-10T20:38:00.010+01:00

Some have said that I'm not that lucky with weather - strange that - but the friendly at the Northumberland Club was, despite the forecast, played in excellent conditions. And despite rumours earlier in the year about dubious greens, "excellent conditions" also described the course and the greens: there's a lot of work going into making them first class and it's paying off.
I'd like to say Keith Whitfield and I in the lead match set a good example and played well; unfortunately I can't as four down after four (despite good opening drives) isn't a good start. We held our own after that but had obviously put too much of ourselves into Bamburgh's second-most prestigous competition on Saturday (the Texas Scramble which we had won thanks to my handicap, firm direction from Keith, strategic targeting by Alan Patterson and good play from Peter Harrington) to recover.
At least we played quickly, and could sit on the terrace in the sun watching the other groups come in and trying to guess (accurately) their results from their body language. Mike Robinson and Steve Clements retained their unbeaten record, but we also had a couple of draws and a couple of losses. I briefly held the salver we last won in 2007 before handing it back to Giles Smallwood.

I briefly wondered whether the crowds had come to watch us -no, in a weekend of sporting drama (British Grand Prix, Scottish Open) the Park also gave us the final of their Ladies Championship. As we stood on the terrace as the prizegiving took place, one of our members was heard to ask "But who's getting the Sunday lunches in?" I won't say which one.

NNL Match 8

2011-07-06T22:52:00.007+01:00

I arrived late at Rothbury to see Peter Sanderson finishing early - so far, so normal, but abnormally he'd lost. Obviously beating everyone on Saturday had taken its toll.
But on the course all was well: the old part of the course dappled by the slowly setting sun, no wind, midges not yet stirring, most of our players leading with John Moffett having already won.

That theme continued (with some ups and downs) with only Colin Brown going to the 18th and sinking a tricky putt in front of a gallery to halve his match.

So overall, we won 9 - 3.

Non-playing Captain

2011-07-03T22:55:00.014+01:00

There's something very relaxing about not playing golf.

It was a fantastic weekend for both the Club Championship and Lady Captain's Day and all I had to do was watch. I usually like to play in the club championship, although I usually increase my handicap by 0.2 as a result, but this time thanks to Goodwood I couldn't. However, I did get back in time to sit in the sun by the 18th and watch the competitors come in - all the way from early clubhouse leader Jonathan Cawthorn to the final group.

One of the winning putts

Watch their approach shots, their demeanour, their putts, the way they handed their cards in. And watch the competition managers deal with them.

It was pretty exciting - at the half way stage, only two shots separated the top five in both the gross and net competitions so the result was wide open. And in the end, only two shots separated the top three in both competions - who were the same, showing I suppose the fairness of the handicapping system.

All three - Graham Forrest, Johnny Moffet and Peter Sanderson - had the same net score and Graham won on countback; gross, Peter was 2 shots clear at 131 to be Club Champion for the 8th time.

Then Sunday also involved sitting in the sun, this time with a Pimms at the 12th tee, with Nicky and her family and friends celebrating Lady Captain's Day, watching some high quality golf taking place in the background.

The Ladies focus on what's important while the Men gossip. Or the other way round.

Yes, there's a lot to be said for not playing golf.

NNL Match 7

2011-07-02T22:56:00.005+01:00

I was on the way to the Goodwood Festival of Speed so missed the match - Rothbury v Bamburgh at home; but we won 10 - 2 which puts us in 2nd place in the league, 6 points behind Foxton. Who we play, incidentally, at Foxton on Monday 25 July in the next round of the League knock out cup.
Next match: also against Rothbury, away.

NNL Match 6

2011-06-24T00:18:00.005+01:00

It was cold. That, and an 11 - 1 victory, were my memories of the league match at Goswick. Especially the cold bit. Other memories were a major come back by Mark Dawson to halve the match having been 4 down, having to wait until the 18th to finally see John Cairns' opponent play a less than perfect short game so John could win and listening to Dick Little explain to one of the few Goswick supporters how the course used to look years ago.

Next match: Rothbury home.

Brass Monkeys

2011-06-18T18:49:00.010+01:00

This year's Brass Monkeys Summer trip was to Musselburgh Golf Course, a good venue as it's:
a) the right side of the Edinburgh by-pass
b) mostly flat.
And although it had a lot of bunkers that were easy to get into, they were also quite easy to get out of - especially given the practice most of us had.
There were two important prizes at stake: the best score for the two rounds, won by Peter Sanderson, and 8th place, giving the responsibility to organise next year's trip, won by Robert Renner (8th, not 1st, to make sure there was no malpractice).

Keith Wright got a (n expensive) hole in one at the 16th.

Helpfully, it remained dry virtually all day despite a forecast of rain all day, proving that I can attend a golf event without bad weather.

NNL Match 5

2011-06-16T14:40:00.006+01:00

Vs Magdalene Fields (A).
Everything seemed to go smoothly: the match was over by 8.30, it was warm, only one game went to the 18th (and was drawn): the others were wins. Why isn't life always like this?

STRI inspection

2011-06-16T14:01:00.014+01:00

The STRI carried out their regular inspection of the course on Wednesday. An agronomist arrived with a load of equipment to test the greens, to discuss the regular maintenance programme and to inspect the course, particularly the rough, fairways and bunkers and for the first time I sat in and indeed helped operate the stimpmeter to measure green speeds (I had expected something pretty sophisticated from the name, but its just a metal bar down which you roll a golf ball a few times in a few places, and average the distance it rolls).

This time he brought a new toy, a K-9 like instrument that accurately measures the smoothness of the greens. Of course, occasions like this usually involve a lot of people watching a few actually doing the work.

The 18th green came in for particular attention - after the readings were taken it was cut for a second time, readings taken, then given a treatment of vibrating rollers and re-read and then brushed and re-cut with readings taken. The second cut made little difference; the rollers made it smoother and faster; brushing and re-cutting made it slower.

The written report will give the details of the findings - in summary, the findings were that different greens were consistent and OK but the weather had prevented the density of the grass being as good as it should be at this time of year; the planned maintenance schedule is dealing with this and other issues (like thinning out the rough).

The exercise is useful, as much as for the continuity of the analysis as the day itself, but it was as good to hear a couple of visitors from Royal Birkdale (whose game we crossed a few times) say how much they enjoyed and liked the course.

Invitation Day

2011-06-12T21:16:00.004+01:00

Friday: sunny and calm.

Saturday: cold, wet and windy.

Sunday: sunny and (fairly) calm.

Spot the difference.

Yes, it was an important day at the golf club, Invitation Day. We had a full day of tee bookings and when, as the rain fell harder and we discussed mid-morning whether or not to play I was impressed that no-one had pulled out so far. But the weather did remind me of summer holidays at Bamburgh when I was a kid: looking up at the sky and saying isn’t it clearing up over there? And then continuing to say it, incorrectly, pretty much all day. And that is what I kept on saying while we waited to go out (fortunately, my fellow 1.40 tee time players decided not to play so we went off at 3.00, fortunately because it was clearing up and we actually had three holes at the end without much rain). Four groups decided not to play: eighty six did; not everyone finished but 172 people started. That says a lot about our members and guests (I’m not sure what, but a lot). And there were some good scores, with three teams, including two who played in the worst of the weather, getting 41 points.

I hope everyone who took part will look back on it as an enjoyable experience, one of those that are better looking back on: I know my guest, who had driven up from Kent, will not forget golf in the North East.

Can you blame a captain for the weather? Not really. But it didn’t stop people trying. “Jonah Woodman” Trevor called me on the lovely summer’s evening on Friday as the Junior team was (just) beaten in the league knock out by Linden Hall. Hmmm.

NNJL vs Magdalene Fields

2011-06-10T16:36:00.009+01:00

I hadn't managed to get to a junior league match this year, but went to watch the team play Magdalene Fields. I'm not sure either side will want to see me again as whenever I approached a group they seemed to either lose the ball or hit it out of bounds (especially, unfortunately, our team).

Eventually that improved and the team played well (a special mention to Sam Aldred who won 6&4) but with the result being a 2 - 2 draw.

My main question? How, when even Trevor was dressed warmly, did so many of them manage in just a t-shirt?

(A couple of years ago, Newcastle's Centre for Life carried out a study to see whether there was a genetic reason Geordies wear few clothes on a night out, but never published the results. I spoke to one of the analysts there to find out the results; they concluded there was no genetic reason, mainly because the North East comprised such an amalgam of people from various backgrounds (thanks to various invasions and incursions) that there was no unique genetic factor. They put the habit down to other factors: "adaptive not genetic". People get used to the cold; people in the North East are more overweight than the average Brit (natural insulation) and for thinner people, active metabolism keeps them warm. And lastly: peer pressure.)

NNL Knockout Round 1

2011-06-10T15:55:00.006+01:00

What a difference a week makes: last week we lost a close but disappointing league match against Dunstanburgh, this week we won (5-0) the first round of the knock-out against them.

It could have been home advantage; it could have been the M&S shrimp sweets Keith fed our team. It could even have been ability. Whatever the reason we're through to the second round which also happens to be the quarter final.

The evening started with a hailstorm (what do you do if the green is covered in hailstones?), passed through showers clouds and the odd rainbow and finished well.

Armstrong Trophy as it happened

2011-06-06T20:54:00.009+01:00

Round 1: Bye

Round 2: Gordon Stephenson. I got 5 Shots. I lost the ball on the first hole: 1 down. (But I never do well if I play the first hole well). Got it back on the 2nd (drive onto the green). Tight match - all square after 9 and then after 11. 1 down after 12th (to a birdie) and then halved holes up to 16. Yas hit unlucky second into the hill, lost ball, so all square. 17th: My drive: onto the green; Yas into the field. I got the birdie. 18th: Decent drive; Yas hit iron. His second: a few feet from hole, as was my third (a bit closer) having just avoided bunker with 2nd. All down to the last put: his for birdie was about an inch short. Mine for par (and a half on 18 and a win) went in.

Yas' drive on the 3rd: a part of the course you don't see very often.

Round 3: Johnny Moffet. Only two questions, really: could I last beyond the 10th hole and would we finish before the rain came. 16 shots should help - but inevitably I lost the ball on the first hole. I got a three with the second, not good enough. Drive at the third into the gorse on the third: 2 down. A couple of pars net birdies helped make it all square after 6: result! Then a hole where I didn't get a shot.. lost to a birdie and to one on the 9th. 2 down after 9: pretty good, and then a par at the 12th and a rare dropped shot by Johnny left me one down. But a drive into the gorse (followed by a second shot with the second ball into some other gorse) on the 13th and into the bank on the 14th left me 3 down with four to play. And then the rain came. I played 15 well but not well enough and we walked in, Johnny having played par golf to then.

There's always next year.The rain on its way..

Seahouses Friendly

2011-06-06T20:52:00.007+01:00

As I drove into the car park, Radio 4 said it would be cloudy at first, then sunny and dry. Well, they got that one wrong. Aside from that, and the result, the day went well.

Seahouses seem to pick Captains who are good at golf*, and Chris Taylor played beautifully, complemented by Dave Watson; John Cairns and I admitted defeat on the 14th. As did the next group out, Keith Whitfield and Michael Robson who might have had a chance if they'd had full handicap difference: otherwise Scott and Gary just played too well (lambs to the slaughter acording to Michael). All the other groups had close games going down to the 18th, so we had to wait in the bar for the last group (who'd had to start late) to struggle down in the rain to find out the result. And could you pick a better last group then Derek Haggerstone & Ian Coulthard v Rob Ritchie and Steve Wharmby? They halved their game, not quite good enough for us to halve the match: we lost 3.5 - 4.5.

