29/11/11 Tuesday. The past weekend golfing was a pleasure to see and play in, starting on Friday afternoon with my first decent hit in 2-3 weeks. The 9 hole “chicken run” competition on Friday afternoons is fun and my approach to this is to especially enjoy the round and use it to tune up my game for competition. Having spent so long on the side lines of late it was good to be hitting the ball well and enjoying the company of my playing partners. Akin to a scene from Caddyshack the skies around us on the course were black with flashes of lighting sparking across the roiling sky followed by rolling thunder. With two holes to go the wind changed direction and the storm clouds turned towards us and soon big fat raindrops were splatting onto heads. Sitting on 16 points and playing well I stuck it out to the end. Totally drenched by the finish and a total of 20 points was well worth the soaking.
Saturday was the Robe Village Classic Ambrose and our four put in a very credible effort. With a final total of 7 under for the day, getting 5 birdies on the front nine our game lacked the putting skill on the back only adding another 2 birdies to the scorecard. We did not get any bogies or worse in the round either, but not able to drop the birdie putts on the back nine had us miss out on the prizes on a countback at the end of the days play. Best total was a 14 under, proving that the summer conditions are a boon to playing better golf. Each team included 1-2 players who were invited players for the next days Robe Village Classic Tournament for 5 hcp. or less golfers in the Mens and 18 or less in the ladies tournament. Personally I felt some responsibility for out teams shortcomings on the back nine, struggled after the 11th hole to putt well especially. In the team talent scale I was the 2nd best golfer, with a Scratch, me on 12, a 23 and a 27.
No matter it was great fun and it was well worthwhile to see the difference between my standard and a scratch golfer up close and unleashed off the tee. With the consistent set up of each hole with a shot on the fairway every time before the scratch golfer teed up, it was possible to see first hand the talent that is in the hands of low handicappers. On the day he used the driver several times off the tee in the Ambrose which if it was a solo stroke round would have used anything from a fairway metal to #2 iron. That comment was filed away in my brain box together with the observation of the same game approach from Mark Pretty (+1 hcp.) who played in my group during the Robe Open on the 6th of November.
Mark Pretty and Dylan Morgan were both tied at the end of the Open’s 18 holes and there was a playoff to decide the winner. Out club has a two hole playoff with best gross score deciding the winner and if tied it is sudden death play until there is a winner. The 2011 Robe Open video footage of the 5 playoff holes has been edited now and is included in the post here;
1st playoff hole
2nd Playoff hole
3rd Playoff hole
4th Playoff hole
5th Playoff hole
Winners Presentation Robe Open 2011
This was an interesting notation in my mind when referring back to my first year back golfing in 2009. I played successfully in that season using the #3 iron off the tee for 6 months before getting coaching from the club professional in January 2010 in using a Driver. Even today with the smaller driver (380cc) in the bag, I do not have to change to a #3 metal off the tee when that is a better choice than a 460cc Driver. Improvement with the #2 Hybrid in coming months is a must, this club is going to be a vital ingredient among others in my quest to reach a 5 handicap. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em straight all” Geoff
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