Captains's blog - Star date 11/12/17 Well, what a weekend of two halves that was. Saturday really could not have been a lovelier day (providing you had your thermals on) but Sunday was a shocker. As I walked my way through Sevenoaks car park at 6.45am, I can’t say that I had noticed much improvement. Please find my latest offering under the heading of Captain’s Blog. I have kept it as short as possible to avoid distracting you all from your Christmas shopping and office parties.
Events The Bletchingley Mummers' performance of Putterella was extremely entertaining. Ros Tunbridge weaved her usual magic with the script and her cast of Viv & Steve Harrison, Alan & Karen Cottle, Ros herself and Neil Tunbridge, Peter and Judith Ross, Ros Shepherd and Debbie Rose kept us all entertained before dinner was served at the Christmas party. I have a vague recollection of a cameo performance at the end, but my therapist says that I will gradually recover. I would like to thank all the cast and, in particular, Ros for giving up so much of their time willingly to make us all laugh. Thanks also must go to Bob the Blob for making everyone dance with his DJ'ing skills. The Turkey & Ham Trot sadly had to be cancelled due to some bitterly cold weather and relentless snow and sleet. About 30 hardy members did still make it down to the clubhouse at 8.30am. I would like to thank you all for your optimism and conviction to the cause. 18 complete nutters remained at the club and took part in a rapidly improvised stand aside putt around the clubhouse competition. Jerry Edwards, Debbie Rose and Terry Gay came out as eventual winners so many congratulations to them. Sadly, my team went out of bounds on the first corner! We are hoping to replay the “Trot” in January. Competitions On the course there was the December Medal where Rob Perry won Division 1 with a very respectable nett 70 and Gary Walker won Division 2 with an even more respectable nett 69. Very well done to both of you. Humour…and the curse of the 13th strikes again... Mark Fuller was on the apron of the 13th green some 7-8 feet from the pin in the December Medal. His first putt involved a rush of blood which saw the ball run miles past the hole and Mark launched himself into the air along with a loud moan come shudder of panic much to the amusement of two onlooking ramblers on the path above and his playing partners. The return putt went sailing past the hole back towards where Mark had originally come from causing another jump into the air and the strangest noises of shock and leaving him with a Dennis Wise (nasty little five-footer) which lipped out and left him with a tap in for a four putt. Once again, the aerial leap and moan come shudder amused all around. In the interests of balance, I should point out that I did have a 9 on the 1st so he still got a better score than me for the round! Once again, in the same medal on the 13th, Ashley Finch put his tee shot into the pond. From the drop zone he managed a horrendous pull and would have hit playing partner, Andy Hemmett, who saw the ball coming but froze in sheer panic. I say would have hit him but for a post on the edge of the pond which the ball struck. Ash was not done yet because he managed to find the ball on the bank of the pond in the reeds and decided that he could play this out. In doing so it appears that he didn’t consider the possibility of the club being deflected on impact. The end result was a ball not going where he wanted it to go and his club wrapping around Andy’s saviour, the post, resulting in the club shaft moving from a straight line to pretty much a right angle. Andy Hemmett refused to be outdone by this act of club hate and after one particularly wayward drive set about reconfiguring his driver. Most people would have adjusted the weights on the base of the driver, but Andy clearly felt it would work better in several pieces. Should you see any shards of graphite out on the course please return them to Andy. Course news The new competition tee on the 14th is looking very good indeed now. Steve informs me that what was in that tee previously was just bunker sand, so the new tee should grow a lot better as well as being a lot bigger. Hopefully, no one is using it as the launch pad for an improvised ski jump! The work on the 18th tee has clearly generated a much larger tee box and, hopefully, the thick layer of good soil should produce a better growing tee box just like that on the 14th.
It is very good to report that we have a defibrillator on the wall of the clubhouse next to the main entrance now. Several people have been instrumental in achieving this, but Richard Quin-Stanley deserves a special mention for his very hard work in securing this resource for the Club. Staff fund Roger Borer is due to close off the staff fund on Sunday I believe, so please do pick up an envelope from the pro shop and put a cheque or some cash in it for the staff if you can. All you need to do is drop it into the competition scorecard box under the computer by the pro shop. We are currently on 60% of what was raised last year so we are basically two down with six to play and a bit of work to do. Summary With just one more Stableford competition left, this year is nearing an end. I look at 2017 as a hugely successful year for Bletchingley Golf Club. There are regular improvements taking place on the course, the catering is terrific, we have happy smiling staff all around the Club and the vast majority of members seem very content with their golfing lot. I know I speak for Viv as well when I say that we are really looking forward to the year ahead and the 25th celebrations at the Club. In the meantime, may I wish everyone a really enjoyable Christmas and Prosperous New Year. |