The salver we won last year was unfortunately stolen in the burglary earlier in the year so we re-presented to Seahouses the valuable china plate Scott prepared last year. And then listened to Rob explain some of the finer points of womankind followed by Derek reintroducing us to Luigi. And then? Back to the bar.

* As did Bamburgh Ladies: Nicky Rose shot a 70 on Saturday, a new ladies course record.

NNL Match 4

2011-06-03T16:07:00.007+01:00

Dunstanburgh away is always a hard game because although the course is fair it’s also tough. So a 4 – 8 loss wasn’t too much of a surprise given not everyone was fully fit and a couple of people were drafted in.

As always we had decent support but unusually so did the opposition: Dunstanburgh also tend to have a lot of spectators. I usually watch the last couple of matches because most people watch the first ones: it seems unfair to leave them without support. (I’m not sure I could keep up with Peter and Mark anyway). Peter Hinson was in the last group this time and it was a very exciting one to watch attracting a bit of a crowd towards the end. It could have gone either way and he was just a bit unlucky (apart from when John, his opponent, was strafed by an RAF helicopter as he putted on the 12th) especially with is lie on the 18th.

A drab start turned into a perfect summer evening; the course looked excellent. I have always liked the 13th but was told by the Dunstanburgh members I spoke to that it wasn’t popular as it wasn’t a “proper” golf hole. That’s maybe why I like it.
Next Wednesday sees us play Dunstanburgh at home, but in the first round of the league knock-out. This link gives the results after 5 rounds of the league.

The McAdam Foursomes - my one and only round

2011-05-31T23:47:00.004+01:00

Our McAdam Foursomes match was tricky: Johnny Moffet and Joe Clements had won the event in 2009, they continue to improve and are in form at the moment. We had however agreed to play (at the last available time) after Joe had played two rounds in the Dalgleish Cup so he should have been tired. We also agreed to use buggies which took some of the time and hassle out of it. And my partner, Mike Robinson, had just had an auspicious day. Luke Donald had just become the world's No1 golfer. And some time ago, in the last century, Mike had beaten him in both a singles and a Foursomes match.

It was a great game; perhaps not up to Donald's standards but quite a few shots were pretty good. It was a beautiful evening, at no time was there more than one hole in it and specifically we were all square after 9 and on the 18th tee (and the 15th and 17th tees as well). But I lost my drive and although we could have managed a three with the second ball a steady par gave Johnny and Joe a desreved victory on the 18th. The timing was impeccable: it then started to pour.

The Lake Trophies: At least Some People Enjoyed Themselves

2011-05-29T22:49:00.010+01:00

Yet again the wind was strong. It's OK, it can be quite fun, playing in the wind when it's dry but it does get tedious.

Why is it so windy? I remember from A-level geography that the UK's weather is unpredictable and varied primarily because it is at the junction of different air masses as well as being at the edge of a major continent. The north-east's weather is largely determined by the polar continental mass and we have strong winds both from our exposed position and the path of depressions.

But an overriding factor is the polar jet stream. For reasons I can't easily explain but apparently linked to temperature variations in the Pacific Ocean ("el nino/southern oscillation") causing atmospheric changes across the globe, it has been further south than usual, especially this year. The jet stream brings high winds and turbulence. Its location can be followed here and its a good indicator of our weather. Sure enough on Saturday it was above us before drifting away on Monday.

I asked the Met Office about wind speeds at Boulmer (the nearest station to us). The average wind speed in 2010 (9.6 knots) was close to the latest 30 year average they've calculated (1971 to 2000). The first four months of this year (also 9.6 knots) were about 15% less than the long term average. But the wind in May (11 knots) was about 30% higher than long term average. It was in fact the highest average wind speed ever recorded there in May.

Whatever the reason, congratulations to Angus Smith and Alan Patterson who won with 41 points; they must have put all thoughts of La Nina and her impact on the jet stream behind them.

Mixed Sevensomes

2011-05-27T22:44:00.005+01:00

The idea for a couple of summer mixed greensomes had been to benefit from the calm sunny summer evenings for which the course is so well known. It was in fact fairly calm. Warm and sunny it wasn't but nevertheless seven people turned up to play. We had tried a number of formats in winter, but not a sevensome (if there is such a word). But rather than split the group we decided to do this, splitting into three teams with a random draw. All seven of us drove, which created an awesome sight at each tee (I think "awesome" is the appropriate word).
A combination of fading light and players on 10,11 & 12 made us play 13 holes only. Steady faultless play from Bill and Fiona gave them victory; I think Nicky and I could just have won if we had averaged out the last five over nine and the first eight over nine, or indeed had we played better. John, Tony and Margaret suffered from harsh handicapping after the success of the three-person teams in winter.We have another couple of these games planned later in summer. I was a bit worried about introducing yet another event in a fairly crowded golf calendar, but I think they've worked well - those who've played have enjoyed them and they've introduced a few people who didn't know each other before.

NNL Match 3

2011-05-26T12:41:00.006+01:00

v Alnwick, at home.

An even larger than usual group watched a lovely summers evening turn into cold dusk with a backdrop of six golf games to look at as well. Bamburgh got off to a good start for our first home fixture with wins for early starters Peter Sanderson and Mark Dawson, and then a few holes behind both John and Johnny Moffet won their games 5 & 3. The last two games were much closer, and went to the 18th, with Colin Brown getting a draw and John Porteous just missing one.
So Bamburgh won 9 - 3; the next match is at Dunstanburgh on June 1st.

Alnwick, meanwhile, are doing well in the Mail on Sunday competition (having beaten us earlier in the year): they are through to the last 64. Good luck to them.

Rapture!

2011-05-21T18:44:00.003+01:00

Bamburgh 6pm Saturday 21 May 2011

Rapture was not on my mind given the number of shots that slipped away that day.

Captain's Trip

2011-05-21T11:40:00.002+01:00

One of the background things a captain has to do is arrange a trip for members - not surprisingly it's called the Captain's trip.

I've been trying to think for almost a year of where to go and when to arrange it. I wanted it to be as available as possible - such as a Friday afternoon at the end of July, when it wouldn't clash with too much else - and also somewhere where we haven't had an outing for some time. That ruled out some of my favourite courses like Kilspindie and Longniddry. I thought of going south - Hartlepool looked good - but north is easier. I narrowed the choice down to the Hirsel, Duns and Dunbar: all courses I'd played and liked. Dunbar seemed to be one people had played least, and they had tee times available when I wanted. And Travelsure knew the way and had a bus to hand.

So I've booked some tee times at Dunbar on the afternoon of Friday 29 July. I'll put up the notice soon - after the other notice asking for people to play in the Seahouses friendly (which is on June 5th) is full. And then, just as with any party, worry whether enough or too many people will come.

Luck! : The Blackheath Trophy

2011-05-16T13:18:00.001+01:00

Luck! (or something similar) was what I said to myself when I hit two balls out of bounds on the 18th after a decent drive.
My first bit of luck was bad and suitably on the first: having driven left I gently chipped the ball onto the green; except that it actually lobbed 90 degrees sideways in an arc straight onto Dick's head. Fortunately he was wearing his cap. That left me with a 5 and Dick with a sore head.

I've written before about his cap and it seemed to give my ball good luck as I collected lots of points for various pars and a birdie, including chipping in on the 14th. But from then on it all went wrong, with just three points in the last four holes. I had been hoping for a decent handicap reduction if not a prize but I suppose a mixture of good and bad luck is better than no luck at all.
We were all lucky with the weather: it was one of those days where you could see heavy rain showers (and briefly even lightening) all around and yet on the course it was mostly dry.

Ali Darling, who was first with 39 points, wouldn't have needed any luck, nor Ian Brown who was second. Based on the treatment of his clubs at the 5th however, Jason, third, might have needed some.

NNL Match 2

2011-05-11T23:43:00.000+01:00

I got stuck in London for longer than I wanted to be and was watching the Kings Cross departure Board instead of the team teeing off at Foxton. Last year, they tended to win when I wasn’t there. Unfortunately that trend reversed this year; we lost 9 – 3. The next match is at home against Alnwick on May 25th.

Wet Weekend

2011-05-11T22:04:00.000+01:00

I said last week, “Let it Rain” but I didn’t mean during golf. Actually, if you were clever, or careful, you could miss the rain. I played later than usual in the Buckley Tankards. We hadn’t booked a tee time which meant we went out when it was dry. It continued that way as we saw lots of wet people coming in. It stayed lovely and calm until sunset; you’d think we’d be able to do well and indeed we came close. But not close enough.

Although unintentional at the time, my 17th was homage to Seve Ballesteros. A drive into the hill just short of gorse, a second sliced close to the second green, a chip close to the pin and a putt for par and three points was (apart from the lack of talent involved) reminiscent of his great escapes.

It was harder to avoid the rain on Sunday, except in the clubhouse, but theTexas Scramble Open still had a full turnout with most seeming happy with the event and the course and ready to book again next year. John Porteous’ team won: a home victory.

Just as on Saturday, the weather improved at the end of the day.

NNL Match 1

2011-05-05T10:15:00.009+01:00

The new league arrangements have home and away matches for the 7 teams in Division A: the draws are a bit strange as we start off with two away matches followed by a bye, we play Dunstanburgh two weeks in a row (one being the first knock-out round and then Rothbury two weeks in a row. But I suppose that just shows it really was a random draw.

Our first match was at Alnwick (renamed Alnwick Castle), scene of our defeat in the Mail on Sunday: it was interesting to walk around and re-look at the holes I messed up and see how they should be played. It was sunny but cold; the course looked to have continued to improve with the new groundstaff they have.
We started well - and at the fifth hole, supposedly sheltered for watching but actually freezing - Bamburgh seemed to be up in every match and mostly to win that hole - but then we slipped a bit in the middle sections where a lack of familiarity with the greens gave a home advantage. Three matches went to the 18th, the last two in dusk, Alex Mackay sinking a long put to give us an 8 - 4 victory.
As always, Bamburgh's support outnumbered the opposition at least until about two thirds of the way round and the Champions League semi-final was on TV.
Next match: 11 May, Foxton away.

Armstrong and McAdam draws

2011-05-02T19:06:00.006+01:00

I was privileged to witness (by accident) the draws for the knockout trophies. I case you ever wondered how independent it was - the answer is very. A number is picked out of a box by a child; it's read out by parent and child; it's confirmed by a member; the name corresponding to the number is read out by a committee member and the name written down in order by the competitions chairman.
Knowing that doesn't make it any easier to win, of course.

The good news is that there are many more entries this year - probably partly because of the weather but also because new members are playing. The full draw will be on the noticeboard at the clubhouse on 5th May, and the first round draws are on the club's website. They have to be played more quickly than normal because of the additional entries.

Captain's Day 2

2011-05-01T20:07:00.012+01:00

At least I don't have to look at the long range weather forecast any more. I've been checking for the 1st of May for the last couple of weeks and seen everything predicted from rain to sun with high and low winds. But on the day it was fine. So I don't care any more; the course needs rain, apparently. Let it rain.

