Davenport

Arriving at Davenport I was just hoping to get through the full 18; carrying a bit of a bruised rib from a karting crash on Friday and debuting a new driver that had lost its head two days after delivery a week before I wasn’t hopeful of much!

My usual nobbed/shanked/sliced (I’ll let the readers select) tee shot on the first didn’t appear and I managed to get through the first three holes unscathed – so I straight away thought the golfing gods were on my side!

I had the pleasure of playing with Evan, Frank and Steve today who were great company – Frank even finding the time to delight us with a series of trick shots by hitting the ball forwards but managing to get it to land behind himself; a marvel to behold!

Myself and Steve finished the front 9 closely matched but as is expected of a man of my talents I lost some rhythm through holes 11-13 with a treble of 1 pointers and Steve began to take the lead back with some stunning iron play. As we stood on the 14th I quietly provided him with some words of encouragement, “you’re playing well today Steve, you could end up posting a decent score here…” Cue the topped hybrid into a bush on the right and a blobbed hole. Apologies for that Steve.

After finding my swing again over the next few holes and getting some more points on the board I arrived at the 18th with a spring in my step. Having watched Evan hit brilliant drives all day I was hoping for similar to end the round on a high. Standing over the ball on the tee, I took a deep breath in and just like the first, the clouds parted and the golfing gods announced, “Go forth Rob and spank that ball down the middle!” I let loose and saved my best drive of the day for the last; a couple more good strikes later and I was stood on the green with a tap in par to finish and a first ever round completed without losing a ball! After shaking hands and confirming scores with Steve I made my way back to the clubhouse happy and confident that I could in fact be in the mix.

To the surprise of most in the clubhouse, I was announced as winner and revelled in the looks of disgust from the supportive society we are all a part of as I collected the prize pot!

A thoroughly enjoyable day at my new favourite golf course – looking forward to the golfing Gods pissing all over my parade at Wilpshire in April – it could be a round to watch. See you there!

Thanks and congrats to our winner, Rob Hodgson