Rossendale 2022 Match Report
Another sunny day in the Parrots Golf Society, as 60% of those that played the morning headed down to Rossendale in Mel’s ‘battle bus’. I’m not sure if it is so called due to its size or that Mel’s driving has caused it to have been in numerous scrapes! Thankfully we arrived at the golf course unscathed to find only Frankie and Pete were the other attendees for the morning (why I didn’t use this opportunity to sit out the morning leaving a nice four-ball to play, me and my back can only wonder in hindsight!).
But anyway we headed off as a two and a three onto a well manicured course. Although when we got to the first green, we realized the course was not quite so manicured, as the greens were playing rather slow causing many putts to be left short of the hole, and I’m sure that was the case for many of us over the day. But hey ho ..... 'iiwii'!
Winner of this five man contest proved to be the irrepressible Pete Whiteside, who for his 10 holes, scored a decent 19pts. Well done Pete.
Having ordered our lunches before we went out in the morning, to ‘help the kitchen out’, we returned, let the staff know we were back and waited for our lunches. As the afternoon crew gathered (sixteen players in the afternoon, so four-balls for everyone, Yippee!) some ordered food, which they duly got …. members ordered food which they duly got …. but not us! Having reminded them of our orders at least a couple of times, we finally got our lunches one hour into our lunch hour and about 5 minutes before we were due to go out!
Fortunately, the first group out were all afternooners, Andy, Paul F, Alan and Derek. Best of the bunch here was Derek with 34pts, just one ahead of Alan. Andy’s mind must have been on his impending trip to California/Hawaii as with just 27pts he was propping up this group despite still being top of the table … for now!
Second out, having beaten the world record for downing a cheese and onion toastie, was Mike B, Tony, Pete Corsby and Mel. Mel still has delusional aspirations of retaining his Parrots title, but limped in with 28pts. Best in group here was Pete Corsby with 31pts, so no prizes here.
Third out was myself, Frankie, Steve F and Marty P. An excellent contest all round in our group with the doubles going to me and Steve by one shot on the last green. This was thanks to Steve’s par on the last despite a excellent birdie from Frank, who had driven the green (well actually, three-wooded it, but that does quite have the same ring!) and two putted. Despite setting off on fire with 18pts after 8, I went a.w.o.l. for four holes and finished with 32pts, the same score as my partner. Having started with his shot of the day on the NTP 1st hole (which was cruelly snatched off him by Mike Lovell in the last group), a good front 9 of 17pts by Martin was let down by his back (makes a change from it being my back!) and he finished with 26pts. But what of Frankie? Two blips in an otherwise great round, the first being an inexplicable lost ball on the 3rd and the other a shocking tee shot on the NTP 13th (which was won by a fine shot from Paul). A great finish of 9pts from the last three holes gave him 37pts and leader in the clubhouse.
But if this was a four-ball team competition, the last group would have won it by 16pts from second place! Winner of group two out, would have been last in this group, as Pete Whiteside was with his 31pts. One point better was Matt with 32pts (talking to him afterwards it was clear this was Matt giving another lesson as the Master of Inconsistency!). Retired ex-doctor Martin Cook had an excellent round of 36pts, despite starting off with a blob, and then there was Mike Lovell. Mike recently played in a competition at Fleetwood, where he recorded a level par gross of 72, and it seems he continued that form here. He amassed a total of 42pts, including three birdies for an effective score of 78 (Mike argues it’s not because he blobbed the 13th, but we’ll overlook that). Well done Mike, a clear winner for Rossendale, rewarded with a two shot handicap cut!
Talking of handicaps, changes were :-
Mike Lovell 12 to 10
Frank Healey 13 to 12
Martin Cook 20 to 19
Golly gosh, and that’s it! I can’t remember many (any?) occasions when there were no handicap increases. This was mainly due to only 4 players shooting lower than 30pts.
Next up is the delightful Wigan on THURSDAY 4th August (where’s the year gone?!) Only four rounds left before the finale at Bentham, so don’t miss out! Please let Mike know if you plan to attend Wigan (and if the whole day or afternoon only) by text to 07503025728 or e-mail mikebarnes5357@hotmail.co.uk as places could become limited.
Cheers Glenn