I can't quite believe that it's been 8 months since I "drove-in" having cancelled the competition because of the wind and rain - only 4 months to go before I have to find a parking space again. But it was worth postponing the competition because the 1st of May was perfect weather, just as a second shot off the tee is (almost) always what you meant to do in the first place.

It was also much easier second time around with no drive-in to worry about and no evening party to arrange. I hoped I'd be able to relax, read the papers and occasionally meet players and offer a drink and a snack. But between the first person coming through at about 8.45 to the last group at 4.30 there was a steady flow which left little time for the papers. I was impressed at the (general) quality of the drives after the drinks; with one or two exceptions they were of a high standard, whether that was the audience, the drink, natural skill or luck I’m not sure (it probably depends on the individual concerned).Specific highlights of the day, part from watching the drives, were meeting Pixie, the Clubhouse’s new resident and racing around the course at the end of the day on a buggy collecting the various nearest pin/longest drive markers. Lowlights were forgetting the sunscreen, running out of sausage rolls and noticing how many walkers took little notice they were walking across a golf course.
There were too many players and prize-winners to highlight individually - the results list is here - but I should mention John Porteous who had the best gross, Tony Cawthorn who won and Trevor Thompson (on his return to competitive golf) who had the longest drive. I would mention Mark Dawson's second shot to 2ft or so on the 18th but Peter Sanderson told me it was mis-hit.

Lastly, thanks to Trish, Sally, Jamie and Seonaidh for helping during the day, Chris and Peter for helping me pack up, Keith for arranging and managing the competition, and those who played in the competition and visited during the day.

Watching the drives

The Millennium Putter

2011-04-30T17:13:00.005+01:00

Having turned up on time, aka half an hour late, for Saturday's competition I was in a two-ball at the back with Phil McDonnell (who also turned up on time, half an hour after our draw was actually made). This was actually very relaxing, a good preparation for Captain's Day on Sunday. The course was in excellent condition and importantly the trailer was ready and waiting at the 12th tee (and thanks to Bruce Douglas and Bill Robinson for that). The downside was that my handicap continued an inexorable rise, by 0.1, towards 18 and there were a fair number of birdies - John Porteous in particular had 5.
Dick Little starting off wearing his Mexican bandit's hat. Can't think why.

Interesting comment from a couple of visitors who played at the end of the day, who were members of Royal St Georges (where the Open is being played this year). They described the course as excellent, not only for its location but also its condition.

What shall we do today?

2011-04-29T15:26:00.002+01:00

Almost half the UK population (and reportedly one third of the world's) watched the Royal wedding; what were the others doing? I went to the golf club in the afternoon (to drop off Captain's Day prizes and book a tee time for someone) to find the car park nearly full. Paul said they had been busy all day (almost all men).

I, however, admit to watching some of it.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T17:40:00.007+01:00

I’ve mentioned a couple of “starts of the season” before – first white tee competition, the Ponteland friendly – and the Easter weekend saw another three or four.

There was the 32nd Sparrows and Swallows match, first played in 1979. You’d expect the Sparrows, having played throughout the winter, to be victorious, and (as I was reminded by Bill Robinson) in earlier years they had been; indeed all the past captains playing for the Sparrows had led winning teams....a pity they didn’t win their games this year... This year, however, Lord Walton had a very creditable three at the first which set the scene for an easy 4 – 1 victory to the Swallows. I have three defences: Lord Walton is really a Sparrow now (and incidentally I hope I can play half as well if I reach his age); if you look at the Swallows team most of them played regularly throughout winter as well; and the mist was so bad that any local knowledge was irrelevant.A few Sparrows were also at the previous night’s event, which can’t have helped – the Brass Monkeys closing meal and presentation. Trevor Thompson was the year’s winner after an impressive start to the season: I was almost last and winner of the monkey thanks to an unimpressive start but clawed my way up to third from bottom. Food, drink and prizes flowed.

A third event was the first medal competition of the year, the Britten Cup. A medal is hard. Every shot counts, which I suppose is why there are so many of them. My round was OK but two 8’s don’t help. I remember a weekly Sunday newspaper article “Keep a 6 off your card” in the 1970’s; I didn’t play then and I remember it seemed so easy on paper. There were some excellent rounds even given the good conditions: congratulations to Dan Taylor and Dick Little with net 62’s. Handicap reductions to follow, no doubt.

Over 100 people played in the competition reflecting fine weather, Easter, and the fact that new members actually want to play. It will be good if we can keep this number and more entering competitions, as long as they don’t all want birdie money. Having said that, it took just over 3 and a half hours to get round so as always we need to watch the pace of play (I have always wondered why we play 3-balls rather than 4; apparently it’s an R&A recommendation to avoid slow play, but I’m not sure they are experts at club golf).

Also on Saturday was the Ladies Coffee morning to raise funds for Nicky’s charity for the year (Admiral Nurses, part of Dementia UK); as always it seemed well supported and raised a few hundred pounds.

I also spent a bit of time planning my second attempt at a Captain’s Day the following Sunday. At least I thought, the weather can’t be worse than the first one. Especially as it’s a Royal Wedding weekend. But here was the long range forecast on my phone. Hopefully it’s as accurate as most long range forecasts..

Sand Play

2011-04-17T21:58:00.006+01:00

The papers were full of comments about the 16 taken by Kevin Na on a par 4 in the Texas Open. Not good – but little did I think we’d come close in the greensomes this weekend. Close; not 16 – but two 10s. Both due to bunkers. It took us 4 to get out of one on the 3rd, 5 on the 13th. The good news was that there was no point apologising to each other after the first few sand shots; also that the charity bunker payment is restricted to £1 a round. Bill Robson – for he was my partner – blamed the sand, and as it can’t answer back I’m happy to agree. We debated in the clubhouse whether to remove those bunkers but instead will take the slightly more expensive but constructive solution of getting new sand for the course’s bunkers. But they’d better not do that again. Elsewhere on the course, people were playing normal rounds of golf and in particular Tony Cawthorne and Bill Brook had a near-flawless round (was that normal?) giving them a net 55 and first prize. This should have set up Tony to do well in the Daily Mail Foursomes match with Ian Brown against Eyemouth on Sunday but unfortunately things didn’t work out quite as well. Daily Mail Foursomes – after it was all over.

Ponteland Friendly

2011-04-10T21:23:00.014+01:00

It’s Spring, it must be the Masters, the traditional start to the golfing season. Except in a little corner of NE England, where another start is the friendly match between Bamburgh and Ponteland, at Bamburgh. This year we had a lovely day, calm and warm.

As always, team selection is critical. I played with Keith Whitfield, a good choice: a combination of me having 8 shots and Keith being able to putt meant that we won a tight match (tight after being three up after three, which made all the difference). Dan Taylor had volunteered to photograph the day and gave us periodic updates on the other matches: we seemed to be doing OK but as Rory McIlroy found out later in the day, a lot can happen on a golf course.

I’m not sure why we hardly ever use the seats by the 18th green to watch people coming in; it’s a great place to have a drink, look at the view and see how people play the 18th. But today we all gathered there although the conversations seemed more interesting than the play. We did well at first – winning three and drawing one of the first four matches but then lost the next two. Fortunately we had a couple of bankers for the last two groups and accordingly won. We play for a trophy (pictured in my September post) that unfortunately was stolen – along with a couple of others – at a break in at the clubhouse earlier in the week. We haven’t had time to see if its recovered or to think about how to replace it, so with the help of a marker pen and a side plate I created a china “salver” which Malcolm Sym, the Ponteland captain, kindly handed back to me. He was polite about the day – although I suspect there’ll be some critical comment about our handicapping in the bus going back... The “salver” now sits proudly in an otherwise empty (and windowless) trophy cabinet.

One unusual feature of the day was the inclusion of Ponteland’s vice chairman in their team – unusual because she’s a she. Nicky Rose played, significantly lowering our average handicap, in the mixed group with Mike Robinson. I was pretty relaxed about this, (although it did cause comment at Ponteland) because the key was that as hosts we should welcome our guests. Golf clubs were one of the last Government’s targets when they introduced the new equality legislation and we have to combine common sense, the need to have good golf competitions and a respect for legal requirements.

The Drybrough Cup, the Saturday competition, was by the way notable for a full entry, my return to acceptable golf (36 points), a lot of birdies (by other people) and what must be a record number of disqualifications – all for not filling in cards properly. It’s a shame they didn’t: there’s a clear description of what to do by the start sheet and technicalities shouldn’t get in the way of the score. But.. golf is a game of technicalities.

Seniors' Open

2011-04-08T20:19:00.002+01:00

Open days are good for most clubs; they bring in visitors; if the day goes well it increases the club’s reputation; the participants may come back during the year; and most importantly the days are usually profitable. The downsides are that they require a lot of organising beforehand and on the day and the course is not available for members for most of the day (unless they join in). We have six in a year at the moment (as well as the pro-am) and yesterday saw the first of the year, the first of two Seniors’ opens. Somewhat depressingly a “Senior” includes people of my age (I thought I was barely middle aged) but I didn’t play, I turned up to help.

In fact there wasn’t much to do: Mike Robinson and Keith Whitfield have the process down to a fine art. Mike is polite and helpful; Keith provides the insults and the players think he is joking. We noticed a surprising degree of similarity in the scores of the two teams in each group – over a quarter were within two points. We discussed the reasons for people being influenced by each other; by example; a competitive urge; by following a similar rhythm; and even chemically. This was before discussing where the apostrophe should go in "seniors open" (and then checking the posters for other Northumbrian clubs to see who had got it right). You can tell we didn’t have too much to do.

The weather was good inside the clubhouse although it continued to be a bit windy outside - the players came in looking pretty battered, although most said they had enjoyed it and praised the course. And more importantly booked next year.

There was an exciting conclusion to the day: the clubhouse leaders on 43 points had been there for most of the day, had been joined by two others with 43 (but lower back 9s) during the afternoon but then the last team also came in with 43 and a higher back 9 score. That meant that unusually I could present the prize to the winners (who have normally gone home by the end of the day). Congratulations to Messrs (P) O'Hara and Graham.

The wind still blows

2011-04-07T00:00:00.004+01:00

It was very windy today - but sunny, the course looked great and was busy: lots of visitors, quite a few members but a good pace of play. Good quote from Dan Taylor about the conditions. "It's not brave, it's stupid".

The start of Summer

2011-04-03T22:22:00.003+01:00

Saturday was busy as the summer season started. It just didn't feel like summer - morning rain and strong winds all day, although in the afternoon the course and surrounds looked good as the sun came out.

We had a team in the inter-county foursomes - unfortunately not for long; Close House beat us.

We had the first 2011 competition off white tees, the first that counted for handicap purposes. It's always a bit of a shock to see the difference 20 or so yards makes on the first tee: it's not a big distance - except psychologically.

And I had to get a team of 16 for the Ponteland match the following week - we had 7 people at the start of the day, 18 at the end, so that was successful although it did mean I had to make a selection. Was that diversion of attention the reason I played so badly I came last - both in the Brass Monkeys, an expensive move, and in the competition (I think the first time I've done that)? Potentially, but really I think it was just bad golf.

The afternoon players had the best of the weather, with the top three (Nick Whitton who spent much of the round saying he was playing badly, John Porteus and Mark Dawson) playing then.

A day to reflect..

2011-04-01T20:55:00.002+01:00

An interesting day today looking at plans for the new clubhouse.

