Hurtmore Golf Club Sunday 26 February 2023

by Barrie Smith

The first outing of the year turned out to be a great day for playing golf.  Whilst there was a cold breeze, it was mainly bright and sunny and completely dry.  Some achievement for February.  There was a good turnout with 19 players on the day, 17 of them arriving in plenty of time for the hearty breakfast that would send us on our way.

My playing partners were Bruce Riddlington and Trevor Rockett.  I had asked to go out in the first group, as I needed to get away as soon as we finished.  I started well, with a really good drive down the middle of the first fairway.  Reasonable second and third shots got me to the green, only to find out they had been dressed a couple of weeks before.  A little hesitant with my first putt but the green was true and it gave me confidence to putt out for a 5 and my first 2 points.  As well as the stableford competition, we were playing a team competition called thunderball and my score was the multiplier for the first hole.  With us all scoring points, a return of 10 points for the thunderball was good.

I remained steady for the next two holes with my driver and putter working really well.  I was the thunderball on holes 4 and 7 as well, making par and birdie for 3 and 4 points as the multiplier respectively.  The day was looking like being an excellent one.  At the turn I had a personal score of 23 points (gross shots 38) with 109 points for the thunderball.  Not too shabby when you think we didn't get any thunderball points on holes 2 and 3.

For the first five holes on the back nine, my score mirrored my front nine.  Then the course messed around a little.  The par 5 fifteenth became a par 3, with a temporary hole on the fairway, followed by the remainder of the hole becoming a par 4.  The sixteenth hole had been taken out of use and you could see that it's going to become a fantastic signature hole for the course (a great reason to return next year).  Seventeen had a temporary tee and was now a par 3, before getting back to the challenging eighteenth.  My golf was a little less inspiring on the back nine, however I still managed a respectable 17 points to return an overall score of 40 points.  The thunderball returned a score of 72 on the back nine to give us a total of 181 overall.  In fairness, neither I or the team were likely to improve on our front nine performance.

Walking off the course I knew that 40 points would take some beating, so with having to run off, I bought the lads a drink and told them that if anyone asked I prefer red wine!  Speaking to Mike later that day, I found out that I had won and he would look after my wine!  I hope to see it at some point.

Thanks to my playing partners of Bruce and Trevor and well done to Bruce for his shot on the 5th which I understand won nearest the pin.  Congratulations to Alan Papps team, who I understand won the thunderball competition and also to Alan's guest Ian Begg, who also returned 40 points.

Whilst Tim wasn't present, I understand my fate and will have no chance at Test Valley in March after he's torn my handicap to ribbons. Hope you get sorted soon Tim and we see you back on the course.
 

RESULTS

Winner Barrie Smith                40 pts

Runner up Michael Clothier    37 pts

Third Nigel Jackson                  36 pts

Nearest the pin     Bruce Riddington      29’ 4”

Thunderball          Graham Pearce, Philip Faulkner, Ian Begg and Alan Papps 180 pts