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2008 Annual Golf Day and Dinner - Review 19th June 2008
Every now and then it seems that some one, somewhere likes you and so it seemed as Angela and I arrived at Puckrup Hall on the eve of the Annual GCA Golf Day. Angela was ready in good time (which reminds me, I need to put all the clocks back an hour) and the traffic had been kind just for once, so an afternoon of golf was beckoning with only a mild risk of getting rained upon. Andrew Thurlbourn, and Keith Shepherd teamed up against Ken Stroud and myself, which seemed a reasonable competition in the making, well Andrew, Keith and Ken did in fact offer up a reasonable standard of play however no matter what I did I could not score. Even having nearly driven a green and putted within 18 inches of the hole I could not even summon up a half for my partner and Ken battled on up to the 15th before defeat overwhelmed him. I would like to say that our opposition were gracious in victory but they were far too smug for that; and Andrew Thurlbourn is nowhere near as nice as he makes out either, not only playing off a very streaky 28 handicap but also being less than sympathetic toward those who were struggling i.e. me. On to the main event and we were greeted by warm sunshine and clear skies for the day, something that has not happened for at least the last 5 years, so our tails were up and we were ready to go. No less than 35 golfers were starting and given that there were some notable exceptions through other commitments that figure could easily have been 40 or more. Puckrup Hall is a good venue for us combining an excellent Hotel with Gym and Spa facilities for non-golfers and a golf course that I believe provides a mixture of holes from the challenging through to the relatively easy. Offering opportunities to score points to both high and low handicappers the course is not overly punishing, unless you had a round like mine on the previous day. Determined to put my travails behind me I set off with Simon Winfield (the Novus one) and David Fielding to rapturous silence and appalled disbelief as I managed to slice my tee shot into oblivion, at least it was a Novus ball so I had the satisfaction of carrying out my marketing job and eventually we got two balls away towards the flag. Second Hole, second tee shot and one off the heel this time, straight into nettles and by now the exploits of the previous day were becoming true again and even Jill Kirk normally so resolutely upbeat had a worried look. We also now realised why Dennis had the telephoto lens, so he could photograph me from a safe distance. 2 holes, 2 balls no points. Third hole and finally a total of six shots with the same ball and at last a point! Progress, but not for long as my second shot to the fourth flag disappeared into a bed of nettles. Four holes, three balls, one point. Seriously considering bowls as a sport. Finally at the long fifth I managed a decent tee shot, worthy of anyone (apart from Craig Hebden who uses anti gravity balls) and we all seemed to settle down as a team to enjoy the course and the wonderful sunshine. We all had our moments over the remaining holes and managed to amass enough points to avoid embarrassment. One of the great moments was to see Simon take David’s driver (that simply would not work for him) and knock the ball 300 yards into a head wind! If that was not good enough Simon then placed his second within 6 inches of the hole a superb effort on a par 4 – 449 yards into the wind and uphill – fantastic. At this point we were met by the Vino Veritas team who reported a serious accident that resulted in the near collapse of the two senior and founder members. It appears that in the course of navigating a particularly tricky part of the course a bottle of wine was spilt. It is not clear whether Paul or Keith was driving (neither can remember) however Keith’s explanation that he was drying out Paul’s trousers is open to speculation. Photographs to www.headingsouth.com For some reason we managed to leave the field behind as we completed our round and headed for the bar and a well earned pint or three and waited for the rest of the teams to come home. It was wonderful to welcome Alistair Ingles back to the Golf day and I was able to spend an hilarious hour or two in the company of Simon Noble, Andy Smith and Alistair and some of the funniest anecdotes I have ever heard, followed by a severe telling off from Angela as I had “just nipped out to finish my pint”. Oops. Ken Stroud continued his excellent play of the previous day (actually the previous 12 month as he has nothing else to do) and carded a personal score of level par – good enough, he thought to see off the challenge of the evil twins Andrew Grievous and Darth Mazurkewitz to take the money. Signed photographs and a video of Ken’s face when he found out that Andrew had walked in with 44 points are available from www.mostwanted.co.bg, the video however is silent but lip readers amongst you will get the gist of it. Craig Hebden swapped his anti gravity ball on the last hole for his special flag magnet ball and managed to take the nearest the pin prize much to the delight of the huge crowd that had just walked away to get another beer. It was quickly apparent from the noise and consumption of mood enhancers that the golf and company had been enjoyed and we quickly deployed to the evening’s Dinner via a very generously sponsored bar that offered much needed refreshment for the long delay between completing the round and changing for dinner. The Dinner was everything we have come to expect with good food and great company carrying through to the early hours of the morning (no surprise there then). It was my great pleasure to be able to recognise the support given to the GCA by Fernando of Trelleborg who retires later this year, we wish him all the very best for the future and assure him of a warm welcome from the GCA whenever he is in the UK. Congratulations go to all the competition winners especially those with basketball scores and good luck next year when you play off scratch. The Ladies competition was won by Jenny West who later confided that she really enjoyed her game and the team spirit that helped her relax, apparently her club golf is so competitive that you have to take it very seriously. A round of golf with me should sort out any notions that the game should be taken seriously. Greg Mazurkewitz took the evening’s special prize for being frankly the worst golfer we have ever seen and Andrew Thurlbourn has gone from wooden spoon to runner up in two years and kneecapped in three. Our thanks must go to the sponsors of the Golf Day who support our event; these businesses enhance a day that is already very good value for money. Whether it is a prize, a soft drink during your round of golf or drinks at the bar or the table every sponsor is making a considerable effort to make our day more enjoyable and we should acknowledge that in every way possible. I would also like to thank everyone who had to endure my lack of golfing ability (apart from Andrew who was just plain nasty) and the great company at my table, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was delighted to note the number of appreciative comments and look forward to seeing you at the event next year. Oh, and by the way, Greg, Andrew and myself played on the Friday as well (hard life eh?) and Andrew generously gave everyone a handicap of 28 from the outset, I beat them both, took the money and would have lost by a point playing off 21!!!! Greg is in intensive care. Prize Winners 2008 For pictures see the latest issue of the Cutting Edge Newsletter
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