Experience over Youth

2011-03-21T00:13:00.006Z

Each year at the start of the season we host a match between a North Northumberland League team and the County Juniors (who included two of our members, Johnny Moffet and Chris Forrest). It’s a privilege to do this and hopefully the teams enjoy the challenge and playing the course. It’s the first time we use the white tees each year and the first time there’s a formal event: I felt under-dressed when I saw the number of suits, ties and badges* filling the bar. My job was to welcome the teams at the formal meal and to make sure the club behaved itself: accordingly I changed into jacket and tie+. And suitably, the sun came out and the course looked good.

Youth had triumphed over experience over the previous five years but despite a good start the situation reversed itself this year with the League winning 4-2 – a fitting result to salute the last match under Malcolm Lynch’s chairmanship as he steps down in April: ever- genial Tommy Cowie from Seahouses is likely to take over and was also present.

The golf was impressive – perhaps more importantly so was the collegiality of the two teams, especially the juniors who were well turned out, practiced together and waited to support their teammates when they had finished their game. I wish them luck in their season. My only worry was the time the whole event took; most players were at the club for almost 8 hours. Perhaps that’s inevitable but it’s a big commitment which – as many clubs find with friendly matches – can put people off. + But which tie? Decisions like this make or break a captaincy. The Captain’s tie? Too pretentious with so many officials about. The club tie? Too formal. I went with the old club tie; I think it worked.

* (Apparently Bamburgh has a captain’s badge somewhere but it went missing a year or so ago: a bit like Austin Powers' missing mojo, it’s disappearance could explain why captains’ golf is never quite as good as it should be.)

The end of a dream

2011-03-20T21:12:00.008Z

It's hard to think of a better matchplay team than Trevor Thompson, Michael Thompson, Phil Holmes and Mark Dawson - even with me included. Experienced, match fit (all in the top 7 in the the week before's competition) and even (apart from Phil) on time.

Apart from the Alnwick team.

Their captain had chosen the leaders of the winter league and had not selected himself: a wise choice I should also have made.

We had the third round of the Mail on Sunday competition on Saturday, away against Alnwick. I was starting to get excited about reaching the finals which are held overseas - Phil had said he had alrrady bought his shorts and sunglasses - but sadly Alnwick won 3-2 despite the best efforts of Michael and Phil who won their matches. Trevor's and Mark's results are, like my golf, probably best forgotten (Mark said he felt abused).

I hadn't played Alnwick before: it's a club which had got into financial difficulties and has been rescued by a new owner who has recruited new greenstaff and is investing a lot of money into it. It will take time for this to take effect but their team was understandably very bullish about the future and the layout has great potential. The course had some features which fitted my game: the opening downhill par 4 teasing a big drive - mine flew at least a foot into the air, diagonally, landing just in front of the ladies tee. The 8th is open on the left side having only one tree in over 300 yards. The tree that my second shot landed underneath.But, as someone who must have lost something once apparently said, it's the taking part that counts. And good luck to Alnwick for the next round.

The final mixed greensome

2011-03-16T23:02:00.004Z

There are 73* ways of being disqualified in golf.

Some of the world’s best golfers have been disqualified for various reasons, and we are lucky at Bamburgh that our Competitions secretary wants us to share, in fact enjoys seeing us share, these experiences of some of the world’s best golfers. And on Sunday I thought we had the opportunity to repay the compliment by disqualifying Keith Whitfield – and the others in his team, Tessa and Susie McKeag. But Nicky’s compassion shone through and instead they came first. It was the last of the winter mixed greensomes. I arrived at the club from Edinburgh, having been at a wedding the previous evening, having driven through heavy rain. I expected to see no-one else there but there were about six people all eager to play; more came later so we had six teams, one the threesome. The weather got better but remained cold and we only played 15 holes ; and the last group turned round after 8 to play 13. But they got 31 points to second placed Malcolm Cresswell and Fiona Southern’s 29. They didn’t play the full round.... but they did play and they played well. DQ or not? You decide.

The consensus was that the events had been worth doing offering as they did something a bit different. Of the four we played, two had been won by married couples, two by a threesome: a message for handicapping next year. There was also a thought that we should run similar greensomes on Friday evenings in Summer. We’ll investigate.

* Actually, like 47.6% of all statistics, I made that up: I’ve no idea how many ways there are. But there are a lot of them.

Real Winter Golf

2011-03-14T10:52:00.004Z

I was on a ski lift and saw this:

Even if global warming continues to give us more snow in winter we'll be able to cope.

Males on Sunday

2011-02-27T18:34:00.003Z

The Mail on Sunday is not just the second best selling Sunday paper in the UK, a defender of conservatism with a small c but with a tinge of salacious gossip, it also runs a major (10 round) knock-out competition amongst golf clubs in Britain. Which we enter each year. The semi finals and finals are held somewhere exotic, the first few rounds somewhere local.

We had a bye in the first round, which was a result, and were drawn against Dunstanburgh at home for the second.

Here's the problem: how do you select a team? The club that won last year's competition made the decision to play their best golfers; but I think that’s a bit obvious. And almost cheating - although it obviously worked. I thought of putting up a list asking for volunteers; but there wasn't a lot of time. So I thought I'd pick people trying to get a mix of competitive ones, those on form and those that were good. (Plus myself: I couldn't really ask people to give up a Sunday morning without doing so as well). I'll leave you to judge which category Trevor Thompson, John Cairns, Stuart Archer and John Moffet fall into. (Initially I wondered about a team entirely composed of Johns but it turned out to be impractical; at least we were in a majority).

The day itself was pretty stressful; first, most of the other team turned up before 9.00 and our team didn’t completely arrive until 9.50. Bacon rolls kept Dunstanburgh quiet for only so long. Second, I'd picked myself and I was the worse golfer on the team. So I really didn't want to lose. Four-putting the 1st didn't help but learning Trevor was 6 up after 7 did. And then a few pars and a lot of shots worked wonders and as my putt for 5 net 4 eased in on the 15th I knew I couldn't lose. A stroke later I'd won. As did most of the others: we won 4-1, third round beckoning. Nine to go.

Social inclusion

2011-02-20T21:48:00.013Z

The third mixed greensomes drew another decent group despite cold and slightly damp weather which got colder and dryer as the day wore on; this time we had slightly more women than men but Nicky's methodical and unbiased analysis split us into 3 groups, one a three ball sixsome. Or something.I was paired with Alison Lambert who showed that ladies continue to focus on quality golf when picking captains; fortunately the men are less fussy. But actually I was not too bad; so which of my shots would she talk about in the clubhouse? My perfect shot out of the bunker on the fifth, landing inches from the pin? The drive on the 9th (helped a little by the wind) stopping just short of the dip? No, it was the missed 10 inch putt on the 18th. Never mind, we were leaders in the clubhouse until the last group came in: but yet again, a married couple, John and Mel Downs, won it with a creditable 38 points. (David Cameron hasn't yet picked up on this as a reason for promoting marriage).
Saturday saw a real test of group dynamics. Usually, when it's bad weather people drift in having left their clubs in the car. They have a drink, a coffee and agree it would be stupid to go out. But then one or two people (usually from Belford) take their clubs out the car, suggest it would be wimpish not to play and the rest of us follow like sheep.

I'm proud to say that on Saturday I didn't. I watched three people tee off and then stayed indoors.

A Conundrum of Captains

2011-02-10T11:02:00.010Z

What is the collective noun for a group of golf club captains? This came to mind as I went to the annual dinner of the Society of Northumberland Golf Captains (effectively, a past captains society so I went as a guest). Bamburgh has good connections: we have provided more captains of the society than any other club, the last being Ian Miller in 2009 (and last year's was Ian Patterson, although representing Alnmouth).

Over 270 past captains/captains were crowded into the room, an impressive sight if 270 captains impresses you. A web search suggests (for golfers generally) a shank, a divot, a bogey, a tedium, a sadness and a course. Other thoughts were a society, a flight, a desperation and a hazard. John Taylor suggested a pomposity; that remains my favourite.

The main speaker was Sandy Strang. I took many notes of his jokes for repetition at various friendlies - I was told no-one would recognise them because of the way I'd tell them. Our table added interest with a sweep on the length of the speech. Hugh Adair, in form, was closest to the 36 minute 42.9 seconds actual with 35 minutes.

Strang said he had written a book about "Council Golf": "How to hit a maxfli out of the rough.... After hitting a wilson off the tee."

The luck of the Draw

2011-02-09T16:33:00.002Z

Successful golf brings together a number of skills: hand/eye co-ordination, muscle control, timing, judgement, concentration and so on. And even before you start the game, there’s other skills, perhaps the most important being the ability to draw cards properly.

I arrived on Saturday second only to Chris Hall, and fifteen arrivals later ended up choosing the groups by drawing the cards. We had a five-ball at the end; I drew myself, as well as the third and fourth people to arrive, in that last group out. That’s just inept. So I’ve found some useful sites about how to manipulate cards. Next time, I’ll be out first.

The golf? To mis-quote Sven, first half good, second half not so good (although with one birdie); John Porteus and Hugh Adair had 40 points but were beaten on countback by Malcolm Cresswell. Perhaps the best news of the day was that when I left the clubhouse Arsenal were 4-0 up at St James’ Park.

Mixed golf

2011-01-22T21:43:00.014Z

The second mixed greensomes event went well - a slight imbalance in numbers, with more men than women, meant we had a two man team and a three person team, but that just added to our egalitarian and flexible outlook.

I played with Nicky Rose and the Paynes; Nicky and I started well with 23 points on the front nine but then frittered shots away to end up with 39. The Paynes managed a consistent back nine of 24 points to give them 41 - despite an intriguing shot, one of the most accurate I've seen had it been intended, into a small GUR hole where it disappeared. My camera proved it had drifted out of reach down the drain, so making a rules judgement a bit easier (they put a new ball down behind the hole).

41 points was not enough; the dream three person team of John Porteous, Keith Whitfield and Margaret Heatley came in with 43. Fortunately Nicky had a spare bottle of wine in her car to give them a prize each.

Next event: Sunday 20 February.

There were a couple of things to note on Saturday by the way (apart from my first ever birdie on the 9th):

- Robin Williamson's return to competitive golf, with a drive to a few feet from the pin resulting in a peerless par, and

- Mark Dawson taught me how to work out 3/4 handicap differences easily (divide the difference by two, divide the result by two and add them); previously I'd done what any good accountant would do and waited for someone else to tell me.

Where the money goes

2011-01-21T21:35:00.008Z

Aerators, Agrochemicals, Cassettes, Corers, Fertilisers, Filters, Grinders, Irrigation technologies, Mowers for every occasion, Scarifiers, Slitters, Sprayers, Spreaders, Verti-cutters, Vibe-Turf Irons, Wash-off systems... never mind course furniture, drainage, netting, artificial surfaces, storage, education.

Every activity has its trade fair. Greenkeeping is no different: every year Harrogate hosts the "ultimate turf management exhibition in Europe" and as we spend a lot of money on turf management I thought it'd be worth a look.

The trouble with almost any trade fair is that it's easy to walk out having spent a fortune on things you don't really need. Despite the fact that most of the salesmen on the stands look terminally bored as they hope for someone to ask them something. (There was one exception: the agronomist from STRI who does our annual inspection was incredibly enthusiastic as he demonstrated their new gadget which measures the smoothness of greens and looked forward to visiting us in Summer to try it out). I didn't in fact buy a new grinder, or a waste water separator, or indeed anything. But it was tempting.

