Match Report Nelson Golf Club 2017
The fourth outing of 2017 took the Parrots to Nelson Golf Club. It was a wild and windy day in East Lancashire but thankfully it remained dry throughout, still allowing Mike his usual ditty in the closing speech. There was an excellent turnout of 17 players for the afternoon round, with those, now regular, afternoon only attendees (me and Peter Hoole) arriving at lunchtime. The course was in good condition but, given the strong winds, how likely was it that the day would result in the high scores seen at Nelson in the past?
In the morning though, it seemed that the Parrots faithful were up to the challenge of the wind and there were some good scores posted. Excellent 17 pts apiece from Paul Greenaway and Stuart Weston were pipped by one extra point by Phil Matthews, who is mounting a serious challenge for Trevor Middleton’s morning specialist crown.
So well done to Phil for taking the morning spoils with 18 pts. I should also mention that another new player was introduced to the society today in the shape of Simon Gledhill, who plays at Knott End with John Patt et al. So a warm welcome to Si.
Now, when you turn up for a golf event, you don’t expect the subject of shoes to be a recurring theme of the day. But strangely today it was. Ever since the ‘Fleetwood Four’ went on their mini golf trip to Shropshire and beyond, Mr Barnes has been aghast at the fact that I paid £100 for a new pair of golf shoes at Shifnal Golf Club (excellent course btw if you ever get the chance to play). He mentions it at every opportunity, as he has this mistaken impression that I am loath to part with money! Imagine my surprise then on the first tee when my playing partner for the afternoon, Stuart, pipes up out of the blue ‘new pair of shoes?’ Indeed they were!
Being in the last group, we waited perhaps 20 minutes while we watched everyone else tee off, and then stepped up TJ to the tee, who with Paul as his partner, were our opponents for the afternoon. As he took his address, I looked down at his shoes and thought to myself how strange golf shoe design was becoming, as TJ’s shoes looked exactly like an ordinary pair of shoes. 10 seconds later, TJ slipped as he took a swipe at the ball, nearly falling over, and causing him to knock the ball just 20 yards into the rough on the left! The reason? He was wearing ordinary shoes! TJ had forgotten to change back into his golf shoes, which were sat in his buggy, from after the lunchtime break! Needless to say the mood down the first hole wasn’t great and TJ started with a blob!
Keep reading for the final instalment of the golf shoe trilogy later, but for now on with the golf.
One of the first out in the afternoon, was current tournament co-leader Pete Whiteside, with Warren and Frank (as usual bemoaning his luck of being drawn in a threeball). Best score from this group was Pete with 30 pts, although Warrens extraordinary score split of 9 pts out and 19 pts back is worthy of a mention! A decent score by Pete, but surely not in contention for prize money again? Then followed Mike, Pete Hoole and Si, but all the scores here were in the 20’s, Si’s being the best at 29.
In the first of the fourballs, Jim and Marky T, snatched doubles victory over Phil and Bill on the last green, but again none of the players here were able to reach 30 pts individually. Could the last group challenge?
Paul G took the front 9 in our group with a steady 17 pts, 3 pts ahead of myself, with Stuart and TJ floundering. But in the back nine, Stuart found his morning form again and produced an unbeaten 18 pts. This was only good enough though to tie TJ on a total of 26 pts each. By the 13th tee, I had managed to claw back my front nine deficit to Paul, thanks to a birdie two on the 11th to go with one on the Par 5 3rd. Indeed as we stood on the 18th tee I led Paul by one point. Having missed the green left I chipped up to six feet or so for three with no shot. Paul had been in a greenside bunker and a short putt up the stepped green left him 20 feet short in four with a shot. Surely my game for the taking?!
But no, with unerring 80 year old eyesight, Paul sank his putt, I missed mine and we were tied overall on 30 pts each! So, three players now tied on 30 pts, surely not another low scoring winner?
But, I missed a group out. The last threeball out were John Patt, Trev and Mossy. Again, two scores here were only in the 20’s, but at last, one player managed to break the 30 barrier. Step forward John Patterson, standing out from the crowd of mediocrity with a magnificent 37 pts in blustery conditions, 7 pts ahead of the rest of the field, and including two birdies in the closing four holes!
So well done to John, who takes the win and becomes the first player in the society this year to actually beat his handicap. But who came second? Well it seems my modest 16 pt back nine score was enough to pip Pete and Paul for back to back seconds for your genial handicap secretary!
But what of the rest of the golf shoe saga, I hear you ask!
Well, just a few months before I had bought my aforementioned new pair of golf shoes, Mike had also bought his first new pair for about 15 years (or as long as I’ve known him anyway!). His didn’t cost £100 though, more like £30. Well, as I watched Mike putting his gear away at the end of the day, he was bemoaning the fact that he’d played a substantial part of his round with one of the heels of his ‘new’ golf shoes hanging off. Well Mike, you get what you pay for mate. Invest wisely in your feet, especially if you plan to walk a million steps in a month!
Remarkably, only two handicap changes this week, and here they are :–
John Patterson 8 to 7
Bill Pye 24 to 25
The updated leaderboard has already been posted to the website by Phil, and with both the previous leaders scoring 30 pts each, Pete and myself remain stuck together at the top of the leaderboard.
Next up on the tour is Kirkby Lonsdale, which was won last year with a fine 36 pts by ....... er, me! So I’d better turn up for the morning next time out for a bit more practice in order to defend my title! See you there.
Glenn