It was encouraging to hear how many people who, in passing, had nice things to say about Bamburgh. Yes, most were salesmen, but they did seem to have genuine knowledge of the course and the club.

Over the rainbow

2011-01-15T18:07:00.003Z

Why is Saturday’s weather the worst of the week? This was my thought as I drew the curtains and looked out on dark clouds and high winds. High wind can be fun but rain is bad, rain in wind very bad. The view in the clubhouse was that rain was not an option so I went out along with about 18 others – and it was one of those days where the wind kept rain off the course. However, towards the end of the round a rainbow formed out to sea - with the clubhouse at one end. An optimistic sign. (The weather IS worse on a Saturday, by the way: lots of studies have been made into this. The simplistic reason is pollution.)

It’s a game of two halves. That well worn sports cliché described my game, with 9 points on the front 9 and 19 on the back. Pars took their time coming, but I managed three on the last 3; and thanks to partnering Peter Sanderson this gave me a couple of net threes: Geoff Hulley had thought his birdie on the 18th was enough to win a match which had been close all the way - but sadly (for him and Luggy) my net three meant we halved. A game of three halves, in fact.

The Brass Monkeys event is now in full swing, with an imposing new notebook to record the scores. Today there was a paddle, the wind restricting the two best scores to 35. Inevitably one was Trevor Thompson in the lead after his 43 points last week.

The Burgess dinner

2011-01-08T21:50:00.012Z

Past captains had told me that one of the highlights of my year would be my trip to the annual dinner at the Royal Burgess Golfing Society; this proved to be the case.

As I noted at the time of our friendly match in August, we are fortunate to have a relationship with the oldest golf society in the world and they are excellent hosts at their clubhouse in Edinburgh. I don't think I have ever had as much Drambuie in one sitting but fortunately it's a drink that doesn't leave an after effect. I'll try to remember some of the evening's jokes to repeat (hopefully just the once) in speeches during the year; in the meantime here's one from the toast on behalf of the guests: "I'd also like to say thank you to Roger and Nick in the kitchen; I don't know if that's their names but I gather it's what they've been doing all day."
Unfortunately Edinburgh had a big snowfall during the evening which meant we couldn't play golf the following day - although apparently the course had been mostly closed all week. But as always snow and sunshine is a good combination for a walk.

Course Fully Open

2011-01-05T15:48:00.005Z

The weather today was as good as it gets in winter, and the course was fully open having dried out quickly. The usual Wednesday group with some additions went out.I was too busy to play. A pain.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T18:00:00.007Z

The course (or at least 10 holes) re-opened on New Year's day so I went along for the first "Brass Monkeys" game. Usually, I'm late. Today, I was the only one there. I wondered what I had done wrong, or whether Jools Holland's Hootenanny had confused me so much I didn't know what time it was. I returned about half an hour later to find a small group berating (teasing?) Bill Robson for only having 10 holes open (I was quite happy with that: they are the holes I find easiest and I suspect resting the course does it good). But despite that 7 of us went out (preceded by a couple of family groups). It was really cold and a bit windy: the winner for the day was (again) Dick Little, but with only 38 points this time. I've often wondered if it's his cap which gives him the power to play so well in these conditions. Mark Dawson lent me his woolly hat but it didn't seem to change my game, so perhaps it's talent more than headgear that counts.

Update:

Having said that, on the next day Mark, with his hat back, got a hole in one at the (short) 15th and Dick Little won again. Talent? Headgear? You decide.

One noticeable point was the number of walkers; I've never understood why people walk when they could drive, although when they stick to the paths they're relatively harmless. But there was a large group walking through the bracken at the side of the 6th and the 5th who then casually wandered across the 4th fairway holding up the group behind us. Despite the screams of "fore" and worse. This lack of awareness by walkers of golfers seems to be growing, perhaps because of a lack of understanding about "rights to roam". In fact, Bamburgh (and most of the coastal around us) is not one of the new areas of open access; even if it were, golf courses are specifically excluded from open access areas because of the need to balance the rights of all users. Legally, walkers are therefore restricted to the existing rights of way. The Scottish section of the Ramblers society endorses the Scottish Outdoor Access Code which amongst other things says:
"Allow players to play their shot before crossing a fairway"; and "Be still when close to a player about to play".

The English section is quiet on the subject but hopefully common sense will prevail as the number of walkers grows.

White Christmas

2010-12-19T20:18:00.012Z

Christmas comes but once a year.

Hence the special events at the club this weekend - the presentation of the Turkey Trot prizes; the Christmas raffle draw; the second mixed greensomes; the Christmas lunch.

What doesn't come once a year is the winning score in the week's Turkey Trot: 52 points. A score like that is as rare as a Newcastle manager lasting more than a season*; or a farmer being satisfied with the weather.
Saturday saw the course open again, 10 holes only, and (to give time to work everything out before the presentation) a decision that a 10 hole score would be grossed up for the final round. The course was firm and partly fair - depending how your ball bounced - and the cold but calm conditions allowed for some special shots; I've never driven level with the 150 yard marker on the 4th before, nor reached the green close to the pin with a 9 iron from there, although my missed putt was familiar. But the eventual birdie saw me very happy with 24 points (also my lowest 18 hole score), grossed up to 43, wondering if I had a chance to win a meat voucher. But no: 29 grossed up to 52 won it.

And this final day score propelled Dick Little past the leading contenders for the second time in three years to win, leaving John Moffett 3rd (the leader at the start of the day) and Trevor Thompson 2nd; there was some consolation for the low handicappers in their number of birdies: 8 for John Moffet, 7 for Peter Sanderson, another indication the course wasn't at it's toughest. Birdie money is a critical part of the economics of playing at Bamburgh and it requires a calculating mind and a lot of loose change. The scene became more Christmassy with snow falling as Dick started off the raffle draw with Bronwen's win meaning the hamper stayed in the clubhouse. Naively I still assumed we could play the second mixed greensomes in the morning, and turned up at 9.00am to find everyone else had looked out their window and made the sensible decision to stay away. The snow does make the place look attractive but I hope it goes in time for the next greensomes (Jan 20th) and to let us play the brass monkeys more than last year.The Christmas lunch was good as always leaving just the Christmas quiz on Wednesday to complete the golf club's celebrations this year (and in the end snow caused this to be cancelled as well).

I googled "52 stableford points"; I only found two other examples discussed on the web, and a comment by one golf system supplier describing such a score as "beyond fabulous". So congratulations Dick: whatever the conditions, it's an amazing result.

* Actually, a 52 is a bit more unlikely than a manager lasting a season: there have been a few Newcastle managers who have lasted a whole season and more. The list of Newcastle managers on wikipedia was interesting: I hadn't realised that in terms of win%s, Hughton was Newcastle's most successful manager ever.

Here's a picture of a real Turkey Trot held in Cuero, Texas:

Snowbound

2010-12-04T16:47:00.019Z

The course is still closed; a pretty successful year has been bookended by bad weather (I gather the week's bar takings were less than £10). I'm stuck in London, where there's a dearth of snow but a lot of Christmas Lights.It's a chance to catch up with various things, one being a new sign for my charity box, people (especially Julie) having told me that the current one is too small. Because my charities have a family cause it's also an excuse to stick a few old family photos on the site.
The Mizen Head in the 1950s
My parents are self evidently the reason I'm here, but also the reason I've settled in Seahouses: we always came on holiday here, as had they when they were kids. I therefore decided to split the penalty for making a mistake on the course between the two charities which research, and try to cure, the illnesses they died of - Cancer Research and the National Osteoporosis Society.

The last few years have seen a charity box for going in bunkers and for driving out of bounds on 17 and 18. I briefly thought about one for going in the Dinkie but decided to stick with bunkers; first, this catches golfers of all skills and second (as someone pointed out) it'll raise more money - and that is surely the point.

The other photos are of, in order, my family on the beach (Bamburgh) in 1960, my grandparents on the beach (Bamburgh) in 1921, my other grandparents on the beach (Beadnell) in 1939 and my parent's wedding.

Course closed

2010-11-27T21:25:00.001Z

Having whinged last week about my lack of ability to play, I was pleased to see during the week that most of my least favourite holes were closed due to wet weather. And therefore looked forward to a good score today. Only for snow to close the course completely.

In many ways this weekend's golf was my best of the winter season so far. And the snow made the Bamburgh Christmas lights look especially good.

Why I hate golf at Bamburgh

2010-11-20T22:38:00.003Z

The ball won't go where it's put(t).
The mat on the 8th.
The approach shot on the 9th never goes on the green, it goes in the gully.
The extra bits of gorse on the 10th.
The rise on the 11th. However good the drives on every other hole, this one always hits the hill.
The third shot on the 12th goes nowhere near the green however good the first and second are.
The second shot off the fairway on the 13th is always scuffed. And the ball - when it eventually gets there - always rolls off the back of the green.
The fact that every stategy on the 15th leads to the third shot not being on the green.
The 16th is stroke index 18 and my handicap is 17.
The practice ground by the 18th.

I usually like the 17th, though. And the bar.

I can switch off now

2010-11-15T16:09:00.003Z

Mixed Fortunes

2010-11-14T21:30:00.011Z

Why don't men want to play golf with women? When Nicky Rose and I decided to try having some mixed events in winter, really just for the fun of it as well as to re-introduce more mixed golf, I sensed an undercurrent of doubt about the idea from many men.

I googled the topic and first up was this analysis of why women don't want to play with men; and a link to the opposite. The answers seemed to be a mixture of confidence (or lack thereof), chauvinism and the need to bond.

But fortunately enough people didn't think about the analysis and turned up to play at our first mixed greensome: we had sixteen, eight men and eight women (plus, to show that we are enlightened at Bamburgh with more men than women wanting to play, a first reserve in Chris Magnay). This perfect equally matched grouping of four fourballs was unplanned - we had just invited people to turn up - but as with the unexpected calm and sunny weather must be an omen to have more of these events.

We'd decided on greensomes to take some pressure off - it was meant to be a fun event - and to introduce some tactics. It meant some pretty complex handicap arrangements and team selections with scissors, paper and rulers. But eventually we played. My group was Margaret Heatley and myself with Phil McDonnell and Nicky Rose. Phil's perceptions of women's golf were transformed by Nicky's near flawless play; I noted he was playing second shots from places he'd never been before; in return he suggested that in future the men's section should follow the ladies' example of having a Captain who could actually play. (This was after we'd got a birdie on the 17th, but admittedly it was also after I'd put my drive into the field).

The results were fairly close, but there was a tie for first place (a creditable 42 points). I'm not sure if it was co-incidence or synchronicity that the two couples who wanted to play as a couple were the two with the best result. It will need more experience to decide whether marriage is the best indicator of victory. But although the prizes could be, and were, easily split equally we needed a way to decide who had won this first event.
Rock paper scissors was the obvious answer. Keith Whitfield seemed unwilling to use this as a way of replacing countbacks in future, but it achieved a result. Gary Graham had the necessary talent. In case it does become widely used in future, here's a guide on how to win. As with golf, the more you practice the luckier you'll get.

The event went well, and congratulations to Gary and Carol Graham and John and Helen Payne for their wins. We have another - again, greensomes stableford - on Sunday 19th December, first tee time at 9.30. There's also a Christmas lunch at the club that day. And we think we'll arrange one in each of January, February and March.

Careful your trolley isn't on bricks

2010-10-30T18:25:00.009+01:00

It’s been obvious for some time that the clubhouse needs major work. But it’s not surely in a bad enough state to see the signs of decay you’d expect from a blighted area. Yet last week that is what happened: the bar was filled with Liverpool flags, mementos and posters. People wore pictures of Liverpool players on their backs (that is the pictures were on their backs rather than being of the players diving). There was even (inexplicably) a picture of Alan Shearer on the window.

But in fact this wasn’t a sign of blight (I need to be careful with this post: remember Boris Johnson being sent to Liverpool to apologize for being rude about it?).

It was a carefully planned and generous surprise for Kipper’s 60th birthday set up by Fyona and Keith to be waiting for him after his golf. Lots of people turned up to wish one of the nicest people around a happy birthday and to share a football shaped cake. All this, and no more Hicks and Gillette: no wonder Kipper looked happy.

Only 55 days to Christmas...

2010-10-30T18:17:00.005+01:00

There’s a number of indications of summer fading away and autumn/winter approaching – the leaves dropping, the weather improving and on the golf course new piles of earth and dressing as the winter programme gets underway. But also, a less stressful yet highly important competition, the Turkey Trot (and the female equivalent the Chicken Run).

Less stressful because it’s stableford and because there’s plenty of weeks to have a go. The first couple of years I played in it I had the honour of getting both the highest and lowest scores (14 & 43 in the first year, 19 and 46 the second); more recently it’s been sustained mediocrity with this year being no different. But the hope of a meat voucher still drives me (and many others) on.
The good players tend to be overall leaders; there are exceptions but class obviously tells in the long run. There’s two aspects of the Turkey Trot (winter) handicap system worthy of note: there’s a weekly adjustment but only downwards, for the week’s winner and for good scores, and once the clocks have gone back and the winter tees are in use there’s an even more complex method of settling birdies than usual, where the amount per birdie depends on handicap. But how are the results calculated, checked and handicaps altered? This year I’ve been privileged to join the small group that reviews the scorecards on a Monday morning. “Smoke filled room”* would have described the atmosphere had it not been for the smoking ban: but the image still fits the careful, methodical delight with which the winner is docked (at least) one shot off his handicap.
* From Wikipedia: “a cabal of powerful or well-connected, cigar-smoking men meeting privately to nominate a dark horse candidate or make some other decision without regard for the will of the public.”

Handicapping golf

2010-10-03T19:45:00.007+01:00

My visit to the home of the English Golf Union prompted me to think about the handicapping system, and to find out some of the background detail. If you know all about it, and think it’s a fantastic system, look away now: this post is not for you.

The immediate prompt was the new unified handicapping system; a lot of effort and money has gone into this system, which links all clubs’ handicap systems to a central database and to each other with the added discipline of each golfer wanting an active handicap having to play three qualifying rounds a year. The reason seems to be to make it harder for golfers to enter open competitions with the wrong handicap. Compared with the number of rounds played each year across the UK, I wonder how often that happens? And in a world where clubs are losing 7% members a year on average and where fewer golfers want to belong to a golf club it seems stupid to put so much money and effort into a process that is irrelevant to most golf. And which creates a barrier – the active handicap – for people new to organised golf to become involved. Looking back a few years, with this sort of hassle, I’m not sure I ever would have bothered to take an active part in a golf club. A good thing, some might say, but not surely the way to build up active participation in golf.

Perhaps the key is whether you view golf as a sport where competition is everything, or a game where enjoyment is the main purpose. They overlap of course but the emphasis is different. I think it is both and they must co-exist. I worry that the thrust of CONGU and the EGU is the former and this smacks of raising the drawbridge to keep people out.

Anyway: it prompted me to look up information on how the system works, and some links follow for people who are interested. Not surprisingly, the various bodies think they do a good job and Congu, the council of national golf unions who run the handicapping system for the British Isles, publish analysis (“myths and misconceptions”) to show the system works well. For example:
- It is fair to have full handicap differences in singles matchplay;
- High handicappers don’t win more things than low handicappers.

The British Isles system differs from the US and Europe; competitions use playing handicaps. In very simple terms, playing handicaps are calculated by using results from each qualifying round, based on the difference between the actual score and the competition scratch score (CSS). The CSS is calculated by taking the standard scratch score (SSS) – what you’d expect a scratch golfer to score in normal conditions – and adjusting it by how well all players in the competition have done; this is to take account of different weather conditions.

This is how the standard scratch score is calculated. Our SSS went up from 67 to 68 when we were re-rated this year, primarily because of the effect of wind making the course more difficult than its length and hazards would suggest. An introduction to the CSS calculations are here - CONGU no longer makes the details of it's formulas available on line; you have to buy the manual from them.

The US system differs in two respects: they use an average of the best scores to calculate a handicap and using the “slope” system they adjust the difference not only according to the course on the day, but also according to how much harder the course is for an 18+ handicapper than a scratch golfer.

The European system uses a combination; they use (in most case) the UK method of calculating handicaps but adjusted by the slope system.

The UK system weights the best scores (handicaps only go up 0.1 for bad scores), the US averages more. The effect is that in the UK golfers are not expected to match their handicap on every round; a category 1 player would tend to average two shots above the CSS and a category 4 about five or six more (see “myths” above), and that on average a UK handicap would tend to be lower than a US one.

It’s all pretty complicated; however, I’m going to assume that it’s roughly OK because I started the 2010 season at 17.0 and ended it last week still at 17.0.

Old Classics

2010-09-30T15:48:00.009+01:00

After Brancepeth four of us travelled south to play two classic inland courses: Woodhall Spa and Moortown – using one of the benefits of being captain, free rounds at other courses (not at all courses, but most, and certainly those two: people say that the courtesy should apply in the year after being captain, because you don’t have the time to use it, but I’ll do my best to get good value).

Both courses also had extra bits of history: Woodhall Spa is the home of the English Golf Union, which owns the course: in effect we as golf club members own it; Moortown was where the first Ryder Cup match was played in the UK, in 1929.

Woodhall is a lovely heathland course which had a couple of advantages compared to Bamburgh: it's flat and it wasn’t windy. But it has exceedingly large bunkers. I’m pleased to say I had a birdie on the first hole, which set the scene for 18 points on the front nine and 15 on the back. Mike Robinson and I (southerners) played John Southern and Keith Whitfield (northerners). After a close start, we were three down with four to play but managed to halve on the 18th. I won’t go through each shot, but they were mostly very satisfying, as was the Chateau Musar in the evening. Continuing to focus on important issues, Woodhall also had a half-way house, something I think we should think about one day.

Moortown was tough; I only had a par on the first (Keith had a birdie) and then didn’t score for ages.. Mike and I were four down after seven holes. But then things turned as we won eight holes in a row. I had an inspirational – some might say outrageous – birdie to put us level; after mis-hitting my second onto the next fairway 150 yards from the green, I hit a lofted wood low (very low) over the rough, between the bunkers and into the pin so hard that it was loud to me 150 yards away. It dropped. Golf is a psychological game. Having got 11 points on the front nine, and two down, I thought the course was disappointing. After getting 11 points on the back nine, but with that birdie and a par, and finishing four and three, I thought it was great. And the Ryder Cup memorabilia was fascinating.
I’d recommend a stay at Woodhall Spa for the village, the course and the hotel. The title “Old classics”, by the way, refers to the courses not the players.

Brancepeth Friendly

2010-09-29T00:19:00.003+01:00

I now understand how Fabio Capello felt.

You take a team of highly trained perfectly functioning athletes to an exotic destination (in our case, Co Durham), and what happens? They fall apart - admittedly with the opponents catching some luck, as when Derek and Tony watched a likely win on the 9th turn into a loss as Brancepeth chipped up and in for a birdie, akin to that goal that wasn’t. The tabloids have still to uncover the inner turmoils that must have been affecting our team – or perhaps the Brancepeth Castle team simply played better? That was certainly the case in my game as we lost 4 and 3; we played well but somehow didn’t seem to win holes. At least Phil Holmes and Shaun McFaul won and Mike Robinson and Derek Stout drew.

Brancepeth Castle is a good trip: the course is excellent with some fascinating holes across a gully, including the 9th and 10th being two almost 200 yard par threes through the remnants of the Castle’s park. The first time I played the course, I managed a 3 and a 4 and have looked on the course with affection ever since (although I’ve never managed to repeat the scores). They’ve now added a half way house (strictly, at the 9th tee): it obviously takes practice to play, eat and drink at the same time.

I was impressed that they have made their treasurer Vice Captain. This prompted me to tell in my thank you speech the only accounting joke I know:
“Why did the auditor cross the road?”
“Because he did it last year.”

You can see why it’s the only accounting joke I’d want to know – although there are in fact others.

Ponteland friendly

2010-09-05T22:35:00.007+01:00

My first friendly (against Ponteland) was obviously going to be important as a pointer to the year ahead: as I had said the year before, weather and team selection were critical and I would now add luck to the mix..

Tony Tuckwood had remarked the week before that, after years of taking part in these matches he had never lost – but as Ponteland member as well, he was often criticised for this. From that moment he was earmarked as my partner: if he kept his record, I’d win; if I dragged him down to my level then at least he could hold his head high at Ponteland again.

We had a good team of people, with unusually two or three on the reserve list who could have played. The running order was basically semi-officials first and then the likely winners last, and that is how it proved to be. After a tight game (tight only in the sense that after Chris Forster’s par golf we were 5 down after 9; although we did manage to get back to 2 under, we lost on the 16th) we sat in the warm afternoon sun (what DID happen to the weather last Sunday?) and watched the teams come in. The first three matches lost, then we won a couple, then one each, so it all depended on the last match - which Chris Hall and Sean McFaul duly won.

A draw then, a good result for a friendly, especially as we retained the trophy because we had won last time. The weather was great and the team selection worked. The conversation in our group about the future of golf clubs was interesting: we can sometimes forget how lucky we are to have a waiting list at a time when golf club membership is falling (at a rate of about 7.5% a year in our area).

Worthy of note: Ponteland were hosting the 100th birthday party of one of their members, Norman Bains, still a regular visitor to the club. We passed on our congratulations.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

2010-09-03T23:32:00.013+01:00

Past Captains' Day: a chance for the great and good who have gone before to play and eat and reminisce. And as a courtesy, they invite the new Captain to join them (probably not expecting it to be written about).

As with every day since last Sunday, the weather was fine; the course was in great condition and even better the competition was off the yellow tees; there was also no pressure because as a guest I couldn't win. But I did come a notional second (equal) to Bill Robinson's 40 points.

There were 21 for dinner; I was at the end of the table next to the most recent (John Taylor) and most long serving (Lord Walton) past captains, with the others in chronological order. Hopefully the table will get bigger over time as I slowly migrate round. The lights went out at our end (an indication of the decaying electrics in the clubhouse and the need to renovate it) so we had candles. Very festive.

First job

2010-09-02T00:13:00.007+01:00

The best part of being Captain so far is being able to sweep into a parking space on a busy day. Like on Wednesday which saw my first duty as Captain, to present the prizes at the annual Pro-Am tournament.
First however I had to play. Despite a very professional professional our team just didn't click; if one played one hole badly then we all did (although Jim Findlay in particular had some inspired pars which kept us in sight of a level score) with the team even running out of balls (in more ways than one) on the 11th tee. We managed to come a creditable last - someone has to, after all, and in a way it was my duty to do so.

Elsewhere on the course there were some good scores in unusually calm conditions, with the winning pro scoring 63 (helping his team, Dick Little's team, come into second place with -20 so winning the decanters rather than the chessboards). The winning team managed -26: the pro for that team works at Morpeth with the winning pro so there should be a post mortem.

The NE&NW PGA organise these events well, and we had 28 teams take part with about 8 pros bringing their own teams. Anything over 20 is good for this type of function so I'm sure we'll do it again next year.

Before prize giving I popped into Seahouses initially to support but then to commiserate with the ladies NNL team, who were in a first place play-off with Rothbury. Sadly they didn't quite win (it would have been their first ever first place, and in fact it was Rothbury's first ever first) but second is one better than the men's team managed. So congratulations...

Captain's Day

2010-08-30T19:33:00.015+01:00

I had a vision of a calm sunny day something along the lines of John Major's warm beer quote*; sitting by the trailer on the 12th looking at the view, reading the Sunday papers till people appeared for a drink, strolling down to the first tee and hitting a gentle 6 iron onto the front of the green. And perhaps on another day in 2011 that may happen.

But not this Captain's Day; people tried to say consolingly that at least it will be remembered - for the worst golfing weather for years, and in fact for a cancelled competition.

I woke to the sound of heavy rain and wind; at 8.oo I looked at the webcam and saw two figures trudging along to the 1st green and put aside thoughts of staying in bed. But when I got to the club to get coffee the sun had come out; the wind was still too strong to make normal play possible, but at least it was dry and people were playing, and we set out the trailer at the 12th tee and waited to entertain the windswept players as they came by. Then the rains came, and fewer came by and those that did started to give up.
At the back of my mind - for the last twelve months or so - had been the drive-in. The first is never easy; John Taylor had described the awful silence as you walked down to the tee to drive; 85 people had tried to guess where my drive would go. The first thing was to agree with Keith Whitfield (by the way, I'm very glad and grateful he's vice captain) that the competition would be postponed and to give prizes to the three people (Lance Cope, Ron Bewley and Phil Taylor) who'd actually finished. Then it was time.

The picture of the audience huddled in warm clothing tell the story: although temporarily dry it was very windy. I have no memory of what happened next, except that the drive worked: it went further and straighter than I think anyone expected. The really wierd thing is that photos say that it took less than a minute to walk from the crowd to the tee, to set the ball up and to make the drive. It seemed much longer.
The usual afternoon crowd didn't play. Except for John Southern, Phil McDonnell and Phil Holmes. Crazy? Phil M said later that they had tremendous fun and they formed a nucleus of drinkers at the 12th tee in the afternoon. And John Southern managed 26 points, a clear winner of the six people who finished, and deserved his bottle of champagne (opened later in the evening).
The evening party went well thanks to Paul and Karen who put on the buffet, Ken Howe on the keyboard, Neil Forsyth on vocals accompanied for Baker Street by a one off performance by Hazel. And of course the Coxon's ice cream van.
So ended a pretty messy day, but I guess the drive and the party worked.

* I had orginally meant to link to Major's actual quote, but I saw on Google the link to a "Dull Men's Club" site. As well as the Currie/Major joke the site is fascinating: anything which can list the world's airport carousels and the whether they rotate clockwise or anti-clockwise has got to be worth a look.

Getting Ready

2010-08-27T22:40:00.005+01:00

I thought I'd prepare for a busy weekend - AGM, Drive-in, hosting at the 12th tee and the evening party - by going to my first ever Workmen's Club event, the annual trip, which was to the Roxburghe.

The alternative was practising my drives.

It was a tough but enjoyable parkland course with great views of the Borders, and a good change from the windy coast. The closest I got to a prize was partnering Bill Mordue and watching him win one of the nearest the pin prizes - a good effort as we were in the first group out. Based on my drives, I'm predicting a 70% chance of not clearing the dinkie on Sunday.

Michael Thompson won, Chris Hall was second and Phil Holmes, who'd arranged the day, third.

Final 2010 NNL match

2010-08-18T16:27:00.009+01:00

The final league match of the season against Wooler at home had many similarities with the others:

Peter Sanderson had won almost before I arrived;

It was mostly a glorious evening - the course and surrounding scenery looked wonderful;

We had a large group of supporters (who, however, didn't venture much further than the 9th tee and who seemed to gravitate bar-wards when it got a bit cold);

To be fair, the level of support is one thing that distinguishes Bamburgh from the other league clubs, and most only drifted towards the club as the various games finished. But Alex Mackay, fresh from being second in the Junior Championship the day before, was taken to a nearly dark 18th green before he could win: a nasty patch of gorse stopped an earlier win, but a great birdie on the 17th put him one up on the 18th tee. (The near dark finish was another factor in common with many earlier matches).

This win completed a clean sweep so although the overall result for the year (3rd or 4th, depending on the Dunstanburgh/Rothbury result) was not as good as some earlier years it was a very encouraging finish. There have been a number of new team members this year, especially from the juniors, and this bodes well for the future.

Update: a 6-6 draw between Dunstanburgh and Rothbury means we are third in the league this year. Congratulations to those who played in the team this year, which includes the team manager John Cairns.

The league is sponsored by nearby Kaims Country Park, for which thanks, and appropriately one of their partners Robbie Redpath was one of the new - and successful - team members this year.

Friendly vs Royal Burgess

2010-08-14T12:27:00.009+01:00

I woke to the sound of Radio 4’s weatherman saying that while most of the country would have showers, the North East would have torrential rain and high winds would make it feel cold*. Just the weather for our friendly against the Royal Burgess Golfing Society. Fortunately, the torrential rain only affected the last two or three groups, those with our carefully selected backloaded bad weather bankers.

The Royal Burgess match is probably the most prestigious of our fixtures given their status as – probably - the oldest club in Great Britain (and therefore the world): this year’s was particularly special as they were celebrating their 275th anniversary.
Our determination to win was typified by John Southern’s gazelle-like stance for his second on the 8th, and our inability to win by my drive on the 8th failing even to reach the downslope. The results were quite close in the end, however, except that they were four wins to them, two to us and a couple of draws.After fortification on the 12th tee, we had as always an excellent lunch, followed by the wit of Derek Haggerstone, Ken Howe, David McAdam and Dick Little. The jokes – on the subjects of tractors, vanilla ice-cream and pig hunting amongst others - are probably best left to the dining room’s memory, although the Burgess Captain tried to add a touch of class with a joke about social interaction in Edinburgh high rise flats.

Meanwhile, next door, Claire Whitfield’s birthday party was waiting to catch those who needed a gradual de-tox from the day’s activities.

*I went to sleep to the sound of radio 4’s weatherman saying that Boulmer had been the wettest place in the UK that day.

The Sport of Kings

2010-08-08T19:18:00.007+01:00

Race Night at the club was a great success: Derek Wymes had pushed for an event like this to get the clubhouse used more, to provide an enjoyable evening for members and friends and to raise money for the club. It worked at all three levels and I hope will be repeated in future years.

Over eighty people came along, the race organisation was seamless and expertly introduced by Neil Forsyth, seeking an alternative career from being a torch singer.

My betting policy was as scientific as the format allowed, and was based on amusing names of horses ("Rehabs for Quitters"; Builders "Crack") or on liking the horses' "owners" (people had been asked to sponsor races and to buy and name a horse for the evening). This was pretty effective, as I picked winners in four of the eight races, and I was the winning owner in the second race. (The only trouble was that I had also bet on lots of others that didn't win).

The evening had an added piquancy as there was a quiz handed out in the second part of the evening. A bit Blue-Peter like, I had invited my regular quiz team along (without realising they'd be needed) so we swung into action. But failed to win by two points - I'm sure we'll have a post mortem later.

So overall, success and failure for all the attendees: but an evening everyone enjoyed.

The real winner of course was racing itself.

The Agony and the Ecstasy

2010-08-04T00:17:00.004+01:00

The Junior League team has been doing well this year, and I went to watch their final match against Linden Hall, the leaders. We knew a 6-2 win would make us top of the league (we knew because we had been told so by the league secretary).

All four matches were well supported and close. But we became 4-2 up with one match to play, and better handling of the psychology of the 17th tee meant we were the winners. (I say "we": it's interesting how I felt I had done something successful even though all I had done was follow the players.)
We all celebrated and some of us felt a little sorry for Linden Hall.

But then a call came from the league secretary to say that in fact we had needed an 8-0 win, that we were second and Linden Hall had won. Mick Aldred had to break the news to both teams as they were eating.

On the bright side: at least our team knew what winning felt like. And second is actually a great result. But was a cruel way to learn you were second. Sport can be cruel.

The Agony and The Ecstasy: Michaelangelo's story

NNL v Rothbury

2010-07-28T23:19:00.002+01:00

No Raoul Moat jokes here*.

Just a short description of how a bunch of sharpshooters came to the river just outside Rothbury and left with the mission accomplished.

Half the matches were over quickly - one sadly against us, with the Rothbury guy being about 2 under - the others going to the final holes, which looked good in the summer evening glow.

Bamburgh won 10-2. Next match: Foxton, at home, next week.

* They're not even raoulmoatly funny.

NNL vs Linden Hall

2010-07-21T22:29:00.003+01:00

A murky evening saw the return of John Moffett to the team inspire a clean sheet - although because his opponent just wouldn't be beaten, the others had already finished well before John finally won with a birdie on the 16th.

Bamburgh won 12-0; next match Rothbury away.

Thoughts from the Open

2010-07-21T18:32:00.004+01:00

I went to the last practice day at the Open; people had said how much better it was than a competition day, how the players were more relaxed and approachable. There was also to be a four hole match for about 25 past champions.

But then the summer weather came: the wind was up to 50mph and it poured with rain. They cancelled the four hole match (although when it was due to start, things were back to normal) and very few players went out – the only ones I saw were Cink, Havret and a very relaxed Ernie Els strolling down the 16th fairway, hitting the odd shot, as though this was natural S African weather. I wondered what the other players were up to? Post-Tiger’s news, you can have a guess, but I’m sure not all of them. It must be a weird feeling to have travelled to a wind and rain swept small town, to be unable to practice, to know that the next day was the start of one of the most important days of the year and yet to have nothing to do.

It was good to be able to walk the course – because so little was happening they let people onto some of the tees and fairways – and to test my new wet weather gear. But the highlight was the merchandise tent, partly because it was dry (as was the Bollinger tent which surprisingly had seats to spare) but also because of Rhod McEwan’s golf book stand. I bought a fascinating book, “St Andrews: The Evolution of the Old Course” which I’ve just finished. The sub title is the impact on golf of time, tradition and technology and shows how the course, its layout, maintenance, length and design, have been changed over the years to deal with new equipment and the impact both have had on scoring.

Some facts about Opens at St Andrews:
Extra yardage made the average score per hole increase between 2000 and 2005. But the average score for the 10 longest hitters was lower on those holes: lengthening the holes made it easier.
Maintenance costs for the 2005 Open were 7 times those of 1904, after taking account of inflation.
The number of eagles in 2005 was 39, in 2000 29, in 1990 20.

We’re perhaps lucky at Bamburgh that we’ve been able to keep the traditional layout and length because the wind, the terrain and the gorse combine to keep it more than just a test of distance – although just as with St Andrews the course is very different today than 50 years ago - but the balance of providing a proper test and enjoyment is not easy and continued equipment improvement will impact us one day.

Having said that, better equipment doesn’t always mean a better game: Jack Nicklaus is quoted:
“Amateurs can’t make a ball respond. Things that are designed today are designed for the good player to hit. Because spin rates on the golf ball are so low, the golf ball won’t stay in the air when mis-hit (as most amateurs do)., so they have not only lost the yards they gained from equipment improvement they lose 20-30 yards going the other way. How can you improve that? You can’t! The good player hits it in the rear end every time and gets the good result – the extra 50 yards. No wonder they tear apart the golf course. But the average golfer can’t play it...”

How true.

They will have to bring in a competition ball for pros sometime.

Lady Captain's Day

2010-07-11T22:05:00.007+01:00

Claire's Captain's Day dawned to sunshine and high winds. Very high. So when I arrived to join her drinks at the 12th tee, I wondered how many would turn up. All credit to her (and to the ladies' section) that all 27 who'd signed up did play. Admittedly the only par we saw on the 11th was by Will Rose, who was following the ladies with Claire's brother, but there was much fine golf: the audience seemed to bring out the best.

And even more impressingly, most players continued after being fortified with Pimms. Those of us who played in the Club Championship the previous day noted how much easier it was to play in the wind rather than the rain. Until the ladies pointed out that none of us had actually gone out to play today.

Club Championship

2010-07-10T23:12:00.008+01:00

After a dry spell of many weeks, heavy rain could only mean one thing: the club championship.

Actually, it only rained heavily in the afternoon but it was heavy and intermittent enough to be a real test of changing in and out of wet weather gear.

Twenty five people entered the two round competition; not all of us managed to produce a final result but most did. Garrick Porteus won with rounds of 64 and 65 (that after bogeying the 18th) - the first time he has won, aided no doubt by the support in the afternoon of both his girlfriend and Robin Williamson. He was second in the net competition, with Sean McFaul winning with net rounds of 62 and 66, mainly by dint of chipping in rather than bothering to putt many holes. Mark Dawson was runner-up in the championship, also with an 65 in the afternoon, an impressive score given the weather.

But perhaps the most remarkable thing was that Peter Sanderson (allegedly) lost a ball.

Friendly vs The Northumberland Club

2010-06-27T21:12:00.008+01:00

Friendly matches always take a bit of planning. This one took even more as the formal lunch would have clashed with England vs Germany in S Africa. We decided to break new ground - not only watching a TV, but also not insisting on formal dress. The walls didn't fall, and people seemed to have a good time until England's second goal was ignored by the match officials.And what of the match, our version of two fierce and traditional rivals but with a shared heritage? Well, each game (apart from from Phil Holmes and Tony Cawthorne who won easily), was close but we didn't manage to close them out, typified by my missed birdie putt on the 18th which meant we lost rather than halved our game. But the weather was fantastic, the course was in brilliant condition, the food great and the company enjoyable.

Its the taking part that matters, isn't it?

Seahouses Captain's Day

2010-06-27T20:21:00.002+01:00

The Seahouses captain invited me to his drive in and the related competition. Unsurprisingly his drive was on target - a lesson to be learnt for my effort at the end of August. The course was in good competition, the sun was out, the bar and despite the windy weather (the drinks tent at the 10th nearly occasionally lifted off the ground, only kept in service by its ropes) someone apparently scored a new course record (64).

I always find the 10th an impossible hole and wanted to chip to the yellow tee and then across the loch. Instead I was persuaded to go for it, and almost got a duck.

The Jeffcock Silver Jubilee Bowl aka Gone with the Wind.

2010-06-22T20:05:00.002+01:00

There are some days when the weather is so bad you know you don’t want to play, it would be stupid to play. But you also know that it just takes one or two people to say...Don’t be silly; or It’s not that bad... and the group quietly sitting in the clubhouse will feel morally obliged to get up, dress up and play.

Saturday was one such day. The Jeffcock bogey competition is usually enjoyable; it’s quite quick because if you don’t get a net par you can just pick up. This Saturday saw high winds. I thought the good point was that at least I couldn’t do worse than -18, and being -8 after 8 holes I was thinking that was a likely score. I haven’t felt as good about a 5 at the 9th, and therefore a “0” score, for a long time.

My second half score was a bit better but it was most memorable for the shots of my partners on the final two holes.

John Nixon demonstrated the way to avoid hitting the ball out of bounds (unfortunately after doing so with his first ball) was to aim it well out of bounds and to swing around it.

Phil Holmes’s putt for par on the last was inspirational; it was with his second ball, and was hit from the middle of the fairway about 100 yards out. It shaved the hole.

Wind obviously brings out the best in some people.

NNL Match 8. And is the world coming to an end?

2010-06-22T19:31:00.005+01:00

It was another glorious evening at Bamburgh, and the golf wasn't too bad either. I arrived late about half way round to discover that we had already won two matches, and were up in the others. The surprise was that Mark Dawson was 3 down (with 4 to play) - although he was playing the Seahouses captain, who had thrashed me the previous week. But true to form Mark won on the 18th leading to a 10-2 Bamburgh victory.

The teams repaired to the bar, not to talk about the major talking points in the clubhouse: the arrival of a TV for the World Cup. Instead, they (and supporters) watched the TV.

So far, the club has deliberately avoided a TV: the main reason is that it becomes the object of attention and all other human interaction drains away. But we felt that the World Cup was a major sporting occasion, the first England match was on Gents Invitation Day* and we'd prefer people to stay around for the prizegiving. There's no doubt that it has made people stay longer and therefore helped bar takings - but it also takes over conversation. It will go once the World Cup is over (it's on temporary loan) but I'd be happy to see it return occasionally for major events. I don't think everyone would be, however.

Next match: 30 June against Magdelene Fields (away).

* One of the Invitation Day players obviously supported England:

Foxton Friendly

2010-06-15T11:58:00.005+01:00

Once more, after a few days of good weather, dawn broke on a Bamburgh friendly match day to the sound of gentle rain. Fortunately, the rain stopped and despite a bad forecast we remained dry.

Foxton has a lovely course, a complete contrast to Bamburgh, and it's always a pleasure to play. Our match was very close - we were three down at the turn, but gradually clawed it back, thanks more to Dick Little than myself, managing to win the 17th to go all square and then their Captain and myself parring the 18th to halve. The next four matches were alternate wins so it all depended on the last match. The tension didn't seem to mount much, however, with everyone remaining settled in the bar until they heard that Foxton had won to retain the winner's salver.

(We have two salvers in the Foxton match: the original was temporarily lost a few years ago so Bill Robson and Ian Patterson, respective captains, bought a replacement. The orginal promptly turned up behind a cupboard at Bamburgh so the new one became the runners up trophy).

The result followed my "Robert Green" moment when I shanked my ball into my partners trolley, so losing the hole. Humiliating. But all you can do is move on. And not pick yourself for the team?

These friendly matches are very enjoyable but it has proved increasingly difficult to get a team. Partly I think this is because they are all day, partly because there are too many too close together and they come in the middle of the season when people are already busy. I discussed this with the Foxton captain and we are going to look at ways of adjsuting the fixture to make sure it survives.

Update: a close check of the rule book shows that since 2008 I could hit my partners equipment (accidentally) with no impact on him, and only a penalty stroke for me, rather than lose the hole. Had we known that we would have won our match and halved the fixture 6-6. Moral: know the rules. And take a rule book with you.

Brass Monkeys Trip

2010-06-15T11:19:00.005+01:00

The Brass Monkeys' summer trip (which is often in weather similar to winter) was to Craigielaw this year. The day comprises an early coach trip - surprisingly everyone got to their pick up points on time - two rounds of golf, dinner, drinking and a long trip back. This year it was enlivened by the first World Cup matches and (for me) an increasingly desparate but ultimately successful attempt to find final players for the friendly against Foxton the following weekend.

Craigielaw was very tricky - even tricksy - and fairly long as well: the greens were not receptive and tended to run off into deep bunkers, so it was hard both to run the ball up and to land them on the green. At least that was my experience, with an all time low 5 points on the morning back nine. The winner was Mark Dawson, the runner up Hugh Adair, representing different approaches to a good result. As always it was good fun, but finishing with shock news that after years of arranging successful trips Peter Sanderson was retiring after next year and in future the winner would arrange the next year's trip. (I remember Peter telling me some time ago that that was how he had ended up arranging it: he had won the first year).

Another sign of the times, that we are all getting older: the number of pee stops the coach had to make on the way back. They seem to increase as the years go by.

NNL Match 7

2010-06-15T10:57:00.002+01:00

I was away - but they lost to Alnwick 7-5.

Next match: Seahouses at home.

Seahouses Friendly

2010-06-08T22:39:00.003+01:00

The annual match against Seahouses is one of the highlights of the year, for bar takings at least.

It is incestuous - to use a cleaned up metaphor from my speech - because of the amount of dual memberships and this makes it especially relevant. It really is a match where the taking part is more important than the winning which is why we couldn't quite remember who won last year and where the winners' salver was. It turned out to be in Seahouses' trophy cabinet along with the losers' tankard. But in the meantime, the Seahouses captain created a memorable winners plate for the presentation ceremony.

The Seahouses hospitality and course were excellent and the match was close. Despite a birdie at the first my match was soon lost: the Seahouses captain and vice captain were not just long but also straight. But the others did better - our group behind won by as much as we lost, and overall we won 5 matches to 3. One to remember for next year.

NNL Match 6 and the Macadam Foursomes

2010-06-08T07:49:00.004+01:00

Having miraculously won last year's Armstrong Trophy, I thought it would be only symmetrical to win the MacAdam foursomes this year (the two boards are at opposite sides of the same wall). The only trouble was that despite the combination of my partner's skill and my handicap we met David Chrimes and John Rhind in sparkling form; they are both fellow members of Northumberland's premier golf society (the Black Swan Golf Society) but not even this had prepared me for the excellence of their game - particularly their short game. We walked in very quickly (I always think its good in matchplay to get beyond the 10th hole, and we managed that. Just). In consolation it was a glorious afternoon and the course was in excellent condition.

The team then played Burgham Park - the course looked good in the late evening sun and the team played well, especially Johnny Moffet whose 6 birdies in 9 holes suggests a lot to come in the future. We won 11-1.

Next match: Alnwick away.

NNL Match 5

2010-05-26T23:45:00.003+01:00

There's a concerning trend developing. I've watched 4 of the 5 NNL matches so far; the only one we've won was the one I didn't watch. Tonight at Percy Wood all the matches were again close, the last one finished in the dark, and too many slipped away. The good news was that they gave me supper and I found a golf ball.
Result: 7-5 loss. Next match Burgham Park at home.

Finance Committee: May

2010-05-24T13:50:00.003+01:00

Attending committee meetings is obviously the best part of being involved at the golf club - certainbly it beats playing the way I did in the competition on Saturday; the conditions were glorious but someone had put cellophane over the holes so putts did not fall. Or at least mine didn't: the winner had a net 60, but of course he played earlier in the day.

We had a finance committee in the morning to review the latest results. April had continued in the same vein as the first quarter, with visitor fees being well down on last year, partly the weather and partly a lack of visitors in the area generally. We'll need to watch this carefully. Having put up the subs a lot last year, we don't want to do the same this year (although the waiting list has stayed at a similar level) - but we do need to recognise the fact that inflation is increasing.

NNL Match 4

2010-05-24T13:49:00.001+01:00

I wasn't there. We beat Alnmouth Village 10 - 2.

Must be a co-incidence.

Next match: Percy Wood, away.